I grew up in a German city with a number of big breweries. Their names mean nothing over here, and one got torn down when I was in my early twenties. I don’t remember what happened. It seems they merged with a brewery downtown. A specific area always also had that peculiar smell that goes […]
Across the Fence
Across the Fence: Umlaut
Hardly anything is as conspicuous in the written German language as what is even named the German way in the English language: the umlaut (pronounce ‘oomm-lout, meaning changed sound). Indeed, these are a, o, and u topped with two horizontal dots such as in ä, ö, and ü. Apparently, they are not easy to pronounce […]
Across the Fence: Volksmusik
Submitted by Susanne Bacon. Whenever I come across a German festival, store, or restaurant over here, I encounter one thing that – I have to admit this much – makes me slightly cringe. It’s a phenomenon with traditionally Southern German, respectively Alpine roots. But I am not sure how many Germans my age are really […]
Across the Fence: Doppelgänger
Have you ever been told, “I know you from somewhere. Your face is so familiar”? Maybe even followed by the name of a place? If so, you may have wondered whether there is a true, physical doppelgänger of yours, a person who is your look-alike. I keep joking that I have a face in a […]
Across the Fence: Biergarten
As it is getting warmer, a lot of German-speaking Europeans will flock to a type of restaurant typical for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. They are open-air, rustic, and cozy. And, of course, you have heard about them, as the German term “Biergarten” has made it into the English language with pretty much the same pronunciation. […]
Across the Fence: Wanderlust
Submitted by Susanne Bacon. A while ago, at one of my book signings at the Steilacoom Historical Museum, a gentleman asked me whether I could write more about German topics sometimes. I racked my brain because – as many of you know – I used to write the column “Home from Home” for quite a […]
Across the Fence: Inspiration and Creation
What a daunting title for this article, isn’t it? Yet, we all have got them in ourselves, inspiration as well as creation. Sometimes, the two just don’t necessarily come together. Why is that? Take a Frenchman named Marcel Proust. He was inspired by the word Madeleine – the biscuits, mind, not a girl. He could […]
Across the Fence: Punctuation ad Absurdum
English is my second language, as you all know by now. And some may have realized that mine is a mix of British and American vocabulary. Go figure! My teachers back in the day taught us German students British English with as much of an RP accent as possible. Most of them were good teachers. […]
Across the Fence: A Mighty Podcast
Do you like books? And do you like listening to podcasts? Then this one might be exactly the thing for you: “Mighty Books” is a podcast on YouTube and Spotify in which Ryan Oliver interviews authors about their books. Ryan is an author himself, and I have been one of his interview partners last year. […]