It’s too bad that I don’t have any idea how to translate the saying “Nur die Harten kommen in ‘en Garten” for the non-German-speakers. Because that basically sums up what I think about all the news regarding “Daisy” a blizzard that is expected to hit Germany on the weekend and how Daisy might ruin the Grand Opening of RUHR2010 (European Capital of Culture year) at Zollverein in Essen. Granted, it might have been a bold idea to plan an outdoor opening ceremony and party and 2-day event in January :-) It definitely was equally bold (or let’s say reckless) idea to happily sign up for a volunteer assignment during the Grand Opening. On both days. Outside. On a weekend when the weather forecast tells us to expect a lot of snow and heavy winds (well, a blizzard really).
I probably wouldn’t dare to leave my apartment if I hadn’t signed up for this on the weekend. Or I might have dared outside to stock my fridge and buy some candles and try to get a battery radio, because that’s what some disaster control officials recommend to do. Well, honestly I wouldn’t have done that either, because don’t they always recommend stuff like that?
Anyway I’m determined to volunteer at the Grand Opening tomorrow, come hell or high water (or blizzards named Daisy). Being a part of the whole thing and experiencing new and interesting stuff was the reason I decided to become a volunteer in the first place. And defying Daisy definitely will be one of the interesting things to experience during the European Capital of Culture year. Well, I’m saying that right now. while I’m sitting at home with the heating on and sheltered from the storm. Ask me again after my first shift. If I even make it back home during the storm ;-)
So tomorrow morning I’ll just put on a few layers of clothes, try to borrow a wollen hat from Bro3, because it will protect me from the wind much better than my headband, take my new warm and cosy gloves and march off to the train station in hopes that the train services won’t be shut down. I don’t think ir would be shut down already in the morning anyway, but I’m not so sure about it in the afternoon and evenings… ;-) Yes, I might be the seeing it all through my rose-colored-volunteer-glasses, but it’s going to be adventurous. In a good way, I think. At least it’s going to be something to remember in the months and years to come…
Whoa, you guys name your blizzards? Then again, we name our Hurricanes…
Good luck in the blustery cold!
Well, Daisy actually is the name of the low-pressure area and we name those (and the high pressure systems) in Germany since the 1950s.
Until the late 1990s the lows were always female and the highs were male, but protest of women groups changed that. I’m not making this up. They had objections because low pressure areas mostly come with bad weather and the male highs with sunshine and everything.
So since the beginning of this century lows and highs are named in turns male/female.
But we do in fact also name our Hurricanes and big storms. Until now Daisy is merely the low pressure area though. Ask again in 24 hours, maybe the blizzard itself will get a name too. Don’t ask me what distingiushes one name-worthy hurricane/blizzard from the one that remains nameless ;-)
For crying out loud, keep it low, will ya? Blizzard? I know Northern Germans run maggot at the sight of a few snow flakes, but this is rediculous. :D
It’s a wee bit colder than usual (alright then, actually too cold to have snow) but what’s this in our society that we inflate a non-incident to a major national tragedy? I recall two meter snow dumps over night in my childhood and what did we do? Grabbed a spade and got on with it. But hey, nowadays we gotta keep them journos happy, don’t we?
Weirdly, it’s been snowing in Hamburg almost every day for two weeks yet it’s still only a few inches – measured by length probably.
Relax! :D
Hey, it wasn’t me calling it a blizzard first, the folks on the news and weather forecast said it :) I seriously didn’t know what to expect when I read (and wrote) about it yesterday, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as it was said it would. Well, except that it did mess up the train service much more than usual, which sucked. And my toes were frozen after a few hours out in the snow, but apart from that (and the fact that the people on snow duty don’t do their job!!)…everything’s fine :)
It’s a media drama. Nothing more. Did anyone actually call it a “Blizzard” in German, too?
Well, if I hear on the news that there are up to 20 minutes delays to be expected at Frankfurt Airport, then they just haven’t got anything better to gibber about. (Some airlines would win awards with a 20 minute delay record.)
And they tell us on the radio that several townships in Niedersachsen are cut off from the outside world. Boy, that’s got nothing to do with the weather, they are marooned by definition!
Well, they called it “Schneesturm” and Leo translated that to “blizzard”, so it’s not my fault ;-)
Yep, but from a meteorological point of reference, a blizzard is quite a different thing altogether. But I give you that, the media are trying to tell us we’re facing one. (They should be given a free ticket to Canada to experience the real deal)
And from a linguistic perspective, try out dict.cc – I know in the case of “Schneesturm” it yields similar results, but I’ve been using it for a few months now and find it quite more accurate than Leo. My translator friends confirm that.