a not very thorough recap

The family flew home on Sunday after a little over a week's vacation here in the German-speaking world. 


We saw lots and lots of "neat things" as my nephew would say. 


I am sure I will do some posts about where we went and what we did in the near future. However, since I am in the middle of finishing up some plans for my next visitor who is arriving on Friday, I just have some random pictures of things I saw while on the trip. 

 And last but OH SO CERTAINLY not least on this list of things I have seen in the past week...

This just in from the "Facebook needs to chill" department...

As a single girl you try to ignore the fact that facebook ads seem to think you are sad, desperate, and/or needy. None of which I feel are true. Most days. 

Unfortunately, this was on the side of my screen the other day, or last month. Same thing.

Let's start at the top shall we?

-The first one (with the snuggly smug couple) asks the question "Who is right for me?" or if you want to think about it in the literal German way..."Who fits with me?"

-Next we have "Dates without Disaster" ....as if you couldn't figure that out. What to say about this one? I can't even...I just...whatever.

-Does facebook really think I am going to haul my butt up to Warth to see a band called "Creepy Flaesh"? That will be a no.

-Fleurcup? Grossed out! I don't care if it comes in 6 colors and 2 sizes. Subjecting me to this ad is terrible. I can't help but assume they think I am some monster lady with wicked PMS. 

-Last but not least, because I evidently am bound to become a crazy pet lady for the rest of my life due to my semi-recent relationship status change, I can win a year's supply of pet food. Are we even kidding?

Facebook. Listen. I am just glad I don't think of myself the way you do.

p.s. I'll be doing some serious traveling the next few weeks. The next blog might be a while. Or not. We will see.

Language Learners Say the Darndest Things

So, I need to preface this by saying that I share these because I think they are cute and amusing. Lord knows if someone collected a list like this of just my funny mistakes in the German language it would be a much longer post than this, indeed. I would welcome it actually. I am sure I say a lot of funny things.


That said... 


Here are some quotes from students of mine:


"How do you spell Miley Cyrus?" 
I laughed so hard that question was being asked it took everything to actually get it together and answer her.


"Why is for you 'baby' deal-breaker?"
I went on a rant to my students how I HATE when couples call each other "baby" and how that is a deal-breaker for me. I wrote the new vocab. word "deal-breaker" on the board and explained it. Yet, one student had missed the details of the story and then asked that.


"I am went at 3 p.m. to Nina's to make a pajama party."
We were playing the game Alibi and this was one girl's story. A classic. The story went on to tell how they went to McDonalds in the pajamas and watched all of the Harry Potter movies but skipped the "scary" parts.


"What is your favorite shampoo?"
I was teaching with the little kids, i.e. first year of English, for the first time. They had prepared questions to ask me. This was a funny favorite of mine.


"Do you like assasaurs? (pronounced ass-ah-sores)"
This is from the same class of first year students. So I have to give her props for trying to be adventurous. What she was trying to say was "Do you like accessories?".


"Our teacher is only always confused."
To be fair, I kind of agree with them. I teach with something like 17 or 18 teachers and she is by far the least organized. 


"I drive today with the bus to school."
My students do this so often, it has become one of my pet peeve mistakes. It's perfectly logical for a German speaker, but still.


"I am writing a test for my teacher."
No, the teacher is not helping the student cheat by allowing them to write the test for themselves and their classmates. In German there is the same word for "take a test" and "write" a test. This is easily confused, even among teachers. I have just gotten used to it. So much so, that it doesn't even really sound wrong anymore.


"What means?"
Instead of "What does ____ mean?" This is also super common.


In a lesson on 2012 and whether or not it will be better than 2011, students had to fill out a chart. On of the columns dealt with their hopes for this year in a variety of categories. Here were the class responses:


You- I hope I pass my exams.
Austria-I hope Austria has happiness.
Earth-I hope there is no rain in the Summer.
War- I hope there is peace in the world.


Spoken just like pageant girls.


And now for quite possibly the best one...


The lesson was on the Occupy Wall Street protests and a variety of provacative pictures, cartoons, and photos from both sides of the debate were used to get them talking. One group had a political cartoon in support of the protesters and their other photograph was of a sign taken at the protest. 


They were given the following two pictures:

source

source

And their summary included this:

"The protesters are being arrested not the executives. However, Obama is not like Jesus."

There are more. Unfortunately, I can't always remember what they were by the end of the day. Just trust that my days are very entertaining.

That's just ridiculous.

Here are some things I have found to be ridiculous this week.

This snow...yes, that is me standing there completely dwarfed by the snow wall.

This face...I really didn't remember trying very hard for the bouquet. This picture says otherwise.

...and last but not least in the "most ridiculous items of the week" list are these ridiculous gems.

I love The Hunger Games as much as the next girl but come on people.

etsy

etsy

"When God fearin' women get the blues..."

Yes, the title is a reference to a Martina song.


Occasionally times are just a little hard, ya know?


This is what I do to chase away the blues:


1. Watch the entire Sophia Grace & Rosie channel on Ellen's Youtube channel.

2. Read the travel blogs of people way cooler than I'll ever be and, of course, read Jaunted as well. I have been reading Jaunted.com for years now. It tells you exciting things like when airlines have new routes and the antics of the TSA. Dorky, I know. As far as travel blogs I like, there are simply too many to list. Most have awesome pictures of far away places. My to-travel-to list grows longer the more I read. It's a blessing and a curse, really.


3. Researching Hunger Games news really drives the blues away. I like to check http://www.myhungergames.com/category/news  
like I check my facebook.


4. Skype with my nephew and my nieces. Warms a heart right up!


5. Read funny ecards at www.someecards.com

6. Remember where I live and what my job is.

7. Go skiing with no one else except your iPod. I may or may not have jammed out to the title of this post while flying down the slopes. There was a lot of Beyonce in the playlist, too.

8. Make a yummy dinner to eat while watching Friends DVDs.

9. Hey Girl Teacher! is my favorite of these memes. A couple favorites that have made me laugh over and over again...

10. Watch reality t.v. shows with strong cult followings through really sketchy back channel means and then read the recaps over at ew.com.

11. Listen to this song on repeat:

(ignore picture of random asian lady obviously auditioning for American Idol...haha)

12. Remembering these:

Hey! That was 12 things, which just happens to be my favorite number! Look how that worked out!