EuroLife: Day 43

Have no fear! We have received several concerned inquiries since Michael's last post. (Most pressing, of course, was that of our Great Gibbons Matriarch, also know as "Dolly.") We will press on; we must press on! Also, we really want to press on. It's just that we sometimes worry that we are running out of things to say. I have begun to realize that the problem is not so much that there aren't interesting things to say, but rather that we never remember to bring the camera when we're out and about. Every story is a bit better with pictures. I will work on that. In any case, some posts might be less interesting than others, but we are not going to quit our little blogging adventure.

Speaking of fascinating posts, today I bring you laundry detergent. I for one am amused by our laundry detergent, and it is for that reason that Meister Proper is featured here for your enjoyment. Yes that's right, Meister Proper. You might recognize him; he looks a lot like Mr. Clean. What would happen, I wonder, if Mr. Proper were to replace Mr. Clean on American shelves?

As I write this, Michael is watching television. A few days ago, after a 2 week wait, our local cable was connected. We now have about 12 German channels, one of which is Comedy Central, and one English language channel. It's usually CNN, but on Sundays we get the Daily Show. Presently, Michael is watching a special on Trabbys. He just can't get enough of those Trabbys.

Now for two more of my German culinary favorites. I have already spoken with some of you about the about the wonders of German yogurt, but it really merits mention in the blog. It is delicious, creamy goodness, and only loosely resembles what we call yogurt back home. I have to confess, I've been averaging about 3 cups of yogurt a day for the past week or so. It's getting out of hand. Part of the problem stems from my new favorite store. It purports to be a discount Apotheke, but it's much more than a drug store. It sells all sorts of wonderful and affordable bath products, food, bird seed, and nearly everything that you might need short of real groceries. It also sells Wheat Germ. If you have never had yogurt with wheat germ, I recommend you get out there and try it. (I realize that very few things sound less appetizing than something with both "wheat" and "germ" in the title, but it's really good.) When I saw it in Rossman's, I suddenly remembered having it with yogurt as a kid. (Thanks mom!) So, here is my new favorite snack: plain yogurt with honey and wheat germ. It is amazing. I also had an absolutely perfect lemon yogurt yesterday. So, when you all come and visit, we can feast on yogurt.

I suppose I should admit that I am only mostly sure that it's wheat germ that I'm putting on my yogurt. It is, after all, written in German and I haven't gotten around to looking it up.

Lest you all worry that I've moved on from gelato, I had a delicious scoop of coconut ice cream this afternoon. It had been a few weeks, I'm not sure how that happened, but it was delicious. Michael could not be persuaded to join me; something about the piercing wind and the cold.

Now for the second culinary favorite: Pepper. Not peppers, but pepper. Though I was slow to come around to cracked black pepper, I have come to love it over the past 2 or 3 years. When we first arrived in Jena, we looked for peppercorns, but could only find tri-colored pepper. We tried it, and we are hooked. I don't know what it is about it that is so delicious, but I think that even those of you who don't like black pepper would like this. It's milder, but somehow more flavorful. We have been experimenting with quantities and, so far, it seems that it is impossible to put too much pepper on anything. If you can find this at home, grab it!

I suppose that's it for today. As I said, I will try to bring the camera around a bit more. In particular, I'd like to do a post on German playgrounds. German safety standards for playgrounds seem to be a great deal looser than those in the States. As a result, the playgrounds look incredibly fun...if risky :)

EuroLife: Day 42

A Somewhat Scattered and Belated Entry Featuring
a Confession and a Picture of Our Bathtub

Dolores and I sometimes ask ourselves whether we can continue to write this blog so regularly and with such enthusiasm. Do we have enough time? Do we have enough to say? Will our blog become a sitcom that doesn't know when to quit, that continues to run season after season as the audience dwindles, as the plot line becomes either routine or absurd? Is there a blog equivalent of "jumping the shark?" All these questions merit serious consideration.

With regards to such questions, today's blog presents a kind of milestone, though hardly a proud one. Day forty-two passed without document or record, and this, our blog entry for day forty-two, is actually being written on the morning of day forty-three. A very long day and a liter of fine German beer are to blame. I hadn't intended to order the beer. Someone else at the the table ordered one. I was captivated by the sight of it. I had forgotten how beautiful a litter stein of beer looks with a thick head on it. I hadn't seen such a sight in years. So I ordered one.

Yesterday was long and stressful, so perhaps I had earned the beer. At six thirty last night I found myself sitting at a table in front of about sixty German academics. There is no other way to describe the experience -- I simply found myself there. Some weeks before I had agreed to offer some critical comments one a few papers at what I then assumed would be a small discussion group. As the weeks passed, it became clear that I had agreed to present a paper, in German, at a full gathering of our research group.

With regards to most things work related, I see through a glass darkly. Until last Friday, I thought yesterday's colloquium was on Thursday rather than Tuesday. This revelation lead to a busy weekend of writing. Until Monday, the day before the colloquium, I didn't know where or at what time the colloquium was to be held. Apparently my name has still not been added to the SFB email list, so I'm not privy to such information.

So there I was last night, listening to a presentation about Goethe, waiting for my turn to stand at the podium and read my paper, a comparison of Kant's concept of the person with Goethe's concept of character. My paper was supposed to sum up, respond to, and/or synthesize the two papers that preceded it, a difficult task since I know very little about Goethe and am greatly perplexed by Kant's moral philosophy. In some ways I was glad to be doing this in German. I was hoping to hide my lack of knowledge behind my linguistic deficiencies. If I didn't have anything insightful to say -- in the question and answer period, for instance -- people might assume that I simply couldn't translate my otherwise brilliant insights into German.

At first I wasn't nervous about reading my paper, though I was somewhat nervous about the question and answer period. However, as I practiced reading my paper a few hours before the talk, I realized the difficulties this might present. When reading an academic paper, modulation of tone plays a huge role. Proper modulation helps to keep people awake; it helps them to understand complex sentences that would ideally require several readings; and it adds emphasis to certain words or phrases that are crucial. When I read a paper in English, most of this occurs subconsciously. In some sense, the proper modulation of tone is already presupposed by the way the sentences are constructed. You read them as you write them, adding a word here or there to change the emphasis or rhythm.

In German all of this proved more tricky than I thought. In order to properly and clearly pronounce many German sounds, I have to over-enunciate them. This results in sentences where each word receives equal stress. The effect can be remarkable plodding.

After all this build up, I should add that, as far as I can tell, the talk went well. I received numerous compliments, and I even managed to answer the question that was directed at me.

After the talk, a number of us went to a restaurant, where the High German quickly descended into dialect, where the conversation turned to obscure (at least for me) matters of European history and geography, and where the beer took its toll on the remnants of my concentration. My impressions of the proceedings at dinner, therefore, remain somewhat vague and pleasantly atmospheric.

Eurolife Day 41

I tell you, it is your lucky day. Today you get to learn all about the Mensa. Words cannot express the affection that I feel for the Mensa. I can only hope that, in the following pictures, you will see past the gray cafeteria trays to the beauty that is Mensa.

What is the Mensa, you ask? The University's cafeteria. There are actually several Mensas, including a mini one in the Library. We prefer the one that we affectionately call "Nerdy Mensa." I will get to that story in time, but first a picture. Here you see a typical Mensa offering: Meat, potatoes, sauerkraut. On the side you will find the optional, but so good as to be deemed necessary, chocolate and vanilla pudding.

Reason #1 why the Mensa is so fantastic: This meal costs us about 2 Euros. (1.50, plus .50 for the pudding. Often the meals come with either a salad or a desert.) Once Michael gets promoted to the full position, he will stop getting the student price and have to pay about 3.00/meal. Somehow I think we will survive.

Here, again, is a typical Mensa meal. Why? Because, let's be honest, this looks pretty gross. But here's the thing: it really is absolutely delicious. We have been eating lunch at the Mensa about 5 days a week for the past 3 or 4 weeks. Only once have a been unhappy with my lunch. They don't overcook the food, they seem to use fresh pasta, and the flavors are interesting
and, to repeat myself, delicious. That makes Reason #2.

Now for Reason #3. Not only do the lovely Mensa Mitarbeiters cook delicious hot meals for us every afternoon, they also do all of the dishes. The value of this service cannot be overstated.

Reason #4: When it's cold outside, it's cozy and warm in the Mensa. When the weather is nice, we eat at tables outside and look out at the hills. It's what they call a win-win situation. (Or, as they say at Dunder-Mifflin, a win-win-win situation.)

Reason #5: Variety. Every day, the Mensa offers 4 meals from which to choose. One is vegetarian, and those tend to be very good, and the other three are some instantiation of the meat & potatoes or meat & noodles trend. They also come with various salads or desserts which we would otherwise never get a chance to try. To your left you will see my favorite of the Mensa salads. It's cucumbers, yellow peppers, cabbage, corn, and various other vegetables in a vinegar dressing. Lovely.

And now for my favorite Mensa picture. In addition to the daily meal offerings, soup and bread is always an option. Usually, though not always, the soup comes with a wiener. You eat the soup with your spoon, and just pick the wiener up and take bites from it as you make your way through lunch. The first time I saw this I was rather amused.
(This is not just a Mensa phenomenon; soup with a wiener seems to be a staple here in Jena.)

And finally, Reason #6 in favor of the Mensa's delightfulness...it's on a street called Philosophenweg. That's right, "Philosopher's way." (And that's not even why we call it the Nerdy Mensa!) As it turns out, our apartment is one block away from Philosophenweg. How we have not yet gotten around to telling people at home about this is beyond me.

So why do we call it the Nerdy Mensa? Well, a few weeks ago a German friend asked me if I'd like to join her at the Mensa for lunch. Much to my surprise, we walked all the way to the center of the city and into a crowded, happening spot that only loosely resembled the Mensa I know and love. We had to sit in the middle of a long table between people that we did not know. My friend asked if I had been to the Mensa before. Yes, I said, but not this one...I had been to the one on Philosophenweg. "Oh," she scowled, "that's not so good...that's where the people who do Physics and stuff like that eat." I had been introduced to the Cool Kids Mensa.

So there you have it. Perhaps one day, if you visit, you too can enjoy the Mensa. I do think that, upon returning to the States in 3 years, I will have grown spoiled. There's something to be said for a hot meal in the afternoon without having to cook or clean. I'm a big fan.

Out of the Wilderness

40 days and 40 nights! It's hard to believe we've been here for that long. Here's a picture from a nice sunset, taken last Sunday in the hills.

Today was another glorious Sunday. It was sunny and beautiful on our walk to church, so warm that I almost didn't bring my leather jacket. It was, unfortunately, gray and cold on the walk home; I almost wished I had brought my wool coat. Jena weather is much like South Bend weather in this way, which is to say wildly--really just irrationally--unpredictable.

Our church moved from a single service to two morning services this week, one at 9:30 (as usual) and another at 11:30. We went to the 9:30 one, and as a result saw very few of the students that we usually see at church :) We did see several of our friends, though, and we met quite a few new people. I have to tell you this, given Michael's post yesterday about how terrible his German is: One of the men we spoke with this morning was visibly surprised to learn that Michael was American. He said that Michael's German was perfect. It has been said that Michael is a perfectionist. I'll leave it to you to decide for yourself.

I, on the other hand, announced to a woman (and indeed the entire room) that we were joining a House Battle this Friday. There I was, happily (though haltingly) chatting away in German, when the room got silent, and everyone burst out laughing. Right, I said. Not a House Battle, a House Circle. ("Haus Kreis", not a "Haus Krieg.") They really couldn't stop laughing for quite some time.

Still, this wonderful woman went on to invite us out to lunch with her and her daughter at a restaurant in town. (It's called EinStein's--a play on Einstein's name, which means literally A Stein.) Our friend Laura, who was talking to her daughter at the time, came as well. It was fantastic. We spent the whole time speaking German, which was difficult of course but very good for me. I'm sure I sound like a child, but at least I didn't make any more calls to battle.

What's more, our new friend (whose name I won't even try to spell) asked us about our Thanksgiving plans. We told her that we had no plans, so she got very excited. "I have an idea!" she said. "We love Thanksgiving! And I have an oven..." So she has an oven, but doesn't really know how to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I love to cook Thanksgiving dinner, but have no oven.
See the plan? We are all very excited. I will teach them how to cook a Turkey, and they will (and have already tried to) teach me to say "turkey" auf Deutsch. They even made sure that stuffing would be included. It should be a great way to celebrate without feeling homesick (or buying an oven.)

I'll end, as I sometimes do, on a totally unrelated note. I'm afraid we've made gluttons out of the birds. As Michael said this morning "It's amazing how quickly those birds went from thinking that the feeder was a trap to shamelessly wiling away the day eating." Sometimes, when they're being agreeable, there will be as many as four birds at a time on the feeder. They ate the entire contents--500 grams of sunflower seeds--in 2 days. Today, the tits were hanging on the bottom trying to pick the remnants through the floor of the feeder. Two days ago, Michael watched a flock of Greenfinches feast. Two were on the feeder, with 5 or 6 on the ground below. The ones on the feeder were either eating very sloppily, or deliberately throwing food down to the rest. Fortunately for everyone involved, we finally found some actual birdseed. We were going to go broke feeding these birds shelled sunflower seeds!

EuroLife: Day 39

Dolores and I took this picture of ourselves before the plane took off. It captures our last moments on American soil. Little did we know the adventures that awaited us. Though I, at least, should have known, since I've lived in Germany before.

I spent today in the library writing a brief paper on Kant and Goethe. On Tuesday I, along with two of my colleagues, will present papers to the forty or fifty scholars that comprise the SFB. I never realized how bad by German had become, until I tried to write this paper. In honor of my bad German, and to elicit your sympathies, I will devote today's post to presenting ten reasons German is hard.

• Reason Number One: The Germans have seven different words for "you." For starters, the German word for you depends upon the formality or familiarity of the relationship. If I say, "What do think?" to my friend, I use one word for you, but if I say it to my colleague, I use a different word. Next, there is the difference between you singular and you plural, the difference between you and y'all or you guys, yous, yous guys, yins, and sometimes even yins all. Finally, there is the difference between you nominative, accusative, and dative. This is something like the distinction in English between I (first person singular nominative) and me (first person singular accusative and dative). Each of these differences yields a different grammatical possibility, which means theoretically, the German language could have 2x2x3 = 12 different possible words for you. Because some words for you have multiple meanings -- like "sie" which means (a) you formal singular nominative, (b) you formal singular accusative, (c) you formal plural nominative, and (d) you formal plural accusative -- there are only seven words for you. Amazingly, small children still manage to learn this language.
• Reason Number Two: German has six different definite articles (i.e. words for "the"), depending on the case and gender of the word that follows the definite article
• Reason Number Three: It is very difficult to determine when to use the formal and when to use the informal version of you. The proper form of address varies from situation to situation and from person to person. Sometimes it seems to vary with the same person in different situations. Even if I use the informal address with one of my colleagues in private conversation, in a work meeting it would be more appropriate, I think, to use the formal address.
• Reason Number Four: This next one applies to any foreign language. Consider the difference between the words string, yarn, thread, twine, and rope. It takes a fair amount of experience with long pieces of cloth to learn the difference between these English words. This shows just how many different words there are in a language.
• Reason Number Five: In German, the verbs often come at the end of the sentence. This means you have to know what you are going to say before you say it, and you still have to remember what you said when you get to the end of the sentence. Often even German speakers have an awkward pause at the end of their sentences as they try to remember the number and person of the subject. So, suppose I wanted to say, "If you don't want to do anything with me tonight, maybe I will just go out with somebody else," I would have to say -- in English but using German word order -- "If you anything with me not want to do do, will I maybe out with somebody else instead go." Think of the way that Yoda speaks. He speaks English with German word order.
• Reason Number Six: Bavarian dialect.
• Reason Number Seven: Thuringian dialect.
• Reason Number Eight: Swiss dialect.
• Reason Number Nine: The word for "speed limit" is "Geschwindigkeit Begrenzung." This word is too long to fit on signs, so there isn't a speed limit on the Autobahn.
• Reason Number Ten: Many verbs have separable prefixes that come at the end of the sentence. So with the basic word, "go" for instance, you can form different verbs by adding "in," "out," "a" and "up." Usually, the resultant meanings make sense. So "ingo" means to go in, and "outgo" means to go out. However, "ago" means to perish, and among other things, "upgo" means to burst. Things become complicated when the prefixes go to the end. Suppose, for instance, I say: "I will go with my friend..." At this point, you don't know what I'm going to say. Are we going to go in? Are we going to die? Or just burst? So you never know what what people are going to say until the end of the sentence.