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 Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 6:40 pm
WellzY That's Sean Biggerstaff, from the first Harry Potter movie. He's adorable. heart Yes, he is!! 3nodding
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Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 6:46 pm
Hawk_McKrakken Might be the oddball of the bunch, I dunno. A friend of mine went to do missionary work in Europe and said that when she was in Germany, she asked for a glass of just ice at a restaurant. The person just looked disgusted and slammed the glass of ice down in front of her. She left the restaurant with the ice, chewing on some, and some random lady came up to her and scolded her about how "bad" it was. stare I'm still trying to decide if this custom is weirder than how they never fail to shut a door behind themselves or anyone else who leaves one open. xp Forget to shut a door and at least ten Germans will stand up to shut it after you. Actually I live in Germany and I don't think that my friend who loves chewing on ice is an oddball. But yes, it does sound a bit strange to order a glass of ice,I don't really think that it's very common in the US, is it? You guys have those nice beverage spender thingies at fast food restaurants which we normally don't have. At some Kentucky Fried Chickens or McDonald's they do though. With those there's usually ice spenders as well. About shutting the door, there is a saying here: "Du bist wohl in der U-Bahn geboren." People say that when you forget to shut the door. It basically means that you were born in an Underground because there the doors shut by theirselves. I never really realized that shutting the door was such a big deal...
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Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 11:12 pm
In Australia at least, my father used to say "Where you born in a tent?" whenever I left a door open. sweatdrop
Eventually I just started yes, "Yes, of course I was born in a tent!"
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 6:44 am
what I don't like is when you order water in Germany, they give you bottled sparkling water. Majority of german population drinks sparkling water... That's why I always ask for tap water by default.
And no, water isn't ever flavoured in Germany. It's always water from natural sources. Of course every water tastes different but there isn't any additional flavour in it...
I guess they serve you bottled water because
a) you have to pay for it - you don't pay for tap water
b) people think tap water isn't clean
although that is just my personal guess.
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 9:36 am
In most restaurants, you even have to pay for the bread on the table.
They also have some pretty annoying store systems. Not only do they all close on Sundays, but unless you're willing to pay for grocery bags, you'd better bring your own. xp
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 2:48 pm
I just had to take this opportunity to announce my love for the bread in restaurants. I hardly eat bread otherwise. But I go into a restaurant? Hide the sourdough bread D<. And Hawk, your signature rocks my face.
Well, I contributed nothing to this discussion. @_@ I'M RUSTY HERE.
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 10:28 pm
cucoriedka I guess they serve you bottled water because a) you have to pay for it - you don't pay for tap water b) people think tap water isn't clean although that is just my personal guess. I'd be willing to pay for tap-water, if they weren't willing to give it to me otherwise. I just really, really, really hate bottled water. And there's nothing dirty about tap water, unless it's brown and/or clowdy. neutral Hawk -- Are you talking about Germany? It's always better to bring your own re-usable bags, rather then plastic ones. Such a law should be introduced wherever possible.
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 10:41 pm
WellzY cucoriedka I guess they serve you bottled water because a) you have to pay for it - you don't pay for tap water b) people think tap water isn't clean although that is just my personal guess. I'd be willing to pay for tap-water, if they weren't willing to give it to me otherwise. I just really, really, really hate bottled water. And there's nothing dirty about tap water, unless it's brown and/or clowdy. neutral Hawk -- Are you talking about Germany? It's always better to bring your own re-usable bags, rather then plastic ones. Such a law should be introduced wherever possible. In regards to what... plastic bags being a waste of our plastic resources or just being an annoyance to have millions of those things (most of which having holes in them) cluttered around the house...? stressed In that case, I'm inclined to agree.
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 11:21 pm
Hawk_McKrakken In regards to what... plastic bags being a waste of our plastic resources or just being an annoyance to have millions of those things (most of which having holes in them) cluttered around the house...? stressed In that case, I'm inclined to agree. I'm talking about environmental factors. neutral It doesn't surprise me Germany has such measures, given that the Green Party just shaired a coalition in Parliament before the last election.
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Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 2:16 am
And yet they're one of the only countries who've flat refused to adopt the no-smoking in restaurants policy. stare
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Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:39 am
Hawk_McKrakken And yet they're one of the only countries who've flat refused to adopt the no-smoking in restaurants policy. stare Personal smoking has far less to do with the environment than plastic bags. BUT YES! That's pretty ew. neutral
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Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:12 am
Okay, I'm slightly confused and very scared. XD
The cases issue - are they ALWAYS used? Do you have to analyze your sentence to say it correctly? eek I can handle that in Arabic, but they don't do it all the time, just when they're trying to be formal. How can you talk like that all the time? :O
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Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:25 am
Though my German is still pretty poor, I'm guessing that you do have to be considerate of them all the time. However, you might be able to get away without using it all the time, and still be understood.
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Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:39 am
WellzY Though my German is still pretty poor, I'm guessing that you do have to be considerate of them all the time. However, you might be able to get away without using it all the time, and still be understood. How very insane of people to do something like that. I guess you get used to it. But, well, meh.
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Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:49 am
Well at least there's only 5 forms, and they remain fairly regular and logical. But I guess it's just why in English, we did away with them almost completely.
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