Trip to Germany

Martin wrote:

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:56:03 -0400, Cathy L wrote:



The people we met are Germany were not "unfriendly" to us in any way.
We just get a kick out of when my husband would smile and say good
morning to someone we encountered while walking down a street, they
were rarely respond in any way.


If that happened to you in Bavaria too, it must be a personal problem . Maybe
you were mistaken for pickpockets? Maybe the people weren't German.
Of course if you smile and say good morning to everybody in a busy shopping
street you might be mistaken for idiots or a candid camera crew. When you sat
down at a table with strangers in a restaurant or a bar, did they speak to you
or ignore you?

Maybe the people they greeted didn't speak English? (It WAS
Germany, after all!) ;-)

Martin wrote:

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:10:09 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:



Martin wrote:


On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:56:03 -0400, Cathy L wrote:




The people we met are Germany were not "unfriendly" to us in any way.
We just get a kick out of when my husband would smile and say good
morning to someone we encountered while walking down a street, they
were rarely respond in any way.


If that happened to you in Bavaria too, it must be a personal problem . Maybe
you were mistaken for pickpockets? Maybe the people weren't German.
Of course if you smile and say good morning to everybody in a busy shopping
street you might be mistaken for idiots or a candid camera crew. When you sat
down at a table with strangers in a restaurant or a bar, did they speak to you
or ignore you?

Maybe the people they greeted didn't speak English? (It WAS
Germany, after all!) ;-)


Normally they greet you first and plenty of Germans speak English.

"Plenty" of citizens in almost ANY European country speak
some English - But it's strange how easily they forget it,
when accosted by arrogant Ameircan tourists who address them
in English without even bothering to learn the basic
pleasantries in the "official" language of the country!

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:


"Plenty" of citizens in almost ANY European country speak some English -
But it's strange how easily they forget it, when accosted by arrogant
Ameircan tourists who address them in English without even bothering to
learn the basic pleasantries in the "official" language of the country!

But we don't know whether they actually said 'good morning' or 'guten
morgen'.

S Viemeister:
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:


"Plenty" of citizens in almost ANY European country speak some English -
But it's strange how easily they forget it, when accosted by arrogant
Ameircan tourists who address them in English without even bothering to
learn the basic pleasantries in the "official" language of the country!

But we don't know whether they actually said 'good morning' or 'guten
morgen'.

In several parts of Germany, you simply won't know.
They grumble something like "Moin..." and you're supposed to do the same,
only slightly acknowledging the other person's presence. Once you master
that, they won't even notice that you're a foreigner.

--
Erick

Erick T. Barkhuis wrote:
S Viemeister:

But we don't know whether they actually said 'good morning' or
'guten morgen'.

In several parts of Germany, you simply won't know.
They grumble something like "Moin..." and you're supposed to do the
same, only slightly acknowledging the other person's presence. Once
you master that, they won't even notice that you're a foreigner.

It is very important to differentiate between "Moin!", "Tach!" and
"Grias God!" areas. If you will use the wrong salutation (i. e. not
the local but one of the neighbour=hostile tribes), you will have
lost. For your own safety, it is highly recommended to leave the
particular area immediately after an inexcusable cultural faux pas
like that.

Jens

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:05:13 -0400, S Viemeister wrote:

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:


"Plenty" of citizens in almost ANY European country speak some
English -
But it's strange how easily they forget it, when accosted by arrogant
Ameircan tourists who address them in English without even bothering to
learn the basic pleasantries in the "official" language of the country!

But we don't know whether they actually said 'good morning' or 'guten
morgen'.

or guten abend in the morning.
--

Or the USian trying hard - but in Holland as once heard!

Surreyman

"Jens Arne Maennig" wrote in message
...
Erick T. Barkhuis wrote:
S Viemeister:

But we don't know whether they actually said 'good morning' or
'guten morgen'.

In several parts of Germany, you simply won't know.
They grumble something like "Moin..." and you're supposed to do the
same, only slightly acknowledging the other person's presence. Once
you master that, they won't even notice that you're a foreigner.

It is very important to differentiate between "Moin!", "Tach!" and
"Grias God!" areas. If you will use the wrong salutation (i. e. not

My friend used to say Gruss Gott to everyone, despite the
fact that he knew it was wrong in most parts of the country.

He claimed that it emphasised the fact that he was a foreigner.

Tim

tim..... wrote:
My friend used to say Gruss Gott to everyone, despite the
fact that he knew it was wrong in most parts of the country.

He claimed that it emphasised the fact that he was a foreigner.

I used to do that in the former GDR. I was young and I needed the
attention.

Jens

"Jens Arne Maennig" kirjoitti
...
tim..... wrote:
My friend used to say Gruss Gott to everyone, despite the
fact that he knew it was wrong in most parts of the country.

He claimed that it emphasised the fact that he was a foreigner.

I used to do that in the former GDR. I was young and I needed the
attention.

What attention?

On 2 Oct 2007 18:41:11 GMT, Jens Arne Maennig
wrote:

Fishkill Bill wrote:

Here are the places we visited:

Heidelberg-Bacharacher

Bacharach
-Cologne

Köln
-Bremen-Hamburg-Wittenburg

Wittenberg
-Berlin-Potsdam-Dresden-Nuremberg

Nürnberg
-Rothenburg-Nordlington

Nördlingen
-Neuschwanstein-Munich

München
-Oberommergau

Oberammergau
-Peiting-Donauworth

Donauwörth
-Nordlington

We had that one before.
-Dinkelsbuhl

Dinkelsbühl
-Anbach

Ansbach
-Nurmberg

Remember Nürnberg?
-Bamberg-Schonbrunn

Schönbrunn
-Burgebrach-Werzburg

Würzburg
-Schwinberg

Schweinberg (Why would anybody visit Schweinberg, BTW? Since they
where building a bypass in the 70s, I never had this idea.)
-Tausberbeschofsheim

Tauberbischofsheim
-Rottingen

Röttingen
-Creglingen-Heilbrann

Heilbronn
-Dieburg-Dormstadt

Darmstadt
-Buttelborn

Büttelborn
-Grob-Gerau

Groß-Gerau
-Frankfurt.

We would have to say the cities are quite unimpressive.

Unlike these cities, your orthography is very impressive.

Jens

Sorry, I don't really get your point.

Cathy