Hello my darling readers,
As some of you may be aware, my time in Germany is drawing to a close. My last day of work at the Realschule is on Tuesday so I'm packing up my stuff, trying to find a "Nachmieter" (someone to rent my room after I've left), sorting out my last Erasmus papers and making myself thoroughly miserable in the process. I literally cannot believe how quickly my year abroad has gone and even though it is not over yet (I will be back for a bit in June after going to Ireland and being at home for a while), I feel that this is an appropriate time to assess how much I've learned this year.
Of course, I have learned so much about the German language but before I come to that, I also want to point out the differences in culture that have either been enforced or that I have discovered during my time here! I'm umm-ing and uhh-ing about whether to write it as a list, as my last few blog posts have been in list form... Hmm, ok I'm just going to do it. Judge me (and my writing capabilities) if you will!
1. Famine Sundays - All of the shops (including supermarkets) close on Sundays here! This little German tradition has been the bane of my life. I know it used to be like that in England too when my parents were kids, but I've grown up being able to go shopping on a Sunday and therefore I always seem to forget to buy food to last me through the weekend. It's such a nightmare!
2. "Guten Appetit!" - I really like the custom of wishing your fellow diners a pleasant meal, it's just that we Brits don't really do it. It seems to be rude if you eat before the people you are eating with say "Guten Appetit!" to you and it also seems to be rude if you forget to say it to them. Needless to say that I always end up forgetting...
3. Looking people in the eyes when saying "Prost" - This is a funny one that I first encountered in the beer halls in Stuttgart. Apparently if you don't look people in the eyes while you clink glasses and say cheers, then you will receive the ultimate dose of bad luck: Seven years of bad sex. From then on, us language assistants have always made a massive thing of looking each other in the eyes when we are clinking glasses. Wishful thinking, one may say!
4. English Politeness vs. German Politeness - I have come to realise that the British people are maybe a little over polite. An example that I have experienced is the use of "thank you". If you are going through a series of doors and the same person holds each one open for you, my very British politeness cortex tells me to say thank you each time, often varying it in some way. ("Thanks!", "Ta!", "Cheers!") Germans don't do that. They say thank you once, the first time, and that is perfectly adequate for them. And I agree, though I still can't quite manage to pull it off!
5. German Directness - This is a bit of an extension of the previous comment. In Britain, we tend to hedge a lot and it takes us ages to get to the point! I go into a restaurant in England and say: "Could I please have the sirloin steak, if that's ok?" The waiter will then reply: "How would you like it cooked?" And then I would reply: "I'd like it between rare and medium, but don't worry if it doesn't turn out that way, I don't mind. Whatever is best for you." Ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration but you get my gist, right? Well, Germans miss out all of this and get straight to the point. They specify exactly what they want, when they want it and how they would like it done. At first it can seem a little disconcerting and plain rude, but it's really not! It's just the way the German culture is and I'm growing to love it.
6. Supermarket Rushing - This is one custom that I am not a fan of. In a supermarket, you are somehow expected to pack all of your stuff into your bag and have the exact money ready within five seconds. If not, people behind you start tutting and rolling their eyes and the checkout clerk accidentally on purpose forgets to wish you a nice day as you leave. I much prefer the British system where they even offer to help you pack your bags!
7. General Customer Service Culture - I'm not entirely sure whether this is the same across the whole of Germany, but it certainly seems to me that in many shops in Trier, your custom seems to be a great inconvenience to the employees. It is perfectly acceptable here to finish a personal conversation with someone for a good five minutes before even acknowledging that the next customer is even there. Having said that, I enjoy the fact that you can pay for something that costs €5 with a €50 note without any complaint from the cashier. In England you would get a right telling off! The only time you can't do this, though, is on the buses. NEVER attempt to give a €50 note on the buses if you want to keep your life.
8. Restaurant Seating System - When you go to a restaurant in England, you often have to wait to be seated. They even have little signs saying so! But in Germany it is different. Unless you have booked a table or the restaurant is really crowded, it is completely acceptable to just sit at a table and let the waiter come to you. I quite enjoy this!
9. Queuing - I'm sticking to my guns here; I love a queue. There is nothing better than an orderly, first come, first served queue, in which everyone patiently waits their turn... Evidently I don't share this opinion with many people in Germany, though. Sometimes it's completely acceptable to push into a queue here, just because! It drives me insane!
10. Buses - I would like to take a moment to appreciate how efficient the German bus system is. None of this British style waiting around, hoping vaguely that a bus will come sometime soon. Here, they have proper timetables which the buses actually stick to! It is rather amusing to witness the tutting, foot tapping and eye-rolling that goes on if a bus is even a minute or two late here!
Next comes the language. Without blowing my own trumpet, it is safe to say that my German speaking skills have massively improved during my time here. Not only do I now find it easier to understand and respond to people, I have even managed to pick up and incorporate some stylistic things into my speech (as mentioned before in a previous post.) I am now able to have conversations that I definitely wouldn't have been able to have this time last year and although I would not yet consider myself fluent, I would say that my fluency has increased in leaps and bounds. I think that living with German housemates has helped a massive deal and if there is anyone reading this who is about to embark on a year abroad, I would strongly recommend living with others who are native speakers of your chosen language. I have been so lucky to have had Steffi to live with, as she has always been very patient and hasn't laughed too much when I've made funny mistakes!
I have also learned during my time here that a great deal of experimentation goes with language learning, which is something that you cannot really do in a classroom setting. I've often been in the situation where I've heard a phrase or an expression that I've never heard before, understood it in the context and then made a sort of bet with myself to try and slip it into conversation. Sometimes it works and the phrase fits exactly with what I'm trying to say and other times I just get blank looks, but even if I've got it wrong (and I have many times), I've really enjoyed this element of experimentation in my language learning.
German TV and films have also played a big part in my learning this year. Even just having it on in the background while I'm doing something else somehow helps my brain to tune into German. I'm not saying that I haven't watched any English TV (in fact, I have probably utilised Expat Shield way too much) and I often can't understand everything that is going on, but my ability to follow what is happening and to understand the context (e.g. comedy) has improved a lot.
At university last year, I did a module called "Language Acquisition". Although I understood the theory that language can be acquired unconsciously as oppose to consciously learnt, I never truly grasped that it could happen. Before I came here I was riddled with worries and questions such as "What if I come back and I haven't learned anything?", "What if my level of language doesn't improve as much as it should?" and "How will I even learn anything at all without poring over vocabulary books the whole time?", but now I get it. When you are completely immersed in a country's language, culture and customs, these things just start to become more natural to you and I truly believe that, although you can comprehend the theory behind it, it is something that you cannot fully understand until you have experienced it.
I apologise for sounding a little arrogant and pretentious during that last part, as my language skills are far, far, far from perfect... It's just that I am amazed how much you can actually pick up in under a year! So in an attempt to make this already mammoth post a little more light-hearted, here is a list of some of my favourite words and phrases that I have learned! (Excluding those already mentioned in previous posts!)
1. "Doppelt gemoppelt" - Describing the use of a double negative.
2. "Vom anderen Ufer" - The German equivalent of saying that somebody bats for the other team. The literal translation meaning that the person in question is from the other bank of the river.
3. "Töte Hose" - Used if something is really, really boring. Literal translation: Dead trousers.
4. "Ende gelände" - When something has reached it's end. Literal translation: End of the country.
5. "Jedem das Seine" - Each to their own.
6. "Schnurren" - To purr. (I just like the sound of this word! Onomatopoeic!)
7. "Der Kater" - Hangover. Literal translation: Tom cat.
8. "Die Heulsuse" - Cry baby.
9. "In den sauren Apfel beißen" - Bite the bullet. Literal translation: To bite into the sour apple.
10. "In ein Fettnäpfchen treten" - To put one's foot in it. Literal translation: To step into a greasy bowl.
11. "Backpfeifengesicht" - A face that needs to be punched. Translates literally as "knuckle sandwich face".
12. "Kummerspeck" - Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literal translation: Grief bacon.
I hope you enjoyed some of those as much as I did! I actually acquired the last two from a great article on foreign words that should be adopted into the English language, which you can find here.
Anyway, that's all for now folks! If I have time, I may write a blog post about my recent trip to Amsterdam and my impending trip to Ireland, but if not, you will have to be satisfied with my Facebook pictures!
Until next time,
Bel xxx
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