14 Sep 2020, 14:16
Building the Bridge
Mentioning @Rose Moon
Elisabeth stood in the school owlery, trying to choose which of the owls ought to carry her letter for her parents and younger brother back home in Belize.
The rose-coloured envelope, which she carefully carried in her left hand, had been sealed with a cute bear-shaped sticker; but the dark-haired girl could clearly remembered what was written on the white paper inside it.
The rose-coloured envelope, which she carefully carried in her left hand, had been sealed with a cute bear-shaped sticker; but the dark-haired girl could clearly remembered what was written on the white paper inside it.
Hola Papá, hola Mamá, (y tú, Atticus!)*
Time to use English in my letter after the last one was in Indonesian!
Still nothing much has happened here. It's kinda boring, but I do hope I won't get too busy. But next month they say we're going to have a dance at school, and the professors are inviting students from other wizarding schools too. I hope I'll meet many new international friends so we can do language exchange and know more about each other's cultures.
Rumour has it that all events like this at Hogwarts end up in chaos, so I hope this isn't true. Because if it does, I certainly won't join their public events too often.
Papá, is there anything interesting going at work? And Mamá, how's the new novel coming along? I know Atticus must be doing great at school, but if you have anything great to tell, of course I'd like to hear about it. A field trip perhaps?
I know this letter is very short, but honestly, I don't know what else to write because there's really nothing much to tell. But I'm sure I'll have more things to write about after the dance.
Much love,
Elsa
Her whole letter was written in cursive like her habit and all in blue ink, except for her signature: it was done in rose, because that was Elisabeth's favourite colour. It was sentimental, the girl knew, but that was how she was!
Finally, she decided on a reliable-looking young snowy owl. "I need you to get this for my family in Belize," she spoke to the owl, even though she realised that it would not be necessary. But still, she liked being friendly to it. "Have a safe trip, OK?"
Tying the letter to its right foot, Elisabeth did not realise that another student was entering the owlery.
Reducio
*And you, Atticus! (Spanish)
Last edited by Elisabeth Erner on 30 Sep 2020, 08:01, edited 1 time in total.
15 Sep 2020, 00:38
Building the Bridge
In Rose's hand she held a letter to her aunt. Her little sister, Jessica, had been kind of neglected by their mother. Actually, she was being very neglected by their mother. And Rose was not only starting to worry about her mother, but especially about Jess. Jess was your extreme extrovert, and Rose knew how hard it was on her. So, she had asked her aunt to go visit her every once in a while. Yes, her aunt had work. But she had time off of work, unlike how their mother seemed to become.
Entering was a kind way of saying it. Rose was running up there. The sooner her aunt got this letter, the sooner Jess wasn't alone anymore.
She skidded to a stop at the top of the owlrey stairs, barely skidding to a stop to stop herself from bumping into another pretty girl at the top. But she didn't bump into her, and burst into apologies with wide eyes- "I'm so sorry, I should have been watching where I was going! That is my fault." Her voice was harmonized with an American accent, something very noticable to many people.
Rose awkwardly paused, and took a couple steps back from the girl, toward the owlrey walls. Usually she would have used her family owl named Doofus, but she used him yesterday to send an owl to Jess, and he still wasn't back yet from that.
So she needed to use one of the school owls. A very enthusiastic owl seemed to volunteer, and she made her way over to the tawny owl. "What brings you here?" she knew that was probably nosy, asking that kind of thing. But she was just trying to make conversation.
I know this kinda sucks, and I'm sorry D: and I'm sorry for the wait!
15 Sep 2020, 07:14
Building the Bridge
Interacting with @Rose Moon
Elisabeth turned around to face the red-headed girl who almost bumped into her. The Asian-Latina was a little surprised, but that was all.
"No harm done," she tried to reassure the other student, and to emphasise it, she gave her a shy but friendly smile.
Still, the girl with cute freckles all over her face looked very apologetic. She even tried to break the ice by asking, "What brings you here?" Normally it might not be a very good conversation starter since most people would assume that one only came to an owlery when he or she needed to borrow an owl to send a letter or a package; but Elisabeth had heard that some introverts liked it here because there weren't many people around, so she guessed it was normal that the red-head asked so.
"I have una carta aquí, para mi familia*," replied Elisabeth without realising that she was not talking in English anymore, she was too happy thinking about her family that she no longer paid very good attention to her words. Luckily, the question she addressed to the other girl was in English: "Are you sending them a letter as well?"
"No harm done," she tried to reassure the other student, and to emphasise it, she gave her a shy but friendly smile.
Still, the girl with cute freckles all over her face looked very apologetic. She even tried to break the ice by asking, "What brings you here?" Normally it might not be a very good conversation starter since most people would assume that one only came to an owlery when he or she needed to borrow an owl to send a letter or a package; but Elisabeth had heard that some introverts liked it here because there weren't many people around, so she guessed it was normal that the red-head asked so.
"I have una carta aquí, para mi familia*," replied Elisabeth without realising that she was not talking in English anymore, she was too happy thinking about her family that she no longer paid very good attention to her words. Luckily, the question she addressed to the other girl was in English: "Are you sending them a letter as well?"
Reducio
* a letter here, for my family (Spanish)
OC: Nah, don't worry! Just have fun with our RP and I'm satisfied! ; )
No prob at all about the wait, either. With our 13-hour difference... all waitings are totally understandable.
OC: Nah, don't worry! Just have fun with our RP and I'm satisfied! ; )
No prob at all about the wait, either. With our 13-hour difference... all waitings are totally understandable.
15 Sep 2020, 18:40
Building the Bridge
Rose started to tie the letter around the leg of the owl. Then the girl let out a string of Spanish, which Rose had no idea what it meant, she only caught the word familia, which she was sure meant family, but something to do with family was still very vague. She hesitated, and the knot she had started to tie loosened up.
"Um, I don't know Spanish... I'm not sending a letter to your... family? But I guess I'm sending one to mine." She went with her best guess, that familia meant family, and hoping that the girl wasn't offended by her assuming that. Rose ducked her head. "I'm sending a letter to my aunt, asking her to check up on my little sister. She's getting a little lonely at home now that my little brother is at Hogwarts, too." That was an understatement.
The owl couldn't contain its excitement anymore and started to hop around her, but Rose snagged it from the air and set it back down, letting it stick out its leg again before starting to tie the letter to its leg again. "Silly little owl," she murmured, her expression only slightly annoyed, though it was mostly amused.
Rose almost doubted she should send such an important letter with this little owl, but she decided against it. She carried the owl to the edge of the tower and let it flap away, watching it go away.
"I'm Rose," she introduced herself. This certainly was awkward. She then posed the next question. "How did you learn Spanish?"
Rose then asked, "Are you planning on going to the dance? Do you have a date yet?" That kind of sounded like she was about to ask her to go to the dance with her, which would not only be awkward if she assumed that.
16 Sep 2020, 17:25
Building the Bridge
Interacting with @Rose Moon
The Asian-Hispanic girl blushed as she realised that she had indeed switched from English to Latin American Spanish. No wonder the redhead in front of her looked slightly taken aback, and Elisabeth did not blame her at all for that. Not at all.
She also unfortunately did not happen to speak Spanish, not even the "standard" Spanish usually spoken by people from Spain and non-native speakers who learnt it from their school or books. Of course it was not something bad, or a fault, it was just that... Elisabeth could not help but wish that the girl was able to. She missed home; she missed communicating orally in Spanish, Belizean Spanish.
But still, the eleven-year-old smiled at the other student. She wanted to be friendly to her. "Lo siento," she said apologetically, still smiling and flushing at the same time. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... it just... came out before I even thought about switching languages." She looked at the snowy owl she still held in her arms, and giving it a small pat, released the bird to the sunny sky.
"I'm Rose," the freckled-faced girl introduced herself. "How did you learn Spanish?"
The dark-haired girl shook her hand. "Elisabeth. Nice to meet you. About the Spanish... we often speak Spanish at home, especially when I speak with mi papá and relatives from his side when they come for a visit." She paused before adding, "But hey, you're great, Rose. You said you didn't speak it, but you immediately recognised it as Spanish when I said it."
Their talk was soon changed to the dance, and Rose asked Elisabeth two questions: if she planned to attend it and whether or not she had a date.
Elisabeth nodded to answer the first. "Yes, I'm going to attend it." A shake of head. "But no, I don't have a date yet. Y tú, Rose? I mean, and you?"
She also unfortunately did not happen to speak Spanish, not even the "standard" Spanish usually spoken by people from Spain and non-native speakers who learnt it from their school or books. Of course it was not something bad, or a fault, it was just that... Elisabeth could not help but wish that the girl was able to. She missed home; she missed communicating orally in Spanish, Belizean Spanish.
But still, the eleven-year-old smiled at the other student. She wanted to be friendly to her. "Lo siento," she said apologetically, still smiling and flushing at the same time. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... it just... came out before I even thought about switching languages." She looked at the snowy owl she still held in her arms, and giving it a small pat, released the bird to the sunny sky.
"I'm Rose," the freckled-faced girl introduced herself. "How did you learn Spanish?"
The dark-haired girl shook her hand. "Elisabeth. Nice to meet you. About the Spanish... we often speak Spanish at home, especially when I speak with mi papá and relatives from his side when they come for a visit." She paused before adding, "But hey, you're great, Rose. You said you didn't speak it, but you immediately recognised it as Spanish when I said it."
Their talk was soon changed to the dance, and Rose asked Elisabeth two questions: if she planned to attend it and whether or not she had a date.
Elisabeth nodded to answer the first. "Yes, I'm going to attend it." A shake of head. "But no, I don't have a date yet. Y tú, Rose? I mean, and you?"
16 Sep 2020, 20:52
Building the Bridge
"No, that's okay. It's really cool that you know another language. I wish I did, I heard it's really good for you to be bilingual or multilingual," she commented. Rose meant it, rooo. She felt like a stupid English girl when she didn't know any other language. She just hadn't had the resources or time to learn another language. She knew little snippets of French and Spanish and German, but only because they were the most common languages other than English. Her boyfriend and one of her best friends knew French, but Rose had never bothered to learn it. She guessed she should.
"Oh," Rose's blush had just started to dissapate when Elisabeth complimented her. "Thank you. I just felt like it was Spanish, it sounded Spanish, especially with your accent, which is really pretty... I mean, it would have been embarrassing if it had been... Italian or Portuguese or something." It really would have been.
"Is Spanish your first language?" Rose asked her, curious. Usually people would just go with their first language when they were speaking, and Rose would think that if she was using it on accident, it was her first language.
Rose hesitated when she let out another couple words of Spanish, but they were soon clarified. "Yeah, I'm going to the dance... and I'm going with my boyfriend, so yeah, I have a date." Rose paused as a realization came over her. "My cousin's best friend is from Mexico, I'm pretty sure he knows Spanish. They're both coming over from Ilvermorny for the dance and the race. Maybe I can introduce you guys and you can go as friends?"
17 Sep 2020, 17:59
Building the Bridge
Interacting with @Rose Moon
Elisabeth smiled when Rose complimented her accent. "Thank you," she said shortly, but deep down inside, she was very happy. No one had ever said it to her before; in fact, when she was still enrolled in a Muggle elementary school in London, some students laughed at her accent and told her that it sounded "so countryside". Even a classmate who tried to cheer her up following that incident said the wrong thing by telling Elisabeth that it probably was in her genes so that was not her fault.
"I wish I did," sighed Rose after mentioning that English was the only language she could speak so far.
Elisabeth looked up. "We can do language exchange if you'd like to," the eleven-year-old offered. "I like language exchange very much."
Rose also wanted to know if Spanish happened to be Elisabeth's mother tongue, and the Hispanic-Asian found this surprisingly a little difficult to answer. On one hand, yes it seemed that she used Spanish more than Indonesian or English. But on the other hand, her mamá was always happier when the daughter communicated with her in Indonesian and so Elisabeth usually spoke Indonesian to her; and whenever a neighbour came for a visit, she used English. At least most of the time, that is.
So to answer the redhead's question, the dark-haired girl decided to reply, "Yes, I mostly speak Spanish at home."
And then, to her surprise, Rose asked if Elisabeth would like to be introduced to a Mexican boy from Ilvermony. "You can go as friends," she offered.
Actually, Elisabeth would like to have more friends so this was a very good opportunity. However, she was nervous as she realised that the older girl had just suggested that the two could go as... well, some kind of dates! She was not sure she wanted to be a stranger's "date" even if it sounded nice to have a dance date.
But Rose thought they could go as friends, so... was this thing considered as normal here? To go to a dance with a date who is also a friend? Elisabeth had always thought that date had a romantic implication and that you should only say yes if you had at least some feelings toward the other person. But her head was spinning from thinking all of these, so she did not really want to think further at the very moment.
Instead, she answered with a polite smile, "Sure, I'd like to know more friends."
"I wish I did," sighed Rose after mentioning that English was the only language she could speak so far.
Elisabeth looked up. "We can do language exchange if you'd like to," the eleven-year-old offered. "I like language exchange very much."
Rose also wanted to know if Spanish happened to be Elisabeth's mother tongue, and the Hispanic-Asian found this surprisingly a little difficult to answer. On one hand, yes it seemed that she used Spanish more than Indonesian or English. But on the other hand, her mamá was always happier when the daughter communicated with her in Indonesian and so Elisabeth usually spoke Indonesian to her; and whenever a neighbour came for a visit, she used English. At least most of the time, that is.
So to answer the redhead's question, the dark-haired girl decided to reply, "Yes, I mostly speak Spanish at home."
And then, to her surprise, Rose asked if Elisabeth would like to be introduced to a Mexican boy from Ilvermony. "You can go as friends," she offered.
Actually, Elisabeth would like to have more friends so this was a very good opportunity. However, she was nervous as she realised that the older girl had just suggested that the two could go as... well, some kind of dates! She was not sure she wanted to be a stranger's "date" even if it sounded nice to have a dance date.
But Rose thought they could go as friends, so... was this thing considered as normal here? To go to a dance with a date who is also a friend? Elisabeth had always thought that date had a romantic implication and that you should only say yes if you had at least some feelings toward the other person. But her head was spinning from thinking all of these, so she did not really want to think further at the very moment.
Instead, she answered with a polite smile, "Sure, I'd like to know more friends."
18 Sep 2020, 23:18
Building the Bridge
Rose rocked on her feet. It was significantly less awkward than it had been, but Rose still felt awkward.
Elisabeth seemed a little resigned to going with him, as friends or something, and Rose realized that she didn't want to say no and make her feel bad, probably. "Or, you know, more than friends, if you wanted to. Or you could go with someone else, I don't really care, I just thought maybe..." she trailed off.
Then she changed the subject. "I'm excited for the other schools to come over here... I honestly wish that we could go over there sometime. I love Hogwarts, it would be fun to be in another country, learn more of another language maybe, and see how their school works, what it's like there, instead of staying here every time there's an event." Rose shared. It really would be fun to go to Beauxbatons or Durmstrang or Ilvermorny or one of the other wizarding schools. She would probably get lost or something, but it would still be really fun to be there. "What about you? Would you rather go somewhere else or just stay here and have them come over here?"
Rose was only slightly dreading them coming- it was going to be so crowded around here.
20 Sep 2020, 15:19
Building the Bridge
Interacting with @Rose Moon
Elisabeth was terribly concerned when she heard Rose's reply. It seemed to her that she had hurt the older girl's feelings, and she felt that she had sounded so ungrateful - Rose was trying to do a good deed for her, but instead of being grateful about it, Elisabeth refused the generous offer and hurt her.
"Do you think it's OK for you to introduce us as friends? Maybe he and I can discuss about the dance when we meet over ice cream in Diagon Alley... or perhaps via owls," said Elisabeth carefully. She was honest that she wanted to try befriend the Mexican boy Rose had mentioned earlier, but currently, that was all.
The two girls fell silent for a beat before the red-haired one broke it by excitedly telling Elisabeth that she would prefer if only Hogwarts students could participate in events taking place in other magical schools rather than being the host all the time. After that, she asked the dark-haired student about her preference.
Elisabeth thought for some time. While she wanted to see other countries as well, her body sometimes did not respond to long journeys very well. The eleven-year old inherited her mamá's weakness of motion sickness, though thankfully her own condition not as serious as her mamá's.
"I'm... not very sure," she replied slowly and shyly after considering how to answer.
"Do you think it's OK for you to introduce us as friends? Maybe he and I can discuss about the dance when we meet over ice cream in Diagon Alley... or perhaps via owls," said Elisabeth carefully. She was honest that she wanted to try befriend the Mexican boy Rose had mentioned earlier, but currently, that was all.
The two girls fell silent for a beat before the red-haired one broke it by excitedly telling Elisabeth that she would prefer if only Hogwarts students could participate in events taking place in other magical schools rather than being the host all the time. After that, she asked the dark-haired student about her preference.
Elisabeth thought for some time. While she wanted to see other countries as well, her body sometimes did not respond to long journeys very well. The eleven-year old inherited her mamá's weakness of motion sickness, though thankfully her own condition not as serious as her mamá's.
"I'm... not very sure," she replied slowly and shyly after considering how to answer.
21 Sep 2020, 18:43
Building the Bridge
"Yeah, we can just do that," Rose nodded enthusiastically, the conversation's awkwardness dwindling a little and being replaced by warmness.
She almost ducked her head when she realized she was rambling, leaving the girl feeling entitled to an opinion about it. Rose had thought about it a lot, but that didn't mean that she had to have- or that she had to make an immediate decision about it right now. Almost. But she stopped herself. She gave Elisabeth a warm smile and said, "That's okay- you don't have to have an opinion about that like, right now, especially if it's complicated for you." Maybe she had family she hated in America or France or Russia. Maybe she got motion sickness. Maybe she had some other kind of disease that would make it hard for her to travel- Rose didn't know. And she wasn't going to ask, either.
Rose looked up at the sky, seeing how full the blue of the sky was. It then came to her attention how hungry she was- it was technically time for dinner, and she had used the first part of it to come send an owl. Elisabeth obviously had too, but maybe she was avoiding the Great Hall today for some reason? The air was also crisp as a result of the chill setting in. Rose rocked on her feet a little and said thoughtfully, "We should probably get down to dinner."
I hope it's okay that I started to wrap it up! If you want, you can just say that they walked down to the Great Hall together and close it there, or we can keep going some other way that you would rather do
