lost in translation

I'm not sure if you can appreciate how funny this was . . . but I'll try to tell you a story of something that happened to me last week . . . .

First off, our coffee maker stopped working. Since there's no place close to buy a new one, and I couldn't decide what kind to get, we spent about a week boiling water and then pouring it through the filter basket into the coffee pot sitting on the stove top (did I mention that we had to apply pressure to the filter basket because our old coffee maker had the auto-stop feature? ya know, so if you remove the pot from the maker while it's brewing, the coffee stops flowing . . .).

Anyways, last Wednesday, while in town for violin lessons (not mine - Mattias'), I finally picked out a coffee maker. When we got home later, I excitedly unpacked the box, dug out the instruction booklet and started reading what I needed to do to get a cup of good coffee. Fortunately, there was an English section. In the section entitled "BEFORE USING YOUR MACHINE FOR THE FIRST TIME" (and it really was in capital letters) it said (and I quote):

Remove all packaging.
The water filter holder and DuoFilter cartridge are located inside the water tank during shipping.
Remove them before using the appliance. fig. 1

Well, when I looked in the water tank, there was nothing there (I even got a flashlight to scrutinize better). Then I started getting mad. Stefan was getting ready to go out to a meeting . . . He came over and said "Let me look.", etc. I told him I wasn't stupid . . . I'd know if a part was missing or not . . .even told him "it's probably still in the factory in China" (btw, Ann - can you look for it?). So, I grumbled a bit more and then packed it all back into the box and set it aside.

On Thursday, we went back to town for Sofia's Russian class, and while she was there, Joel and I went to return/exchange the coffee maker. The lady at the counter sent us through to the coffee maker section where an employee was waiting to help us. I explained that a part was missing and he dug out the instruction booklet and started reading.

Here's where things get really confusing . . . I can tell from his name that he is Finnish, but the 2 of us were having the conversation in Swedish . . . .

After he reads through the Finnish section in the book he says:

Him : You have to buy the part separately.

Me: Really!?

Him: Yes. But we don't have any in stock now.

Me: Is it a necessary part for the machine to work?

Him: No, it's only an extra water filter.

So, after confirming that indeed the machine will work, I head out with the coffee maker I had bought the day before.

On the way to the door, Joel says, "Aren't you going to buy any jam?"

Me: What? Why do I need jam?

Joel: The guy said you needed to buy jam for the coffee maker.

That was the funny part . . . the word "separately" in Swedish is "skild" (pronounced something like "shild"), but the guy pronounced it like "silt", which sounds very much like "sylt" - the word for jam in Swedish. Then, when I had said "Really?!", it confirmed for Joel that the guy was telling me to buy jam for the coffee maker. Too funny.