Bonding - More than materials | Herrmann Ultraschall

RAQUEL ROUSSEL GARCIA, APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT 1,695 KM TO MADRID, THE CAPITAL OF SPAIN, OR 2 ½ HOURS BY PLANE; IN THE REGION SINCE 2009 What does home mean to you? Difficult question. Now, it no longer means the place I was born as much as it did at the time. It also means the place to which a person feels connected for emotional reasons. To me, home is where I was born and where my family is, but also where I started my own family. For newcomers: How was your first day here in Baden? In general, I remember this feeling that it was different. No one spoke to me on the street, or in the train. The neighbors found it strange that I wanted to greet and talk to them, which is normal to us. In general, it felt colder. Really, as it was much colder than I had feared! It snowed in Karls- ruhe when I arrived. In Madrid, snow means chaos. Here, in contrast, every- thing continued to function perfectly. On my first day of work, I was proba - bly also a shock for my colleagues, who could hardly see me under hundreds of layers of clothes (laughs). Which sentence/word in the local dialect have you by now internalized and which one is still foreign to you? For me it was not just Badisch; German in general was completely foreign to me. Badisch just added to that. I had no idea what people wanted from me when using words like “Grombieren”* or “Bubespitzle.” I am still not sure what “nuf,” “nuna,” and “nieber” mean. But now I know what they mean when I have done something “hii” or if I “schwätzen” too much. What food or which tradition still seems somewhat strange to you? The punctuality. And woe to the one who arrives late! In Spain, it is all a bit different. I invited people to my birthday at 7 pm. As 7 o’clock rolled in I was actually still in the shower; in Spain, no one arrives at a party on time. I don’t know who was more surprised: me or the German guests. *- Grombiere: Badisch for Kartoffel (potato) - Bubespitzle: Badisch for Schupfnudel (a type of potato based dumpling/thick noodle) - nuf: Badisch for hoch/hinauf (up) - nuna: Badisch for runter (down) - nieber: Badisch for rüber (over) - hii machen: Badisch for kaputt machen (breaking/destroying sth.) - schwätzen: talking, gossiping, chattering LISA ZINSSER, TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT, MOVED TO BADEN FROM LEVERKUSEN, NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA IN 2011, 308 KM TO KARLSRUHE What makes Karlsbad and the region your (new) home? My friends, the Black Forest, and the climate. What does home mean to you? To me, it depends. For me, home as the feeling is the place where my roots are and my family is, so Leverkusen. However, things are good for me here, so Karlsruhe is also my home. For newcomers: How was your first day here in Baden? My experience during my studies ensured I had an easy start here in the south. Most of my fellow students came from all different parts of Germany. Therefore, again and again there were small misunderstandings concerning “Bebber,”* “Kehrwoche,” or simply when it came to telling the time: Is “three quarters 11” 10:45 or 11:45? (laughs) Which sentence/word in the local dialect have you by now internalized and which one is still foreign to you? Occasionally, I find myself using the small addition “gell” as well as the expression “Hat’s noch …” instead of “Hat es noch …” On the other hand, there are also expressions I will never get used to: such as the use of “wo,” which means “where,” as a relative pronoun – “… der wo ein blaues T-Shirt trägt,” which (literally) translates to “the guy where is wearing a blue T-shirt” – and the farewell at the baker “Schöner Tag!” which is grammatically incorrect, but often used here. What makes Karlsbad “Ultrasonic Valley” and the epicenter of the world? Well, we do, of course, and all the other companies that have grown with, out of, and around Herrmann Ultraschall. *- Bebber: Badisch for Aufkleber (Sticker) - Kehrwoche (literally: sweeping week): when it's ones week to do the (communal) cleaning in the apartment complex/house - gell: word used at the end of a sentence like "You did listen, didn't you? " - Hat's noch (etwas): contraction for "Is there still (sth.)" - Schöner Tag: Nice day - three quarters 11: 10:45 MICHAEL SAURE, SER- VICE, FROM COLOGNE TO KARLSBAD VIA FRANKFURT AND FREIBURG IN 2010, OVER 600 KM IN TOTAL You are used to big cities. Is Karlsbad a small town or a city? A city, for 3 reasons: – because there are innovative and economically strong companies here – because the proximity to the city of Karlsruhe offers everything you need (art, culture, shopping, restau- rants etc.) – because there is a well-developed infrastructure here At the same time, it is a small town: – because you always require a vehicle for some things and the distances (shopping, doctor, school etc.) are sometimes long – because I meet many people in the region who have lived here for generations But what connects the two aspects for me in a way that creates an added ad- vantage is the stimulating surrounding countryside with a large range of lei- sure options in direct proximity to the place of residence near a larger city. What makes Karlsbad and the region your (new) home? I have met really nice people in and from the region who have since become genuine friends. I have been shown a lot of goodwill and openness, so that I, as a “newcomer,” have never somehow felt like, or have been, an outsider. For newcomers: How was your first day here in Baden? I was in Baden for the first time in my early 20s. At the time, I was working for a me- chanical engineering company during the summer vacation of my college and assisted in the modification of a machine of the “Badische Karton- und Pappenfabrik, Gernsbach.” Already at that time, I found the area and the openness of the people I met pleasant. We were always received very nicely with “Oh boys, you are so young and already have to do so much work.” That was pretty homely (laughs). Which sentence/word in the local dialect have you by now internalized and which one is still foreign to you? Internalized: “So ischs worre” and – one I always find nice – “des and sell and jenes.” When I am traveling with my father-in-law in the region, and we meet his “old” friends, there are sometimes words I need to ask for clarification about – even after more than ten years in Baden. *- So ischs worre: So ist es geworden. (literally "This is how it turned out".) Meaning sth. along the lines of "It is what it is" - Des and sell and jenes: Badisch for "Dies und das und jenes." (This that and the other) 139 138 “I AM STILL NOT SURE WHAT “NUF,” “NUNA,” AND “NIEBER” MEAN.” Raquel Roussel-Garcia “I HAVE BEEN SHOWN A LOT OF GOODWILL AND OPENNESS, SO THAT I, AS A ‘NEWCOMER,’ HAVE NEVER SOMEHOW FELT LIKE, OR HAVE BEEN, AN OUTSIDER.” Michael Saure