 It’s not big and it’s certainly not clever. But it’s hard not to laugh at funny foreign names and the misuse of the English language sometimes.
I’m sure they laugh at our names and our pitiful attempts at mastering their tongue. And some of our place names must appear particularly ridiculous to people looking in on our Island nation. (Titty Hill in West Sussex anyone?) But I don’t remember stumbling across anything quite like Tokyo Sexwale!
Tokyo, in case you’ve never heard of him, is one of the organising committee for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. Not only that he’s a former political prisoner who spent a decade behind bars with none other than ANC leader Nelson Mandela.
He hit the headlines over here yesterday after wading into the row on players misbehaving in front of the watching millions to remind them of their responsibilities. Choosing a metaphor he thought they’d be able to refer to, he came out with the following gem: “It’s (s)not like you can pick your nose in private, but if you pick it here in public, we see you in our living rooms.” I’m greatly looking forward to 2010 already if these are the sorts of pronouncements we can expect.
I’ve not had chance to discover if snot is on the menu in my hotel here in Duisburg yet (I’m guessing it’s probably not), but fresh ‘Basilica’ certainly is, and with pesto sauce and roasted pine nuts in case you’re interested.
I’m assuming they mean the herb basil, yet the notion that you can eat the largest church in Christendom and the final resting place of St Peter on a bed of spaghetti takes some beating.
As do the cooks that serve it. According to the hotel guest book ‘Our top chef Norbert Mingles is on hand to cater for your every delight’ whilst ‘Sommelier Ernesto Dangelharden is only to happy to recommend complimentary wines from around the globe.’ And that’s before you get to Rick’s Bar (‘a place to meet interesting people’) where ‘Ingo Stuffler shakes a mean cocktail among the beautiful folk.’
I might take a trip down there after I’ve written this just in case a few of the beautiful folk have dropped by for the evening. I do hope Tokyo’s in town, the old Sexwale…
|
