Yesterday I was at a German friend's birthday celebration, which included her two kids, ages 7 and 5. (I arrived just as the earlier party shift of parents-with-young-kids was leaving, and my friend apologized that her birthday party had turned into more of a "children's birthday party" because it was pretty much just lots and lots of kids running around. Cute, though!)
I happened to see a Jacob's ladder on a shelf, and picked it up to look at it, because that's a toy I haven't seen in ages. My friend's daughter (7) came running over to show me how it worked, so I asked her what the toy is called in German, since I only know it in English.
Surprised, she asked, "Were you born in England?" (Which is a very reasonable guess!)
"No, in the US," I said. (Having this conversation in German, of course.) And then because that didn't seem to mean anything to her, I tried, "In America?"
She considered me. "Did you live in France?" (Because her mother works on a lot of German-French collaborations, and has many French friends, so that's the kids' frame of reference for foreignness.)
"No, in America. In the United States."
She cocked her head at me. "Is that even further away than France?"
. . . . .
(The five-year-old son also proudly informed me that he's started learning English in school, and asked if he could have my phone number so he can call me and speak English, once he's learned a bit more!)
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