Germany - Guten Tag

Yea that's where I'm from and there's a lot I do (dis/)like over this country...

I start this thread here because it"s not about a special event or to meet others... it's basically to provide a picture on where I'm coming from, to hail or to criticize my heritage...

Others are invited to contribute, to post criticism or anything they regard as appropriate... daftness welcomed

I'd like to start with the following 2 vids... to give you an impression on German authorities (in this case cops). The event took place in Munich (which is one of the major cities in Germany)...




Actually the cops behave the same way if they would not face a camera it's quite sweet in comparison... sooo innocent

Hey do/did you ever listen to Blumchen? I used to listen to Miss Wagner constantly back in the 90s!

HEUTE IST MEIN TAG!
HEUTE IST MAIN TAG!

PG!!!!

Explicit lyrics!!!!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7396749560736465617#



Benjamin Blumchen? :bounce2: ME? *coughs* never...

how do you feel about Reagan?

Unlawful search without a warrant called a "random control", I obey the law and that is just wrong. I'd never want to live anywhere that can be done for no good reason. I'm not hailing or criticizing but I would like to know what is good about that aspect of your system?

Never heard of him. I was talking about the very pop sounding techno/dance performer Jasmin Wagner aka Blumchen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMm7gqowAO4

Watching this video has me thinking two things: 1. Haha look at what theyre wearing, its so 90's! 2. What the part of Germany has sandy beaches and palm trees???

more importantly, since when do we have cops from the US in Germany?

most likely this vid's been shot in Miami... soooooooooo - I don't know about the latest in fashion there

You know...I've only ever been constipated twice in my life and both those times were on separate trips to Germany. I'm thinking there's something weird going on with the food in that country and I can't help but equate that constipation with the troubles and hassles I've had with German bureaucracy in the past.

German is also the most fun European accent to parody and also the most fun language to make up words in.

I do love Germany though, I'd say it's my favourite country in all Europe out of the 13 I've been through. One summer, I rode a bicycle the entire length of Germany, twice, free camping all the way and never once ran into any sort of problem. In fact the Germans were welcoming to this lone Canadian on a bicycle who was knocking at their doors asking if it was OK to camp in the clearing down at the end of the road.

More often than not, I was offered a backyard to camp in and often this free impromptu accommodation came with free breakfast to boot. Even a few hotels let me camp on their grounds with the instructions to "come to the back door" in the morning for breakfast.

On another trip ( I got smart on that one, I brought a motorcycle instead of a bicycle ) I noticed that no matter where I was in Europe, if I was sitting at the side of the road looking at a map, German motorcyclists would stop, turn around and come back to ask me if I needed any help. I'm sure this had a lot to do with my freaky Canadian licence plate on the back of the bike but I did find it curious that it was mostly the Germans who did this.

More often than not I'd end up riding with the Germans, because they usually had a plan and knew where they were going and why. Unlike me, who was simply going, errr, west.

I found that Germans were more likely to describe themselves as 'European" or cite what city they came from rather than describe themselves as German. Embarrassed about "the past" methinks. It was something I never brought up.

All in all, I'd say i love the place and the people. I wouldn't want to immigrate there but I'd definitely go there for a holiday again.

I know when I went to Germany. I absolutely loved it there. I loved the people, their lifestyle, how everything was run, it just seemed plain better to me. I know later in my life I want to immigrate there. I even like the mineralwater unlike everyone else that went there I just wish I would've spoke more German, they all wanted to speak English to me, either to be nice or to practice it themselves. I also love how they're all strait-forward with everything. If someone cooks something they don't like, they'll just be, "I don't like it," and there is no offense unlike here where whoever cooked it will got on a rant about how they cooked it and you will like it or you just don't eat you ungrateful little bastard. The food was amazing, best food I've ever had, and oh my lord I would give my left nut to be able to have their ice cream. It was heaven on a cone and super cheap. I was in love with their public transit and being able to ride a bike everywhere without being yelled at by everyone for being a " pedestrian." And how everyone is so green, take their bike to go shopping and everything. And everyone uses the basket on the back of their bike, that took some getting used to, because I've only seen that once over here and you can't do that here without being tagged as "homo." They have the style of life I have always wanted. I actually didn't want to leave. I felt so at home there I had no homesickness, I didn't even miss my own family, which was odd, but good. There is also a bunch of things that for some reason I can't really explain, but those things just gave Germany that feeling of being where I belong. I plan on studying abroad in college and should give me a much better picture of what it's like to live there. I know I absolutely loved the school system, they called ours -boring and I don't blame them. Well, can't wait to go abroad and get a better picture of living there. Everyone I know that has has loved it beyond belief. And I swear if I can't move there, I'll just move to Frankenmuth, the closest you can get to Germany here, they speak German there, many things there are in German, everything's run comparable to how they do in Germany. It's hard to explain, you just have to go there. It's I think like am hour and a half from here. It's like you took a town from Germany and stuck it in Michigan, minus the hilly terrain and clean air. No such thing as clean air in southeast Michigan.

Thanks guys that actually made me laugh and sentimental at the same time.

Stout: reason for Germans referring to themselves as "Europeans" or "from Munich" is that patriotism has been beaten out of us for the last 50 years or so. We only identify with our country at times of ... competition. Like now, when we're going after the Soccer World Championship I feel its a good thing.

Germans can be incredibly boring and "to the letters of the book"... but what I've noticed is that in reality they are just one klick away from smiling and being open for a friendly conversation.

Yea - Germans have a plan for almost everything... almost a timetable for the loo.

We got the helpers syndrome and we usually love anyone and -thing coming from America or Canada... huge parts of our history is connected to England and America... even in language. And we got the feeling that the Anglos don't hate us as much as the Italians and French... (the Spanish are too far away)

Icecream originated in Italy... they "hate" us but love to come and tempt us for their pizza and icecream, so you might even find better icecream or pizza in Germany than Italy.

Cause we're infamous for "improvement" - it's to the extent of "sick" ... like when German tourists go abroad and try to fix cultures that existed just fine since the dawn of mankind.

SoD: Clean air and water is an achievement of 30 years of alternative and environmental policies implemented. I'm not sure but Germany has been one of the first countries in Europe that had the Green party participate in the government. This agenda carries itself even today in times of economical turmoil.

We are soda addicts... but the tapwater in my hometown Munich is SO clean that we take it from there, add CO2 and njamm: tastes excellent and ain't no hazard.

But - as we constantly get taken for the fools - Germans are extremely sensitive to "fairness" and might overreact when getting treated (what we consider) "unfair"...

Your American school system is way faster... we're trying to compress it now, as to generate students entering university at age 16... errm 18. It's been 12 years of school so far, but most people got an extra year or more... like me. Usually school starts from 8am and finishes 1pm.. this way actually children DO have something resembling a "childhood" (unlike systems continuing til 4pm)...

What I do like the most at this point is that the Neo-Nazi parties are facing termination today as they do not have enough members any more and thus don't receive more funding and votes. Unfortunately racist violence is still present... and youth violence is rising. But compared to other western countries it is safe...

I'm happy Germany left you with a good impression... Guess I had to leave it as to learn to appreciate it.

Yeah, they left an amazing impression. I miss those guys. I made a lot of friends there. And where I stayed their water was awesome tasting and we took it from the tap. And they had thin penguin shaped thins that carbonated water. It was like the best tasting mineral water I've ever had 0_o I only know of one other place with water that good and that's my grandparents house, wait two! My aunt and uncle's cottage, their water is like sweet tasting. It's so hard to explain but it comes straight out of the ground as an artisan well and is ice-cold.

ALso I still even remember what the carbonaters are called in german. I son't have any keys for umlauted letters so I'll just add an -e after the letter. Es heisst Spruedler und machen sehr gut schmecken mineralwasser. And I believe that is correct german, correct my if I'm wrong lol, it's been a while.

Sprudler.. (dodge the "e")... perfect stuff - I love them

NOW... get yer dictionaries working guys!

EJC is in the HOOOOUUUUSE!!!! *cough* coming to my hometown that is!...

In fact, Germany is SOO COOL that AGAIN (only after EJC 2008 in Karlsruhe) the EJC is being held in Germany ... and even in "my" city... wow.

That's SOO cool, I can hardly sit still

Ah no umlaut in Sprudler, will take not of that

She's doing the Mr. Burns thing.

Excellent...

Hey I have a grammar question. Is proper use of the word sehnsucht meant to describe a yearning for a certain place or time, or can it also mean the longing one could feel towards another person?

Oh I always just assumed it meant all types of longing, but now that you mention it they do have different words for all those types of things Judging from the words of the song Sehnsucht I think it can mean both, but I'll go ahead and let a german decide

What happened?

19 killed in German festival

my smiles over the Merkel parody quickly faded into a frown over the Loveparade deaths...

What happened? Miscommunication amongst the organizers and staff, bad planning of "worst case scenario"... extremely sad and basically the reason why I will continue to avoid massive raves in the future...