A few questions

• Reading: Wolf Haas: Der Knochenmann


• Listening to: Poni Hoax: Budapest


• German Word of the Day: neu anpassen


• Translation: reassimilate


• Example: Es wird immer schwieriger, mich neu anzupassen./It gets harder and harder for me to reassimilate.

While cleaning out my desk, I found a paper from way back in 2002. It's a list of questions that were asked of German exchange students in America, and it makes me cringe.

• Can women in Germany pick their own husbands?
• Do you guys drink beer for breakfast? (Kim note: if you haven't gone to bed until 7am or woke up after 12pm...ahem)
• How can you guys drive in a big city when there isn't a speed limit?
• Do you have trees and mountains?
• Are there still signs that say "No Jews Allowed"? (Agh. Do we still have signs that say "Whites only"?!)
• How do you wash your hair?
• Is Hitler still your president?
• Do you have any cars other than Volkswagen?
• Do you have the color white?
• You have your own language? I thought you spoke English with an accent!
• Do you ride horses to school?
• What do the stars in Germany look like?
• How many months do you have in Germany?
• Are there problems on the German-Chinese border?
• Do you have something like democracy in Germany?
• Is Germany a part of Russia?

I would say that none of these questions would be asked about Austria, but that's probably just because most Americans think that Austria is a part of Germany.