Funniest Thing for Jan '10

This item appears on page 57 of the January 2010 issue.

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.

This month’s winner is PAMELA LEHMANN of Baumholder, Germany:

On a trip to Europe several years ago my parents were in Köln, Germany, at a hotel. In the morning there was a knock at the door. My stepmom answered it and there were two hotel workers there. They said, “Morgen,” and she said, “No, Holllje” (our family name).

They looked at each other and started speaking German.

My dad was in the background, heard it all and said, “Honey, they’re saying, ‘Morning!’”

She said, “Oh, I thought they wanted the Morgans!”