Katie the Conversationalist

For the last three months or so, a group of us from the apartment have been taking Lao classes. Our teacher Nou is amazing, even if some of us are really slow. Lao is hard!
(And I'm sure it will be plenty helpful after we move back to the States... Not.)

The most useful things we have learned are how to purchase things- numbers, haggling, ordering food, that kind of thing. But we've also learned some really basic phrases.

10 basic Lao phrases:

"Sabaidee" - hello
"Sabaidee bo" - how are you
"Khop jai" - thank you
"Hong nam" - bathroom
"Kah tote" - excuse me, sorry
"Koi seu Katie" - my name is Katie
"Jao dee" - and you?
"An nii maaen yang huu jak" - nice to meet you
"Tao dai" - how much?
"Jao wow paa saa ang git bo" - do you speak English?

Anyway, since I'm finally able to string words together into super basic sentences, I've started using my Lao more. More often than not this results in me screwing up in Lao, getting embarrassed, then pantomiming what I really want (lots of pointing and head nods or shakes).

But today I got a massage at Champa and speaking a little Lao to my masseuse.
How it went down:
I got confused on the way up to the massage room and went the wrong way.
Me: "Oh, kah tote!" (Sorry! /excuse me!)
Masseuse: "(Something something something) jao wow paasaa lao" (Something something something do you speak Lao?)
Me: "Uh... nyit noi" (a little) [This is where I screwed up. I don't really speak lao. I should really just say no.]
Masseuse: (Something something something for about 5 minutes. I understood none of it)

Then later, at the end of the massage in which I had fallen asleep.
Masseuse: "(Something) may bo" ("bo" means "yes?", and is asked as a question.)
Me: "Uh... may bo?"
Masseuse: "(Something) may bo"
Me: "Uh... [in English] yes the massage was very good...?"

And then there was an awkward silence for three minutes as I tried to figure out what she said.
And then I figured it out.
Me: "OH MY GOD! Muuay bo! Tired! Yes! Jao! I was tired! Muuay bo!"
Masseuse: *Awkward laugh*
Me: "Uh... (pointing to door) Aa jan goes muuay... jao says may" (My teacher says "muuay", you say "may")
Masseuse: "Jao (something) aa jan" (are you a teacher?)
Me: "What? No. Bo."

More awkwardness. She tried to say goodbye to me later but I was still flustered from the earlier mix-up.