-Some European main cities are comparable to most 3rd world countries I have visited in terms of credit card use. You are so fancy with your swipe, insert and contactless, why don't you take credit cards?
-Wifi availability is only slightly better.
-I love being "without" a phone. Yes, it's out for several thousands of pictures I have taken so far but until London I didn't have wifi unless I was waking up or going to bed. It's grand. I am going to try to institute a "no phone day" once per week at home. Let's see if I can do it.
-My kid ordering in Spanish, Portuguese and German is one of the reasons we must offer foreign languages in elementary school. Simple reason: he doesn't care what he sounds like. Case in point: we are on the train and he had already walked over there and gotten himself a water. He wanted another water but this time I said I'd join since I needed a coffee. He wouldn't let me, said he can do it, got coffee and a water and was back to the seat 3 minutes later.
One day, upon learning "refund, please" in German he was all too happy to return water bottles to collect his 75 cents in revenue.
My students who take Spanish for 3 years are always hesitant to order a dish in Spain or ask for the price. I don't think my kid is anything special, it's his age. 9yo don't care about verb conjugations and sounding silly and as a school system we fail to take advantage of that.
-Is it worth learning a language of a country you don't necessarily see yourself spending a lot of time in?
In 2004, I lived in Hamburg for several months and leading up to it took a semester of German. Motivation was high (I was going to Hamburg whether I spoke or not!), German seemed pretty attainable, the college course was intense and I loved being great at something. I went to Hamburg, dazzled locals, got made fun of for my accent, shopped at Spar and Aldi, got on buses and once stunned a local with a few sentences when he thought I knew zero German. There was a "oh shit, she knows what we are saying, WHAT HAVE WE SAID?!" look that washed over him. It was fantastic.
It's been 13 years since I visited Germany, since then I've spoken German 0 minutes of my life and as the saying goes "You don't use it, you lose it." I've loved understanding the gist of most conversations this week and would love to learn again. So here is the question: Does one ever learn a language they don't intend to use? Or is that every student of mine that doesn't see the usefulness of the class? Would it be crazy to take a German night class now? Thoughts welcome.
-Bubbles are the best form of cheap entertainment. Germans have figured this out and have placed an appropriate hippy in front of all the main attractions with a tip jar.
- I spent the week in Southern Spain drinking tinto de verano (red wine mixed with either Fanta Limón or sparkling water -blanco). In Germany, the name of the summer game is weissweinshorle (white wine mixed with sparkling water). So how come we don't do that in the US? We rarely delute our wine with anything and once I am back I am going to start. It's refreshing, tasty and you don't get a buzz. I am all in.
-Berlin (and other parts of Germany) are little Russia. It is fair to say that kid practiced more Russian on this trip then when he is in MI with grandparents. At first, he was *so* excited when he heard Russian but after weeks of Portugal/Germany/England with my brother's friends and mine, he doesn't bat an eye when he hears it. In the meantime, I think I got dumber. Behind surrounded by people that speak perfect Russian makes me self conscious and unable to tie a sentence together. Ugh.
- My kid now eats bread with butter! And puts lemon in his water! He drinks orange juice! Wow. He has tried mussels, anchovies, seabass, swordfish, blue cheese, sardines, paté and routinely ordered avocado toast with poached egg (expensive habit!) but more importantly, my food worries didn't come to fruition and there is hope for home.
- London nearly melted this week with the highest temperatures ever recorded. The eve we took the tube was described as "too hot for legal limit to transport livestock in the UK" in the newspaper. There was no AC anywhere and fans (when they were available, rarely) just don't do enough when your body temperature is above any normal degree.
Trains, boats, plane, buses, tube, taxis, cars, double deckers and horses. We have had an amazing summer and I got to share it with some friends and family all over Europe. In the end, my kid loved traveling as much as I do and impressed me with his curiosity, friendliness and openness. I loved seeing the world through his eyes, here is to many more trips together to places far and wide!
