German Sundays

 

 

 

    Sundays in Germany are not the same as in other countries. To Germans, Sunday is a mandatory rest day. Most people don't work except for doctors, nurses, waiters/waitresses and other people who are needed at their working place every day.

 

    All stores/shops/supermarkets etc. are closed. There are a few Sundays a year on which some shops downtown will be open. This is called verkaufsoffener Sonntag, but this phenomena does not happen too often as stores are only allowed to be open on 10 Sundays a year, including the 4 Advent sundays preceding Christmas. Gas stations are open, but they aren't convenience stores as for example gas stations in the US. So you should always plan ahead and not realize on Sunday morning that you ran out of toilet paper, milk or other things you need for the day.

 

    There is no construction working and any kind of noise is to be reduced. You could even get a fine for mowing your lawn on a Sunday. Children are being told that it's Sunday and that, while playing outside, they can't be too noisy.

 

    So what do Germans do on Sundays?

In the mornings, first of all, religious people go to Church. Others like to sleep in and a lot of people have brunch around 10 or 11 o'clock instead of breakfast. Sundays are perfect days to spend some quality time with your family and friends. If the weather is good, you will find a lot of Germans outside: doing sports and other leisure activities, sitting in the backyard, sunbathing, going to flea markets or to the park. It is also a good time to go to the movies (although this is more expensive on the weekends), to the museum, have lunch/dinner in a restaurant or to just stay at home. A lot of students do their homework on Sundays, other people like to hang out at home and do all the things they don't have enough time for during the week or just hang out and enjoy doing nothing.

 

    As you can see, German Sundays are something you have to get used to if you visit Germany or even live here,  but not being able to go shopping on Sundays is definitely not the end of the world.

Getting rid of German Stereotypes (or maybe not?)

 

 

 

     This is how German men are typically depicted abroad: beer-loving, lederhosen- and hat-wearing, tall, fat and of course with a huge beard. German women are tall as well, strongly built with huge breasts, have blue eyes, blond hair and wear pig tails. Do Germans really look like this? Are all of them heavy beer drinkers, sauerkraut and bratwurst eaters, strict, unfriendly and rude people? 

 

    Before we tackle these questions, here is an introductory video about some common German stereotypes:

 

 

 

 

    Now let's take a closer look at the stereotypes and look for some truth.

 

1. Germans are tall, fat, blonde and have blue eyes. They wear lederhosen and dirndls all the time.

    In contrast to South European, South American, Asian and other countries where people are rather short, Germans seem to be generally tall. However, there are exceptions and of course, you can find short Germans as well.

   Obesity has increased, but that's a problem a lot of countries have to deal with lately. And, of course, not everybody is fat.

   There are blonde, blue-eyed people in Germany, but less than you will find in Northern Europe and more Germans actually rather have brown (in all kinds of shades) than blond hair. Eye colors range from green over blue and grey to brown.

   Lederhosen (leather pants) and dirndls (a traditional dress) will most likely be found in Bavaria, a state in the south of Germany, and in Austria. But even there, people don't dress in lederhosen and dirndls every day. It is most common to see it at the Oktoberfest.

 

 

2. Germans drink beer like water and love the Oktoberfest.

    Germans do drink a lot of beer. In 2010, the average German drank 101,8 liters of beer, actually reaching a low during that year, with most of the beer being drunken by Bavarians and North Rhine Westphalians (NRW is a state in the west of Germany). But the fact that a lot of Germans like to drink beer does not mean that we drink beer like water. Germans love to drink coffee as well (in the morning, after lunch, in the afternoon...), a lot of water, juice, "Schorlen" (juice mixed with sparkling water), soda, etc. Germans most likely only have beer sometimes after work or on the weekends, unless they are alcoholics. We are said to be able to drink a lot and I guess that, in general, that's true.

    The Oktoberfest takes place every fall in Munich, Bavaria, and is known world-wide. It attracts tourists from all over the world, but also Germans (70% of them being Bavarians, just to let you know).

 

 

3. Germans love sauerkraut, bratwurst and pretzels.

   I would like to know where the sauerkraut myth comes from as I don't know anybody who is crazy about sauerkraut. It is eaten in Germany, yes, but when I encountered this here on the Chicagoer "Christkindlsmarket" last year, I was seriously shocked:

 

P1030958


   We would never even think of eating bratwurst or leberkäse with sauerkraut!   

   As for bratwurst, I guess the stereotype is partly true. Pretty much every region in Germany has their own style of bratwurst, so there is an endless variety of bratwurst. But again, there are Germans who don't even like bratwurst and it is not eaten that frequently by most families.

   Pretzels are typical for Bavaria (once again), but known in other parts of Germany as well.

 

 

4. The good old German punctuality and efficiency

    The term German punctuality exists in several non-German countries. Of course not every German is always on time, but in general, you can say that this stereotype is a true one.

    It is very important for Germans to arrive on time and we will rather arrive 5 minutes early than 5 minutes too late. An exception is if you are invited to a party and know that a lot of people will be arriving. In this case it is usually okay to arrive a little late.

   Public transportation should always be on time and Germans can get really angry if it isn't. "Time is money!" In many cities, there are also "tickers" indicating in how many minutes the bus/train/whatever will be arrriving.

   The stereotype of Germans being depicted as efficient, hard-working and industrious is based on the Wirtschaftswunder after the Second World War when Germany quickly revived economically.

 

 

5. The land of poets, thinkers... scientists and engineers

    Germany is known as "das Land der Dichter und Denker" (country of poets and thinkers). Ever heard of Goethe and Schiller? A great deal of Germany's literature of the 19th century was written by them and they remain important German figures.

    Well-known German scientists and engineers are, amongst others, Albert Einstein, Konrad Röntgen (discovered x-rays), Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz (invented the automobile), Karl-Heinz Brandenburg (developed mp3), Johannes Gutenberg (invented printing with moveable letters), Otto Lilienthal (constructed airplanes)...

    Well-known German brands include Adidas, Aldi, Audi, Beyer, Beiersdorf, Bosch, BMW, Lufthansa, Mercedes Benz, Puma, Siemens, Volkswagen and Porsche.

 

 

6. Germans stick to rules and fear the unknown

    We do have a lot of rules, be it in the class rooms, traffic, in any kind of public institution or public transportation. It is required to stick to these rules and otherwise you get punished. You don't have a ticket for the public transportation? - You have to pay 40€. You drove too fast and got caught? - Depending on how fast you were and how much above the limit, there are fees, seminars or they will even take your license away (for some time or longer). We might seem stricter than people in other cultures, but rules do give us a sense of security.

    Germans have rules for everything. And that's just how we grow up. It's also linked with the fear of the unknown. "I've always done it this way and it's always worked perfectly. Why should I change a thing?"  There is just a specific way things ought to be done and that's it.

 

 

Of course this was only a small insight into stereotypes about Germans and there is a lot more to talk about. As with stereotypes of every culture, there is usually some truth to it, but even if so, there can only be generalizations made.

 

I will be tackling other interesting topics in the future as well, so stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Love Song in 88 languages

 

    Bodo Wartke, a German cabaret artist, managed to write a love song in 88 languages.

 

    Almost all of his songs are written by himself and usually he performs alone, sitting behind his grand piano. The lyrics are mostly in German although there are a couple of English translations to his German songs to be found and he once performed a song in German together with a French singer. They are full of rhymes and funny punchlines.

A frequent topic of his songs is love, both in humorful and sincere ways, but also satire, singing about political and social issues. In one of his songs, "Monica", he criticizes George W. Bush's presidency and "Die Amerikaner" deals with anti-American clichés. Other topics are everyday situations and the process of musical composing and performing.

 

  Besides being a cabaret artist, he also presents the annually music festival "Songs an einem Sommerabend" (Songs on a Summer's Night). In addition to that, he worked as a composer and musical leader for the play "Unter dem Milchwald", created a German libretto for the operetta "Orpheus in der Unterwelt" and wrote a chant for the 33rd German Evangelical Church Congress.

 

A song I find to be pretty impressive is the so-called "Liebeslied" (love song). He starts off with a German verse, repeating it over and over again in many languages, ranging from various German dialects, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Turkish and Finnish to languages like Hebrew, Mandarin, Arabic, Quechua, Tok Pisin and Esperanto. All in all, 88 languages. Every now and then, he integrates the German chorus.

In the following video of "Liebeslied", he starts off in German, then sings in English and French, after that comes the German chorus, then Italian, Spanish, and Dutch verses (followed by jokes about the Dutch language), German chorus again, then Russian, Serbian, Latin (joke about Latin grammar) and Turkish verses (and a joke about saying I love you in Turkish when getting a "Döner" and receiving a discount for that), followed by German with a Turkish accent and a German ending (lyrics can be found below the video).

 

 

    Lyrics:

Verse (in all kinds of languages), starting off in German:

Ich will's in allen Sprachen für dich singen, auf allen Instrumenten zum Erklingen bringen: Ich liebe dich.

 

English:

I want to sing in every language for you, baby, and play on every instrument to say these words to you. Believe me, it is true: I love you.

 

German chorus:

Wo immer du auch wohnst, ich weiß genau, dass es dich gibt: die Frau in die ich mich und die sich in mich verliebt. Wo immer du auch wohnst, welche Sprache du auch sprichst; wenn wir uns begegnen, dann lern' ich sie für dich.

(Bodo's English version: Whereever you are, somewhere you've got to be: the girl I fall in love with and who'll fall in love with me. And no matter where you are, from the moment that we meet, I'm gonna learn for you, love, the language that you speak.)

 

German lyrics at the end:

Wo immer du auch wohnst... dankeschön... Wo immer du auch wohnst, Baby, für dich würd' ich sofort bis ans Ende dieser Welt fahren und bliebe mit dir dort - ich gebe dir mein Wort.

(Bodo's English version: )

Whereever you are.... thank you. No matter where you are, baby, believe me it is true: I travel any distance around the world for you, around the world for you.

 

 

Here is another one of his songs, "Was ich gerade denke" (What I'm thinking), first a video of the original German version and then a mp3file in its English translation - enjoy.

 

 

 

(download)

 

 

If you're interested, you can check out the "Liebesliedgenerator" on Bodo Wartke's website (http://www.bodowartke.de/seiten/index.php?nav=17). Click on the yellow-highlighted "dann klick hier" if the pop-up window doesn't pop up. Now you can make your own love song and choose whatever languages you like.

 

 

 

 

Pancakes for Lunch

(http://images.planet-rcs.de/article/p/pfannkuchen/pfannkuchen.jpg)

 

    Every time I tell non-German people we don't have pancakes for breakfast, but eat them for lunch instead, I get odd looks. Yes, every once in a while, the "meat-loving Germans" actually like sweet meals for lunch such as Pfannkuchen (pancakes), Milchreis (hot rice pudding, usually eaten with cinnamon and sugar, but other flavors are possible as well) or Grießbrei (similar to "Cream of Wheat").

 

    There are innumerable recipes for German pancakes and I will give you a very easy one, my mom's.

    For one pan-sized pancake you need 1 egg, 7 teaspoons of flour and a pinch of baking powder. Mix everything in a bowl, preferably using an egg beater, and then add as much milk as you need for the dough to get a nice consistency. After that, put some oil or margarine in a pan and let it melt a little, but don't let it get too hot, especially if you use oil. The pancake should cook on medium heat and you should flip it over once it's not too runny anymore. Be careful though, because flipping over a pancake that size takes some practice. It's done once it looks like the one in the picture above.

    Traditionally it is eaten with sugar on top (at least where I'm from), but you can basically put anything you like on top, be it fruits, Nutella, any kind of marmelade/jam... If you wish to, you can also spice the dough up a little before making the pancake. You can add spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg or even fruits.

    I like my German pancakes best with slices of apples inside. In order to make an apple pancake, you prepare the dough as usual, then take a green, sour apple, peel it and cut it into relatively thin pieces. Once you are done, you put the dough in the pan and add the fruits immediately so that they get attached to the dough and won't fall off once you flip the pancake over.

    There are some regions in Germany where pancakes are eaten salty, for example with bacon, cheese or fresh herbs which is possible, because the dough is prepared neutral, without using any sugar, but that is another story. 

Schon GEZahlt?

This is a slogan Germans encounter everywhere: on TV and on the radio, in advertisements - be it in the movie theater, newspaper or throughout the city, in our mailboxes...basically everywhere possible.

    Literally, the slogan means "Already paid?" and refers to the so-called GEZ (which is also included in the slogan - how clever). So what is this famous GEZ about?
  
    GEZ stands for 'Gebühreneinzugszentrale' which is the radio and TV license collecting agency in Germany. It was founded on Jan 1st, 1976 by the two public TV stations (ARD and ZDF) and a public radio station called Deutschlandradio.


    The GEZ works like this: If you have a radio, TV, a DVD Player, GPS and/or any device that you can get internet access with and that enables you to get access to any kind of TV or radio channels - be it a personal computer, laptop, cell phone with internet access, you name it, you have to pay this fee.

    So basically every German has to pay it but a great deal of people don't and this is why there is such a huge amount of advertisements everywhere. There is an exception, however, for people with low incomes who don't have to pay the fee and there are some other exceptions that might be made as well, but many people who could afford to pay it do not understand why they should pay an additional fee if they already pay the cable station and probably most people don't even know the reasons behind the GEZ.

    Let me give you a quick introduction to German TV services. We have public as well as private TV channels. Whereas the latter are funded mostly by commercials -and therefore have a TV program that includes a great deal of commercials-, the public channels are, with more than 80%, mostly funded by the fees that we pay to the GEZ and only by a small percentage of commercials. This 'mixture' of funding allows for an independency from the state and economy. In total, the GEZ does not only help to finance 21 public TV channels, but also 57 radio stations and a diversity of additional services.

   So how much do we have to pay for this radio and TV license fee? This depends on which and how many devices you have. If you own a radio, a 'new device' (that enables you to use the internet or GPS) or both, you have to pay 17,28 € every quarter. If you have any of the following combinations: TV, TV + radio, TV + 'new device', or all three, you are required to pay 53,94€ every quarter. In 2010, they took in 7545,3 million € which is 58,9 million more than the year before.  Obviously numbers of people who pay the radio and TV license fee are going up - even though there are a great deal of complaints about the GEZ and their infinte advertisements.

 

 

Here is a translation for you:

- Here you are.

 

- When I get bread rolls in the morning, I pay for them. I can't expect the others to pay for me as well.

  Or when eating in a restaurant. I won't just walk off without paying.

   ...would be embarrassing.

 

   At home, I have TV and radio. I pay for that. My GEZ fees. Because I need independent media. Because I need variety. Because everybody needs it.

   (On her T-Shirt it says „Of course I'm paying.“)

   And how about you?

 

- Be fair. Get registered. „GEZ. Schon gezahlt?“

 

For more information, check out http://www.gez.de