Shoot or Schieß?

One of my goals for this year was to plug myself into more authentic German situations to get myself more comfortable with the language. So yesterday, I jumped into cold water and joined in for my first practice with a women’s football (soccer) team. I played for about 7 years when I was younger, but it’s been awhile since I’ve properly been on the field for a practice. It felt amazing!

Obviously the language they used was quite specific, German that I haven’t been exposed to yet (Schienbeinschoner, anyone?), but luckily there are no language barriers when it comes to running or kicking or dribbling a ball.  

Speaking with my team mates and coaches, on the other hand, was a different matter. Its one thing to be in a German class or with people who know that you’re not a native speaker, so they usually speak more slowly and try to use words or phrases that are clear (no dialect) but this wasn’t one of those situations, this was full-fledged Fränkisch exposure. So we'll see how things play out in the next couple of weeks, but as long as joining the Verein isn't too expensive (and as long as they can get enough players to make a team (yesterday we were only six) ) than I hope to keep it up.

"You Poor Pig!"

Germans have this thing with pigs. Not only do they eat a lot of them, they also consider the pig lucky--and they like to talk about them whenever they can.  Over the last two years, I've come to hear a lot of expressions that involve pigs, and whenever I mention this to Germans, most think I'm exaggerating.  As I'm not a polyglot, and happen to really only be fluent in 1 1/2 languages, I can't really say, but below are just a few of the expressions that I've learned. You be the judge.

"Armes Schwein!" = "Poor Pig" = I wouldn't want to be in your shoes.

"Es ist saukalt!" = "It is like piggish cold." = Man, its freakin' cold.

"Schweinereich!" = "Piggishly rich" = Filthy (or stinkin') rich

"Sauschlecht." = "Piggishly bad" = Awful, terribly bad

"Perlen vor die Säue werfen." = "Throwing pearls to the pig." = Being wasteful or not understanding the worth of something.

"Glücksschwein" = "Lucky pig." = Lucky dog, or 'you're so lucky!'

"Schwein gehabt" = "Had pig." = Sort of similar to the one above, you had luck, you were lucky.

They are pretty cute though, aren't they?

What? Your brain has never freezed?

So brain-freeze appears to be an American-only phenomenon.  Who knew?

I was trying to explain to David not too long ago about brain freeze (you know, the pain you get from eating or drinking something much too cold and your head start to hurt for a few seconds?) and he said he had no idea what I was talking about.

I tried explaining it further... perhaps the name was a little misleading, but no, he said there was no such translation of experience in German.

Okay, so believe it or not I even doubted my own sanity on this.  Was this something that I made up? But later that weekend, I saw something on Yahoo! about brain freeze--it clearly was not all in my head.  Maybe it was only David.

A couple weeks later, by total coincidence, I'm preparing an English lesson that springs off an article in TIME on the topic of 7-11 Slurpees (there really was something worth talking about involving Slurpees, I swear) and the title was "Why Free Things Can Cost A Lot (And Make Your Brain Freeze).  So in class I ask my student if he knows what brain freeze is.  He says he does.  I'm relieved, until he starts describing it as something that happens when you forget what you want to say.  While he was correct, I described to him the other scenario that we like to call by that same name, and he too was at a total loss for what I could possibly mean.  His reaction,  "What's wrong with Americans' brains?"

+1 point for the Germans!

A telephone conversation I had this morning in German.

Other Person:  Hello, So and So's office, So and So's assistant speaking. 

Me:  Hello, is Mr. So and so there?

Other person:  No, unfortunately he doesn't get into work until nine o'clock.

Me: I see.  I have a little problem.  I have a class that begins at 9 o'clock at XX and I can't make it today because I am sick and I don't have a phone number for any of the students. Can you help me?

Other person:  Yes. But first of all, WHO IS THIS?

Me:  (feeling stupid) Ahh so sorry!! My name is...

And that ladies and gentlemen, is a pretty common phone mishap that myself along with other English speakers make when talking on the phone in Germany.  I swear, we're not trying to be rude by not giving our name first (although Germans have told me before that it comes across that way), I'm just so used to the person on the other line asking for it with that extra sweet little phrase, "Can I ask who is calling?"...

How to make myself remember!?


-diana

Out of the mouths of (German) Babes

Just spent a week doing English camps with German children.  On trivia night, I got a kick reading their answers to some of the questions.

Q:  Name five US States.

-Colorado, Tennesie, Chikago, Texas, Florida
 -Canada, California, USA, Greenland
 -San Francisco, Florida, New York, Hollywood, Washington
 -Colorado, Florida, Los Angeles,  Washington DC, Texas

Q:  What does PBJ stand for? (Hint: Its a sandwich.)

-Potato, Beat, Cheese
-Pute (thats German for Turkey) Bread, Joghurt
-Tomato, Salate, Cheese
-Pepper, Bacon, Ham

Q:  What is the name of Barack Obama's Wife?

-Kate Middleton
-Joanna
-Kathy Obama

Q:  Name a US coin.

-demi
-nikolas

Photo: Bavarian Children in Lederhosen.  (*photo credits and property of Rolf Hicker)

572 days later...

"Heimat. The word means home in German, the place where one was born. But the term also conveys a subtler nuance, a certain tenderness. One's Heimat is not merely a matter of geography; it is where one's heart lies. " — Jenna Blum (Those Who Save Us) 

I've passed the 1 and 1/2 year mark since I left NJ for Germany.

Is that a long time?  I'm not really sure.  It feels like the time just flew but yet, my end-of-university days don't feel so near either.

Fact of the matter is, I'm no longer a newbie here in Germany nor a long-term visitor which means having to accept certain things as part of my life--and not just "what the Germans do".

Getting paid monthly (at the end of the month) is now "just how it goes" and sorting my garbage between four different cans is no biggie.

Going to the grocery store means preparing properly, as in bringing enough cloth bags to carry my food home in--and yes, that also means buying only what I can carry home.  And paying more for water than you do for beer or soda in a restaurant is standard line of business in Germany. It's just part of life here.


Despite what some might call an inconvenience, I'm happy to call Germany my other home, at least for another year.  I want to make the most of my time here while I still can.

Until next time.