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German Faux Pas from CS in CA When I was still living back in Germany many years ago, my home town was Nuremberg. Our neighbor city Fuerth used to have many US military camps. One day, I took the train from Nuremberg to downtown Fuerth, which is about 5 or 6 train stops away. At the first stop, an American soldier sitting next to me asked ‘Is this Fuerth?’. Which unfortunately sounded to my German ears like ‘is this first?’. So I answered ‘Yes, that’s first’, very proud of myself to help a stranger out. The guy jumped out of the train – and found himself nowhere close to where he wanted to go…. As soon as I saw the confused look on the poor guy’s face, standing in the middle of nowhere, I realized my mistake, but it was too late, the train was already moving again…. I was so embarrassed and so sorry…
Faux Pas Spanish Style From PM in NC
When Brian was in the Air Force, he was stationed in Toledo, Spain for 3 years. There wasn’t a lot of English spoken in Spain at that time, so the Air Force assigned a language specialist to the squadrons. Brian had a Sergeant who was from Mexico and obviously spoke good Mexican Spanish. When this fellow first arrived, they went out to eat. The Sergeant ordered ” 4 Tortillas” and when the waiter tried to warn him about it, he was adamant “I want 4 tortillas!” Most people in the US now know what a Mexican tortilla is, but they don’t know that a Spanish Tortilla is a POTATO OMLETTE. So this Mexican guy who thought he knew Spanish….got 4 BIG potato omelets! We still laugh about this one!
Living without Costco from BW in OR
You know, I can relate to your Mish Mosh about living without a Costco card, and all the withdrawal associated with that…..I’m happy to report I am finally living without Goldfish crackers! But I still stop and look at them in the store, which conjures up memories of happy little faces, crumbs in the car, and how those Goldfish went everywhere with us. It’s very emotional.
Miami Story from ms in CA
Wow, loved the Miami story. Heartbreak, struggling for life, complete exhaustion, revitalization, emotions, then memories via pickles for life. Good job!
