2.24.2006

Ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo, we all fall down!

That's how I have to sing Ring Around the Rosy over here. They've assigned me to help with the nursery kids (18 months to 3 years) at church, and that's just one of the songs that the little pew monkeys get wrong. But I'm too nice to say anything about it.

The kids are actually quite cute (there are 6 of them) and I'm just amazed at how well they've picked up the cute li'l English accents. I wish I could do it as well as they can. One little girl named Phoebe has an American dad and was born in the US, so I like to ask her if she's American. "Yes! I'm Phoebe and I'm American and English and British. I'm both."

So I'm learning new songs like "Wind the Bobbin Up" and stuff that I've never heard of before, and the songs that I thought I knew (like "Ring around the Rosy") are completely different. But, you know, they don't notice yet that I don't have a clue. And lucky for them I'm not the only adult in there. Also they're getting a little bit more used to me since I've been in there for a few weeks. At first only one little girl named Chloe would have any dealings with me--and that consisted of her silently picking out the raisins that had little tiny dried stems still left on and holding them out to me between two fingers so that I could pick the offending stems off. It felt nice to be useful, though.

But, we're not here to talk about the part where I am now the picker-offer of raisin stems and wiper of noses, but about the falling down, which it seemed like pretty much Everyone was doing on the ice last night. I realize that falling must be quite traumatic for the actual athlete, but it's no picnic for me either. I gasp loudly and throw my hands over my mouth and/or face and cry "Oh noooo!!!" and jump so violently that my bottom leaves the seat cushion. So, really, I'm surprised my hair wasn't white by the end of the women's freestyle program last night.

SO Much Falling.


and falling


falling, falling, falling

still with the falling

yikes


And then we have Shizuka Arakawa, who managed to keep it together. And I don't think that she won just because everyone else was rubbish and fell on their trashes. She looked absolutely beautiful and graceful and perfect out there, and her routine was one of the most (if not the most) difficult. After seeing her skate, I wanted her to win, because she was the only one who gave me that Olympic Euphoria you get when you're seeing something breathtaking. And I love that she skated to "Nessun Dorma," because that one always gives me chills.

8 comments:

julie said... [reply]

What makes you think the words are wrong?

Have a look at this link:

http://nurseryrhymes.allinfoabout.com/ring_o_roses.html

Glad you found BBC2 for the olympics, I hope you will still be here in June when the world cup is on, becuase that is when the English will get excited!!

Nemesis said... [reply]

Hi Julie!

Yeah, I know they aren't really wrong. :-) In wikipedia it shows the different words that they sing in all these different places, including the extra "East Midlands" verse that my kids sing, so that's kind of fun.

Anonymous said... [reply]

While there was a lot of falling last night, you should have seen the 2nd night of the ice dancing: couple after couple fell; and we're talking serious falls. One girl got dropped about 5 ft landing on her hip. It was painful to watch. The U.S. team did awesome though. :)

That girl in the first picture was a disaster last night and Tues night. How did she make it to the Olympics?!

Jenny said... [reply]

You should've seen the italian couple and the nasty face she gave her partner after he dropped her. That was Olympic History right there. I guess she didn't talk to him or look at him until right before their final performance the next day. Then she was all happy and kissy after it. Can we say 'PERSONALITY DISORDER'?

Streets of Belfast said... [reply]

Did you know they sing Jingle Bells wrong too? I can say wrong because I looked and Jingle Bells is an American Song. Here are the appropriate lyrics:

Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh, O'er the fields we go, laughing all the way.
Bells on Bob-Tail ring, making spirits bright, What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way!
O what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

What they do here is switch up the ride and sing so it goes something like "sing and ride a sleighing song tonight," which doesn't even make sense. And then they go and add some second verse about going upstairs to bed which is all wrong and continues not to make sense.

John said... [reply]

I noticed the american version was wrong a few weeks back actually. The British way is correct seen as it was US dieing of the plague back then, and we invented the song.
But does it really matter?

Anonymous said... [reply]

I'm intrigued now!

What do you Americans sing instead?

*Christie* said... [reply]

I had to work and only caught the last few skaters, so I didn't get to see the winner skate. Do you know where I could find a video of her routine?

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