Thursday, May 29, 2008

Avocations of Abnormality

There are two things that I am passionate about that have little practicality. The news and the German language. But, on very rare occassion, my knowledge about the German langauge or the news will benifit me and ultimately validate my attempted hipness.

Case One

Once upon a time Jan (Alissa's friend) had been rummaging through some old stuff in his parent's house. He came upon a strange white looking dish. His wife and him were curiously examining it, wondering what it might be. The word "senf" was written on the side of this mysterious ceramic thing. But then Alissa piped up "Oh senf means mustard in German." Using her deductive-reasoning skills and her knowledge of the German language, Alissa solved the case. The mysterious dish was an old mustard-dish hailing from a German speaking land.

Case Two

Recently Nepal has announced to the world that they are no longer a monarchy. After over 200 years of monarch ruling, this small nation too has claimed their independance. Yeah, well, so what? How does this pertain to us Americans? Well, it doesn't really...unless of course, you happen to be buying a coffee from a Napalese person and you can casually say "Hey, I heard your country claimed independance." The response will be a surprised smile.

So, if you ever feel like your strange interests aren't getting you anywhere. If you are asking yourself "Why am I learning everything I can about the Polish banking system?" or "Why do I bother learning Bantu?" Well, don't stop with your eccentric hobbies, they might just come up one day.

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