Student Exchange Program from Hell

[bloom061604]

At Sunday's web cam featuring Nicki, we wandered off-topic at one point and got into a discussion of weird place names. I got to thinking about it and composed the following unlikely, but not impossible, alliance incorporating two of the names that came up in our conversation:

There's a lake in Webster, Massachusetts with the ungainly name of Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. It's a Nipmuck Indian word meaning "Fishing Place at the Boundary". The natives simply call it Lake C. Now, you might think there couldn't possibly be a longer name anywhere in the world. Well, think again. There's a train station in Llanfairpwll, Wales, named Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliog ogogoch which in Welsh means "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of the white hazel close to a rapid whirlpool and the church of St. Teilo near a red cave".

Now, it occurred to me how awkward it would be if the towns of Webster and Llanfairpwll began a joint education program named "The Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg-Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliog ogogoch
Student Exchange Program" (CLSEP). Or, if the people of Llanfailpwll felt their name should get top billing, we won't quibble. It's OK with us if it's named "The Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliog ogogoch-Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg Student Exchange Program" (LCSEP). But whichever appears first, Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg or Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliog ogogoch, imagine the logistical nightmare of just talking or writing about it. It's just one of those silly thoughts I had.

By the way, you're probably wondering how to pronounce Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg and Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliog ogogoch. Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg is pronounced exactly as it's spelled, and Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliog ogogoch rhymes with Banfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliogo gogoch.

—Bloom

[bspider]

<Sadly>Too much time on your hands, bloom! ;)

[~*~ k a t e ~*~]

Here's a picture of the letter the students received regarding that exchange program:

http://www.katykins.com/images/envelope.gif

[Indigo]

By the way, you're probably wondering how to pronounce Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg and Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliog ogogoch. —Bloom

I wasn't, actually.

Being part Welsh and part native American, I don't actually HAVE to wonder about such things.

BTW - wasn't the rugby result GLORIOUS!

[Crazyhorse]

BTW - wasn't the rugby result GLORIOUS!

NO

[Indigo]

I take it you mean that the margin was a little too narrow for your liking, eh crazyhorse?

Don't worry - there are no bonus points to play for in the Six Nations.

[Crazyhorse]

I couldn't care less about the margin - it was one kick.

The games was probably one of the worst I have ever seen. Both sides play was rubbish. The high volume booing of all English penalties by the ignorant home supporters was discraceful, as was the post-match behaviour in the city centre afterwards. But worst of all was the state of the pitch. No self respecting country would ever allow any kind of sport to take place on the surface that masquerades as grass at the Millennium Stadium, let alone international rugby.

And to round it all off, well into the evening I witnessed a typical pissed Welsh supporter fighting with a middle aged woman in order that he might get in a taxi instead of her. I assume this was because he suspected that she was English.

I can think of many words to describe the result, but 'glorious' would never be one of them.

[Indigo]

Oh, you're too squeamish by half, CH.

Any result by which the Welsh turn over the English is glorious in my book.

As fro one kick - well, if the English started runnign a few of their penalties rather than kicking them all (and missing them all, when the enemy is France rather than Wales, as it now seems) they might find they end up a bit better off, wouldn't you say?

[~*~ k a t e ~*~]

No one laughed at my envelope gag...

*sobs*

[bloom061604]

No one laughed at my envelope gag...
I did, Kate. Sorry I didn't respond. I thought it was a typical "Katism" — creative, imaginative, to-the-point. And it's a perfect example of what I meant by "logistical nightmare" in my original post in this thread.

By the way, since I posted that, I've discovered Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg is not the correct spelling. It should have been Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. I'm surprised you didn't catch that, Kate. You were really asleep at the switch on that one. :)

Love ya.

Bloom