Lost in Translation

I have an email account with the ENS here in Lyon.  The problem is that 95% of all the emails are totally in French.  The others are usually for talks or seminars that have the introduction in French and the title and abstract of the talk in English.  I usually cut the text from the email and paste it into Google Translate.  Although it has trouble finding the correct English sentences, I get the general idea of the text.  I have used it for both French and German during my time here.

I should have used it for Dutch.

I have been getting letters from the US via snail mail.  Robyn, her mother and her sister have all sent me cards in the mail.  It is always unexpected to receive mail.  I do not have a mailbox, so they stick the letter in the door for me to find either on returning home or when I leave the apartment.

While I was in Belgium, I decided to send a note back to Pat, my mother-in-law, in Arizona.  I knew she would enjoy getting a card from there, but I did not want to just send a postcard.  But, being Easter Sunday and then the holiday on Monday, even the tourist shops were closed and I could not find a nice card.

On the way to the lab on Tuesday we stopped in a convenience store and they had some note cards in a circular wire rack display.  This is not the usual place you would find these cards and the packages were a bit old and dusty.  One set caught my eye, some beautiful water colors of flowers (tulips, roses, other flowers) and a simple phrase below the image.  I thought they looked nice, so I decided to buy them.

The proprietor did not even know how much to charge because they had been there so long.  They were very inexpensive and I happily went on my way.  I wrote a quick note on the back and addressed the letter before mailing it at the airport.  I figured that sending it from the airport might get it there quicker.

When I got home and unpacked all my stuff from the trip, I came across the note cards and decided to look up the phrase on them.  "Innige deelneming"  was the Dutch phrase and it translates via Google to "condolences." 

Needless to say, I have not told Pat the meaning of the phrase and I hope she did not look it up before reading this entry.  I know that she will see the humor of it all.  From now on I will use Google Translate before blindly buying cards with unknown phrases.