Life is still full of surprises. Last Friday I participated in a team quiz for the first time ever. I am remarkably bad at quizzes. I cherish an illusion that I have a broad general education and a good orientation in contemporary events, except for pop culture. Many a relationship was broken for our kids when we played Trivial Pursuit and the prospective partners felt inadequate. But I cannot think properly under stress. As long as I am not stressed I am quite good. Staffan and I used to watch a highbrow quiz programme in Sweden (one big exception, since we never normally watch TV), and were always proud when we could answer before the competitors on the screen. Much of the charm of it was the brilliant quizmaster, and we stopped watching when he quit.
Anyway, there was a charity quiz last Friday in the Faculty, and Morag invited me to join the team. I warned her that I was worthless, but she didn't mind. I must say it was exceptionally well organised, and there were at least ten or twelve teams, and everybody was very serious about it, and had tremendous fun. At least I think so. I had fun. And I wasn't that useless after all, especially with questions on subjects outside the UK, such is which number the current French Republic has, or why Interstate highways in the US have straight strips every five miles. However, I didn't know that Italy had until a certain year left-hand traffic in the cities and right-hand in the country. I also had to protest when the correct identification of the picture of St Basil's cathedral in Moscow was Kremlin.
Midway through the questions everybody had fish and chips.
And, as a matter of fact, we won.
2 comments:
Actually, that bit about American highways with straight strips every five miles is an urban legend:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/rw00b.cfm
or
http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/airstrip.asp
I am sure it is. The bit about every five miles. But I've seen them every now and then, and not only in the US.
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