Category Archives: Language

Random Thoughts (14)

If I am ever on a quiz show, my telephone joker will be the dude who wrote Wikipedia. Suki Kim has done impressive undercover reporting in North Korea, fooling both her employer, by pretending that she was a devout Christian, and of course the … Continue reading

Posted in Bolivia, Books, China, Colombia, Economics, Language, Life, Mexico, North Korea, Religion, Saudi Arabia, Technology, Travel, UK | Tagged , , , , , | 19 Comments

Patriotic Reforestation

“If the forest grows, the motherland will prosper” or something similar is written on this sign in Transnistria.

Posted in Language, Photography, Transnistria, Travel | Tagged | 4 Comments

Random Thoughts (11)

Mohammad Mostafaei, the lawyer with whom I was arrested in Iran, has written a book. He says I am in it too, but I can’t read Norwegian, so I have to wait for a translation. Does anyone still remember José Echegaray … Continue reading

Posted in Books, France, History, Human Rights, Iran, Language, Law, Mexico, Military, Politics, Sports, Travel, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Random Thoughts (8)

I don’t understand why supermarkets, all around the world, by the way, are trying to force me to use a metal instrument when I want to buy some bread. You remember my article about the longest possible train journey and … Continue reading

Posted in Belgium, Bolivia, Books, Brazil, Canada, Economics, History, India, Language, Malta, Portugal, Religion, Romania, Technology, Travel, UK, Ukraine, USA | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

No liability for intergalactic struggle

When I do legal translations, I often wonder if anyone will ever read all the terms and conditions and privacy policies that I translate. Probably not. Even I as a lawyer don’t read them very often. That brings up the … Continue reading

Posted in Language, Law | Tagged | 3 Comments

How one translator opened Romania to the world

Posted in Cinema, Cold War, History, Language, Romania | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Walk around Iași

I only spent one day in Iași in the far east of Romania, which is the far east of Europe for most of my readers anyway, when I was on the way back from Moldova, even further east. But fear not, … Continue reading

Posted in Cinema, History, Holocaust, Language, Photography, Religion, Romania, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

New Blog Address

First of all, if you have a subscription to my blog, you don’t need to change anything. If you have bookmarked links to my blog, you don’t need to change anything. But if you want to tell your friends about … Continue reading

Posted in Language, Technology | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The homeless non-beggar

Shortly after midnight at the train station of Cluj in Romania. The night train to Targu Mures has been canceled without any information about the underlying reason, let alone a replacement train or even a bus. With my broken Romanian, … Continue reading

Posted in Language, Law, Romania, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Easily Confused (61) Learning Spanish

How I thought I would learn Spanish: How my friends think I learn Spanish: How I really learn Spanish:

Posted in Language, Technology, Travel | Tagged , , | 4 Comments