Incoherent Scribblings

Small Change

When I lived back in the US I had this great big beer mug (I have no idea where I actually got it… but it originated in Vegas and had this lovely slogan on it, “Poker in the front, liquor in the back”… but I digress) that I used to put my spare change in. It mostly contained pennies, but also had the occasional nickels, dimes, and quarters. When my paycheck didn’t last until the next payday that mug came in mighty handy. It meant hamburgers at McDonald’s for dinner and a gallon of gas to get to work.

I think nearly everyone that I have ever known in America has had one of these “change mugs” at one time or another. Once I was able to make my paycheck last until the end of the month, I kept throwing my spare change in the mug, but wasn’t taking so much out anymore. Finally, when I was packing up and getting ready to move to Germany I took my mug to the bank and ended up getting about $36 in cash for my change. As you can plainly see, if you don’t have to use the spare change for the necessities it can really add up. (Even though to be honest, it DID take about 2 years for it to do so.)

Since moving to Germany I have not begun the small change mug again. I no longer have my Poker/Liquor Mug (it got thrown in with a box of dishes that I got rid of) and small change here really isn’t so small.

In America, the largest common coin denomination is the quarter (25 cents). Therefore you can have a lot of change in your change mug, but it takes a while to add up. Sure occasionally you might run across a Susan B. Anthony Dollar or a fifty-cent piece, but most people keep them as collectibles. But here there are coins that are worth 1 and 2 Euros (current exchange rate 1 Euro = about $1.20). Those large denomination coins don’t make it so easy for me to throw them in my mug and forget about them.

Even so, I guess the small change phenomenon has struck the rest of the population here in Germany. In fact, according to this report, the Germans are apparently so good at hoarding their small change that there is a shortage of it. They literally have to bring change in from Austria by the truck load and “[t]he Bundesbank has called on Germans to spend their stores of small change and has urged retailers to accept larger sums in coins.”

So next time I am holding up the line at dm because I am paying for my deodorant and toothpaste in coins instead of handing them a 10 Euro bill, I won’t feel bad. After all, I am only answering the plea of the Bundesbank.

A Keyboard Story

To begin with… why do I always get inspired to write my blog entries when I really should be in bed asleep?

Anyway, for tonight’s topic…

While A. and I were discussing getting me a new computer, he asked me to make a list of things that I wanted it to have. One of things that I said I would like, but I did not find absolutely necessary, was an American keyboard.

First of all, let me tell my American readers who may not know this: keyboards all around the world are not the same. Some languages have completely different alphabets than we do and yet others have letters with accent marks or umlauts that are a necessary part of the language. For example, in German there are three letters (a, o, and u) that also come in the “umlaut” variety (ä, ö, and ü), not to mention the ß. Because these letters are used frequently, they must have a place on the keyboard. Therefore, the keyboard layout is different.

In the afore-mentioned situation, A. was a big supporter of getting me a computer with a German keyboard. His argument was simple and logical. We live in Germany and I will someday work and use a computer in Germany. As a cultural integration step, I should make the move to a German keyboard. Not to mention the fact computers in Germany come with German keyboards unless you order them specifically to come with an American keyboard.

After many heated discussions which usually ended up with me pouting about how I didn’t want to use a German keyboard and that at home I will “always” type in English, I finally relented. I would get a German keyboard. After all, his “we live in Germany” claim did have a certain logic to it.

So, we went to our local hole in the wall, run by the Russian mob, for IT specialists or computer geeks only computer store. We had a particular computer for me in mind. I looked at it, played with the keyboard a little, and then we asked if they had any of that particular model in stock. No, they didn’t. They had to order one. I saw a window of opportunity. Slyly, I asked how much it would cost to order it with an American keyboard. It was a mere 60 Euros. So, before A. could protest, I told the friendly Russian mobster that I would like to order it with an American keyboard. A. gave me the evil eye, but didn’t say anything.

Upon leaving the store A. asked me what was up with the whole German integration thing. I replied that I changed my mind (at least as far as the computer keyboard went). I wanted an American keyboard all along and he knew it. So, I got what I wanted after all.

But here is the punch line…

Two days later we went to pick up the computer and learned that what they did was order a German laptop and an American laptop keyboard… separately. So, I got my computer, but the keyboard won’t be here for another couple of weeks. I will have to take the computer into the shop so they can change the keyboards for me when the American keyboard arrives.

And after all that rigmarole, I am currently typing from a German keyboard but have Windows XP set up to default to an American keyboard layout… and it isn’t so bad as long as I don’t look at my hands when I type.

Nein, Danke…

Today I saw a really impressive commercial on MTV.

The scene opens in coffee house. A young man in his 20s is sitting at a table drinking a coffee and smoking a cigarette. Suddenly, he spies a very attractive young woman at the next table. After making eye contact a couple of times, he goes over to her table and smiling, he offers her a cigarette. She waves them away and reaches into her purse as if to get her own cigarettes. Instead she pulls out a microphone-like contraption, puts it to her throat, and says in an electronic voice, “Nein danke, ich rauche nicht mehr.” (trans. “No thank you, I don’t smoke anymore.”)

All I can say is, “Wow. That’s quite a message.”

I wish I could show that to my sister, my best friend, and everyone else I know who smokes…

Deutsch für den Beruf - Part 2

Since my German Business class ends in approximately one week, I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect a little bit on the whole experience.

First the positive aspects:

I had a chance to practice my German twice a week. This was by far the biggest benefit from this class. Since I don’t currently work in Germany, have few German-speaking friends, and always speak English at home with A. I don’t speak German as fluently as I would like. Any chance I have to speak German is definitely a good thing.

Another advantage of this class is that I learned a lot of practical and business-related vocabulary. For example, I spent an entire year at the Goethe-Institut and never added the word for “to deliver” (liefern) to my active vocabulary. Now I am not knocking GI… I don’t think I would be as far in my German today as I am without them, but in the time since I have finished there I have found that I don’t always know practical everyday vocabulary as well as I should.

Finally, my teacher was quite good. In addition to her regular duties, she was also willing to answer questions about and give me feedback concerning my first German resume and cover letter.

The negative aspect:

Overall I didn’t feel the class was as “job-oriented” as I was looking for. I was looking for a class whose goal was, “OK, you are a foreigner living in Germany and want to work here. Here is the proper way to design a German-resume, answer a job ad, write a proper business letter, and overall deal with the German business climate.”

Now it wasn’t that we DIDN’T do these things. We did. We practiced telephone conversations, submitted a resume, and wrote various letters in groups. However, I would have liked the lessons to have been built around these business tasks but instead they were just tacked on in the midst of the different lessons.

But I guess any practice with these tasks is beneficial. Since I began the class, I have applied for a couple of different library jobs. And for the first time since I moved to Germany I felt comfortable enough writing email and letters that I didn’t feel it absolutely necessary to have A. go through what I did with a fine-tooth comb before I sent it.

Overall, I would say that this class was a satisfactory experience for me. If I don’t get a job this summer though whether or not I will take “Deutsch für den Beruf II” remains to be seen.

The Queen… S or Z?

Hmm… I was just wondering about something.

In the American media and in books and such Queen Elizabeth (the 1st and the 2nd) is spelled with “z.” However, in England where she was/is queen is her name spelled with “z” or “s”? I see on the BBC and the Guardian it is spelled with “z.” I find this interesting.

I thought words in American English that are spelled with “z” (e.g. organize) were spelled with “s” in British English (e.g. organise). If that is the case, shouldn’t the Queen’s name be spelled with “s” instead of “z”?

Can any of my British readers (or anyone else) out there explain this anomaly?