Author Archives: Clare Dunkle
The other night, I was watching a television show on World War II. The number of World War II shows on television here is truly astounding! One of the subject matter experts was discussing naval warfare. After talking about U-boats …
At Home
Consider this German home: thoroughly modern and downright adorable. This is what realtors mean by curb appeal. This German house probably dates from the 1800s. Still, it has a lot in common with the modern house above it, and several …
The other night, as I was flipping channels, my television informed me that the title of the next show was Die Gebärdensprache. What kind of Sprache (speech)? I found out that sich gebärden means to behave or act, and die …
Happy New Year!
What a peaceful nighttime scene! Just a quiet street in Rodenbach, Germany. But that was before the madness. I’m from the western United States, a land of droughts, dead vegetation, and fast-moving wildfires. More than 21,000 wildfires burned across my …
One of the interesting things about life in Germany is listening to a German-language sermon each Sunday. Last Sunday was devoted to the Holy Family–Jesus, Mary, and Joseph–and Father spoke at length about what a wonderful Vorbild that family is …
The New St. Vith
I’ve always loved the high rounded hills and wide valleys near Spangdahlem Air Base. They’re colorful even in the middle of winter. This is the Eifel, a land of strong winds, big sky, and beautiful scenery. Thousands of years ago, …
In my Lucky Luke comic book, the cowboy warns that he and his friend are entering the territory of a tribe that has mastered die Tarnung. What have they mastered? You can tell from the photo above. Die Tarnung means …
Not your Grandma’s Religion
One of my blog readers recently had a “culture shock” moment. He’s a nurse, and he was filling out a patient questionnaire with a German woman. When he asked her religion, she became upset. What went wrong? Religion and society …
Teilen means to part, to divide into parts, or to share out in parts, so der Teil (also das Teil) is a part or a fraction. But which part is der Vorteil? That’s the part that sets itself vor — …
Consuming Christmas
Maybe because it comes along during the longest nights of the year, or maybe just because Germans seem to love a good celebration, Christmas is a very big deal in Germany. From what I’ve gathered in my time here, this …