Sources of handy German words for clothess

 In hotels I check the multilingual laundry lists for names of clothes. The words are handy when you are shopping. Use them to ask for items you need.

You can also find useful words on the washing instruction labels inside clothes.

 German - English

Gurtel - belt (like girdle)

die Krawette - tie (tie die, die Krawatte; pronounced like cravat, but written with a w like wursht sausage)

Schal - scarf / like shawl

Steifel - boots

English - German

belt (like girdle) - Gurtel

boots - steifel

scarf / like shawl - Schal

 tie (tie die, die Krawatte; pronounced like cravat, but written with a w like wursht sausage) die Krawatte 

To sum up

1 Laundry lists

2 Clothes labels and packaging

3 Shop windows, signs and displays

Useful Websites for learning German

Duolingo.com

translate Google

  Where can you learn and practise speaking German? 

Flag of Germany

Flag of Austria

Flag of Switzerland

You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland.  Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.

Flag of Luxembourg.

Flag of Liechtenstein.

-ends-

Please follow my blogs on travel, dress of the day, and comical poetry. Share links to your favourite posts.

Portable Toilets for camping, hiking, and travelling with kids who are toilet training

 I have needed help in these situations

1 In a high street when toilets were only for customers.

2 In a public toilet in China when the toilets had no doors and the toilet was a hole in the ground and all the Chinese girls called each other to see the blonde westerner.

3 A remote mountain hiking trail. I did not want to leave the path far. Tree roots, potholes, insects. Bears. If I fell out of sight nobody would find me.

4 A four year old who is toilet training, out of nappies, can demand a wee wee, which means, now - in the next ten seconds.

I have used 

1 An umbrella behind a bush.

2 A scarf over a car door window when parking. 

I was unable to leave the car because the doors and boot doors were open. It was not my car and the driver had the key.  

Amazon has assorted styles. There are small ones like bottles with wide spouts and scoops.

A folding privacy cover seems a good idea. Brand name Pankay.

How you fold it. it has a figure of eight folding system.

That reminds me of those hats which spring open of their own accord. You have to stick them inside a cover to contain the startling Jack in box effect.

Useful resources

Book How to shit in the woods

A toilet which fits into a backpack?

Twenty eight pounds sterling for a toilet.

Kiddie travel toilet

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Warm and safe when walking, my scarf sewn onto a hat

 

Angela Lansbury in DIY hood from combined scarf and hat.

I looked in my cupboard for a hood. I did not find one. I found several sets of scarves and hats to match, and some near matches.

You can buy lots of outfits of hats and matching scarves, sometimes a set of three items with matching gloves. I find the hats tend to ride up and fall off. So do the scarves. One day I looked at the pair and thoought, what a shame they didn't sew the two together. Then I thought, I could do that. I did. It worked well. I spent an afternoon sewing together several sets.

How To Make A White Hood

I sewed a white scarf onto a matching of similar beanie style white hat. This serves several purposes. 

1 Safety

The white is for safety at night to be seen by motorists when I am crossing a road.  A UK pedestrian safety campaign had the rhyming slogan, wear white at night.

2 Preventing Loss of Accessories

Sewing the two items together reduces the chances of leaving one of them behind. It means the two parts of the pair are always together. 

3 Warmth

The scarf sewn on keeps the back of my neck warm, with no gaps. Sewing on the scarf enables me to keep the two sides even. The combination of hat and scarf keeps my ears covered and warm.

Convient and Elegant

 I am not constantly clutching the scarf to stop it slipping off my shoulders. 

Unique

My hat is totally unique. 

Useful Websites

Amazon

Ebay

Etsy

Shein

Now is the time to buy Union Jack Souvenirs - on Amazon, in supermarkets, everywhere

 

All this year you can celebrate the platinum Jubilee year and buy from the abundant supply of Union Jack items. 

Even friends and family who are not avid supporters of the royal family can find something amusing. My relatives were delighted when somebody gave them a vase in the shape of a Corgi dog. 

All from Amazon.

Dresses from Asda supermarket, UK, label George,

and from AliExpress, China but you pay postage to the UK.

Useful Websites

Cheapest Union Jack t-shirt but distressed pattern

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Union-distressed-colour-patriotic-Medium

11.99 pounds sterling from Amazon Union Jack t-shirt with sleeves

How To Sew A Large Scarf Into A Dress

Here is a dress I made yesterday from the large fringed scarf below. You can do it too. You do not need a sewing machine. Just a needle and thread and a pair of scissors.

I started with a large scarf which had a fringe down one side. 

Make sure you have the pattern the right way up.

Here is one I made earlier, my first fringed scarf dress. Orange fish.You can see the fringe and shoulder and neck.

Here's the whole dress. Great to wear around the house. Loose and comfortable.

My family love it. So bright and colourful. They are also impressed that I made a dress.

From an earlier project - I started with small scarves, sewing on tie ribbons, two per scarf, to tie the scarf across my bust to stop it falling off, getting lost, falling in the dirt, catching in doors and drawers, or slipping sideways untidily online and in photos.

I used clothes pegs to hold the sides together. Americans say clothes pin.

The fringes are tied together. I tied only every fourth fringe. You could tie every one. I prefer to keep cool in sunny summer. You could always wear a slip underneath.

Fancy neck for a caftan

Ribbon from Daiso, sewn into a headband with fabric flower attached.

Sewing kits from suprmarkets and sewing shops. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Needle threader. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Sylko is silky. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The best easy glide cotton (left). The technical term mercerized. It costs more. Why? The cotton is waxed so it slides more easily. It looks glossy. It feels tougher, firmer. The cotton reel was wood in the olden days, now sometimes plastic. It sits easily on the spool of a sewing machine.

The cheap cotton is more likely to catch in the fabric and not pull through. Also the end frays when you cut it so it is hard to thread through the needle. On the other hand, you can buy a boxed sewing kit with lots of colours of the cheap cotton. (right).

Stuck at home in Homestay or Lockdown?

Nothing to wear? Scarf sitting around doing nothing? Bored, and want to do some relaxing sewing? Feeling creative?

Turn a scarf into a dress. Here is how I did it.

OK, I admit it's just a beach dress, a basic boat-neck straight up and down shift dress. If you are handy with a needle you can add two vertical seams. Sew ribbon around the neck and armhole(s).

Dress with two tie belts. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

BELT
Add a belt. Consider:
Make a matching belt from a co-ordinating ribbon, or cut a strip off either the hem or the side or the top, or the centre back (and insert a zip).

Two ribbon ties from either side to tie at the back.

Or a long ribbon with two matching loops either side of the waist.

Or place a ribbon at waist height inside all the way around. Make two parallel seams, leavin a hole at the front centre. Thread through a long ribbon with two fancy ends to tie in a bow at the front like a drawstring.

Useful Websites On Sewing
Daiso - cheap store in Japan, Singapore, Asia. I bought ribbon in black, red and blue and green, wide or narrow.

I have several more posts on sewing a caftan or headband.
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/06/how-to-copy-caftan-what-australian.html

Websites on English and American English
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_having_different_meanings_in_American_and_British_English
https://context.reverso.net/translation/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/polyglotcommunity
https://translate.google.com/

About the author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a travel writer and photographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.

Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a language evaluator or grammarian.  We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.

I am Immediate Past President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting on Zoom the first Wednesday of the month but  the third Saturday afternoon and occasionally on other Wednesdays our workshops are on app learncool.sg 

Incoming president Faith from July 1st 2020 could change dates and platforms so please contact the club.

learncool.sg

Or quicker to type and easier to remember: 

 tinyurl.com/BHACOOL

For language lovers:Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_place_names

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_Australian_place_names

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_New_Zealand_place_names

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogs
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/04/how-to-say-thank-you-in-several.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-yourself-in-english-spanish.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/second-set-of-portuguese-words.html Please share links to your favourite posts
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
translate.google.c

Snow - How to prepare for the cold when travelling and avoid or find snow

One year I was booked on a walking tour of East London. The weaterh was really cold. Why was I so cold? In the USA at ski resorts I had walked around in snow and not felt so cold. The reason was, I was wearing padded ski jackets.

I hunted in the clothes cupboard. I found a ski jacket. It was dayglo colours. I looked absurd.

I arrived to join my group. They were all normally dressed, neat suits and coats and jackets. I felt silly.

However, at the end of the tour, an American lady said to me, "You were the only person dressed suitably for the occasion!" I was so grateful to her for saying that. I wished she had told me earlier.

So get out your ski clothes. One year I arrived in New Zealand with everything except a ski jacket which fitted. The shops were out of my size, had ridiculous prices, or were a bus ride away from my family's hotel. I walked around the shopping centre and found a second hand shop. Just the thing. Not as cheap as I wanted.

I took it to the counter. The assistant looked at it. He said, 'Sorry, it's missing a button, and this zip on the inside pocket is stuck, and there's a stain on the inside of the arm - nobody else will see it, but you might not like it. I could make a reduction, if you really want it."

I was so happy!

Feb 27 2020 It was snowing in London but not laying on the ground. The online newspapers showed white snow in the north of England. What does that mean for travellers?

It's good for ski resorts, if it's the right kind of slow, not turning to slippery slush which you sink into, nor freezing into slippery ice. Shoes with gripping soles are an advantage and you can buy overshoes and carry small slippers to wear indoors to protect floors from spikes and melting snow.

Food And Drink
I always like to have something to eat and drink with me. It cheers you up if you are waiting an hour for a train or bus or in the cold at a bus stop or on a draughty railway station.
If you are in a car you can stock up with food and water.

One year I made the mistake of putting it in the boot (Americans say trunk) of the car. Food, drink, and umbrella were all in the back. If you are in pouring rain you don't want to have to get out and get soaked fetching your umbrella and food and drink.

Emergency Toilet
In major motorway upheavals sometimes a toilet bus will go along the hard shoulder. Do you want to get out, in bear country, or after your car is cornered by an elephant in a safari park?

A large container with a sealable cover makes a makeshift toilet which can be emptied out later or immediately, from a door ajar if you are in the countryside and don't want to leave the car.

Yes, I was on a platform in Cardiff, Wales, recently, waiting for the train back to Paddington, London. I chose not to go into the waiting room, although that might have been warmer. Why?

Where To Sit
1 I wanted to keep away from others to avoid coronavirus.

2 The waiting room attracts people from both platforms. It is easy to sit tight because everybody else is doing so, when your train is going from platform one and they are all waiting for the train from platform two.

Years ago, in France, when I was a student, I snoozed in bed thinking that because I could hear the French girls talking, then breakfast had not started nor finished and my coach had not left.
When I eventually decided to get up, I had missed breakfast, and missing the day's outing, because they were not booked to go on the outing. They were the last half dozen friends of the previous week's course and were catching another coach home in another direction.

3 On the platform you can read the overhead signs. You don't have to rush out through a heavy door. You can rise and get ahead when the platform fills so that you are early onto the train steps and doors.

Dress warmly. My relative said, "I don't need to because I am going all the way by train."

Be prepared. As American Benjamin Franklin said, Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

If you end up taking a replacement bus you could have a long walk in the cold along the platform and outside across the car park, standing in a chill wind, waiting for your suitcase to be loaded below the bus, then into the bus sitting by the open door.

Warm Clothes
Even gloves and a hat packed into a bag or pocket can keep off the chill without taking up too much room. I always look for jackets with built in hoods, the sort you buy at ski resorts and in sports shops and even second hand shops (in the USA look for 'thrift' stores).

Tube Station Toilets
If you need a toilet in a hurry, it's handy to know which stations have toilets.

Singapore Stations
In hot countries you drink more water, which means you need toilets more often. In Singapore life is easy. Almost every station has a toilet near the ticket office. Look for the sign. It's outside the barrier, so you can use it even if not travelling by train.

The toilets are outside the station. It's a good idea to go before boarding and after getting off.

If you are caught short, you could always try playing the tourist card, asking for the toilet and looking woebegone. Maybe the office clerk will open the ticket gate and let you out and in again so you don't have to pay a second fare. This happened to me the first time.

Now I know to go in advance.

In London, the tube maps mark which stations have toilets. The print is very small. I suggest getting a magnifying glass, writing a big t alongside the stations with toilets.

Changing Trains
If you have a ten minute change from a train to a replacement bus, you cannot risk leaving the group. The bus won't have a toilet.

Go to the toilet on the train half or two thirds through the journey. Take your laptop with you.

GWR
On GWR trains from London to the West and Wales, you have large toilets big enough for wheelchairs. Everything is clearly marked.

Save Your Seat
You might want to leave something behind to reserve the seat, unless you have a reservation card, or ask the person beside you or opposite to keep your seat in case anybody else tries to take your place.

Planes To Ski Resorts & Back
On a plane going from a ski resort to a warmer climate you may find it convenient to get out of your seat and removed your warm jacket. if there's no room overhead, on a regular large plane flight you might be able to ask the smiling stewardess to hang up the garment and give it back to you at the end of the flight. Set an alarm on your watch on a 13 hour flight from New Zealand or Australia back to Europe or the UK. By tomorrow morning you will have forgotten your jacket. If you change seats, the person who stowed your jacket might have trouble finding you. Allow time to get back into your outer clothes before your hear the announcements to sit down and fasten seatbelt and prepare for landing.

Garage Toilets
Driving from London west towards Wales, we stopped to fill the car up with petrol and I went to the toilet at the same time. But some places the toilet is outside the shop, around the back, which is colder.

Hotel Toilets
More chance of getting warm water.

And a warm hand dryer. This dries your hands and warms you up.

If you are a mother, a secretary, a tour guide, in charge of a group, a spare hat and pair of gloves and even spare hot drinks might come in handy.

Tiny Canape Cutlery
I found some old small cheap metal spoons and tiny three prong canape forks which my family had discarded and were about to throw out. I rescued one set of tiny knife, spoon and fork, not to heavy to carry. This enabled me to cut up a sandwich and eat half later, cut an apple. Even cold food warms you up when you are feeling chilled.

Avoid Snow - Down Under
To avoid snow, go south, to the equator or beyond. Australia or New Zealand at Christmas and Easter.

To Find Snow - Indoor Slopes
To find snow in summer, we go to New Zealand (via tropical, hot all year Singapore).

Finally, you can practise your skiing at indoor slopes in the UK and in Singapore.

Happy travelling. Keep warm. Take care of yourself.


Useful Websites
UK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakerloo_line
https://tfl.gov.uk/tube/route/bakerloo/
https://www.gwr.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Western_Railway_(train_operating_company)
https://www.visitlondon.com/london-app
https://www.skimagic.co.uk/the-top-10-dry-ski-slopes-indoor-snow-centres-in-the-uk/

SINGAPORE
https://www.sportquest.com.sg/pages/snowcity
singaporeair.com

USA, EUROPE & WORLDWIDE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_skiing

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

What to do in cold weather - how to turn a scarf into a hood as I did in Hanoi, Vietnam

Flag of Vietnam.

Problem
In Hanoi in the north of Vietnam they have four seasons. In December 2018 the temperature dropped from one day to the next, from 6o degrees f to fifty. The local Vietnamese people had donned padded jackets with imitation fur edge hoods.

We were still wearing two or three layers of summer clothes. We did not want to spend on another, heavy jacket which would not fit in our suitcases and would be too hot to wear in tropical Singapore.

Cold Neck
Standing at a bus stop, we had a cold wind on our necks. Those sunhats which cover the neck are also handy against breezes.

Silk Scarf
I had with me a silky scarf. ('Thai silk' which is a good imitation of real silk). Unfortunately, the silky scarf kept slipping off my head and neck.

Hooded Scarf design
I remembered how I had turned a scarf into a hooded scarf a few months previously in London, England. I had looked at a hooded scarf and realised it was hardly more than a scarf doubled over, seamed from the middle a few inches.

One version had the point cut or folded in diagonally, secured with just a couple of stitches. Another had stitching rounded to fit the head. If you don't mind having a point, you can just leave it oblong on top.

Scarf - Sew
You could buy a cheap scarf, or do as I did and sew up the scarf you already have. In an emergency, when cold, just sew one line of stitching quickly up the straight seam and never mind about shaping it.

Sewing Kit
How? Where do you get a sewing kit?

With luck, and planning, you or your partner will always carry a sewing kit. If not, sewing kits are cheap from cheap shops, sold in lots of supermarkets UK and worldwide, and novelty shops in Hanoi, Vietnam.


Hotel Sewing Kit from Sunline Paon Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Our hotel the Sunline Paon supplied a small sewing kit in the room. The needle was so tiny that two of us struggled for ten minutes and could not get the thread through the tiny hole. We tried widening the hole with the end of a safety pin. Still no luck.

I went downstairs to reception. The girl on reception struggled for a few times. Eventually she did it!

Now, what do you do?

Seam from top right of picture. Scarf folded down on right to show where seam ends.


How To Seam
Fold the scarf in half horizontally. Sew a simple seam a few inches down from the fold, long enough to cover your head.

Scarf sewn into hood. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Success
That will keep you warm until you can find a beanie hat to buy or fly back to a warm country. The part which covers your neck can also secure a second scarf as a neck warmer.

I now appreciate an upright mandarin collar. you could do lots of other things. For example, sew the scarf hood to a jacket collar, or even a blouse collar. Add a pom-pom.

Or sew another scarf inside for extra warmth and contrast lining. Tie the lining scarf under your chin whilst leaving the long tasseled end hanging.

But, back home, you are now without your favourite scarf. You have a winter item and you are back in summer weather.

Unpick
In theory you can unpick the thread again for summer or warmer weather. How securely should you sew it? Double thread would be more secure. I sewed a simple running stitch, but back-stitched every inch or so to prevent it tearing open.

The sign outside St Joseph's cathedral says no baseball hats. However, I imagine my scarf would be allowed.

Travel information
For hotels
booking.com
Comparison site:
https://www.clicktripz.com/rates/search/index
For airlines
travelok.com
vietJetair.com (Comprehensive list of budget airlines in Wikivoyage.)
For transport
https://www.grab.com/vn/en/

Language
Duolingo.com 
(Remember to click on the sound symbol to hear how words are pronounced.) 

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Suitcase And Travel Bag Packing tips

1 Pack a bag to carry home souvenirs.

2 Buy an expanding suitcase. Travel out with it small size. The extra space on the way home can be filled with souvenirs.

3 Some people travel with disposable underwear. Others wear old underwear which they discard at the destination.

4 I used to buy multi-packs of underwear when they were low-price after Xmas and midsummer sales. I would save a pack or two for my next travel trip. No need to hunt for and check numbers of underwear. All folded compact, clean, excitingly new, in a plastic see-through container.

5 Last Night Meal
If you are on a budget and staying with friends or family who are also on a budget, instead of taking them out for your last night, cook them a special meal. Cook enough for the leftovers to be frozen for them for later.

6 Food and drink gifts
If they are likely to prefer to stay in because they cook, or in some countries such as Indonesia they employ a cook, plan to take a bottle of wine or ask if there is any food or drink or other item they would like from your home country or country of departure.

Print the recipe and pack it. Leave it with your hosts. (Take a photo of your dinner. Find a mask to frame your photo online.)

7 Pack Suitable Clothes
Have a scarf (cravat or bow tie for a man) and jewellery to turn a black tee-shirt or day dress into an evening outfit. Have one black outfit in case you go to a funeral. Have a suitable outfit for a wedding or farewell dinner, even if you are not invited to one before you leave home.

You don't want to have to spend time and money hunting for  clothes when you had a little silk shirt at home which was perfect for a smart event. I used to be surprised when a casual trip turned out to include a grand event. When my flight to India was delayed, a man on his way to a wedding invited me and several others to the wedding.


A sporty travel trip to a Florida golf course started and ended with meeting the hotel manager and the local mayor for a formal dinner.


A trip to Singapore was extended when we were invited to a colleague's housewarming combined with her anniversary.

8 Pack Cards
If you are going to a wedding overseas, to save time, pack a congratulations card and a tiny card to attach to a gift.

Pack a thank you card. or draft your thank you letter to send to your hosts as you travel to the airport home. That's when you have their email handy and know their names and how to spell their names.

If you end up with too many souvenirs, buy another new travel bag. Airport bags are expesnive but often sturdy top of the range brands such as Samsonite.



















 A cheap shop called Valu is at Expo, one train stop away from Changi airport in Singapore. The Valu shop has a range of inexpensive suitcases on four wheels, different colours and styles every time you visit. 

Author
Angela Lansbury, Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.