Off the Map

More kerns than you could shake a spear at

Ah, who can't help but recall hours spent trying to decipher Shakespearean vocabulary and syntax at the hands of oppressive high school English teachers?

Though I felt abused at the time, I've since grown rather fond of the man (I just read "Love' Labour's Lost" on the trains and plane back to Regensburg, where I'll reside until further notice). Just as well too, as I met up with a good English friend of mine in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace (and home for much of his life).

The town was very relaxed, with a very pleasant atmosphere. Pedestrian friendly roads lined with scores of small boutiques: I felt like I walked into the love child of the Pearl Street Mall and Estes Park, had the two been English, perpetually rained on, not had any mountains, and ... Ok, so its a bit of a stretch.

But I always maintain that meeting up with friends in foreign cities is a wonderful, bonding and world-shrinking experience - an opinion easily reconfirmed that day. We had a jolly good time investigating the many tributes to Shakespeare, perusing the shops, eating hearty pub food, and debating over my first English cream tea (black tea to your preference, with a fresh-baked scone spread with butter, fruit preserve, cotted cream, and a small cake on the side).

At this point in the trip I had averaged 1 conversation in German per day. I was amazed, but shouldn't have been surprised, at the number of Germans I bumped into on my Anglo-Island travels. Oft when I bump into random Germans in Germany they attempt to speak English with me (thinking they are being nice, or trying to improve their abilities) - such was not the case in England. After having to communicate in English the full duration of their trips, I found the Germans to be rather excited, even a touch relieved, to lapse into the mother tongue.

posted by Jason @ 9:24 pm