I was standing by the pretzel stand enjoying a pretzel, when I suddenly heard:
‘Miss, Miss, did you speak German to her to buy that pretzel?’ and without waiting for my answer, to the pretzel-lady: ‘Did she speak German to you?’
‘No’ the pretzel lady answered politely, which only encouraged the little buggers.
‘Are you German?’
‘No, I’m not’.
‘Oh, cause she’s our German teacher. Where are you from then?’
‘I’m Polish.’
‘Oh my God! She’s Polish too! Miss, Miss, speak Polish to her! Go on then Miss!’
At which point I smiled apologetically at the pretzel lady and satisfied their request: ‘Sorry’ I said ‘School trip…’.
Showing posts with label German. Show all posts
Showing posts with label German. Show all posts
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
I have been tagged!
It is always nice to find out that people read your musings – especially when the main reason for your blog is to stay in touch with all those people you love but are far away from, as it is the case for yours truly. Consequently, I was thrilled to find myself tagged by Tasha – I didn’t know she was reading, and now I do, and that makes me happy.
So first my 7 random facts:
1) I love random facts. Like that the Earth is 0.02 degrees hotter during full moon. Like that in France technically it is illegal for a woman to wear trousers (except when riding a horse or a bike) because of a law dated 1892 that was never abolished. Like that apparently coffee drinkers have sex more often than people who don’t drink coffee.
2) I share my birthday with, among others, John Coltrane, Ray Charles and Eurypides (although I sincerely do not know how did Wikipedia people manage to figure it out for that last one).
3) My very favourite place in the entire world are Tatra mountains in Poland (Zakopane). Any mountains make me happy, but there is just something about these particular peaks that makes it a true soul asylum for me. No demons can go there.
4) I sing most of the time. I try to keep it in my head when in public, but I quite often fail.
5) I love garlic sandwiches. One of the best things about being sick when I was little was my dad making them for me (cause garlic boosts up your defences and you’re sick in bed, so no one cares if you sweat it out and stink). Take a slice of bread, butter it, put chopped up raw garlic on it and finish off with some salt. Yum. (I have just made some for Manpreet, as she’s poorly and off work, she was sceptical at first but then loved them).
6) I can’t sleep without my stuffed dog. What can I say – a 25 years long habit is not easily lost. Not that I’ve tried though.
7) My favourite season is winter. Even if it is not snowing, although of course it is much better with snow. There is something about the crispness of the winter air that makes you feel more alive and makes everything sharper and more there. And then there are the evenings, dark and cold, which make your home and bed even cosier than usual.
And now for the tagging –
Tasha has already tagged some of the blogs I would have tagged, but there’s still one by an old friend of mine Ewelina and Carina’s culinary pages, and then some by people I don’t know but whose writing I enjoy: Annie Rhiannon, Morning Coffee, German Joys. I know it's not 7 but that's all I've got.
So first my 7 random facts:
1) I love random facts. Like that the Earth is 0.02 degrees hotter during full moon. Like that in France technically it is illegal for a woman to wear trousers (except when riding a horse or a bike) because of a law dated 1892 that was never abolished. Like that apparently coffee drinkers have sex more often than people who don’t drink coffee.
2) I share my birthday with, among others, John Coltrane, Ray Charles and Eurypides (although I sincerely do not know how did Wikipedia people manage to figure it out for that last one).
3) My very favourite place in the entire world are Tatra mountains in Poland (Zakopane). Any mountains make me happy, but there is just something about these particular peaks that makes it a true soul asylum for me. No demons can go there.
4) I sing most of the time. I try to keep it in my head when in public, but I quite often fail.
5) I love garlic sandwiches. One of the best things about being sick when I was little was my dad making them for me (cause garlic boosts up your defences and you’re sick in bed, so no one cares if you sweat it out and stink). Take a slice of bread, butter it, put chopped up raw garlic on it and finish off with some salt. Yum. (I have just made some for Manpreet, as she’s poorly and off work, she was sceptical at first but then loved them).
6) I can’t sleep without my stuffed dog. What can I say – a 25 years long habit is not easily lost. Not that I’ve tried though.
7) My favourite season is winter. Even if it is not snowing, although of course it is much better with snow. There is something about the crispness of the winter air that makes you feel more alive and makes everything sharper and more there. And then there are the evenings, dark and cold, which make your home and bed even cosier than usual.
And now for the tagging –
Tasha has already tagged some of the blogs I would have tagged, but there’s still one by an old friend of mine Ewelina and Carina’s culinary pages, and then some by people I don’t know but whose writing I enjoy: Annie Rhiannon, Morning Coffee, German Joys. I know it's not 7 but that's all I've got.
Friday, 20 June 2008
Guantanamera
Yesterday night I found out that the predilection for Guantanamera’s melody for football-related chants is not an exclusive oddity of Polish supporters. The Germans use it too. And possibly other nations as well, I just haven’t yet had an occasion to observe it, or maybe I have but it didn’t catch my attention at the time. As Wikipedia explains (you’ve got to love Wikipedia), Guantanamera is actually a Cuban patriotic song. What Wikipedia fails to explain however, is how did it become so popular among football fans – my guess is that the melody is catchy and easily accommodates football related phrases in any language.
So it would seem that Guantanamera is a common element in all national football cultures. The difference I have noticed is that as far as the Poles had several different versions of their Guantanamera-based chants and enthusiastically sang them all through the game as a way of encouraging their team, the Germans sang it only after the game to express their exhilaration with the game’s outcome and their belief in the ultimate victory.
Other than that – God, my drunken German is good. I only wish my sober version of it was better!
So it would seem that Guantanamera is a common element in all national football cultures. The difference I have noticed is that as far as the Poles had several different versions of their Guantanamera-based chants and enthusiastically sang them all through the game as a way of encouraging their team, the Germans sang it only after the game to express their exhilaration with the game’s outcome and their belief in the ultimate victory.
Other than that – God, my drunken German is good. I only wish my sober version of it was better!
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