from America

memo to self: it's the blue container that holds the real coffee with caffeine, NOT the red one which is 50% caffeinated.

Half caffeinated=half awake=half pleasant.

Greetings from America.

German translation - Schwimmkerzen

I was going through the store adverts and happened to notice Schwimmkerzen at Ikea.

Normally I don't give most German works a second glance, as they seem so clear and orderly in their logic.

This one gave me pause, however, because I had only learned
'Schwimmen = to swim' and
'Kerzen = candles'.
So literally 'Schwimmkerzen = Swimming candles'

But in reality they are not swimming, they're floating, so more passive than active.

If you go and ask Leo for 'to float' in German you'll get a plethora of translations in a variety of connotations, including 'Schwimmen'. If you putz around long enough, you'll find
'Schwimmen = to be afloat'

How about 'floaten' then? 'Floaten = to float' but in a financial sense.
'Floessen'? 'Floessen = to drive, to float, to raft' which sound rather in control of your water ways.

Hmm. I'm left with an uneasy feeling, as 'swimming' and 'floating' are two entirely different actions, so something seems off to me by having one general 'catch all' word in German.

Or what do I miss here?

comment posting is back....

i had broken it putting up a new profile photo. (oops) it's hard to believe i make my living working with computers all day long.

Packing it up

It's the last weekend before I leave for the US, so plenty to do. At least the weather finally feels like winter, the car tells me it was 2.5 C when I was driving to work today. Fortunately D leaves on a work trip Sunday and then goes directly to the US where we meet up again on Thursday. Therefore I can be uninterrupted in my packing frenzy that late this weekend through early next week will certainly be. Also, it's time for the semi-annual bottle return clean-up.

The packing should be easy this year, since I plan to do a lot of shopping with my euros. It's not so easy though, on the return trip packing, since earlier this year the US Postal service simplified their international shipping offerings, and removed the slow, but cheap boat shipping in favor of the more expensive air option. So everything will be fitting in the suitcase this year and purchasing will need to be limited.

The spirit of Christmas

H: Look what I found in the recycle bin while throwing out my newspapers. Pretty barely used wrapping paper and ribbon. It was probably for St. Nick's day. Score!

D: Do you really need to be picking out of the trash?

H: It's not the trash, it's the recycle bin. I'm going to wrap my Nana's gift in it. She'll love it.

D: How much do you love your Nana, to give her trash-picked ribbon?

H: Nana grew up during the depression and taught me everything I know about trash-picking. She'll be so proud. Besides, being green is in this year.

D: (Sigh)

This Wednesday at 11.45 AM

Feel free to mentally have a glass of champagne with me and throw some confetti; it will be the ending time of my last German class.

The company has generously paid for quite a few Berlitz hours while I've been here. It's paid off to the effect that I can generally understand what goes on the office, and that is sufficient for what I need at this time. I spend 8+ hours a day/5 days per week there, so that is the bulk of my time in Germany.

Sometimes I marvel at the fact that my vocabulary is so far skewed to office words. I knew the words for 'works council', 'interface', 'department', and 'woman boss' long before I knew basics like 'toothpaste,' 'toilet paper,' and 'Sunday shopping'.

Although I did pick up 'toilet brush' quite early by studying the various 'informational' cartoons in the office ladies' bathroom. Not sure why these 'public service announcements' must always be accompanied by a cartoon in Germany. I've been tempted to sneak into the mens' room to see if they have the same or similar, but never did. ;-)