On September 9th, 2012, The Wife and I took a tourist walk through Hannover known as “The Red Thread.” We didn’t finish the entire tour, but we did end up at the town hall building, where we saw a Renault Twizy electric car being charged in the parking lot. I was so impressed I had to take a picture, but the owners, an older husband and wife, walked up right at that moment. Wanting to be polite, I asked permission.
“Entschuldigung Sie bitte. Darf Ich ein bild aus deine Auto nehmen?” I asked with an American accent so thick you could hear the baseball and smell the apple pie. Luckily, the man’s gesture in response let me know I was welcome to proceed. As we were walking away, I asked my wife if I had spoken correctly.
“He understood you,” she replied. “But in Germany, we say ‘make’ a picture. Also, ‘aus’ means ‘out of,’ and ‘Auto’ is a neutral noun, rather than feminine.”
“Dammit,” I said, clenching my fist. “So, basically, I just asked that man if I could steal a picture out of his she-car?”
Click here to learn more about the term “Culture Shock.”
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Oh God, My Wife Is German. 
Cool story, I love it!!
The fact that you are asking for permission in German is very polite and shows respect to the culture. Please keep on trying!!
BTW, I saw a free charging station here too at IKEA in Costa Mesa, CA where somebody had plugged in his Nissan Leaf. I thought that was kind of interesting to see.
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Thank you Stadt! Now I don’t feel quite so foolish. :) I guess I always try and err on the side of overpoliteness. That way I won’t offend any Germans. :)
How is your German?
Nissan Leafs are cool!
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Ich finde den Nissan Leaf auch cool. Leider sind die Elektro-Autos noch recht teuer. Ich hätte gerne einen.
Mein Deutsch ist hoffentlich besser als mein Englisch – wenn ich das so sagen darf :)
~Anja~
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Your German seems awesome to me! I could understand most everything you said before I had to take it to Google Translate. :)
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Hey! Das hast du schon ganz gut gemacht! And you made me laugh so it’s really all good. :-)
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Thank you! I appreciate the positive encouragement!
Are you in Germany?
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My heart is in Germany … I am in Canada. My parents emigrated in the early 50s, the rest of the family is still in the fatherland.
I love reading your posts … and I love your wife! ;-)
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Thank you very much! And I will pass that along to the Mrs. :)
Will you ever return to Germany?
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I’ve been many times. I’ve thought about moving there, but I was born here in Canada and so was my son now.
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Ah. Alright. Well, if you ever come for a visit, let us know! Anybody who likes this blog deserves a beer on us.
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