German 101
My first culture transition was at the age of 15 when I moved from Venezuela to Florida. I had been learning english since very young, so I managed, but I still had a heck of an accent. Because of this, the transition to another country for such a period of time was not hard (of course, having Marc there looking out for me also helped). If you are planning on taking language classes, I recommend the Inlingua school. They teach many other languages in addition to german, and they will do it the only way you'll ever learn: you ONLY speak German.
What my Friends Heard
Approximate message date: May 02, 1994
hello everyone!!
how are you guys doing? I imagine everyone at UF is gone somewhere far away so this message should greet you on your return..
well, let me think what fun an crazy stories I have to tell you..
classes have been pretty fun... they throw more stuff in our faces everyday, so we do nothing but swallow it and try to burp it up sounding the same way.. today we got three new students: 2 guys (there goes the ratio), and 1 girl... I didn't catch where the two guys where from, but their names where Ala and Salsomething... they each had 15 brothers and sisters, so I deducted they were from somewhere in the middle east... the girl was from Korea and I can't spell or even GUESS at her first name..
German is an interesting language.. to give you an idea: about half of the words are spelled similar to English.. cola - cola; big mac - big mac; bier - beer; bacardi und cola - bacardi and coke.. no, seriously: garten - garden; nacht - night... but, the funny thing is that they are pronounced more like in Spanish... you actually read the vowels like in Spanish: a - AHH, e - EHH, i - EEHH.. and the consonants are a mixture of both: b - BEHH, c - SEHH, like in Spanish, but l, m, n like in English... so actually it's like I'm perfect for learning this language, even thought my brain is majorly multi-tasking right now... it's a mess...
The pronunciation is not bad.. I can figure out most of them... I have a few problems with accentuation, but nothing hard to get used to... the pain in the butt thing is the grammar... YIKES!!! there's THREE types of 3rd person: masculine, feminine, and neutral!! what a mess... it turns out to be 100% memorization of the articles of every word you learn...
english español deutsch masc the floor el piso der boden fem the lamp la lampara die lampe neut the car el (masc) carro das auto
In Spanish, at least you can figure out the article by the last letter of the word- a, fem.. o, masc (in most cases), but in German, forget it... might as well do Fourier transforms by hand.. Spanish also does not have and article for neutral, but you don't use la carro, because it's assumed as neutral even though the article implies masculine.. forget it, I'm not even going to get into Spanish grammar because it's also harder than English grammar...
and then, as if that wasn't bad enough, certain words change with respect to the article... like:
- which
- masc: welcher
- fem: welche
- neut welches, so you have to use the appropriate one when asking
AND, adjectives:
- small: klein
- red: rot
- thick: dick (you likee?)
but you use:
- the small car
- das kleine auto
- the red lamp
- die rote lampe
- the fat man
- der dicke Mann
and there's a million more stupid rules that do nothing but causes headaches.. so enough about school...
Lately Marc and I haven't been going out too much.. maybe one or two nights a week... mainly because we're planning on going to Spain this Thursday.. we rented a golf from trusty ol' Europcar, and we're headed there as soon as he gets out of work (~2 pm)... it should be a pretty long drive (~9 hrs), but it beats the train by 200DM A PIECE!!! (thanks to plastic, that is) We're only planning on going to Barcelona because we can't miss too much excitement from work and school (shaa, right!!).. so we won't be able to visit Madrid, or anywhere in South Spain because it's too far.... too bad... maybe later.. plus, it's not like we have money sticking out of our armpits!!! I'm already going to be quite in debt when I return as it is...
Lately we've been going to techno night at B-9, and maybe something else one other night of the week... actually, now we're looking for something to replace B-9 because they change their DJ every week, bringing some from Belgium, the Netherlands, Frankfurt, etc, and lately they have sucked royally.. The funniest thing in clubs here are the drinks! now, of course, this is Germany.. they serve beer by the barrels.. but as far as mixed drinks the most popular stuff to drink is vodka bitter (vodka and lemon juice), and bacardi and cola... most Germans dont have a clue about mixed drinks... I went up to the bar at B-9 and looked at all the bottles they had and started pointing.. I started with a malibu and pineapple, and went back so Andi and others could try them... then came back and got something else, and on and on.. I was mentioning names of drinks like 'long island iced tea', 'screwdriver'.. they didn't know what they were!! you can just imagine what they would think if I ordered 'sex on the beach', or a 'comfortable screw against the wall'...
Last week Marc had to drive to a small town about 1 hr north of Düsseldorf to make a presentation for work.. so they gave him a car rental, and we headed there on Saturday.. well, the town was called Bad Iburg, and it's about 40 km north of Munster... now, Bad doesn't mean bad in the sense of suck or bad as in Damn it, I`m Bad.. no, bad is Bath in German.. when given to a city name it implies that this city has some kind of thermal springs.. Aachen is also referred to Bad Aachen for this reason... (you likee my informative anecdotes?)
Well, while Marc was busy at work, I took the car and went downtown.. or at least what is known as downtown: 3 streets and 2 blocks... well, I was bored quickly, and decided to drive around the countryside for a little while.. I returned to where Marc was and decided to have a drink at the Cafe am Reis, which was in the same building... cafe's in Europe serve mostly just drinks.. people just got to drink and chat... so I was starving and hadn't found anywhere good to have a bite...
then I saw salvation!! on the window I saw the sign: Fruchstuck 8 - 11... SWEEET!!! I had just learned that word in class!! BREAKFAST, BABY!!! so I ate like a king: rolls, egg, ham, cheese, coffee, jelly, bacon.. AWW YEAH!!!
afterwards we walked around town, and then visited Munster for about an hour, walked around the university, and headed home...
Marc had to do another presentation in Düsseldorf, but this was on a Monday, so I couldn't go.. the funny thing was that for the first one he got and Audi 80 station wagon, which was the stupidest car I've ever driven in my life!!! and then, of course when I'm not going, he gets a BMW 520i... what a jerky!!! he said it was sweet!!! he's such a dork though.. he said it was so quiet, that when he got on the A-bann the car started stuttering... mmhmm.... out of gas?.. no, full tank... mmhmm.. HOLY CRAP!!! he was redlining at 7000 RPM'S!!!!! he was going like 90 in SECOND gear!! jerky!! I'm surprised he didn't blow the engine....
This week Andi threw a party at his place because him and his roommate were moving.. Andi is staying here in Aachen, but his roomie is going to Hannover with his girlfriend... now, you guys are going to love this:
the party was Friday (they were supposed to move out by Saturday).. this was a small 2 bedroom place.. pretty cute and all... when we got there (~8pm) everyone was out in the backyard, and the cops had ALREADY COME!!!.. NICE!!!.. AAAALLRIGHTY THEN!!
there were a couple of grills, and like everyone else, we had brought our bratwurst, and chicken, etc to grill.. it was awesome... most people were drinking weizen-beer, which is awesome.. yes, believe it or not, I thought it tasted great... Marc started with beer, I started with vodka & OJ..
Interesting enough, there was NO back door in this place so everyone was CLIMBING in and out the window all night... and with the lovely grass, you can just imagine how lovely the carpet started looking with all the thick MUD!!... Kah, and a couple of other guys started drinking some of my vodka and got completely wasted... I was standing in the room now, and Andi and them were blasting the music and all dancing like a bunch of drunken fools... people kept coming in and out of the room, and I guess all the opening and slamming of the door was really bothering Ka since he RIPPED the door off the frame! I could NOT believe my eyes... what... the.. heck??!! then they started dragging Andi by his feet all over the place...by now everyone was out of control...Ka and Andi started handing out BOTTLES of wine to everyone to CHUG!! so, I had no choice but to join them..
Needless to say, we left around 3, and the party went on... the
next day Andi (who was scarred all over from when the others dragged
him) told us that the landlord had come in and taken pictures
for the lawsuit... I was like and that surprises
you?
but he didn't care...
but you think that's bad, get a load of this:
there was this other party at a friend of Andi's, where they were moving out because the building was to be demolished in two days... so they got a video camera and went into the bathroom and turned on the sink, and the shower, and somehow managed to seal the door tight, and they were going to let the room FILL UP TO THE TOP, and then open the door really fast... and FILM IT!!
WWW WWW HHH HHH AA TTTTTTT ??? WWW WWW HHH HHH A A TTT ?? ?? WW W WW HHHHHHHHH AA AA TTT ?? WWWWWWW HHHHHHHHH AAAAAA TTT ??? WWW WWW HHH HHH AA AA TTT WW WW HHH HHH AA AA TTT ??
WHAT THE HECK ARE THESE GUYS THINKING??? turns out the water only got about a meter high (ONLY) and then the floor gave in and came down TWO STORIES!!!
DUDES, these Germans are crazy!!!
The next night we went to a club about 30 minutes from Aachen... now, here's an interesting place... this is definitely the place to meet girls!! aww yeah!! but the music sucks BIG TIME!!! I couldn't believe it.. they would play something like Beck, then something by some German band, then move on to metalica (HUH??).. you could just imagine the diversity of the crowd!!! they even played ZEPP!!! I have NEVER heard zep at a club... we were like drinking to forget... we drew the line at around 3:30 went they played Pink Floyd, and so did most of the crowd... geez...
Well, aside from all these adventures, Aachen remains calm.. the weather has actually been awesome!! shorts-day a couple of times... we found a place that serves margaritas, but for $7 EACH!!! where's 1.75L salvador when you need it?
Marc and I might be going to the Netherlands soon to catch some movies since they are subtitled and not dubbed there... him and his friend Fabian want to see Ace Ventura, which starts May 5 (not too much lag there, eh?)...
funny thing: in the Netherlands, cops drive 911's to catch the Germans who forget that there is a speed limit!! you likee??
Anyways.. I think that's enough for now... I hope you guys have a nice break.. and hope to hear from you soon...
Tips
- While you are there keep in mind that Europeans don't know the meaning of open 24hrs. Most stores close at 6pm, Mon - Fri, and in the early afternoon on Sat. I don't think there's anything open on Sundays, except for food places.
- You won't have a problem finding things to buy as souvenirs. Just remember, each country has its own VAT, which is already included in the price. If I remember correctly, Germany's VAT was 18%. Expect the tax in other countries to be about the same if not more.
- While I was there, all utility companies were state controlled. This causes things to be very costly since no privatization means no competition. To give you an idea, several German businesses have international calling plans with US companies like AT&T and MCI because it is cheaper for them to dial the US and get a connection back to, say, France, than to dial directly using the government's rates.
- Try the German bakeries. Like those that I grew up with in Venezuela, they have delicious pastries and the best snacks. After you try these, anything you buy from Dunkin' Donuts or your Publix bakery will taste like diarrhea.
