Thursday, June 23, 2005

comMUNICHation

I was looking forward to being reunited with Todd and the beasts after what simultaneously felt like minutes, and well…just about 3 months of separation. I mostly held it together as I finished school, and dealt with all of our belongings, and the house. Mostly.

Anyway, I think being away from Todd for so long gave me a new appreciation for some of his quirks… the culmination of this appreciation being a full-blown panic attack on the airplane. My ears got hot. I couldn’t breathe. I needed to lay down, and considered rolling out of my seat and into the isle. Surely someone would notice that I needed a little help. Sigh. I considered the possible consequences of a public display, and instead I got up out of my seat, held on for dignity’s sake, and walked s l o w l y behind the beverage service to the bathroom at the rear of the plane (this felt like an eternity). A little cold water on the face and some breathing room did wonders. My near-death experience went unnoticed.

Seven or eight hours later I was collecting my bags (all four of them) from the luggage carousel. Todd and his friend and co-worker Mark greeted me after I made it through customs, and we managed a short train ride and a very short walk back to my new home. The cats were underwhelmed by my arrival. I sat on the floor and drank a beer.

Over the past seven days, the beasts have warmed up to me. I’m helping the process along with food and catnip. Today’s dinner had corn in it. Yes, cat food with corn. (Stay tuned for next week’s discussion of the unique nature of German cat shit.) Yesterday’s dinner had Provencal spices (krauter), and what looked like little chunks of red bell pepper. Deeeeeelish!

The weather here has been HOT. Good for walking around the city, good for sitting in Biergartens (one of my new favorite things), not so good for sleeping. I went out today and bought a couple of fans so that maybe I can sleep tonight. Mostly, my time has been spent getting familiar with the city, getting lost in the city, and shopping for stuff for the house. Before my arrival, there were 2 beds, 2 computers, one projector, one side table, and some beer. We still don’t have much more than that, but I am working on it…

This Sunday I am doing a half marathon here in town. It will likely be hot and miserable, and I am not at all physically prepared, but it will be an amazing way to see more of the city, and I’m sure that if I don’t die, I will have only good stuff to report. I managed to pick up my official race t-shirt yesterday. Getting one little thing can be a half-day affair when you don’t know where the hell you are, and you don’t speak the language. Anyway the shirt is orange microfiber, and it says German stuff on it; I imagine it reads “only assholes and foreigners would run in this heat”. Just kidding, I know the German word for asshole (Arschloch).

On that note, Monday is the start of my language classes. 5 weeks, 5 days a week, for 4.5 hours a day. I can’t express how much I am looking forward to this. I am worse than monolingual, I am monosyllabic. I try to communicate in broken German, but I can’t understand a single thing anyone says to me. Nein and Danke are my two favorite words. Often, I am reduced to pointing and grunting with a pseudo-Germanic accent.

I will try to update at least weekly, we’ll see how that goes. Also, I hope to share some photos, as soon as I get around to taking them, and figuring out the best way to share them. Until then, Auf Wiedersehen!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home