“Public Holidays 1” is a collection of 4 transcripts, each in their own PDF file. The pack is a ZIP file containing the 4 PDFs and is available from the AllThingsGerman Download Store.
The transcripts in this pack are:
To find out more, visit the AllThingsGerman Download Store.
On my last visit to Lanzarote I discovered a book called “Cuando ardieron los Volcanes”, or “When the Volcanoes spewed Fire” as it is called in English.
Published on the island itself, it is only a small book – 32 pages long and available in Spanish, English and German.
It contains the notes written by one Don Andrés Lorenzo Curbelo who was a priest on Lanzarote during the volcanic eruptions between 1730 and 1736.
His chronicle includes details of where on the island volcanoes were erupting and when, along with other seismic events and even which direction the lava was flowing and the villages that it had reached. Later he also talks about how the inhabitants took shelter on Gran Canaria.
The book contains some stunning aerial photos of Lanzarote’s volcanoes, but also drawings of the island made to document the volcanic eruptions. These not only bring home the scale of the disaster, but are also of interest to linguists. In 1730 the island’s name was spelt “Lansarote” and one of the volcanoes was called “Chimanfaya”.
I have been unable to find the book on Amazon, but I did find a website on Tenerife listing the Spanish and English editions – albeit currently out of stock. I picked up my copy for 5EUR at the Librería España in Arrecife.
ISBN Numbers
Spanish: 978-84-89023-29-1
English: 978-84-89023-30-7
German: 978-84-89023-31-4
With the General Election in the UK only a week away, you may be forgiven for asking how someone who does not live in the country is able to vote. The answer is that, like me, they probably are not able to.
To vote in the UK your name has to be on the electoral roll, and to be on that you have to fulfil certain conditions. One of these used to be an address in the UK and the normal method of registration is still via a form that is delivered to all households between September and November each year.
But even if you registered on a UK address and then spent most of your time out of the country there was a distinct downside to being on the electoral role: jury service. Since the members of a court jury are selected at random from the electoral roll, being on it you run the risk of being summoned for jury service and having to travel back to the UK at short notice – something a German employer may not understand.
Now, however, times have started to change and much like other countries UK citizens are being allowed to vote even if they live overseas – at least in the General Election.
To do so, you need to register as a voter and have your registration counter-signed by another British citizen living abroad. You will also need to chose between a proxy or postal vote – and apply for these far enough in advance of the election (not easy with this election being called so close to the actual voting day).
And yet these new rules will not help me, as there is one important limit – you must not have lived outside the UK for more than 15 years – exactly the amount of time that I have now lived in Germany.
So although I will following the results of the General Election next week and parts of the campaign have even made the news in Germany, I shall not be able to vote.
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