An article in The Sun today describes a British family's "Holiday from Helmut" on the German-infested island of Kos. The Barnish family from Stoke-on-Trent were up in arms that their all-inc. holiday was all-excl. Deutsch - from German-only windsurfing lessons to German-only telly. The family said they smelt a rat when they arrived at the £ 4,000 a week resort to find every single sunbed taken.
Photo captions in typical Kraut-bashing fashion: "Hans off", "Kraut off order" and "Wish you were not Herr".
Funny isn't it. We Brits will cheerfully tolerate everything under the sun - from rained-off bank holidays to sitting all night watching "Britain's Got Talent". But when foreigners don't speak our language we hit the ground running.
Surely the whole idea of going abroad is that you experience different cultures - and languages.
The "mislead" family took their tour operator to court and won £750 compensation.
This could open the floodgates to all sorts of daft claims. Should we really expect everyone else in the world to speak English?
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1231344.ece
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Should the whole world speak English?
British tourists soured by an all-Deutsch holiday
Yes
Nice bit of xenophobia from the Sun with the towels line.
I wonder whether they would have been so upset if everything had been in Greek?
I wonder whether they would have been so upset if everything had been in Greek?
No!
It is nice to have it as a fallback language in case attempts to use the language spoken where you live/ work/ travel fails.
But I believe it is good to keep the diversity and many spoken tongues as it serves to humble us in some instances.
It is nice to have it as a fallback language in case attempts to use the language spoken where you live/ work/ travel fails.
But I believe it is good to keep the diversity and many spoken tongues as it serves to humble us in some instances.
QUOTE (Pas @ May 31 2008, 9:10 am) 
Nice bit of xenophobia from the Sun with the towels line.
Well the towels "thing" is well ingrained into the genetic structure. We usually go to an all-German language hotel with lots sports/activities on Ibiza and the towel gene comes to surface there. Annoys my German wife
I was just speaking yesterday to a colleague from our Frankfurt office & hes off to Kos in week so there will be fresh German blood there...
QUOTE (HEM @ May 31 2008, 9:15 am)
Well the towels "thing" is well ingrained into the genetic structure.
So it is: Reserved pool chairs - Germans and their towels
This was just on the BBC news and they were saying that this xenophobia inherent in the British holiday travelling public is an embarassment and that people should expect to find foreigners in foreign lands.
So what's worse - the German's commandeering all the sunbeds or the Brits expecting a mini Blackpool Mile everywhere they go abraod?
I can understand why they'd be upset. It's one thing to go to Greece and find everyone speaking Greek. It's an entirely different thing to go on a vacation in Greece only to find everyone working at the facility speaking only German when the vacation had been advertised in English (assuming it was).
A blogger on My Telegraph reader's just pointed out to me the story's in the DT too. In that article we learn that the hotel was "too full of Germans" and tour operators Thompsons had expected The Barnish family to find Germans "entertaining". Gets better all the time.
QUOTE (howsthat @ May 31 2008, 9:44 am)
... tour operators Thompsons had expected The Barnish family to find Germans "entertaining".
I can see Italians as being "entertaining" in some way but for Germans (or Brits for that matter) to be described as "entertaining" one has to go along way.
Agreed, you do need some imagination to regard Germans as "entertaining". I feel like opening a thread on the direness of German TV. Better save that for a rainy day.
Having said that we as a family have gravitated for our Summer hols to a German-only speaking hotel/club on Ibiza (plenty sports etc). This is a family place where it seems people have been going for several generations. I confess it will be our 10th visit. Why? For me holidays starts immediately there - switch off from work, hobbies etc. Curiously its not unknown for kids in their high teens go there with their parents cos there is so much to do - ours (19 & 16) are coming...
Just 5 weeks to go...
Just 5 weeks to go...
What will be next? Germans complaining, because their favorite hotel/ club in Turkey is overrun by russians?
Or Ski resort...
Could be worse. Could be full of Brits...
Could be worse. Could be full of Brits...
QUOTE (interplanetjanet @ May 31 2008, 9:37 am)
I can understand why they'd be upset. It's one thing to go to Greece and find everyone speaking Greek. It's an entirely different thing to go on a vacation in Greece only to find everyone working at the facility speaking only German when the vacation had been advertised in English (assuming it was).
Exactly what I was going to say. If you book a holiday in an English brochure you should at least be able to expect that all facilities and activities can be taken in English too.
Thomson Holidays - Hotel Reviews of the Grecotel Royal Park
QUOTE
Writing on 12/01/2007 Anonymous from Warwickshire said...
Legendary hotel, with superb food. I enjoyed the company of a bloke with his family called the Hengys. I was surprised by the overwhelming kindness of the Greeks, although the Germans were most unfriendly as always. The old joke about the sun beds was brought up, but they found it about as funny as the impression of Hitler I did by the pool side in the morning. Great place to go on holiday with your family, I would recommend it to anyone. P.s the kids club was great apart from my 3 year old son came back speaking German by the end of the week.
Review based on a trip in September 2006
Legendary hotel, with superb food. I enjoyed the company of a bloke with his family called the Hengys. I was surprised by the overwhelming kindness of the Greeks, although the Germans were most unfriendly as always. The old joke about the sun beds was brought up, but they found it about as funny as the impression of Hitler I did by the pool side in the morning. Great place to go on holiday with your family, I would recommend it to anyone. P.s the kids club was great apart from my 3 year old son came back speaking German by the end of the week.
Review based on a trip in September 2006
QUOTE (HEM @ May 31 2008, 9:15 am)
Well the towels "thing" is well ingrained into the genetic structure.
I was shopping in Stuttgart today and in one of the shops they were selling beach towels with "Reserviert" written along the length of it. Was thinking about getting one for my dad when he goes on his hols. If you can't beat 'em join 'em and all that!!!
QUOTE (HEM @ May 31 2008, 9:15 am)
Well the towels "thing" is well ingrained into the genetic structure. We usually go to an all-German language hotel with lots sports/activities on Ibiza and the towel gene comes to surface there. Annoys my German wife
How come it annoys her? Wouldn't she do it too if it is so ingrained in our genetic structure?
Maybe having a foreign spouse interferes with the genetic code?
QUOTE (Kay @ May 31 2008, 5:52 pm)
Maybe having a foreign spouse interferes with the genetic code?
Interferes with something I can tell ye...
QUOTE (Freising @ May 31 2008, 1:43 pm)
What will be next? Germans complaining, because their favourite hotel/ club in Turkey is overrun by russians?
AFAIK already happens...
QUOTE (Kay @ May 31 2008, 5:52 pm)
Maybe having a foreign spouse interferes with the genetic code?
Of course, that must be it.
Better get myself a foreign spouse then. I've never reserved a sunbed with a towel (or anything else for that matter), but seeing as I am German it is only a matter of time until I start doing it as well ...
The reserving of sun beds is not just a German thing - the British do it too. The trouble is, once enough people do it, you simply have to do it if you want to lie anywhere during the day. You cannot beat them, you have to join them.
The trouble lies with the hotel, who should enforce a strict no reserving policy, which would result in most cases in there being plenty of beds for everyone.
The trouble lies with the hotel, who should enforce a strict no reserving policy, which would result in most cases in there being plenty of beds for everyone.
Well... forgive me for this, but... I believe Sun readers and Bild readers deserve each other. I'm laughin'
QUOTE
“I’m not racist, as equally I wouldn’t like my family holiday at a hotel overrun by English.�
That would be terrible! Hitler impressions all day and bing drinking at 11am...
QUOTE (Hutcho @ Jun 1 2008, 9:43 am)
The reserving of sun beds is not just a German thing - the British do it too.
From what I have read on this, it was actually the British that started the towel war. The problem was, the Germans could hold their beer better and got up earlier to defeat the drunken Brits at their own game.
As an American, a towel is not a "reservation" unless actively being used and I have already neatly folded them and put them to the side on several occasions. Nothing funnier than watching a beer bellied German in speedos actually hopping around royally pissed. Pisses them more off when I say you don't own this chair and I am American and not British and you can take your towel war elsewhere thank you very much now get out of my face.
Great idea eurovol. In the highly unlikely event that I'm ever in a 'towel and beachchair' situation, I'll just nonchalanty respond that I am, in fact, American. That'll take the heat off the English for a bit, and I'm sure you Americans are thick-skinned enough to not even notice that tiny little bit extra international condemnation.
can u highlight that "extra" haha LOL
I love the headlines in the sun newspaper,
'Kraut of order' - fantastic.
However, you have to laugh..
Typical sun readers go on holiday and then winge about the TV programmes!
There was me thinking that KOS had a little more to offer and that the family would just be sleeping in the hotel...
Althugh I agree that part of a holiday should be to deal with a new langauge, if I was in KOS I would not expect that language to be german
I think this is just a case of the Sun newspaper being itself and taking the ever lower ground.
The Sun - the only newpaper you can't use to wipe your arse, more shit comes off the paper...
'Kraut of order' - fantastic.
However, you have to laugh..
Typical sun readers go on holiday and then winge about the TV programmes!
There was me thinking that KOS had a little more to offer and that the family would just be sleeping in the hotel...
Althugh I agree that part of a holiday should be to deal with a new langauge, if I was in KOS I would not expect that language to be german
I think this is just a case of the Sun newspaper being itself and taking the ever lower ground.
The Sun - the only newpaper you can't use to wipe your arse, more shit comes off the paper...
If you booked an all-inclusive holiday in South Africa and weren't told until you got there that it was for Spanish speakers only and everything was in Spanish, I think you'd be right to ask for compensation. So, although the Sun is getting the usual anti-German funnies out of the story, I think the family were entitled to complain.
Expecting the activities on a UK-marketed package tour to be held in English hasn't got anything to do with expecting everyone on the planet to speak English.
Expecting the activities on a UK-marketed package tour to be held in English hasn't got anything to do with expecting everyone on the planet to speak English.
QUOTE (Sin @ Jun 1 2008, 8:57 pm)
Great idea eurovol. In the highly unlikely event that I'm ever in a 'towel and beachchair' situation, I'll just nonchalanty respond that I am, in fact, American. That'll take the heat off the English for a bit, and I'm sure you Americans are thick-skinned enough to not even notice that tiny little bit extra international condemnation.
Go for it, if we get the extra heat we'll just claim we're canadian.
I don't think there are any holidays advertised as being for 1 particular language only. I havn't seen any with the tag line 'English only spoken' etc.
If I am off on holiday in another country where the native language is not english or german, I accept I may have to just get by with certain things.
My last holiday in good old majorca, out of season and staying in soljair (not sure how to spell it). Hardly anyone in the town spoke english or german as it was out of season so both my girlfriend and myself had to just make do with a guide book and a phrase book.
As for the towel as a reservation device, I am with eurovol - if you have not been here to claim the place personaly, then its free game in my opinion.
To me, its just one more lone towel with nothing to do but be moved.
If I am off on holiday in another country where the native language is not english or german, I accept I may have to just get by with certain things.
My last holiday in good old majorca, out of season and staying in soljair (not sure how to spell it). Hardly anyone in the town spoke english or german as it was out of season so both my girlfriend and myself had to just make do with a guide book and a phrase book.
As for the towel as a reservation device, I am with eurovol - if you have not been here to claim the place personaly, then its free game in my opinion.
To me, its just one more lone towel with nothing to do but be moved.
i believe we should all speak English becuase German is so damn hard to learn lol
been here a year now and my german aint getting any better
been here a year now and my german aint getting any better
QUOTE (cb6dba @ Jun 2 2008, 1:46 pm)
To me, its just one more lone towel with nothing to do but be moved.
If you were to place all the towels on one sunlounger, I wonder what the owners would do. Would they fight over that sunlounger? Would they all try to pile on together? It would be interesting to watch...
@Lorelei..
I think you have just hit on one big, much needed experiment into the German Psychi...
And possibly one of the greatest entertainment events in holiday history
Step 1). Make sure there is enough beer in the fridge that you are rested enough to stay awake until the early morning. Ensure a good view of the pool/beach.
Step 2). Collect all towels together on one sunlounger..
Step 3). Sit back on your balcony/view point and wait to enjoy thew show
They could even make a show out of it..
Germans sucht den freie Sunlounger...
I think you have just hit on one big, much needed experiment into the German Psychi...
And possibly one of the greatest entertainment events in holiday history
Step 1). Make sure there is enough beer in the fridge that you are rested enough to stay awake until the early morning. Ensure a good view of the pool/beach.
Step 2). Collect all towels together on one sunlounger..
Step 3). Sit back on your balcony/view point and wait to enjoy thew show
They could even make a show out of it..
Germans sucht den freie Sunlounger...
QUOTE (Lorelei @ Jun 2 2008, 2:25 pm)
If you were to place all the towels on one sunlounger, I wonder what the owners would do. Would they fight over that sunlounger? Would they all try to pile on together? It would be interesting to watch...
Probably wouldn't come to that. The two possibilities I see:
- A nice non-German would come and take all the towels and move them some place else.
- A rude non-German would come and throw them all in the pool.
Hmmm..
So it would have to be a controlled experiment...
So it would have to be a controlled experiment...
I went to Bali in February and was all surprised that everybody was speaking German - in most cases much better than English. Was I just ignorant to have different expectation?
One great thing in my hotel in Bali when i visited was that they said that any towels left on sunbeds for more than 20 minutes would be removed. The hotel took a firm line about the issue and that's generally something that's necessary when dealing with this whole towels and Germans thing- a firm line by the hotel.
When I was at a language school in Berlin back in 1999 I heard the story about a German that took a Spanish family to court for moving the towels from the sunbeds, and lost, and had to pay court fees. I don't know if it's a true story.
Incidentally: - anyone remember the Carling Black Label ad?!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuIJqF8av6I
When I was at a language school in Berlin back in 1999 I heard the story about a German that took a Spanish family to court for moving the towels from the sunbeds, and lost, and had to pay court fees. I don't know if it's a true story.
Incidentally: - anyone remember the Carling Black Label ad?!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuIJqF8av6I
Great ad. Thanks for sharing!
I never got the whole towel-sunbed-story anyway. Must be some very German stuff...
I never got the whole towel-sunbed-story anyway. Must be some very German stuff...
QUOTE (Kersty @ Jun 2 2008, 11:09 pm)
... Great ad ...
and a particularly tasteful reminder of a chivalrous British method to drown large numbers of civilians ... without achieving a military effect worth mentioning
QUOTE
... according to the latest sources, at least 1,650 people were killed: around 70 in the Eder valley, and at least 1,579 bodies were found along the Möhne and Ruhr rivers, with hundreds missing. 1,026 of the bodies found downriver of the Möhne dam were foreign prisoners of wars and forced-labourers in different camps, mainly from the Soviet Union. Worst-hit was the city of Neheim (now part of Neheim-Hüsten) at the confluence of the Möhne and Ruhr rivers, where over 800 people perished, among them at least 526 female forced-labourers from the Soviet Union. (Some non-German sources erroneously cite an earlier total of 749 for all foreigners in all camps in the Möhne and Ruhr valleys as the casualty at a camp just below the Eder Dam. After the operation Barnes Wallis wrote, "I feel a blow has been struck at Germany from which she cannot recover for several years".
However, on closer inspection, Operation Chastise did not have the military effect that was at the time believed. By 27 June, full water output was restored, thanks to an emergency pumping scheme inaugurated only the previous year, and the electricity grid was again producing power at full capacity. The raid proved to be costly in lives (more than half the lives lost belonging to allied POWs and forced-labourers), but in fact no more than a minor inconvenience to the Ruhr's industrial output ...
However, on closer inspection, Operation Chastise did not have the military effect that was at the time believed. By 27 June, full water output was restored, thanks to an emergency pumping scheme inaugurated only the previous year, and the electricity grid was again producing power at full capacity. The raid proved to be costly in lives (more than half the lives lost belonging to allied POWs and forced-labourers), but in fact no more than a minor inconvenience to the Ruhr's industrial output ...
Now lets not get all 'who did bad things during the war', the home side should not go into that.
If you throw stones at peoples windows, expect to replace a few yourself and 60+years down the line, leave the shards in the past.
If you throw stones at peoples windows, expect to replace a few yourself and 60+years down the line, leave the shards in the past.
QUOTE (cb6dba @ Jun 2 2008, 9:15 am)
Typical sun readers go on holiday and then winge about the TV programmes!
Others do that as well. We knew a couple from Eastern Germany whose teenage daughter spent most of her time in the holiday site in the room watching TV - at least our similarly-aged kids didn't watch TV all the time. This girl complained that her favourite TV programs was on "too high a channel number" & it was too much work to click through the channels to reach it.
Its a bit difficult to argue against such logic...
QUOTE (Freising @ May 31 2008, 1:43 pm)
What will be next? Germans complaining, because their favorite hotel/ club in Turkey is overrun by russians?
Having just returned from Antalya yesterday it was interesting to note the Russians laughing and dancing (2 Member band for entertainment - not very good) and the Germans sitting at their tables in a state of bewilderment of the scene.
Some great entertainment. I think we were the only Americans at the resort, a few Brits. But almost entirely Russians & Germans. A few cross words were exchanged occasionally. I don't understand German or Russians swearing but some things don't require translation.
Interesting to note that during the Table Tennis tournament the Russians wanted the scores in English. They always seemed to have an extra point whereas the German and English scores were the same. Sounded like old times in the Olympics
Yes, but we should start with the UK. Innit.
QUOTE (Lorelei @ Jun 2 2008, 10:25 am)
...So, although the Sun is getting the usual anti-German funnies out of the story, I think the family were entitled to complain...
did you read the Bild papers response? you can see how this can get out of hand.
i'm also with the Brits here - if I go to Greece on holdiay, I expect them to speak Greek, not German.
That picture on the bild website is fantastic.
Its a kind of 'spot the potential skin cancer sufferer'.
Its nice to that;
No matter how alone, isolated, different and missunerstood we feel, there are the same idiots doing the same stupid shit in every country and culture in the world.
There are of course, the same stupid newspapers peddling the same stupid shit just on hand to report it.
Its a kind of 'spot the potential skin cancer sufferer'.
Its nice to that;
No matter how alone, isolated, different and missunerstood we feel, there are the same idiots doing the same stupid shit in every country and culture in the world.
There are of course, the same stupid newspapers peddling the same stupid shit just on hand to report it.
QUOTE (cb6dba @ Jun 3 2008, 10:20 am)
There are of course, the same stupid newspapers peddling the same stupid shit just on hand to report it.
Thats the key to the whole thing: the media (& they don't necessarily have to have been there in person...)
to answer the question in general: no. countries still rely on their language as their first and foremost cultural identity. It remains. However, the trend in the last 30 years is that the world is learning english to become the lanugage that links the world together.
In my opinion, when visiting another country that has a unique language or differs from your own, its a good prerequisite to learn a little of that language. It will emmerse you into the culture faster and might improve your overall holiday.
In my opinion, when visiting another country that has a unique language or differs from your own, its a good prerequisite to learn a little of that language. It will emmerse you into the culture faster and might improve your overall holiday.
QUOTE (Sin @ Jun 1 2008, 8:04 pm)
Well... forgive me for this, but... I believe Sun readers and Bild readers deserve each other. I'm laughin'
I agree.
they are both shit newspapers, I don't really care what their readers think.
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