Tootling Around on Reddit — Shashlik in Hand
Memories of Christmas Markets, Our Landlord, and Living in Germany
I like to tootle around on Reddit. This morning, I discovered the sub-Reddit r/Germany, which sounded interesting. It started off with a shish kabob at the Nürnberg Christkindlesmarkt, which is the Christmas market. The person asking the question had added a picture, so there was something to talk about, and asked what it was. They’d had this food six years previously and could not remember what it was called for the life of them. It’s shashlik in German.
What was interesting about this whole post was all the people on Reddit who almost got into fisticuffs about exactly what this food was. The dispute was between Shashlik and currywurst. I was reminded, much as I loved our time in Germany and pretty much all of the Germans I knew, that a saying used to bounce around, “All Germans were traffic cops.”
I had to laugh because that was what seemed to happen in this innocent enough post. I went on to read a few other posts in the subreddit, just in case the responses in the Shashlik post were an anomaly. Still, it kept cropping up whether someone was talking about missed train connections to which towns would be the most open-minded about foreigners.
I just had to laugh. It didn’t seem that they were aware of how they sounded. They were right, and this was wrong — two polar sides. We are right, and you are wrong.
We lived in Munich (where they make BMWs) and later in Stuttgart (where they make Porsches and Mercedes). These are different regions in Germany, a country about the size of Montana. Anyway, the folk in Southern Germany, where Munich is, are traditionally seen as laid back, off-hand, sometimes lazy, and friendlier than folks up north. The folk in Munich considered people living in Stuttgart to be industrious money grubbers and not as friendly as themselves. It was nothing anybody took too seriously. It’s just that they poked fun at each other.
There was a little rhyme Dennis, and our landlord would say to each other when Dennis would leave the house to go to work. I thought it illustrated this concept perfectly, but he told me I was wrong both about the hillbilly thing and about the song. In any case, here it is in German and translated into English. Dennis told me you could translate it into rhyming English, but he just didn’t have time. In any case, I appreciate his efforts.
The rhyme is written in Schwabish, which is a German dialect from Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, where we lived. Our landlord would say the first two lines as Dennis headed for the car to go to work, and Dennis would complete the rhyme. It was something they did every morning.
Schaffe, schaffe, Häusle baue, und nit nach de Mädle schaue, und wenn unser Häusle steht, da gibt’s noch keine Ruh’, denn dann sparen wir, dann sparen wir für ‘ne Ziege und ‘ne Kuh.
Work, work, build that house, And don’t be looking at the girls. And when your house stands at last, You still won’t find any rest. Then we’ll have to save and save To buy a goat and cow.
Dennis told me the bit I was interested in was a part of a much longer song. He told me everybody (thinking in terms of Germans) knew about it and could sing it. I’d have to ask somebody German if that is right.
Everybody in Germany understands the acceptable form of standardized German called Hoch Deutsch or High German. The dialects are scattered about. Evidently, in Munich, almost everybody speaks the Hoch Deutsch and not Bavarian, the dialect in that region, though they would understand it.
I can remember when we’d leave a beer hall or our beloved Blue Room in Munich, Dennis said, “Packmass!” which in Bavarian means let’s do it or let’s go. I always thought it meant, “Let’s get out of here.” He’d also tell me to, “Sauf aus Frau” which I took to mean, “Drink up, woman”. Yes, yes, I understand that is not really acceptable and polite behavior in a modern courtship. What can I say? I go for cavemen.
In any case, it was fun, and writing about this brought back memories of a happy time in our lives.
The Links From Reddit: Can Anyone Name this Christmas Food? The full text of Schaffe, schaffe, Häusle baue YouTube rendition — This is good beer hall music, folks!