Met Aebous and new German member Max

B

bigdog

Senior member
 Walla Walla, Washington
Met Aebous today Sat 20th April. Nice fella. Showed him a nice drive to take after class to releave the stress.

I then went on to Weisloch near Hockenheim to meet Max who was putting on a Zed event. Max is a very nice guy. And he has a very nice restaurant. Saw a lot of nice Zed 4 M's, 2 1M coupes, 1 RS-M3, 1 other M3 V8, And an M3 superlight. My Zed was the only non M car there. :cry:

The only down side was that Germans (even though they are great folks) are very, very slow to warm up to other Germans. It's just the way the German social dynamic works. And I knew this going in. Then throw in one auslander that can't speak their language and then they really clammed up. No one other than Max and his staff said a word to me. My apologies to Max. As I know I'm the outsider in his country. No insult intended.

To end on a good note. I look forward to taking my wife to max's restaurant for dinner.
 
Stuart Truman said:
Good effort for meeting up. That's not my experience of Germans, but maybe it's region specific?
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Generaly, in a business/non social situation. Germans are great.
In addition, If you are a friend of one of their friends. Or if they know other Americans. No problem then. At this meeting I didn't know anyone. And not speaking German certainly didn't help. I was also hesitant to force my way into their conversations thus forcing them to try and speak English. Which might have come across as a little to bold and could be seen as putting them on the spot. So I patiently waited for them to break the ice.

In the end. It's nothing to fret about. As I'm a guest in their country. It would be rather presumptuous and arrogent of me to expect them to change how they act just for me. It was just a tough situation due to me not knowing German. Unfortunately, I'm not very motivated to learn German either. As I will only be here for a short time. Plus. It's a difficult language to learn.
 
If you want to pick up the basics quickly and easily I recommend Michel Thomas' courses. Available on eBay for a very reasonable price :thumbsup:
 
Stuart Truman said:
If you want to pick up the basics quickly and easily I recommend Michel Thomas' courses. Available on eBay for a very reasonable price :thumbsup:
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Problem is. Germans generaly demand perfection and don't seem to have the ability to fill in the blanks using the concept of context. Plus, The minute they hear my accent. They automatically answer in English or say nothing.
When I was asked where I lived by a local at our village bakery. I answered in German. Here in Molschbach while pointing at the ground. But as I messed up the umlat above the "o". He just looked at me with a blank stare. I then pointed at the ground and said right here. Here is the same in German as English. Again I received a blank stare. That's the moment I gave up trying to learn German. Even our good German friends insist on perfection. Thing is. When our friend says you must stir the cake mix. She says steer the cake mix. I don't correct her. As I understand what she meant via the context of the conversation. When I get it wrong. They refuse to even try to fill in the blanks. It's frustrating. As I'm not trying nor wish to obtain a masters degree in German. I just want to communicate at a basic level. But in Germany. One either has a failing grade or a masters. Nothing in between.
 
bigdog said:
Stuart Truman said:
If you want to pick up the basics quickly and easily I recommend Michel Thomas' courses. Available on eBay for a very reasonable price :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Problem is. Germans generaly demand perfection and don't seem to have the ability to fill in the blanks using the concept of context. Plus, The minute they hear my accent. They automatically answer in English or say nothing.
When I was asked where I lived by a local at our village bakery. I answered in German. Here in Molschbach while pointing at the ground. But as I messed up the umlat above the "o". He just looked at me with a blank stare. I then pointed at the ground and said right here. Here is the same in German as English. Again I received a blank stare. That's the moment I gave up trying to learn German. Even our good German friends insist on perfection. Thing is. When our friend says you must stir the cake mix. She says steer the cake mix. I don't correct her. As I understand what she meant via the context of the conversation. When I get it wrong. They refuse to even try to fill in the blanks. It's frustrating. As I'm not trying nor wish to obtain a masters degree in German. I just want to communicate at a basic level. But in Germany. One either has a failing grade or a masters. Nothing in between.
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Have to say I haven't found that at all but maybe that's a northern thing. I have been learning for a year now and honestly still find it difficult. Certainly they don't understand our idioms as they are very specific but they don't care if my Grammar is wrong and can often finish my sentences if i'm struggling. I think most appreciate it when I speak German and I mostly get an answer in German. Just remember "Wie Bitte" and they will re explain. Michel Thomas is also quite good and as Stuart said cheap to pick up.

I'd say don't worry about joining in the conversation. They are very like minded and I certainly wouldn't judge their English at all.

Machen Sie es wieder und viel spaß!
 
This is nice we don't very often hear of meets in other countries. It is an international forum after all. I can understand it being difficult to fit in not speaking the language. I am ashamed to say that like a lot of Brits I only speak English. And I don't do that perfectly being a country boy!!

Sounds like a very impressive line up of metal. I have got ask any pictures????

It's something I mean to correct at some point. So that Michel Thomas course might be the start and a good tip Stuart :thumbsup:
 
Pictures as promised.

Max at the grill




Inside Max's restaurant










A Corvette Z06 showed up as well


The RS-M3 had a chip tune. 450HP Yikes!






Aebous and I after the twisties
 
Oh man, in the UK this car is a one off and known as "the Unicorn" as it's become mythical. Adamski, are you looking!

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Stuart Truman said:
Oh man, in the UK this car is a one off and known as "the Unicorn" as it's become mythical. Adamski, are you looking!
There were two of them at this meet.
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Nice group of cars...was Aebous over on holiday or working?

That z4 of his has fairly travelled in its time;i wonder if its the most travelled z4,given its been in the USA,UK,Germany etc?,not to mention the Lakes and Wales meets too,lol :driving:

Like the 1m and the White M R,tho the wheels dont do it justice(too small,imho). Looked a good meet :D
 
craig3.0 said:
Nice group of cars...was Aebous over on holiday or working?

That z4 of his has fairly travelled in its time;i wonder if its the most travelled z4,given its been in the USA,UK,Germany etc?,not to mention the Lakes and Wales meets too,lol :driving:

Like the 1m and the White M R,tho the wheels dont do it justice(too small,imho). Looked a good meet :D
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Aebous is over here attending a military leadership course at a base near where I live. He had some studies to tend to on Saturday. Wish he could have gone to the Zed meet. Hopefully I can get over to blighty to make an event. I'm not far behind Aebous in having a well traveled zed. USA, Germany, France.
 
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