Hi all of you,
I’ve just received a news update, saying that Boris Johnson tested positive for Covid-19. The Prime Minister was put in quarantine at his official residence, 10 Downing Street.
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Heaven forbid that I would wish the man any physical harm but there is a certain irony in the fact that he’s self isolating - perhaps he could be locked up as well. We definitely need a leader in the UK and not a clown. What we also need is a national government. Democracy is a fine institution but it’s time to forget party politics and use all the resources available whatever the political colour of Members of Parliament. The secretary for health is also coranavirused . If his team worked with the ‘shadow’ team, what a difference that would make. As I said, what we need is a leader with imagination.
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Rumor has it Angela Merkel has invited Boris Johnson to spend his period of social isolation together with her since she too, has been self-isolating. She said it will be a great opportunity for her to finally start learning English in earnest while getting entertained by the most charming and brilliant of all Brits…
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Pull the other one, Torsten.
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Ha ha ha…that would be a classic situation.
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I agree… 
Every time I read that post, I start roaring with laughter. I’m sorry, Alan, but that would indeed be a classic situation.
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I think Boris would be the ideal candidate for this job provided he can do a decent Bavarian accent: Training machines and earning money
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Torsten,
I have great memories of Bavaria. I once spent a month over there, working as a ‘Praktikant’ at 'die Bayerische Musikakademie in Hammelburg. That was long time ago, I believe it was in the summer of 1990 or so. But the aim of my German teacher was to broaden my knowledge of the German language, thus standard German. When I returned to Belgium my knowledge of the lingo had indeed broadened, but I had the most wonderful Bavarian accent.
I don’t know if I can still do it, but I shall give it a try.
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Ein Praktikant is much the same as a student getting pratical experience of the work they have to do. You could also call it a student working during the school holidays. I think there is a more adequate word in English, however I don’t know it, but do you think jobstudent is acceptable? Yet, I didn’t get paid by the academy, because the members of the board provided free accommodation and meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner). I have to say the rooms were very cosy, cleaned every day and the food was superb. However, the board had considered letting me reside in Schloss Saaleck, but as it was a four star hotel, the costs would have been astronomical at the end of the month and so they decided I should retire in one of the rooms of the academy. They even provided a telephone, but I was not allowed to make calls abroad.
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Torsten, do you think ‘job student’ is a word used in English. Can you find a more adequate word in English?
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I don’t think ‘job student’ makes much sense. The closet English word describing what a Praktikant is, is ‘intern’ or ‘trainee’.
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Wonderful. However there must be students in England working during official holidays, earning money in order to pay their studies, right?
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Students are usually only working in part-time or seasonal jobs. Maybe they are part-timers! Earning some cash in the holidays. I think students might not necessarily be trainees or interns as sometimes they don’t get paid.
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Like I wasn’t, but I got a lot in return for the work I did there, secretarial work. And the people I worked with were so kind that I bursted out crying the day I had to leave. Never had I been treated so kindly and lovingly. I said to one of my soon-to-be non-colleagues: ‘I want to stay here, please, don’t let this be true.’ Yet, there was reality, I had to return back home. She said: ‘Oh, Marc, please don’t cry, you’re going home, I’m sure you must have missed your family a lot.’ I replied: ‘Yes, but only my mother and grandmother.’ Sad story, don’t you think?
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@Masme Marc, thanks for sharing your story. We are allowed to be emotional, you know! We all have different experiences and therefore anything close to us can trigger our emotions. 
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Thank you very much, Andrea.
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