Kiia
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Post by Kiia on Dec 4, 2009 7:34:12 GMT -5
Wow, what a nice thread  I also grew up believing in Santa Claus. I've heard of the Christkind but never knew who it exactly is  We never went to a church. And we never had that with the bell. My family and me just have some cake.. then we open the presents [at around 6-7pm] and then we have our dinner.[also like sausages, rotkohl[??] etc.] And here in Berlin the winter is also more like wet and cold. But rarely any snow. Maybe for 1 or 2 days.. But never around Christmas :[ [i'm dreaming of a white christmas +sings+ ;D] More like in January or February  |
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cheerios
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If we could decide who we loved, it would be much simpler, but less magical.
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Post by cheerios on Dec 4, 2009 11:30:29 GMT -5
cheerios: Our winter weather? Well, that depends on where you live. In Northern Germany (I'm living in Hamburg) it's mostly cold and wet (and windy), there's not much snow (which comes later, mostly around January/February - December's comparatively mild). It's about the same in Western Germany, I think. But in Eastern Germany and the South (the Alps!) there's quite often snow all throughout winter, also in the higher wood regions in Western Germany (like the Black Forest), it's also colder in these regions. Cold, wet, and windy, sounds like the winter weather where I live in the Pacific North West in the US. We were shocked last year when we got so much snow because usually it's just really cold. |
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Post by nahuela on Dec 4, 2009 15:44:27 GMT -5
am from the ruhrgebiet . it is the middle part of nrw and my parents told me that the weihnachtsmann (santa) and the christkind worked together the christkind is his little helper. I am from the Ruhrgebiet, too ;D Actually I knew about the Weihnachtsmann (Santa) but he´s not the one bringing the presents...it´s all about the christkind Weather´s not so nice here in winter...cold,windy,rainy...not much snow though...but I guess the point is living in this huge area with about 50 cities...it´s too warm (traffic etc) for snow most of the time...and even when there´s snow it disappears in a few hours....never had a white christmas for years now. except last year when it was about -20° degrees and there was no chance for snow to melt, but that was not in christmas-time ^^ And....squeeee "3 Nüsse für Aschenbrödel" is like my FAVOURITE christmas-movie ever!!! could watch it the whole day, I just love love love it!!! <3 |
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nadle
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Post by nadle on Dec 4, 2009 17:47:52 GMT -5
And....squeeee "3 Nüsse für Aschenbrödel" is like my FAVOURITE christmas-movie ever!!! could watch it the whole day, I just love love love it!!! <3 really the best fairytale ever!!!!!!!!!! ...and also short before christmas it's a must to watch "Little Lord Fauntleroy" (at least in my family ;D ) |
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cheerios
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If we could decide who we loved, it would be much simpler, but less magical.
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Post by cheerios on Dec 12, 2009 14:50:19 GMT -5
What is the legal drinking age?
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Post by Lightness on Dec 12, 2009 14:52:23 GMT -5
What is the legal drinking age? Beer/Wine - 16 anything else - 18 |
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cheerios
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Post by cheerios on Dec 12, 2009 21:02:04 GMT -5
What is the legal drinking age? Beer/Wine - 16 anything else - 18 So hard alcohol (like vodka, scotch, and rum) is off limits till your 18? I wonder why it's different. |
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Post by flippa on Dec 12, 2009 22:43:30 GMT -5
And....squeeee "3 Nüsse für Aschenbrödel" is like my FAVOURITE christmas-movie ever!!! could watch it the whole day, I just love love love it!!! <3 really the best fairytale ever!!!!!!!!!! ...and also short before christmas it's a must to watch "Little Lord Fauntleroy" (at least in my family ;D ) nooooooooooo!!!! You HAVE to watch : it's a wonderful life! Then u know it's Christmas! |
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lizkarita
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Post by lizkarita on Dec 13, 2009 10:40:41 GMT -5
Beer/Wine - 16 anything else - 18 So hard alcohol (like vodka, scotch, and rum) is off limits till your 18? I wonder why it's different. Anything that contains more than 14 Vol.% of alcohol is over 18. (in Austria it's the same) I don't know why that is either, since you can get drunk with beer and wine as well, maybe not so fast... |
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aliceg
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Post by aliceg on Dec 13, 2009 17:06:27 GMT -5
I can certainly get drunk on wine pretty quick.
I love this thread, has been so interesting reading what people celebrate. Christmas is really big in my house. I consider Christmas to start on the 1st of December when we put up the tree. We don't really do anything on 24th, just a day to prepare everything for the big day, get the turkey ready etc... 25th we normally have all the family round. Christmas morning is the big part of the say with opening presents and then dinner in the evening. I have to get up super early as I have two horses to tend to!!
Doctor Who in the evening tops off the day very nicely!!
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Nitty
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Post by Nitty on Dec 13, 2009 22:16:43 GMT -5
Well, isn't this thread just adorable? Flippa - I agree. What a great movie! Very Christmas. Here, they play 'A Christmas Story' on a loop, all day on Christmas, every year. Question for the Germans - So it doesn't snow much in Germany? Bummer, cuz in one of my (VL)fanfics, there's LOTS of snow in Düsseldorf, around Christmas time.  ;D |
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Post by ivaniv on Dec 14, 2009 0:31:04 GMT -5
Well it's a fiction anyway  |
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Post by placebo on Dec 14, 2009 11:52:09 GMT -5
Question for the Germans - So it doesn't snow much in Germany? Bummer, cuz in one of my (VL)fanfics, there's LOTS of snow in Düsseldorf, around Christmas time. ;D Well, it's not like there's never snow around Christmas. I have a feeling like it has gotten less though during the last couple of years.. (WTF, Global warming!) But you know, I'm nineteen now and I remember at least three time we had snow on Christmas. Of course in the south of Germany (especially the Alps) there's more. So snow on Christmas eve is something that's entirely possible in Düsseldorf.. But I think there's more snow in January and february. I don't know. We had some the first time this winter this morning, but it's already gone by now. |
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nadle
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Post by nadle on Dec 14, 2009 14:34:31 GMT -5
No, not so much snow here in Düsseldorf especially not in the Christmas time. Maybe 1 or 2 days in Jan or Feb but that's it.
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Nitty
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Post by Nitty on Dec 14, 2009 14:38:45 GMT -5
Thanks for the replys, Placebo and Nadle!And right back at you, Ivan. ;D |
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cheerios
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If we could decide who we loved, it would be much simpler, but less magical.
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Post by cheerios on Dec 15, 2009 16:01:10 GMT -5
What is a common first names in Germany? Like here we have lots of Tyler, Heather, Sarah, Jeff for example.
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Post by lolaruns on Dec 15, 2009 16:05:00 GMT -5
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Post by dane323 on Dec 15, 2009 16:33:23 GMT -5
That's a good question, Cheerios. Because I think "Lenny" would be made fun of over here in the States. It comes across as somewhat nerdy. (Maybe because of Laverne & Shirley?) Though Alex pulls it off VERY well. On the other hand, the love of my life was named Elmer. And he had a build very similar to Alex's. Actually better. ;D I've never met a "Carsten" or "Felix" before either. The only one Felix I know of is the cartoon character Felix the Cat. Though I don't find anything wrong with that particular name. Just have never seen it actually applied to anyone over here. Definitely seems much more Germanic. Carsten is a very cool sounding name. Thanks for those sites, Lola! Those will actually come in handy with my writing. |
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Post by placebo on Dec 15, 2009 16:52:20 GMT -5
Well, Lenny is definetely not a not a common German name. Actually the letter "y" is hardly used in German at all. Lenny could be a short form for Leonard or Lennart, I don't know, but those would be more common. Felix is common, I know more than one myself. Carsten I guess was a very popular name among people who are now about 40 (?). My driving teacher was called Carsten. He was a very boring person.  However Alex/Alexander is like the most used name ever. Among the 79 people who will graduate at my school this year, there are four. |
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nadle
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Post by nadle on Dec 15, 2009 18:08:35 GMT -5
I think the favorite names change from year to year.
I'm a little bit older than placebo (okay, more than a little bit :-) )
and I know nobody with the name Felix or Alexander. But I met a lot of Carstens, Christians, Michaels, Thomas and Olivers. Most women of my age have french names like Melanie or Nicole. And it's very common to use the short forms (for men and women): Michi, Melli, Nici, Thomi or Olli.
So Lenny is the short form of Leonard (the gang often calls him Lennart because they speak with a dialect from the area around Berlin).
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cheerios
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If we could decide who we loved, it would be much simpler, but less magical.
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Post by cheerios on Dec 15, 2009 18:19:37 GMT -5
I find it interesting that both the boys real life names are on the current list.
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Post by lolaruns on Dec 15, 2009 22:54:47 GMT -5
It's interesting though that there are always a few names (in any country, though not the same names in any country) that are always in there. Like Lukas or Alexander. Others are relatively new. Like, I think Leonie for a girl is relatively new so it would be strange to meet a 50+ year old named that. Leonie is something I tend to associate with girls 10 or younger. Meaenwhile an "Anna" could be one year old or one hundred years old and it wouldn't look out of place. General rule of thumb seems to be that boy name are more stable than girl names. Though not Germany, here is a list of the top babynames in Austria going back 20 years (to the 1980s): www.statistik.at/web_de/static/vornamen_nach_fallender_haeufigkeit_seit_1984_-_oesterreich_021130.pdf |
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Davian
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Post by Davian on Dec 16, 2009 14:20:46 GMT -5
May I?  Speaking of names: How many names and surnames do people usually have in Germany? Does the family/father name come at the end or after the first name? Here in Portugal we normally carry two first names (now it´s posh to have only one) and at least two surnames (maternal and paternal)*, but I have a German friend who has four first names and one surname. And I know Jo Weil, the neighbor next door, is called Johannes Anton Whatever Whatever Weil**. Is that the rule/normal over there? Thanks in advance!! *My full name is 1st Name + 2nd Name + Maternal Grandmother's Surname + Maternal Grandfather's Surname + Paternal Grandmother's Surname + Paternal Grandfather's Surname (48 characters...)**being Weil the only surname. |
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Post by bucknell2000 on Dec 17, 2009 0:53:41 GMT -5
How many years do you expect an actor to stay on a soap in Germany ? How long are the contract with the actor ? Usually 3 years in the USA.
Is Alexander Becht leaving GZSZ ?
How much longer is Alexander Becht(Lenny) and Felix Isenbugel (Carsten) going to be on the show ?
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Post by placebo on Dec 17, 2009 7:53:43 GMT -5
@ Davian: Well, there isn't a strict rule for first names. But most people just have one, really. Two is quite usual as well, three or more is the exception. I for one have two first names.. As for surnames, you usually have one. It depends a bit on what parents decide. In my case, my mother took my father's surname when they got married. So I got that name as well, that's a simple case. But when a couple gets married, they can also decide to each keep their surname, then a child gets the name of one of them, same for a child born to unmarried parents. If you get married you can also decide to keep both names (say, mother has the surname Müller and father is called Meier, they can marry and are both called Müller-Meier afterwards). But the child will still get only one of the surnames. Yup, so only one surname. @ bucknell2000: I'm not sure.  I think it's individual and just depends on what actor and company agree on at the beginning. As for the rest, that's spoilerish, so: There are hints that Alexander is not going to stay much longer, he said something like that in the interview with Sprechplanet. We don't know about Felix, but I don't think there's any indication that he is going to leave any time soon. |
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;D
I think it's individual and just depends on what actor and company agree on at the beginning. As for the rest, that's spoilerish, so: There are hints that Alexander is not going to stay much longer, he said something like that in the interview with Sprechplanet. We don't know about Felix, but I don't think there's any indication that he is going to leave any time soon.