I'm not Dutch or German or Irish....honest


I'll catch up on posting later in the week but just wanted to get this down before the worm of work eats its way into my brain.

A week kast Saturday (23rd of April I believe) I decided to take the train from Norden (North West Germany) to Emden for the afternoon, basically because I had run out of things to do in the small but perfectly formed town I was staying in. Anyway having spent a couple of hours in Emden (which was about an hour and forty five minutes too long) I started to walk back toward the railway station. About half a mile from the station I became aware of somebody approaching from behind me and they seemed to be speeding up, when the owner of the footsteps drew level with me he began to speak, in German, this is our conversation (translated from German)

"It's very hot in Emden this afternoon."
"I'm sorry, I am a foreigner and my German isn't very good."
"No, your German is very good, do you work in an office in Emden?"
"No, I'm on holiday."
"Staying in Emden?"
"No, I'm staying in a hotel in Norden."
"Your German is very good."
"Thank you."
"Are you Irish?"
"No, English."
"Ah English. Well have a good holiday my English friend."

We go our separate ways and I cross the road towards the station, a car pulls up, there is a man and woman inside, mid to late twenties.

"Hi, can you show us the way to....."
"I'm sorry but I don't speak German very well, I can't understand what you said."
The couple look at me then at each other and the guy says, "But you are speaking German now."
"I'm sorry, I must go."

So last year I was suspected of being Dutch at a restaurant in Lubeck and this year my German accent is apparently good enough for an Irishman who wants to use his lack of German as an excuse for not being more helpful.