Can you develop a habit in just eight weeks? Sometimes, a “Dankeschön” or “Entschuldigung” still slips out when I’m not thinking about it. Before going to Berlin, my interactions with Germany consists of only the world news on The New York Times. It was interesting if someone said they were from Germany or spoke German. I would want to learn more, yet, I never made an effort to seek it out. Now, I see myself paying more attention to music, literature, the news (big or small) when Germany is involved.
I remember reading a past blog post about day to day tasks, such as grocery shopping, as I prepared for Berlin. I wanted to experience the confusion of not knowing if the cashier is saying “Do you want your receipt,” or “Do you have an extra Euro, so I can give you a five back instead of all these heavy coins?” My parents don’t speak English well, so growing up, I did a lot of the translating between cashiers and whatnot. After experiencing how hard it is to understand someone who speaks German in actual contexts instead of textbook examples made me appreciate and also have more patience when my parents ask me to translate something. I definitely have looked up the words for receipt, change, bag, etc. more than once, but I’ve also given the cashiers a deer caught in headlights look more than once or twice or twenty times. I hope the next time I get a chance to go to Germany, my German will be better and I can effortlessly get through check out.
