I first read about the dish called scrapple in a novel by James Michner called “The Novel”. As I recall, the story was about a novelist who lived in Pennsylvania and wrote about the German population known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, you know, as in Amish and Mennonites and such, those people of plain dress and horse and buggies – actually I guess it’s the Amish who stick to the horses and maybe the Mennonites have allowed themselves to advance somewhat – but back to scrapple. Much was said about the food that the German hausfraus cooked, and one of the favorite dishes was scrapple.
It’s a mixture of pork scraps (what would be otherwise unused meat left over from butchering into the main cuts) mixed in with cornmeal and flour and pan fried before serving.
Somehow when I read about it, it did not sound all that enticing.
But recently at a local restaurant, known for its breakfast menu in particular, the menu included “New England Scrapple”.
Now I may be missing something, but I don’t think scrapple is rightfully called a New England dish. From my reading it is associated more with German settlers in, as I noted, Pennsylvania, and other states. But then again, I could be wrong. Maybe there is such a thing as New England scrapple.
But the important point is, I ordered some and found it, to my pleasant surprise, quite tasty.
So, if you happen to live in Redding, Ca. (Not Reading, Penn.), you can order it at the Country Kitchen. And I took some home and enjoyed it warmed over.
And if you’re into cooking, you can of course find recipes on the internet.
Been busy making a living recently and have not had time to devote to my German-American blog, but finally I had something to add. Hope to get my computer mobile (I’m a truck driver) and post more blogs.
Many weeks ago now I had blogged that I was going to the Sacramento area and while there I planned to visit two German food places, the German Delicatessen and Morant’s Old Fashioned Sausage. Many weeks after I had indicated I finally made it.
My wife and I had actually gone to nearby Roseville to visit my oldest daughter and family. And by the way, she is expecting child anytime. My wife had gone to help her with things around the house, but we both had some free time and decided to visit the two places. I’m the one who thinks he has this interest in his German roots. Actually my wife I think has German roots too and the man my daughter married has a German last name. His father is from Montana and one time told me that although he does not speak German, he remembers when he was a little kid and went to church the sermons were in German (I know he was born sometime in the 1920s).
Back to the German food places: the first stop was the German Delicatessen on Auburn Boulevard, 5859 Auburn Blvd., to be exact. I had actually been there once maybe 15 or more years ago, but it was then under different ownership, run by two old German ladies, as I recall. I referred to them in a previous blog, noting that someone else said they were rude (I thought that myself) and I also thought that made them seem authentic to me, based on my experiences living on the economy in Germany back in the late 60s and early 70s when I was a GI (no I don’t mean all Germans are rude, but many of them seemed to have an attitude about young American soldiers).
Don’t know who owns it now (the German Delicatessen), but the young lady who waited on us worked the cash register with one hand and held a baby under arm and with the other hand. She was cheerful enough. Did not detect any German accent. There was a wide assortment of various types of German food and some wine and some beer. I can’t give the place a rave review for atmosphere, though. I think it had slightly more character – not much – with the two old German ladies. All I bought was a bag of ready to prepare Spaetzle (basically egg noodles). I had blogged previously about my adventures trying to make it from scratch at home. The ready-made was easier to prepare – didn’t taste any better (I think maybe cheese, a good sauce, or gravy will help – I just used garlic salt and some of that dry sprinkly Parmesan cheese this time).
So if you want to try out the German Delicatessen, it’s off of I-80 at the Greenback exit. If you are coming off the freeway, you will take Greenback and turn right on Auburn Boulevard and in a few blocks on the right you will see the place. If you get to Garfield, you’ve gone too far. And anyway you can map it on the computer. If you want to get some authentic German food, I’d recommend it.
The place I was really looking forward to going to, though, was Morant’s Old Fashioned Sausage in South Sacramento. I heard that although it was in what some might think a seedy section of town, it was quite the place for German atmosphere, what with the butchers and customers freely conversing in German.
We found it easy enough. It’s at 5001 Franklin Blvd. In a nice clean looking and fairly modern building with a parking lot. The surrounding area looks a little rough – not too bad at mid day.
Well, they certainly have a meat counter full of various meats and sausages, plus some other food selections.
But we found no German speakers, just two Hispanics behind the counter speaking Spanish. Didn’t have a clue as to what I should buy, but I finally settled on a pound of dinner sausages. I pointed to several loose sausages and said I’d take a pound, but the clerk talked me into buying the same thing in a sealed package (slightly more than a pound, I think). Probably just as well since we took them back to our home. My daughter’s family does not tend two stray from white bread American fare, to my knowledge (you know boxeroni or McDonald’s).
As I left, I said: do I say “auf weidersehen”or “adios”. I got the impression they were not amused, although they did smile ever so hesitantly. And one of them said: “tschus” (a German way of saying “bye”) – guess he showed up that gringo (me).
Again, if you’re after that German food, I’d definitely recommend the place. Looks like for atmosphere you might have to go to Germany itself.
P.s.
On another note, got a comment/e-mail from a reader in reference to a previous blog to inform me that Google Translate is “wretched” and “primitive”. That is what I began to expect – it’s not at all reliable – it is fun though, kind of.
Trying to learn German without any native speakers or at least an instructor to interact with is difficult, maybe impossible. Nonetheless I have been trying for some time to do just that.
Another difficulty is that unless one has money to buy good study materials it is also a seemingly hopeless battle.
There are some free tapes (or CDs or whatever sound they have now) at most libraries, and I think listening to those recordings has at least familiarized me with enough German that I can pick out words in German movies or video lessons or German television (which I do not have current access to).
I don’t know how good the Rosetta Stone program is, but it’s terribly expensive.
I did log onto a free site offered by the German broadcasting entity known as Deutche Welle. It is called Deutsch Interactiv. It is kind of interesting, but I find it difficult for a beginner like me. You almost already have to know German to navigate it.
For a while I was listening and watching to some German lessons on YouTube. They still have some, but not the one’s I saw, at least not just now when I checked. I especially liked one where this woman stops people outside a small supermarket in Germany and asks them what they have. It’s all in German (I think there were English subtitles). I like the way it is natural and you can see and hear real German spoken. It also shows you how cosmopolitan Germany has become, because some of the customers speaking fluent German are obviously not German. One woman and her daughter appeared to be Middle Eastern.
I would think that the best on-your-own learning method would be to have a program that combined realistic videos with people carrying on real conversations, backed up with text and video instruction to show you how the words are spoken and sentences constructed.
To me any language instruction ought to concentrate on speaking and getting right in on constructing one’s own sentences. Grammar should only be touched upon casually and only studied in detail after one is comfortable with light or simple conversation. That’s how most people learn their native tongue. But that is just my opinion.
Watching German movies or TV if it is available to you is highly effective too.
And as with so many foreign languages you have to learn the proper indefinite article at the same time you learn a noun. You have to memorize them together as if they were one word. There are three indefinite articles in German, der, die, das (all same as “the” in English). So while in English you just remember the noun “dog” in German you would remember “der Hund” (all German nouns, proper and otherwise, are capitalized).
To check on the above info I learned about another free resource available on the net. I found it under German Lessons, Wikibooks.
But most all of this is more of a supplement to formal instruction or what probably would be the best instruction of all, total immersion.
Auf Wiedersehen
I’ve always been proud to be part German and have a German last name, but I don’t think I really got into thinking of myself as a German-American until sometime in the late 1980s when my wife and I and youngest daughter (still at home) moved to Sacramento, Ca.
My wife and I liked to go downtown to McKinley Park. There was a city library in the middle of that park. I think I may have just previously read a magazine article about the German author Siegfried Lenz, maybe I read the article at that library. Anyway, I checked out a novel he wrote called the “German Lesson” (“Deutschstunde” in the original German). Of course I checked out an English language version of the book.
But I would advise anyone wanting to be entertained and informed and to learn about the German character and the effect on the lives and psychology of the German people during Nazi rule to read the book. It’s interesting because most to the people portrayed are rural people, who are nonetheless affected by what is going on in far off Berlin and the world at large. It is fun to read because it is told from the perspective of a young man being held as a juvenile offender and forced to write an essay on the “joy of duty”. He writes quite an essay. Read it. I think you’ll like it.
At the time I read this book, back in the late 80s, I had planned to study German on my own, and while I did to an extent, other things, such as work and life in general, got in my way.
I have more time lately, but I still find other things to do. But also among the things I find to do is do this blog.
Hope I can come up with something concentrating more on German Americanism.
The only thing I can come up with right now is that my mother told me that one of her grandmothers was German, with the last name of Slusser. Her grandmother called cottage cheese “schmerecase”. I understand that in some of the more ethnic locales of German-Americans here in the United States that term for cottage cheese is not uncommon (then again, I may have this wrong. I need to check it out. If anyone knows, please comment at end of this blog).
Mom who is probably more English than anything else nonetheless has her birthday on Oct. 30 and always wants everyone to help her celebrate it with the theme of Oktoberfest, a famous German celebration.
One of my brothers studied German and participated in a college exchange program in Vienna, Austria (Austria a German-speaking nation).
And I served in the United States Army and was stationed in Germany for more than two years.
I still try to study a German as I can and plan to do more.
Auf Wiedersehen
I didn’t get the chance to go to Sacramento and try out those two German food places that I blogged about last time, but I still plan to do it in the future.
And while I indicated that I was going to make Spatzle (or spaetzle) at the conclusion of my last blog, I didn’t, but I’m threatening to today. I got a basic recipe off the web and plan to add some things to it. I’m no cook, but I can cook things, especially if I have a good recipe to follow.
With the advice of my wife, I plan to make the Spatzle and then mix it with perhaps some fried onions and definitely with a Hillshire Farms sausage I bought at the supermarket (we don’t have any German ethnic food markets where I live). I might also warm up some sauerkraut I have in a jar (in my last blog I said I prefer Steinfelds sauerkraut, but I noticed I have Farman’s).
Spatzle is basically German egg noodles or miniature dumplings. I’ve tried to make them previously but it came out kind of dull. I think I did not cook it right, and I think some spice, as my current recipe calls for, will help. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to comment at the end of this blog.
I know little to nothing about German food, although I have probably eaten German dishes, slightly Americanized, most of my life. I imagine we all have.
When I was in the Army stationed in Germany (1968-1971) the only German food I recall eating much of were Bratwursts and Schnitzels, primarily sold at stands on the street corners. I also ate some kind of Schnitzel-like meal at a German canteen on the Army post. And I recall eating some sandwiches and drinking beer at a little stand where we washed our tanks.
Also, once I went into a Gasthaus and ordered dinner. Since I could not understand the menu I asked the waitress for advice. She brought me some potato soup and hard bread as I recall. Not very thrilling. The beer was good, though.
While eating there I saw a table where men were playing cards and drinking beer with some type of wine chasers. I noticed their face cards were quite ornate. I think they used to make them more like that in the USA (so my father told me), the face cards that is.
And now I recall that once my wife and I went out with another couple. The guy was an American GI but his folks back in the states were German. He knew how to speak German and get along with the locals – something I sure didn’t, even though I have a German last name (don’t a lot of us?) and am part German. We went to this picturesque restaurant out in the country. It was a kind of cabin as I recall. He ordered us this dish he liked (I do not recall its name, if I ever did know it). As I recall it was a plate heaped high with rice mixed with vegetables with several fried eggs thrown in – maybe gravy too. Whatever, it was delicious. Now have that with some beer.
I’m pretty sure we were the only Americans there. Most of the clientele appeared to be middle-aged Germans. And the folks were dressed for dinner, men wearing coats and ties and the women wearing appropriate evening attire. I imagine we were dressed like Americans – you can probably kind of picture that. I mean we weren’t wearing T-shirts that said I came all the way to Germany and all I got was a Schnitzel, but I imagine we were fairly casual. Well, actually my wife and the other woman probably had dresses on. I really don’t recall that well. But I am sure the fact that we spoke English and we dressed the way we did made us out to be the Americans we were (hey American and proud of it!).
At the conclusion of our meal I noticed that many of the German couples got up and started dancing. Not polka. I think they were dancing to swing music or something.
So, yes I was in the land from which my ancestors came. Didn’t learn much about their culture, but all these years later I am trying to catch up.
If I could just find out what that dish with the rice and vegetables and eggs all mixed together was.
P.s.
Success! I was able to make quite edible Spatzle for dinner after all. My wife helped by sautaeing some other ingredients and fixing another side dish. I didn’t follow the exact directions after making the actual Spatzle. We sauteed the Spatzle along with other stuff, rather than separately. But it worked!
I tried to give a link to the recipe but it did not work. But you should be able to find plenty of recipes by simply Googling German spaetzle dumplings. There are two different spellings for the stuff as you see in this piece.
If you look up any website on German food you are likely to run across Spatzle (with the umlaut — two dots — over the “a” which I can’t do on this keyboard). It’s pronounced in German like “shpetzla”. (You will often see it spelled “spaetzle” as well.)
Is it any good? Don’t really know. I’ve tried to make some a couple of times, but I had mixed (no pun intended) results.
Spatzle is nothing more than tiny egg noodles or miniature dumplings if you will and is often served as a side dish, I understand.
As I recall, you mix eggs and flower and, perhaps, milk, and boil some water, and then using either a specially designed Spatzle maker or perhaps a collander, sift the resulting dough through the little holes into the boiling water, and you have Spatzla.
I think it helps to put something on or with it — gravy, cheese, onions, plus some spice.
Hot dogs and sauerkraut is a kind of Americanized, German-American if you will, version of German cuisine.
I like to buy Steinfeld Sauerkaut and Miller hot dogs. And by the way, a German exchange student long ago told me that the two most common names in Germany are “Miller” and “Schmidtt” or should I say Miller “und” Schmidtt? He also noted that my last name, Walther, is both a first and last name in Germany, and is quite common. And all my life I have been asked, usually in a less than serious manner, whether I am related to the folks who make Walther firearms. I actually had a Mexican gate guard ask me that when I worked as a truck driver. I answered: “yeah, my daddy was a pistol and I’m a son of a gun”. But seriously, I am not related to that family that I know of.
So, at any rate, although I’m not the chief cook in the family, I may just try my hand at Spatzle again. Now if I can just find that Spatzle maker.
P.s.
Of course, anyone seriously considering making Spatzle should check out the variety of recipes offered on the web.
Apparently German-American culture is just not as popular as it once was. The literature tells me that a lot of its popularity died with World War I. Down with the Kaiser. I suppose WWII and Der Fuhrer didn’t help so much either. However that led to a lot of GIs, including Elvis Presley and yours truly, being stationed in Germany while serving Uncle Sam after the war as part of the NATO forces.
I can’t seem to get this German-American blog off the ground, although part of that probably is for lack of content, I suppose.
But I am committed to learning more about my German-American heritage and hopefully the German language.
I plan to be in the Sacramento, Ca. area soon, a place where I lived for several years. And while I am there I plan to visit at least two German-American establishments. One is Morant’s Old Fashioned Sausage shop, for which I have read rave reviews for its authentic German-style products, service, and German ambiance. So hopefully I can come back with a review and some sausage.
Also I plan to visit the German Delicatessen. But I hear it is not what it once was. I got a charge out of a blog review of it I just read.
First I have to set the scene by explaining that I was stationed in Germany in the late 60s/early 70s and at the time knowing virtually no German I did not find the locals to be terribly friendly, to say the least. My wife and I lived on the economy and had to put up with the German frostiness, although I have to say some were friendly.
So flash forward many, many years later and we were living in Sacramento. I was on one of my culture kicks and my son in-law (part German by heritage too) told me there was a German store near where he lived. So I went there. It was run by two old ladies and they were not all that friendly. At the time I thought to myself: “gee they seem authentic”.
So today planning my return, I read in a blog that the place is under new ownership and is called the German Delicatessen. But what gave me the charge was the unidentified blogger noted:
“The German Deli is no longer run by the crazy rude Bavarian women…”
The blogger went on to suggest that the place is now apparently run by two American guys who are trying to keep up the German ambiance but that it has lost some of its flavor and authentic product assortment in the process.
So, anyway, I plan to visit the area, hopefully mid to late next week.
I’ll report back.
P.s.
Sure wished I could get some comments and/or suggestions for my German-American blog.
I’m still on the Google Translate kick. As I have said, although I have taken some stabs at studying the German language, I know very little. But I wrote my own revised and abbreviated version of the German Hansel and Gretel story, recorded by the Brothers Grimm, that you probably heard or read as a child (not this version) and then used Google Translate and supposedly got the German translation. I am not at all sure that it is close to correct and I noticed the program left some of my English expressions in untranslated (maybe because they defy direct translation).
(Especially suspect to me is that I wrote “overheard” in English and it came out “overhead” in the German translation.)
Maybe someone who knows the German language could critique it and/or leave a comment at the bottom of this blog:
HANSEL and GRETEL
Once upon a time there was a poor family in Germany who lived on the edge of the woods and each day the man and woman would take their son and daughter with them into the woods. The children’s names were Hansel and Gretel. The man and woman were Fritz and Hilda. While the small children played, Fritz would cut wood and Hilda would help him stack it. But the price of wood was low and they could barely make enough money to buy bread to feed their family. So one night Fritz told Hilda what they must do. He said they would have to tell the children that because it was so late they would have to camp in the woods. Then when the children were fast asleep, they would abandon them. But Hansel overheard his father. The next morning he whispered the news to his sister Gretel and told her to keep back her bread and they would both drop bread crumbs along the path into the woods so that they could find their own way back to their home. And that is what the children did, unbeknownst to their parents. Sure enough they camped that night in the woods and sure enough when the children awoke the next morning their parents were gone. The sad children looked for the bread crumbs and were horrified to discover a bird eating the last one. They then set out to find their way home nonetheless. They finally came upon a house but it was not theirs. It was in the shape of a gingerbread cake. They were hungry and began to eat at the walls. It tasted so good! Just then the wicked witch came out and grabbed them. She said she was mad that they were destroying her house and that now she would hold them as prisoners and that they would have to work hard scrubbing the floors, making her bed, cleaning her toilet, washing her windows and doing her dishes each day. But they caught her off guard while she was heating up a witch’s brew in the kitchen and threw her in to the oven which had been already lit. As the wicked witch baked, they ran out the door into the loving arms of their parents who had been looking for them after having a change of heart. There had been a forest fire and the winter was coming on and the price of wood skyrocketed. Fritz and Hilda became rich and sent the children off to Switzerland. Hansel was sent to a military academy and Gretel to a convent.
HANSEL und GRETEL
Once upon a time es wurde einer armen Familie in Deutschland lebte am Rande des Waldes, und jeder Tag, an dem der Mann und die Frau würde ihren Sohn und Tochter mit ihnen in den Wald hinein. Die Kinder-Namen waren Hänsel und Gretel. Der Mann und die Frau wurden Fritz und Hilda.While die kleinen Kinder spielten, Fritz würde Holz und Hilda würde ihm helfen, Stack it.But der Preis für Holz war gering, und sie konnte kaum genug Geld, um Brot zu kaufen, ihre Familie. So eine Nacht Fritz Hilda erzählt, was sie tun muss. Er sagte, sie hätte zu sagen, die Kinder, denn es war so spät, sie würden die Lager in den Wäldern. Dann, wenn die Kinder schnell einschlafen, sie aufzugeben. Aber Hänsel Overhead seinem Vater. Am nächsten Morgen, flüsterte er die Nachricht an seine Schwester Gretel und sagte ihr, um wieder ihr Brot, und sie würden beide Tropfen Semmelbrösel auf dem Weg in den Wald, so dass sie ihren eigenen Weg zurück in ihre Heimat. Und das ist es, was die Kinder haben, unbeknownst zu ihren Eltern. Sicher genug, dass sie campten Nacht in den Wäldern und sicher genug, wenn die Kinder am nächsten Morgen erwachte, ihre Eltern waren verschwunden. Die traurige Kinder sich für die Semmelbrösel und waren entsetzt, zu entdecken, ein Vogel der Verzicht auf das letzte. Sie setzen sich auf die Suche nach ihrem Weg nach Hause dennoch. Schließlich kamen sie auf ein Haus, aber es war nicht ihre. Es war in der Form eines Lebkuchen Kuchen. Sie waren hungrig und begann zu essen, an den Wänden. Es schmeckte so gut! Dann die böse Hexe kam heraus und packte sie. Sie sagte, sie sei verrückt, dass sie ihr Haus zerstört, und dass sie jetzt würden sie als Gefangene und dass sie hart arbeiten, Wäsche die Böden, die ihr Bett, Reinigung ihrer Toilette und tun ihre Speisen und die Reinigung ihrer Fenster pro Tag . Aber sie fing sich in ihrem Schutz aus, während sie Aufheizen eine Hexe’s Brauhaus in der Küche und warf sie in den Ofen, die bereits lit. Als die böse Hexe gebacken, lief sie aus der Tür in die liebenden Arme ihrer Eltern, hatte sich für sie nach einer Veränderung des Herzens. Es war ein von Waldbränden und der Winter kam und der Preis für Holz Höhe. Fritz und Hilda wurde reich und an die Kinder aus der Schweiz. Hänsel wurde eine Militärakademie und Gretel in ein Kloster.
P.s.
There are two main reasons I did this: one, so I could update my German-American blog, and two because I am trying to learn some German – okay and there is a third one, I just thought it would be fun.
I have not written anything on this blog for some time, but not for lack of interest, but for lack of time. Have had a lot of things to do, including writing my own regular blog called Tony Walther’s Weblog, which you can find at http://tonywalther.wordpress.com and please check it out.
But I did discover an interesting feature called Google Translate. I have not figured out how to use it best or to its fullest capability, and I don’t know how accurate it is, but I thought I would demonstrate it to the best of my limited ability:
So, hier geht:
Haben Sie nicht alles auf diesem Blog für eine gewisse Zeit, da war ich zu beschäftigt mit anderen Dingen, auch in meinem Blog regelmäßig: Tony Walther’s Weblog.
And supposedly I translated much what I said in my first paragraph (s) into the German (and I don’t know why we are supposed to say into “the German” or “the Spanish” when we translate, but itsn’t that what they write in books that are translated?).
If any German-speaking readers happen along this blog I would appreciate feedback on my translation. If this feature works, it would seem a tremendous aid in learning foregin languages.
I have never formally studied German, but I have formally studied Spanish, and as all foreign language students I quickly learned that literal or word for word or even phrase for phrase translations more often than not just do not work — they don’t readily move from one language to the other. If one were to simply listen to him or herself, one would recognize that our phrases, standing alone without context or past experience listening to each other, often make little sense.
Okay (and that word itself, “okay”, would not directly translate), I can’t immmediately come up with a really good example, but I’ll try anyway:
You ask someone: “will that plan work?” and the person answers: “I don’t know, let’s see.”
Probably some languages would wonder if a plan can perform work. And in the response, is the answerer saying let us use our eyes?
And a biggee is that there is different noun and verb and adjective placement from language to language.
But all that aside, assuming that the Google translating feature is at all accurate, I think that’s pretty exciting for language students.
And I am still planning to study German, either formally or informally.
My wife and I had a garage sale the other day, and while we didn’t have any German-speaking customers, who I know of, we did have a couple of Scandanavian women come by. I thought the one woman’s accent sounded German when she spoke English, but when they spoke to each other in what I found out to be Norwegian it did not sound German at all. Of course the Scandanavians as far as I know are Germanic type people with a Germanic language (probaby don’t tell them that though).
According to to Google Translate, “how much does this cost?” in Norwegian would be written: “Hvor mye Koster dette koster?”
In German: “Wie hoch sind diese Kosten?”
Not a lot of similarity to my eyes (or ears).
I do think I appreciate the attitude of the government of Norway, though. I just read last night in an English version of Norway news that the government is ousting two companies from its pension fund investments. One is U.S. company that makes cluster bombs and another is a Canadian mining company that it claims is a heavy polluter. While I don’t intend for this blog to be political, I think, without knowing more, I agree with those actions.
Personally, while I am not a radical environmentalist, I certainly support anything at all reasonable to preserve our environment, even if it might be somewhat, and I mean somewhat, inconvenient, and perhaps a little, and I mean a little, more expensive monetary wise in the shortrun.
I know the green movement has been pretty big in Germany.
I wished there were more German ethnic acitivities in my area (actually just about anything would be more, since at present I am not aware of any. I previously blogged about our local Oktoberfest flop (as far as I was concerned).
So, I think I will finish this blog now because I don’t seem to have much more to offer today, and I am getting ready to watch the Super Bowl. Although I am not really a football fan, this spectacle has become the all-American event, long ago surpassing the baseball World Series.
Also, ich denke, ich werde Ende dieses Blog nun, weil ich nicht zu haben scheinen viel mehr zu bieten heute, und ich bin immer bereit, um den Super Bowl. Obwohl ich mich nicht wirklich ein Fußball-Fan, dieses Spektakel hat sich die all-amerikanischen Veranstaltung, die längst Besser Baseball World Series.
Again, if there are any German speaking readers out there, a critique would be appreciated.
(Copyright 2009)
Missed blogging anything about Christmas (Weihnachten) or Kris Kringle (Christkindl) or Oh Tannenbaum (Christmas Tree) or anything like that. I’m not really up on my German holidays or celebrations, but I think what in some parts of Germany is called “Fasching” in coming up. Sometimes it’s called Karneval or Carnival. It’s really pretty much the same idea as Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It’s a time for carnivals and parades and feasting and merriment.
So, maybe someone can comment on this blogsite and enlighten me and everyone else what Fasching is all about and whether it is celebrated here in the USA. Don’t know of any around my neck of the woods. The closest we come to any kind of German celebration here is Oktoberfest, and as I wrote back in October, the only one they had here that I know of was a let down. I did attend one several years ago in the local area that was pretty good – beer, brats, German polka music, dancing.
I have no theme for today’s post, but I thought I ought to enter something seeing as how I have not posted many entries since starting this blog. I blog more often on my other site – Tony Walther’s Weblog at: http://tonywalther.wordpress.com
So click on to that and you will have more to read, but mostly about politics and public policy and some stories of my life mixed in.
I got in the mood for my German-American blog after watching the movie “Fargo” for the umteenth time last night. I guess that Fargo accent is not really German ethnic, but Scandinavian ethnic or something like that. But of course the Scandinavians are closely related to the Germans or at least they all share a Germanic dialect or language family.
At any rate, I just get a kick out of the way they talk on that movie. I particularly like the encounter between the male police officer and the old man who tells of an encounter with a suspicious character he had while tending bar. Don’t recall the dialog word for word, but it goes in part something like this: “He says, so I guess you think I’m a jerk for askin. Well the last guy who called me that is dead – and I don’t mean from old age. He says: ‘what d’ya think of that?’ I says, well I don’t think it was very good for him”…
Okay, so you had to be there. But both are out in the dreary ice cold weather with a grain elevator in the background. You really can’t see either one’s face much because they’re hidden inside parka hoods. I think I knew a guy who looked and talked like the old man. He wasn’t from Fargo or North Dakota or Minnesota. He was from Canada. And from reading about the Fargo accent, I gather that folks in Minnesota, the Dakotas, even Wisconsin, and even out in Idaho, as well as Canada talk in a similar way. There is disagreement on where the accent comes from or if those afore-mentioned groups actually sound alike. I know people often confuse accents. I once knew an Englishman when I was a truck driver. He definitely spoke with a strong accent (the kind you often associate with the English working class). But he said that some people thought he was from Australia, but if that was not bad enough, he said with a sardonic expression: “one guy thought I was German!”
In the recent presidential campaign it was comic the way Sara Palin spoke. She sounded like she was auditioning for a remake of the movie Fargo. I just read on a blog that her speech mannerism is like a lot of folks who live in Alaska (and she is originally from Idaho). Don’t know, never been there (Alaska that is, Idaho yes, but didn’t catch any accents).
From personal experience I know that not all German speakers easily understand one another. I had sergeant in the Army who was German. Born and raised in Northern Germany. I was stationed in southwestern Germany in the German state of Rhineland-Pfalz. He said he had a hard time understanding the harsh and guttural accent of the folks there. But one day while visiting an office in the village where I was stationed and dressed in his GI uniform he overheard the office personnel making snide remarks about the GI in the room. When it was his turn to speak he spoke in fluent German, much to their embarrassment.
I once went out to a nearby village with another soldier who learned to speak German fluently because his folks were from Germany. We were in civilian clothes. We stopped at a café to have coffee or chocolate, I don’t recall. The proprietor was very friendly – that is until he heard me speak English. He was very businesslike after that.
Hey, I’m German-American and proud of it. But I don’t kid myself and think that Germans would automatically accept me as one of their own. I am part German by blood – proud to be a citizen of the good old USA and at the same time proud of my German heritage (there was that Hitler thing, but my ancestors came over here long before he existed and in fact several decades before there even was a unified German state and besides all of that any reading of German history and culture shows that Hitler was an aberration and of questionable background himself).
Back on the accent thing. I read a blog today by a professor from the Midwest whose name I believe was Jensen (Scandinavian). She said she used to do her Fargo accent for laughs but decided that it was not funny anymore because, well, I could not follow all of her reasoning, but it was something to the effect that the Fargo accent was no more foreign than English. That’s because the only true native accent is that of the native Americans. I like to think that I am open-mined, perhaps socially liberal, if you will, but I am definitely not liberal with liberal guilt. Like I heard someone on the radio say: “I’m a native American. I was born and raised in the USA.” That’s about how I feel about that. I mean if we all felt guilty and sailed back to the old country, let me tell you, we would not be welcomed back, at least not to stay – and which old country would be return to anyway (most of us being a mixture of nationalities)?
I still plan to study German, though. Maybe that will be my New Year’s resolution, even though in my other blog I wrote I don’t indulge in resolutions or at least don’t keep them. I’ll try on this one.
Bis Spater!
