Random

We're at a B&B this weekend.  My husband is not one who particularly cares for casual conversation with strangers, so communal breakfast tables are not his preference, especially before his morning caffeine. I am convinced that one of the reasons why he married me is that I can converse with anyone at any time about anything and therefore save him from having to make small talk, but I digress.

Anyway, we came down for breakfast this morning and saw that we would be sharing our table with another couple.  I should add that we are in the ruralest of rural Maryland at the moment, so I was rather surprised to hear the other gentleman's unusual accent when he requested a cup of coffee from the innkeeper.  To make a long story short, they were from the Czech Republic: he is a diplomat snd former soldier stationed in the Czech embassy in Washington.  We ended up having a fascinating conversation for an hour covering topics ranging from NATO to German castles to restaurants in DC to the challenges of learning English as a second (or more) language because of all the exceptions to the grammatical rules to the differences between the Czech and American educational systems, with a detour into the recent BREXIT vote.  Not at all what I expected to be discussing over eggs and bacon this morning, but since my husband was raised in Germany by two civilians who worked for the US Army and spends a great deal of time working with European attorneys himself now, the irony is that he carried most of the conversation for us!  I contributed by translating the heavy West Virginia accent of the innkeeper for the Czechs when she stepped out of the room...talk about a multicultural experience.