March 30, 2010
A person hears only what they understand. -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Goethe was apparently a German genius. He is considered by many to be the “most important writer in the German language of all time…,” which must be why he gets his very own monument here in Vienna, because as far as I can tell, he never lived here. He wrote the drama Faust as well as lots of great poems and novels, philosophical musings and scientific texts. I must confess that my Goethe-education is limited (read: nonexistent), because I have not read a single one of them. Shameful. In moments like these (or when I am rushing through museums, or choose to flip through Glamour magazine in the doctor’s office waiting room instead of The Economist), I feel my “smartness” might be deficient. But I find comfort in my son Cade’s reminder that “you shouldn’t ask how smart you are; you should ask how you are smart.” I love those 4th-grade classroom insights. Thank you, Mrs. Randolph!
Okay, back to my Goethe quote and his insightful analysis of human interactions… Today we had a Prater playground playdate, and in spite of the fact that I was sitting with a group of English-speaking women, I only “heard what I understood…” which is to say, I didn’t understand quite a lot. My vocabulary is apparently not only deficient in German, but in English as well! My Australian friend Bindi was hanging out at the park with some of her very nice friends, which included 2 Brits, a Scot and another American. They must be quite used to the differences when talking amongst themselves, because they all seemed to follow the conversation. I found it ironic that I understood probably about the same percentage of the conversation in English as I would have had it been in German. Eventually, when the talk evolved to money matters, I started catching on. The bottom line: it seems that everyone is in agreement that food and grocery shopping is a much larger expense here than in our respective home countries, we all miss extended-hour shopping, and Vienna’s playgrounds can be dangerous!
Meanwhile, the kids were making new friends and were thrilled to discover that there was indeed a real zipline at Prater (which was NOT the one we found previously-- it's a very large park), as well as a fast long slide down a steep incline. Their enthusiasm for the newfound play equipment was contagious... sort of. After some determined coaxing, I took my place in the queue next to my children and did successfully traverse the zipline… but I did draw the line at the long slide. We had a chat wherein I explained “cost-benefit analysis” and “risk factor,” while vigorously pointing to the muddy, melted-snow slush puddles which slide-riders consistently plunged their feet into while disembarking, and the kids gave me a pass. Who said playgrounds can’t be educational?
You are a riot! I read your blog to Matt as often as I can. We both laugh and enjoy your adventures very much. He missed his flight this afternoon, so the big bonus is another installment before he leaves. This is good.
ReplyDeleteHey Cade it's nico! I hope you are having a great time!I just wanted to tell you that we were in the El Dorado Hills newspaper. Do we remember the time that we saw hotel for dogs and a lady took our picture to put in the paper? Well it came in the paper this week. I like the cool slide that you went down. Wow you went down a zip line? That must have been really fun! I'm bummed you didn't make coloma. Your friend Nico!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you passed up on the slide...I would've lined up to take my turn on that for sure. As far as the conversation with the other women - you probably followed the most interesting parts of their conversation, or at least that's what I'd probably tell myself. ( :
ReplyDelete