Mark
06-27-2005, 02:22 PM
Saw this in an article in American Heritage magazine about two GIs who were stationed in Germany in the early 1950s. They were invited over for Sunday dinner by a German couple:
"Their apartment, in a four-story stucco building, was tiny. There was no living room or parlor as such, just a chamber with a dining table almost filling it. Both little girls wore freshly pressed dresses, and the boy had on a tie. His father wore a suit. We took seats at the table. Our hosts placed a large German-English dictionary before them. Tea and cake were served.
Conversation was not easy, but it was pleasant. Our host was a solemn and shy man who seemed embarrassed when he couldn’t understand something we said and smiled in a inquiring way. Our hostess was bolder, laughing when she grabbed the dictionary, which she did every minute or so. I offered what German I had, and they kindly said I had excellent pronunciation. “Prima!” We went through some German vocabulary drill about things I pointed at. What’s the word for book? How do you say window?
About an hour and a half passed. I have never been one to carry pictures around, but George had a walletful and showed them his house, parents, sister, family car, dog, and himself with his buddies. He got onto his devotion to the Chicago White Sox, and we worked it out that they were the Weisse Socken. God knows what the couple got out of that."
Perhaps somebody can get to work printing up some Go Go Weisse Socken t-shirts for the next homestand? :wink:
"Their apartment, in a four-story stucco building, was tiny. There was no living room or parlor as such, just a chamber with a dining table almost filling it. Both little girls wore freshly pressed dresses, and the boy had on a tie. His father wore a suit. We took seats at the table. Our hosts placed a large German-English dictionary before them. Tea and cake were served.
Conversation was not easy, but it was pleasant. Our host was a solemn and shy man who seemed embarrassed when he couldn’t understand something we said and smiled in a inquiring way. Our hostess was bolder, laughing when she grabbed the dictionary, which she did every minute or so. I offered what German I had, and they kindly said I had excellent pronunciation. “Prima!” We went through some German vocabulary drill about things I pointed at. What’s the word for book? How do you say window?
About an hour and a half passed. I have never been one to carry pictures around, but George had a walletful and showed them his house, parents, sister, family car, dog, and himself with his buddies. He got onto his devotion to the Chicago White Sox, and we worked it out that they were the Weisse Socken. God knows what the couple got out of that."
Perhaps somebody can get to work printing up some Go Go Weisse Socken t-shirts for the next homestand? :wink: