Ich wohne in Berlin

It's true: I live in Berlin. Although we've been here 6 weeks now, it has felt a bit like an extended vacation. I am still relishing the fact that I can wear jeans on a Monday, consider going to Ireland (and do it) for a few days, and order fresh, hot pretzels at 3 bakeries within sight of our apartment. This week our "trip" to Berlin stopped feeling like a vacation, however, and I realized I was running out of contact solution, deodorant, and trash bags. Without their German words and the names of stores and their locations where I could buy these things, my real "living in Germany" adventure feels like it has just begun.

My husband applied for a fellowship in Germany last year, and ever since then I have known that we might up and move to Germany for a year. We found out in January that we'd be coming and I have been looking forward to the chance to Deutsch sprechen ever since. Because we have amazing families and friends, the move was not too bad. The only panicked moment had nothing to do with the move itself, but was caused by my opthamalogist as he uttered the words no one about to move to a foreign land wants to hear "I have accidently given you dilation drops that will last one week instead of 2 hours". In my final week of packing and moving I got to add to my daily "to-do" list:

1) Assure people that I was not high, my eyes were merely severely dilated
2) Have someone read the newspaper to me since my vision was blurred
3) Trick people into thinking I might be famous by wearing sunglasses all day
4) Stare in the mirror every three hours and try to get my family to agree that my eyes were "getting better"

By the time I boarded the plane, I looked nearly normal. We arrived in Berlin on August 6 and got right down to business. I started language classes on August 7 and had three weeks of intensive classes - 3 1/2 hours a day with my Chilean, Italian, and Yemenese classmates. My time with the 3 of them warrants its own post - I loved them and the class.

During September, we have been traveling off and on as part of the fellowship program and I will resume language classes next week. Trust me, I need them even more than I need new contact solution and deodorant. I'm ready to graduate from "My name is Liz! I come from America! My favorite color is blue!" and learn amazing new things like

1) How to communicate in the past tense
2) How to have an opinion - of anything
3) How to crack a joke

In the meantime, I have found a few tools that are helping me survive.



1) A BIKE. I had forgotten how much fun it was to ride a bike. I researched bike stores for a good two hours and found a delightful store that sold me a used bike. While the bike was fixed up (with a new bell and a basket - gotta have a basket) I befriended the owner (a DC native) and his brother-in-law who moved to Berlin by way of Africa. What fun to hear their crazy "how I got to Berlin" stories while hanging out in a bike store for an hour. Riding my old bike is the best way to connect the dots of the S-Bahn and U-Bahn and really get to see the city.

2) A map. I am always looking at my map to make sure I'm on the right Strasse or Platz. I have never seen so many double s's in my life. I am on a mission to find the longest street name in Berlin, and when I do, I'll be sure to take a picture. Many German street names are well over 20 letters.

3) Enough German to say "excuse me" (when you mistakenly walk in the bike path for the third time that day, nearly knocking over a mother, her child, their groceries, and dog who are all somehow balancing on her bike), "thank you" (when you buy your second pretzel of the day to remind yourself that there are things that are better in Berlin) and "Do you know where ____Strasse is?" It also helps to have enough German to understand the answer when you ask directions, but I have not reached that point yet. The best I can do is understand that at some point, somewhere, I need to turn left.

Wilkommen to my blog and my adventure - "please enjoy" and leave comments!

Tschos!