The last planned event of the Sabbatical recently took place on Saturday, March 10, 2018. It was over two years ago that a bee keeping workshop was explored as a way to share information learned during the Sabbatical experience, particularly regarding the ApiTour through Slovenia exploring the A-Z Hive System. After brainstorming and dreaming, the Renewal Group put this in the proposal for the Lily Foundation grant. After the grant was awarded, Pastor Andy (me) purchased equipment to use as displays, and for over a year the empty hive has sat at my house in my Hermitage Room waiting for sharing. Two recent workshops fulfilled the Sabbatical vision of introducing a new idea to North Idaho. One was held at the church on March 10, and one was held in Ponderay on March 14. Both were well attended and the participants we eager to learn. It was fun to show pictures from the Sabbatical, featuring visits to Slovenian beekeepers showing their bee houses and equipment, along with their techniques and philosophies on bee management, Apitherapy, and other amazing things.
One of the observations I shared in the workshop involved languages. In Slovenia, they speak Slovenian. This is a Slavic language and very different than anything I’d heard before traveling there. We were thankful to have a translator for our guide, whose name is Janez. He knows several languages, and is fluent as he shares aspects of culture, history, and the particular jargon of beekeepers. Since Slovenia was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, historically the German language was very prevalent. Most of the places we toured, people first spoke Slovenian, but could also speak English, however, they would prefer speaking German over English.
Shawna was an exchange student in southern Germany during her Junior year of high school and learned German, with what you might call a ‘southern drawl’ from that region. In northern Germany, people assume she is from southern Germany. She speaks fluently and flawlessly, but her vocabulary is limited compared to actual Germans. She doesn’t know as many words, or she may
phrase something more like you would read it in a children’s book. The words she does know, she can pronounce very well, so most of the time she can pass as a German. The Slovenian’s faces would light up when they found out she could speak German, although it wouldn’t be long before they would go back to Slovenian and use our guide for translation. That was just easier, plus, I
didn’t understand either German or Slovenian. Like most Americans, I only speak English, even though I took two years of French in high school. It is difficult to maintain a language if you don’t practice and keep expanding your vocabulary.
That gets to this month’s Sabbatical highlight shared by Shawna: speaking German, being in Germany, enjoying the immersion experience of another culture. Shawna was able to practice, learn new words, and watch people express their disbelief when they found out she was American. She could pass as a German, but I could not. For example, when we borrowed our friend’s motorhome to visit Italy, it had German license plates, so in the campground other German tourists would walk by and say things in German. “Um, I’m not actually German, I am American and only speak English,” is what I would admit right away after an awkward silence, then they would switch instantly to English, plus I would call for Shawna to come outside and chat in a mix of German and English. It was fun, and a good reminder that to really get to know someone, it helps to speak their language. To experience the fullness of a culture, having access to the native language really helps, even though catching certain phrases may take years. You know you’ve mastered a language when you can laugh at the jokes. Otherwise, you just sit there like I did until someone explains it in your language, but by then the joke has passed, and jokes are not usually as funny when they need
explaining.
Driving that motorhome and crossing the border from Italy into Austria, where Austrians speak German, brought with it a sense of relief as things could be more familiar, understood, and communicated. Shawna did a great job improving her German during the months in Europe, patiently doing all the talking as I stood quietly in the background at the counters of post offices, banks, tourist information centers, and other places. It felt strange for me to not be the one doing the talking, and the Germans would look at me as if I had some condition until they realized I could only speak English. Shawna enjoyed speaking German in the land of amazing history and culture, immersed in ways that only traveling for an extended time can offer.