It's cold here today. I could probably say that most every day.

German class is going pretty well. Today we discussed "International Words" that have made their way into German in the last ten years or so. Actually, all the "international" words we talked about today were English. And it's true, I can tell a big difference in everyday German from when I came here before. English is everywhere now. It's really quite surprising.

So some of the words we talked about were verbs like checken -- ich habe meine E-mail gecheckt -- and relaxen. Or one that Marty hears all the time at work -- downgeloaded.

But then there were nouns like das Headquarter, der Job, die City, das Meeting, der Workshop, das Team, and das Sandwich. Some of the words are pronounced as we pronounce them auf Englisch, while others are not. And I really don't know where the different articles come from (der, die, das). Who decides what article an English word will take in German?

Strangest to me are the words that are clearly taken from English but are not English words. Like die Livesendung, which means "live broadcast." It's not German, but it's not English, either. Or the verb form of der Job. As in, ich brauche Geld; morgen jobbe ich. Or -- best of all -- the German word for cell phone. Handy. Call me on my handy.

I guess if they were like the French, Germans would have a special office to protect the language and keep foreign (read: English) words out. But no, apparently they don't.