The Complexities of German

Tag Dear Reader,

Today I have discovered just how complicated the Bodensee area and the German language truly are. Despite all three bordering countries - Germany, Switzerland and Austria - speaking the same language, the difference in dialects (roughly five in total) is that little bit overwhelming, but I am slowly beginning to be able to differentiate between them all...

In a workshop today, I was faced with all five of these local dialects:

• Hochdeutsch - lit. High German - this is the standard German which all German-speaking children (including those in Switzerland and Austria) have to learn at school. It is formed from the written German and is also what I am attempting to communicate in!
• Schweizerdeutsch (Schwyzerdütsch) - Swiss German
• Österreichisches Deutsch - Austrian German
• Badisch - this dialect originates in the Baden area which covers Konstanz, and forms the Western side of the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg.
• Schwäbisch - Swabian - this dialect comes from a region called Swabia, which covers a lot of Baden-Württemberg, including Stuttgart (the capital city of Baden-Württemberg).

I am, now, completely shattered but thoroughly enjoyed my workshop on conflict management. I also received the highest compliment I have ever been paid from a German-speaking person: that I didn't sound English and she couldn't place me in the world!

Schweinshaxen

Gueten Abig Dear Reader

In a desperate attempt not to let my blog turn into an episode of German themed Masterchef, I have been trying to starve off the urge to write another foodie blog until something else had come along and could be served up instead. As you will be able to tell, I lasted just two days before deciding that a truthful capturing of my year abroad would be incomplete without sufficient reference to Haxe "satt" Mondays at Joh Albrecht (for those that are worried about my purse strings and that I might be getting set in my ways, I have now attended all of their special offer days and once otherwise, so I feel I now have had my fair share, at least for now - next step will be cooking the Germanesque food myself...)

Schweinshaxen are pig's knuckles and they are somewhat of a delicacy around here, with a lot of meat covering them and plenty of delicious crackling. They taste simply marvellous, and the first arrived at the table, filling the entire plate as the picture shows:

Served alongside the Haxe was a Kartoffelklößen, which is a potato dumpling ball, and Sauerkraut, pickled cabbage - both adding to the proper (and quite stereotypical, I'll accept) ambiance that was provided by having this meal in a working brewery. I only discovered that they brewed the beer themselves on this, my third visit, as I went down into the cellar to discover all the beer brewing vats, much to my surprise.

Now the entire feast does not stop at just one plateful: one of the translations of "satt" into English is 'enough' or 'full up'. Sorry vegetarians, this was a meat fest affair to test the carnivorous manliness of each that accepted the challenge. No sooner had one finished the first mountain, sorry plateful, of Schweinshaxe, than a smiley waitress would appear asking whether you would like another Haxe with all the trimmings. Thankfully the second (and third...) are substantially smaller than the original portion; despite this I managed only the original and half of a smaller Haxe, unlike my beer-loving American friend, who made his way through an impressive three, before finally declaring defeat in a sea of meat sweats!

I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a hearty beer wench quite yet...

Ersti

Salve Dear Reader,

Today marks the end of my first official week at the Universität Konstanz as an Ersti (Fresher). Having spent the week attending Einführungs-Vorlesungen (Introductory Lectures), I am beginning to feel like a proper student again. However, rather than having the usual confusion due to the content of the lecture, it was the expected language barrier which posed the obvious problem. Add to the tiring nature of trying to constantly translate to make sense of what is being said, is the fact that German lectures are usually 1½hours long and these introductory lectures pushed on towards 4hours each (the Pause – break – was a blissful relief half way through, especially for us international students!).  Plus if you are a bear of little brain like myself, trying to make notes that make any form of sense (in either German or English) adds an even greater dimension of confusion to the whole situation. However, I am happy that it will get easier as the term goes on, as it takes a while to adjust to the accent/dialect of each speaker, but it was getting easier towards the end of the week. We’ll have to wait and see what next week brings with the proper beginning of term, and with it the start of lectures and classes…

Pottering around the Altstadt

Guadnōchd Dear Reader,

Today I decided to go exploring in Niederburg, the oldest Stadtteil of Konstanz, going north from the Münster to the Rhine River. The town planning department has put an almost ring-road around this area as their bus route, stretching right across the pedestrian zones of the square of the Münster through the shopping streets towards the Bahnhof (train station) and southwards as well. The lack of traffic in Niederburg makes this area eerily quiet, as all travel can only be achieved by foot. According to my guide book, at some point I may also have wandered past Kloster Zoffingen, which is a working Dominican convent dating from 13th century, and the last one remaining in Konstanz - the town having been heavily involved in Catholic history. Niederburg is remarkably less crowded than a lot of the rest of Konstanz south of the Rhine, but is, sadly, rather tiny. It turns out I've managed to walk through it all on multiple occasions without realising (probably because it was dark), as well as it only being a few streets big! My aim to lose myself in Konstanz for an hour or so appears unachievable in a town where you can walk everywhere within 30minutes or so...I ended up walking from one end of the Altstadt (most of the southern side of the Rhine) without really realising how far I was going!

I also ventured over to see Imperia and the Konzilgebäude on the waterfront promenade by the habour, which is one of my favourite places in Konstanz. Looking over the Bodensee is so relaxing and beautiful, no matter what sort of day you are having, and I am slowly building up a knowledge of pretty spots to go to. Unfortunately my camera has so far not been able to do justice to the view, so enjoy this picture of the Konzilgebäude (more information on the Imperia blog post) instead, as I've not yet posted one yet:

Schnitzel

'N Ᾱmd Dear Reader,

Last night I sampled one of the stereotypical German-speaking-world delicacies – the humble schnitzel. We went as a large group to Joh Albrecht (yes, the same place as last week) to attend their “Schitzelparade” (schnitzel parade). In my head I had images of schnitzels walking along the table, waiting for us to spear our chosen schnitzel – I think the illness may have given me a more wild imagination! Luckily it was more humane than this, with a huge list of different schnitzel toppings and accompaniments from which to order. The schnitzel is like an escalope, usually made of veal in Austria, although we had the pork version, which is then breaded and fried up.

I selected the Kupfenbierschnitzel, which is a normal schnitzel topped with a beer sauce, Speck (bacon), roast onions and Bratkartoffeln (a special form of fried potato). It was delicious and the sauce was rich and not as  beer-y as it might have been, with ‘proper’ potatoes done in an animal fat giving them a much better flavour, as well as ‘proper’ pieces of bacon, unlike the usual little diced variety that you normally get here…yum yum yum!

As in all these situations, looking at other people’s schnitzel selections meant you wondered whether you should have ordered them instead. I think I shall have to return to try some of the other varieties, including a Braumeisterschnitzel, which had a malt crust rather than the normal bread crumbs, or the typical “Weiner Art” (Vienna style) schnitzel, which is the original in all its glory. Suffice to say no one talked for a good 20-30minutes while we all savoured our respective schnitzels (or Rosti for the vegetarian) – the universal mark of a good meal!

Here is a picture of my yummy schnitzel:

Spätzle und Strudel

Grüezi Dear Reader!

This weekend my mother came to visit me in Konstanz, and we happily munched our way through various different delicacies from the surrounding region.

Our food-fest began with trying Spätzle, which is thought to be a Swabian speciality and comes from the Baden-Wüttemberg Bundesland, which is where I live! It is an alternative carbohydrate source in German cuisine, formed from special noodle dough, and then quite often served with meat. The variety we tried was Käsespätzle, which is the Spätzle mixed with grated cheese (according to wiki, this is usually Emmenthaler). It tasted a lot like fried pasta and is relatively filling.

Next we moved on to Strudel with vanilla sauce, filled with delicious stewed apples, making it an Apfelstrudel, which is one of the most popular versions in the world. Although I acknowledge that this an Austrian speciality rather than a German one, Konstanz once belonged to Austria for over 200 years as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the influence does seem to have carried on here!

Today’s discovery was of a wonderfully quirky café (seriously, they had bird call serenading you in the lavatory) called Das Voglhaus in the Altstadt. Here we sampled Linzertorte – another Austrian traditional cake – which is made from a spiced dough with huge dollops of raspberry jam. Usually the top is a lattice pattern, but as you can see from the picture, this place decided to do it a little differently. The Linzertorte reminded me of Lebkuchen, a Christmas gingerbread here in Germany, and was most delicious. I think I will have to return back for more; just to ensure that each cake comes out the same, of course!

Other than chomping through Konstanz, we also visited the Rosgarten museum, which is filled with middle-age paintings and the history of the town. However, the sheer delight came from a visiting exhibition of hats…First one had to walk along a pathway with a mixture of hats suspended from the ceiling, for people to try on and giggle at. We then went into the main exhibition room to see all the various designs for hats of famous people from around the world – a few of the ladies hats boggle your mind as to what on earth was fashionable at the time! Here are our top three:

Hat Number One is definitely for those of festive spirit! Decorated with tiny Christmas baubles, there will be no need for a Tannenbaum this year...

Hat Number Two is for the man who likes to look good in a fight, but also likes to be seen by the enemy! Well an eagle beats a pigeon for image any day...

Hat Number Three is a natty little number right from the heart of the Schwarzwald (Black Forest), complete with handy padding for falling cuckoo clocks...

In all seriousness though, this is part of the Schwarzwald Tracht - the traditional clothing - for women in the Black Forest. I'm afraid my Dirndl wearing has not yet reached this level of commitment...

This was one last unexpected joy right at the end of the exhibition. I'd have played for hours and hours with it as a little girl, despite the lack of Barbie Pink-tastic-ness!

Flammkuchen

Grüß Gott Dear Reader!

For those who think I have been a bit quiet recently, it is because I managed to catch some form of chest infection, which successfully managed to knock me sideways for most of this week (conveniently my one free week between my language course ending and my introduction to law course beginning on Monday). As a result I have spent most of the past week in bed, but managed to drag myself outside, after increasingly getting cabin fever!

In the afternoon, I ventured into the Altstadt on the search for ice cream with a good friend from back at my home university, who is doing exactly the same course as me. Apparently, this is a very big deal in Konstanz and other tourist resorts where the weather actually gets warm enough to justify eating them - unlike many childhood memories of my lips going blue with cold eating my 99 on the British coast, or just having picnics inside the car due to the rain whilst facing what would be a beautiful view only we couldn't see it! Having explored around, I am delighted to say that myself and a friend managed to find a very reasonably priced, claimed to be Italian, ice cream parlour and happily licked our way through three large scoops. For myself, I recreated the Neopolitan idea, with Melon, Wildberry and Nutella ice creams, which was definitely worth me escaping from my nest for a couple of hours.

In the evening, I went out to dinner at Joh Albrecht - a German Brauhaus - with some new friends, and was introduced to various different types of beer, by an American who seemed to be something of a conisseur, having lived in München and taught himself German by learning the Bairisch Dialekt. Most out of character for myself, I did not automatically reach for the non-alcoholic drinks list, and instead ordered a Kupfur, which is a much milder and less bitter tasting beer, due to having more malt and less hops (from my awful memory of the explanation). I admit I did not make it through the glass, and was helped out by my American and Ukrainian friends, who were more than happy to oblige - even if I had warmed it up by cuddling the glass, in an effort to look like I was actually drinking it at a normal rate (rather than superbly slowly!). The Brauhaus has offers on a Monday, for all you can eat Schweinshaxen (pigs knuckles, which are actually surprisingly tasty), and a "große Schnitzelparade" on a Tuesday, so I am more than confident that I shall be returning at least twice more in the coming few months!

I decided to order a Flammkuchen, a delicacy which I believe is very popular in the Black Forest region. However, I was not expecting the change in base which occurs between the more northern areas, such as Strasbourg and the Alsace Region, and the southern version in Konstanz. The traditional topping remained the same - Speck, Zweibel and Quark (bacon, onion and sour cream cheese). However, in the northern parts of the Black Forest (also found in Baden-Baden I seem to remember), the base is more a savory pancake-pizza sort of base, which is light and spongy - more in line with what you would expect for a product named Flammkuchen: lit. Flamed Cake. However, in the Brauhaus here, the base is more a thin cracker, which is tougher and more difficult to cut through with normal cutlery. The size still remain impressive - about the size of a medium pizza, though in France it was served to be as a circle, and in Germany in a rectangle. However, I am told by my American Beer-Lover that in other areas, it is possible to get smaller, more dense Flammkuchen, served almost on thick bread! I shall clearly have to explore more closely into the world of Flammkuchen...

After dinner we ventured to the Niederburg Weinstube; a Weinstube (pronouced Wine-stew-blee, though this may be the Swabisch dialect) is like a pub/bar which is dedicated solely to serving wines. Despite having been advised to order the white wines of the region (these being better and more drinkable for those of us who have not built up a wine palette), I ordered something called Weißherbst which is made by one of the local vineyards in Meersburg, Staatsweingut. From memory, I recalled friends drinking (and enjoying) this at the Meersburg Wine Festival and with white (weiß) in the name, surely I couldn't go wrong. It turned up with a very pinkish colour and surpassed all of our expectations (the rest of the group having clearly gone for whites of a more obviously white-grape type, such as Risling and Pinot Grigio). Still now, with a Chilean who knew a lot about wine, an American whose parents grow their own wine, and a Brit who seems to know all the local vineyards around Konstanz, we are mystified as to what sort of wine it was! Automatically ruled out was the idea that in any form could it be a white - the colour was just wrong. Rosé was a possibility, but a very light red wine was another (looking it up now, it comes from the Spätburgunder, which I belive is a red grape - although I still don't know what that really means in terms of whether it must be a red wine or not), but with a fruity aftertaste that the other drinkers on the table marvelled about. I was just happy that I'd finally managed to find a wine that didn't taste like vinegar or alcoholic scrub to me (clearly, viticulture is never going to be my calling), and that maybe I could imagine ordering to try and make myself appear more adult than my usual lemonade, whilst still finding the experience of drinking it vaguely pleasant. This is high praise indeed from a girl who will normally feel ill after just smelling even the smallest amount of alcohol in a beverage. So if you come to the Lake Constance region, that is one wine I can recommend with some degree of confidence, and hopefully a bottle or two will be making its way home for Christmas Day...