Learning German the Italian Way

Juan, Liz, Antonio, and Abdo living it up in Berlin

Hello from the US of A! While I'm savoring my time here, I thought I'd post a story from my first few weeks of language class in Berlin.

I began taking German the day after we arrived. I had one month in Berlin before we began traveling, so I thought I'd jump right in. There were 3 other students in the class - all guys - 1) Juan - born in Chile, spent the last few years in England, speaks Spanish and English, 30 years old - 2) Abdo - from Yemen, speaks Arabic and no English, 22 years old - 3) Antonio - from Italy, speaks Italian, Spanish, and a little English, 24 years old. (You're wondering how I know everyone's ages - with a limited vocabulary you quickly delve into personal questions like these. Nothing like being asked by someone everyday 1) How old are you? 2) Are you married? 3) What is your phone number? So we asked them all the time.) Our teacher (38 and married) had a crush on Antonio, as did everyone. He said everything with an Italian accent. This, and everything about him, had an intoxicating effect on us. It became a language issue, however, when learning the different gender endings for words in German. Antonio wanted EVERYTHING to be feminine - just throw an "aay!" on the end of it all! Our teacher had to take a break from batting her eyelashes at him to remind him that some words in German simply end in consonants.

After our last German class for the 'semester' (really just the month of August) we went out for a celebration with our teacher. We went to a cafe that served both booze and tea/coffee. I guess I figured 'when in Rome', so I planned to order a beer. I ordered last however, and was losing my confidence after my three classmates and teacher ordered tea and coffee. I still did it, though, and when Antonio heard me order beer, he got very excited and immediately cancelled his coffee order. 'Warsteiner? Ja, gut! Nicht kaffee, Ich möchte ein WARSTEINER!'

During the time at the cafe we only spoke in German, which must have been incredibly entertaining for our neighbors. We were stuck on things like 'What is your favorite food?' for awhile and then attempted to talk about topics like museums using our limited vocab and excessive hand gestures. Antonio asked me many questions about my siblings. He wanted to hear all their names and kept saying that they sounded so 'American'. (He actually laughed out loud with astonished glee when I said my sister's name was Margaret. I didn't mention Americans didn't make that one up.) When I told him Kathleen and Andrew were planning to bring baby Daniel over this year, I remarked that even the baby would need a passport. Antonio smiled and paused for a few seconds, clearly thinking of the right way to say something, and then blurted out in his Italian German: 'Baby has-uh die Tele-tubby passport! Extra pages for coloring!' We both laughed for much longer than necessary. It was just so thrilling to tell our first joke in German together.

I am thankful everyday that those boys were my classmates in my first few weeks of language class. They taught me so much about how to enjoy being back in a classroom. In their wonderful way, they showed that breaks are meant to be extended, cappuccino is better than coffee, and that trying new sentences - however grammatically incorrect - is how you learn a language.

"Who invented teenagers and why" and "Something Wonderful"

"Who invented teenagers and why"

I guess it had to happen sometime. I had just exited the U-Bahn in the neighborhood where I'd soon be meeting my new tandem partner. I was trying to confidently make my way without consulting my map when suddenly I felt my dangly earring smash into my head.
"Was ist das?"
I didn't have time to figure out before I felt the next shots - I was being pelted in the head with large gummy candies by a group of punk teenage boys. One inch round gummy candies.

Thought 1: Why kick a girl when she's down?
Thought 2: Why don't I know how to swear in German?
Thought 3: When all else fails, some words are universal.

So I took a deep breath and stopped walking, faced them (they were unapologetic) and said, "What the hell is wrong with you?" True confession: I was very angry. I believe I "said" (yelled) some other things like "Why aren't you in school? Go to school!" Etc., etc. At this point, getting pelted in the head with candy was not funny to me. Plus - why would you waste candy? What's wrong with these kids? To make things really perfect, when I attempted to regain my composure and walk away - I tripped. Not a small trip - quite a large one, in fact - and all four boys watched with rapt attention, savoring every bit of it. I could still hear them laughing as I paused around the corner to pull myself together. This is when I lost it. I left Dominic a tearful, mumbling message bemoaning the existence of punk teenagers throughout the world.

As far as I know, recovery from an attack does not occur without food, so I headed into a charming coffee shop (I had an hour to kill before meeting my new friend) and had a wonderful exchange with the cashier. Although I must mention that after I'd successfully ordered (and received) both food and drink "auf Deutsch", he gave me my total in English - saying "I mean, you don't speak German, right?" "Right." Someone please throw me a bone! (See next paragraph.)

"Something Wonderful"

Finally, the day became wonderful: I met my new tandem partner. The goal of the "tandem" is that we'll split our time between speaking English and German so we both can learn our new languages. Her English is already quite good, but she has lots of little things she wants to work on, and well, you know about my German. Most people meet for one hour their first visit, and after one hour she was asking me what I wanted to order next. This is my kind of attitude! I had written out a list of questions in German and I dare say we actually had a "dialogue". Honestly, it was thrilling. She is a friendly, encouraging partner.

My favorite part of the meeting came when she was talking about her baby son. I'd know she was on maternity leave, and asked when her son was born. When I heard her reply I couldn't believe it - her son was born June 15, the same day as my nephew! What a great coincidence. I will meet him next time we get together and can't wait to watch him grow over the year as a "stand-in" while I'm missing seeing my adorable nephew.

A walk through our neighborhood

The "Harry Potter-esque" school next to our apartment building - site of the bike incident.


Our neighborhood church - this is where I get on the subway every morning.


Beautiful neighborhood architecture.


Our apartment building.


Our neighborhood fountain - practically Dupont Circle, eh?

The answer to "Where are you living now" is not "I'm going to the grocery store"

Our friendly neighborhood pharmacy - just at the end of the block. We are now regulars.

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My new doctor - the pharmacist was right - her office is literally "behind the flowers"!

After being sick for nearly three weeks (and staying indoors for an entire 3-day weekend), I decided to re-join the living and start doing things this past week. We made dinner for friends three times in seven days, I had a wonderful ladies night of wine and stories with some Boschies, we went to a pseudo-Berlin Oktoberfest, went back to the Philharmonie, and I got my bike fixed from The Bike Incident. After having the cough of a 90-year old lifetime smoker of un-filtered cigarettes for what seemed like forever, I am now "good as new" - and it feels great.

Class was certainly harder when sick, and as usual I am always caught off guard when I'm asked questions I'm not expecting. I was walking out of class my first day after the hermit 3-day weekend and one of the head teachers/administrators caught up with me. As per usual, he began speaking to me in German and I attempted to answer as best I could before having to switch over to English. Considering he works at the language school that is trying to teach me German, not English, he patiently attempted to switch back to German in a gentle way with a chapter ONE question: "Liz, where are you living now?" I have to tell you, I know every German word in this sentence. Literally every one! But somehow my brain convinced me that that would be "too easy" of a question, that he probably was wondering where I was off to now, after class (in fact - we were approaching my turn for the grocery store and I thought he sensed I was getting ready to leave). So I answered how any idiot would: "I am going to the grocery store to buy foodstuffs." And yes, I literally used the German word for "foodstuffs." He kindly corrected me, but the next day my regular teacher asked me the same question, and I wondered if he told her no student at his school could carry around the SECOND German language book without knowing that basic question.

I am leaving for my one visit home of the year in just 8 hours and will be gone for 2 1/2 weeks. My note cards are packed, my camera is charged. I cannot wait to see my family. While I'm bursting with excitement about everything from playing with my nephew to drinking free water in restaurants, I have been thinking about what I'll miss in Germany, too. (Besides Dominic, of course.) A girl can really get used to fresh bread, delicious dairy products, cafes on every corner (that are affordable!), being ignored at restaurants so you can describe every single detail of your day while only paying for a coffee, not worrying about matching - ever (for that matter, not worrying about wearing the same old outfit every day of the week), feeling like you're living the soundtrack to a wonderful indie movie every time a musician boards your subway train....and so much more. I will be posting some stories I sent my family during my first few weeks here while I'm gone to fill you in on those days (pre- our own apartment, pre-internet, etc.) Auf wiedersehen!