Fantastic!

Fantastic! Unbelievable! Wonderful! Fabulous! Awesome!

I have been teaching my ESL students different ways to say very good.

Every morning I ask them how they are. If they say, "Very good," or "Fine, thank you," I ask them again and again until they say one of these words. Once in awhile I get "Tanfastic" instead of fantastic, but just saying these words has made the class a more positive environment.

I'm sure all of the students and many of my teacher colleagues will remember me every time they hear the word fantastic.

I know some of my other verbal mannerisms have stuck on people. When I was with Softball Canada and the Canadian Association of Journalists, if I had a question, I would raise my hand and say "question". Many of my board members started immitating me.

It's funny how we associate words and things with people. It can be something as simple as yellow Volkswagons, almonds, a certain brand of perfume, but the most amusing one in my life is our toilet.

We just had a low-flush toilet installed in our home. It reminds me of our friend Goksel Kortay in Turkey. What on earth would be the association between this lovely woman and plumbing? It was made in Turkey. So every time I flush, along with the water, the memories of Goksel are flushed into my mind and I immediately start sending kind thoughts her way.