London's Calling  

Episode 32

Well up to now Francesca, while waiting to hear from Paul, has been getting to know Alessandro and Sam and in the process she has been picking up a lot of new English expressions. As well as learning something about the regional accents of Britain, especially Cockneys which, as we heard, is the accent of the East End of London. At the end of last week's episode they were all waiting for their Indian take away, when the doorbell rang! Who is at the door?? Sam goes to the door

Sam: I'll get it …. Opens the door…

Stranger: erm Hello I'd like…… si … I'd .. like to talk to Francesca please

Sam:(strange, nobody knows Francesca is here apart from Paul, so who is this guy? and how did he know Francesca's here? er well may I ask who wants her?

Stranger: well er come faccio dire che ci conosciamo ma lei non sa il mio nome she doesn't know me, well she does know me, but she doesn't know my name Sam: (yes, well, he certainly is weird) He's not English but is he Italian? I'm sorry I don't quite understand..

Alessandro: (calls from the sitting room) Sam, who is it?

Sam: erm It's someone for Francesca, just a minute, (to the stranger) I'm sorry erm it all sounds a little strange…. so you're Italian?

Stranger: yes I am, er I'm sorry about my English but ….

Sam: ah so you know Francesca from Italy?

Stranger: no erm I met her on the plane and I would like to, how do you English say, get to know her Sam: oh I see, my god a stalker!!

Francesca: (to Alessandro) maybe it's Paul

Alessandro: yes it must be Paul perché nessun altro sa che sei qua, anzi se vuoi chiamare "your folks" cioè i tuoi, feel free …………………..

Francesca: grazie Alessandro, sei troppo gentile, le chiamerò "my folks" i miei, dopo cena, adesso vado a vedere se è Paul, Francesca arrives at the front door

Francesca: here I am, Is that you Paul?

Sam: erm no Francesa it's er not Paul, it's er sorry you haven't told me your name,

Francesca: (goes pale)

Stranger: Hi Francesca! Do you remember me from the flight?

Francesca: Er ciao, yes of course I remember you, but how do you know my name and that I am here?

Stranger: well it's come dire una storia lunga a long story er Sam. (Looks at Francesca a little worried), I'll er just get Alessandro, he's Italian too!! (Goes back to the sitting room)
Ale, there's a really strange man at the door he wants to speak to Francesca, he met her on the plane and obviously he followed her here, I think he could have a screw loose. He looks like a stalker

Alessandro: Cosa!!! A man on the same flight as Francesca has followed her here!! What did you say a stalker? What's that? Oh yeah I remember vuol dire una persona che insegue qualcuno con insistenza, But Sam, what does "he has a screw loose" mean?

Sam: Well it means that he isn't quite normal, I mean it's not exactly normal to meet someone on a flight and then follow them to where they are staying is it? And Francesca is as white as a sheet

Alessandro: oh my god, se lei è cosi pallida "come un lenezolo" white as a sheet, she must be frightened! We'd better not leave her at the door alone with him, he could definitely be a maniac At the front door

Alessandro: Hi, I'm Alessandro, and you are ?

Stranger: I'm Filiberto er pleased to meet you .. I met Francesca on the flight from Milan and er

Alessandro: I'm sorry I don't mean to be rude, but how did you know Francesca was staying here??

Stranger: erm well I erm I saw you pick her up from the airport and I er followed you in another taxi. I don't know anyone here in London, I would like to stay in touch with her, so I thought I would erm follow you and erm well eccomi qua… I hope I haven't disturbed you

Alessandro: Well actually we were just about to eat dinner, we've ordered a take away, if you'd like to come back another time it would be more convenient, ah actually there is the guy now with the order.

Sam: yeah I'll sort the food out .. erm goodbye er Filiberto

Francesca: yes maybe if you come another time it would be more convenient,

Stranger: yes yes you're right it must seem strange to come here like this er come dicono "out of the blue" but I assure you it…forse è meglio se vi dico in italiano non intendevo niente di male ma sono solo qui a Londra……..

Alessandro: Er…. don't worry we understand, well we'd better get our dinner, so goodbye until next time

Stranger: okay and thank you, I'll call again, Francesca erm enjoy your dinner, goodbye They shut the door

Sam: well that was a close call, what on earth did he want? what a weirdo!!

Francesca: I know, I thought he was weird on the plane too, Sam what do you say here, when someone makes you feel erm well, you know

Sam: Oh you mean he gives you the creeps, coz he definitely gave me the creeps too!!

Francesca: "to give someone the creeps" means like brividi, the shivers, yeah? I knew he was strange when we were on the plane, he was sitting next to me on the flight and he wouldn't stop talking

Sam: yeah one of those you have to avoid, they're everyone's worst nightmare!!

Alessandro: well we'll have to be careful, he seems very interested in you Francesca, and there's something about him….. I just can't put my finger on it …but I don't trust him!

Sam: anyway let's not think about him for now let's eat this wonderful curry!

Francesca: yeah you're right Sam, and I can't wait it looks delicious

Alessandro: yeah it's delicious! (vorrei sapere un pò di più di quell uomo, ma lasciamo tutto per domani le faro qualche investigazione) well it certainly is an excellent curry, I'll have to tell the guys at work about it

Sam: yeah, it's definitely the best I've ever tasted!!

Francesca: Wow it tastes fantastic! So Alessandro, I don't know anything about you both, so tell me, what do you do?

Alessandro: well, I work as an IT consultant in the city Sam: and I work for a TV company in Soho

Francesca: Wow a TV company! That must be fantastic, what exactly do you do Sam?

Sam: Well nothing exciting, I work in the marketing department

Francesca: Which TV company do you work for?

Sam: well it's an independent company, but if you want you could come to the studio one day and watch something being put together

Francesca: Really!! oh that would be wonderful!!

Sam: no problem I'll see what I can arrange

Alessandro: oh that's nice, no-one ever asks me about my job! No-one ever gets excited over what I do!!

Francesca: oh I'm sorry Ale, it's just that you know TV it's just so you know!!

Alessandro: Yeah I know!! I.T. just doesn't have the same effect!

Francesca: (laughing) sorry Ale, maybe if you take me to your office… I don't know!!

Sam: Anyway this is a fab curry we have to go there more often!!

Ale: we sure do, but that guy he was er what do they say here Sam pretty as a picture is molto bella, molto carina, but ugly? what is the saying about ugly?

Sam: (laughing) yeah you're right, he was as ugly as sin!!

Alessandro: (laughing) that's it ugly as sin,

Francesca: com'è ugly as sin? brutto come il peccato,

Sam: well Francesca, your new admirer isn't Brad Pitt that's for sure!! But I think you should be careful and when Paul comes back tell him straightaway.

Francesca: yeah I'll definitely tell him as soon as he arrives

Alessandro: What do you want to do tomorrow Francesca, have you any idea?

Francesca: well I'd really like to get I touch with Paul if I can, and also start looking for a place to live..

Sam: well as for the place to live, we can go and talk to a few flat agencies on Monday, I'll ring up in the morning to fix some appointments, and tomorrow we can always look at the ads in the paper, in the "to rent" pages there are always lots in there…

Francesca: ok, that's great, well then while you're babysitting, I'll look through the "to rent" pages

Ale: I'll give you a hand if you like Francesca, as those pages are full of abbreviations which can be really difficult to understand

Francesca: thanks Guys, you really are both very kind.

Sam: yeah the adverts in the paper are really full of a special language that's all their own. You'll realise when you see them, without Ale's help you'd be lost! I know I was at the beginning, trying to decipher all the abbreviations! It was a total nightmare!! ……………..Anyway guys, that was totally delicious, but I'm going to have to go to bed, I've got to get my beauty sleep before my babysitting ordeal tomorrow! Night, night

Ale: 'night Sam, see you in the morning, don't worry about the dishes you did them last night, it's my turn tonight

Francesca: goodnight Sam. Alessandro I'll er com'è darti una mano in inglese ah si give you a hand, er I'll give you a hand with the dishes, i piatti

Alessandro: oh thanks Francesca that would be great, but let's have a coffee first, do you fancy one?

Francesca: I'd love one. I'll make it do you use the moka or do you use instant coffee like Nescafe?

Alessandro: I'm afraid I have to confess to using instant, but we do have the moka if you want to use it

Francesca: I think after the curry, the only thing that will do, is a real Italian coffee, what do you think?

Alessandro: yeah you're right, here, I'll show you where it is Go into the kitchen - we hear kitchen noises After Coffee

Francesca: right then, I think I'll go to bed now, so you'll give me a hand tomorrow with the ads?

Alessandro: yeah sure no problem, and don't forget you can email Paul too okay?

Francesca: yeah thanks, Ale. Well, see you in the morning, goodnight Alessandro: goodnight Francesca, sleep tight, and sweet dreams, oh and have a lie in if you want to.

Francesca: sleep tight? Lie in?

Alessandro: sorry, sleep tight means sleep well, and of course sweet dreams is the same as sogni d'oro, and lie in means restare a letto fino a tardi, si può dire anche poltire a letto, to have a lie in …

Francesca: ah I see, thanks, you too and so è ora di andare a letto, dove ho messo il mio toothbrush and toothpaste, il spazzolino da denti e il dentifricio, ah eccoli qua, allora domani mando un email a Paul e vediamo cosa gli èa successo e poi cerco casa almeno ho un programma, ma spero che quel weirdo non ritorni più, chi sa chi è davvero?