Language

One of the characteristics about Berlin that I love is the international mix of people. Last night, when I was walking out of the train station (Bahnhof), a few Spanish tourist stopped me and asked me in English, "Scuse me, can you help find this address?" I realized how universal English really is...Spanish people traveling in Germany speak English to communicate, because they assume the people here can speak English more than they can speak Spanish.

Since I studied abroad in Spain while I was in College, I was able to answer them in Spanish, and show them where they needed to go. When I answered in Spanish, they were delighted! They were so excited that I could speak Spanish, that they hugged me when we said good bye.

Sometimes the opposite can be true, and you actually wish the people would respond in the language that isn't your native tongue, so that you can improve. Right now, since I don't speak German, I am grateful when people can speak English and can help me along my way. However, once someone starts learning a language, it is more valuable to speak in that new language, even if it takes longer to communicate. Also, it becomes a two-way street. As a native English speaking person, learning German, I will (soon) want to speak in German when I am lost and need directions, or if i need help in a grocery store. Currently, once people understand that I don't really speak German, they immediately answer me in English. They have their own desires to
practice their English, as well as to communicate effectively and efficiently. Their goal becomes to convey the information I need as I will best understand it. They will rarely consider whether or not I actually want to communicate in English, or whether I actually want to try to communicate in German.

For those who are actually learning German, this can be frustrating to have everyone always switch into English to communicate simply because it is not helping them to improve their German. On the other hand, communicating to people in their native tongue is always appreciated when those people are more interested in traveling than actually learning a new language, like the Spanish tourists.

I have some Italian colleagues here in Germany, who have decided they don't really need to learn German, because they can communicate in English. One of these colleagues told me that he managed to find an Italian dentist, and a doctor who spoke English.

Having studied in Italy while in college, I also speak Italian and try to communicate with my Italian colleagues in Italian, even though I am a bit rusty.  


I finally decided that it was time to learn how to read my own mail...and started taking German Lessons.  When practicing German, 60% is in german, all of my prepositions are in Spanish and the words I don't know yet in German are either in English or Italian. 


Also, I am now a proficient gesturer and would be very competitive at Charades. =)

Lost in Translation

Learning a new language is very fun, especially in the beginning. Not only is it very important to mix and mingle with the locals to understand the cultural differences, but it is actually an essential part of learning 'contextual phrases.'.

We rarely even think about how many contextual phrases we use on a daily basis. Many times, this happens when we are repeating lines from a movie.

If you said 'earmuffs' to someone who has never seen Old School, it would not be nearly as funny to them, as it would be to an 'Old School' fan.

This same contextual phrasing happens when learning a new language.

Today, one of my friends asked me if I wanted to come over to her house for spaetzle (amazing german style macaroni and cheese) and I declined, mentioning that I already have a dinner date. She has a lively personality and said to me in reference to my date 'Ich drück Dir die Daumen, dass er nicht nur eine "Schnitte", sondern auch noch eine "geile Sau" ist :))!!!

Now, I am still in the process of learning german, and I haven't quite come across 'german dating slang' in my level A2 deutsche course....so naturally, I plugged this into google translate:
"I keep my fingers crossed that it is not just a "cuts", but also a "horny slut" :))!!!"

Now...this was somewhat surprising, and in a way hysterical... I thought, there is no possible way that is the correct translation! So of course I had to ask her to clarify the meaning...

What she meant was: "Thumbs up. Hopefully the guy is not only good eye-candy but also one hot date!"

Language is more than just translation...

Privet Krasavitsa

I really enjoy traveling. While I was in college, I studied abroad quite a few times in Europe and frequently traveled on the train. When traveling by train, it is very common to share a six person room with strangers. Since many train trips are a few hours long, I would get to know my cabin mates along the way. More often than not, my cabin mates were from a European country and spoke English. Before going our separate ways, I would always ask them how to say "Hello" in their native language, which is how I learned "privet krasavitsa"...or "hello beautiful" in Russian.

Now that I am living in Germany, I am trying to learn more than just "Hallo Schöne." In my apartment building, my Hausmeister (Facility Manager or Super) told me who some of my neighbors were...

The lady right next to me is Russian and she has a very loud TV.

The couple two doors down is German and they are nice.

The girl three doors down is also German and she is younger. (I ran into her and her name is Wenke - pronounced "Ven-kah", and she is very nice.)

So last weekend, I was leaving my apartment and I saw my Russian neighbor. She is about 5 feet tall, which includes at least four inches of very curly reddish/orangish tinted hair, perhaps a typical Russian grandmother.

She said "morgen." I said, "Privet" and her eyes lit up and with a huge smile, she said (what I believe to be) "Oh dear, you speak Russian!!"

To which I said, 'Privet Krasavitsa!' This was probably the most exciting thing that she had ever heard because she came over and grabbed my hand with both of hers and started speaking Russian... which I actually don't understand at all...

Then I explained in English, with a few German words, that I actually don't speak Russian, only English, Italian and Spanish, and 24 words in German...and that I will learn more German, since I plan to be here for a while.

I smiled and said, "maybe I should learn Russian..."

She said, "Yes, I tink dat is better."

Schwul and Schwül

The Umlaut. As it turns out, learning how to pronounce the umlaut is actually very important.

I went to an International party organized by InterNations, a networking community for expatriates and "Global Minds." The first woman I met was from Armenia, the second person I met was from Turkey, and the next two guys I met were German. Since there are so many different countries represented, the common language is English.

One of the german guys I met is a Teacher and we eventually started talking about the pronunciation of the 'umlaut.'

To explain it in writing is fairly simple, and in fact, this is how you spell the umlaut letter if your keyboard doesn't have the ability to do the umlaut.

ö sounds like oe

ü sounds like ue

ä sounds like aeh (like in Heaven)

The pronunciation is a lot more difficult. Especially the ü and the ö --they are sounds we don't really have in the English language.

Since I was speaking to a teacher, my "homework" was to find out the difference between "Schwul and Schwül," (keeping in mind that the 'w' in German is pronounced as the English 'v', just in case you are reading this and trying to pronounce these words out loud.) =)

The sample sentences were:

Das Wetter ist schwül. (Since we were talking and not writing anything down, I heard: Das sveater ist schvool. So naturally I started thinking about a sweater....which turned out to be unrelated to the actual meaning...)

Mein Bruder ist schwul. Again, to my novice ears, I heard "Mine Broder is schvool, and I could not discern the difference between the 'schvools.'

Before I left, I had him write down schwul and schwül so I knew how to spell them correctly.

When I looked up 'Schwül' (pronounced schvuel) I learned that it means "humid." The description actually said "please do not confuse with schwul (pronounced schvool), which means gay, or queer."

Homework is now complete...now I just have to work on the pronunciation.

Kreuzschlitzschraubenzieher

People ask me how long I will be in Germany..."A long time" I say...although I really have no idea how long...it could be a year or it could be 10 years.

Either way, I am extremely interested in learning the German language. One of my coworkers who started on the same day as I did, is German. His name is #5. There were five of us newbies who started at the company on January 4th, and he happened to be the last one to introduce himself. I happened to be the first, so when we see each other, we refer to each other as "#5" or "Funf" pronounced "foonf" and #1 or Ein (rhymes with 'nine'). Since #5 is German, he has decided to introduce me to one new German word per week. Last week the word was "Kreuzschlitzschraubenzieher" (pronounced: Croitz Schlitz Schrauben zeehuh). This is the German word for "Phillips Screw Driver." Since I have enough German colleagues to practice with, I decided to practice all weekend as well. It was a real hit at the bar scene and many people were entertained that this was the word I had learned so far.

The ironic part is that I have bought a bunch of ikea furniture and yesterday, I realized that I only have the screw driver with about 10 different flat head parts, and not the phillips one. Luckily, I was able to locate the nearest hardware store and tell them "Ich möchte ein kreuzschlitzschraubenzieher bitte!" =)

One of the first weeks I had to learn Lohnsteuerkarte, which is "tax card" and it is very important to obtain for salary purposes.

My word for this week is Adventkranzkerze, which is a tad less usefull...it means "candles on an advent wreath."

Totes MaGotes

If you haven't seen the movie "I Love You, Man" then this story may not make sense... It is about a guy who needs to find more guy friends, and how awkward he is while trying to establish a friendship. The first time I saw it I was with my Mom (I love seeing movies with my Mom!) and we both thought it was entertaining, not amazing...

The main male character who is looking for guys friends is seemingly awkward when trying to arrange plans to meet up with some potential new man friends and ends up saying things like "I will see you there, or I will see you on another time!," or "Totally...Totes MaGotes..."

Luckily, I am a bit better and making friends and usually say things that are socially acceptable and sometimes even funny in a witty way...

So, I spent the holidays with my family (my mom, brother and sister) and my brother is really into movies...and my brother is really funny. He also watches an astonishing amount of movies and has an incredible ability to remember movie quotations. Almost everyday of our European Vacation, he managed to find an appropriate time to say "Totes MaGotes," which ended up being hysterical.

So now, as I am trying to settle into a new German company and make a good, solid impression with my coworkers, for some reason "Totes MaGotes" is at the top of my vocabulary. The best part of this scenario is that I still think the phrase is hysterical...because it reminds me of how funny my brother is, and how entertained my mom, sister and I were each time my brother would say this...only a few weeks ago. Ironically, my new german coworkers haven't actually seen this movie and have no idea what I am talking about. Soooo, a tiny bit awkward? Totes MaGotes! =)

Working out

So, I love to work out. I like challenging my body to do more than just sitting in a chair, staring at a computer developing back, wrist and eyesight problems. I love Bikram yoga, triathlons, normal yoga, running with a dog that I no longer have, biking, hiking, climbing... really, I love most outdoor activities.

Except when it is -12 degrees Celsius. I actually refuse to look it up and see what the temperature is in Fahrenheit simply because I think Celsius makes more sense, even though I grew up with Fahrenheit. Since I barely understand anything else around me here in Germany, I figure, I might as well learn celsius as well. Also, -12 Celsius just sounds colder. And when attempting to run outside, my nose freezes which means I start breathing through my mouth, which means the cold air is hitting the back of my throat directly, which means I am in perfect condition to acquire bronchitis or pneumonia. Since i dont yet have a doctor and have no idea how to call and set up an appointment, I am really trying to avoid activities that would give me either of the above.

After a month of excuses for not working out (trying to find a place to live, trying to furnish my apartment without being able to use a credit card since ikea doesn't accept credit cards here, trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing at work, trying to learn german and make new friends...), I finally decided to buy a gym membership. I first tried to "shop around" and went to this gym right across the street from my house. Studio 90 is located right above a steakhouse, and while I was visiting, I was pretty sure all of the men in the studio ate downstairs every night, since they all looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was 50 Euro per month if I signed a year, and if I went month to month it was 55 Euro. Since I am still a newbie and still converting into dollars (which is a bad idea) I decided that was way too much considering they opened at 8:30am!! Yes, for some reason, German culture doesn't view working out in the morning to be necessary. I think the fact that some clubs don't close until 6am or sometimes just stay open may have something to do with this. Since I have to be on a train around 8am, I decided this probably wasn't the gym for me.

Fitness First for Ladies was my next stop. Here there was also a special, 39.95 Euro if i signed a year contract instead of 53.95 Euro, and I wouldn't have to pay the 45 Euro setup fee! Also, they told me that the gym opens at 7am, which they emphasized was very early. I thought about my other gym options (McFit, and InterSports) and decided this was a good option for me, especially since I can use all of the Fitness Firsts for Ladies and all of the normal Fitness Firsts throughout Berlin and all of Germany.

Then I figured out how to get a locker and hopped on a machine. All he buttons were in German and there were no pictures. =( I spoke to one of the ladies who worked there who spoke a little English and explained that I wanted "Hills" on the Eliptical. (This is a pretty standard request, I thought, and it is usually what I do on Elipticals in other parts of the world.) She basically told me that hills were very hard, and so they don't really do them on the elliptical, but rather people do hills on the treadmill. Haha. Soo, after some coersing, I convinced here that I really did want the "automatic hill setting" instead of the manual hill option, and she showed me which button to push. Victory!