Angela Merkel and her shoulders

As you may know, there is currently a "Euro crisis" right now that the major European powers are trying to fix. This article from the English version of Der Spiegel's website highlights a "showdown" between Merkel and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti before the EU summit in Brussels (I guess Berlusconi wasn't there anymore to offer his bunga-bunga parties as a solution? :P ).

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/berlin-rejects-demands-from-spain-and-italy-ahead-of-eu-summit-a-841487.html

The headline is "Merkel Gives Monti the Cold Shoulder." This reminds me of a certain video clip when Ms. Merkel had a run-in with a former president of my country...

Educational German Video! Did YOU know this??

So I've had some native German speakers (including my own mother) tell me that even they can't always tell the difference between "das selbe" and "das gleiche." Translated into English, they both mean "the same." Often, you can use them interchangeably and rarely will a native German speaker notice (or care). But if you're one of those people who actually wants to know the REAL difference between the two, here's a cute little video that's both educational and funny, and in pretty basic German, that explains it! My German teacher in Konstanz, Marina, had shown this to us.

Music Video - Nein Mann by Laserkraft 3D

I couldn't resist this one! Two years ago, I found this song at the top of the Austrian music charts, and it has been following me on my German adventures ever since. I played it once for my German class in the USA, and most of the Americans were bewildered that Germans/Austrians called this "music." (This is coming from a country where "Call Me Maybe" is currently the top reigning single...)

"Nein Mann" is actually a really good music video for those at an introductory German level. The people speak clearly and slowly, and the pictures help! And now, if I'm ever at a club and I'm the only one who doesn't want to leave, I'll know what to say...

By the way, there IS an English version out there...watch it at your own peril. I thought it was terrible :(

Interesting News Article - A Drunken Swan am Bodensee!

So I actually had a relatively un-German weekend, sadly! I missed the Germany vs. Greece game because my area had a pretty massive thunderstorm, and I was without power for almost two days! So I had to rely on ESPN SportCenter to see clips of the awesome goals Germany scored. I'm excited to see them play Italy on Thursday! (hopefully I will have power then...)

Anyway, since I plan to move to Konstanz in a few months, I like reading the online version of that region's newspaper, the Südkurier (I click on "Kreis Konstanz" to check up on the town), both to see what's going on and to keep up with my German. When I clicked on this morning, I found this article, under "Tierdrama," which literally means, "Animal Drama!"

Betrunkener Schwan taumelt im Bodensee

The title essentially means, "Drunken Swan Stumbles in the Bodensee." Just a heads up, the "Bodensee" might be known to the English-speaking world as "Lake Constance" or "Lake Konstanz," but that is what German speakers call it.

For those of you that don't understand German (or who didn't feel like running the article through Google Translate...sorry that the website doesn't offer an English version!), essentially a group of hooligans fed the swan bread bits dipped in alcohol, and the poor thing was stumbling around and causing everyone worry! Luckily it will be okay :)

Also, for those who don't speak German, or who just prefer reading things in English, this is a great website: it's called The Local, and it's an online English-language newspaper for Germany.

Happy reading!

Music Video - Halt dich an mir fest by Revolverheld

Remember how I said not all German music I knew was party music? Prime example right here! Here is a love song called "Halt dich an mir fest," which means "Hold on to me tight" or "Cling to me." It's a pretty basic music video, but Johannes Strate's and Marta Jandova's voices are quite good, and it's a pretty emotional song.

As one of the top commentators on the YouTube page says--and I wholeheartedly agree--this song proves that German isn't as harsh or angry-sounding as all of the movies and memes lead us to believe. It can actually be quite soft and beautiful.

More about Revolverheld here: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolverheld_(Band)
More about Marta here: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marta_Jandov%C3%A1

Euro 2012 - Greece vs. Germany today!

Who do you think I'm rooting for? :P

I'm actually not posting to talk about strategy, attempt-on-goal ratios, or anything like that for the game today. Not because I don't know anything about that stuff, but because I also am a New York Mets fan, and I know a thing or two about making predictions before a game starts and then jinxing my team! However, I am thoroughly psyched for the Deutsche Nationalmannschaft, and I always am in favor of the likes of Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez getting some screen time ;)

Here is a rather light-hearted article from Der Spiegel's online English edition about the various "animal oracles" that have been used--mostly for entertainment purposes--to predict the victors of various matches. Anyone remember the 2010 World Cup, when Paul the Octopus predicted that Germany would lose to Spain (and he was right?!) ? Well, according to Der Spiegel, there have been many attempts to replace him after he passed away.

If nothing else, click through the slideshow to see adorable animals next to a German flag.

Heads up: Yvonne the cow and the turtles thought Germany would lose to Denmark during the last match!

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/euro-2012-animal-oracles-chasing-legacy-of-paul-the-octopus-a-839971.html

Music Video - Disco Pogo by Die Atzen

So I figured something else I can do is share the music videos of various German/Austrian/Swiss songs that I know and/or like. I would  have to say more often than not, the German music in my iTunes consists mostly of (often silly) party music, but do not let that shape your opinion of all German music! At least I am not posting Heino :P If there are any songs YOU think people should see on here, write in the comments!

I thought it would be fitting that the first music video I post would be the song that this blog is named after, as well as one of the most popular party songs in the German-speaking world: Disco Pogo! I have studied abroad in both Germany and Austria, and I swear, this song was playing at every party and club, sometimes more than once in the night!

Picasa web album of my pictures from Konstanz

So I mention in my "About Me" section that I studied for five months in Konstanz, Germany. Those of you who are friends with me can see my Facebook photo albums, but for those of you who aren't, I also have a Picasa album online (these photos also appear in my Google+ profile) of pictures that I had shared with my parents while I was over there. Here it is!

Konstanz photos

Fußball Fails!

So as I've said previously, I get ProSieben/Sat.1 on my TV at home, and one show my mother and I particularly enjoy watching is "TV Total," hosted by Stefan Raab. For those of you unfamiliar with him and his show, think of a less self-deprecating German version of Conan O'Brien. He starts the show with a few minutes of stand-up, sometimes interacts with the audience and is assisted by a jolly German version of Andy Richter, and then holds an interview or two with a celebrity.

Anyway, I often post videos from the show that I find particularly funny (although I think the whole show is quite hilarious) on my Facebook page, but those that understand German enough to really get the humor are in the minority of my 700+ "friends." This video, however, has a few soccer bloopers (in honor of the Euro Cup 2012) that anyone can find funny. For those that don't understand German--or who just want to see people flip over in attempt to score a goal--skip to about 2:42

Follow the link!

http://tvtotal.prosieben.de/tvtotal/videos/player/index.html?contentId=132274&initialTab=related

Der Spiegel: Geschichte (1)

Every so often I'm fortunate to find an issue of Der Spiegel: Geschichte at an international newspaper and magazine store on the corner of E. 86th and 2nd Avenue. It's pretty pricey (around $10 or $11), but I get it to not only practice my reading comprehension, but since I plan to do a Masters in History conducted entirely in German, I also like to learn new history-related words. A lot of them are things I wouldn't normally come across in conversation, or even from watching the news (and you know how fancy the vocabulary of German news reports can be).


In my typical fashion, I'm going to share what I find interesting, and maybe you can learn something too! Any learner and lover of languages knows it's fun to discover new and fancy-sounding words, regardless of how often you actually use them in conversation!


Just as a side note, I use Leo, a very reliable online German-English/English-German dictionary for my translations.


I found these in the March 2012 issue which is all about Venice, or auf Deutsch, "Venedig."


der Kreuzzug - the crusade
die Zügellosigkeit - anarchy (literally, "loss of the reins")

verwirklicht - realized (as in, come to fruition)

urteilen - to deliver or render judgment

die Kriegslist - cunning ruse, stratagem (litereally, "war cunning" or "war craftiness")

aufstrebend - ambitious, aspiring, upcoming

überliefern - to hand or pass down

bedrohen - to threaten someone or something, to menace

der Söldnerführer - the mercenary leader

die Festlandspolitik - mainland policy

der Kitzel - the titillation

I found "der Kitzel" in an article about Casanova...natürlich!