F2F Class Notes (Nemo) [R]

This story started in November. In November i went to France to choose my wedding dress and when i found it I explained to the vendor, “I don’t live in France and the only time i will come back is in August” and she answered me “we are closed for 3 weeks in August”, so OMG when can i pick up my dress back? and she told me ” no problem, the last week in August we are open”. “Are you sure you have time to ajust my dress? “I put your appointment in my scedule so don’t worry”. She reassured me. When I went to France in August I called the shop to confirm if my dress was et the shop. I had an appointment on the 30th of August and when I arrived front of the shop, the shop was closed. I thought, I’m early, so I wait 10 minutes with my friend and my husband who accompanied us. After 10 minutes later, I tried to call the shop, nobody answered, afer 30 minutes i was verry stressed, I started to ask everyone around this shop if they knew at what time this shop opened because there was no sign on the door. I don’t know how many shops i visited, maybe 25, horrible, because i tried to find soumething or somebody who knew the owner and if they had a phone number or something because my appointment was at 2 o’clock and at 3 o’clock no news. I was completely desperate. y friend continued searching and i stayed with my husband. I cound’t cry… I don’t know how to explain thsi feeling…
So after may voice messages and facebook messages my friend Claire found one person who contacted the owner and after this never-ending hour, the owner called my friend. His only explaination was ” my shop assistant was on holiday and she didn’t open the shop, sorry. I will arrive in one hour.” After he arrived with seamsdress. Finally I was reasure. I argue because it was unacceptable to work like this and specially in wedding dress. Wedding dress is the most important in one mariage. He aswered me ” you wait only hours” I continued to argue but i stop the conversation because I just want my dress and I don’t carre about his bad business. After adjusted my dress he killed me a 2nd time “sorry, i don,t have cover for your dress only one dirty” is he kidding me? NO. I took my dress and I left.Now, I need to write may bad comments in social média to explain my misfortune/ unlucky and do bad avertissement for them.

This story started in November. In November i went to France to choose my wedding dress and when i found it I explained to the vendor, “I don’t live in France and the only time i will come back is in August” and she answered me “we are closed for 3 weeks in August”, so OMG when can i pick up my dress back? and she told me ” no problem, the last week in August we are open”. “Are you sure you have time to adjust my dress? “I put your appointment in my schedule so don’t worry”, she reassured me. When I went to France in August I called the shop to confirm if my dress was at the shop. I had an appointment on the 30th of August and when I arrived in front of the shop, the shop was closed. I thought, I’m early, so I wait 10 minutes with my friend and my husband who accompanied us. After 10 minutes later, I tried to call the shop, nobody answered, after 30 minutes i was very stressed, I started to ask everyone around this shop if they knew at what time this shop should be opened because there was no sign at the door. I don’t know how many shops i visited, maybe 25, horrible, because i tried to find something or somebody who knew the owner and if they had a phone number or something because my appointment was at 2 o’clock and at 3 o’clock still no news. I was completely desperate. My friend continued searching and i stayed with my husband. I couldn’t cry… I don’t know how to explain this feeling…
So after many voice messages and Facebook messages my friend Claire found a person who contacted the owner and after this never-ending hour, the owner called my friend. His only explanation was ” my shop assistant was on holiday and she didn’t open the shop, sorry. I will arrive in one hour.” After he arrived with seamstress. Finally I was at peace. I argued because it was unacceptable to work like this and specially in wedding dress business. Wedding dress is the most important thing in one’s wedding. He answered me ” you wait only two hours” I continued to argue but i stop the conversation because I just wanted my dress and I don’t care about his bad business. After seamstress adjusted my dress he killed me a 2nd time “sorry, i don,t have a new cover for your dress only one dirty” is he kidding me? NO. I took my dress and I left. Now, I had to write many bad comments in social media to explain my misfortune/ unlucky and do bad advertisement for them.

Soft European cheese has fallen on hard times in China. Customs officials have banned a host of soft, mould-ripened cheese for containing “too much bacteria”, with authorities reportedly alarmed the mould contained colonies of bacteria that had not been officially approved.

The ban mainly affects French and Italian cheese, including brie, camembert, gorgonzola and roquefort, as well as the English delicacy stilton.

Sinodis, a distributor of foreign-based cheeses in Shanghai, sent a letter to customers announcing “cheese products containing certain moulds cannot temporarily be imported in China”. The company has stopped importing a laundry list of nearly 50 kinds of cheese since 23 August. The ban started in July in some cities, but was expanded nationwide this week.
“There is no good reason for the ban, because China considers the same cheese safe if produced in China,” William Fingleton, a spokesman for the delegation of the European Union to China, said in an email. “This effectively means that China is banning famous and traditional European cheeses that have been safely imported and consumed in China for decades. The entire Chinese market for soft cheeses is now closed.”

China imported more than £300m of cheese last year, according to customs data, but the statistics do not specify which varieties made up the bulk of that. Most of the strong, pungent cheeses affected by the ban are unpopular with Chinese people and are mostly consumed by foreign residents.

The news sent expats scrambling to buy cheese from remaining stocks. Online cheese shop Cheese Republic said in statement confirming the ban: “In my opinion: no bacteria = fake cheese.”
Chinese health regulations permit only a few types of bacteria in dairy products, but there is an exemption for “cultures that are traditionally used for food production”. That exemption does not apply to imported goods, but it is not clear what made authorities crackdown on cheese now.

Vocabulary

bulk (n): 1-something or someone that is very large:
E.g.: She eased her large bulk out of the chair.

pungent (adj): 1-A pungent smell or taste is very strong, sometimes unpleasantly strong:
E.g.: the pungent whiff of a goat
E.g.: I sat down to a cup of wonderfully pungent Turkish coffee.

crackdown (n): 1-a situation in which someone starts to deal with bad or illegal behaviour in a more severe way:
E.g.: There has been a series of government crackdowns on safety in factories.