Deutsch Schule + the ABC's of Socialism

Wir lernen in der Schule! (Or something like that.)

Thing to Know #1: All nouns are capitalized.
It's a little like living in the Land of Eeyore, because every (Person, Place, and) Thing has a Capital.
"Where is the Car?"
"The Revolutionaries are burning the Car."

Thing to Know #2: Numbers are written as insanely long, single words!
Here is how you write 72,364:
zweiundsiebentausenddreihundertvierundsechzig

What about 5,555?
fünftausendfünfhundertfünfundfünfzig

Seriously! Every cheque here must be of the novelty persuasion!

We put all this booklernin to use last night, hanging out with S. and her German friend Tatiana at the Olde Prison of Zurich. As part of the 1st of May celebrations, left-leaning revolutionaries, minority groups, and people who just like to party and picnic come together for food and music in the prison grounds, a former site of detention/deportation for people who were not wanted on the Switzervoyage.

S. was an admirable tour guide:
"Those people over there are singing about the beautiful revolution. [Points to folky types.] Those people over there [points to radio station booth] are inviting us to come and learn the ABC's of socialism. Those people [points to death metal band], well, those people are screaming because capitalism is just shit."

Though we never did pick up our ABC booklets, we decided that "A" was for Alcohol, "C" was for Cigarettes, but we couldn't quite figure out "B." "Bolsheviks" seemed too easy.

For all that the anarchists hate, well, everything, they still evidently rent their stages from an automobile company -- can you see the truck masquerading as a concert stage in this picture?

Clearly, Friend Project: Zurich is off to a delightfully music- and authentically Palestinian-falafel-filled start!

Please note that although we still love our "friends" back home, they are starting to fall out of favour, given the TOTAL lack of enthusiasm for our "Reader of the Week" promotion. Either we have no readers, or we have no friends. Both possibilities are kind of downers.