Women in Salzburg will again be able to pursue their shopping with abandon over the Christmas period, free from sourpuss boyfriends and husbands.
For the second year in a row, a "nursery" will be set up in the town center where women can leave their partners for a few hours so that they can hunt down all those last-minute presents, without a bored and whining spouse.
In a large white tent set up on Salz-burg's central Herbert-von-Karajan Square, the men will be able to play computer games, leaf through newspapers or magazines such as Playboy, or simply have a drink at the bar with co-suffering "shopping widowers."
PHOTO: AP
From Dec. 13 to 23, women can "surrender" their partners at the tent's entrance free of charge between 4pm and 10pm. They are given a numbered ticket which they then have to present on their return to collect their spouse.
Salzburg toymaker Andreas Stadlbauer came up with the idea of a so-called "Maennerhort" or "men's nursery" last year. It proved such a success - around 1,500 men found refuge there from the shopaholic tendencies of their "better halves" - that he decided to repeat the venture again this year. Indeed, Stadlbauer has even patented the name "Maennerhort." And with big-name sponsors such as the German luxury sports car maker Porsche, Playboy magazine and Nintendo, he is planning to set up similar nurseries in Vienna, Hamburg and Munich.
In Germany, where men have a reputation of being particularly averse to shopping, the nurseries might even operate all year round, the entrepreneur suggested.(AFP)
薩爾斯堡的女性又可以在耶誕假期盡情購物，將掃興的老公和男友拋在一旁了。
繼去年之後，今年是薩爾斯堡第二度在市中心設立「託管所」，女士們可以將伴侶留在那邊「消磨時光」，自己把握最後一刻去採買耶誕禮物，不用忍受覺得無聊又愛抱怨的另一半。
男士們就待在赫伯特:凡:卡拉揚中央廣場的一個白色大帳棚中，他們可以在那裡玩電腦遊戲、翻閱《花花公子》等報章雜誌，或是在酒吧和其他的「血拼鰥夫」喝上一杯。
十二月十三日至二十三日下午四點到晚上十點間，女士可以免費將伴侶「交寄」在帳棚入口處，她們會領到一張號碼牌，以便回來時領回配偶。
薩爾斯堡的玩具製造商安德列斯．史泰德包爾去年想到這個「托男所」的點子，結果大獲好評─將近一千五百位男士在那裡找到了「清靜」，免受他們另一半的購物癖所苦。有鑒於此，他今年決定再如法炮製。史泰德包爾甚至為「Maennerhort」這個名稱申請專利，有了德國頂級跑車製造商「保時捷」、《花花公子》雜誌和任天堂等知名企業的贊助，他還計畫要將類似的託管中心拓展到維也納、德國的漢堡和慕尼黑。
德國男性向來以極度厭惡逛街購物聞名，史泰德包爾甚至建議，也許可在德國設立常態性託管所。（法新社／翻譯：袁星塵）
Renhe sat stiffly at the Wei Ya banquet, picking at the symbolic dishes on the table. Fish for abundance, sticky rice cake for progress — it all seemed superstitious to him. The shrine to the Land God near the entrance, adorned with offerings, incense, and fruit, struck him as frivolous. “What does this have to do with running a business?” Renhe scrolled on his phone as his co-workers performed skits and poorly sung songs. He wasn’t even paying attention to the lucky draws when his name was called. The room filled with applause and cheers as he went to the stage
The cocoa industry is currently facing a crisis, with this year’s cocoa trading price soaring to an unprecedented $10,000 per ton—a 400 percent increase from last year—stemming from diminished crop yields. Given cocoa’s indispensable role in chocolate-making, this surge has driven up chocolate prices and triggered concerns about the sustainability of global chocolate production. West Africa, home to over half of the world’s cocoa trees, is at the center of this issue. The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Ghana, in particular, are facing severe challenges from both natural disasters and human-induced factors, substantially impacting cocoa harvests. Climate change, with
A: What were the highest-grossing films globally last year? B: “Inside Out 2” was the highest, followed by “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Despicable Me 4,” “Dune: Part 2” and “Moana 2.” A: “Inside Out 2” was also the highest-grossing film in Taiwan. B: It grossed nearly US$1.7 billion worldwide, or NT$55 billion, becoming the best-selling animated film of all time. A: I can’t believe I missed the movie last year. A: 去年全球最賣座的電影有哪些？ B: 冠軍是《腦筋急轉彎2》，其後是《死侍與金鋼狼》、《神偷奶爸4》、《沙丘：第2部》、《海洋奇緣2》。 A: 《腦2》也是去年台灣票房冠軍耶。 B: 這部鉅片狂賣近17億美元，約550億台幣，成為全球影史最賣座動畫電影！ A: 真不敢相信我錯過了這部強片。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: In addition to “Inside Out 2” at the top, what were the other highest-grossing films domestically last year? B: “Gatao: Like Father, Like Son” was the only Taiwanese movie among the top 10 blockbusters, which included five animated films. A: I’m surprised that the Taiwanese hit “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” wasn’t on the chart. B: But it grossed over 500 million Chinese yuan in China, which is nearly NT$2.5 billion. The figure was five times higher than that of the best-selling film in Taiwan. A: Its success shows that Taiwanese movies should go international. A:
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