Day 13: The Caterer Cancels at Noon
In Koblenz, Nele (A) finds her older brother Jan (B) on the stairs a few hours before their parents' ruby wedding party on a Rhine boat.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a German word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native German, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Jan, warum starrst du dein Handy an, als hätte es dir gerade gekündigt?
Jan, why are you staring at your phone as if it had just given you the sack?
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B
Der Caterer hat abgesagt, sieben Stunden vor dem Ablegen. Das vor Monaten bestellte Buffet fällt wegen eines Rohrbruchs ins Wasser.
The caterer has cancelled, seven hours before we cast off. The buffet that was ordered months ago is going down the drain because of a burst pipe.
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A
Gut, dann wird eben improvisiert. Mamas und Papas Rubinhochzeit feiern wir jedenfalls nicht mit Salzstangen vom Kiosk.
Right, then we'll improvise. We're certainly not celebrating Mum and Dad's ruby wedding with pretzel sticks from the corner shop.
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B
Improvisieren, für sechzig Leute? Ich sehe schon die Schlagzeile: „Rubinhochzeit auf dem Rhein endet in Hungersnot“.
Improvise, for sixty people? I can already see the headline: 'Ruby Wedding on the Rhine Ends in Famine'.
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A
Die Tische bekommen wir von der Crew aufgebaut, das hab ich schon geklärt. Bleibt die Frage, wo wir heute noch was Warmes geliefert bekommen.
The crew will set up the tables for us, I've already sorted that out. That leaves the question of where we can still get something hot delivered today.
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B
Fünf Caterer hab ich angerufen, alle ausgebucht. Und die von Mama penibel geführte Allergieliste macht es auch nicht leichter.
I've rung five caterers, all booked up. And Mum's meticulously kept allergy list doesn't make it any easier.
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A
Moment, wo hatten die beiden eigentlich ihr erstes Date? Papa erzählt doch jedes Weihnachten die Geschichte mit dem umgekippten Ouzo.
Hang on, where did the two of them actually have their first date? Dad tells the story about the knocked-over ouzo every Christmas.
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B
Beim Griechen in der Altstadt. Du willst doch nicht etwa ... Nele, du bist genial!
At the Greek place in the old town. You're not seriously thinking of ... Nele, you're a genius!
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A
Ich weiß, und jetzt ruf an. Über vierzig Jahre nach dem legendären Ouzo schließt sich der Kreis.
I know, and now ring them. More than forty years after the legendary ouzo, things come full circle.
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B
Der Wirt erinnert sich sogar noch an den Ouzo! Um halb sieben bekommen wir alles an den Anleger geliefert, und den Ouzo stellt er diesmal außer Papas Reichweite.
The owner even remembers the ouzo! We're getting everything delivered to the landing stage at half past six, and this time he'll put the ouzo out of Dad's reach.
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