It is said to be a regional German custom to hide a gherkin / pickled cucumber (these are large, Zeppelin-like objects) in the Christmas tree, rather like the silver threepenny bit in the Christmas pudding.

This one is so regional, however, that it probably isn’t true. Nevertheless, some Germans have come to believe in it. You can buy the one above at Gartenschätze.

See The German Christmas Pickle Tradition: Myth or Reality?

Mind you, Father Christmas doesn’t exist either.

From the French employment agency:

Numéro d’offre 595453L Offre actualisée le 22/11/07
TRADUCTEUR/TRADUCTRICE LITTERAIRE H/F
(Code Métier ROME 32241)
VOUS AUREZ EN CHARGE LA DACTYLOGRA- -PHIE D’UN ROMAN ET LE TRADUIRE DU
FRANCAIS EN ARABE, VOUS VIVREZ AU DOMICILE DE L’EMPLOYEUR ET ASSUREREZ
QUELQUES HEURES DE MENAGE ET DE REPASSAGE, COURSES ET CUISINE

Consultez les compétences spécifiques demandées
Lieu de travail 75 – PARIS 13E ARRONDISSEMENT
Type de contrat CONTRAT A DUREE INDETERMINEE
Nature d’offre CONTRAT DE TRAVAIL
Expérience EXIGEE DE 1 A 2 ANS DANS LA TRADUCTION DE ROMAN
Formation et connaissances DIPL. NIV. BAC LITTERA.ETRANGERE EXIGE(E)
Autres connaissances ARABE BILINGUE+TECH EXIGE(E) PRATIQ. TRAIT.TEXTES EXIGE(E)
Qualification Employé qualifié
Salaire indicatif HORAIRE 13 Euros (85,27 F)
DEDUCTION HEBERGEMENT/REPAS/BLANCHIS
Durée hebdomadaire
de travail 10H00 HEBDO VIVRE AU DOMICILE DE L’EMPLOYEUR
Déplacements
Taille de l’entreprise 0 SALARIE
Secteur d’activité SERVICES DOMESTIQUES

Experience needed: one to two years’ experience of translating novels (also typing and cleaning). It’s a live-in job.

You would have had to do quite a few hours’ cleaning to get that amount of novel translation practice at that rate.

Thanks to Samy at pt, who offers this German version:

Gesucht wird ein Literaturübersetzer, der ein Roman abtippen und vom
FR ins AR übersetzen soll. Sie sollen beim Arbeitgeber leben und
werden einige Stunden Putzarbeit, Einkaufen und Küche verrichten.
Erfahrung 1/2 Jahre als Romanübersetzer
Ausbildung: Abitur
Stundenlohn: 13 E
Die Kosten für Unterkunft/Verpflegung werden abgezogen.
Arbeitsvolumen: 10 Stunden beim Arbeitgeber

It’s been widely reported that Laura Saperstein, who grew up in Australia and was a lawyer in Australia and later at Freshfields in London, has become a professional boxer. She was unbeaten in her ten amateur fights and won her first professional bout recently. The Law Society Gazette has an article on her.

Ms Saperstein grew up near Byron Bay in Australia, but a lack of money and sponsorship killed her youthful dreams of becoming a professional surfer, so instead she eventually began studying law, finishing university with a first-class honours degree.

‘That gave me the chance to work pretty much where I wanted. I worked in criminal law for a while but did not enjoy it much. In 2001, I realised I could triple my earnings if I did corporate law in London and thought I might as well get paid as much as I could. I worked as a mergers and acquisitions solicitor at Freshfields for three years. It was a good salary but long hours – 14-hour days – and a lot of pressure.

‘It was a real prestige job, flying business class around Europe to lead negotiations and the firm paying for everything, but I didn’t like being stuck in an office working for other people. I was a long way from family and friends back home and did not have a support network.’

However, you don’t have to give up the law. Sara Davies (who grew up in Canada) is a partner in a family law firm and boxes in her spare time.

From John Mesirow’s Legal Juice

Ananova reports that there was a pronunciation error in the singing of the Croatian national anthem before the England-Croatia match on Wednesday. Why was a British singer singing Croatian anyway?

The British singer who sang the Croatian anthem before last night’s match accidentally sang ‘My penis is a mountain’. …

The national anthem is written in old style Croatian, and there can be slightly different interpretations in English because it is a very lyrical language.

The line in which Henry slipped up should have been “mila kuda si planina” (You know my dear how we love your mountains).

But what he actually sang was “mila kura si planina” which means “Dear Penis, you are a Mountain” or “My Dear, my penis is a mountain”.

This does sound a bit fishy, like the story of Kennedy and the ‘jam doughnut’, destined to go down in the annals of rubbish talked about foreign languages. However, a number of Croats are referred to or quoted, and there was some giggling among Croats (however lyrical ‘old style Croatian’ is – one wonders exactly what is meant here: is it like Middle English or Old High German?). So perhaps it’s just a story to deflect attention from more depressing matters.

Comments referring to ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ may be deleted for boredom factor.

(Via Céline)

Stöckchen

I got this meme from Thomas Klotz, who got it from Larko.

1. Es sind nur 5 Seiten.

2. I am nice Russian girl that would like to chat with you.

3. Darf’s noch was sein, “junge Frau”?

4. Politiker tritt “aus Privatgründen” zurück.

5. One size fits all.

6. That looks good on you, madam.

7. Evolution, not revolution. (Steve McClaren)

I can find seven statements, but I don’t know who to pass it to. This meme is passed on to everyone who is interested!