INSTITUTO SUPERIOR

“JOSEFINA CONTTE”

PROFESORADO DE INGLÉS
UNIDAD CURRICULAR: Lengua y Contexto
PROFESORA: Prof. Vallejos
CICLO LECTIVO 2017
CUARTO AÑO
FECHA: 01/03/18
TRABAJO FINAL
ALUMNA:
María Sol Torres DNI 39190126

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INDEX
Introduction……………………p. 1
Case of study………………….. p. 2
Analysis……………………….. p. 3
Conclusion……………………. p. 11
References……………………. p. 12
Appendix……………………… p. 13

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INTRODUCTION
Communication is key to a good relationship, whether friendly or romantic.
Nevertheless, a problem may arise when people that speak different languages meet.
However, that does not constitute a barrier for communicating.
Many people confront the dilemma of not knowing how to approach someone they
like or want to be friends with because they do not share the same mother tongue.
Nonetheless, they may take into account the fact that cross-cultural relationships
often result in new love and friendship languages or pidgins. Intro definition and
source please.
Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify, describe, analyze and explain the
different sociolinguistic phenomena related to cross-cultural communication
occurring in the context chosen.
To accomplish this, the theoretical framework used will be provided by New
Zealander sociolinguist Janet Holmes in her book ‘An Introduction to Sociolinguistics’
from 2012.
What is more, for better understanding, the paper will be divided in three sections.
First, the case of study will be described. Then, an analysis of it will be presented
considering the theory. Finally, a conclusion as regards the results of the analysis will
be displayed.
Please build paragraphs of 4 or 5 sentences each.

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CASE OF STUDY
The sociolinguistic analysis will be carried out on different scenes from Val’, the
advertisement of the Spanish beer brand Estrella Damm from 2015 directed by
Alejandro Aménabar. The short is starred by American actress Dakota Johnson as
Rachel and Spanish actor Quim Gutiérrez as Víctor. Moreover, the brief film lasts 12
minutes but particularly six extracts of dialogues presented are to be taken into
consideration comparing them with the theoretical framework provided by Holmes.
As for Estrella Damm, it is the oldest and most well-known beer brand in Spain.
Furthermore, every summer the brand’s marketing managers think of and share a
short film that serves as a publicity spot for the beer since it acknowledges known
film directors and actors.
Specifically, Vale revolves around the literal and symbolic meaning of the Spanish
word while Rachel, an American tourist, travels to Ibiza in Spain and meets a group
of Spanish people that welcomes and invites her to spend quality time with them. As
well as this, what the brief film emphasizes is cross-cultural differences represented
mainly by the need of communication between Víctor, a halting English speaker, and
Rachel, an unskilled Spanish speaker. Not to mention that their attempts at
communicating are constantly interrupted and crushed by Víctor’s bilingual friends.
In brief, not only does the spot present comic and ironic situations marked by the
effort to communicate but it also explores the universe of branding. The books in
slant business dictionary reference? defines branding as the process involved in
creating uniqueness for a product in the consumers’ mind, mainly through
advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Therefore, there is a construction of
emotions and values attached to the product’s intrinsic attributes represented
through publicity.
Namely, most Estrella Damm spots are filmed in Ibiza and they reflect themes such
as summer, love, friendship, sharing, spontaneity and eagerness to communicate at
any cost. All of such are represented by the thought and act of drinking the brand’s
beer. Ergo, costumers wish both to recreate such scenes and to feel what the cast
experience by buying the malt beverage.

In my opinion the information about the product is more than enough. Please shorten
it if not the sociolinguist analysis loses its focus in the paper.

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 ANALYSIS
 Castilian Spanish and Catalan

The first aspect to analyze is the language used in the majority of the exchanges of the
spot. That is, Castilian Spanish. It should be noted that Castilian Spanish shares a co-
official language status Please state into a foot note whenever you introduce any
technical terms. with Catalan in Ibiza. As regards this, Holmes (2012) points out that
an official language is ‘simply a language which may be used for government business’
cites in slant (Author: year, p. 103). However, she emphasizes the fact that one
language can comply with the functions of both a national and an official lingo at the
same time. Precisely, a national language is the symbol of national unity with a political,
cultural and social influence onto it (Holmes, 2012 page nº?). In such case, Ibiza’s
national language is Catalan. This has an explanation that goes back to its origins.
Catalan was koined from Vulgar Latin in the physical space shared by France and Spain
in the 9th century. Related to this, Holmes (2012) explains that koinesation occurs when
‘people who speak different dialects come into contact in monolingual communities’
(p.212). The result is a koine. In this case, Catalan began as a koine resulted from the
mix of vernacular or vulgar forms of Latin spoken in such places. Particularly, a
vernacular language is unstandardized and does not have an official status as opposed
to a standard language (Holmes, 2012). Additionally, the koine typically has features of
each of the dialects it resulted from. However, it is the simpler linguistic forms that
usually survive through a process Holmes terms simplification (2012).
After that, Catalan became the official language in the kingdom of Aragon between
1137 and 1749 but it underwent many severe political overthrows which delayed the
language’s development. In fact, during Franco’s dictatorship (1936-1975) Catalan was
banned and so, Castilian Spanish replaced it. Whence, a process of language loss in
Catalan’s users started. According to Holmes (2012) language loss refers to ‘a
manifestation in the individual’s experience of wide-scale language death’ (p.60).
Besides, political, social and cultural factors may contribute to it as the
beforementioned dictatorship. Thus, this process is reflected in gradual loss of fluency
and competence in its speakers.
Notwithstanding, after Franco officially declared Catalonian territories as autonomous
communities in 1977, the Catalonian Government took measures to revive and
standardize Catalan. In fact, institutional support is the most important factor for
reviving and maintaining a language as it makes it possible to legislate for its use in
many domains (Holmes, 2012). Forasmuch as that, Catalan was established as the
prime language in education, politics and public life for those who chose it over
Castilian Spanish. Undoubtedly, language revival is not only encouraged by institutions
but also by the community when it becomes aware the language is in danger of
disappearing (Holmes, 2012).

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Furthermore, what is actually heard in Ibiza’s streets is what Holmes (2012) calls a
dialect or ‘a linguistic variety which is distinguishable by its vocabulary, grammar and
pronunciation’ (p.140). To be more precise, Ibiza’s locals speak a dialect named
Eivissenc which is a variety or code, that is, a unity of linguistic forms which is shaped
according to social aspects (Holmes, 2012). In other words, a variety is shaped by the
context. Correspondingly, Eivissenc represents a linguistic variation of Catalan that
differentiates from the others in its pronunciation and lexis. An instance of this is
illustrated by the different ways of saying woman, which in Catalan is muller and in
Eivissenc, madona.
Still, Ibiza’s community may be characterized as multilingual. In other words, it may be
described as a diglossic community with bilingualism. Holmes (2012) remarks that in
this type of communities ‘two languages are required to cover the full range of
domains, and most individuals are bilingual’ (p. 30). Under such circumstances, the two
languages required in Ibiza are Castilian Spanish and Catalan. What is more, around 55%
of the residents of the island -the majority- were born in Ibiza so most of them may be
bilingual to communicate in such different domains. Apart from that, 35% of the
residents are domestic migrants from mainland Spain, mostly from Catalonia. This does
not result in a language shift – the language of the wider society supplants the minority
language mother tongue - since those residents already speak Castilian Spanish and/or
Catalan. Finally, around 10% to 15% of the residents are foreign, dual or multi-national
citizens of the European Union and abroad, not to mention that the influence of
tourism and expatriates living or maintaining residences in the island results in the
widespread use of other languages such as English, French, German and Italian.
Equally important is to mention that in Ibiza the signposts on the roads are written in
Catalan rather than in Castilian Spanish. As beforementioned, Ibizans underwent
centuries of invasions and, consequently, they became patriotic and proud of Catalan
as it is part of their history and identity. As a result, Castilian Spanish may be interpreted
as the high variety in the community whereas Catalan may be thought as the low
variety. Holmes (2012) defines the high variety of language as the one that is ‘described
and fixed, or standardized, in grammar books and dictionaries’ (p.29). It is often
related to prestige and it has a symbolic high status since it is the code used in literature
and formal education, among other domains of language use. However, the low
variety is uncodified but it constitutes the best way people have to express their
feelings (Holmes, 2012). Hence, the road signs may be written in the low variety to
express the residents’ proudness of Catalan.

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 EXCHANGES

 First scene: party at the rooftop

This scene does not actually include a linguistic exchange since it mostly invites the
viewer to infer what may be happening. Nevertheless, it is possible to determine that a
party at a flat roof is taking place in Ibiza, a place usually associated with nightlife and
electronic music.
Likewise, two male friends are dancing at this party when they see a girl standing across
them looking around. On account of that, they decide to approach her and dance.

 Second scene: at the pool

Víctor (addressing his friend who is in the pool): ¿La conocisteis anoche (Rachel)?
Girl next to Víctor reproaching him: Si hubieras salido…
Víctor (looking at the man talking to Rachel): Mira ese…¿qué le estará diciendo?
Girl next to Víctor: ¡No irás a liarla (Rachel)!
Víctor to girl: ¿Qué es lo que decías que me faltaba? Carácter, ¿no?
Girl next to Víctor: EL- HABLA -INGLÉS (referring to the man talking to Rachel)
Víctor (asking his friend in the pool): ¿Hablo inglés o no hablo inglés yo?
Girl next to Víctor: ¡Al de Oxford le vas a preguntar!
Víctor to girl: ¿Te traigo una Estrella (beer)?
Girl next to Víctor: ¡Vale!

Holmes (2012) states that ‘the way people talk is influenced by the social context in
which they are talking’ (p.1). Consequently, how people use the language will convey
different social meanings. In this scene there are three friends at a pool talking about
Rachel, an American girl who is visiting Ibiza and spending time with them. To
understand the choice of code in this exchange is important to first identify the social
factors and dimensions in it. The social factors may be identified as follows:
1. The participants: Víctor, a brunette woman and another man.
2. The setting: a pool in a holiday house.
3. The topic: their new acquaintance Rachel and Víctor’s English speaking abilities.
4. The function: inform Víctor about Rachel and what is needed to approach her.
Likewise, the social dimensions of analysis are four. First, Holmes identifies a solidarity-
social distance scale useful to describe how a linguistic choice is influenced by how well
someone knows the addressee/s (2012). To give an instance, the participants of the
exchange seem to be friends and so their relationship is intimate. This is demonstrated
by high solidarity in the communicative act.
Second, the relevance of relative status of the participants involved in the exchange may
influence some language choices (Holmes, 2012). In this case, the participants share the

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 same relative status. They are not superiors nor subordinates in their friendship because
they treat one another as equals.
Third, the formality scale is described by Holmes as useful in evaluating the influence of
the formality of the social setting in the language choice (2012). Hence, it seems to be
an informal context, in between friends, marked by low formality choices of language
such as ‘¿Te traigo una Estrella (beer)?’ ‘¡Vale!’
Finally, Holmes acknowledges referential and affective uses of the language (2012).
Indeed, it may convey objective information or express feelings. However, language
choices often serve both functions at the same time although one tends to
predominate. Accordingly, the previous exchange includes both referential ‘¿La
conocisteis anoche (Rachel)?’ and affective ‘¡No irás a liarla!’ linguistic choices. Still, an
affective function may dominate the exchange because of the participants’ relationship
nature.
Additionally, this extract presents an example of what Holmes denominates
international variety, that is, differences between dialects of a language in
pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar (2012). The phrase ‘¡No irás a liarla!’ contains the
verb liar which means having an affair with someone and it is mostly used by speakers
in Spain. Nonetheless, most Argentinians, for instance, use the phrase tener una
aventura to express the same meaning rather than using the former variant. This reflects
an instance of international vocabulary variation.

 Third scene: cooking

Víctor: How...good eh? The morning…how good the cooking?

Rachel: Oh, it’s good! Do you wanna give us a hand?
Víctor: How so? -he smiles because he does not understand. -
Rachel: Do you wanna…help us?
Víctor: ‘El pan?’
Rachel: Do you wanna help? Help us cook?
Blonde girl to Víctor: Víctor anda, ¿me ayudas a poner la mesa?
Víctor to blonde girl: Vale.
Rachel to man cooking: What’s ‘vale’? What does it mean? Everybody is always saying ‘vale,
vale, vale...’
Víctor (interrupting): ‘Vale’ is for todo. When…mmm...say...it’s like, like…
Man cooking to Rachel: It just means ‘ok’.

This extract echoes both an affective (or social) function and a referential (or
informative) function. The comments on the weather and cooking as ice-breakers help
establish rapport between Víctor and Rachel, two people that are not friends yet.

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 Therefore, their relationship is still distant and the level of solidarity is low. Later, the
communicative act becomes more informative by Rachel asking ‘What’s vale?’.
In the words of Holmes, language serves a wide range of functions (2012). Particularly,
this dialogue expresses functions such as:
1. Expressive: verbalizes speaker’s feelings, e.g. 0h, it’s good! (about the morning).
2. Directive: commands to do something, e.g. Víctor anda, ¿me ayudas a poner la
mesa?
3. Referential: to utter information, e.g. It just means ‘ok’ (expressing the meaning
of vale).
4. Metalinguistic: remark upon language content itself, e.g. What’s ‘vale’? What does
it mean?
5. Phatic: utterances to establish rapport between the speakers, e.g. How...good eh?
The morning…how good the cooking?
With regard to politeness in the conversation, one aspect to consider is that of Víctor
interrupting the talk between Rachel and the cook. Indeed, research has found out that
men interrupt others more than women do (Holmes, 2012). This may be explained by
the fact that women are socialized from childhood to expect to be interrupted.
It follows that there are certain stereotypes which proclaim that women speak in a
distinguishable way comparing them to men (Holmes, 2012). Consider the case that
women tend to use ‘superpolite’ forms such as indirect requests as the one the blonde
girl uses in the exchange ‘¿me ayudas a poner la mesa?’ (would you help me set the
table?); or Rachel’s question to Víctor ‘do you wanna give us a hand?’
Likewise, the following extract displays yet other illustration of women’s language:

 Fourth scene: at the beach

Rachel to man with a cap sitting next to her talking about a music band: I think the fact they
don’t actually exist is very cool, don’t you think?
Man sitting next to her: Yes, yes.
Víctor to man sitting next to Rachel: ¿Pero tú te enteras de lo que dice (Rachel)?
Man sitting next to Rachel: ¡Qué va! Yo le digo a todo ‘yes’.

During this conversation, the participants are sunbathing and talking at the beach. What
is more, Rachel uses a tag question don’t you think?, an ‘empty’ adjective cool and an
intensifier very. All of these expose women’s usual linguistic choices (Holmes, 2012).
Also, it is clear that compared to the women in the exchanges, men use more vernacular
forms. Indeed, this has been proved scientifically (Holmes, 2012). Even so, Holmes
specifies that women tend to favor the standard form of language mainly because they
are more status-conscious than men (2012). Hence, standard speech forms are usually
regarded as prestigious.

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 Lastly, the attitude of the man sitting next to Rachel and answering ‘yes, yes’ to
everything she says without actually understanding exemplifies the presence of an
accommodation problem. This over-convergent behavior made to exaggeratedly please
Rachel may be regarded as arrogant and ingratiating or even as evidence that the man
is making fun of her. In fact, her facial expressions show surprise or misunderstanding
when hearing the man. It should be noted that facial expressions constitute non-
linguistic communication and they must be considered as part of the exchange as well
as words.

All of them-but Víctor- drinking a toast: To the house!

Brunette girl: And acknowledgement for the cook!
Cook: Thank you!
All of them but Víctor: To the cook!
Angry cook at friend trying to grab a lobster: Hey hey, ¿qué haces? ¿Qué haces hombre?
¡Estamos brindando!
Rachel: Wait, wait, wait…I wanna make a toast to you guys for this beautiful meal and… I’m
surrounded by new friends!
Víctor does not understand what Rachel says and so he asks his friends: ¿Cómo?
All of them: Thank you! -they toast- for Rachel!

 Fifth scene: drinking a toast

The previous lines start with a code-switching phenomenon from English to Spanish. The
reason for the sudden change may be that the cook speaking is expressing anger ‘hey
hey, ¿qué haces? ¿qué haces hombre? ¡Estamos brindando!’ (hey, what are you doing man?
We’re toasting!) So, he uses the lowest variety of the language he has in his linguistic
repertoire. As Holmes (2012) exclaims ‘the vernacular variety is the best way of
expressing real feelings’ (p.29).
Additionally, not only in this dialogue but in the others described, lack of solidarity
towards Víctor may be displayed by his friends speaking English in front of him
acknowledging the fact that he does not understand it well enough. In fact, he is
constantly asking his friends to translate what Rachel says or making puzzled gestures.
Specifically, the previous situation may be an example of speech divergence, the
opposite of speech convergence. Basically, the speakers deliberately diverge from the
language of one of the people involved in the exchange, that is, Víctor. It seems as his
friends have no interest in accommodating to his linguistic repertoire and finding a
variety to conform everybody (Holmes, 2012). Nevertheless, towards the end of the spot
Víctor gains confidence and either his friends translate what Rachel says for him or he
infers the meaning himself.
Equally important is to uphold the social networks reflected in this and the aforestated
communicative acts. Holmes (2012) specifies that a social network is ‘a pattern of

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 informal relationships people are involved on a regular basis’ (p.197). Thereupon,
people that surround speakers influence their speech. Explicitly, Víctor’s network is
dense because his friends are in touch with each other. That is, their friends know each
other independently of Víctor (Holmes, 2012). Apart from that, Víctor’s relationship with
the cook is multiplex. To clarify, not only are they friends but also colleagues at work. To
this extent, his interaction with the cook involves more than one dimension.
Even so, Rachel’s relationship with her new friends is uniplex since the link with them is
displayed in only one area, the friendship domain. Uniplex and multiplex relationships
illustrate what the concept of plexity covers. That is, a measure of the range of diverse
types of communicative correspondence people are involved in with different
individuals (Holmes, 2012).
By the same token, the scene reflects what appears to be a rather temporary community
of practice. This is to say, ‘the activities which groups members engage in together, and
their shared goals and attitudes’ (Holmes, 2012, p. 200). Under those circumstances, the
activities the participants engage together are usually associated with summer holidays
such as going to the beach and parties, sunbathing, drinking a beer, and the like. Besides,
such community is likely to be temporary because the situations presented in the
advertisement portray the characters enjoying summer in other place different from
their actual residences for a short period of time. However, this may change to long-
term if the participants keep in touch constantly after their vacations in Ibiza.

 Sixth scene: Víctor thinking to himself – Seventh scene: looking at the stars

Víctor thinking to himself how he would approach Rachel: Si te apetece...if apeteis you to look
the stars. I’m sorry…el inglés no…English not my fuerte...not my fort. Pero mis amigos me
traducen…my friends traduce me. Ok, my friends…my friends son lo más. Es que my friends...-
he gets tangled with a fishing net and his friends leave him behind- ¡Unos desgraciados es lo que
son my friends!

Víctor (pointing at the logo of the beer in his hand): Estrella ‘star’-he points to stars in the sky-
Do you want look here estrellas tonight conmigo?
Rachel (looking at Víctor with affection): Vale

Code-switching is the process of ‘switching codes within a domain or social situation’

(Holmes, 2012, p. 35). This definition is illustrated by Víctor’s action of switching from
Spanish to English constantly when thinking to himself and during the exchange with
Rachel. As a rule, this mixture of languages is usually known as Spanglish and it includes
the use of words without translation or wrongly translated words. In fact, Víctor may
use the mixing of codes because of his apparent lack of proficiency in the English
language which may encourage a lexical borrowing phenomenon to take place. This is a
process triggered by lack of vocabulary because there is not a word for it in the second
language or because of the lack of proficiency in it (Holmes, 2012). Namely, this

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phenomenon is reflected in the use of estrella instead of star and *fort instead of
strength.
Above all, a new love language seems to arise between Rachel and Víctor in light of their
attempts to communicate. This may be identified as a pidgin or ‘a language created from
the combined efforts of people who speak different languages’ (Holmes, 2012, p. 87).
On top of this, pidgins usually have a short life and are used for specific functions. To
clarify this, Víctor and Rachel seem to develop a pidgin to solely communicate between
them and it may last as long as they keep meeting each other.
Another aspect to highlight in this extract is the use of speech accommodation. As
stated by Holmes (2012) speech convergence occurs ‘when people talk to each other
and their speech often becomes more similar’ (p.245). In fact, this tends to happen when
the speakers like one another or where one speaker has vested interest in pleasing the
other. For instance, this is demonstrated by Víctor when he attempts to speak and think
in English as much as he can to please Rachel because he likes her. Also, this reflects
solidarity towards her. As a result, Rachel, in the role of addressee, influences Víctor’s
speaking style towards a more relaxed one. In other words, Víctor designs his speaking
style according to the audience he is addressing.
Similarly, Rachel adapts her style of speaking and, more specifically, her choice of
vocabulary to reflect comfort and show solidarity towards Víctor by using the word vale.
As beforementioned, vale is a distinctive emblematic or tag interjection which signals
Víctor’s Spanish identity. The fact that Rachel uses it reflects linguistic politeness or as
Holmes (2012) describes it ‘the use of discourse strategies or linguistic devices which are
perceived or evaluated by others as having been used to maintain harmonious relations
and avoid causing trouble’ (p.285). Furthermore, the use of the tag reflects that the
sociolinguistic norms for polite acceptance that differ cross-culturally are both
considered and respected by Rachel. Under these circumstances, Rachel is expressing
what Holmes calls a phatic function of speech to express solidarity and empathy with
others (2012). Overall, she is as well displaying speech accommodation.

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 CONCLUSION
Considering the analysis carried out, the objective stated in the introduction was
accomplished. Firstly, the different phenomena regarding cross-cultural communication
were identified in the various exchanges. Secondly, such phenomena were described as
it was displayed in the scenes. Finally, the linguistic choices made by the speakers were
analyzed and explained in light of the theory provided by sociolinguist Janet Holmes.
On the whole, this paper aimed to exemplify the fact that communication between
people that do not speak the same language is possible. Namely, as the scenes
demonstrated it, the main protagonists could understand each other by means of their
friends translating to them or by creating a love pidgin that consisted of a mix of codes
between Spanish and English.

Please expand your conclusion. You can do it!!!!

Dear Sol,
Your paper is highly promising!!! The topic is creative and ground-breaking. I have
marked some aspects related to the formality of the academic paper. Please consider
them along the whole production.
It’s really good that you have considered several aspects to analyze the exchanges.
Well done!!!!
Expand the conclusion, please.
Then send it back to me.
Best wishes,
Ms VB

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 REFERENCES

 Branding. (2018). In Business Dictionary. Retrieved from

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/branding.html

 Estrella Damm ES (2015, June 15). ‘Vale’ con Dakota Johnson y Quim Gutiérrez,

dirigida por Alejandro Aménabar. Estrella Damm 2015. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jlQiwcsV9Q

 Estrella Damm: El Branding Asociativo. (n.d.). Retrieved January 04, 2018, from

http://www.branzai.com/2012/07/estrella-damm-el-branding-asociativo.html

 Holmes, J (2012). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics .4th Edition. Essex: Pearson

Education Ltd

 Translations, P. (2017, February 02). Historia del idioma catalán. Retrieved January

04, 2018, from https://pangeanic.es/conocimiento/historia-del-idioma-catalan/

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 APPENDIX

SCENE 1: Party at the rooftop SCENE 2: At the pool

SCENE 3: Cooking

SCENE 4: Drinking a toast

SCENE 5: Thinking to himself

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 SCENE 6: At the beach

SCENE 7: Looking at the stars

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