As a sidenote - people in Boston talk funny, and i can't help myself but grin and quietly giggle when i am talking to someone from the area. For now, only on the phone. i seriously need to learn to keep a straight face when i am dealing with someone from Boston in person. unless i want to get a punch on the face, which will certainly NOT be a sign of affection, oh no. (One of my friends, who knew about the fact that i do not take signs of affection well had offered to punch me in the face instead of giving me hugs... I'm glad he never got too affectionate.)

Also a note for the future for those of you who communicate with me either in person or over the phone - you are now fully authorized to make fun of me if/when i start sounding Bostonian. Damn, i was just starting to get the Southern drawl! I am going to end up with a really confused mess of regional accents on top of the one that indicates to my foreignness. Maybe, one of these days i will be just the right case for some linguistic study that specializes in regional accents and dialects. We'll see.