Word Up: das Himmel

Himmel (nt) heaven


    Today's (very first) word of the day owes its existence to a couple of hours spent in the misleadingly-named Executive Lounge at the hotel.  While it is half-heartedly equipped with newspapers, tables and chairs, and a single internet-enabled computer, in my experience it's used less for business purposes than by cheap hotel guests trying to cobble together a meal out of seven or eight bowls of peanuts and a bunch of bananas.   Hotel staff zipped through the room periodically, making sure that the cooler was full, the window was closed, and that the TV was unreasonably loud.   At first, my concentration was undisturbed. But then, after pointedly ignoring the newsmagazine and some sort of show about windsurfing, I heard the telltale musical stylings of daytime television - in this case, a synthesized orchestra tacked over a reggae beat - and curiousity got the better of me.  This particular music turned out to belong to a sitcom about a gaggle of quirky German nuns. How could I resist?

    "Im Himmels Willen" is apparently in its tenth (!) season on German public television.  It's actually not even daytime fare - it's broadcast at 20:15 every Thursday (that's 8:15 PM for those of you unfamiliar with the 24 hour clock and with poor math skills.  I'm not really sure why German programmes are always shown at fifteen minutes past the hour - it may have something to do with giving German students a reason to learn all the many fascinating ways to say quarter past.)

    I'm not sure if this is an only-in-Germany instance, but an all-nun all-the-time sitcom seems a little weird to me.  I guess it's a way of saying, Hey, we're cool with religion - anyone can laugh at goofy nuns, scoff at lazy nuns, cry with sick nuns, uh - laugh at more goofy nuns, root for nuns in positions of power in a competitive IT firm... It's very light, granny-approved comedy.  I don't think grannies in Canada would be as amenable to having the CBC show a bishop as a comedic character.  It may not be Lindsay Lohan in a wimple, but it's not "Climb Every Mountain" either.

    Plus - why?  When was the last time you thought about a nun?  They don't even run Sister Wendy anymore!  What demographic demonstrated an interest in nunneries?

    As far as cringe-worthy daytime TV, the nuns do a lot better than poor "Sue Thomas, F-B-Eye," in my opinion.  Sure, the show pushes the tradition meets technology concept pretty hard (phonecall from rotary phone to mobile! letter from Vatican delivered by fat guy on motorbike!), but that's better than having a show that revolves around some sick work placement where a handicapped person has to constantly perform inhuman tasks to justify her presence in the group.  That would be like if the nuns were not only working in an IT company, but building a prototype communications satellite in their chicken coop.

    I wish I could tell you how the "The Littlest Hobo"-inspired episode I was watching (dog saves horse that saves girl) ended, but a perhaps-somewhat-more-executive member of the Executive Lounge barged into the lounge, made a beeline for the TV, and turned it off.  I guess some people think nunnery is no laughing matter.