bringing you new lows every day

This morning, there was a man on my train drinking Jack-and-Coke in a can (brought you by Jack Daniels and Coca Cola) at 8.30am.  I had several thoughts on this, mainly:

-  They produce premixed and canned Jack-and-Coke?

- Is this product available in America?  Or is it one of those things like Spezi, that you think could only happen in America, yet only exists in Europe?

The holidays are rapidly approaching, but with crazy amounts of work, lack of qualified workers in my holiday card sweatshop, and shops that only open on Saturday, I sit at home every evening thinking “I’m running out of time!”  While I eat my blueberry crisp and pasta with slow roasted tomatoes.  That preservation of summer produce really pays off.

Part of last weekend’s holiday festivities included a winter concert with a sing-a-long component.  There I was, singing along, minding my own business, when the German interrupts my stirring rendition of “O, Christmas Tree” to say, “It’s BRAHN-ches, not BRAN-ches.”  I am sure few expats must suffer the indignity of having someone correct both your German AND your English.  Few occasions brought more joy than when we met up with my British friend, so they could commiserate over the difficulties of communicating with me.  He’s currently working his way through “Teach Yourself Mandarin”, so I preemptively referred him to this post.