Projekt: Von A bis Z (M)

14 more letters to go!  Today's letter is M.  All things M - blogged without a lot of editing - just words and cities and companies.  Can you think of any more to add?




Foods:  Mais (corn), Milch (milk), Melone (melon), Mandel (almond)

Animals:  die Maus (the mouse); das Murmeltier (the ground hog); der *Maulwurf (the mole)

*Maulwurf -- VOCAB TIDBIT:
Maul is the word used for an animal's mouth (as opposed to Mund, which is a human's mouth).  The verb werfen means "to throw" ... wurf is a shortened form of its present participle.  So the Maulwurf kind of means "mouth-throw" ... in other words a mole uses his mouth (nose - along with its paws) to throw (dirt) and tunnel.  

Common Names:  Maria, Marianne, Maximillian, Michael, Meike, Marta, Margarethe, Marga, Margret, Marion, Margot, Martin

Cities:  Mainz, Meersburg, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Michelstadt

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The "famous" city hall of Michelstadt in the Odenwald

Words you may recognize:  die Maschine (the machine), die Mayonnaise (the mayonaise), der Moment (the moment), das Museum (the museum)

verbs:  mieten (to rent), müssen (to have to; must), machen (to make), mahlen (to draw), **mamphen (to munch)

German brands/companies:  Mercedes (automobiles), Meissen (porcelain), Merck (pharmaceuticals), Miele (appliances), Montblanc (pens and luxury goods)

Tongue Twister with M: 
Mama mag morgens meistens Milch mit Marmelade **mampfen.

(Mommy likes in the morning mostly to munch on milk with marmalade)

Projekt: Von A bis Z (L)

Moving right along:  I am determined to finish this!

So far, I've blogged through A to K ... brain storming for words and phrases for each letter of the alphabet.  Can you think of any words I didn't?

 Today we are at L:

Foods:  Leber (liver); Limonade (Lemonade), Linsensuppe (lentil soup),

Animals:  der Loewe (the lion), das Lamm (the lamb), der Leopard (the leopard)

Common Names:  Ludwig, Leni (short for Helene), Liesl, Lorelei, Lorenz, Lothar, Lotte, Lieselotte, Luther, Lukas

Cities:  Lübeck, Ludwigshafen, Leipzig, Lindau

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The island of Lindau, on Lake Constance

Words you may recognize:  das Land (the land)

verbs:  lieben (to love), lernen (to learn), lehren (to teach)

German brands/companies:  Leica (cameras), Loewnbräu (beer), and Lufthansa (airplanes)

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Der Hodge-Podge (=Der Mischmasch)

I don't always "hodge-podge" each week - especially since this blog is more devoted to my more German side ... HOWEVER, I read question #1 on this week's HP & knew immediately that I must participate!  So, without further ado, join me, our hostess Joyce, and many more "friends" for Wednesday Hodgepodge.  (If you blog, join us - just c&p the weekly questions, answer them on your blog, and then link up.)

1. Growing up, were you close to your grandparents? Tell us one or two specific things you remember about them.

My mom's parents were my Oma and Opa.  After leaving Germany with my mom when I was almost 4 years old, as she married an American soldier, I got to come back to Germany EVERY SUMMER of my childhood to spend a few months with my Oma and Opa and other German relatives.  Without realizing it, I was retaining my German language skills, traveling all over Germany and Europe to places some people only dream about, and making fabulous memories that I now hold so dear (which inspired this blog!).  My very favorite day of every year growing up wasn't necessarily Christmas, it was the day I flew to Germany, knowing my grandparents would be waiting to pick me up at the Frankfurt airport "on the other side".

I could tell you 100,000 things about my grandparents, but since the HP is limited to two, I will narrow down my thoughts:

1.  My Opa was THE BEST story teller and book reader.  Many nights before bed or while we were wandering through a forest on a long hike, he would read or tell me a story - some made up and some from favorite books and fairy tales that we loved.  He also loved to tell jokes and anecdotes; his crystal blue eyes would sparkle as he laughed.  

2.  My Oma was a WONDERFUL cook.  She learned to cook pre-World-War-II so that she could help feed large East Prussian farm families in the area where she was from before she married and had to flee from the Russian army to Frankfurt in West Germany.  She made so many things from scratch, and I'd trade those meals for anything out of a box or mix or freezer in a heartbeat!!  

(My dad's parents lived on a farm in East Tennessee, near the KY/VA border ... they were sweet people too - and that grandma was a good country cook.  I loved them too, just didn't spend as much time with them as I did my German grandparents).  

2. What's an item you were attached to as a child? What happened to it?

I did (and still do) have a while, fuzzy blanket, twin-bed size, that was mine all through childhood.  It is still in my linen closet today.  While I didn't necessarily carry that blanket around, Linus-style, I did have it folded at the foot of my bed all through my childhood.

3. When you look out your window, do you see the forest or the trees (literally and figuratively)? Explain.

I see the trees ... I am a detail-oriented person; conversely, I don't always see the "big picture" (the forest) because I get caught up worrying about little things.  Thankfully, my husband is exactly the opposite of me.  Literally, I still just see a few trees when I look out my window since we live in the city and only have a 1/2 acre fenced-in lot.

4. Do you like sour candies? Which of the 'sour' foods listed below would you say is your favorite?

grapefruit, Greek yogurt, tart cherries, lemons, limes, sauerkraut, buttermilk, or kumquats 

Have you ever eaten a kumquat? What's your favorite dish containing one of the sour foods on the list?

I have never eaten a kumquat ... in fact, I don't think I've ever really seen one.  

From the list above, I think my favorite would be sauerkraut.  I shared a yummy, easy recipe for a crock-pot, feed-a-crowd sauerkraut recipe on my blog recently:

Old World Dinner

5. July 1st marked the mid point of 2017. In fifteen words or less, tell us how it's going so far.

Well, after 5 pretty painful, lean, hard-lesson-learning, financial-ruining, job-changing, new-state-living years, 2017 was going to be OUR YEAR!  And overall, it has been far more encouraging than discouraging:  a new vehicle, a new job for me, and a few other break-throughs after many a hard knock.
OOPS ... that was FAR MORE than 15 words.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Last week I got to spend an entire week with my family in lovely mid-Southern-ly Texas.  It was hot, hot, hot ... but the place where we stayed out in self-proclaimed Cowboy Country had an amazing pool and often we had it to ourselves.  We got to eat Tex-Mex and German food & take a lot of naps (me).

Projekt: Von A bis Z (K)

After a little break, I am ready to continue:

See June 2017's posts to catch up on A through J.  Today's letter is K.




Foods:  der Kakao (the cocoa); die Kokusnuss (the coconut), die Kirschen (cherries), der Kuchen (the cake), der Kaffee (coffee), das Kotlett (the chop/cut of meat)

Animals:  die Katze (the cat); der Kater (the tom cat), das Känguruh (the kangaroo), der Koalabär (the koala bear)

Common Names:  Katerina, Karin, Käthe, Katja, Karl, Kurt

Cities:  Karlsbad, Köln (Cologne), Kassel, Kaiserslautern

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Herkules Monument - water sculpture/art, Kassel

Words you may recognize:  der Kaktus (cactus), der Kapitän (the captain)

verbs:  kratzen (to scratch), kochen (to cook), knudeln (to cuddle)

German brands/companies:  Knorr (food)

Urlaub Thoughts:

My family and I were just on a week of vacation - Urlaub in German ...

The word Urlaub made my mind wander a little down a rabbit trail:

In English, we use the word vacation as our time off work or school ... school children might get a "break" - like a Christmas Break or a Spring Break - but in the summer time, it is VACATION (not that you couldn't say summer BREAK, but not so much).  A vacation is when we have time off from our jobs or school or responsibilities.

In German, there is also the word Ferien.  

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Ferien - in my opinion - coincides better with the British use of "holiday" ... Schulferien are school holidays - Winterferien, Weihnachtsferien (Christmas break), Sommerferien, etc. 

However, when one in on vacation (Urlaub), you might stay at a Ferienwohnung (holiday/vacation apartment/home).  

When I googled the differences between Urlaub and Ferien, I came across an interesting origin for the word Urlaub:  it may have derived from the German verb erLAUBen (to allow).   It kind of implies that someone (an employer or your school administration) ALLOWS you to have a vacation.  

To make things even more interesting, there is also the German word Feier ... not to be confused with Ferien.  A Feier is a party or a celebration or fete ... but a Feiertag is a holiday - a day off work and school like a federal holiday in the United States.  Feierabend (Abend=evening) is the end of the work day.  It's time to go home and rest.  It is the end of the Arbeitstag (work day) ... sometimes when colleagues leave their job site, they might say goodbye by simply saying, "Feierabend!" It can also be said sarcastically when a job goes downhill and you want to quit:  "Na, dann, Feierabend."  It is kind of like saying, "I give up."  

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And this is the end of my Arbeit (work) on this blog post ... as well as the end of my Urlaub (vacation).  And so I say, "Feierabend!"  

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We Interrupt This Blog ...

By the way, I AM ON VACATION with my family this week - 

Terrible internet connection at our vacation apartment = blogging break / social media break.

It's a good thing!!

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Independence Day - from a German-American Perspective

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I don't know the whole history of Germany and American's friendship to tell it accurately, but I do know that after World War II, the American military had a great presence in Germany first as an occupation force, then as a rebuilding support, and now as an ally.  My dad was stationed in Frankfurt in the early 1970s, which is when he met my German mother.   My husband was stationed in Würzburg with the US Army for 3 years from 1995 to 1999, where we spent 3 wonderful years enjoying life in Germany as Americans.  

German-American friendship fests are often celebrated around military bases in Germany - and there is even a German-American Friendship Garden in Washington DC.  Wikipedia provides more information about:

The German-American Friendship Garden in Washington, DC stands as a symbol of the positive and cooperative relations between the United States of America and the **Federal Republic of Germany.

Situated on the historic axis between the White House and the Washington Monument on the National Mall, the garden borders Constitution Avenue between 15th and 17th Streets, where an estimated seven million visitors pass each year. The garden features plants native to both Germany and the United States and provides seating and cooling fountains.

**the Federal Republic of Germany refers to West Germany, which at the time of the Garden's placement was still separated from Eastern Germany (German Democratic Republic).  Germany was unified (facilitated by President Ronald Reagan, among others) in October of 1990.  

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Commissioned to commemorate the 300th anniversary of German immigration to America, the garden was dedicated on November 15, 1988

As noted by President Ronald Reagan, who created the Presidential Commission to complete work on the project after a 1982 visit to Washington by German Chancellor *Helmut Kohl,

"..I'm proud to announce a product of that commission: the dedication of a garden here in Washington as a symbol of the friendship between our two countries. In a few months, I'll be leaving the White House, but the garden, and all it represents, will remain, to be nurtured and sustained by the friendship between Germans and Americans..."

*Chancellor Helmut Kohl just recently passed away on June 16, 2017, at the age of 87.  

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As a German-American, I am proud of my heritage(s) ... and I wish everyone a HAPPY 4th of July - in German-American Friendship-style!

Das Wort zum Sonntag / A Word for Sunday: 1.Juli.2017

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Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.  
Psalm 74:17