Where is everyone from??

[Lalwendë]

I have no prejudice about Germans - well, not about anyone, in fact! Something which does irritate me about English newspapers is that they do perpetuate it. We are close cousins linguistically and culturally, and so this attitude just makes no sense to me. What's great about Germany? Their cars, the beers, Goethe...
Is the German for Annihilation really Vernichtung? Someone asked me this today, thinking I'd know...

What am I? My father's family are all from the same area into the far distant past, an area which was settled by Vikings at one time. Half my mother's family originated in Kinsale, the other half from North Wales; her great grandfather was a Welsh hellfire preacher who steadfastly refused to learn English.

I'm a bit diverted by how many 'Downers seem to have Celtic connections - is it some kind of genetic resonance which makes us Tolkienians?

[Mithalwen]

Deep calling to the deep - or the fact that Sindarin is related to Welsh?

[Amanaduial the archer]

*shrugs* Half of Boston is made up of the Irish who emigrated in the early 20th century. It seems like a somehow glorified nationality - it draws people. Various people in my school claim to be Irish and it's like "yes, because your great grandmother once took the ferry over from Stranraer to Belfast, that obviously makes you Irish..." (Stranraer being a very strange little village on the Scottish coast that always seems dead and has a whiff of goats and the sort of relationships found in Jacobean tragedies).

Psh, the English newspapers are just ruffled because the Germans get up at four in the morning to steal the sunbeds *STEREOTYPE ALERT* Lol, there are plenty about us though, I'm sure - the English seem to come across as complete prudes who are interested only in cricket and the weather; a nation that wears a disturbing and suspicious propensity (is that even the right word?) of tweed...

My disappearance? I guess that profiting from logistical problems to cut down the time I spend on line is not coming a moment too soon if missing the occasional day counts as disappearance....

Hush I name-grabbed - you should feel priveleged that you were the first name to come to mind.

[the phantom]

Bayern...München

Well, yeah, I suppose when I think of Germany I tend to think of Bavaria and Munich first- probably because that's what I saw the most movies about in my junior high German class.

auch kann ich nicht ein umlaut oder ein Schlafer's S an diesem Klavier finden

Ha ha! You mean you can't find -> ä or -> ß.

Ich liebe das Musik von Bach und Handel.

Was Handel German? I thought he was a Brit. Oh, wait, he just moved there. Boy, my music history it getting rusty.

But how could you forget all the other German-born composers such as Brahms, Wagner, and Beethoven?

"Musicality of the Germans"... no kidding. That must be where I get it from.

So, I guess we should assume that you are not Bavarian, Durfuiniel. What Bundesland do you come from? Mein Großvater war von Nordrhein-Westfalen.

[the phantom]

the English seem to come across as complete prudes who are interested only in cricket and the weather

You forgot about scones, tea, pinkies, and silly phrases.

[Amanaduial the archer]

Originally Posted by the phantom

You forgot about scones, tea, pinkies, and silly phrases.

What ho, old bean, I do believe you're correct. Rather off of me to forget that, what what? *takes a puff at her pipe and adjusts her monocle* Just one thing though, old chap, a trifling thing - it's never pinky. Keep it in mind, there's a good fellow.

[Lalwendë]

there are plenty about us though, I'm sure - the English seem to come across as complete prudes who are interested only in cricket and the weather; a nation that wears a disturbing and suspicious propensity (is that even the right word?) of tweed...

Oh yes. I'm more stereotypical than most, making my way to work with my bowler hat firmly placed upon my head, a neatly furled umbrella under one arm, a copy of the Daily Telegraph under the other. I may be looking forward to the tea trolley coming round, and maybe I will treat myself to a scone while I peruse the cricket results. Well, this is the way I am, according to the media...Oh so untrue...apart from the scone...

(Stranraer being a very strange little village on the Scottish coast that always seems dead and has a whiff of goats and the sort of relationships found in Jacobean tragedies).

I like Stranraer. Everything you say about is true, but I still like it. It reminded me of something from Father Ted, especially the villages thereabouts - where the Wicker Man was filmed; and it is close to the old hangout of the Sawney Beans, Scotland's very own serial killer cannibal family. Well worth googling for that particular tale. I once saw someone in Stranraer eating a deep fried Mars Bar with chips and was nearly ill.

[Amanaduial the archer]

where the Wicker Man was filmed; and it is close to the old hangout of the Sawney Beans, Scotland's very own serial killer cannibal family

Four words: Need I say more?! I rest my case

[Mithalwen]

Aman.... I am, I am lol
Phantom, I hadn't forgotten them but while I like Beethoven and the middle movement of the Emperor Concerto is one of my "desert island discs", my taste is rooted in the Baroque .... and I doubt I would ever have the stamina for Wagner .. was it Birgitte Fassbender who replied tpo the question " What do you need to sing Wagner ?" "Comfortable shoes.."

Handel was naturalised but I was being polite ....(being british an all)

I think you have propensities rather than wear them ... and isn't tweed back?

I don't know what a pinkie is so how can I be obsessed? And it isn't that we aren't interested, just that we are bound by rules of politeness that exclude more interesting topics of conversation..

Yeah, I hated Americans telling me that they were Irish, I mean I was probably more Irish than they were and quite frankly, after visiting Ireland, I was very glad my ancestors made the trip - I mean it was the only place I have been to that was wetter than England .. Apart from perhaps Scotland...

Ooh do we have anyone from Stranraer Before Aman meets the same fate as the Duchess of Malfi... lol