Happy Things Thread

[jmcd]

Das ist auch wahr für manche Artikeln in der Wikipedia auf Schottisch. Deswegen habe ich angefangen, die Sprache dieser Artikeln zu korrigieren.
That's true for some articles on the Scots wikipedia too. That's why I started editing the language of these articles.

Note that I didn't mark it red - it's more of a usage issue than a question of correctness. In the usage I'm used to, wahr with roles or nouns expresssing the belonging to a certain group is restricted to certain contexts and set phrases.

Könnte dieser Ausdruck unter diese feststehenden Ausdrücke fallen*1)?
Could this phrase be one of the set phrases?

If I would think so, I wouldn't have marked that usage. But other native German speakers may disagree.

*1)Or: einer der feststehenden Ausdrücke sein.

Man benutzt 'Scots' beim deutschsprächige Wikipedia. 'Schottisch' ist nicht so klar; das kann auch Gälisch bedeuten. Auf Schwedisch gibt es aber einen reinschwedisch Begriff nur für Scots: 'lågskotska'.
One uses 'Scots' on the German-speaking wikipedia. 'Scottish' is not as clear; it can also mean Gaelic. In Swedish there is a non-loan Swedish expression only for Scots: 'lågskotska'.

[vampireshark]

Spent an awesome day in Trier yesterday: got to play cards at the one hobby store (they all spoke pretty much perfect English, so no communication barrier, which was a huge plus); acquired a satisfactory amount of Fanta and Afri-Cola; had an equally satisfactory Kinderpunsch (that was better than the ones I had here in Luxembourg)... long, but fun. I wish Trier wasn't so far away from Esch by train.

Also, turns out now that these next weeks are Sunday shopping days, so no rushing to get everything taken care of before shops close for the weekend. Which is nice and more of what I'm used to in the US.

[Viktor77]

Spent an awesome day in Trier yesterday: got to play cards at the one hobby store (they all spoke pretty much perfect English, so no communication barrier, which was a huge plus); acquired a satisfactory amount of Fanta and Afri-Cola; had an equally satisfactory Kinderpunsch (that was better than the ones I had here in Luxembourg)... long, but fun. I wish Trier wasn't so far away from Esch by train.

Also, turns out now that these next weeks are Sunday shopping days, so no rushing to get everything taken care of before shops close for the weekend. Which is nice and more of what I'm used to in the US.

Glad you had fun in Trier, it's an amazing city.
While you left Luxembourg I entered it for the World Bazaar at the LuxExpo center in Kirchberg (I was wrong when I told you it was Esch). Had awesome food, bought some US groceries that we don't have here, Baltic mittens, and those maple syrup Canadian cookies that are heavenly. Then we passed the night and today at a friend's house 3 kilometers from the Luxembourg border in the Ardennes not far from Clervaux. It was so beautiful, the food, beer, and wine was wonderful, and they gave us Luxembourg and Belgium license plates and lots of emblazoned Belgian beer glasses. We were basically drunk when we took the train back, just like true Belgians.

If I could just live with a Belgian family in a small charming village forever I'd be so happy.

[hwhatting]

Man benutzt 'Scots' in der deutschsprachigen Wikipedia. 'Schottisch' ist nicht so klar; das kann auch Gälisch bedeuten. Auf Schwedisch gibt es aber einen rein schwedischen Begriff nur für Scots: 'lågskotska'.
One uses 'Scots' on the German-speaking wikipedia. 'Scottish' is not as clear; it can also mean Gaelic. In Swedish there is a non-loan Swedish expression only for Scots: 'lågskotska'.

I see. That seems to be a specialist usage, introdced for more clarity; it's also interesting that the article then goes on to use Inselschottisch, Nordostschottisch etc. for the dialects of Scots, clearly reflecting the usage I know where Schottisch = Scots.

[jmcd]

Ah ich hatte nicht 'Inselschottisch, Nordostschottisch' u.s.w. bemerkt. Ja, deswegen. Es gibt natürlich eine Seite 'Schottisch' aber solche Seiten auf Wikipedia sind immer Begriffsklärungen.
Oh I hadn't noticed 'Inselschottisch, Nordostschottisch' etc. Yes, that's why. There is of course a page called 'Schottisch' on wikipedia but such pages on wikipedia are always disambiguation pages.

[Tropylium]

The month I will be meeting again with my long-distance girlfriend has arrived!

[Pole, the]

I don't have a girlfriend.

[vampireshark]

Might've complained a bit too soon about the residence permit situation, because I got word today that my residence permit to allow me to stay in the Magical Land of Mettwurst has been approved! I'll need to get fingerprinted next week and pick up the card about a week later, but, most importantly, this means I can stay in Luxembourg and safely travel to India without worrying about getting back in.

I so happy.

[hwhatting]

Glückwunsch!

[Pole, the]

I met Pole, a.

[vampireshark]

Glückwunsch!

Danke!


Also, in other very happy things, I got to see a group called Texas in concert tonight. 10/10 would see again: the lead singer sounded awesome (and was gorgeous as always), they played a good mix of older and newer stuff (including a lot of my favorites!), and it was just two hours of fun. Plus, I was REALLY close to the stage, which was a plus.

[jmcd]

I seen them free live at the G8 protests in 2005 (06?). They're one of my dad's favourite bands as well.

[Viktor77]

Train tickets in Poland are awesomely cheap! I booked 8 train tickets for 86 euros and that was with 1 youth and 1 adult (Kraków-Wrocław-Poznań-Warsaw-Katowice). With 2 youth just imagine probably half that! One train from Poznan to Warsaw was 7 euros for 2 people. Heck a 4 day rail pass for Poland would've been twice what I paid booking it all manually. Yay Poland! You can get those types of prices in Belgium, but it's also a smaller country. In all my research I can't find those types of prices in Germany.

[Pole, the]

Train tickets in Poland are awesomely cheap!

No. They are not. On the other hand, they are horribly expensive outside of Poland.
But then almost everything is horribly expensive outside of Poland.

Also, what type of trains did you book? IC/EC, TLK or [Inter-]Regio?

[Viktor77]

Train tickets in Poland are awesomely cheap!

No. They are not. On the other hand, they are horribly expensive outside of Poland.
But then almost everything is horribly expensive outside of Poland.

Also, what type of trains did you book? IC/EC, TLK or [Inter-]Regio?

Yes trains are horribly expensive. It's pretty maddening that half the time you can fly for cheaper than you can go by train. I booked PKP InterCity trains. But a train's a train to me. I don't care what it looks like as long as it gets me where I need to be. In Belgium we have trains that flush the toilet by just ejecting it onto the tracks.

[Pole, the]

I booked PKP InterCity trains. But a train's a train to me

Ah. So, you actually chose the expensive option. TLK and Regio tend to be cheaper, but at the expense of the quality.

(I bet you'll find the train almost empty. Poles tend to choose the cheaper options.)

[Viktor77]

I booked PKP InterCity trains. But a train's a train to me

Ah. So, you actually chose the expensive option. TLK and Regio tend to be cheaper, but at the expense of the quality.

(I bet you'll find the train almost empty. Poles tend to choose the cheaper options.)

Dang, I just did what PolRail told me. There were cheaper trains? Dang I thought I had done my homework...clearly not....We could've used that money for more guided tours....

[Pole, the]

Actually, I don't know. Maybe you have some other offer or discount? The cheapest I can find for, e.g., Poznan-Warsaw normal ticket is 9 eur for TLK and 11 eur for EIC.
(Also, TLK and IC are operated by the same company and use the same website. Regio are ~20% cheaper, but operate only on shorter distances and don't guarantee you a seat.)
But now I see that some modernized TLK trains are also called “Intercity”. Well, maybe you got one of those?

And your route looks… interesting. Southeast to Southwest to West to East to central South.

[Viktor77]

Actually, I don't know. Maybe you have some other offer or discount? The cheapest I can find for, e.g., Poznan-Warsaw normal ticket is 9 eur for TLK and 11 eur for EIC.
(Also, TLK and IC are operated by the same company and use the same website. Regio are ~20% cheaper, but operate only on shorter distances and don't guarantee you a seat.)
But now I see that some modernized TLK trains are also called “Intercity”. Well, maybe you got one of those?

And your route looks… interesting. Southeast to Southwest to West to East to central South.

That Poznan to Warsaw train was weird, it was 30 some zloty for just the 10 o'clock train, all others were 122 zloty, and that's about I think what we paid for the other trains for 2 people.

It is an interesting route. The only reason I added Warsaw was because we had to get from Poznan to Katowice for the plane out and it was 7 euros to spend 1 extra day in Warsaw while doing it, so why not? Besides that I really want to see Silesia, and with this trip I get Upper and Lower Silesia, plus Poznan where my ancestors came from, and the 2 most well known cities Krakow and Warsaw. I'm pretty excited. I'm especially excited to visit Wroclaw, to see a city that was since its founding a German city and transformed overnight into a Polish city. Someday I'll have to head east to Lviv and see the former Polish city turned Ukrainian city where many of Wroclaw's inhabitants came from after being explused from their homelands. The way in which world powers radically transformed territory in this part of the world is just fascinating.

[vampireshark]

In all my research I can't find those types of prices in Germany.

You can't, really, except for short distances or if you travel in a group. There are the Sparpreis tickets for as little as €19, but those restrict you to specific trains and have to be bought fairly far in advance. There's also the Schönes-Wochenende Ticket, which is about €45 for two people and gives you one day of unlimited travel in Germany on Saturday or Sunday... but only on regional trains!


In continuing the happy train on my side, I just booked my ticket to go to India. I so stoked.

[Viktor77]

In all my research I can't find those types of prices in Germany.

You can't, really, except for short distances or if you travel in a group. There are the Sparpreis tickets for as little as €19, but those restrict you to specific trains and have to be bought fairly far in advance. There's also the Schönes-Wochenende Ticket, which is about €45 for two people and gives you one day of unlimited travel in Germany on Saturday or Sunday... but only on regional trains!


In continuing the happy train on my side, I just booked my ticket to go to India. I so stoked.

Yep, found the Sparpreis, but they failed to mention on the DBahn site that that was per person so I had to basically almost check out to find that out....

At least in our states trains are affordable. In Belgium with a GoPass (though only for under 25s) trains are 5 euro apiece. In Luxembourg I bought a ticket for all trains and buses in the Grand Duchy for 5 euros.

Enjoy India. I could never travel to India. Even the tiniest amount of Indian food makes me so sick I want to rip out my stomach and throw it off a building. Hope you have a stronger stomach!

[Pole, the]

That Poznan to Warsaw train was weird, it was 30 some zloty for just the 10 o'clock train, all others were 122 zloty, and that's about I think what we paid for the other trains for 2 people.

Yeah, 122 zł looks like a standard price for an EIC.

[Viktor77]

That Poznan to Warsaw train was weird, it was 30 some zloty for just the 10 o'clock train, all others were 122 zloty, and that's about I think what we paid for the other trains for 2 people.

Yeah, 122 zł looks like a standard price for an EIC.

So are you from one of these Western cities we're visiting (Poznan or Wroclaw)?

[vampireshark]

At least in our states trains are affordable. In Belgium with a GoPass (though only for under 25s) trains are 5 euro apiece. In Luxembourg I bought a ticket for all trains and buses in the Grand Duchy for 5 euros.

They certainly are. It's even better if you're a student in Luxembourg: through the university, I was able to get a semester ticket offering unlimited travel on buses and trains through the end of February for €37.50. Not valid once you cross the border, of course, but it really is nice (plus, for border-crossing fun, the tickets are reasonable... Trier, for example, costs €7.20 for a day return).

Granted, Germany, at least in terms of train prices, is a LOT more reasonable than France. French trains are really expensive, not to mention the pricing scheme is really bizarre (compared to Germany).

[Viktor77]

Granted, Germany, at least in terms of train prices, is a LOT more reasonable than France. French trains are really expensive, not to mention the pricing scheme is really bizarre (compared to Germany).

Well, that goes for more than pricing schemes.