Word of the week: sau

The linguist inside me is a bit perturbed by the classification of this topic as a word when technically it’s an expressive intensifier, which functions similarly to an adjective but to emphasize speaker emotion. But whatever, just something I’ve noticed in my ongoing education in the German language…and by education I don’t mean reading grammar books, I mean based on what I take in from radio, television and other native speakers.

 

I’ve mentioned before some of the linguistic tells of my Californian roots, for example, frequent use of the word, “totally.” This is also an expressive intensifier. Let me give you some examples, it’s very multi-functional.

Yesterday you missed a totally cool party.
In this case the speaker is emotional about how cool the party was.

Yesterday you totally missed a cool party.
In this case the speaker is emotional about the person having missed the party.

Other examples in English include: terribly, really, extremely…the list goes on. But now I want to introduce you to totally’s German equivalent: sau

In addition to the more standard version of this intensifier sehr ‘very,’ sau- is more informal, which is to say, perhaps something you'd use with somene auf Du. The actual meaning of sau is sow, a female pig. Its function is similar to the English equivalent.

Gestern hast du eine sau coole Party verpasst.
Here the speaker is emphasizing how cool the party was.

If you wish to express emotion that the person missed this cool party, as in the second example with totally, one might make use of another intensifier voll ‘completely’

Gestern hast du voll die coole Party verpasst.

Sau can even be added to adjectives to emphasize speaker emotion about the degree of something. For example, if you go outside and see the temperature is -10º C, you might say it is “saukalt.” ‘very cold.’  When adding all the costs of getting a driver’s license, including all the theoretical lessons and behind the wheel training, one might describe it as “sauteuer.” ‘very expensive.’ You can even use sau to represent an individual, for example, to show sympathy with a touch of sarcasm, Du arme Sau 'You poor thing.' Or in some cases a lack thereof: Da interessiert sich keine Sau für ‘Not a single person is interested in that.’

I’m still learning the ins and outs of the German language, it’s sauschwer ‘really hard.’

This is still a thing?

Hello, my name is Valerie and I am a blogger of convenience. I know I have been rather absent as of late. Karneval came and went and somewhere in between it changed to spring. This semester I have class Monday-Friday and that has kind of intruded on free time to sit and muse. But May is a great month, at least here in NRW. There are several bank holidays peppered throughout the month, so it’s basically a smooth cruise into summer.

As a free-lance worker, you’ve got to lock up whatever work you want well in advance. That’s one thing I learned my first year here. Shortly after my arrival, after my 90 day tourist visa had expired but before I was given residency I was still on a temporary permit. During that time I went on quite a few interviews and trial lessons. I was really open to any and every opportunity. The old expression “beggars can’t be choosers,” became my mantra (inspiring stuff, I know). Allow me to paint a picture of some of my interviews: I sat before a potential employer, a foreigner, hoping to obtain a contract, even though I had no valid visa for the time of period stated on this hypothetical contract and could boast only a bit of work experience in the field. What’s German for long shot? 

I had one such interview in July of 2010. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it, but summer holidays here are kind of a big deal. Trying to get ahold of anyone between July and August just by email, let alone setting up an interview, is a bit of a tall order. We discussed my situation up until that point, what brought me here, what I was expecting and what I had done so far. I could tell a few minutes in that there was no offer to be had and I was more or less just explaining my situation to someone who was nice enough to pencil me in. Besides the fact that I had no visa, which to an employer here is kind of a deal-breaker, I was also relatively new in teaching at the time, and furthermore, I was asking for work three months before the semester was due to start, what I didn’t know at that time was that I was about two months too late.

With this in mind, a couple weeks ago I emailed this contact. As this semester winds up, and I slowly transition into the summer lull, now is the time to look for work the fall. Plus, in the last two years I’ve branched out considerably and taken on more technical courses, so what’s the harm in sending a CV and asking to be kept in mind for the coming semester? I was shocked to get a response the next day and had an interview the same week. This time it was a much more positive experience. I felt more at ease and had a lot more to talk about with respect to teaching. Short of the long, I’ve been offered position and will begin in October! 

Once again the topic of getting my German driver’s license has surfaced. Another fun fact I’ve recently learned is that if you (as a foreign resident in Germany) possess a driver’s license from your country (keep in mind that a license from California exempts me from neither the 30 question theoretical exam [of which I cannot miss more than 2 questions and some of the questions have more than one correct answer] nor the driving exam), you are permitted to take the two exams without having attended the requisite 14 ninety minute theoretical driving lessons. That is however, if you do so before three years after your entry into the country. Never mind that these lessons are kind of pricy (plus the additional behind the wheel training I’d require), they are also in German (obv.) I will admit, my language skills are passable, but I am not about to kid myself that I’d understand (let alone be able to commit to memory) everything contained within an hour and a half theoretical lesson…fourteen times. 

Also this is not the driver's training I had when I was 16, where I sat in a crowded poorly ventilated room (I only mention that as I took my training courses in the summer, and July in southern California is a really hot place), and for the life of me I can't remember anything other than the video called "Red Asphalt" we watched on our last lesson, whose name I feel is straight forward enough that I need not expand on its contents. Theoretical lessons revolve around specific road scenarios, parking rules, driving within and outside built-up areas (cities), towing rules for vehicles of all sizes (never mind the fact that you need a different permit to tow certain loads, as a normal car driver you are still expected to know these random numbers), car mechanics and handling, driving with care to the environment, as well as the plenary rules and consequences of sharing the road with cyclists, pedestrians, children, disabled and elderly people, farm vehicles, buses, trains and trams, and occasionally wild game. We're talking formulas, weights, distances and speeds a plenty, and don't even get me started on who has right of way when.

In lieu of suffering these lessons I’ve taken to the internet to study and force myself to power through at least 5 question sets a week (that’s 150 questions). My stats are still unimpressive, but I’m working on it. Once I think I'm ready, I'll find a school to take the test, also have to get first aid certified somewhere along the way as well. To close I thought I’d leave you with a few (of the MANY) questions I got wrong. 

How can you save fuel when driving a motor vehicle with an automatic transmission?
         By not using the “kick down” facility if possible
(Bonus point to anyone who can explain to me what the kick down facility is)

You are holding a driving permit class B. Your car has the following specifications:
-empty mass 900 kg
-permissible total mass 1400 kg
-permissible tow load 1000 kg
Which trailer are you allowed to tow?
         A trailer with a permissible total mass of 850 kg

When must a car with a trailer driving outside built-up areas on roads with only one lane for each direction keep a sufficient distance from the car in front so that an overtaking vehicle may pull in?
         When the combination of vehicles exceeds 7m

You are travelling at 100 km/h and have a reaction time of 1 second and brake normally. What is the stopping distance according to the rule of thumb?
         130 m
-fun fact: stopping distance= reaction distance + braking distance
Reaction distance= (speed in kmh/10) x 3   Braking distance=(speed in kmh/10)²
                                 100/10 x 3= 30 m                              10²=100  m

Where are you allowed to park a trailer with a permissible total mass exceeding 2 t in built-up areas regularly on Sundays and public holidays between 22h00 and 6h00?
         In industrial areas
         In wholly residential areas, on specifically designated parking spaces

What must you know about catalytic converters?
         A catalytic converter can be damaged or destroyed the car is towed to start
         A catalytic converter can be damaged when the engine starts after many
           unsuccessful attempts

What must be regularly serviced to prevent high fuel consumption and excessive pollutant emission?
         Engine air filter
         Ignition system
         Carburetor or fuel injection system

Suddenly it's winter

It came on so suddenly. Back in November I pulled out my snow boots and gave them a little polish to prepare for what I thought might be another frosty December. Low and behold, Christmas was quite mild, rainy, but around 10° or so. January was also quite ok. Clouds and rain, but still surprisingly easy.

Then there was a drop. From one day to the next it was below 0, and there was talk of snow. Then last weekend it came. The "Siberian Cold," has apparently blown its way across Europe, record low temperatures have been set in the last week. Since snow is still somewhat of a novelty to me (and I don't drive a car), I find it nice to look at. I must admit, those early morning trips with the train are less than stellar-being greeted with -14°C (6° F)  is not the ideal way to start your Monday morning.

I thought a gratuitous picture post was in order.

The negative temperatures are carrying on into the week. I'll be listening to my "beach" playlist and trying to think warm. Have a cozy week!

One person's pirate is another's patriot

It seems pirates have made headlines once again. Not just the SOPA and PIPA bills, but also the recent shutdown of a popular file sharing website. The Hong Kong based website, which was taken down and whose founder and three other employees were detained in New Zealand on Thursday, has servers in the US. An excerpt from the article,

"The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends free speech and digital rights online, said in a statement that, 'This kind of application of international criminal procedures to Internet policy issues sets a terrifying precedent. If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?' "

I then cruised around Pirate forums and websites and came across a press release from the Pirate Bay (TPB) published on the 18^th-the day of the “blackout,” I mentioned this website on the other Pirate post, they have connections to the Swedish Pirate Party and host a file sharing website, which I believe is not operational in the states. To paraphrase its opposition to the bills, it begins by submitting the creation of Hollywood as a sort of geographical/legal response to Edison’s patent on motion pictures vis-à-vis the Kinetoscope. In that time, it was very expensive to produce movies without the patent, but it was possible on the west coast  since there was no patent on the device, and so began the industry in a town called Hollywood, “circumventing immaterial rights,” and thereby making a tidy profit and over time this town has become what TPB calls a foothold into the world’s culture and media.

TPB goes on to describe the studios as charlatans peddling the hard work and collective creative sweat of others manifested in its products; be they on the big screen, printed on a T shirt or on your soda cup at [insert fast food chain here], who are afraid of the pirates for no other reason than competition. TPB calls their service a more efficient way of facilitating direct communication between users all over the globe, which is what the Motion Pictures Association of America refer to as, “criminal websites designed to steal.” TPB even touts their support of free speech and belief that power ought to lie in the hands of the masses, not the few elite, as kindred with America’s founding ideas. I mentioned that the Pirate Bay as having Swedish roots. Apparently, in Swedish, “sopa,” means “trash,” and “pipa,” means “pipe,” they then make an analogy of the internet as a one-way pipe where government stands at the top shoving trash through which comes out on the other end, where the consumers are.

The Chamber of Commerce is unlikely to see eye to eye with what they call, “rogue websites that are a threat to the US economy.” I’ll try not to delve too deeply into what I’ll call the “rogue rhetoric,” which has been used by other US politicians to incite feelings of fear from some intangible foreign conspirator (remember enemy combatants?) in order to push through legislation that upon closer inspection may also be interpreted as, “restricting free speech and degrading internet security.” (PPI) Though the legislation is meant to target a certain group of people, namely, “a stealthy menace seeking to rob [the US] for the ingenuity for which it is so well known.” (Chamber of Commerce) The Pirate Party International calls the action, “not compatible with democratic values,” and “promoting censorship,” which would, “erode the rights of every internet user around the world.” What the MPAA calls, “protecting the theft of American intellectual property,” the Pirate Party refers to as, “giving the US government and corporations the power to block access to-and take down-websites that they consider to be infringing on their copyright monopoly.”

I know it's an obvious statement, but I guess it boils down to perspective. That is to say, how you view the internet. Is it a tool for finding information, in all its forms, or is it a potential weapon, threatening the viability and jobs of artists? I suppose it depends on who is writing your press releases. Either way, as the blackout showed, these pirates carry as much clout and capability as their opponents. I guess we will just have to wait and see how it pans out, but suffice it to say, it will impact everyone no matter what.

Schon Ausgerutscht

So, Frohes Neues Jahr! That’s one thing I learned here last year, it’s ok to say “Happy new year,” even a few weeks after the 1^st. I think the unspoken rule is, if you haven’t seen that person yet then it’s still ok to greet them as if it were the 2^nd. I feel the statute of limitations on this greeting is until late January.

The holidays were great and I enjoyed a nice little homecation. I had a week and a half without classes and I took the time to not do work and relax. At the moment I am entertaining a fellow Californian. Since I've lived here I decided having someone from the states over is always a nice reason to take the train to Paris, since it's about two and a half hours away. 

It was my third time in Paris so I felt a little more comfortable than the second (since my first time I was with people who knew the ins and outs of the city). I feel like the hardest part for me is figuring out the metro network. Every trip (I mean trip within the city, moving from one point of interest to the next) becomes about coordinating stations and making connections, at least for someone like myself who is hopeless at reading maps and prone to losing my way if I have to walk more than a few minutes. Incidentally, I was there with my mom last year in April and was forced to figure out the metro to get us around. I did just fine with no blunders if my memory serves correct. We could see Sacré-Cœur from our hotel balcony so I thought, “well I could get us there.” Armed with a set of instructions from the hotel reception, which I obviously forgot upon exiting, and a crude tourist map I set off in the direction of the basilica. After taking a few side streets that probably (actually definitely not necessary) and a little wander later, we arrived after about twenty minutes or so. 

This time around, I actually found the metro stop for the Sacré-Cœur and had to walk only a few minutes. I remembered the hotel where I had stayed was also a short walk from the Moulin Rouge. So atop the hill I suggested to Jacquelynn that we try walking there rather than getting on the metro. I was a bit nervous I’d get us lost but actually we were only minutes away from the hotel, ha. 

The next day I decided The Louvre would be a good choice. It was a Monday so I thought that would mean it would be less busy. I found the key was getting there early, just after opening time, before all the tour groups get there. Before we entered the museum, we felt a few pictures of I M Pei’s pyramid were in order. There were some other tourists who were there as well, and they made one of those jumping pictures where you look airborn after jumping off something/springing in the air. I will be the first to admit I have a terrible center of gravity and am not by any stretch of the imagination nimble or otherwise aerobatic, but for some reason I thought I'd try it. I got a good amount of air, but actually more than I bargained for. I ended up landing on my heel with most of my body weight. It hurt pretty bad. Too bad it was not even 10 and I had an entire day of city walking planned. I continued to lead a mini tour de force through the city, hitting up Notre Dame and the tower before my inevitable surrender before we could get to the arc. I made it back to my friend's place for a nice home cooked meal and a bit of rest before the trip back.

(view from the hotel balcony in April)

 (Jump at own risk)

 Really not as exciting when compared to some of the other works, but here's a picture of it (Photo credit: Jax!)

The next day I shuffled to the train station, with Jacquelynn’s help carrying my bag, and made it back home. I went to the doctor today and the good news is that nothing’s broken, just a bruised ego and an uncomfortable foot for a few more days. I learned that I can do just fine checking in to a hospital (answering questions is no problem), but taking directions is still iffy. I had to have Röntgenaufnahme (X rays) and the technician was trying to tell me what to do because she didn't want to hurt my foot. I realized there are so many body parts and verbs for movement that I still just don’t know! It’s ironic that I didn’t heed one students departing words, “Guten Rutsch! Aber nicht so viel rutschen! Nicht ausrutschen!” Looks like I didn’t make it into 2012 as gracefully as possible.

Germans are funny part 2

In the hours leading up to the Christmas Eve festivities I caught some of the news for the day. A famous actor named Johannes Heesters died at the age of 108. The man’s career is impressive, spanning decades of theater, film and music. He was even appearing in films and plays earlier this year before his passing on Christmas Eve.

Later that evening at home I was introduced to a classic comedy movie from 1985 titled Otto der Film. I must admit that though my language skills are adequate, watching TV and especially movies is still a formidable task. I’ve found particularly with comedies that a lot of the humor lies in word play and regional expressions, which I still struggle to grasp in the moment (imagine those situations where you catch yourself laughing at a joke you’d heard half an hour ago). Most of the time, I manage to get a few of the puns and enjoy some of the witty banter but by and large a lot of the dialogue kind of escapes me.

This particular film was however easier to follow. A lot of its humor was in physical comedy. True to its time, it was a pretty safe laugh to have your protagonist accidentally light something on fire or nearly escape a comical death. In addition to these slapstick situations, this film had an almost annoyingly entertaining lead character, Otto (Waalkes), a film and music star whose career continues to such contemporary works as voicing the sloth in the German Ice Age films. Otto, a young man from a small town setting, comes to the big city (Hamburg) to make his fortune. Most of all he is engaged with two problems: How can he impress Silvia, a rich young girl whose life he accidentally saves, and where does he get 9876,50 Deutsche Marks to pay off a loan shark he struck a dubious deal with to get his start up funds? 

Incidentally, the aforementioned Johannes Heesters even has a cameo in this film. After saving the life of Silvia, Otto meets her parents. Obviously his eccentric nature is a clear juxtaposition to Silvia’s privileged upbringing, and nothing her stuffy mother approves of in comparison to the Brazilian suitor Ernesto. As a thank you, Silvia’s mother gives Otto an old bottle of wine. After singing the mother to sleep with a comedic song about sheep, he thought briefly about stealing a piece of jewelry to cover his debt, but a recurring theme in the film, Otto’s moral dialogue of good guy on one shoulder bad one on the other, talked him out of it.

Later in the film, Otto, after throwing back a few, crashes a classy dinner at the Crème de la Crème, where he hopes to profess his love for Silvia in front of the high society guests. Naturally, this plan goes awry and Otto ends up being thrown out of the restaurant. In a fit of anger, Otto rifles through the trunk of his shabby car to find something to throw and comes across the bottle of wine. Cue Johannes Heesters, who stops Otto mid-throw to urge him not to waste a bottle of wine. The two then open the bottle (Johannes obviously had a cork screw and paper cups), and toasted. After a few sips, and a bit of dialogue, Johannes begins to comment on the quality of this wine. He speculates it’s from 1902 or perhaps even 1901. He then checks the label to find it’s an 1899 bottle of wine. He rejoices in how lucky he is to savor such a treasure, Otto seemingly unimpressed with the quality shrugs and continues to slurp. The man then goes on to comment on how much a bottle like this one brought in at a recent auction. Can you guess the amount? Spoiler alert, it’s exactly how much he owes.

Not only physical comedy and irony, this film also boasts a bit of parodying, as well as a nod to classic American cinema (in this humble observer’s opinion). After having a meaty dinner at a local Greek restaurant with his beloved Silvia, there is a sudden rainstorm. A la Gene Kelly, Otto opens his umbrella and does a charming dance in the rain, leaving Silvia cold and wet. After his little dance, they begin walking in the direction of a cemetery when suddenly, out of the graves bodies start moving. Keep in mind this is 1985, a few years after Michael Jackson’s, “Thriller.” All of a sudden there are a group of men, whom I later found out were dressed as a German folk singer Heino singing one of his songs all in a zombie like robot motion.  I only got one level of the humor, as I could clearly tell it was a take on Thriller, but had to have the folk singer part explained to me.
(please excuse the second screenshot, I felt it was necessary, despite the poor quality, to illustrate what I consider to be the tribute)

Smash cut to the end, Otto ends up dressed as a flight attendant on a plane with Silvia, her mother, Ernesto, and a bunch of Karneval clad party goers on their way to Rio. Aboard are two bank robbers who knocked out the pilot and co-pilot and forced Otto to fly. He lands on what he thinks is Cuba but is actually an aircraft carrier. Turns out, Ernesto wasn’t as rich as he said he was and Silvia and Otto end up together. 

It was worth a laugh and at least I'm to the point where I can follow a movie! Here is a video clip, he could certainly have lent some noise to the Stomp crew.