Und so beginnt es (wieder)
Ah Europe. My third time here. Having arrived on a Friday, I got accustomed to things quicker this time around. I was worried that my German would be a little rusty. The worrying started a couple months ago. In San Francisco, one of the TV stations rebroadcasts Deutsche Welle. They broadcast alternately in English and in German, and while most of the time they broadcast only the English programming (along with programming from many countries), two nights a week they broadcast the German programming as well. I could record it and then practice my comprehension.
Well, two months ago they stopped broadcasting it in German. Scheisse! Use it or lose it, and I worried I would. I still could practice with my German friends "chatten" online. When my friend Uwe moved from Frankfurt to Santa Clara, I could practice with him in person, but he moved not long before my trip, I didn't have much of a chance to practice in person.
My worrying was for naught. On the flight over, they dubbed all the movies in German (or you could watch them in English too), but I watched them all in German. It all came back. In fact, after a day I was completely comfortable with it again, and little weird things came back to me. For example, it had been raining here (although, thank you God, as if you knew I was coming, it pretty much stopped right as I arrived), and I remembered out of the blue the word for an umbrella (ein Regenschirm), things like that which I'd never have to know but did. I got lots of a complements and even a few wondering why my German was so "perfekt". It's not perfect, not yet, but Jesus, I'm in Deutschland for 18 days, it'll be damn near by the end of this trip. For example, I didn't know the word for that little sticker they give you when you check your luggage (of course in German, that's all one word), but give me that much. :-)
Likely, I had the coolest thing happen last night, not dissimilar to something that happened to me in Paris on my first trip. I started chatting with some locals in one of the bars here last night. "Woher kommst du von?" we would all ask each other. "San Francisco," I would answer. And then the other one said, "Oh, I'm from Baltimore," in English. He's actually an ex-pat living in Frankfurt. But one of the guys in the group (a Berliner) really didn't speak English. And so around him, the three of us spoke German. As soon as he'd walk away, we'd just switch to English, and then if he came back, we switch back to German to fill him in on the conversation, often times in mid-sentence. Ganz kuhl, they say here.
But it's funny being back here. There were little things I had forgotten. For example, when crossing the streets, the lights turn green. (Grün Licht gehen, rot Licht stehen, they teach the kids here. I always liked that.) However, then the light just turns red. It doesn't flash, it doesn't count down, it just goes red. The first time I was a little dissettled, but you do have a few seconds to clear the intersection before the other direction turns green.
But it is my first time in Berlin, and I must say I'm quite impressed. It's an incredibly green city. Part of it is that is has been raining a lot here, and so everything is incredibly green. But there are parks and lakes and trees everywhere here. And the neighborhood where I'm staying is totally cool. There was an art gallery opening right next door. There are tons of little shops and some (although not a lot) of restaurants. Es gefällt mir sehr. (I like it a lot!) :-)
Well, two months ago they stopped broadcasting it in German. Scheisse! Use it or lose it, and I worried I would. I still could practice with my German friends "chatten" online. When my friend Uwe moved from Frankfurt to Santa Clara, I could practice with him in person, but he moved not long before my trip, I didn't have much of a chance to practice in person.
My worrying was for naught. On the flight over, they dubbed all the movies in German (or you could watch them in English too), but I watched them all in German. It all came back. In fact, after a day I was completely comfortable with it again, and little weird things came back to me. For example, it had been raining here (although, thank you God, as if you knew I was coming, it pretty much stopped right as I arrived), and I remembered out of the blue the word for an umbrella (ein Regenschirm), things like that which I'd never have to know but did. I got lots of a complements and even a few wondering why my German was so "perfekt". It's not perfect, not yet, but Jesus, I'm in Deutschland for 18 days, it'll be damn near by the end of this trip. For example, I didn't know the word for that little sticker they give you when you check your luggage (of course in German, that's all one word), but give me that much. :-)
Likely, I had the coolest thing happen last night, not dissimilar to something that happened to me in Paris on my first trip. I started chatting with some locals in one of the bars here last night. "Woher kommst du von?" we would all ask each other. "San Francisco," I would answer. And then the other one said, "Oh, I'm from Baltimore," in English. He's actually an ex-pat living in Frankfurt. But one of the guys in the group (a Berliner) really didn't speak English. And so around him, the three of us spoke German. As soon as he'd walk away, we'd just switch to English, and then if he came back, we switch back to German to fill him in on the conversation, often times in mid-sentence. Ganz kuhl, they say here.
But it's funny being back here. There were little things I had forgotten. For example, when crossing the streets, the lights turn green. (Grün Licht gehen, rot Licht stehen, they teach the kids here. I always liked that.) However, then the light just turns red. It doesn't flash, it doesn't count down, it just goes red. The first time I was a little dissettled, but you do have a few seconds to clear the intersection before the other direction turns green.
But it is my first time in Berlin, and I must say I'm quite impressed. It's an incredibly green city. Part of it is that is has been raining a lot here, and so everything is incredibly green. But there are parks and lakes and trees everywhere here. And the neighborhood where I'm staying is totally cool. There was an art gallery opening right next door. There are tons of little shops and some (although not a lot) of restaurants. Es gefällt mir sehr. (I like it a lot!) :-)
posted by Joe Carlin at 12:58 PM
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