Andi - Not an entry, but I did want to congratulate you on your upcoming 6,000th post and thought I'd share a story.
While I live in the Deep South, the small farm town I grew up in had a distinctively different feel than many other towns in Alabama as it was originally settled in the early 20th century by immigrants from Germany. I remember as a child that all of the adults my grandparents age still spoke to each other almost exclusively in German which was difficult for me to follow. My grandmother did, however, teach me some rudimentary German, and while I've forgotten much of it, to this day when someone sneezes I say "Gesundheit" and I'm just as likely to say "dankeschön" and "bitte" as I am to say "thank you" or "you're welcome". Sadly those original immigrants and most of their children too have passed away including my grand-parents, but happily though, they left us a rich German heritage that we are quite proud of despite the fact that most of us have never been to Germany.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share that with you. Alles Gute!