A German in Los Angeles

August 30, 2005 2:09 PM

A German in Los Angeles. (link in english) Stern is running a series on a German immigrant's experience of moving to Los Angeles and the various cultural differences he's experienced, including getting cable (en) and a driver's license (en), buying a car (en) and being homesick (en), and the American love for iced drinks (en). Really interesting cultural perspective.
posted by fet (23 comments total)

The links to the English versions go right back to the German versions.
posted by LilBucner at 2:14 PM on August 30, 2005

The "in english" link works, but not very well... "One does not call California in vain "Sunshine State". Without going to sweater into the cinema to order or Cola with ice not drink in the restaurant no hot bruehe comes nevertheless not into question."
posted by strikhedonia at 2:20 PM on August 30, 2005

The translations sound like English As She Is Spoke.
posted by letitrain at 2:25 PM on August 30, 2005

Forgive me for using crap translation, but it was the best I could find... the complaints about too much ice in the drinks, trying to negotiate with the Mexican cable installer, and taking a driving test while steering with the knees was worth it alone.

http://translate.google.com/translate_t and http://babelfish.altavista.com work decently.
posted by fet at 2:27 PM on August 30, 2005

Die englische Artikel sind nicht auf Englisch... [Der erste, ja, aber nicht die anderen.] And the automatic translation is lacking a little, unfortunately.
posted by ubersturm at 2:28 PM on August 30, 2005

In the trans-googlated english version it sounds like the Ugly American in reverse. Why isn't America more like Germany? My god, they like ice in their Coke and their theaters are freezing.

But, he is in LA. That's bound to induce culture shock no matter where you're coming from.
posted by doctor_negative at 2:32 PM on August 30, 2005

I wonder whether the culture shock is worse by transplanting to LA or to, say, Mobile, Alabama?

I love auto-translations, they make me feel alot smarter than I really are.
posted by fenriq at 2:53 PM on August 30, 2005

Yeah, the translations are excellent tools for gathering meaning from otherwise gibberish. Once with the push of a button you can derive computer generated country grammar, I will undoubtedly flee to a small cabin in the remote Montana wilderness.
posted by nervousfritz at 3:06 PM on August 30, 2005

I'm drunk and I still don't understand the translations. However it is entertaining.
posted by evilelvis at 3:10 PM on August 30, 2005

And in the mirror world there is a blog about an American who moves to Germany and can't get a drink with ice in it, and who is charged for water in restaurants, and who can't pass his German driver's test, and who can't figure out the German holidays, and....
posted by fixedgear at 3:13 PM on August 30, 2005

...there is a drunk German trying to read the Google translations? My brain hurts.
posted by evilelvis at 3:20 PM on August 30, 2005

Why would someone complain about ice? You can always order a drink without ice. Try ordering a drink with ice in some European places and they charge you for the luxury. In LA, the luxury is free!

oblig: in soviet russia, free is a luxury!
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:54 PM on August 30, 2005

I love seeing my culture from alien eyes. I wish there were real translations.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 3:54 PM on August 30, 2005

"After attaching the distributor, which remains lying decoratively on the soil, the structural alteration measures begin however only correctly."

I love machine translations! I think I'm going to try to slip that sentence into the methods section of my next paper....
posted by mr_roboto at 4:05 PM on August 30, 2005

Warum würde jemand sich über Eis beschweren? Sie können ein Getränk ohne Eis immer bestellen. Versuchen Sie, ein Getränk mit Eis in einigen europäischen Plätzen zu bestellen und sie laden Sie für den Luxus auf. Im LA ist der Luxus frei!
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:54 PM EST on August 30 [!]

Because water is cheaper than Cola. The Germans feel over the ear gehauen, because the ice in the glass takes place away and one gets less because of the whole ice from its beverage.
posted by muckster at 4:18 PM on August 30, 2005

This post > google german > google english = A German in the star Los Angeles. (connection in English) lets to the American love for frozen beverages a row on the experience of a German immigrant of moving on Los Angeles and the different cultural differences, which it is experienced, including receiving the cable (EN) and the license of a driver (EN) run, the purchase of a car (EN) and the Seins homesick (EN) and (EN). Really interesting cultural perspective.
posted by crunchland at 4:22 PM on August 30, 2005

"Americans do not let themselves be deterred from cable salad."

Or from Internet gumbo, either. Well, no matter how you translate it, he got this right. Forget Esperanto: let's all use machine translation from now on.

- - - - - TRANSLATE ENGLISH-GERMAN-ENGLISH - - - - -

"Americans do not let themselves be held from the cable salad."

Or of InterNet gumbo, any. Well, no matter how you translate, received it this right. Forget to Esperanto: leave to us all use-machine translation immediately.
posted by cenoxo at 6:14 PM on August 30, 2005

His complaints about grocery stores lead me to believe someone should introduce him to Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and the like.
posted by Potsy at 6:18 PM on August 30, 2005

Actually, as a German in New York, I enjoyed these quite a bit. Thank you, fet. My first extended stay in the US was at a Baptist school Mississippi--the culture shock was knallhart.
posted by muckster at 7:00 PM on August 30, 2005

Ach. in Mississippi.
posted by muckster at 7:01 PM on August 30, 2005

My biggest culture shock was seeing an Aldi store in the US (this was upstate NY, don't know about LA). And it stocked a whole bunch of German food stuffs. At rock-bottom prices.
posted by kika at 7:34 PM on August 30, 2005

Having made the reverse migration, I enjoyed this too. I'm sure the culture shock is exacerbated by the fact that he is in LA (coming from Indiana to Germany has not been so shocking, really).
posted by moonbiter at 7:04 AM on August 31, 2005

The Germans feel over the ear gehauen, because the ice in the glass takes place away and one gets less because of the whole ice from its beverage.

I stand by my initial statement: you can always order a drink without ice and they won't charge you more. Sadly, the opposite does not hold all over Europe.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:41 PM on August 31, 2005