Lauren's First Month Musings...

I have officially logged one month in Berlin, Germany. This has, without a doubt, been one of the most surreal months of my life; every experience, from grocery shopping to hiking, has been just strange enough, new enough, different enough to call all my senses into a state of hyper-focus. I know I must appear wide-eyed (both literally and figuratively) to the people I pass daily. Some of my reaction to Germany is, of course, because of the language barrier. I spend train rides, shopping trips, walks, time on benches trying to decipher the posters, signs and people around me. There is definitely something to be said for language immersion as I find I am making connections most often because of an ad I’ve seen in a store or on the U-Bahn. One of my favorite revelations was the verb ankreuzen which means “mark with an X.” This comes up in my workbook quite a bit but I wasn’t remembering it until the day I saw a poster near school for the Erotica Museum that used a pair of nude female legs to create an X with ANKREUZEN blazing across the top. Got it now.

The hardest thing about being here is the loss of my language skills. While I function pretty well in cafes, grocery stores, and H&M (because you’d be surprised how little you can say in these places and still get by), I am not yet capable of talking to our landlord, asking questions of the waitress or speaking in paragraphs with my language instructor. Yes, I know all this is coming, but in the meantime my pride has taken (perhaps a much needed) hit. I have to rely on John a lot, smile a lot and be willing to fumble a lot.

Despite all that, I love it here. I mean really love it here. The weather has been gorgeous. We live with our windows open and listen to church bells ring. I get to eat croissants and gelato daily and drink fabulous,cheap wine. I don’t watch TV anymore; instead I talk to John, read and doodle. I am able to walk everywhere. We have an adorable new apartment with all the old world charm I was looking for plus a WASHING MACHINE. The pace of life here is just slower; you eat slower, drink coffee slower, sit longer to talk to friends. It’s wonderful.

This is indeed an adventure. I try to remind myself to take risks, because why the heck not?

(One most recent victory/adventure - I used the Netty Pot tonight. For those of you who have heard John sing its praises and seen me grimace, you will appreciate the grand adventure that this experience was. Don’t worry, I survived.)