[SOC] Nice Story - D-Day veteran who got lost

[Chris Redding]

There's nothing wrong with 'yer frogs' really, once you get to know them a
bit...I've found them OK.  The ones from the south can be a bit 'sniffy' and
aloof, but the French themselves also regard them as such.

There are far more unfriendly people closer to home, such as the Welsh.

As in any other country, a few words of the local lingo can melt barriers
instantly.  School teaching doesn't help here.  I was taught (what I later
learned) was 'Speak English!' as opposed to 'Excuse me, do you speak
English?'

If you ask them nicely, they will all make a 'squeezing' gesture with their
thumb and forefinger, meaning 'a leetle beet', and have a go, or will go and
get someone who does speak English.

(The Brits have to stifle a snigger whenever a woman makes this gesture, as
it is used among well-pissed women in nightclubs to mean something like
'don't bother...my mate was with him last week and he's hung like a mouse').

Likewise in German...the words for both are exactly the same, it's the way
you say them.

I love the Germans, but if one walks up to me in London and says 'Speak
German!', then I will suddenly forget how to speak German :-).

73,
Chris G4PDJ

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Nielsen" <nielsen at oz.net>
To: "Second Class Operators' Club" <soc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 10:53 PM
Subject: Re: [SOC] Nice Story - D-Day veteran who got lost


> Yes, in spite of all the French-bashing that still seems to be going
> on, I find them to be quite friendly.  I just returned from 10 days in
> the northeast part of France (plus an afternoon in Belgium and several
> days in England) and had a wonderful time.  We tracked down my wife's
> cousin (who she hadn't seen since 1947) and his sons in the Roubaix
> area.  I even made a bunch of QRP contacts from my hotel room in
> Tourcoing.
>
> 73, Bob N7XY
>
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