The last thing I'd want to be is a language bore, so I'll keep this short and sweet. After my last post, in which I mentioned it had taken me 11 years to learn the word 'aufbauen', I've been worried that some German readers might think me a little dim. This verb is very basic and frequently used and it would be impossible to survive even six months in Germany without hearing it. No, what I meant was, I understood it, but never really grasped what the English alternative would be. Aufbauen literally means to build up, and I always found it strange that people would talk of, for example, a buffet or trampoline being built up. It implies that brick structures are being cemented into place. Of course, we would say 'set up'. Still extremely slow of me not to have worked this out before....
So here we are, Monday morning, pouring rain, and there's new snow on the mountains behind Bovinia. I was trying to decide whether to do three hours of uninterrupted housework (unheard of) or go for a 12 mile run. The latter was seeming more appealing until I saw ducks playing in the stream that used to be our street. The run will have to happen sometime though, as I am now officially in training for the Munich marathon. It cost a fortune to sign up - not sure why - so only a compound fracture will stop me taking my place at the starting line. Apparently it is a 'fun' and flat course, and being in Munich, there will be lots of beer flowing and crazy people running in dirndls and lederhosen. I will not be one of these, but they might provide some amusement in moments of boredom. Just over a year ago I ran the Paris marathon. I had thought it would be an interesting and stimulating combination of exercise, personal achievement and culture. I pictured myself jogging round steadily, admiring all the various sights and soaking up the Parisian atmosphere. What actually happened was that I kept my head down the whole time. The only landmark I remember was the Seine, if that counts. But my fellow runners were hard to ignore. The best were a couple from Australia, who - I kid you not - filmed themselves running the whole race with little commentaries in between sips of Gatorade, along the lines of 'wow Bruce, there's the Eiffel Tower' and 'streuth, he's fast'.
Enough procrastinating. I'll have a quick, strong coffee - no muckefuck for me - then get my duster out.
Oh, your level of fitness is light years ahead of mine, but I hope you have a good run! I laughed at the commentary: my little Australian has been keeping commentary on the weather here recently. It's drizzled for two solid days in Berlin, and while this meant little more than that the dirt under her new patch of sunflowers finally got wet at about 6pm today she's keeping an eye out for flooding.
ReplyDelete