I am a barista. At least, that is how I have referred to myself from time to time over the past years, acknowledging that I am rather competent when it comes to making coffee beverages. When I was in high school, I received my first espresso machine, and while it was kind of dinky, it was how I got started pulling shots and foaming milk.
By the time my Abschluss der Highschool came around, I was well on my way.
Four years later, which coincidentally happens to be 30 years ago this year, I did my Universitätsabschluss. Go Roos.
Most of the definitions I looked at this morning tend to emphasize that a barista is someone professionally trained in preparing espresso, but I finally found one article that includes "barista may also refer to someone with a high level of skill in making shots and espresso drinks, like cappuccinos and lattes."
It is in this latter category that I would put myself; I never worked the counter in any espresso bar. That said, I always had a great deal of respect for those Starbucks employees in the early years who did not use automated machines. They had to hone their skills in the finer points of espresso beverages.
This past week during German class, one of the topics involved education, die Ausbildung. Germans take education and training very seriously, and on more than one occasion, I have had friends question my interest in things like Voice Overs, pointing out that it is a profession that requires formal training.
In class, my instructor made a similar comment, referring to the text we were reading together about skilled workers moving to another country for employment. It was an interesting discussion, especially as we considered the differences between the USA and Europe. Most of the language learning textbooks for foreigners tend to repeatedly ask the learner to compare the situation to their own culture. Thus, my instructor asked me how things are in the states, do people train for a vocation or profession and then move somewhere else?
The relatively small minority of us who have found ourselves living abroad in a different culture and language probably have different opinions on this. From my own perspective, I never really gave a lot of thought about someone named Destiny who trained in Anytown, USA, only to move to Anothertown, USA to be able to say, "Good evening, I am Destiny, and I will be your server."
Or Reg, the guy behind the espresso bar who places the cup on the bar and announces, "Grande double shot no foam latte ready for Dave," at the cafe in wherever.
True, I am speaking of vocations, and ones that do not require years of training, no disrespect intended towards those who work in the profession. It is just that I never think about someone moving to another country with the specific intent to work in that vocation.
During class, I reconfirmed my understanding of the word abschließen. Like with most languages, German words can have multiple meanings, so effectively, one could say, "Schließ die Haustür ab, wir müssen zur Universität. Heute werde ich meine Ausbilding abschließen."
Translation: Lock the door, so we can go to school. Today I finish my degree.
Another German word with multiple (albeit very similar) meanings is the word for foam, Schaum.
German beer is typically served with a Schaumkrone, literally the head of the beer. A lot of barmen will apologize if the Bierschaum is not up to scratch. (see what I mean about how seriously Germans take their training?) I always comment that there is no need for them to apologize. After all, I understand that the foam does not always come out perfect every single time. I have had similar experiences when frothing milk (Milchschaum schlagen) on the espresso machine.
This week I ordered some foam to acoustically treat my living room, particularly for audio recordings. For a few minutes, I struggled to figure out what the German word would be, and felt a little sheepish when I discovered that akustik Schaum was exactly what I was needing.
On Wednesday afternoon, the delivery guy showed up at the door with a packet about the size of a pizza box, and I discovered that such acoustic foam comes vacuum-packed. 24 panels, each about one foot square. 2 thin boxes, containing a total of 48 panels.
I ordered two different styles from two different manufacturers. This was planned to be a bit of an experiment, and I quickly found that one of the products is quite superior. That being said, the process for letting them "inflate" is pretty straightforward. You simply let them air out for about 24 hours.
The better quality panels really perked up quickly. It was kind of fun watching them come to their full thickness, about 5 cm.
I researched the optimal ways to put the stuff up on the walls, and did consider that my landlord may not be totally thrilled. On the other hand, I am fairly certain that when that day comes when I move out of the flat, the place will have to be completely renovated, and that is not likely to happen any time soon.
Due to the Easter holiday, I had planned to extend the time off, so both Wednesday and Thursday were vacation days for me. Thursday morning, I woke up ready to hang the panels on the wall, and quickly realized that it might have helped to get an Ausbildung on handling double sided adhesives. Cutting the tape and placing it on the panels was not particularly tasking, but getting the second side of the tape prepped so that I could place the panel on the wall was very tedious. 30 minutes had passed, and I had only gotten 4 panels up. I took a break, made myself a latte (with foamy milk), and considered the situation: I had 44 panels still to go.
The irony was that I had all kinds of time. I have no real plans for the Easter break, other than to enjoy the quiet and the weather, and to get the panels situated. There was no real deadline that meant I needed all of them up immediately.
So, I spread the project out over the next two days, and by Friday afternoon, I had most of the panels up, keeping a few in reserve.
The next task was to do some test audio recordings. My intent is not to completely convert my living room into a studio, but rather just to help enhance the vocal recording, minimizing the negative impact that high ceilings and hardwood floors tend to have with such activity.
So far, I am pleased with the results. I will experiment further during the rest of the weekend, it is a work in progress.
At any rate, the barista just announced that my double espresso is ready at the bar, so I will bring this post to a close.
See you out there
Bryan
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