In case anyone's still interested, there are finally pictures posted from Karnival in Cologne a month ago -- and from our Halloween party, four months ago! Sorry I'm kinda bad about updating this stuff; but they're fun albums, and I figured better late than never. :) Halloween in particular was great, since for a lot of our guests, it was the first time they'd ever really observed the holiday, and we went all out. Mom had sent a big, heavy Mystery Box that turned out to include everything we'd need for a good old-fashioned American Halloween party: shiny foil decorations, recipes, pumpkin-carving kits, even funny little cartoonish invitations to fill out and mail to our friends. We used it all, every last kitschy bit -- and it was a smash!
I'm already planning a 4th of July barbecue. Heh heh, I'll impose my imperialist American traditions, yet!
Friday, March 07, 2008
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Du you Sie what I Sie?
As many of our Gentle Readers are aware, German has both a formal and an informal way of saying "you".
"Du" is the familiar, informal address, usually reserved for kids, friends, and family, though sometimes also the occasional stranger who you're relatively sure wouldn't be offended by the insinuation that they're in your peer group. But since the latter case is kinda fuzzy, you're often better off just addressing most strangers by the formal "Sie" (which even insists on being capitalized). This is the respectful form, and what you use with older people, colleagues, strangers, the shopkeeper -- basically anyone outside your intimate circle.
As a barbaric American who doesn't know the meaning of respect, I am fascinated by the use of formal vs. informal addresses. I like to see which one advertisements pick: are they trying to be your buddy, and thus dutz you? Or are they trying to sound professional and respectful, and so the placard addresses you as Sie? The rules are often pretty predictable in social interactions -- for example, you always call an older person "Sie" until they invite you to do otherwise -- but sometimes I struggle to remember who has offered me the use of du and who I still call Sie. A pretty good rule of thumb is the First-Name Basis: since using "Herr" and "Frau" in Germany is considerably more standard than is the use of "Mr." and "Ms." in the States, you can usually assume that someone's introduction of themselves by first name equals an implicit invitation to dutz them. Yet it's still only implicit, and there are certainly cases where first names still Sietz each other (many work colleagues, for example).
Most of the time, native speakers navigate this sea of dus and Sies and ihrs and Ihnens and euchs with ease, and it's only us non-natives who get clammy hands when we want to summon a pronoun and suddenly realize we've got to think about it. So it is sometimes with secret, relieved Schadenfreude that I hear native speakers occasionally getting tripped up themselves.
For example, most of my own learners and I dutz each other. I'm not exactly sure how this came about; perhaps as a result of both establishing a first-name basis in the classroom, as well as an outgrowth of the fact that our main classroom language, English, only has one form of address. Or maybe it's the relaxed, informal atmosphere; or because many of them are older than me; or that I'm not a regular part of the workplace and could therefore subconsciously fall outside the category of "coworker"; or maybe at some point I, the foreigner, unconsciously started it and they all just followed suit. (Did I mention this can get complicated...??) Whatever the reason, we're mostly "du".
So the other day, when Bert showed up to pick me up for lunch, he met a group of my learners as we poured out of the meeting room, laughing, and I went to introduce them. Taking the safe route, I introduced them as "Herr This," "Herr That," and "Herr Lissner."
What followed was an amusing flurry of awkward dus and Sies, liberally peppered with first names followed by "Herr"s. After all, Bert was an unknown coworker; but he was also being introduced as my boyfriend. Was this a work context or a personal context?? I rubbed my hands gleefully.
And yet, I'll admit that, most of the time -- despite the odd complication here and there -- I quite enjoy the Sie and du system. I like the option of showing someone respect (or distance!) in how you address them.
This is not to say that there aren't moments when it can turn nearly surreal. For example, one place where you definitely use Sie is in the doctor's office. I have a wonderful doctor: an older, eastern-European gentleman with solemn brown eyes that remind me of a kindly hound. I've never had a male obgyn before; but this man just oozes competence and professional sympathy. During my last visit, though, I was suddenly struck by a sense of absurdity at making Sie-oriented small talk with someone who is busily engaged in being decidedly more familiar with you than any friend you call "du"! And yet something about it was simultaneously pleasant: the simple use of the formal, businesslike address with each other could make an entire situation formal and businesslike, effectively enabling you to remain clothed in dignity while not clothed in anything else!
I wonder if English once had both a formal and an informal address?
(ps. A random side note about the title. You know that Christmas song, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Great song. But remember the part where the shepherd boy says to the Mighty King,
Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
A child, a child shivers in the cold,
Let us bring him silver and gold.
These lines always puzzled me. First of all, to a kid, the shepherd boy's attitude sounds more than a little taunting: "Do you know what I know? Huh? Do you? I bet you don't!" I always thought talking this way to a Mesopotamian king seemed a good shortcut to a beheading. Secondly, silver and gold?? He's shivering in the cold! What this child needs are some blankets!)
"Du" is the familiar, informal address, usually reserved for kids, friends, and family, though sometimes also the occasional stranger who you're relatively sure wouldn't be offended by the insinuation that they're in your peer group. But since the latter case is kinda fuzzy, you're often better off just addressing most strangers by the formal "Sie" (which even insists on being capitalized). This is the respectful form, and what you use with older people, colleagues, strangers, the shopkeeper -- basically anyone outside your intimate circle.
As a barbaric American who doesn't know the meaning of respect, I am fascinated by the use of formal vs. informal addresses. I like to see which one advertisements pick: are they trying to be your buddy, and thus dutz you? Or are they trying to sound professional and respectful, and so the placard addresses you as Sie? The rules are often pretty predictable in social interactions -- for example, you always call an older person "Sie" until they invite you to do otherwise -- but sometimes I struggle to remember who has offered me the use of du and who I still call Sie. A pretty good rule of thumb is the First-Name Basis: since using "Herr" and "Frau" in Germany is considerably more standard than is the use of "Mr." and "Ms." in the States, you can usually assume that someone's introduction of themselves by first name equals an implicit invitation to dutz them. Yet it's still only implicit, and there are certainly cases where first names still Sietz each other (many work colleagues, for example).
Most of the time, native speakers navigate this sea of dus and Sies and ihrs and Ihnens and euchs with ease, and it's only us non-natives who get clammy hands when we want to summon a pronoun and suddenly realize we've got to think about it. So it is sometimes with secret, relieved Schadenfreude that I hear native speakers occasionally getting tripped up themselves.
For example, most of my own learners and I dutz each other. I'm not exactly sure how this came about; perhaps as a result of both establishing a first-name basis in the classroom, as well as an outgrowth of the fact that our main classroom language, English, only has one form of address. Or maybe it's the relaxed, informal atmosphere; or because many of them are older than me; or that I'm not a regular part of the workplace and could therefore subconsciously fall outside the category of "coworker"; or maybe at some point I, the foreigner, unconsciously started it and they all just followed suit. (Did I mention this can get complicated...??) Whatever the reason, we're mostly "du".
So the other day, when Bert showed up to pick me up for lunch, he met a group of my learners as we poured out of the meeting room, laughing, and I went to introduce them. Taking the safe route, I introduced them as "Herr This," "Herr That," and "Herr Lissner."
What followed was an amusing flurry of awkward dus and Sies, liberally peppered with first names followed by "Herr"s. After all, Bert was an unknown coworker; but he was also being introduced as my boyfriend. Was this a work context or a personal context?? I rubbed my hands gleefully.
And yet, I'll admit that, most of the time -- despite the odd complication here and there -- I quite enjoy the Sie and du system. I like the option of showing someone respect (or distance!) in how you address them.
This is not to say that there aren't moments when it can turn nearly surreal. For example, one place where you definitely use Sie is in the doctor's office. I have a wonderful doctor: an older, eastern-European gentleman with solemn brown eyes that remind me of a kindly hound. I've never had a male obgyn before; but this man just oozes competence and professional sympathy. During my last visit, though, I was suddenly struck by a sense of absurdity at making Sie-oriented small talk with someone who is busily engaged in being decidedly more familiar with you than any friend you call "du"! And yet something about it was simultaneously pleasant: the simple use of the formal, businesslike address with each other could make an entire situation formal and businesslike, effectively enabling you to remain clothed in dignity while not clothed in anything else!
I wonder if English once had both a formal and an informal address?
(ps. A random side note about the title. You know that Christmas song, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Great song. But remember the part where the shepherd boy says to the Mighty King,
Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
A child, a child shivers in the cold,
Let us bring him silver and gold.
These lines always puzzled me. First of all, to a kid, the shepherd boy's attitude sounds more than a little taunting: "Do you know what I know? Huh? Do you? I bet you don't!" I always thought talking this way to a Mesopotamian king seemed a good shortcut to a beheading. Secondly, silver and gold?? He's shivering in the cold! What this child needs are some blankets!)
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Lustige Lektüre
A weekly stop by The Onion ("America's Finest News Source") is always worth it. Check out the two latest "opinion" columns -- even the accompanying photos of the supposed writers are priceless!
Strange... It's Almost as If This Were Some Sort of 'China Town'
You Know What's Stupid? Everything I Don't Understand.
Strange... It's Almost as If This Were Some Sort of 'China Town'
You Know What's Stupid? Everything I Don't Understand.
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