Thanks for all your comments and well-wishes for the test today! I am pleased to be able to report that I got an “A” for the course overall, having scored an “A-” on the test (homework, participation, and class attendance apparently all factor into the final grade). Since I spent all my time last night studying those 500+ words, it’s probably not surprising that where I lost most of my points was on all the other stuff on the test. 😉 But, I’m not complaining. An “A” on a test when I didn’t expect it? Sweet!

Now, saying “Sweet!” in this context is not something I’d say normally, actually. But I know that in certain places that it is definitely possible to say “Sweet!” in English when things go well.

And I do have an ulterior motive for using that expression. As one of the many topics we covered in the class during this last 3-week session, we had a long discussion about going to the movie theatre here in Germany. Chris and I have gone to the movies here in Germany more than we ever did in Italy, actually, although the films we’ve seen so far were mostly part of film festivals and not regular “first-run” films. I’d compare the experience here, in terms of the seating and overall ambience, to going to art houses movie theatres in the U.S., where you find  small, funky decor, limited staff, and limited days/hours of operation. I.e., it’s not been at all like the  “big-chain” movie operations I’ve been to occasionally in the U.S.

Now, I have to confess that I think I can count on one hand the number of times in the last 10 years that Chris and I have been to a movie theatre in the U.S., other than the old, historic movie theatre in California where we were regulars. That theatre, the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, was a refurbished movie theatre from the 1920s, complete with  an organist who played between shows. At the Stanford Theatre, you paid (back in the early 2000s) only 7 bucks for a double feature; they only showed old movies (more or less from the 1930s-1960s), and the food they offered included popcorn with real butter. They also  only charged a buck or so for a soda.

In other words, it was nothing like the modern movie theatres at the time we lived in California.

I bring that up, because my experience with modern U.S. movie theatres is decidedly limited, so it’s harder for me to make a comparison between the Germany movie theatres we’ve been to so far, and their regular American counterparts. Also, one thing we didn’t try in any of the theatres here is the food.

So, when someone says to me “movie popcorn”, I picture a big tub of buttered, salted popcorn like we used to get at the Stanford Theatre.

But last week in my German language class, we were supposed to list the things we associate with going to a movie theatre. And a lot of people in my class — none of whom are German, of course, except for our teacher, but all of whom have been to movie theatres here in Germany — listed “sweet popcorn” as the food you get at a movie theatre.

Hold the phone. Sweet popcorn? Really?

Yes, in fact, it turns out that in Germany, when you go to the movie theatre, the popcorn you can buy there — in those same big tubs — is sweet, covered in carmelized sugar. They don’t typically have salted popcorn here, and people — including my teacher — thought the idea of salted, butter popcorn was totally disgusting.

Nope, the regular popcorn is “Toffee” popcorn, or at least that  was how it was described on the back of the package we bought at the supermarket to try at home:

Sweet Popcorn

That package was all natural, just sugar and popcorn. Together, Chris and I made it through about a half a cup of it … and then our American taste buds decided we needed a different movie snack. Or at least a different popcorn-based movie snack. 😉  Ah well, when in Rome and all that – you have to try these things at least once.

It wasn’t terrible, and it was definitely sweet, however . Which ties back to the results of my test today … is the only excuse I can give for talking about a German language test and popcorn in the same post. 😉

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BTW, thanks so much for all of the recent comments. I’m hoping to be better about responding in a timely manner in the coming weeks, as my ever-expanding response to all the old comments post is still not finished. Soon.