Das Bild haengt schief - the picture's tilted!

German comedy titles

Mario Barth - Männer sind Schweine, Frauen aber auch!

(Men are swine, but so are women!)

Mario Barth - Männer sind primitiv, aber glücklich

(Men are Neanderthals*, but happy)

*Neanderthals, also interchangeable with cavemen, primitive, or redneck

article endings and bridge jumpers

When I recently sent out an email about my new domicile, I received a reply from one of my old teachers in Vienna, Austria. I haven’t actually written anything in German since May, and I was never a brilliant writer anyway, so I had to look up a couple words (Geburtstermin is baby due date, fyi) and didn’t even bother to double check my articles. I’m sure half of my adjective endings were wrong too. But then, the beauty of writing to a native German speaker is that they never actually expect you to get them all right anyway.

This morning, I kept hearing many, many sirens on my way to work. A little while ago, I was informed by a coworker that a man had jumped off a bridge onto I-5 and stopped traffic and caused a giant hubbub. What is it about people committing suicide on bridges over I-5? Maybe they’re committing suicide because they think no one cares and everyone who has to drive on I-5 and public service personnel will HAVE to care about them for once if they cause a huge problem. I remember being told about a Navy nurse and his buddy who used to have a lot of problems with suicide attempts on long sea voyages. They decided to post a list of effective and ineffective ways to commit suicide because they were tired of cleaning up the mess after someone failed to succeed in their goal.

I will never presume to understand the mentality of someone who wants to end their life because I’ve always been too in love with life to want to end my own. But it seems to me that if I ever changed my mind, I would at least want to get it right, and not inconvenience an important part of a city or medical personnel in the process. There are other people who actually want and need their help who did not choose to hurt themselves.

Education systems -- and their results

Tonight the students of 5A will put on a presentation on Jamie Oliver, his ideas on food and some of his recipes. They read the recipes in English, translated them into German, and will present in German and English. Some other students will be presenting in French as well.

I would like to point out that these students are in the 5th form, the equivalent of the American 9th grade. In 9th grade, the year I began studying German, these kids are capable of reading, translating, and presenting recipes about unfamiliar food in English and French. Currently, after years more of study and months spent in Austria, I speak/function at about their level.

I blame my education system for my complete lack of ability to function well in any language other than English. And I am deeply annoyed by the fact that these fourteen and fifteen year old students are just as capable as I am. It's also rather humbling, and not in a good way.