My good friends have come for a visit and now have left again. They are currently on a world trip - traveling east from Germany to Newfoundland. I was but a brief resting point while they switched modes of transport to suit the new (more expensive) continent. (Up until now, they have done the trip by motorcycle, but they've switched to a van for North America, due to how expensive both motorcycles and accommodation are.)
If any of you are curious, my friends have a website: http://unleashyouradventure.com/
Here are some things I have learned from their visit:
1. It's nice to have optimists around - unabashed optimists who believe that anything is achievable as long as you think outside the box. "I'm sorry, Alix, but we have fixed your life" the German said to me on their 4th day here, after ordering me to switch contracting companies and move to Berlin by the fall. (It's not going to happen due to many reasons, but the fact remains that it technically is possible.) I laughed, "Don't apologize. I obviously need the help."
2. Everything sounds better in German (or when spoken with a Newfoundland accent).
Even the German speaking to the whiny dog sounded better than when I said the exact same thing in English. "Hör mal auf, Mango, das Leben ist nicht so schlimm." (Cut it out, Mango, life is not that bad.)
3. The best house-guests are fellow computer-geek introverts...or maybe just my friends, because I didn't not have to cook a single meal while they were here, nor wash dishes, nor buy groceries. The German even taught me how to make a very delicious potato dish. That all being said, I feel like I've gained 5 pounds.
4. The easiest way to not sleep in every single morning is to have a dog that you must walk (or house-guests that must walk their dog.)
5. If you plan a day's activity around the idea that you need to wear out a dog - you will inevitably end up wearing out yourself as well.
If any of you are curious, my friends have a website: http://unleashyouradventure.com/
Here are some things I have learned from their visit:
1. It's nice to have optimists around - unabashed optimists who believe that anything is achievable as long as you think outside the box. "I'm sorry, Alix, but we have fixed your life" the German said to me on their 4th day here, after ordering me to switch contracting companies and move to Berlin by the fall. (It's not going to happen due to many reasons, but the fact remains that it technically is possible.) I laughed, "Don't apologize. I obviously need the help."
2. Everything sounds better in German (or when spoken with a Newfoundland accent).
Even the German speaking to the whiny dog sounded better than when I said the exact same thing in English. "Hör mal auf, Mango, das Leben ist nicht so schlimm." (Cut it out, Mango, life is not that bad.)
3. The best house-guests are fellow computer-geek introverts...or maybe just my friends, because I didn't not have to cook a single meal while they were here, nor wash dishes, nor buy groceries. The German even taught me how to make a very delicious potato dish. That all being said, I feel like I've gained 5 pounds.
4. The easiest way to not sleep in every single morning is to have a dog that you must walk (or house-guests that must walk their dog.)
5. If you plan a day's activity around the idea that you need to wear out a dog - you will inevitably end up wearing out yourself as well.
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But I can leave my comments in German from now on... :P
Sounds like you had a great time. That's one long trip your friends are making there!
My friends have been travelling since last summer! They're planning to be in Newfoundland in June...so it'll be about a year total for the trip.
My best friend and I once figured out that English is the best for singing, German is the best for poetry, and French is the best for saying romantic things (if it's France-French) or swearing (if it's Canadian-French.) :P
English is the best for swearing if you have a Scottish or Irish accent. :P
We also used to play the fun game of matching up European languages with their Middle-Earth counterparts. ;)
Oh now you are going to have to share. :P
I think we had the Dwarves speaking German...the Elves may have been Gaelic (or possible French - or possibly that was an argument between us.) "Common"/Humans spoke English, of course, because that was our mutual language so it made sense. And man...I cannot remember the rest. :P
Edited at 2012-03-28 06:54 pm (UTC)
Elvish is based on... Welsh (Sindarin) and I think Finnish (Quenya), so Gaelic/Irish isn't so far off! And then the Rohan language (Rohirric?) has an Old English base, ewhich makes the songs awesome. I have no idea about Dwarvish, but I think German is a good parallel!
Which I now want to watch, now I've mentioned them. Dammit.
I hope you have a great trip. I'm a little jealous. :)
Not Sam'n'Dean they don't!!
LOL
I hope your dad's tendom heals up soon so that you can get another dog!
Thanks. :)
(She's always hated learning languages though, mostly, I think, because she's a perfectionist and can't stand the thought of having an accent or getting her tenses wrong.)
Sounds like a fun visit though. And your friends' dog is adorable!
I sympathize with your sister though - I'm also a perfectionist and it's really hard to get over the self-consciousness of knowing that you are speaking a language a)with a huge accent that you can't get rid of, and b)incorrectly. It helps though, to think of all the people you know who speak English with an accent, or slightly incorrectly, and how you never give a damn about it. ;)