Meine Klein Welt

Here’s Your Sign – Nov. 3

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I saw this display in the grocery store across the street from our school recently. Interestingly the packaging even has English on one side. On the front it says:

“The power apple from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home country”

On the side we have these further details:

Healthy and strong
“Arnold” the Incomparable

This apple grows and ripens at the foot of the Austrian Alps in Styria with its fertile soil and unique microclimate of warm days and cool nights. Lovingly tended by skilled and dedicated fruit growers in their small and medium-sized orchards it is a rich natural source of health, strength, and flavor.

The Arnold Apfel isn’t a just a gimmick, it’s a really good apple. Juicy and flavorful as advertised. I can also see why it’s referred to as “the power apple.” My muscle mass has increased by about 20% in the 5 minutes since I’ve eaten the apple. I’m not exactly sure what these Austrian fruit growers are “lovingly” injecting into these apples, but I sure hope I don’t have to take a drug test any time soon.

Arnold Apples

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A few weeks ago when I went to the grocery store, I was greeted by this display of “Arnold Apples.” I laughed out loud. The sign says:

Arnold – Der Apfel aus der Heimat Arnold Schwarzeneggers
Arnold – The power apple from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home country

The packaging is quite descriptive:

Healthy and strong

“Arnold” the Incomparable

This apple grows and ripens at the foot of the Austrian Alps in Styria with its fertile soil and unique microclimate of warm days and cool nights. Lovingly tended by skilled and dedicated fruit growers in their small and medium-sized orchards it is a rich natural source of health, strength, and flavor.

The cashier giggled at me when I brought several of these apples to the checkout. I just couldn’t resist. Being from California, I had to buy a few. Of course, I bought one for our business manager who is also from California. He was equally amused.

The packaging is in German and English, so maybe this means that Arnold Apples are headed your way soon!

Here’s Your Sign – October 26th

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Euro Cup Countdown

This photo was taken about two months ago when the sun was still around in Vienna, so the numbers on this sign have dwindled by 60 days (Tage) or so.

If you don’t know, and you probably don’t since you’re most likely an American, Austria is hosting the 2008 European Soccer Championships next summer. They will be sharing the hosting duties with neighboring Switzerland.

As with most events of this nature the host country gets an automatic bid into the tournament even if they don’t belong there. And believe me, the Austrian soccer team just isn’t very good at all. They are so bad, that a group of Austrian soccer fans started a petition to try and revoke Austria’s automatic bid to the tournament.

Their appeal is to fans who appreciate aesthetically pleasing soccer: Nice passes, exciting dribbling skills, beautiful goals. You won’t see this if Austria plays, they warn.

Reportedly they have 10,000 signatures on their petition in only about a month’s time. And if you want to further support the cause you can even buy a T-shirt, which I totally would if they didn’t cost 20 Euro.

In any case you gotta love that home town team spirit. It makes me feel like I’m back in Philly the way these Austrians get behind their team.

Here is the official website where you can sign the petition: http://www.rueckgrat.cc/

A current news item with more details is found here if you’re interested: Fans campaign for Austrian team to pull out of Euro 2008.

Monday Morning Wake-up Song

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One of the interesting things about Vienna is the music played on radio stations. In the States, radio stations have a genre that they generally stick with. Not so with Austrian radio. They play the craziest assortment of songs on one station. My clock radio is set to a station that plays oldies, heavy metal, messages from the pope, rap, eighties, R&B, and Top 40. It’s a little strange to hear Elvis, Snoop Dog, and Rammstein on the same playlist. Generally speaking this provides quite a bit of entertainment. Last Monday I woke up to “Manic Monday” by the Bangles. 🙂 This morning I woke up to “These Boots are Made for Walking” by Nancy Sinatra. Who knows what I’ll wake up to next week!

Quote of the Day

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The question:

Tell what the underlined figure of speech means:
Time flew when they were at recess.

Larissa’s explanation to Miguel:
You know, it’s the opposite of what Madonna sings about in “Hung Up.” (insert singing and dancing here) “Time goes so slow.”