But no country will ever really be able to top the US in terms of fireworks extravaganzas. On July 4 this year, in New York, Macy’s (a department store) let off fireworks at three (yes, 3) different locations in the city. Reportedly this used 36,000 shells (what most of us call fireworks) , exploding 1000 fireworks per minute, at a total cost of (wait for it!) over $7 million! Now that has to be the biggest birthday of a Nation celebration I’ve ever heard of.

Join me as I report live from New Zealand, and uncover some pockets of German culture along the way.

In between providing me with blankets and reading material and feeding me soggy vegetables in inidentifiable sauce, the lovely Lufthansa lady who looked after me for 10 hours sometime during the last 48 also offered me many a drink. Being a responsible air traveller, I stayed hydrated with lots of oxygen accompanied by 2 hydrogen atoms (I mean water of course!). I was oh-so-politely asked once if I wanted my water “mit oder ohne Sprudel“. The next time I was asked if I wanted it “prickelnd“. Again I was asked, but this time it was all about “Kohlensäure“. Oh Germany, why must you confuse with your manifold words for fizz?

In another funny fizz tale, on a different Lufthansa flight last year, the flight attendant spoke to me in English and asked me if I wanted my water “with sprinkles”. How cute! Not wanting water with candy sprinkled on the top, I politely declined.

Stay tuned for a New Zealand update… (yep, there are still lots of sheep!)

When I described this hellish travel itinerary to an English-speaker (not in Germany), I said I would be “soooooooo long unterwegs.” Not “on the go”. Not “in the air”. Not that I would be “travelling for a long time.” Unterwegs. The German word. It just slipped in there! Do you speakers of another language find that this happens from time to time? I sure do, it’s how Deutschlisch was born. Unterwegs is just such a great word, there’s no English one like it. I guess I’ll just have to start realising that when Englischers are staring at me blankly, it’s time to get translating!

So you have the somewhat standard fruit bowls and coffee machines (which I assure you, some employers where I’m from would be more than happy to leave out. We’re also provided with the opportunity to pretty much cook ourselves a three-course meal - most work places have microwaves, fridges, ovens and dishwashers (this is quite unusual for me).

On top of this, there’s also all kind of other snacky goodness. At any given time, you have pretzels, chocolate, Coke and lollies (that’s New Zealand-speak for candy). No wonder so many NZ exchange students come back from Germany a little rounder than they left!

Now, playing Wii at the office, that’s another story… or maybe I just have especially good taste in workplaces?

When you go and drink a couple of beers at a friend’s house before a big party, that’s a Vorglühen. When you imbibe a gin and tonic or two before the society ball, yep, that’s a Vorglühen. And if you drink some pre-mixed vodka cranberries before hitting the club… you better believe that’s a Vorglühen.

My American colleague described it as “the pre-game”, but in British/Australian/NZ English, I’m not sure there’s such a cool translation. I mean, sure, you can have some “pre-drinks” before you go out. But it’s got nothing on Vorglühen. Any suggestions for a translation from the English speakers out there?

Although my interest is usually sparked by matters of a linguistic nature, my first thought when I discovered the world’s first automated restaurant was: “That is, like, SO totally German!” No waiters, no bad service, no need to tip. You order your food from a computer and it is delivered to you via a complex system of tracks and rails. And for the busy German businessman, why he can even send emails and SMS while waiting for his meal to arrive. Now that is Effizienz. BBC have recently reported on it, you can watch the video here.

Another interesting thing about the restaurant is its name - ’s Baggers. It is complete gobbledygook in English. Maybe a German native speaker could shed some light on the seemingly strange choice of name?

Image © ‘s Baggers

But meanwhile, the title phrase is taken from Deutsche Bahn. Whenever there is a breakdown or delay, the lovely lady over the loud speaker informs us that they request/ask for/plead for/beg for our understanding (”bitten um Ihr Verständnis”). Which got me thinking (in true Word Nerd fashion) about the verb ‘bitten’. Is there really an equivalent in English? Sure, you can literally translate it as ‘to request’, but it is a direct derivative of ‘Bitte’, meaning ‘please’. Does this indicate a level of politeness possessed by Germans which is simply unknown to the English-speaking world?