WotD #162

Insider: an inside joke eg. SHITFACE!!!

In other news, today is my last day in Braunschweig. I’m slowly making my way back to Andover. I’ll be home Saturdayish. Give me a ring.

I’m going to miss everyone in Braunschweig. You guys are the best.

-MEK

WotD #161

Public Viewing: the broadcasting of a sports event in  a public place. Yes this is now a German word!

Well, now that we’re in the middle of the World Cup I thought this would be a good word to bring up. Yesterday I watched the US-Ghana game in town. Sad to say the US lost. I was also one of three fans at the public viewing. Oh well. Today’s game, Germany v. England, was a little more interesting and exciting. Check out some game highlights!

-MEK

WotD #160

Well, I’ll admit that I have been incredibly busy the last few weeks. We performed our theater piece TWICE and I had my last day of school. Only two more weeks in Deutschland

der Schutzpatron: patron saint

Eierschalensollbruchstelleverursachemaschine: a machine that creates a crack in an eggshell to facilitate peeling

-MEK

WotD #159

die Schablone: pattern, template, stencil

Just a heads up, I’m leaving for Berlin tomorrow  morning for the CBYX end of stay camp. Don’t expect any posts until Sunday.

-MEK

WotD #158

First off, thanks to Tim M. and Todd who came to Braunschweig on the weekend. It was great to catch up.

Second, Horst Köhler, the German Bundespräsident (Federal President) resigned today.

He released the following statement:

Meine Einschätzung ist aber, dass insgesamt wir auf dem Wege sind, doch auch in der Breite der Gesellschaft zu verstehen, dass ein Land unserer Größe mit dieser Außenhandelsorientierung und damit auch Außenhandelsabhängigkeit auch wissen muss, dass im Zweifel, im Notfall auch militärischer Einsatz notwendig ist, um unsere Interessen zu wahren, zum Beispiel freie Handelswege, zum Beispiel ganze regionale Instabilitäten zu verhindern, die mit Sicherheit dann auch auf unsere Chancen zurückschlagen negativ, bei uns durch Handel Arbeitsplätze und Einkommen zu sichern.

In my estimation, we are on our way, in our society as a whole, to understand that a country as big as ours, with that orientation and therefore dependency on export, needs to know, that in case of doubt or emergency a military deployment is necessary, to preserve our interests, for example free trade routes, or preventing regional instability that will assuredly diminish our chances to safeguard jobs.

– Horst Köhler, Interview with Deutschlandradio

Thirdly, GERMANY WON EUROVISION!!!!!!! (an American Idol of sorts for all of Europe…and Turkey and Israel)

A 19 year old from Hannover, Lena Meyer-Landrut won the contest with the song Satellite.

schikanieren: to bully, harass, persecute, haze etc.

There’s a similar English word that I’ve never heard of.

chicanery: the use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose

-MEK

WotD #157

zumindest: at least (adv.)

I always seem to screw this up. Hopefully this post will help me remeber.

-MEK

WotD #156

ausmerzen: to eradicate, to raze, to stamp out, to weed out, to wipe out

The current theme in history is the Great Purge of Stalin. The word came up.

-MEK

WotD #155

schnorcheln: to snorkel

Just thought it was a funny word.

-MEK

WotD #154

das Pfingsten: Pentecost

I’ve got today and tomorrow off.

-MEK

WotD #153

der Auswanderer: emigrant

der Einwanderer: immigrant

Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Bremerhaven one of Germany’s ports. The city was also the first step for millions of emigrants as they left Europe for far shores. My grandfather, who emigrated in 1951, was among them. The harbor is filled with various ships ranging from submarines to trawlers and tankers to cruise ships. Most are open for quick tours. There is also a great museum about the history of european emigration das deutsches Auswandererhaus. Enjoy some pictures of the city.

Ships in the harbor. The Deutsches Auswandererhaus is the building in the background

A hotel built to look like a sailing ship on the harbor

A scan of the passenger list of the USNS Greely, the ship that brought my grandfather to the US. He's 7th from the top. At the top you can see that the ship left Bremerhaven November 24st, 1951

-MEK