After enjoying the regular Sunday afternoon/evening Zoom chats hosted by Wendy Jean, I got to thinking that my trip to Canada in July could be an opportunity to meet with a few BCTS members. My main reason for the trip is a conference regarding the use of [Mennonite] Low German in media and the process of documenting and formalizing the grammar and orthography, as well as developing the corresponding writers utilities as open source software tools. This conference is scheduled for 12-14 July in Aylmer, Ontario. I will have some down-time on the Saturday and Sunday. But since I have no drivers license, and public transport seems to be non-existent, I am not mobile.
Following the conference I have scheduled a few days in Winnipeg, Manitoba to connect with extended family. Since my aunt is coordinating the schedule there, I do not know how much free time I will have. And finally I will be spending a few days with more extended family in Nanaimo, British Columbia. There my uncle has indicated that we might also spend the last few days in the Vancouver area, before flying back to Germany.
If there is any interest for a meet-up, please contact me private message here on Big Closet.
Wishing you all a successful and happy day and week.
Jessica Nicole
Comments
Low German eh?
I’m in Winnipeg and though not a speaker, understand a little. My dad would keep my mom awake LATE into the night by shaking the bed as he read “Koup un Buah” laughing. Please keep us informed of your itinerary, maybe we could meet.
An Avid reader
Low German eh?
I’m in Winnipeg and though not a speaker, understand a little. My dad would keep my mom awake LATE into the night by shaking the bed as he read “Koup un Buah” laughing. Please keep us informed of your itinerary, maybe we could meet.
An Avid reader
Huh I’m in Winnipeg too
It’s 34 today though bleh.
"Koop un Buah" are classics
Yes "Koop un Buah" are classics, almost reminiscent of the "Laurel and Hardy" films. Though you need to have some insight into the Mennonite culture and world-view to get many of the jokes. Especially the world-view of the Mennonites who emigrated in the mid 1870s from Russia to Canada, due to religious conservatism and orthodoxy. Those same reasons again triggered schisms and migration after both world wars in the early 1920s to Mexico and Paraguay (mid to late 1920s), and the late 1940s to Mexico, Belize and Paraguay. In the 1960s the conservatives from Mexico migrated to Paraguay and Bolivia. The latest conservative splinter has moved to the amazonian jungle in Peru in the late 2010s.
The main [cultural] characteristic of all these conservative Mennonite groups is, that they reject the "modern" education and are thus functional an-alphabets in anything but their own Low German dialect or language. Their schooling is a throw-back to the first mandatory public schooling in Prussia from the early 1700s. And the only True Bible is the 1914 revision of the Martin Luther translation to High German. Very much reminiscent to the circumstances of the Christians of the 1490s in Europe with the Vulgate in Latin.
I am scheduled to be in Winnipeg between 17 and 21 July. Beyond that I do not feel comfortable to share more details in the public forum. For more details and exchange of alternative contact details, please use the private message feature of BCTS.
Have a great day.
Jessica Nicole