Thursday, October 13, 2011

Die gemeinsame Sprache?!

Oh, dear little blog, I have neglected you! I just realized its been almost two weeks since my last posting!
Where to start off? Well, first off, I have internet and a residency permit!! Woo hoo!
I hate to admit it, but life without internet was getting kind of old. And I really hate admitting how much I rely on the internet--granted, its nice to be without it on vacation when you're traveling and can 'unplug' for a few days. But when you're trying to apply for jobs, work on your dissertation and find your way around a new city--not to mention stay in touch with your loved ones back home--you start to realize how much you do, in fact, use and rely on the internet.
So, when this past Monday rolled around and the A1 tech guy (A1 is just a server, like Verizon) showed up on my doorstep, I had to hold myself back from hugging him or jumping for joy. I think he could sense my excitement as I hovered over him while he installed my modem, because he asked me how long I had been without internet...heheh.
So we start to chit chat and he asked me where I was from, which brings me to an interesting topic. I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that no matter how I hard I try, people immediately can tell that I am 'not from here'. Now, see, this whole process is taking a bit of humility on my part because I am one of those people who like to try to 'fit in' and appear as inconspicuous as possible when abroad. I hate being that foreigner who sticks out like a sore thumb. (I can hear Greg right now telling me to get over myself and own up to it...) But here's the thing--when I have traveled or lived in Germany in the past, it might have taken a little while, but gradually I start to settle in and feel as if I belong. I re-adapt to the way of living, the habits, the styles and fully immerse myself again in the language. Especially the language--I've always felt confident that even if I do screw up my articles or endings once in a while, I can at least manage to speak German sounding like a German. And that is what always made me most feel like I fit in. In a way, speaking German in Germany always takes on a little feeling of "coming back home" or at least to a place that was once home.
Not so much in Austria! That's where the catch is to all this. I am settling, adapting to habits, checking out styles... but try as I might, the moment I open my mouth, I 'out' myself as "someone not from here." And then it gets kind of comical, like with the A1 internet guy. So he asks me where I am from and I answer the U.S. He then blankly stares at me. That was apparently not the answer he was expecting. So he asks me where I learned German and I said in Germany, where I lived for five years growing up. Ah, that explains it, he answers, and proceeds to tell me that I do, indeed, sound very German. That's not to say I speak flawless German, but that I speak it with a German accent, not an Austrian. Very similar, I guess, when we Americans hear English spoken by the British, Irish or Australians. I suppose, too, that I should take that as a compliment in its own right and get over the fact that I probably won't end up sounding Viennese (as my friends Jason and Wendy have managed to do!) anytime soon...But then I wonder, do people regard me more as an American speaking German or a German from America?! And even more interesting---what, in the eyes of the Austrians, would be more favorable?!
Anyway in the long run, this is definitely a much more rewarding experience in the sense that I truly do feel like I am in a foreign culture all over again, despite all the similarities to Germany that do actually exist! There is something exciting, exhilarating and incredibly humbling about encountering new cultures and feeling very foreign. But here, the things I am coming across are much more subtle, and perhaps ever more so intriguing and surprising (for fellow Germanist grad dorks--unheimlich heimlich?!).

So anyway, there is a saying here that goes the biggest difference between the Austrians and the Germans is their common language, and I think that pretty much sums up this whole scenario.

I am thinking about starting a vocab notebook including these words:
Never say "Tüte." Its always "Sackerl." (Tüte is supposedly THE word that is a dead give-away. Unfortunately for me, I haven't really mastered pronouncing the "erl" ending.)
Kartoffeln are "Erdäpfel," which some how makes more sense and speaks to the part of me that also enjoys the German words "Fingerhut" and "Stinktier"
Ba-Ba is not baby talk... it means good-bye in an informal setting
Grüß Gott is a standard greeting, regardless of your religious faith
Those searching for "Sahne" in the grocery store are outta luck...after a process of elimination, I determined that "Schlagobers" had to be what I was looking for instead
And to simplify things, my friend Verena, a German also perplexed by some of these cultural differences, told me that a "Sessel" is pretty much used as a blanket term for anything you can set your tush on.

My favorite Austrian word so far though is "Schmäh" which I am still trying to figure out. I am not exactly sure I have seen "Schmäh" being performed or not, but I hope I get to experience it at some point. It might help with dealing with bureaucrats... which I will really have to post about in my next entry. The MA 35 experience will then be fully disclosed--with all the sweat and tears it involved. Quite literally. Enough of a cliff-hanger?

with love from Vienna,
T.

3 comments:

  1. Silly Tessa, there's no shame in speaking German with a German accent! Hehe.

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  2. I was lucky--my German professor was actually Austrian. Innsbruck. But still Austrian.

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  3. Just caught up on your recent blog. Sounds like you're having a great time there. Let's Skype sometime. I still want to see pictures of your apartment!

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