Office/Official German

I have spent all this morning, and half of the afternoon, trying to understand a lot of text written in 'Amtsdeutsch'. It is horrible and I think it must be the reason why German never became a world language, although it is important in central/east Europe.

The language is the slave to the master 'der-die-das' which means you have to build huge compound nouns which not only stretch around the block, but disappear behind it!  Try to get your mouth around these:-

die Studierendenaustauschprogramme, die Arbeitnehmerfreizügigkeit, die Durchökonomisierung der Gesellschaft, die Fremdsprachenkorrespondenten. If you are into adjectives you may like this one: transsexuellengesetzentscheidend.
UPDATE: die Nutzungsgebührenerhöhungsspielräume

Why this language torture today? I have a number of meetings in the next few weeks and received documents written in Amtsdeutsch, so I have been preparing myself. It is not the kind of German that foreigners learn in class, but it is the language of the letters/documents they receive. No wonder they need translators.

Many German friends tell me they don't always understand the letters/ documents they receive from government departments, banks, insurance companies or business. That is a relief!  At least liebe Andrea understands it all for it is the daily language of her work. Now back to the texts and writing notes for the meetings!

On a lighter side: Here is the statue I created with new colours last Friday with my Photoshop Gang.

Rainbow

I've had a busy week and only just managed to take this shot. I wandered into the kitchen after crawling out of bed on Wednesday morning. I looked out of the window and blinked. A rainbow was forming!

I rushed into the bedroom and snatched my camera from the shelf where it sleeps when not in use. I ran back into the kitchen and noticed the rainbow had fully formed and was starting to contract. Oh, no!

I quickly opened the case and took out the camera. Still with one eye on the disappearing rainbow, I took it out and switched it on. I quickly found the setting I wanted and then opened the balcony door.

Onto the balcony and press, press on the camera. I got two shots as the rainbow disappeared in front of my eyes. Twenty seconds later and it was gone. At least I have this shot. I wonder what there is about a rainbow that makes us smile and feel so happy.

I plan a lazy weekend for I have a lot of paperwork to work through. I need to understand the content for a few meetings I have next week and the week after. The text is written in 'Amts-Deutsch'. This is the language of the office and bureaucrat. You don't learn this in German for Foreigner classes!

U-Bahn Network

The public transport system is made up of 5 systems. The following two cover the city: The S-Bahn, which runs mainly overground, is part of the Deutsche Bahn national railway network. The U-Bahn network, which runs mainly underground, is owned by the Berlin State Government.

I take the UB-5 to Hönow when I visit Oldie H. I went there on Wednesday. Hönow is east of Berlin and on the border with the State of Brandenberg. From the station I walk about 15 minutes to arrive at Oldie H's new flat.

I told you in a previous post that he had a nervous breakdown last summer and his family moved him into this flat near to where they live. I like to visit for it is in the countryside and has a village feel. There is only one restaurant. It is a Greek restaurant! We agreed to meet there for lunch.

It was my first visit. The waitress was very friendly and the food was good. Unfortunately I noticed that Oldie H's health was not so good. We suspect he is starting with Dementia. For example, he kept telling me that Fidel Castro was dead, in addition to repeating things he had already told me.

I took him back to his new flat for a chat and then the almost mandatory 'Kaffee und Kuchen' break. Again a lack of clarity in thought and talk. I left him happy that I had visited and headed for the U-Bahn. As the train took me back to my bit of the city I reflected on my visit and the illnesses linked to getting older.

There are no public transport systems in Silsden, apart from a limited bus service, so here are a few images of the U-Bahn I travelled on. This is what you are missing as you wait in the cold for a bus to Keighley!

More Visitors

Last Thursday afternoon the doorbell rang. I went to the front window and looked out. It was family F. I recently posted about father and daughter, but this time it was all of them. It was the first time the family had visited.

It was raining so they entered my flat with a couple of umbrellas. Mama immediately took charge. Where were the wet umbrellas to go so they would not wet the flat? Then the command to husband and children to take shoes off. I said it was not necessary, but Mama over ruled me and the family obeyed!

They settled into my living room and said how nice and warm it was. I offered water and orange juice, which were accepted. We caught up on news and then the parents asked about my TV. They had not seen a TV programme for months. I switched it on and found a cartoon programme for children.

All settled into the cartoon as they sipped their orange juice. We older ones decided on green tea with cake and so that later appeared on the table. I talked to the family about the boys going to school to learn German. They are still on a waiting list. I decided to give them some dictation.

I threw my Baby Laptop to the younger son and he opened it with no problem! The older one had my Windows Laptop and both started to type the text I spoke in German. I was surprised at how they reacted and it was clear to me that they needed to go to a school.

Next week I am going to talk to a couple of people 'in politics' about getting them into a school. They are clearly ready and I am curious as to why they have not been placed in a school.

Workshop and AGM

Yesterday was an ELTABB day. In case your memory is failing ELTABB means English Language Teachers' Association Berlin-Brandenburg. I co-founded it over 20 years ago and was honoured to be made its first Honorary Member two years ago.

The association is officially registered as a charity. This means we have to return membership payments via workshops and social events. We keep a working reserve, but we can't make big profits. Saturday started with a workshop about using mobile devices in the language classroom.

All new for me and I found it really interesting. Our guide was Nicky and she heads such a teaching company based in Spain. She is also a very experienced teacher so she brought lots of experience to the subject.

 I was pleased to hear that many 'Oldies' use such technology in the classroom when they are learning English. For example, four of my Monday Oldies use them!

After a warm vegetarian lunch, we started our AGM. I have always liked these annual meetings and listening to reports. We had a good year and managed to spend more on events that we took in. We had to do this because the year before we were building too high a surplus.

We said goodbye to the old Board and welcomed the now one. Actually, half of the old Board will be in the new one. Continuity is important. Here are a few photos of both events. You can see that I get up to other things apart from political meetings!

Visitors

I have visitors. F+ and his daughter P+ are here. This line was written to show F+ how I write this blog.  Later Post: They arrived at 9.45. What a time to visit on a Sunday morning! I usually open my mouth for tea and fruit bread at that time but never open my door!

We had problems to contact each other via phone earlier so that is why they came. It was their first visit. Can I hear you asking who they are? Yes, I can. The family of five lives in a refugee home in my district. I have posted about this before. I have unofficially 'adopted' them and am currently getting people in my circle of friends to help them.

They are father and mother with two teenage sons and a lovely daughter, who you can see is not a teenager. We collect clothes, school books and writing material for the children, and clothes and other things for the parents.

They have a phone with internet connection and the eldest son had tried to open a page which I suspect had a virus.  He asked if he could connect to my computer and try to remove it. I said no.  Fortunately, he knows a computer expert so I suggested he tried him first. The dangers of the internet if you do not have an anti-virus programme!

Snowing again

It's snowing again! The temperature also dropped to 3°C after a dry, windy start to the day. I even did a special wash of bedding. I managed to rescue them as the snow intensified. They are now hanging about in my flat to finish off drying.  I did this on my return from meeting the Camera Club Oldies.

They liked my six photos, particularly the one showing all the pipes. Two of them were mechanics so they had a lot to talk about. They are from Saxony so I always find it interesting to listen to their accents and vocabulary.

Talking of which, I am listening to a piece of music by my favourite composer. Yes, it is Herr van Beethoven. It was recorded last Saturday (13 Feb) at a concert to remember those killed in the bombing of Dresden on the 13th February 1945. I'm listening via my Wi-Fi radio to station MDR Figaro.

It's being broadcast from the Semperoper in Dresden. It was opened in 1841 and has 1,300 seats, all  sold out for this performance. The music is Beethoven's Missa solemnis Op. 123. It is a magnificent piece of music and the Sanctus Benedictus is an unbelievable blend of voices and violin way in front of its musical time. I turn to jelly whenever I hear it. Listen and judge for yourself.

Hochbetagter Menschen

I recently came across these words when reading an article. They still make me smile. Hochbetagt is an adjective and means 'elderly, aged, stricken in years.' My favourite is the last one. I wonder what someone would say if you greeted them with, 'I see you are stricken in years' :-)) Instead of saying Happy Birthday we could say 'Happy Stricken in Years Day'.

I note it is a week since I last posted. I like the two responses to my last post. Methinks the comment about my clothes and Marks and Spencer came from a certain gent with an abode in Sydney. I recognise the humour. Last Friday I went to Johanna's, as reported, but unfortunately my 'adopted family' did not turn up. I got an sms to say they had to attend a meeting at the refugee home. The Boss wanted to talk to them about helping each other.

We went ahead with our Kaffee und Kuchen meeting, but it was a pity the family was absent. A member of Kerstin's Fitness 'Strickens' has also adopted them and so is helping with German lessons and collection of clothes and books for the kids. Nice work Werner! On Saturday I wrote a text to be sent to 400 flats in the borough where I live. I was helped by the other person elected to represent our housing association members. It is being distributed over the next few days.

Yesterday I went to the AGM of my SPD Oldies (slightly and over stricken in years!). We started with coffee and large slices of fruit cake with whipped cream. We did everything  in just under 2 hours, which is not bad given that we had to get through 21 items on the agenda. I was again voted as one of two Beisitzern. That means I was voted onto the Committee. It is mainly made up of Officers, but there has to be two non-Officer members of the committee.

This afternoon I'm off to my Camera Club 'Strickens'. One of our current themes is round things and another is colours in winter. Here are two I shall be showing. What do you think? Any comments?

Memory Lane

How about these photos? They are part of a batch sent by nephew John in Cambridge. The one of me with 'The Full Beard' in an earlier post was part of his dispatch. He said he found them before last Christmas when he was sorting/cleaning out his attic.

When were they taken? The problem of memory and age :-(  I've just been rummaging through some of my papers and a few photos. I don't have many of them left. I destroyed most in January 2015 when I came home from hospital. Without such prompts, it is difficult to remember exactly when things took place.

I know where it is. They were taken in my flat in Vernon Terrace, Brighton, on the south-east  coast of England. I have no idea who took them. I think they must have been taken in summer 1986. At that time I was doing some research projects in north India. But then I was always in India during the summer months. I think they were taken at my birthday in May 1986 before I left for my first project based in Hapur. 

Note anything in common in the photos? Have another look. Yes, you found it. The answer is a glass :-)) Now that makes me wonder if Trish had visited and forced me to drink another Gin 'n Tonic! I hope so! But perhaps not for on staring at the bottle in the bottom photo I am sure it is a scotch bottle.

I've had a 'normal' week so far with some adventures involving my 'adopted' family of refugees. Taking them for coffee and cakes at Johanna's tomorrow afternoon. More of that in a later post 

Taal vitaal

This means: Essential Language. I told you in my last post that I picked up a book about potatoes when last in the Photoshop centre. It was not the only one I took home. How about this? I was very surprised to see it and thought about Jan and Arancha who live in the land of this language. In fact, Dutch is Jan's sixth language.

Don't ask me how he does it. He goes to lessons once a week provided by his company and said it is not hard to learn. He added that it is close to German. When I looked at this book I had to agree. When I visit friends in the Netherlands I am able to understand what they are talking about although I can't speak the language. The sounds made are close to German.

Let's just look at the first chapter in the book. It is about meeting/greeting people. The title is Dag! In German this is Tag as in Guten Tag. Then we find, Goedmorgen = Guten Morgen/ Goedemiddag = Guten Mittag/ Goedenavond = Guten Abend/ Goedenacht = Guten Nacht.

When we move to the very basic we find the verb zijn. In German this is sein. Say both out loud and they sound almost the same. We then find ik ben/ German = ich bin, je/jij bent and this is a mixture of English you + German bist. 3rd person singular is a great mix of English and German. Look at this: hij/ze/zij/het + is. This sounds like English he/she/it plus is. Moving to plural we find the same mix: we/wij zijn = we sind(are), jullie zijn = you sind(are), ze/zij zijn = they sind(are).

I think I'll find a Dutch/Netherland for beginner course. It certainly looks easier than Spanish! I'll explore the course book tomorrow and learn more when I am traveling to Hönow to visit Oldie H for coffee and cakes. I still have his netbook. He doesn't know what to so with it and neither do I ! 

Skinny Potatoes

I like this name. I always thought potatoes made you fat! I found this book on the 'Help Yourself' table last Friday when I met my Photoshop Gang. I was surprised to see the book for it is in English - actually the American variety. I put in my rucksack and spent some time this week browsing through the recipes.

The author correctly asks, "Why Skinny Potatoes?" on page 1. A good way to start. I smiled as I read a list of names for a potato. Do you know all these? 'spud','tater', 'tatie', 'tato'. They do not match the grand sounding French 'pomme de terre' = 'apple of the earth'.

The author claims the book "focuses upon the healthful (new word for me) properties of the potato and upon cooking methods, ingredients, and garnishes that retain the healthy and nutritious nature of the potato itself". Sounds good!

I have browsed through sections such as Appetizers, Soup, Stir-Fry, Baked with Toppings, Steamed, Salads, Grilled, Side Dishes. I think I will start with 'German Potato Pudding' and there is no meat in it. If successful, I shall invite a couple of Oldies round to sample my 'Spud' skills.

February 2016 Things

It's grey, raining and cold - in short, it is miserable! I'm glad to close the door on January. February looks much like other winter months in my diary. I teach my Oldies on Monday and Tuesday, then it's the Camera Club Oldies every second Wednesday. Thursday starts with my Oldie Breakfast Gang, Friday has Kerstin's Keep-Fit Oldies followed by Stefan and the Photoshop Gang.

My local SPD members meet on Wednesday next week to elect a new committee and officers. Looking forward to that for this year there are elections and we have to get ready for that. A week later I shall be with my SPD Oldies for coffee, cakes and the annual meeting. Yes, we have to elect a new committee. I am a member of the present one so I hope the Oldies vote me onto the new one.

On Saturday 20th, I'm going to the English Language Teachers' Association (ELTABB) AGM. I co-founded it more that 20 years ago and am now its first Hon.Member! It's nice to see new faces and catch up on news including future workshops.There is one before the AGM. It's called, 'Teaching with Mobile Devices'. I have no idea about this so I have registered.

I think I shall add a Photo of the Month to this post.  Here they are last summer in Berlin to attend a rather special wedding. This photo was taken outside Berlin Town Hall where the Registry Office ceremony took place. He also has a birthday - read on!

Who has a birthday in February?
My dearest and oldest friend Alan starts us off with his 73rd on the 3rd. He will no doubt celebrate with Lynne and the lines between Cas and Ozland will be busy! Jens W. in Berlin has his 46th on the 5th. We then jump to the 18th to wish my old boss, Dr. Pardon, all the best for her 68th. A certain lady called Eleonora will be 57 on the 22nd and in London Adrian B. will be 56 on the 25th. A gentleman near Melbourne called Peter will be 36 on the 28th and so ends our birthday month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EACH AND ALL NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE!!