Klaus was struggling to keep himself cool in the fiery hot weather he had encountered outside. As a geography student, he was quite well informed on the peculiarities of Europe's various climates, but his knowledge utterly failed to reflect in his choice of clothing that day. Prior to leaving Hamburg, Klaus had only packed clothes that might have been perhaps suitable for the rather cool, if rainy summers of his home city. Though the torrid heat outside, typical of a normal July in Southeastern Europe, should not have come as a surprise for the 20-year old, it nonetheless provoked a fair bit of sweating and Klaus was seriously considering taking off his wool cardigan. He was, however, only ten minutes away by foot from the very place he was in this country to visit, his grandmother's house. Klaus hadn't seen her in two years, when she and his grandfather last visited Hamburg on the occasion of the young man's eighteenth birthday - their gift to him was the very same wool cardigan he was wearing on this scorching day. Klaus had traveled all the way here upon hearing news of his grandfather's death - the funeral was not going to happen for another two weeks, but Klaus had decided on arriving earlier regardless in order to console his grieving grandmother.
He had only previously been to this country, the birthplace of his parents, thrice - once as a child, and twice as a teenager. Regardless, Klaus had always been particularly intrigued by the various facets of life in this nation - he found the country fascinating, especially from a cultural and historical standpoint. He had learned about much of the region's history at school, and had often found himself questioning his teacher on how the existence of a German-speaking state came to be in this corner of Europe, one that was centuries ago inhabited by a variety of different population groups. And despite the prevalence of the German language in this country, it was a German language far different from the dialects he had gotten used to in Germany.
While walking at a leisurely pace towards his destination, Klaus fondly remembered one Christmas he had spent in Hamburg with his grandparents as a 14-year old - one of his dearest memories was how he had cheerfully asked his grandmother why she spoke using what Klaus termed at the time as 'wonky' words. In response, she teased Klaus by saying was that it was actually the young man's German that was outdated, and that her own was perfectly fine! The old woman then explained to Klaus that due to the various indigenous groups that inhabited her country prior to the German settlement there, her dialect of German included a fair amount of unusual words. She told him how one such example was the word for 'Christmas tree' - unlike in the standard German spoken by Klaus, the word she used wasn't Weihnachtsbaum, but rather Brad, a word from the now-dead Wallachian language.
As Klaus kept moving in the direction of his grandmother's house, he stopped to gaze at an interesting propaganda billboard found just across the street. Its imagery was minimalist - it featured three rows of soldiers from different epochs, all of them looking up, towards the sun. The left row was comprised of medieval knights, the right one of Great War-era servicemen, and the center one of modern-day troopers. Beneath the soldiers' feet were the following words, in white text:
'Das Erbe unserer teutonischen Vorfahren wird überleben! Lang lebe Dacien!'*
Klaus looked at the billboard for a minute, then suddenly remembered his reason for being here. He carried on with his day...
--
* - 'The legacy of our Teutonic forefathers will survive! Long live Dacia!'
He had only previously been to this country, the birthplace of his parents, thrice - once as a child, and twice as a teenager. Regardless, Klaus had always been particularly intrigued by the various facets of life in this nation - he found the country fascinating, especially from a cultural and historical standpoint. He had learned about much of the region's history at school, and had often found himself questioning his teacher on how the existence of a German-speaking state came to be in this corner of Europe, one that was centuries ago inhabited by a variety of different population groups. And despite the prevalence of the German language in this country, it was a German language far different from the dialects he had gotten used to in Germany.
While walking at a leisurely pace towards his destination, Klaus fondly remembered one Christmas he had spent in Hamburg with his grandparents as a 14-year old - one of his dearest memories was how he had cheerfully asked his grandmother why she spoke using what Klaus termed at the time as 'wonky' words. In response, she teased Klaus by saying was that it was actually the young man's German that was outdated, and that her own was perfectly fine! The old woman then explained to Klaus that due to the various indigenous groups that inhabited her country prior to the German settlement there, her dialect of German included a fair amount of unusual words. She told him how one such example was the word for 'Christmas tree' - unlike in the standard German spoken by Klaus, the word she used wasn't Weihnachtsbaum, but rather Brad, a word from the now-dead Wallachian language.
As Klaus kept moving in the direction of his grandmother's house, he stopped to gaze at an interesting propaganda billboard found just across the street. Its imagery was minimalist - it featured three rows of soldiers from different epochs, all of them looking up, towards the sun. The left row was comprised of medieval knights, the right one of Great War-era servicemen, and the center one of modern-day troopers. Beneath the soldiers' feet were the following words, in white text:
'Das Erbe unserer teutonischen Vorfahren wird überleben! Lang lebe Dacien!'*
Klaus looked at the billboard for a minute, then suddenly remembered his reason for being here. He carried on with his day...
--
* - 'The legacy of our Teutonic forefathers will survive! Long live Dacia!'
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