Mittendrin

Just some thoughts here...

This morning when I was sitting in the train going to work, I saw an ad for a community event. In the ad's headline was the German word "mittendrin." Seeing this word reminded me of my ex-girlfriend. She would always make fun of how I pronounced "mittendrin." In fact, often, to show me how wrong I was pronouncing "mittendrin," she would repeat the word with an overly strong American accent. She would also mock me for how I would often say, “mitteldrin” instead of “mittendrin.” But she mocked me in the latter case more good-naturedly.

After having all these thoughts about "mittendrin," there, sitting in the train, I thought about the time I said something to my ex about her English pronunciation. She had been singing a song, and after she was through, I’d said, “You know what’s weird? Usually, when foreign people sing in English, they lose their accent. But you don’t exactly.” I was able to recall exactly what she had said in response. She said, “Do you think I like that you say that?”