Stranger Than Fiction

Happy November folks! Just checking in to let you know that we're still here. Nothing exceptional to report...aside from the fact that we are functioning independently in a foreign country halfway around the world, and operating daily in a language we started to learn in September. Other than that, all is status quo:).

Today, I was musing over the fact that, in a way, our life here has become rather normal to us in these two short months. The smell of curry wurst, the noise of public transport, and the absence of the sun after 3 PM are just part of the daily fare. HOWEVER, now and then, we do get a seismic jolt of a reminder that we are not in Kansas anymore.

 If you'll allow me, I would love to give you a little survey course on the idiosyncracies and general wackniess that is Germany.

Wacky Fact #1 

First, I would like to start with a small problem that people here like to call "Winter." Legend has it that in the months of December, January and February people who live outside of Florida normally experience some drastic drops in temperature--- to the tune of 20 below 0. I've even heard reports that "snow" is not just an effect in the Disney Christmas Parade but rather a pesky little bugger that makes it hard to see and even more interesting to drive. Hmm. Sounds like some kind of sick joke to me. I'll let you know.

It seems like this Winter-thing is approaching. I did some research and this is what I found. 

Exhibit A: Me last November

Exhibit B: Us this November

Oh dear. 

Wacky Fact #2 

German dogs are much better behaved than American dogs. It's true! In Deutschland doggies are allowed to go any and everywhere with their owners- on the bus , in the train, in restaurants--ANYWHERE! Yes, friends, here in Germany man's best friend is quiet, nonchalant, and  decourous. Most of the time, I don't even notice that I'm sharing my train with a cainine until it's on its way out the door. When I do see one I usually call the hubby and squeal "I'm sharing a seat with Toto!" or "I just saw Wishbone go into the Kentucky Fried Chicken." Yay dogs!

Ok. So this puppy is a little naughty. But the owner was feeding Lady from the restaurant table. Can you blame her for accepting the offer?

I haven't gotten a good shot of any of the well behaved dogs becuase, frankly, they're so good I don't notice them 'til they're leaving. 

Wacky Fact#3 

This may not seem like a big deal, but printer paper is a completely different size here. Don't ask me the dimensions (I'm still furiously resisting the metric system). It's just bigger. So big that in Germany you need a FOUR hole puncher. This would be no problem except that all my sheet music and binders have to be bigger because nothing I print or copy now can fit. Soooo... who wants a triple hole punch and a truckload of 8 1/2 by 11 sheet protectors for Christmas?

Wacky Fact #4

Germans sing the Happy Birthday song--- In English! It's adorable because the average German speaker has difficultly pronouncing the "th" blended sound that we use so often in English. So the song goes something like: Happy Birssday toooo yooou. HAPPY BIRSSDAY TOOOO YOOOU! I love it.

Wacky Fact #5

When you order water in Europe it is NOT free. Ever. And in Germany it is always carbonated. I've tried several tactics to try to score some non-bubbly H2O. But to no avail. Each time I pay 3 Euro. And each time my beverage tastes like soap.

Wacky Fact #6

German words are incredibly, unfathomably, unreasonably long. I listen to people rattle off 20-25 letter words every day. I don't know about you, but coming from a language that only has 26 letters in the entire alphabet, I find this to be a liiiittle absurd. Instead of creating new words, (like the English word "glove", for example) the German language combines words into super-compound-nouns (like "hanschue" which is literally hand-shoe...glove.) Here's a good one I learned this summer: "Hoechgeschwindigkeitbegrenzung" Sounds like some kind of rare terminal disease, but never fear. It only means "speed limit":)

Wacky Fact #7 

Capitalization is fun here! In German you not only capitalize the beginning of a sentence and proper nouns, but all nouns! You should try it. 

Sometimes when I'm on the Laptop I forget to capitalize all the Nouns in a Sentence. It's somehow easier to remember with Pen and Paper. I had no Idea how fun Capitalization could be! Bubblegum!  Cactus!  Pony!

Last but not least, a little pronunciation lesson. In German:

S is pronounced like Z.  

Z is pronounced TS (like in pizza), 

SM, ST, SP are pronounced respectively SHM, SHT, SHP

IE is pronounced EE, and EI is pronounced EYE

And of, course that nasty TH tends to come out as SS

So, my official German name is ZI donn ee  A.  Shmiss:)

So until next time, this is Seargent Shmiss Signing Off. Love you!