Entry for March 21, 2007

I am filling the idle minutes on the way to the work listening to Michel Thomas' Introductory German Course on CD. It makes a pleasant change to Snow Patrol, although I have had some funny looks from adjacent drivers as I forcefully recite phrases like "Um wieviel Uhr werden Sie hier ankommen!" as I wait for the traffic lights at Asda to usher me towards work. I also have to be on the ball, to ensure I switch languages before I say hello to the reception staff, as a breezy "Morgens! Es ist schon heute!" is liable to make them bustle off to phone the Law Society's "What do I do, my boss is mad?" hot line.
Fortunately things have come on a bit since my Papa Coulson visited Germany in the 1930's. Hyper-inflation, rather than a restless spirit, was almost certainly the spur to Papa's European excursion - his meanness was such that he could not pass up the opportunity to buy a Small Burg on the Bodensee for the price of three pints of light ale.
Anyway, when I first visited Germany in the eighties, Papa lent me a battered pre-war phrase book for the trip. Sadly, some of the phrases were somewhat outdated, including translations for the following -
"You! Porter - fetch my bag at once!"
"Is there somewhere safe to leave my revolver?"
"Only seven million Deutchmarks? But surely that is too cheap!"
"No, you misunderstand. We are a peace-loving nation."