Signs to the S1 in Berlin
Changing moving stairs at a station
“Die Bahn”, the German Railways, are not really known for their sense of humour. They are trying to become more international having announcements on their trains in German and English (“Sänk yu four träwelling wis Deutsche Bahn”), where it is not always immediately evident whether what they are announcing is being announced in German or English. Their attempts to be funny remained ‘bodenständig’ German. “Max der Maulwurf” is their character in charge of communicating difficult and annoying news to their customers. He even got his own website. Not sure what to think of this, but I have the feeling that if station entrances are closed and it’s difficult to find your way around, or if moving stairs don’t work, Max der Maulwurf doesn’t give me the impression of being taken seriously as a customer. To me, it looks like as if, in addition of annoying delays and inconveniences, the Deutsche Bahn was making fun of their customers… Humour. Doesn’t always work.
Today, the head of the physio team in the Schön Klinik visited Pádraig together with his speech therapist. No news of that visit and examination, but tomorrow is the day we get to meet the therapists and, who knows, there might be some news.
Pádraig continues with his meals and, no surprise here, continues to like the deserts much much more than the spinach (who likes spinach?) and really finely minced meat or fish with mashed potatoes. The new tube he got last week seems to work fine, it is shorter and looks much neater. We continue to block it altogether every day, just for a very short time, to get him used to breathing in and out through his mouth and nose. As long as his head is positioned well, he manages this brilliantly. The transfer from bed to wheelchair and back is going smoother every day. You wouldn’t believe the amount of details to look out for, tubes, cushions, sensors, positioning, supports – it’s an endless list of things. But we are getting better at it.
Today, we got to know a new gadget: it looks like a shower cap. It comes in a bag like a shower cap. You can put it on like a shower cap. But it has exactly the opposite effect than that of a shower cap. Instead of keeping water out, it keeps moisture (and whatever else) inside: you put it on (having heated it up slightly in the microwave if you prefer) and you massage whatever is inside of the cap onto your head. We’ll see tomorrow how well it worked, but today his hair looked great and, more importantly, he really liked the clean feeling!
Today’s German Music Tip
Fard, Reich und Schön (2011). Not really my style of music, but it’s one of the better known newer German stars. Fard is a German rapper with Iranian roots from Gladbeck, with 16+ million clicks on youtube…
What’s hot
Washing Hair
What’s cold
Washing Hair with water:)
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Das kommt gar nicht in die Tüte!
Hospi-Tales 
“Sänk yu four träwelling wis Deutsche Bahn” was our favourite sentence when Alicia came back from Bochum, she pronuncies it soooo nicely!!! Hahahaha. such a good sense of humor!!! So glad that things go even better!!
It is so embarrasssing. Being an English teacher I just cannot accept this pronunciation. Of course Max der Maulwurf (mole or in Spanish el topo) is not funny at all either, just as Reinhard shows. The poor animal is being made reponsible for all the things that go wrong with our railway system in Germany.
I’m being a bit curious: what did Alicia (?) do in Bochum, my and Reinhard’s university?
Gisela, she was studing Philosophie and went for her Erasmus 2 semesters there. She enjoyed it very much and got incredible marks, specilly taking into consideration that a Chine´s boy and she where the only Eramus in Philosophie doing all the lessons in German with the same conditions as the German students. Sorryyyyy… is the pride of a mother…and you Giesela what did you study there?
by the way, I feel the same as you when in Spain oficial information is given in English…. at least the German version sound to me nice although inperfect. The Spanish one sound hart and unpolite,
Ana, you have very good reasons to be proud of your daughter!
Well, I studied English and Spanish in Bochum. This is where I met Reinhard. Hoping to improve our Spanish, a friend and I visited him in Salamanca exactly at the time he fell in love with Pat. As all the Spanish young ladies were ever so keen on seeing the tall “rubio”, a flat full of Spanish female students were so kind as to host Martina and me, probably to make sure to see more of Reinhard for a couple of days. One even invited us all to her pueblo in La Sierra de Gredos. Had a great time.
And I met Pat while I was Teaching Assistant at the former New University of Ulster, and then of course Reinhard,.. the World is so small.. I am always surprise how we connect in so many matters… when Pádraig is in a better shape we should all have a big party and exchange all our experiences!!!
Great idea Ana. We should have a big international party in Dublin when Padraig goes home!!!
You can count on it, Gisela!
It’s the good vibes, Ana, that connect us, no matter where we are:)
You wouldn’t believe this, Gisela. But Pat and I met Lydia (the girl from the Sierra de Gredos) last year in Alcalá de Henares where she works and lives with her daughter – Laura!