Whatbits?

I’ve had to learn to write in UK English for the majority of our clients. "Colour." "Programme." Stuff like that.

I'm on a new assignment, and I’ve recently learned that the British don’t have “tidbits." They have “titbits.”

If that’s how the Brits want it, fine.

But if you Google each word, you get surprisingly different results.

Omaha Beach

While in Northern France, we stopped at Omaha Beach. As we approached, I told my kids what happened here on June 6, 1944. I had hoped it would instill a sense of reverence and appreciation in them.

Instead, my sons combed the beach looking for bullets.

Art history by accident

Last week our family drove seven hours for a vacation in Northern France. An hour north of Paris, we were all getting a little hungry, so we started looking for a place to stop for lunch.

The nearest city was Rouen. I had never heard of Rouen, but it looked big enough to offer something nicer than a roadside McDonald's. When we arrived, we found this...

Turns out the city is the home of the Cathedral Notre Dame de Rouen, a subject Monet had painted over 30 times. (It's much less fuzzy in real life. Even with the scaffolding.)

Had we eaten earlier or packed a picnic, we would have never seen this. Had we paid more attention in art history, we would have stopped on purpose. As it was, it was just a happy accident.

I think the only time something like this happened to me in the States was when I was on the corner of Broadway and 112th Street.

Emergencies and dictionaries

Last month, I witnessed a hit-and-run. No injuries - a car just backed into a parked motorcycle, totaled it and drove off. Three other people and I took down their license number before they got away. (Why do people think they can get away with anything anymore? Don't they know how many iPhones are out there?)

Because it was in front of my building, I volunteered to be the contact witness when the cops showed up. Ten minutes later when they arrived, I met them, dictionary in hand, to explain what happened. Turns out "accident" is the same word in French, pronounced differently.

Last week, I went to our apartment's basement and found a huge pool of water with a leak of considerable consequence from the pipes above.

I ran back upstairs and to call the superintendent. But first, I had to look up the words "leak," "hallway," "pipes," and "puddle." The superintendent was a little skeptical at first. I think he thought I was using the wrong words. But when I said, "Beaucoup d'eau," he got the idea.

I'd say my French is okay. Not really conversational. But at least I can order in a restaurant and report pipe leaks and non-injury hit-and-runs.

Little America

A couple weekends ago, we went to Desalpes, otherwise known as "The time farmers put bells and flowers on their cows and bring them down from the mountains for the winter, leaving as much poop as possible in the middle of the road." Fun times, fun times.

The festival feels very Swiss. Lots of cows. Beautiful mountains. Lots of sausage and chocolates for sale. But for the second year in a row, I heard more American accents at this festival than any other time or place during the year.

Geneva's a very international city. But when I hear English spoken, it's usually Queen's English. East Indian may be a close second. Rarely do I hear American accents on the street. But Desalpes, as Swiss as it is, seems to be a 24-hour Little America.

Mac vs. Le Mac

I just bought a MacBook Pro. There's an Apple Store in Geneva (one of only three in Continental Europe). But I bought my new Mac online and had it shipped to family who will be visiting Geneva in a couple weeks. Why did I buy online?

1. 12 months same as cash offer with a Barclaycard only available in the US.
2. All the Swiss Macs have European keyboards, which means no "$", the Y and Z keys are switched, and the @ is Ctrl+G.
3. Just didn't want to speak French when buying a computer.

Meet Cocktail

My friend Erin has a pretty sweet gig. I don't think she's been in Switzerland a year yet, and she's already a partner at a start-up ad agency.

This new shop, Cocktail, is housed on the south side of Lake Geneva in a building that is also home to the Geneva Archery Association (apparently the oldest club in the city, dating back to the 1400's). I went to lunch with Erin and her partner Phillipe a couple weeks ago and got to see their place.

Their office is only in part of the building, but it's still a pretty cool place to approach. It's at the end of a long road, and there are large archery targets used for practice on the adjacent lawn. It kind of reminds me of the old offices for Mullen.

As you enter the building, before ascending the stairs to Cocktail's offices you pass a display case which features a couple arrows and the archery association's flag. Proof that of all the ad agencies in the Swiss Romande region, Cocktail is probably the most heavily defended.

Best of luck to Phillipe and Erin. It's nice to know even Geneva can produce some cool shops with some great people behind them.

Henry has become Henri

The other day, my 7-year-old Henry and I were watching Batman cartoons. We were watching in English (we can toggle between our mother tongue and French), but the commercials are always in French.

At the end of one commercial, Henry started cracking up. When he realized I wasn't laughing, he asked if I understood the joke. When I said I didn't even know it was supposed to be funny, he explained the spot to me. And it was pretty funny.

So Henry's getting jokes in French. Very cool. But also kind of weird.