^ My father was born in the USA, shortly after his parents fled Swabia (Ulm), because it was a bad time and place to be Jewish. They were among the last to get out before the Holocaust situation got really bad.
It was interesting watching Germany in the World Cup. Aparently, ever since WWII, overt displays of nationalism (flag waving, raucus cheering, etc) have been shunned. But Germany is by now a positive, humble nation, very much recovered what happened there two generations ago, and the announcers commented on how this was the first World Cup in which the German fans carried on for their team. (Being host nation probably helped too.) I still feel very awkward about the country, which technically is my ancestral homeland, but today's Germany is not the country we fled, and I wish it the best. I hadn't thought of it this way before, but perhaps using the handful words we've managed to hold on to, especially in a light, humorous fashion, could be part of us moving on.
...Even if we botch the words. I've just been told that it's actually "quadradackel" and that it means "dachsund to the fourth power". Oops!
