Completed my scarf. Now onto the hat.This is my 3rd January in Germany and finally I’ve learned an expression I’ve been dying to know: Das ist nicht meine Angelegenheit meaning, that’s none of my business.

Or better: Kümmere dich um deine eigenen Angelegenheiten! Can you guess? That’s right: Mind your own business!

Do native people use this expression? I’ve never heard it but then again I don’t ask enough questions, which is sort of a New Year’s resolution (or Vorsatz) for me.

It has been pointed out to me that I rely too heavily on assumptions that don’t work in the German culture. When I don’t understand something I need to speak up.

Only it isn’t that I know immediately that I don’t understand something, rather it is mostly the case that I understand it differently. It is recognizing that I am understanding something differently and subsequently wrongly is the point where I could save myself from getting into trouble or not. But regardless I’m destined to repeat my mistakes over and over again if I don’t start getting a clue soon. And this is where I start to miss Florida.

In Florida and I image in other states in the U.S., the people and perhaps the ‘lack-of-culture’ culture is often times more forgiving than it is here. Mind you I’d never want to experience the nightmare of being a foreigner trying to get a green card or just to pass customs for a few days vacation in the U.S. It is certainly comparatively easier in my shoes.

But once you are in the US, you aren’t told in so many words that your thinking is backwards or you lack proper communication skills. Am I wrong? Americans just take you for who you are. They are open to jesters and speaking slowly, imitating sounds and relying on facial expressions if need be.

Try using these primitive measures in Germany and you’ll get a blank ape stare from your confused, native speaker. Asking politely of a native German speaker to speak slowly is like slowing down the merry-go-round for 2 seconds. Then it gets boring or unnatural for the German and the merry-go-round accelerates again. The struggling foreigner has to weigh whether to ask to slow it down again or hang on and hope he’ll recognize something after all that spinning. (When in doubt and even if it feels rude, ASK!)

To a certain point, the way Germans speak is infectious. Now that my German is pretty good (once I get going) I don’t like to switch back to English. In fact I prefer to speak in German; I don’t have to worry about my hands or facial muscles. It’s all just brain and mouth. In an unfair way, one could say speaking in German is robotic, like Data. yeah.

Now it feels completely out of place to speak English in public places and when I do, I can feel that inside my cranium is war to arrive with the most appropriate words. It’s when my thoughts land in a mushy spot on my brain and the German words get mixed up with the English. Then nothing comes out and then I revert to the old assumptions and the old way of telling a story, which is to use body language, but opps! how?!

I know that it is just a bad, bad, bad thing to just give up on a train of mindless, American thought just to save the conversation. But sometimes that is the only thing that feels comfortable. Better to skip to a clean part of the record than to relive hearing the skinny lady tumble out nonsense repetitively.

Hello from Germany,

I wish I had some sazzy website to document my adventure like my good friend Ping....wait....I do NOW. I am also preoccupied with a new language at the moment. Eventually my website will be and should be written entirely in German (sorry) just to help the words stick in my rusty head. I have taken 3 weeks of language school and my progress is steady. I can now comprehend conversations between groups of people much better, but for me to butt in and express my opinion will take longer. It's like waking up from a long sleep.

There was a week that I really freaked out because I couldn't do the simple things I was used to doing, like watching the Simpsons and reading....um..."anything" at the same time. But everyday I learn a handful of words and struggle with the bizzare grammar. Happily, I can now have a conversation with Alex entirely in Germany for pretty much the entire day. Of course when I need to comprehend some of the more time sensitive/complex tasks, English really comes in handy. And this is something I can say in favor of learning a new language as an Adult. Unlike children, you already know one language well, you can use it (sparingly) to your advantage. It is very much about preception of one's ability and trudging forward each day. There are some days I have though, "How the hell did my Mom make it just fine moving from the Philippines to the U.S.?" I think it is pretty cool what any of us can do when we need to and want to do it.

Today is a blah, blah day. I had a brush with the Germany Buracracy and had to ride my bicycle in the cold rain to clear up the problem. I now know, no matter what find your rain pants,! This weather is brutal to a 'warm-rain' Floridian and it isn't fun to sit in class with a soggy bottom :( The University gave me a double sided sheet of paper that said on one side to cut below here, but on the other side it said do NOT cut below here. OK? which is it? Then they asked that I fill out a data sheet, only the data sheet was never forwarded to me. Oh, and the deadline to turn everything in is the day after the Mari? Himmelfahrt or Assumption of Mary holiday, um, that's today!

Everyday there is something new to learn. Yesterday, I took the train from Regensburg to Munich and rode the U-bahn to my apartment; about an 1 hr 30 min time and only 22 Euro total; all about the same time that it takes to travel by car. I am so used to driving a car, it's impressive that there are other forms of transportation that work just as well.