This has been circulating the net for quite a few years. I have just received it once again via e-mail, and in case you have missed it, here it is:

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as “Euro-English”.
In the first year, “s” will replace the soft “c”.. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard “c” will be dropped in favour of “k”. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced with “f”.. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.
In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.
Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.
Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent “e” in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.
By the 4th yer peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” with “z” and “w” with “v”.
During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining “ou” and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl.
Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi TU understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.
Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.
If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl.

Just discovered the post Discriminatory food names should be banned, says Austria – Telegraph.

Well, come to think of it, it might be time to clean up the cuisine, that is if you have no other fish to fry.

Zigeunerschnitzel (gypsy schnitzel) could be derogatory towards gypsies, but I have always liked the colorful array of paprika slices on the pork cutlet. It added a nice Hungarian touch to it.

Had never heard of Negerbrot (n… bread) before, but there is even a Facebook fan page for it.

Read the original post: ‘Discriminatory’ food names should be banned for some more ideas which food names should be banned.

For some funny food names around the world, visit Funny Food Names.

Timeanddate.com listed some international leap year traditions as well as some superstitions in its article.

As Germany was not mentioned in the article, I did my own research and found the following information on another website in German:

A German weather proverb claims: Schaltjahr wird Kaltjahr (leap year will be a cold year). This was true a few weeks ago when the temperature had dropped to – 15 C°.

Additionally, when the first day of a leap year falls on a Sunday (such as this year), then three Friday, the 13th come about (such as January, April and July of this year).

Fortunately, I do not believe in any of them. Otherwise I would not have booked my return flight from Japan to Germany for Friday, the 13th of April.

독일 꽃꽃이 자격증 수업,(한국어 통역사와 함께하는)

In Grünberg (near the town of Giessen), there is a German Floristic school called Grünberger Bildungszentrum Floristik, which offers a course in German flower arrangement.

After successful completion of the two-week course, each participant is presented with a recognized certificate awarded by the Industrie und Handelskammer (IHK), the German Chamber of Commerce.

Dates for the course: 22 July 2012 – 04 August 2012

Place: Grünberg

Language: The class is held in German, with a Korean interpreter.

Award: Certificate in German Floristics, awarded by the German Chamber of Commerce

This course is being held in cooperation with Bang Sik Floristic School in Seoul, South Korea.

For more information about the course, please contact Mr. Paizdzior in Grünberg at:

werner.paizdzior@bildungszentrum-floristik.de

Your inquiry to Mr. Paizdzior can be made in German or English.

Wondering what a Feuerzangenbowle is? Had several translations on offer from the internet, but as this is something purely German, translations offer little meaning. Well, it is a heavy drink, put together by mostly red wine and rum, and other little seasonings.

Try h2g2 website where you find a complete definition of this drink along with the recipe and much more.

Anyway, the city of Nuremberg has put up the biggest Feuerzangenbowle of the year. A special kettle had to be built to hold 9000 liters, 2,50 meters in width, 3,40 meters in height and it weighs 1,8 tons.

The Feuerzangenbowle can be viewed and tasted from 25 Nov 2011 until 01 Jan 2012. This drink, consumed from the time of advent until New Year’s Eve, is supposed to warm your heart and soul during the cold winter months.

To view photos, visit Frankenradar.