The day of the "Stammtisch"
November 15th 2007 21:17
For my boyfriend and his friends (and for me now too), Thursday is the day of the Stammtisch.
What is the hell is a Stammtisch, you ask? An online dictionary awkwardly translates it as "regulars' table" -- a term which tells you almost nothing unless it is backed up by further explanation. However, all Germans seem to understand this concept.
A Stammtisch is basically regular meetings of the same group of people in a place where they can drink, eat and chat. In practical terms, this usually means getting together at regular intervals at the same bar/restaurant at the same time of the day.
At first, this whole concept freaked me out with its apparent "Germanness" (i.e. scheduled, unspontaneous nature). I kept harassing my boyfriend about it and making fun of it. The first time he ever told me about it, I said to him with horror in my voice, "Huh? You meet up at 7:15pm EVERY Thursday at the SAME bar with the SAME friends? What is wrong with you people?!"
Then there were the SMS "invitations" I started receiving from our Stammtisch mates every Thursday morning at around 9am. They wanted to check if everyone was able to come that evening, which by itself made sense, but in addition to this query they also always mentioned the time and place, even though these things never changed. Therefore, the usual SMS looked something like this: "Hello! Stammtisch tonight? We're meeting at 19:15 at Harmonie. Hope to see you there!" Hmm...
However, our Stammtisch friends were really nice people. And the restaurant we met at had good food and beer. And we always chatted, laughed and had a nice time. And (God forbid) I slowly started ENJOYING going to the Stammtisch. The inevitable submission to the ways of my adopted country had begun.
For a while there was peace between the Stammtisch concept and myself. But then an obstacle to this peace appeared in the form of a German male friend I met during my temporary return to Australia. I once mentioned this little tradition of ours to him, only to see him burst out laughing and exclaim, "What? Stammtisch?! I've never seen young people do that! My dad goes to a Stammtisch, but he is 60 years old. Your boyfriend's friends must be a bunch of nerds."
Hmm... Yes. There it was. I was being associated with "a bunch of nerds". I spent the nest 30 minutes trying to prove to him that it was actually quite fun and they weren't nerdy, but he remained amused.
Something wasn't right here. Upon my return to Germany, I raised the issue with my boyfriend once again. He had led me to believe that a Stammtisch was a normal thing in Germany, but here was another GERMAN guy laughing at me for participating in something like this. So what was the deal?
My boyfriend seemed disappointed and told me I had completely misunderstood. "Darling," he said, "we use this term in a MOCKING fashion. A Stammtisch is indeed something usually associated with older men who get together to talk about politics. But WE just use this meeting as a way of seeing each other each week and getting tipsy together."
Fair enough. At least my confusion was finally sorted out.
Oh, look at the time right now! As I write this, it's almost 6pm on a Thursday evening. You know what that means... I slowly better start getting ready to meet our Stammtisch buddies in the same bar we always go to. And I have to admit that this sameness does have some advantages. For one, I know the menu in that place so well that I can already start thinking what to fill my hungry stomach with before I get there. They do, however, also have daily specials. So you never know -- I might actually eat something totally different this time. Variety, here I come!
What is the hell is a Stammtisch, you ask? An online dictionary awkwardly translates it as "regulars' table" -- a term which tells you almost nothing unless it is backed up by further explanation. However, all Germans seem to understand this concept.
A Stammtisch is basically regular meetings of the same group of people in a place where they can drink, eat and chat. In practical terms, this usually means getting together at regular intervals at the same bar/restaurant at the same time of the day.
At first, this whole concept freaked me out with its apparent "Germanness" (i.e. scheduled, unspontaneous nature). I kept harassing my boyfriend about it and making fun of it. The first time he ever told me about it, I said to him with horror in my voice, "Huh? You meet up at 7:15pm EVERY Thursday at the SAME bar with the SAME friends? What is wrong with you people?!"
Then there were the SMS "invitations" I started receiving from our Stammtisch mates every Thursday morning at around 9am. They wanted to check if everyone was able to come that evening, which by itself made sense, but in addition to this query they also always mentioned the time and place, even though these things never changed. Therefore, the usual SMS looked something like this: "Hello! Stammtisch tonight? We're meeting at 19:15 at Harmonie. Hope to see you there!" Hmm...
However, our Stammtisch friends were really nice people. And the restaurant we met at had good food and beer. And we always chatted, laughed and had a nice time. And (God forbid) I slowly started ENJOYING going to the Stammtisch. The inevitable submission to the ways of my adopted country had begun.
For a while there was peace between the Stammtisch concept and myself. But then an obstacle to this peace appeared in the form of a German male friend I met during my temporary return to Australia. I once mentioned this little tradition of ours to him, only to see him burst out laughing and exclaim, "What? Stammtisch?! I've never seen young people do that! My dad goes to a Stammtisch, but he is 60 years old. Your boyfriend's friends must be a bunch of nerds."
Hmm... Yes. There it was. I was being associated with "a bunch of nerds". I spent the nest 30 minutes trying to prove to him that it was actually quite fun and they weren't nerdy, but he remained amused.
Something wasn't right here. Upon my return to Germany, I raised the issue with my boyfriend once again. He had led me to believe that a Stammtisch was a normal thing in Germany, but here was another GERMAN guy laughing at me for participating in something like this. So what was the deal?
My boyfriend seemed disappointed and told me I had completely misunderstood. "Darling," he said, "we use this term in a MOCKING fashion. A Stammtisch is indeed something usually associated with older men who get together to talk about politics. But WE just use this meeting as a way of seeing each other each week and getting tipsy together."
Fair enough. At least my confusion was finally sorted out.
Oh, look at the time right now! As I write this, it's almost 6pm on a Thursday evening. You know what that means... I slowly better start getting ready to meet our Stammtisch buddies in the same bar we always go to. And I have to admit that this sameness does have some advantages. For one, I know the menu in that place so well that I can already start thinking what to fill my hungry stomach with before I get there. They do, however, also have daily specials. So you never know -- I might actually eat something totally different this time. Variety, here I come!
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And even now back in Sydney, I go to German Stammtisch once a month too!