Grüß Gott, Frau Magister!

This week, the Cat and I started German language training.  It is an opportunity offered by the Embassy at all posts to help us foreigners ease more into our host country's culture.  So, not only do you learn the language but culture as well.  

Today, part of the lesson focused on formal and informal greetings and goodbyes.  Guten tag, guten morgen (morning), guten abend (evening), auf wiedersehen are some common ways to formally greet or say good bye to someone.  However, more commonly in Austria, you hear grüß Gott for a greeting, auf wiederschauen for an in person good bye and auf wiederhören if you are saying goodbye over the phone. Luckily, I'm taking notes! There are also rules in regards to which greetings you use with friends vs people you don't know vs elders.  For friends, you can say "Hallo" for hello or "Tschüss" for bye. For strangers, you would stick to the more formal greetings listed above. Also, it is not proper to tell someone older than you that they can call you by name, but an elder can tell you to call them by their name only instead of "Frau or Herr so and so." 

Since we were on the topic of greetings, I brought up titles.  Last night I was on the TMobile Austria site and was changing our address from our temp housing to current address  They had an option for title, but it wasn't Mr, Mrs, Miss, Master, or Dr. in the drop down.  There were at least a hundred titles to choose from.  I had already heard about this custom, but didn't quite understand it because it makes no sense to us Americans and possibly many other foreigners.  

Titles are a form of hierarchy here in the same way as you go from enlisted to General in the the US Army. The higher your title the more respect you are given.   In the United States, it is common to call someone who has earned a PhD or MD a doctor when addressing them.  But you never hear someone addressed by their other degrees or profession.  If you are a university professor and happen to be have a masters degree, you would be greeted, for example, as "Herr/Frau Professor Magister so and so".  If you have a double masters degree, that is acknowledge by saying "Frau Professor Magister Magister."  If you have more than one profession say, for example, you are a pharmacist with a doctorate degree and you teach at the university level, you would be addressed as "Herr/Frau Doktor Pharmazeut, Professor so and so."

My professor is from Germany and she shared that when she moved to Austria she did not understand it either because this is not done in Germany.  She has been told that since Austrians never had a noble class, they wanted to have something to show societal status.  I have also heard that they take pride in their accomplishments and want them acknowledged.  For foreigners, it will seem that they are showing off, but, to them, this is the way they do things.  

My professor encouraged me to use the title Magister (master's degree) in my name because she states that locals will treat you better if they know you hold a master's degree.  Therefore, you may now refer to me as "Frau Magister Soziale Arbeiter, Mother of All Things":-)