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Stahlkappenstiefel
Tagged Under : Bering Sea, Germany, me
At a party on Saturday I learned the German word for steel-toed boots – and, yes, of course, it is only one word – Stahlkappenstiefel. Or something to that effect. Why was I speaking German at the Bering Sea Sendoff? Oh, my friends, you didn’t think I would have only *one* rockingly awesome adventure lined up for my post-layoff year, did you? I found out last week that I’m spending August and September in Germany on a Burns Fellowship.
I’ll work in a German newsroom for two months – probably a weekly magazine or a daily newspaper. The idea is that I work half time for them and half time for my regular freelance clients and anyone else who wants to pay me to write. Anyone? Anyone?
When I say I was “speaking German” I exaggerate a bit – really, these two German guys were speaking German and I was going, “ja!”…”nein!”…”[halting, brief, and grammatically questionable statement]!”
Congrats, Helen!! That’s so exciting! What a year it is turning out to be.
I think you should keep a running collection of compound words you encounter while on fellowship. Oh wait, that would probably eat up all the time you should be spending writing. Dang.
Congrats!!
I predict: you will singlehandedly bring down the entire economy by convincing *everyone* to get laid off.
That’s pretty much the plan, Jason.
man, i hope i have this kind of success with *my* laid-off-ness freelancing gig.
Very cool! I was pleasantly surprised when I went back to Germany last winter how much vocabulary came back (though I don’t think I would have gotten the boots). Forming a complete and correct grammatical sentence? Nein!
Wow, the adventures continue! Congratulations. Just took a look at the Polar Discovery Site, it looks like an amazing expedition.
Wow, Helen that’s fantastic! Congratulations. I’m kind of sad you keep disappearing to foreign countries, but that’s what blogs are for! I look forward to reading about this and all of your other adventures.
Congrats, Helen! What an adventuresome life you lead as a freelancer. Quite a contrast to mine, which mainly involves sitting in my living room.
So, Helen, what’s the matter with “schmetterling”?
“Butterfly” in English.
Bill R
Helen, here’s a maximum challenge!!
Can you the find German equivalent word for:
“supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” of “Mary Poppins: fame!
A genuinely English word meaning: Atoning for educability
through delicate beauty”!!