There are different benchmarks for gauging your fluency in a foreign language. Some say that you are truly fluent once you've had a coherent dream in that language. I say you're fluent when you can come up with a witty comeback when a native foreigner makes some jackass remark to you.
Most people I've randomly run in to (not literally) on the street or in stores or in public tend to be jackasses. And by people I mean Germans. From the contruction worker who told me the sun wasn't shining when I was riding my bike with my sunglasses on on a cloudy morning... I'm sorry; I don't like wind in my eyes, and I'm not about to go out and spend 15€ on a pair of lightly tinted sunglasses... asshole. ...to that lady in the bakery who cuts in front of me in line, and then claims she was in front of me the whole time... I didn't call her out, because I'm not a jerk... or better said I'm not a Gerkman, but she called me out on my, in her eyes, cutting in front of her, when I tried to order at the same timer as her.
Okay, so your country has a population density 8 times that of the U.S. and most of you still have a complex about your predecessors trying to exterminate an entire race of people... that doesn't mean you have to be an asshole to everyone you run into on the street. And they're not jerks like New Yorkers either, because with New Yorkers you can't really take them seriously... it's all tongue-in-cheek. But Germans take themselves so seriously that I have to be offended when they're jerky to me.
You can say all you want about them being coconuts and us being peaches... but I still think they're jerks. Even if I'm supposedly being shallow when I smile at someone on the street, at least I made that person's day a little brighter, or at least left it unchanged, as opposed to ripping out that person's heart and peeing on it. I guess that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point.
But as a counterpoint, I must say that every German I've had personal interaction with, whether he/she be a family member, family friend, coworker or friend, was extremely nice, kinder, in fact, than most Americans I know personally. So I guess the coconut/peach analogy may be more apt than I give it credit.
The problem with brief public interaction and the jackassery which stems therefrom is really rooted in reactive personalities, which aren't exclusive to Germans. I mean I wouldn't be so pissed off by them if I didn't have a reactive personality. Bringing it all full-circle... I'm not at a point of fluency where I can easily verbally react to Gerkmans, so I just end up brooding about it for a few hours and writing a blog post.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Cows can't go through turnstiles
So my blog has really gone to shit the last few weeks. That's because I've been travelling every weekend, and I've had more important things to do in the evenings like cook, eat, sleep and drink, and I was always hesitant to blog from work because I didn't want to get fired. But I'm 2/3 done with my internship now, so I could really care less.
There are a few back-logged topics I could write about like the random-ass people I've met, like Hansi Müller, the former East German who approached us at McDonalds, showed us his soccer bruises on his groin and then told us how he used to work for the the CIA. Then there was DJ, who we met at the bus stop, and he told us how he once lived in the desert, communicated only by hand signals, and had to wait for a bus there for 3 days.
But back to the real post... cow's can't go through turnstiles. That's something I learned on my hiking trip last weekend in the Bavarian alps. I also learned that cows aren't smart enough to not lie down in piles of other cows' shit. And sheep aparently think the best grass is on the steepest slope of the mountain. I really, really wanted to see a sheep just slip off the edge of a cliff. I'm not sadistic... can't you just imagine one flying through the air, rotating, and going "Beehhhh! Beeehhh!"
All in all though, hiking was fantastic.
Well, I'm going to see how I can kill the last 2 hours of my working day now...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
A man's man's pantry
There's not much to this post, but I didn't have any time to come up with a good topic since I spent so much time stocking my pantry!
Monday, June 18, 2007
That made me feel like a man
This weekend I got to go to a German high school dance. Not half bad, although I did feel kind of weird as a college sophomore/junior surrounded by a bunch of German highschoolers. I mean, a number of these kids were pre-pubescent, but you can’t argue with 1 Euro beers. And it probably wouldn't've been appropriate to hit on a girl who's still in braces… yea… But it did end about as well as any high school dance could have…
…with me grabbing some douchebag by the neck and yelling “Cut that shit out!” (in German of course). They were playing that (fun) game where a bunch of guys start body-checking each other on the dance floor. Needless to say, it pissed me off, and straightening that kid out made me feel like a man. In fact, it's probably very similar to how Charlie felt here (fast-forward 49 seconds), only I wasn't as cool as Charlie since I went straight for the neck, and I didn't say "Cool your jets!" But some things just don't translate.
"Now that would make a good blog post, minus the Paul in Love."
--Brian
…with me grabbing some douchebag by the neck and yelling “Cut that shit out!” (in German of course). They were playing that (fun) game where a bunch of guys start body-checking each other on the dance floor. Needless to say, it pissed me off, and straightening that kid out made me feel like a man. In fact, it's probably very similar to how Charlie felt here (fast-forward 49 seconds), only I wasn't as cool as Charlie since I went straight for the neck, and I didn't say "Cool your jets!" But some things just don't translate.
"Now that would make a good blog post, minus the Paul in Love."
--Brian
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Gots to get my prōt
So whenever you travel out of the country for an extended period of time, you typically worry about being able to purchase certain comfort items that you've grown accustomed to living in the U.S. Traveling to W. Europe, it's not as big of a deal, since all essential items are available, although not always where you think (e.g. for contact lens solution, you have to go to the optical shop. That might seem obvious to some people, but in the U.S. it's available at almost every grocery and/or drug store. Anyways, it's not like contacts are a necessity.). And it's really becoming less and less of a problem since Europe continues to become more and more culturally American with each passing year.
To my actual point, one thing I've gotten accustomed to is protein... whey protein. "Anybody got any whey protein?" Haha. Inside joke. But seriously. And in a country where the diet is considerably more carbohydrate rich than what I'm used to and where all food protein tends to have a disproportionate amount of fat attached to it (e.g. bratwurst), I gots to find a way to get my prōt. Luckily, German supermarkets have started stocking WHEY PROTEIN. It's a little more expensive, but it's also a little more concentrated. I am the kind of person who would find the price per gram of protein, but I haven't done that yet. But beyond just having prōt in supermarkets, they even have protein shakers (which is lucky, since I wasn't about to buy a blender and anyone who's ever made a protein shake by stirring knows why that's not an option). I mean, the protein shaker was sold as a salad dressing shaker, but the functional anatomy was the same.
Anyways, I just thought I'd pass that information along to anyone else who works out, and who needs their prōt to do so more successfully, and is thinking about coming to Deutschland.
Yes, I did actually write a post about whey protein.
To my actual point, one thing I've gotten accustomed to is protein... whey protein. "Anybody got any whey protein?" Haha. Inside joke. But seriously. And in a country where the diet is considerably more carbohydrate rich than what I'm used to and where all food protein tends to have a disproportionate amount of fat attached to it (e.g. bratwurst), I gots to find a way to get my prōt. Luckily, German supermarkets have started stocking WHEY PROTEIN. It's a little more expensive, but it's also a little more concentrated. I am the kind of person who would find the price per gram of protein, but I haven't done that yet. But beyond just having prōt in supermarkets, they even have protein shakers (which is lucky, since I wasn't about to buy a blender and anyone who's ever made a protein shake by stirring knows why that's not an option). I mean, the protein shaker was sold as a salad dressing shaker, but the functional anatomy was the same.
Anyways, I just thought I'd pass that information along to anyone else who works out, and who needs their prōt to do so more successfully, and is thinking about coming to Deutschland.
Yes, I did actually write a post about whey protein.
Make-out parties at work
In an earlier post, I mentioned how I saw my boss brushing his teeth during the middle of the day. Over the past week or so, I've noticed more coworkers doing this and on a fairly regular basis, mostly before meetings. So I'm as aware of bad breath as the next man, but unless people sit a lot closer at meetings over here than in the U.S., there's only one other logical conclusion I can draw about all this teeth-brushing... these so called "meetings" are actually just make-out parties. I mean, a one hour make out party in the middle of the day? What middle-schooler could say no? Then again, all of the workers in my office are dudes... nerdy dudes...
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Füd is so good
So I haven't posted in over a week, cuz I've been busy, lazy, not great at time management. Today was a holiday... unfortunately the last holiday of my internship.
A slight aside... I've become an MRI test subject. I get a free movie pass for every scan. (Plus it takes up work time!) I hope they'll let me keep some scans so I can, idk, put them on my wall, and tell people, "That's what I look like on the inside!"
But really what this post is about is... food. I find myself eating much better, meaning healthier and better tasting food, than I ever did in the U.S. (including when I lived at home). Partially I attribute this to the fact that I live right next door to a supermarket, so I go shopping every day (except for Sundays and holidays, when stores here aren't open...). Also, the food in Europe in general is just better tasting in my experience. I think part of that is because regional cuisines exist here to a greater degree than they do in the U.S., and the types of food are not as homogenized as they are in the U.S. (or at least my part of the U.S. and food that I consider to be in my price range).
To make somewhat of a counterpoint though, a German intern told me that a lot of what people eat here is determined by what the supermarket stocks. We reminisced about foods that we used to eat as children that are now much less common because German supermarkets stopped stocking them. I don't think this is that much unlike the U.S., although we (Americans) have the benefit of larger, more fully stocked supermarkets, so we're less likely to be affected by individual items no longer being carried by a given chain. Overall though, I am more pleased with the selection of supermarket food, slightly more limited as it may be, than in the U.S.
More asides... I still don't know who turned of the light in the bathroom my first night in the apartment. I have however now met both my roommates. One is a hardy-partying polisci major and the other is antisocial "Informatiker" (computer scientist). I'm guessing it was the latter who gave me that scare.
I finally have a working bike and have started biking to work... 6 km (3 ¾ miles) each way. I guess when I get back I might be so used to this that I might start biking up to North every day... but then again maybe not.
And I'm going to München (...Munich...) this weekend with some other students, which should hopefully be fun. When I schedule it into my calendar though, I came to the sad realization that I only have 5 free weekends (i.e. ones where I don't have other trips planned) left while I'm here. I know that may seem like a lot, but when you start with what seems like an infinite number, it's really not that many. But then again, from a cost perspective, and considering I haven't gotten paid yet, a finite number of "mini-Eurotrips" might be a good thing.
Oh yea, and then the last thing I wanted to mention is how awful weather forecasting is in this country. I guess I assumed it would be easier forecasting weather for a country that's about the size of Montana, but I guess it isn't. Also, each major city does not have "Dopper k*10^n" Radar as we do. But basically German weather forecasts, in my experience, are only accurate for about 24 hours into the future... beyond that you might as well roll dice.
A slight aside... I've become an MRI test subject. I get a free movie pass for every scan. (Plus it takes up work time!) I hope they'll let me keep some scans so I can, idk, put them on my wall, and tell people, "That's what I look like on the inside!"
But really what this post is about is... food. I find myself eating much better, meaning healthier and better tasting food, than I ever did in the U.S. (including when I lived at home). Partially I attribute this to the fact that I live right next door to a supermarket, so I go shopping every day (except for Sundays and holidays, when stores here aren't open...). Also, the food in Europe in general is just better tasting in my experience. I think part of that is because regional cuisines exist here to a greater degree than they do in the U.S., and the types of food are not as homogenized as they are in the U.S. (or at least my part of the U.S. and food that I consider to be in my price range).
To make somewhat of a counterpoint though, a German intern told me that a lot of what people eat here is determined by what the supermarket stocks. We reminisced about foods that we used to eat as children that are now much less common because German supermarkets stopped stocking them. I don't think this is that much unlike the U.S., although we (Americans) have the benefit of larger, more fully stocked supermarkets, so we're less likely to be affected by individual items no longer being carried by a given chain. Overall though, I am more pleased with the selection of supermarket food, slightly more limited as it may be, than in the U.S.
More asides... I still don't know who turned of the light in the bathroom my first night in the apartment. I have however now met both my roommates. One is a hardy-partying polisci major and the other is antisocial "Informatiker" (computer scientist). I'm guessing it was the latter who gave me that scare.
I finally have a working bike and have started biking to work... 6 km (3 ¾ miles) each way. I guess when I get back I might be so used to this that I might start biking up to North every day... but then again maybe not.
And I'm going to München (...Munich...) this weekend with some other students, which should hopefully be fun. When I schedule it into my calendar though, I came to the sad realization that I only have 5 free weekends (i.e. ones where I don't have other trips planned) left while I'm here. I know that may seem like a lot, but when you start with what seems like an infinite number, it's really not that many. But then again, from a cost perspective, and considering I haven't gotten paid yet, a finite number of "mini-Eurotrips" might be a good thing.
Oh yea, and then the last thing I wanted to mention is how awful weather forecasting is in this country. I guess I assumed it would be easier forecasting weather for a country that's about the size of Montana, but I guess it isn't. Also, each major city does not have "Dopper k*10^n" Radar as we do. But basically German weather forecasts, in my experience, are only accurate for about 24 hours into the future... beyond that you might as well roll dice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
