Tag Archives: joke

in english

Legends and realities of English language skills in Spain

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I guess some of my four readers (Catón dixit) may have heard that people in Spain tend to have very poor skills in languages other than English (and in the west of the country maybe French).  Although I have some Spanish friends who do have a good command of the language, I guess this story shows that the reality is even more extreme than I thought:

  • An American tourist in Toledo fell into the local river, and was shouting for "Help!" for 3 hours before he was rescued.  The locals didn't come to his aid because they thought he was calling for "Pepe" (nickname for José).

So remember, learn some basic Spanish before you venture there.

Via Gwyn's Blog.

in english

Doing business in Mexico

A French friend of mine who worked for Air France Cargo in Mexico told me the following anecdote.

"When I started working, my boss told me: "Boy, there is a phrase that summarises what it is like to do business here: "Seguro mañana te pago" (loosely translated to "I'll pay you tomorrow for sure").  Once you understand these four words separately and what they mean together, you'll understand what it is like to work here"."

I couldn't stop laughing, not only at the phrase, but at the fact that it's actually very true and shows quite a few things of the typical Mexican psyque.

en español

Inshes monjes borrashos

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Hemos shegado a la conclusión que los monjes trapistas belgas eran una bola de borrashos…  Con cervezas de 8° pa'rriba, no me extrañaría que tuvieran problemas hepáticos.

Eso sí, según información que he leído, en los monasterios solamente se toma cerveza de 3° con las comidas, y la más fuerte sólo se destina a la venta.  Como dicen ellos, hacen cerveza para tener dinero para ser monjes, no al revés, como dicen los de Westvleteren (aunque su cerveza sea considerada la mejor del mundo).

¡Salú hermano!

in english

You know you’re travelling too much when…

Ricardo had a post at his blog discussing some symptoms that signal whether you've been travelling too much.

"

  • You know your passport number by memory.
  • You know the date your visa to a certain country was issued.
  • You know the crew of your international airline of choice by name, or at least recognize their faces.
  • You have seen most of the Academy Award nominees in the comfort of your plane seat.
  • You feel more comfortable having dinner at Dallas Fort Worth international than at your local downtown area.
  • Most of your books have been purchased at an Airport book store.
  • But the worst is when you start to recognize Customs and Border protection agents! This happened to me on my last trip."

To which I added:

"At
least the last one couldn't happen to me as most of my business trips
(when I was working) were within Schengen. No borders means no border
agents.

The one about visas is definitely true, though.

  • The best time to call relatives or friends is while waiting at the airport lounge.
  • Your local airport starts to feel eerily cozy.
  • You don't know anymore which language you should speak on arrival."

But I guess my dad is the ultimate authority, as his passport shows what happens when you've travelled too much:

This is what happens when you travel too much
This is what happens when you travel too much

en español, in english

So where the bloody hell are you?

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An advertising campaing that shows that cultural differences are certainly not restricted to speakers of different languages, or languages other than English, “So where the bloody hell are you?” was a very controversial Tourism Australia campaign. Even though I like the ad, I find it really funny.

The worst part is that it seems to not have impacted the amount of visitors to Australia very much where it was aired.

A mis lectores hispanoparlantes: Es como si hicieran un comercial turístico de Venezuela y la Miss Universo al final le preguntara a la audiencia “¿Y dónde coño estás?”.