A few years ago (and before I lived in Germany), my brother and I were in Paris. We flipped on the tv and were thrilled to see SpongeBob on tv -- in French (yes, of course). We were even more thrilled when we saw that his name is Bob L'Eponge (Bob the Sponge) in French. For some reason, that really was funny to us.
In German class, I asked what his name is in German; it's SpongeBob Schwammkopf. That seems like a lot of sponges in one name, since it's SpongeBob Spongehead. It makes me laugh every time, but it's still kind of weird to me and possibly a little mean to call someone a spongehead. Well, I guess it's not any weirder than a cartoon about a piece of grumpy bread (Bernd das Brot, which I watch when I go to Berlin).
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The rest of our conversation in class was just as deep. We talked about woolly caterpillars. I knew there was something special about them, but I couldn't put my finger on it, so I looked it up. There is an old wives' tale that if the caterpillar's middle band of color (brown) is wider, the upcoming winter will be milder. Our conversation then devolved into the hypothesis that if the caterpillar is wearing a scarf, winter will be colder and if he has socks on all his feet, it's going to be a horrible winter.
This conversation, as well as one I had in the US with my German teacher there about the "bumps on a log" snack, might be why my German isn't as far along as it could be but why I've enjoyed the lessons so much. See? German class also includes Entomology and culinary skills.
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