Not a European swallow, that's my point...

I had a funny conversation today. I was in Jutta's office, waiting for her, and one of her officemates (Frau R.) struck up a conversation with me, in German. I handled myself pretty well - didn't look retarded or anything! Anyway, there's some work going on at school, so there were also these two big burly grubby workmen in there putting up carpentry. So, somehow the conversation turned to me going to the Semperoper (the official city opera house or some such - the Dresden one is very good), and she's apparently highly involved there and can get me cheap tickets to a show. So...conversation went as follows, roughly:

Frau R: So, you like opera?
Me: Yeah, but I don't know much about it.
Frau R: Okay, so we'll have to start you off with something simple. Definitely not Wagner.
Burly Workman: What? But Wagner's operas are magnificent!
Frau R: Yes, although I can see why Hitler liked them, but they're not for a beginner, don't you think?
Burly Workman: Oh, certainly not, you'll want something a bit softer and lighter. Mozart, perhaps?
Frau R: Oh, good idea, Mozart is perfect...

I was almost laughing the whole time. It was very Python-esque. The teacher started talking about Mozart, and the very unlikely-looking worker guy starts chiming in with insightful critiques on composers. But hey, cheap opera tickets, good stuff.