It's just me and chapter 10 in the department this afternoon.

Did a little Christmas shopping this morning. I tried to pay for a €35 bill with my EC card (that's like a Switch card in the UK), and the lady said I needed my passport - huh? I'd sooner carry 35 Euros in cash around with me than my passport, if it got nicked it would be a huge hassle to get replaced, and it would probably cost at least 35 Euros anyway. They would have accepted a driving license, but not one without a photo on. I still have one of the old British paper ones. So, in the end she just accepted my card anyway, since it was Saturday and there was a big queue, but she gave me a bit of a lecture about it. I think I'll stick to the folding stuff in future.

I had a coffee at a department store espresso bar. I was served by this chap who clearly felt he was in his ideal job. He was maybe 60, and looked like a bit like Grandpa out of the Munsters, with an ancient and ill-fitting waistcoat and bow tie and thinly gold-capped teeth. He told me he liked his job because he met people from everywhere. He said he got one impression of people of a certain nationality from television, then a completely different one when they actually came and talked to him at his coffee bar. Sounds obvious, but I agreed it's unfortunately very easy to forget. It was nice to speak to him after copping an earful from the cashier about my passport, or lack thereof. The coffee was good, too.

It seems England have won something. I'm pleased. There has been a lot of coverage on the BBC world service, but (obviously) no mention on German radio - imagine if the handball world cup was being played, and you were trying to get news of it on the BBC. It's pretty much the equivalent.