Catherine Conner
Crossing Cultures
World Cup Fever in Germany Reaches New Lows
Jul 8th
Okay, so I saw this World Cup themed toilet paper in the stores two days ago, before Germany’s 1-0 loss to Spain last night. But since then my curiosity about this product has started to get the better of me, and after our team’s performance last night, bottom-wiping seemed an appropriate World Cup theme. So by popular demand, I here document my experience with my freshly purchased World Cup Toilet Paper (“Soccer-field Scented!”).
"World Cup Edition 3-Layer Toiletpaper with Colorful Soccer Motifs. With Soccer-Field Scent!"
Germans and Colors
May 26th
This post via BoingBoing has everything I could want in one article — a discussion of linguistic and cultural differences between German and English, a sprinkling of medieval history, and beer:
Political Ash Wednesday
Feb 18th
All over the world, Ash Wednesday is a day of Christian self-reflection and repentance. Except in Germany, where it doubles as a political festival. With beer, of course. More >
The Bi-Lingual Brain Advantage
Jan 22nd
Maybe I’m just glad to justify all my efforts to learn another language. Or maybe I’m glad to have scientific backing for my own observations I’ve written about in the Adventures in German series. Either way, this article totally confirms my own experience.
The findings suggest that after learning a second language, people never look at words the same way again.
“The Neural Advantage of Speaking 2 Languages” (Scientific American)
Biggest Lies of 2009
Jan 1st
This article is a nice reality check on all the guff being talked this year on both sides of the partisan divide. Presented by the Annenberg Public Policy Center – a non-partisan fact-checking organization whose site I wholeheartedly recommend. From birther nonsense, to false health care claims, to misleading swine flu data, FactCheck.org tries to get closer to the truth than any politician can offer.
Adventures in German: Have a Good Slide!
Dec 31st
Another holiday-related cultural oddity I’m experiencing this week…here in Hamburg everyone I meet, from good friends to shop clerks, is wishing me “Guten Rutsch”. It seems a bit cruel, because literally translated, this means “good slide”. Are they hoping that I will fall over comically for their amusement (among all the ice and snow this year you see many signs saying “Rutschgefahr”, or “danger of slipping”)? No, they are hoping that I have a “good slide into the New Year”.
Of course Germans don’t hear this literally, as I as a non-native speaker do. To them it means simply “Happy New Year”. But why “slide” instead of just wishing people a Happy New Year? It’s an example of the German superstition that it is bad luck to wish someone well for an event that has not yet happened. For example, Germans do not wish someone happy birthday before midnight of the actual date of birth. In fact, many people usher in their birthday with champagne at exactly midnight on the day. Wishing someone a “good slide into the New Year” is a way to wish them well for the new year before midnight on New Years’ Eve, without jinxing them. Once that moment in time is passed, it is then appropriate to wish everyone Happy New Year. Which I will hear from friends and shopkeepers starting tomorrow.
Thanks to my husband for the cultural edification, and I wish everyone a Good Slide!
Was Hael: Happy (Medieval) Christmas
Dec 25th
A wonderful article by a medievalist I’ve been following for years now, explaining the delights of a medieval Christmas. Some traditions might look familiar (evergreens, gifts, mistletoe), others not so much (frumenty, Twelfth Night, liturgical dramas). Most fascinating to me is how the various Viking, Druid, and Celt pagan traditions are combined with the Christian to become our modern holiday.
Christmas in Germany: Of Sacrificial Santas and Festive Meats
Dec 21st
I love Christmastime in Germany. Yes, it’s a hard time of year to be so far away from family and friends in the US, but as if to make up for it, Germany provides a Christmas experience so intense that there is a whole tourist industry in Europe built on enjoying it. That being said, there are a few seasonal traditions here that every year remind me I’m not in Kansas anymore. More >
Adventures in German Part 2: The Beauty of Expression
Nov 12th
“Boy, those Germans have a word for everything!” — Homer Simpson
I am continually astounded by the beauty of my second language. I do not mean the sounds made by the voice when speaking it, which often sound like gravel being crushed by angry chainsaws (and sometimes feel like it too!). I mean the elegance, poetry, and sometimes incredible efficiency of expression in the German language.
German words are often complete pictures in and of themselves. They can be poetically descriptive and at the same time observationally efficient. More >
Beer-Proof Lederhosen
Sep 19th
In honor of today’s Oktoberfest start (which of course has nothing to do with us in Northern Germany, but since everyone outside Germany assumes it’s a German-wide phenomenon, I’ll play along with the stereotype):
Oktoberfest is a great tourist mecca, but who wants to shell out big bucks for traditional Tracht that will be worn once a year somewhere that they will be subject to the rigors of organized drunkenness?
One Austrian has the answer: swimming trunks designed to look like traditional Lederhosen.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,649490,00.html
I can hear the Bavarians crying into their beer. Oh, and don’t miss the accompanying Dirndl Bikini.
