Realistic or Modern Tossed Salad - Y2

[Verena]

Vulcan nodded at Jomar's answer, not wanting to admit to not knowing anything about the Philippines other than their location on the world map. However, having a roommate come from there, he already imagined getting a solid education on at least the lifestyle of their people. At the same time, he would probably do well to do some small research himself in order to not accidentally offend his roomie in any way.


With Jomar beginning to open the last bit of packaging up and explaining what everything was, he focused back on the snacks. Seeing the chocolate dipped mangoes in the biggest box of them all, the corners of Vulcan's mouth turned up to form a smile. These exotic fruits belonged on the list of his favorite foods and while he too preferred them fresh, their dried version was a good alternative when the stores didn't offer anything better. Most bulgarians hardily accepted non traditional fruits, vegetables and foreign dishes in general, the mangoes being part of those, and that was exactly the reason why they were so hard to come by - few bought them.


Seeing Jomar pay little attention to the block of chocolate next, Vulcan didn't really either. It would probably be left for sometime later, depending on their hunger level after such a long journey. The last one however did attract his attention. Not so much the fact that it was ice cream but that it hadn't melted excessively during all this time. "Impressive" he thought and watched Jomar stand up to get a pair of tastefully designed spoons before returning to his spot. "That's right. Eastern Europe." he nodded at the other's suggestion of the location of his homeland, honestly surprised by the fact that he was quick to pinpoint its location. "Say, is this your first time traveling abroad? Cause it sure is my first exchange program." he said, reaching for one of the mangoes.


@CoconutLeaves

 

[CoconutLeaves]

"Oh! I was lucky then," Jomar said as Vulcan affirmed his guesses, "And I am lucky now."


He took a shaving of the Sampaguita Ice cream and placed it on top of the dried mango. He then took the dried mango and lifted it near him, offering it. "Try it like this, and then try them one at a time." He suggested, wondering what he thought of Doña Cielo's handpicked souvenirs. Speaking of souvenirs, he looked back on of the luggage and reminded himself that he had to give to the other people the gifts she instructed him to give. Doña Cielo was quite proud of their products and she wanted him to spread the word about their culinary recipes. How? She never specified, and it seemed like that burden was on Jomar. Not only did he have to balance on the schoolwork he would have to do, he also had to do Doña Cielo's assignments.


"My family is poor. My mother is a fisherwoman, and my father is a farmer. We didn't have much, so we just focused our savings on the important things. Then I started working for Doña Cielo de Lozana, she is a rich woman in the municipality who was a chef. She actually had several books published in our country. It is thanks to her, that she gave me this chance to go outside the country, and I thank God for bringing me to her and letting me have this blessing." He spoke openly about his story. Not that he was aiming for sympathy or any of the sort. It was just information he freely gave. It was the same kind of information his friends and neighbors would give while having a chat anywhere they meet.


@Vulcan

 

[MatthewChastain]

Mathieu looked down at nova's hand,then back at up at her before giving a nervous smile.reaching his left hand out to shake her hand."My name is Mathieu."


// @Suzette //

 

[Rat]

Saint Alexander Pierce

He soon sighed, glancing around at everyone before going to his room and realizing he'd not been assigned a roommate yet, He grinned a little bit before setting his bag down and not bothering to fully unpack it as he'd planned to just get things out as needed, He pulled out his MP3 player and fancy headphones before laying back on the bed and blasting some loud metal or rock sounding music.

[media]
​

[/media]
(What he's listening to ^)

 

[ElectraHeart]

"That is a nice name." Nova shook his hand firmly before releasing and putting it down to her side. "I'm from Sweden. A town named Visby. Very pretty. Lot's of Americans visit to tour." She walked back over to her bed, sitting down. "I like your hair, vhere are you from?"


(@MatthewChastain)

 

[MatthewChastain]

"Thanks,I like your hair too. I'm from France,from the city Marseille.its pretty too,full of lights at night."


( @Suzette

 

[Rat]

Saint Alexander Pierce

He decided after about an hour he was done being an introvert and sat up on the bed, taking the headphones off before wandering out into the hallway until he heard voices and wandered to that room, leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed looking all cool as he stared between the two

@Suzette @MatthewChastain
​

 

[callmenox]

Océane smiled brightly when she saw the other boy coming her way. So there was someone home, after all! And she was going to meet him! And they were going to be friends!


In France, she would have probably kissed him on both cheeks, but her parents had told her again and again how terribly promiscuous it was considered in other countries; and since they both had their hands full, she just nodded back energetically to his greeting.


“Hello! My name is Océane. I'm very pleased to meet you, Cortez!” She grinned. “I don't know for my roommate, I just arrived. Do you know what to do or where we're supposed to do next?”


Her English felt rusty, her accent holding up nicely but the grammar rules completely lost, although she had practised so much before. Cortez' voice and accent flowed gently in her ears, foreign and yet agreeable. Where was he from? She'd have to ask. That wasn't too much personal, right, even here? She had been warned about so many cultural differences, it made her head spin. Her willingness to be polite and considerate would sooner or later clash with her curiosity, but for now, there she was, meeting her very first new friend, in her very own year abroad.

@Aato

 

[ElectraHeart]

"Lights? Vhat kind of lights? It sounds very pretty." Nova folded some of her clothes and went to put them in the dresser. As she got up she noticed another boy standing in the doorway. "Oh hello." She put the clothes away and stuck out her hand to the stranger. "I'm Nova."


(@Bea @MatthewChastain)

 

[MatthewChastain]

Mathieu looked over at the other man."And I'm Mathieu,It's nice to see another face around here."he smiled lightly.


( @Bea

 

[Rat]

Saint Alexander Pierce

He looked between the two "I'm Saint" he said with an aussie accent, Staring at the boy a bit too long causing him to blush lightly "I can tell that you are...french?" he asked the boy as he raised an eyebrow while fixing a bit of his own hair that had fallen out of place​

 

[MatthewChastain]

he nodded. "mhm,I'm from Marseille,where are you from?" he took notice of the mans gaze of him causing him to smile nervously


(@Bea

 

[Rat]

Saint Alexander Pierce

He grinned ever so slightly at himself being right "Australia, Perth to be precise" he said as he looked around their room and at Nova for a moment "And....Swedish?" he asked as he tilted his head curiously, He was no longer wearing shoes and his socks were black and purple striped with cats on them​

 

[Aato]

Cortez was happy that the young woman returned his friendly gesture and seemed more than willing, excited even, to acquaint herself. He listened closely as she greeted him and said his name, in part to keep her name more committed to memory and the other to not get lost in her accent. "Océane... Nice to meet you too." Rolling off his tongue, her name sounded more like 'o-si-en-ay', the 'ay' light, but still there. He'd work on it. He never realized his accent was so heavy until he found himself, well, not speaking Spanish, or Portuguese even.


She had then answered his question and asked him what to do next. "Do you have your room information and key? They sent it in the mail, but I think there's extra here... Mmm..." He looked off in thought. "I think they keep the official stuff in drawers below the emergency phone..." He trailed, hushing so she could answer, and returning his gaze to her.


(*Sorry - I couldn't tell where she was, so since you said she was walking around, I assumed she had been to her room already.*)


@callmenox

 

[Verena]

Vulcan was just reaching for a piece of chocolate mango when Jomar offered him his type of combination he probably thought tasted better. Out of curiosity, Vulcan thanked him and took the piece in his hand, finally taking a bite out of the dessert he had been waiting to do for quite a while now. With the ice cream starting to melt in his palm, he made sure to consume it quickly and then rub his hands in one another, unable to find a napkin. "Hmm, I can't say I dislike it. I'm just not fond of food combinations." he expressed his opinion on the mix Jomar had given him after swallowing. He would wait a bit before trying a mango piece on its own. In the meantime, he was listening to his roommate's story. When he was done, Vulcan nodded and scratched at his nose.


"Well, what can I say. We seem to be quite the opposites." he began. "My mother is an English teacher but my father is a diplomat. We've seen more of the world than most people in my country. Money had never been a problem and while saving it isn't something we've never heard of, you can find tons of useless stuff at home - from a raclette grill to a small ice cream maker. The only thing we've used more often than a handful of times is a bread machine. Not particularly proud of this but at least we have something to wow our occasional guests with." he explained, including some slight sarcasm in his last words. "So it was just a matter of time till some of us came to visit the US." With this done, Vulcan returned to the sweets and this time picked up a simple mango piece, which he chewed on for a while, letting the dried fruit release all of its flavors, before speaking again. "All that aside, have you met some of the other students yet?" he asked. Vulcan felt like taking a stroll around the area, find the school they were soon going to have to visit anyway and possibly get to know some other peeps as well. "Cause I was thinking of doing some exploring and if you wanna join me, then this is the time to say so."


@CoconutLeaves

 

[CoconutLeaves]

Some people are just lucky.





Jomar could only feel a wave of envy as he listened to Vulcan speak. It wasn't as if he hated his life, it was never that. He was happy with the family he had, the experiences he had, the people he met. He was content with his life. But it did not erase the idea that it would be nice if the options Vulcan had were available to him. It would be nice if they could travel the world and buy machines that would entertain guests. It will never be, or not unless he decides to buy it.Aside from that however, Jomar listened to Vulcan's words with attentive ears. He may be somewhat envious, but he was also amazed at how worldly the person he was speaking to was. And thus, Jomar couldn't help but think that Vulcan was very lucky in that aspect.


"That must be an exciting life." Jomar commented with sincerity. He really couldn't say anything else. It's not as if he could relate to whatever he was saying. His story was his, and Jomar didn't feel any pity from Vulcan which made him like his roommate more.


Once Vulcan was finished however, he stood up as he looked at him, "I haven't. Actually, my head was hurting earlier and I thought about staying in here and sleep. But if you're going to go meet them," He paused, letting his words hang in the air as he went through his luggage. He began to remove rectangular boxes wrapped in manila paper and tied with strings, and gathered them all in a pile. He lifted them up and neatly arranged them so he could carry them easier with his arms, "I'll join you. Makes giving these gifts easier to pass around to the people who live here." He said with a look that gave him a youthful vigor in his demeanor. Doña Cielo really did think of everything when she had packed one of the luggage for him.


As he went out the door, he looked back at Vulcan.


"Where should we go first?" he asked.


@Vulcan

 

[billthesomething]

America was big. That was the first thing Océane had thought to herself when she had stepped out of the airport, and that thought had followed her all the way to the gate of the Tossed Salad complex.
America was big; or, rather, everything was bigger in America. The cars, the buildings, the people. Bigger, louder, and, hopefully, funnier. Her native Brittany was all familiar and nice, but as the bright-eyed child had grown up to a somewhat educated teenager, it had started to feel a bit... quaint. The little she had seen of the US so far, through her taxi window, didn't seem quaint at all, and even less familiar. Or at least, everything was both familiar – Modern France was very much influenced by American culture, after all – and yet uncannily foreign.


The accent was stronger than she expected, fashion looked way crazier than at home, even the coke she had bought at the airport tasted differently. Well, she knew she shouldn't be surprised – unexpected discoveries, that's what such an endeavour was for. But still, one year away from home... Oh, her parents wanted her to fly back for Christmas, sure, but that was still so many months away. There had been many tears at the airport back home; but that was now twelve hours away.


Océane had been too nervous to sleep most of the trip, and now was feeling a weird mixture of jetlag – why was it the afternoon? It was dusk when she boarded the plane – and excitement. This was it. The US. Tossed Salad. Her year abroad.


She was there. She was actually there. For real. There was no mistaking it – this was going to be great. She couldn't wait to meet all the new people, hear all the foreign tales and try all the novelty this chance of a lifetime had to offer.


With light steps, pulling her two bulky luggages behind her, she entered the complex, crossing the garden. She almost stopped to take pictures – she had snapped as many as she could with her phone on the way to the complex – but decided to unpack first. She'd have one whole year to take pictures of the garden, the trees, the building itself, the bedroom, the everything. But this was the beginning of a new adventure, and she knew how important those were. First impressions were key.


Stepping through the complex, she had a good look around. Everything seemed clean and nice, welcoming; but she had no idea where to go next. Well, it was time to meet her new neighbours.


“Hello!” She called in a clear voice, her accent a sweet mix of French and school-learnt British, “Anyone home?”

@Anyone

"Hallo" Jor held his empty hand up to greeted the strangely loud woman, he had just returned from buying some groceries, which had been a good time he got looks from women and a few men due to his near shirtless state only wearing a wife beater "Are you part of this um?" the word had slipped his mind before he snapped his finger remembering the word "Exchange program?"

 

[SomatoToup123]

Instead of just answering him, the other boy started fumbling over his words and grabbed the notebook. It was as if his words fell on deaf ears! Asad's mind started drifting to other places, suddenly losing interest in the conversation, before his roommate was showing him a notebook page. It stated "I'm deaf; I need you to speak very slowly or write things down." Asa looked down a few lines and noticed, "I'm Eli." Now, he had a choice, Asa could go the easy way, and write things down, or he could speak slowly. The problem with writing things down was that it was time consuming and he would probably forget what he was writing down. But the problem with talking slowly was that he'd get completely bored half-way through and want to do something else. So, instead of answering, Asa shrugged his shoulders and said, "Cool," slow enough so Eli could hear. He handed back the notepad and went back over to his bed. Asad maybe could have took another nap, but now that he was up, he actually wanted to explore the building a bit. He stood up and made his way to the door, not before looking behind him to Eli. "Do you want to," It took him a second to remember. Instead of saying his whole statement, he chose the most important words, "Explore the building." Asa said slowly. Hopefully that was enough to get him to understand, because Asa was almost out the door and it felt so tempting to just continue walking and not stop.


@PenguinFox

 

[ElectraHeart]

Nova nodded quickly an exuberant smile forming on her face. "Yes, correct!" She walked back over to her bed and started putting her things away again. Nova looked to the boys, suppressing a smile. "Vell if you'll excuse me, I am in the mood for a snack." (@Bea @MatthewChastain) She pardoned herself and walked into the hallway towards the kitchen. Although she wasn't very hungry, she had felt that she should, however, stretch her legs. She had been sitting in the cab, and was sitting for awhile before that. As she was walking towards the kitchen she decided that she wanted some fresh air. Nova walked outside, looking around she started down a path, noticing a garden. When she got to the area she sat down, enjoying some peace and quiet.

 

[Rat]

Saint Alexander Pierce

He smiled a little, his legs sore from sitting down so long "So...Matthieu, Would you like to get something to eat with me?" he asked with a cute grin as he shoved his hands in his pockets, Feeling a little nervous that it came off as weird as he'd just met him but tried to shrug it off

@MatthewChastain
​

 

[MatthewChastain]

"I..uh..sure. I could eat." he smiled getting out of his bed."just let me get changed first.." (@Bea

 

[Rat]

Saint Alexander Pierce

He nodded and moved so he was leaning against the wall in the hallway as he waited, pulling his phone out of his pocket to flip through his tumblr with an annoyed face. His friends back home were partying and drinking, Without him. The guy he was crushing on back home also uploaded a photo of him kissing another guy which also made Saint sad. He sighed and shoved the phone back in his pocket and stared down at his socks while wiggling his toes

@MatthewChastain
​

 

[MatthewChastain]

Mathieu looked through the drawers pulling out a shirt and a pair of shorts at random,he took off his clothes throwing the new ones on. Placing his old ones on his bed for later. He walked out into the hallway fixing his hair. "ready..and,I like your socks too. Cute."

 

[Rat]

Saint Alexander Pierce

He blinked and blushed lightly at the dark haired boys comment "T-Thanks shorty" he muttered as he looked away, suddenly realizing how short the boy actually was in comparison, He was over a whole foot shorter. He began walking down the hallway and glanced over at him "So what kind of food do you like?" he asked curiously with his hands in his grey jean pockets

@MatthewChastain
​

 

[MatthewChastain]

He scoffed at his "shorty" remark but laughed at it. "Well,I like lots of foods..but a few I like very much um..fish,eggs,lots of different meats..stuff like that." He looked up at him."you?"


(@Bea