tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8397932297914807785.post4706026046325883941..comments2010-12-07T11:31:06.164-08:00Comments on A Chat from Chile (una charla de Chile): Adventures in Comprehension!Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892865687975669268noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8397932297914807785.post-85499649038629879862010-07-21T19:54:50.300-07:002010-07-21T19:54:50.300-07:00Abby!
I loved your stories and actually did laugh ...Abby!<br />I loved your stories and actually did laugh out loud at you. So I figured it was only fair to share a few stories back. When I was in Italy last summer a bunch of us were at a ristorante in Florence about a week into the trip. The bread arrived, and, being Americans, we wanted some olive oil with it. There was also a dish in the center of the table, so after some debate we poured some olive oil into it. Just as everybody was dipping in, the waiter came back. He gave us all a scandalized look, whisked the dish out from under us, and snapped "quest'è per le candele!" (this is for the candles). Needless to say, we were mortified, especially since that was at the very beginning of the meal. Later on, countless issues arose with spoken menus--in Bologna we had a waiter almost shouting at us trying to get the stupid Americans to understand the difference between tortell-O-ne (which in the US we call tortellini) and tortell-I-ni which don't exist in the US. They are miniature and only served in broth.<br />Ciao, mia cara!Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14375307895783313537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8397932297914807785.post-80523514331335503372010-07-09T17:33:18.431-07:002010-07-09T17:33:18.431-07:00Bahahaha! My stories from Chile will be so much wo...Bahahaha! My stories from Chile will be so much worse! But actually, I do have a delightful little mishap in language comprehension of my own. We were in Germany on our Focus trip visiting the Checkpoint Charlie Musuem, and the only German I knew I had learned on the bus between Paris and Bonn. I needed to use the facilities, and the only bathroom I could find was handicapped. I always feel like a bit of a jerk for using one when a guy in a wheel chair could come by at any moment, pero fue una emergencia. I was having trouble locating the flush handle, and had no choice but to conclude that the string hanging from the wall labeled "RUF" must be it. RUF does not mean FLUSH, but rather ALARM. I left the bathroom nonchalantly, but then noticed the flashing light above the door and the sound of the alarm and hightailed it out of there. I was met by many stares from various onlookers, so I curtly replied "Ich weiss nicht", which literally means "I know not" in German. The sad thing is I could hear the alarm all the way through the museum for about another half hour or so. I was quite disappointed in the museum's emergency response, and I left a comment in the suggestion box. I was also too embarrassed to tell anyone in my class that the incident was my doing for about two days. Hope you enjoyed my tale!Brennanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05704583885217779816noreply@blogger.com