Another update from Deutschland

So I'm sure those of you who haven't forgotten me think I'm dead. But I'm not, well not yet. When you read this I might be, who knows.

So I am now working on something like my tenth week in Germany out of somewhere in the neighborhood of 48 or 50. Everything is going pretty well. The people here are all very nice, except the nazis, but I only was near a bunch of those once at a concert in town and they weren't bothering me. I'm light years ahead of where I was before when it comes to understanding and speaking German. I've been told I have a fairly strong accent, which is unfortunate, but as long as I get the words and grammar right I don't care too much. Not that I get those right all that much, but my German isn't too horrible and I can understand a lot.

Hmmm no idea what else to say. If anyone has any questions about living in Germany, Germans, living abroad, my experience here, or whatever, please ask.

Oh and I know I had another thread earlier, but I don't have time to search it up at the moment, which is really a horrible excuse, but if a mod wants to merge them I don't mind, you don't have to though, it's really fine with me either way and I don't think this causes too much clutter.

Who wants to bet someone spam posts about this being clutter, especially after this...

Good to see you're still posting and good to hear you're enjoying it.

The language: How are you or what is the best way to learn it? Immersion?

Good to know your doing good Kenshin.

The language is the hardest part for me. I didn't really have any trouble getting used to the culture or anything because though it is different it is not so different that I wanted to curl up in a ball all day, though some other Americans did. It's also cool living with two families. Anyway what I did was immerse myself fully, I listened to Germans speak all day at school, I listened to my family speak when I got home, I listened to Rammstein and Madsen when I wasn't busy doing something else, or was working around the house. But I also got my Mutti to make me lists of random words and studied them. When I first got here I was doing almost a page of words a day. Attempting to speak when you have a vague idea of what you want to say is good to. Even if you say something like "Go in a new class" it's better than switching to English and you can ask the German you're talking to how to actually say it afterwards. Finding a friend or two who doesn't mind correcting your German too much is also good. They might get annoyed from time to time, but it is far better than having people let mistakes slide if they can understand you. Also never ever ever pass up a chance to go out and do something if you're away from your family on an exchange. The language is really hard at times, and at times I can practically not speak at all, but when I say my German is horrible and someone replies "Es geht" it's well worth it and it feels really good to be able to communicate somewhat in their language after not being able to for quite some time.

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Originally Posted by Uesugi Kenshin

Finding a friend or two who doesn't mind correcting your German too much is also good. They might get annoyed from time to time, but it is far better than having people let mistakes slide if they can understand you.

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This is very true. I was friends with a student who moved from Japan the year before. He would sit with us at lunch and I would help him with his English, slang English, and any words/phrases he didn't understand.

Gut zu wissen, dass es dir hier gefällt.:2thumbsup:

Ja Husar es ist sehr net hier in Sachsen-Anhalt.
Yeah Husar it is very nice here in Saxony-Anhalt.

Sure my grammar and spelling may be a little bit off, but I understood you with no help from my Würterbuch or Familie!

EDIT: Ice: friends are definately crucial for slang. "Geil" is not for people people.

Have fun my arch rival. May you come back healthy so we can duel ourselves again in the Kawanakajima! :2thumbsup:

Do they use shelf toilets where you are located?

I envy you Kenshin. I want to visit Germany before I die really all of Europe. Maybe someday.

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Originally Posted by Husar

Gut zu wissen, dass es dir hier gefällt.:2thumbsup:

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Good you are learning (?), because it is good to?

My German is horrible. I'm going off what I took in high school 2 years ago.

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Originally Posted by Kongamato

Do they use shelf toilets where you are located?

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Since when do you know toilets in the US?:inquisitive:

@Ice: I said: "Good to know that you like it here."

I come from the German border. I sometimes almost have to consider German my second language, since I used to speak it loads ... Jerry normally doesn't speak Dutch.
My grammar is shite really, and therefore writing can be a problem, but I can speak it, and words I don't know I take from the local dialect, which is part German part Dutch (mind you I could speak that too, but I tend to avoid speaking it as I hate it).
German is only difficult in grammar imo, you almost write words as you speak them, which can make things easy.

Deutsch ist nicht sehr schwer, aber Nominativ und Accusativ sind (I bet one of those words is in wrong grammer, or I forgot an umlaut)

meh German can sound damned good tho

and I tend to forget to say Sie to all Germans, we Dutch aren't really used to it

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Originally Posted by Husar

Since when do you know toilets in the US?:inquisitive:

@Ice: I said: "Good to know that you like it here."

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hahahaha, not even close. :sweatdrop:

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Originally Posted by Ice

hahahaha, not even close. :sweatdrop:

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Nah you could do well as the average internet translator ~D

Aber ich habe verstehen.

What in the name of god are shelf toilets? They sound horrifyingly communal, and showering is one thing, but laying pipe in public...No thanks.

Some German pronunciation can be tough, and the grammar can occasionally be a pain in the but, the main thing that gets me is Dativ, Nominativ, and Akusitiv (Woot I probably spelled those wrong), and the gender of things.

You can find them in Germany and the Netherlands, prevents splash and allows you to inspect your work!

http://www.banterist.com/archivefile...rmantoilet.jpg

You can also find them in Austria. Had my first experience with them when I went skiing in St. Anton. I was told it has something to do with checking for worms (due to the high content of pig in the diet). Not sure if that's true though. Not the best toilets for morning dumps when you drink heavily the night before, you get the smell full force. :no:

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Originally Posted by Fragony

You can find them in Germany and the Netherlands, prevents splash[...]

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And I avtually prefer them because of that, in those others I always put loads of toilet paper in to prevent the splash.
And concerning grammar, we have:
Nominativ
Genitiv
Dativ
Akkusativ
And it's quite interesting noone mentioned genitive since there is some saying here: "Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod" which basically translates to "dative is the death of the genitive" while it should be "Der Dativ ist des Genitivs Tod" which translates into "dative is the genitive's death".
The point of that little pun is that Germans replace the genitive with the dative although that is grammatically wrong but to make fun of it, they did it in the pun as well.

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Originally Posted by Uesugi Kenshin

Aber ich habe verstehen.

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Verstanden. ~;p

It does certainly seem that you're picking things up, but what's wrong with ,,geil"?

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Originally Posted by Uesugi Kenshin

The people here are all very nice, except the nazis, but I only was near a bunch of those once at a concert in town and they weren't bothering me.

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Wow, what kind of party/concert where you at then ?

Glad to hear from you again Kenshin, and good to know you're having a good time ! :2thumbsup:

:balloon2:

Ah yes, there's nothing quite so Germanic as being able to inspect one's own pooh before flushing it down. My grandparent's flat in Vienna has one. Ghastly things.

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Originally Posted by GoreBag

Verstanden. ~;p

It does certainly seem that you're picking things up, but what's wrong with ,,geil"?

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Geil is for events or objects and not people apparently, cool is better than geil for people. Based on the burst of laughter I triggered from one of my friends when I said "Bernie Sanders ist geil" this has to be correct.

I have used a shelf toilet, but mine isn't one of them. Can't say I really cared for it.

The concert was your usual metal/rock concert of local bands.

I believe that 'geil' means both cool and aroused.

How come your invisible Kenshin?

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Originally Posted by Fragony

You can find them in Germany and the Netherlands, prevents splash and allows you to inspect your work!

http://www.banterist.com/archivefile...rmantoilet.jpg

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I was staying in a Dutch youth hostel and I saw one of these. Looked rather odd.

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Originally Posted by Mithrandir

I believe that 'geil' means both cool and aroused.

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Pretty much, originally it was only aroused I think, but somewhen in the 90ies it came up as a slang word partly replacing cool.

It's also used to describe that a woman is highly attractive... Which is probably why you got a burst of laughter when talking about Bernie Sanders.
In my environment "geil" as a replacement for "toll" or "cool" is mostly used in conjunction with things, not persons.
The original sense is actually not used very often anymore in everyday speech, except in the phrase "Ich bin geil" or "... geil auf" when you could best translate it as horny.

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Originally Posted by alpaca

It's also used to describe that a woman is highly attractive...

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One could say that this is viewing women as things.~;)

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Originally Posted by Uesugi Kenshin

Geil is for events or objects and not people apparently, cool is better than geil for people. Based on the burst of laughter I triggered from one of my friends when I said "Bernie Sanders ist geil" this has to be correct.

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Classy. I'm glad I learned how to use that word before hearing it used in a social context.

Hmmm if it also means highly attractive then perhaps it wasn't quite as bad that I said that other person was geil, but it's still horrendously unlike me. Oh well, I'm a stupid American they have to assume if I say anything bad or out of character that it's either because I don't know what I'm saying, or on that particular occasion as well had a bit more to drink than usual, though I was definately not drunk, just intoxicated enough to not give a damn how bad my German was.

Csar I'm invisible because the TSA looked through my bags on my way over here and since then I've gotten rather paranoid about big brother watching me.

Well I talked to a German about Geil and she refused to explain it to me...About all I got out of her was that it means different things in different contexts, oh well.

In dutch it means horny, first they invade us and then they steal our vocabulary, what is up with that?

Yeah, it means 'horny', Kenshin. It's just a silly way to say 'cool' or 'nice' in other contexts. I've never heard about it meaning 'attractive', but I suppose it's not such a stretch.

When I asked him something about the edition of M2TW they had there, the clerk in Saturn today toldme that it was "total geil" and I had to get it, yes, it's silly, but people use it.:shrug:

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Originally Posted by Husar

When I asked him something about the edition of M2TW they had there, the clerk in Saturn today toldme that it was "total geil" and I had to get it, yes, it's silly, but people use it.:shrug:

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We do the same thing, when something is great we say 'zo geil als boter'(as horny as butter don't ask I don't know), and it can apply to just about everything, cars, boats, games you name it. People just like to use sexual innuendo, cums with the package.

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Originally Posted by Fragony

We do the same thing, when something is great we say 'zo geil als boter'(as horny as butter don't ask I don't know)

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You Dutch and your weird sexual fetishes....:laugh4:

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Originally Posted by King Henry V

You Dutch and your weird sexual fetishes....:laugh4:

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hey we can't help

*gets the butter*
mmmm

I think I'm just going to stick to using cool and toll.....Crazy Germans....

On another note and in case I haven't said this in this thread before Rammstein is officially one of the most wonderful things to ever come out of Germany.

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Rammstein is officially one of the most wonderful things to ever come out of Germany.

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yeah it would be hard to think of anything else

"Shame on you Stig!!!!"
"Hey, it was only a joke"
"Ban him, ban him!!!"
"What?"
"BAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Nah Germans make good beer too, tho Belgian beer is better

I paid a visit to a German restaurant in my city last night. I expected it to be mediocre, but it was really quite good. Even the waittress was German. This leads me to wonder...how is the Schnitzel, Kenshin?

Is that a restaurant were you can still look into the kitchen were you see them pounding the schnitzel to make it smaller (and better)?

I went there with my schoolclass last year when we went to Rome (you can't get to Rome in 1 day, we slept at Bergtesgarden ... well 5 km from it). Most of them didn't want to eat meat the coming week anymore ~D

good to see you not dead.

I think I've only had Schnitzel (that's just veal right??) a few times, but maybe I've had it more. It was fairly good, and a wonderful change from all of the sausage, which though varied and tasty gets old. I actually have a major problem in the food department, my Mutti uses loads and loads of butter, and in Vermont we used very very little butter. To make a can of beans she puts a thing of butter (250g maybe??) in a pot and then turns on the stove, then she adds the can of beans. That's just wrong.....

Otherwise all is good right now, I've dropped Latin and Deutsch (with a 10th grade class...) so now I have another history course and an IT course!

German beer and some German people also qualify as some of the most wonderful things to come out of Germany, but it is undeniable that Rammstein ranks up there with the beer and other really great stuff that this country has produced.

Schnitzel is more of an austria thing, when they are served the right way, with lemon and a peace of salted fish, delicious. :yes:

Salted fish with schnitzel?:inquisitive:
I find pork is better as a schnitzel, since veal, especially pounded to the thinness of a wafer, can be tasteless.
Of course, nothing accompanies schnitzel as well as a nice Kartoffelsalat.

You can have veal Schnitzel, but the standard is pork. Chicken was also offered at the restaurant I attended, but I just raised my eyebrow at that and ignored it. As well, one of the meals on the Abendkarte was a venison Schnitzel. My father tells me it was excellent.

Why did you drop German class?

Schnitzel should be eaten with a piece of lemon or with a drop of HP sauce
Or you can have a zigeuner (gipsy) schnitzel (my god I wouldn't now who to translate it otherwise) yum yum

The German class is for 10th grade German students not 12th grade Americans with only two and a half months of German under their belts.

I should be having Informatik right now, but it's my first day in the class and they're taking a test...Oh and my teacher is the same guy I have for Math and Physics, and he's pretty cool.

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Originally Posted by Uesugi Kenshin

German beer and some German people also qualify as some of the most wonderful things to come out of Germany, but it is undeniable that Rammstein ranks up there with the beer and other really great stuff that this country has produced.

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Rammstein! Granted, they're decent, but Die Toten Hosen is where German music is at. Easily the best band ever to come out of this wonderful country.

:germany:

Bah, die Toten Hosen are boring.

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Originally Posted by Uesugi Kenshin

Well I talked to a German about Geil and she refused to explain it to me...About all I got out of her was that it means different things in different contexts, oh well.

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How polite of her.

Get a very horny girl and while doing 'nasty' things to her, when she's enjoying immensely, ask her what geil means. ~;)

Rammstein, awesome music. I started out with Sonne, and Ich Will, also Augen Auf ! by Ooompf. Took a while but about a year later I got almost all their songs. In fact I'm listening to them right now. My day usually starts with Alter Mann, or Morgenstern, usually Morgenstern. Every single day, almost.

I LOVE Te quiero puta, it's a great song to have in the background, specially in that geil context, at the right time ~;)

Here's a good site for lyrics: www.herzeleid.com

Actually check this out ! Last night I watched this video from the Virtuelles JagdBombergeschwader 32 downloads section:

http://www.virtual-jabog32.de/index....le=541&lang=en

Whether you like aviation/simulation or not the video is WELL worth watching, and the music... I'll let you guess. It's one fo the finest game videos I ever saw. Would love to know what you guys thought of it.

Quite a cool video.:2thumbsup:

Die Toten Hosen suck.....IMHO. Please don't hurt me for having strong opinions.....

I only have two cd's of Rammstein, Mutter and Reise Reise, I need more but since I have a birthday and Weihnacht's (X-mas) coming up I can't buy anything!!!!:furious3:

If I'm not mistaken there is another album coming out soon, if it isn't out already.

Kenshin you've taught me a new word, geilometer !!!

It's an instrument on a scale of 0 to 10. It can be used to "rate" things and people. It can also be used mentally in those moments where some of us males need a quantitative figure to determine how well (or how geil to be precise!) things are going with your date.

Readings for Mutter and Reise Reise are around 9. Heidi Klum gets a 10 (and yes, it's probably correct to say this is 'objectifying'). The next one I'd recommend is .... well I don't know really. I'm a very selective person usually, but in Rammstein's case there isn't a song I dont like so I don't know what to recommend as the next album you buy.

There won't be another album until well into 2007, at least. There is a DVD that came out yesterday, I think...

Oops yeah you're right it's next year. Sorry.

BTW there's a lot of live clips of Rammstein on youtube.com for those that are interested.

I was told a new album came out last Thursday or something by a ton of Germans and by the TV. Am I surrounded by Germans that don't have a clue what the difference between DVD and album are, or am I living in the twilight zone?

Uesugi, why are you in Germany again? Is it some sort of exchange thing?

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Originally Posted by Uesugi Kenshin

I was told a new album came out last Thursday or something by a ton of Germans and by the TV. Am I surrounded by Germans that don't have a clue what the difference between DVD and album are, or am I living in the twilight zone?

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Well, there're some bonus live discs that come with certain editions of the DVD...

Damn, Gorebag now I have to go sit in a corner and cry for hours on end, but I won't be able to until I get home because I'm at school....


Henry I am on an exchange with the organization AFS where I stay a year with a German family. AFS does this sort of thing all over the world, and Germany just happened to be my top choice I could have been sent to Japan, Turkey, or just about any other country that isn't in Africa, for a number of reasons AFS isn't big in Africa...

Just buy the DVD and cheer up.

I can't buy anything non-essential right now due to my birthday and Weihnacht's (sp?) coming up...Then again I could claim that a Rammstein album is essential. But since I'd need help to get it and my Mutti doesn't like Rammstein she probably wouldn't agree....Sigh guess I'll wait a month.

Why would you need her help?

What is AFS ? This is cool though, sounds like you got a free trip to Germany ?

I'm not German btw, and I'm not much of a 'fanboy'. I do like stuff but don't always follow everything about it.

I just figured out MTW2 was out a couple of days ago, and that was when I figured out MTW2 demo was out as well. So yeah the demo is what led me to MTW2... see ? Something Rammstein is happening though and eventually it will dawn on me, in it's own sweet time. Having said all that I think I should go have a look see when they are on concert nearby...

Where am I going to buy cd's in a village of 2000?

AFS is an organization that was started after WWI, it was called the American Field Service, but now it's just AFS. The organization coordinates programs where you pay them a heap of money (unless you get a scholarship, I didn't but luckily we were able to scrape the dough together) and they will find you a host family somewhere in the world (hopefully where you want to go) and you will live there for a year with a family.

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Originally Posted by Uesugi Kenshin

Where am I going to buy cd's in a village of 2000?

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In the next bigger city...~;)

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Originally Posted by Uesugi Kenshin

Where am I going to buy cd's in a village of 2000?

AFS is an organization that was started after WWI, it was called the American Field Service, but now it's just AFS. The organization coordinates programs where you pay them a heap of money (unless you get a scholarship, I didn't but luckily we were able to scrape the dough together) and they will find you a host family somewhere in the world (hopefully where you want to go) and you will live there for a year with a family.

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I know a young lady who went to Paraguay with AFS and she was very satisfied with this semi-volunteer organisation. It seems to be a typically relaxed, pragmatic American outfit that provides good value for your money.

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Originally Posted by Husar

In the next bigger city...~;)

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That's 5000 people and I haven't seen a cd shop. I'd have to Salzwedel to have a chance at finding it and I only go there with my family...


Adrian:
I have no idea if it is good value for your money, but I have to say AFS does a fairly good job with the activities and speeches and so on before and during the stay abroad. It is a lot of money though, I'd have to see a breakdown of it all to admit that it was good value.

I just read an article in Deutschland magazine about Bionade. Is that the carbonated fruit drink you'd mentioned earlier?

C'mon how big is Germany really? You could probably steal a mule and be in Berlin within 12 hours.~;)

...says the man who'd never been on a train until he visited another country. ~;p

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Originally Posted by GoreBag

I just read an article in Deutschland magazine about Bionade.

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One of the best carbonated soft drinks around - not as sugar-infested as other drinks (and it offers some great flavors)

I've never heard of Bionade, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

As to how big Deutschland is it's about the size of Montana, and since I've gone at least halfway through the country by train I have to say that it is pretty big.

Bionade

(No - I am not getting paid for this)

Kraut lemonade...bizarre. I also don't understand how there is no alcohol if the beverage is fermented.

Necro post!

So I went to the Weihnacht's Markt in Diesdorf over the weekend, and it was fairly fun. We didn't have any snow unfortunately, but who knows maybe we'll have some for Fruhlings Markt (Spring Market), I doubt it...I have a question though, what exactly is Glühwein? It was pretty tasty and from what I understand it is a heated fruit wine. Anyway in Diesdorf we have a fruit juice/wine place (brewery/juicery?) so apparently I had some fairly good Glühwein, but I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Hmm in other news I think I have 3 or so parties in a row raround Christmas time. My Birthday on the 21st, a school party on the 23rd and then a christmas party on the 24th or 25th.

Gluhwine is warm red wine with herbs, sometimes a bit of orange-skin as well.

hmmmmm Heidie, I'd third her reich

http://dump.geenstijl.nl/mediabase/f...ktoberfest.jpg

Aw, no snow for Weihnachtsmarkt. That really sucks. It only just started to snow here a few days ago. The Festbock season is a month late.

Good call, Frag, German chicks rule. Too bad you're Dutch.