More Random Observations

I was walking down our little street a few weeks ago to pick up Becca at school when a man appeared at the back of his car which was parked along the side of the street. He opened his car's hatchback and then took off his pants. Just took off his pants right in front of me to change into something else. He calmly stood there in his boxers as he carefully folded his pants, placed them in his car and pulled out another pair of pants. I smiled all the way to Becca's Kindergarten.

Most of the the 16-day Oktoberfest celebration falls during the month of September.

A German baby's name must be one that has been approved by the German government. My neighbor went to register his new baby at the appropriate government office and when he gave his daughter's name, which is not a common name, the female government worker frowned and said, "Hmmm, wait here. I need to go see if that name is in the books." She returned to say, to his relief that it was an acceptable name. Our neighbors had a hard time believing that in the U.S., you can give your child a made-up name if you want to. Or you can name all five of your sons George.

People will pass you on the street and not acknowledge you, but it's expected that you greet everyone when you enter a doctor's waiting room.


Here is the manufacturer's logo on the back of one of the chairs used at the kids' school. The German word Ass means ace. Sometimes a German word suits just fine.

The TV show King of Queens is still so popular here, 3 or 4 episodes will be shown together at the movie theater as a special feature every month or so.

Emilie announced at the dinner table last night, "I am never moving back to America."

James is reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books -- in German.

Every so often, a DJ on the radio will give the German translation of an English-language song before playing it.

Residents of Germany receive a monthly allowance from the government for having children. You can receive from $238-$283 per child to help defray some of the cost of raising children (a third child is "worth" more than the first two, and a fourth is worth even more than the third). Just about any taxpayer with children can get the Kindergeld and you get it as a rule until the children turn 18, though it can continue until they are 25 if they are still in school.

The Thursday before school began, there was Open House at the kids' school. Ninety-seven degrees and no air conditioning.

One of the big bulletin boards in the school's lobby features photos from last week's Run-a-thon. James pointed out this photo to me. If you look over the heads of the grinning girls, you see James in the background -- in the middle of taking off his pants as he changes for soccer practice.

The Subtleties of Language

WARNING: The following blog entry contains language that some readers may find offensive. Reader discretion is advised.

As native English speakers living in Germany, we have issues with language on a daily basis. I have written in the past on the difficulties of trying to communicate in a new language and how the kids are learning German, with varying degrees of success.

But there is another side to our language experiences. We often find ourselves in interesting positions dealing with the English language here. For example, take our word shit. The German equivalent is Scheiße, however the German word has a less profane connotation and is used in daily language. Many Germans don't understand that in English, you don't hear the word shit in polite conversation. For instance, I've had conversations where a German I don't know particularly well will say something like, "No, we don't watch that TV show. I don't like that shit," or "I know, the stores don't carry that year round. That shit drives me crazy." I have had to learn to relax my forehead so that my eyebrows don't shoot up too high when that happens.

During our first month here, we were watching an episode of The Simpsons in German. Sweet Lisa was losing control of the RV she was driving and said (in English), "Oh shit!" I doubt that's what she said when it was broadcast in the U.S.

And as a little side note, the only TV channel we get here where American shows are not dubbed is, of all things, MTV. We get to see all those appalling dating and reality shows undubbed and uncensored. In the U.S., there is constant bleeping, not here. We get to hear the actual words and laugh at the subtitled translations. We don't often watch the shows, but if we are flipping through the channels and alight on one of them, the same thought always pops into our mind, "What must Germans think of Americans if this is all they see of America?"

And the use of the words Scheiße and shit gets even more complicated. I was talking about these two words to my neighbor who said, "Oh, yes. But when we're upset and want to say a word that isn't quite as strong as Scheiße, we use the English word shit."

The same goes for other words. Micaela just told me the other day how her Spanish teacher says the word hell a lot. "Mom, really! She was looking at an empty seat in our classroom and said 'Who the hell sits here?' And another time, she was mad at a kid and said, 'Shut up or get the hell out of here!'" Earlier in the year, her German teacher was explaining the meaning of the expression Verflixt! Kids were guessing "Shoot!" and "Darn it!" The teacher finally said, "No! It's stronger! It means Damn!" and she pounded her fist on the table for emphasis. And then proceeded to say Damn! several more times to prove her point. Micaela said, "We were all like "Yikes!" Because if you think about it, damn isn't that vulgar, it's just a word you wouldn't expect a teacher to use and a word most parents don't want their kids saying.

And there are times where someone says something in grammatically correct English, but it just doesn't sound right. I notice this quite often on the show Dora the Explorer, German edition, where Dora teaches German kids to speak English. There was one episode where viewers needed to tell characters when to jump over something. Dora said, "Say 'Jump up!' Say 'Jump up'" And that just struck me as odd. We wouldn't yell to someone "Jump up!" Rather, we would say "Jump!"

Dora's friend Tico the squirrel only speaks English and tends to speak a very formal English. In one episode, Dora asked Tico if he could give them a ride to a party in his flying car. His reply was something like, "Oh, hello, my friends. It would be my pleasure to take you to the party because I fly there, too." Dora had us all yell "Fly up!" after they got into the flying car and then had us yell "Fly down!" when it was time to descend, which just didn't sound quite right. My German neighbord says that is a direct translation of what would be said in German. I think we would be more likely to say, "Go up!" and "Go down!" or even just "Up!" and "Down!"

And just for laughs, here's a car we followed on the way home from school today.

What I saw while picking up the kids from school today

While I was picking up the kids at school today, I spied...

...this amusing plumber's van, and...

....one of the few signs I see in Germany forbidding dogs (this was at the school gate), and...

...a Run-a-thon at the school to raise money for the MS Society.

This teacher who is new to the school this year will be running a marathon in Berlin next month to raise money for the MS Society and organized today's Run-a-thon. Kids, teachers and parents ran laps to raise money (James managed 5 laps before soccer practice). I also spied...

...a student band entertaining the crowd, and...

...a "throw wet sponges at a teacher" booth, and...

...ice cream.

I also spied a soccer player wearing a New England Patriots football jersey, and...

...a few kids wearing the new optional school uniform, and...

...grilled sausages.

I also spied a little girl with a boo-boo lip after a swing hit her in the face (for the record, the second I took this photo, Becca stopped crying and asked to see the picture) and...

...a jocular license plate. I also spied...

...the almost constant line of cars leaving the school that gets stopped at the train tracks (don't forget to turn off your engine as it could be a long wait). After we finally passed over the railroad crossing, I spied...

...a Lufthansa billboard, and...

...a Homer Simpson billboard and...

...an intersection where, if Germans did not use their turn signals all the time (and they do), my daily commute to school would be a great source of frustration. I also spied...

...fields where you can pick your own flowers and the owners trust you to leave the appropriate payment in the coin box, and...

...a pick-your-own pumpkin field that also operates under the honor system, and...

...a new bike path and parking spots being paved in Liederbach, and...

...the twice a week rotisserie chicken van which offers the best chicken and french fries around.

And that's what I saw while picking up my kids from school today.

Pumpkin Festival

We joined a few other families from the kids' school today at a local pumpkin festival. David and I were thinking how great it would be to come across some pumpkin bread or our favorite fall dessert: pumpkin roll. We weren't counting on it, though. Germans cook with pumpkin, but they don't bake with it and you can't even find canned pumpkin in the stores.

The kids right away began building a nest with all the hay that was covering the ground. With Becca just sitting in the middle while everyone scurried to build the nest around her, it reminded me of the Lost Boys building a house for Wendy.

There were several booths set up where you could buy cheese, jewelry, homemade doll clothes, candles and hair accessories.

You could take a tractor rides, hayrides and kiddie ATV rides.

While the kids ran around and some played on farm equipment (more on that later)...

...the grownups enjoyed some food and drink. David and I drank some pumpkin champagne.

Here are some sausages and fried pumpkin slices with sour cream. Our kids always shake their heads at how Germans eat long sausages in a round roll.

David and the kids liked the pumpkin soup, but it reminded me of baby food. It was nothing like the creamy, warm pumpkin soup Mme Foucher would make every night during the cold winters days of my junior year abroad in France.

Pumpkin wine. Alas, no pumpkin bread nor pumpkin roll.

James and Lulu with their carved pumpkins

Just two of the many dogs at the Fest

Emilie and Becca get a hand at pumpkin carving from the men of the family

Adding the finishing touches

A pile of kids

Lots of different pumpkins, squashes and gourds

Two birds in a nest

On a hayride with Lulu and Zena

The cutouts in the middle of the table are for your cup of beer or glass of wine

Razor sharp metal farm equipment for your children to climb on and play around

James just can't resist. Click on the picture and see the sharp spikes. We laugh about this kind of thing now, but it took some getting used to.