I spent twenty minutes this morning picking up the old cups, cans and bottles from my neighbor’s party “welcoming” students back to UMD. I did it in pretty good humor. They seem like nice neighbors and the party wasn’t too loud. In fact they had told a neighbor to call them if they got too loud. The disappointment was their neglecting to pick up after the party ended. That meant that all the Friday morning traffic got to see what living across from college students can look like. I don’t blog as often as want to now in large part because I’m spending up to six hours a day furiously trying to cram more French into my head for our coming tour of southern France that’s less than a month away. I decided to test myself by writing about this clean up in French. Geez, learning a new language is hard.
I’ve been at it for four years now. Those of you who do not know French may be impressed with the French that follows. Don’t be fooled. Francophones won’t be. For the amusement of the English speakers I will put the Google Translator’s translation of my French writing just below it. Note that my title is wrong. I wanted to write a self test but my French says a same test. I should have written: “un auto-examen.” (I spent about thirty minutes writing this treatise. That’s ten minutes longer than I spent cleaning up.)
UNE MEME EXAMAN
Apprendant un nouveau lange est assez le défi surtout pour un vielle mec comme moi. Cela est un examen voir comment bien je peux écrire vingt jours avant nos voyages en France.
Ce matin je réveille et trouve que les filles en face de notre garage a laissé les déchets de leur fête dehors dans leur jardin a côté de les rue entre nos maisons. Ooh la la c’etait un dérangement. Apres un heure et demi je traverse ke rue avec mon poubelle et boite de recyclage. Assez le voitures roule passe dans leur moyen des travailes je passe vingt minutes en derangant le jardin.
Le fête n’était as trop forte heureusement. En fait les jeune demoiselles qui ecuiliaient le fête dit leur voisin a côté que si le fête a devenu trop forte elle téléphonait leur maisin et les dit. Si les jeunes filles sont le même comme le années dernier ils dit moi le même chose. Ça était très responsable.
Mais le fête devenue peut-être un peu plus fou qu’ils a pleins.des garçons d’un autre maison de louer apport plus et plus cannetes de bière et autre liquides a bu. Ils aussi apport les drapeaux de leur propre fêtes allongé l’autre bout de la rue. Un de le drapeaux a le message Fuxk le Taliban. C’est un message que je ne peux pas trouve même moi en disagreement avec. Mais le x n’est pas caché le mot fuck tres bien.
Sans colère je range le jardin. Si les voisins dont assez sympa assez je pense ils sera sans doute un peu gênant a trouvaient un plus propre jardin.
Je souviens un fête que je avais été a la maison des mes parent il y cinquant ans. Mes amis de école a me demande si je pouvais accueillir le fête dans le premier an depuis nos graduations. Je passes cette nuit range les dérangements que tous les invités et les ges qui n’étaient pas invités laisse partout mon maison. Mais quand mes parents, qui me permettre a avoir le fête revenu s le maison était range complètement.
Je souviens le histoire que mon femme dit moi de te temp ses parents metre leur maison en De Moines, Iowa pour vendre. Un famile noir étaient interresant dans leur maison et tous les voisins blanche a les offerte plus de l’argent de ne vend leur maison à gens noir qui pouvait faire tous les maisons du quartier moins cher.
Dans mon cas il est peut-être les élèves en face mon garage qui fait mon maison moins cher. Mais c’est pas leur complexion. C’est leur comportement
AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (TRADUCTION) FROM GOOGLE TRANSLATE
Learning a new language is quite the challenge especially for an old guy like me. This is a review to see how well I can write twenty days before our trips to France.
This morning I wake up to find that the girls in front of our garage left their party waste outside in their garden next to the streets between our houses. Ooh la la that was a disturbance. After an hour and a half I cross the street with my trash and recycling box. Enough the cars rolls pass in their means of the workes I spend twenty minutes in disturbing the garden.
Fortunately, the party was not too strong. In fact the young ladies who received the party told their neighbor next door that if the party got too loud she would call their house and tell them. If the young girls are the same as last year they tell me the same. It was very responsible.
But the party maybe got a little crazier than they got full. Some boys from another house to hire brought more and more cans of beer and other liquids to drink. They also brought their own holiday flags lying across the street. One of the flags has the message Fuxk the Taliban. It’s a message that I can’t even find myself in disagreement with. But the x is not hidden the word fuck very well.
Without anger I tidy the garden. If the neighbors are nice enough I think they will probably be a bit annoying to find a cleaner garden.
I remember a party that I had been at my parents’ house fifty years ago. My friends from school have wondered if I could host the party in the first year since our graduation. I spend that night tidying up the inconveniences that all the guests and the uninvited ages leave all over my house. But when my parents, who allowed me to have the party returned, the house was completely tidy.
I remember the story my wife told me about when her parents put their house in De Moines, Iowa for sale. A black family was interested in their house and all the white neighbors offered them more money than selling their house to black people who could make all the houses in the neighborhood cheaper.
In my case it may be the students in front of my garage that made my house cheaper. But that’s not their complexion. It’s their behavior
Post Script: the neighbors still have lawn furniture to put away. The biggest pain will be the fake leather upholstered couch someone brought over to chug beer while sitting in comfort. I’m sure they givers were delighted to saddle the party hosts with getting rid of a soon-to-be sopping wet sofa.
