New meaning to "Up in Smoke"

• Reading: Travel plans


• Listening to: FM 4 (Beck is artist of the week!)


• German Word of the Day: einleuchten


• Translation: to make sense


• Example: Es leuchtet mir ein, dass so einen Vorschlag von einem Deutscher kam./It makes sense to me that such a suggestion came from a German.

Forget the smoking section. Try the smoking airline!

It makes complete sense to me that a German would suggest a smoking-only airline. I was just thinking about it today while walking around -- I went into a combination cafe/store and was amazed at all of the people smoking while eating. Be overweight? Nooooo. Smoke a pack a day? Well, of course!* The number of people who smoked just to keep their weight down while I was at the Gymnasium was around 80%. I think I was one of maybe 5 (from our class of 40) who didn't smoke.

The smoking itself doesn't bother me that much. In fact, it feels strange in America when I'm at a cafe and people aren't smoking. I still remember how astonished I was the first time I landed at the Frankfurt airport and people were walking around, cigarettes in hand. A breath of not-so-fresh air for my naive American self. Now I snicker at them at the airport, as there are (technically) smoking sections. Snicker, that is until I stop paying attention and wander into the smoking section where they huddle, post-transatlantic flight, enjoying their nicotine fixes and eyeing me like the outsider that I am.

Luckily, smoking is one of the European habits I haven't picked up.

*I know that not every German feels this way, but the number of those who do still astonishes me.