Very quietly, I have managed to spend the last five years (and one day) of my life living in Germany. Not a lot of hoopa hoopa and what not as celebrations are concerned; it was really just kind of a low-key moment: one that I took in stride, though, and with some pride.
After all, not everyone can say that they have just gone off and just thrown themselves into a new life and new culture and then lived to tell about it. And while I may be pretty battered and scarred, I have certainly learned a few things, had a few unexpected experiences, and will forever be able to say, “it is worth it.”
Just from the German perspective, I sort of chuckle at two things. I have finally reached that level with the language where I don’t have to think too much about things. For example, I asked my supplier for a Business Continuity Plan (neat little document that describes what you do when the factory burns down, etc) the other day. He sent it to me, and I forwarded it on to a manager, who responded, “Thanks, Bryan. Any chance we can get the document in English?” I had totally checked the plan, approved of what had been written, and forwarded it on, forgetting that not everyone else would be able to read the document.
The other day, I sat down and got all goose bumpy watching a film about how soccer came to Germany back in the 1870s. The movie is called “Der Ganz Große Traum” and yes, of course I got weepy. (I recently watched three movies which also created a bit of emotion, and while I believe “Sliding Doors” and “Say Anything” are worthy of a tear or two, what about “Ratatouille”? And people wonder I tend to watch movies on my own…)
So, back to the German soccer film. I watched the film start to finish without even thinking about what language the film was in. And, after I had dried my eyes (and did a little dance around the flat; the film has a happy ending), I realized that said film was not in my native tongue. Pretty cool.
And so it goes. I continue to get more and more comfortable with the language. I know a fair amount of people, and we only speak in German, despite the fact that they prefer to speak in English. Furthermore, many of these people have English-speaking only relationships with various acquaintances of mine, and somehow, I still keep pushing the German through.
The second point that makes me chuckle is how quickly I can become totally knocked for a loop, in German. This morning (how easy it is to pull examples from recent experience), I was on a horrific train journey that involved loads and loads of delays; it actually took me about 4 hours to get from Frankfurt to Düsseldorf, and that is normally a 90 minute journey.
True to the Bahn, they give you a little voucher that gives you a rebate kind of thing in the event that there is a significant delay in service. This is more or less what the airlines do when your flight gets cancelled or whatever. I have long since been aware that the metro service will actually reimburse you for a ride on the U-Bahn in the event that the train is more than 10 minutes late. I just happen to be one of those customers who doesn’t give a shit.
This morning, I had already been toodling around on the trains a bit, and was having trouble getting focused on getting a train to Düsseldorf. However, at 11.25, I raced madly from the house, got to the station, got my train to the airport, where I was to catch the 12.09 to Köln. Well, I was at the airport on time, but I soon realized that the 12.09 would be delayed, because the 11.09 was already one hour late, and suddenly indicating an 80-90 minute delay.
This is the kind of thing that gets people pretty wound up, and I must admit, if I hadn’t had a nice morning which helped me briefly forget all the work stuff that is about to make me have a heart attack, I might have been right there moaning and groaning about the delay.
Meanwhile, I just sort of realized that shit happens, and strolled around the platform. Another train came by, going in the same direction as the one I needed to take. Not surprisingly, many of the other waiting passengers crammed (and I do mean with a capital Sardine) onto the train that was operational. I held out for 10 more minutes, and then got on a train (that was also quite full) to Köln. I found a place in the dining car, and when the lady came to check my ticket, she then asked me if I had already received the Fahrgästerechte-Formular, to which I had to reply, “Can you please repeat that?” simply because I had never heard that word before. Ultimately, it was the little form that they give you where you have to put down all your details, submit the form, then they give you a voucher for train travel or whatever.
True, I am not the kind of consumer that typically wants this kind of compensation when something goes wrong, such as the tremendous delays from today. I wasn’t really thinking about the delays when she asked me, and part of that had to do with the fact that I had not been on the train for longer than 15 minutes. (Had I made the full line journey from Munich or something, perhaps it would be another story) However, I was totally confused by the question, and the train conductor had to struggle to try to explain what was going on. It became an awkward moment, and a glaring reminder that I may do OK in German, I don’t know all of it.
However, it was a small moment of miscommunication, and truth be told, I have had a lot of experience in areas where I NEVER thought I would have to speak a different language, and that has been quite a worthy experience.
Previous posts have commented on trips to the dentist, unemployment, negotiating a salary, finding a lost grocery store, understanding medical insurance, and just recently, the finer points to renovating bathrooms. Most of these things I would still say are pretty challenging for me in my mother tongue, so if I make a few mistakes (or a lot, depending on how lenient you are feeling), so be it.
At any rate, I stay aware of these two points on language – I am able to understand and communicate a lot (despite the laughter at my accents), and I can be thrown for a loop at the drop of a hat.
In short, what I do in the German language is pretty much what I do in the English language. Full stop.
But I still would not say fluent. That is a goal for the future.
As briefly mentioned above, the experiences have been pretty interesting. Many, many, good things, and a fair amount of unpleasant things that tend to happen in anyone’s life, wherever they happen to be. That is what makes it all the more interesting and worthwhile for me, which is not so easy for me to explain.
For example, visiting the unemployment office for the first time. Shitty thing to have to do, but I tried to find the fun in the experience, particularly from the culture and language aspects. However, I would not wish the experience on anyone.
About a year ago, I was taking a bit of time to relax, think about a new job, and basically mucking around, and now, I am working my tail off, travelling a lot, going through a bit more stress than even I like to put up with, and it is quite the difference.
As usual, I tried to put the experience to music, did a reasonable job at it, and as it were, life goes on, cos it is only life after all.
I never stop reminding myself of that. Good to know that it is my life, though, you know?
Keep the faith
