Mothertongue Blog

Italy, a country typically known as the land of Latin lovers and macho men, is surprisingly becoming a place where an increasing number of guys are experimenting with transsexual love.

Only recently, the President of Regione Lazio, Piero Marrazzo, who is married with kids, had to stand down from politics after being caught enjoying an intimate moment with a famous Brazilian transsexual prostitute. Of course he was stupid enough (or certain enough that he was going to get away with it?) to drive to his house in his official car. And to let this guy, Brenda, film their encounters on his mobile.

This scandal caused a real stir in Italy as people started to realize that more and more Italian men are dabbling in transsexual sex. We have transsexuals on talk shows, in the news and in magazines – and we have been told how this mix of forbidden sex and cocaine attracts all sorts of men, especially the more famous, footballers and politicians.

For anyone who’s interested, a book has just been published written by the most famous and beautiful transsexual ever, Efe. It’s called Quello che i mariti non dicono (“The things your husband will never tell”).

Paula from Torino, Italy

Spain is one of the countries hit hardest by the recession. The credit crunch has had a massive impact on our property market, and our recovery is laboured to say the least (our economy remains well behind those of our eurozone neighbours). However, by far the worst problem is our level of unemployment, with figures rising again this February by 82,000, so around 4,130,625 people are affected in total. What’s more, the Spanish government doesn’t seem to have any kind of coherent plan in place to get things back on track.

So, it’s not surprising then that a group of people have decided to get together and do something about it – with a small but powerful campaign. In the beginning, this consisted simply of teaser ads with the following web address: estosololoarreglamosentretodos.org (literally in English: “this-can-only-be-fixed-by-ourselves.org”). On visiting the site, readers are presented with inspiring and encouraging real-life stories which can be shared and used in articles or speeches. The aim is for these accounts to filter their way into the media (in much the same way that all the negative recession stories do), and ultimately lift the spirits of the nation. In short, its purpose is to spread optimism instead of the pessimism that we have all been infected with.

And the truth is, the whole concept is proving really rather popular. It’s not just ordinary people who are getting on board – small and large companies, foundations, even TV personalities are joining forces through this innovative initiative to restore people’s faith and hope that things will get better.

The message is: when you and you and you and I become “us”, there is nothing we cannot fix!

Ferran from Barcelona, Spain

Lately Greek brands have been using catchy songs and humour to advertise their products and services. A good example is Cosmote, one of the biggest mobile providers in Greece: in its latest advert, it uses the memorable and humorous tune “Copacabana” which is being sung by the Greek military (and in a rather camp way at that!).

Although I’m sure many people could find it annoying, it certainly does the job in terms of making you remember the brand (I advise not to click on the link unless you don’t mind the song going round and round your head all day). It’s become a real hit in Greece!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KmyjfC8_C0

Smaro from Athens, Greece

On Wednesday 24 February, Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, compared Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, to a damp rag. He also said the former Belgian prime minister was a “low-grade bank clerk” and that he came from a “non-country”.

Now I could talk about how insulting this is to Belgium – a great country well known for its delicious chocolate, tasty beer and rich culture. Or mention that the whole affair was arguably just one big publicity stunt by Farage to raise his public profile. But what I really want to talk about is how the “damp rag” remark apparently posed quite a problem for the interpreters present at the meeting!

While it’s true that verbal abuse is a common feature of British politics, it’s actually very rare in the EU chamber, where debate is muted partly due to a pro-European consensus but also because it is conducted in 23 languages through interpreters and headphones.

Apparently when Farage made his quip, some of the linguists were stumped as to what to say, with many of them hesitating before thinking of an appropriate solution. Meanwhile, all the non-English speakers had to sit and wait patiently for the barrage of insults to be translated! Wouldn’t it be fascinating to know what they came up with?!

Amy from London, UK

Source | BBC + Reuters

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8535121.stm

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE61N50E20100224

What would you do if the end of the world was scheduled for tomorrow at 11.30 a.m? Apocalyptic visions have always fascinated mankind, never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures and religions. Now the common fear is fuelled by “2012”, the blockbuster by German director Roland Emmerich which was launched in November last year. Having risen to fame with “Independence Day” and “Godzilla”, the “master of disaster” has now completed his magnum opus with visual effects to shake your senses: blow-ups and bloodbaths, earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, even whole continents falling apart. A breathless John Cusack finds himself in a sick world in which only those who pay can escape. The end leaves everyone who claimed to have “been there” or “done that” devastated.

However, all those stars, has-beens and would-bes attending the premiere night recovered all too quickly from the shock, and the question of all questions no longer concerned the end of mankind, but another deeply human fear which is “Is my hair okay?” What a relief that comedian Oliver Kalkofe, renowned for his hilarious parodies of the vanity fair that is German television, was there to comment on the last day of his existence: “Contrary to most other people who spend their lives fearing the future, I would certainly not panic,” says Kalkofe. “I’d be spending a Sunday watching all this crap on commercial television. And then I’d say to myself: Okay, it’s the end of the world. And we deserve it.”

Sabine from Germany

MacDonald’s (or Makku as people call it in Japan) is the most successful fast food chain in our country. You can see the familiar red and yellow M signs near practically every train station in every major city.

There are also specially developed menus for Japanese customers, including items such as the Teriyaki burger, the Ebi-fillet-O (Shrimp burger, my favourite!) the Bacon-lettuce burger, and the seasonal Tsukimi-burger (burger with egg). This year, they are releasing a series of American burgers for a limited period only, and the first Texas burger and New York burger have had a good reception from the Japanese public.

Makku’s business is as good as ever, with net profit for December 2009 being at its highest point since it went public. Recently, the fast food giant announced that it would be giving its restaurants a new look and a new menu, closing 433 shops and relocating 633 more to more lucrative areas across the country in the process.

Check out Makku’s new stylish outlets and uniforms here: http://rn.oricon.co.jp/news/photo/73224/p00201002090109373001265705717L/?cat_id=btn_top

When another American burger chain, Wendy’s closed its business in Japan in December 2009, lots of people went to the restaurants to bid farewell. There were long queues outside, and hand written “sorry we are all sold out” signs to be seen.

http://news.walkerplus.com/2010/0101/20/photo02.html

What can I say? Burgers and Fries. Japanese people are lovin’ it.

Junko from Japan

Gone has the age when we would wait for the morning paper to find out what’s been going on in the world. Today is a time when we want to know what is happening as soon as it’s happened – and not a second later, thank you very much.

Twitter is a prime example of this craze. It makes people feel somehow special and ahead of the game to be the first to find out that a famous celeb has died, fallen over … sneezed even. It’s an adrenaline rush that’s not easily relinquished.

The success of social networks such as Twitter, however, depends heavily on more and more people being absolutely convinced that immediate communication is of the utmost importance.

Personally, I find this trend pretty exhausting. It would be nice, for example, to see people paying as much attention to their own immediate surroundings (neighbourhoods, families, and so on) as they do to the goings on in the wider world. Perhaps one day they will. For the moment however, the site’s popularity shows no signs of slowing down …

Inspiration for this piece was taken from an interesting article by Simon Dumenco (Advertising Age) which can be found here:

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=140871

Amy from London, UK

The much-anticipated match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid last Sunday 29 November was not just seen in millions of households around the world but also in 51 cinemas across Spain. Over 15,000 supporters enjoyed the match on the big screen, with high definition and Dolby Digital sound thanks to an agreement signed between Mediapro, the group of companies that owns the rights to broadcast football matches, and several cinema chains.

This is an unprecedented initiative in Spain that has involved cinemas throughout the country, from Cadiz to Oviedo, and, of course, Madrid and Barcelona. The approximate price to watch the game was that of a regular cinema ticket.

The agreement between Mediapro and the cinemas, valid until the end of the season, allows matches with Barça or Real Madrid to be shown every weekend. The number of theatres in which the match will be broadcast will depend on the interest in each individual game.

Ferran from Barcelona, Spain

In Italy, many people shake hands with their neighbours at church as a sign of peace. However, the outburst of swine flu in Italy has prompted many churches to abolish this peaceful gesture in order to avoid hand-to-hand contact. It’s interesting to see how creative we get in these kinds of situations. A guy in Northern Italy, for example, has invented a very successful “safe holy water dispenser” – the machine lets a few drops of water fall into your hands so you don’t have to dip your fingers into the holy water bowl, which can be a breeding ground for germs.

Paola from Torino, Italy

Car sharing schemes have proven popular in many European and North American cities for some years. The concept has now reached Portugal and is proving a great success. The Portuguese are looking to cut their transportation costs in other ways too, such as opting for motorcycles to get to work instead of cars.

Most of you probably already know what car sharing entails. It’s basically a rental scheme where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. Car sharing allows you to save money on fuel while also protecting the environment (as once the cost of driving is shared, the number of cars on the roads is reduced). One such scheme which has proven very popular in Portugal is called Mob Carsharing. Promoted by Lisbon’s principal transportation company, it provides drivers with vehicles to use within the city – all they have to do is book the vehicle in advance and pay a small fee. Its success has prompted other companies to offer a similar kind of service. More and more people are also using motorcycles, in particular the 125CC, to get to work, leaving their cars at home. At the moment, you only need to have a driving license in order to ride a 125CC (and not a separate motorcycle license) which has caused sales of this particular model to explode. However, this law is due to be revised at the end of this year.

One reason for all this is that people are worried about spending too much time stuck in traffic and want to reach their destination faster, but these changes are primarily the result of increasing fuel prices and the lower standard of living in Portugal since the euro was introduced. If people use the car sharing schemes, they can make a monthly saving of over 100 euros. Some studies show that if you currently spend 400 euros a month, with these measures you can cut your outgoings to just 93 euros. That’s a lot of money to save just on your way to work! Read more at www.energiapositiva.pt or www.mobcarsharing.pt (note: sites in Portuguese only).

Lúcio from Lisbon, Portugal