Meine Lehrerin...

I am so lucky to have such a great German teacher.  ; )

It is difficult living in a country where you don't speak the language and trying to navigate the simplest things.  I think my enjoying the German police officer in my previous post doing charades was really driven by my desire to be on the other side.  Usually it is me trying to act something out or making some kind of physical gesture to get my point across, it was fun to have the tables turned.  I am desperately working on my German so that I don't have to endure the charades any longer.  

My German teacher comes to my office for my lessons - usually 90-120 minutes a lesson several times a week.  Today a colleague asked me what meeting I had this morning that made me laugh so much.  I replied that it was my German class.  He was surprised that I was having so much fun learning German, I guess I am too.  I am thankful that learning German is fun because "it is not an easy language" (I actually think it is not very difficult, probably because I am having too much fun learning it!).

I feel very lucky to have a German teacher that can laugh at me as much as I laugh at myself.

Lessons in Living...Berlin:

Finding a reason to laugh (especially when it is at yourself) makes the day brighter

Entertainment or German Practice...hmmm?

The great thing about cars in Europe is that they all basically come with GPS - it really is a great way to help navigate in a new city, state, country.  I would be lost in Berlin without it...it also turns out that I get lost in Berlin with it! 

There is a small flaw in my current GPS system, I am not sure if this is a German flaw or a Mercedes flaw - but I guess it is one and the same!  My GPS request begins by entering a street name, no problem (usually except when the words have the funny umlauts!), then I enter the street number.  When I enter the street number it gives me a grouping of numbers to select, for example 1-12.  Which is what happened yesterday.  I was trying to find the market research pilots we were conducting at Potsdamer Platz, 9.  I entered "Potsdamer Platz" - great, halfway done...then I entered the street number "9"  and the grouping "1-12" came up.  I selected that grouping as it contained "9".   

I headed off toward my destination "Interview & Exploration".   As enter the center of the heart of Berlin my GPS announced "You have reached your destination"...I am surrounded by high rise buildings, intersections, traffic, pedestrians and no number 9 in sight - or any other number for that matter.  Obviously the GPS was only going to get me so far! : (

I slowed down to try to find number 9 - I validated that I was on the right track having found 4 and 12.  However, I was afraid my search would be futile and I didn't have the patience to search too long.  I called Andre who was already at the location.  I explained my situation and he looked out the window trying to find landmarks to help me identify the correct building.  "We are across from the 'Price Waterhouse' building", okay I saw the PW building; "We are across from the 'Die Bahn' building".  Good, I was on the right side of the street that was helpful to know.

Suddenly I see this hand having in my passenger side window...somebody with a bright (ugly!) green sleeve.  Okay, interesting.  Then I see a face in the window...it is the Polizei!  Ooops!  I guess that even when you are lost it is still illegal to use your cell phone without being "hands free".   His wave became more urgent as he directed me to follow him.  I quickly hung up on Andre and followed.  We turned the corner and he continued down the street...clearly not in the direction that Andre had indicated.  I was definitely going to be late for market research.

After pulling over I parked and waited for instructions.  The officer approached my car and said something intelligble (to me!) in German.  I am sure it was important and meaningful, I just didn't understand.  I decided my strategy would be to play "dumb American tourist"...it is not a stretch at all for me.  "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" I asked.  He looked at me with frustration and said "Nein".  Okay, so maybe this would work, he didn't seem to want to deal with a English speaking tourist.   Unfortunately for me, he decided to be tenacious.  

His left arm was in the air with his finger wagging at me with his right hand poised in the universal "call me" sign.  He looked so funny, I had to hold back my smile.   He asked me for my driver's license in German and I understood this but I was decided to "play through".  I just looked at him puzzled.  He pointed at my wallet and I quickly pulled out 50 Euros and he shook his head.  He started reaching for my wallet and I pulled it away as if I were afraid he would take something.  He said emphatically "Fuehrerschein" more loudly. 

I was glad to see that Americans aren't the only ones who speaks more loudly when a foreigner doesn't understand in hopes that the increased volume will result in fluency in understanding the foreign language.  If I don't understand German he can say it as loudly as he wants and I still won't understand.  It was starting to get funny.  His frustration increased as I looked at him perplexed.  He then starting pantomiming driving a car, putting his hands on an invisible wheel wiggling his hips and moving his straight arms in the 10:00 and 2:00 position...with all the passersby in Potsdamer Platz to bear witness.  (There are about 70,000 passersby on a daily basis, I hope some of them appreciated the entertainment that I was helping to provide!)

I think I pushed him too far.  He gave up and decided to just run my license plate.  Having already racked up my share of tickets in the 10 weeks that I have been here I was afraid of what he might find!  He came back and asked me to verify that the address he had written down was mine.  It was.  I nodded with a worried look thinking that he was starting to gain on me and sorry that charades were over.    He originally was going to have me pay a 40 Euro fine but once he verified my address he gave me my money back and handed me an ominous green slip with tiny German words with a few boxes checked.  Before I let him go I asked him if he could tell me where Potsdamer Platz, 9 was.  He said "No", grinned at me and waved goodbye.  

Lessons in Living - Berlin:  

Don't make it a habit of getting pulled over by the police for entertainment or to practice your German

Don't trust your GPS - use back-up methods for directions (Mapquest!)

Prague...

Spending the weekend in Prague was really a lot of fun...once I got there!  

This was my not so auspicious start to the weekend...

I missed my plane in London after sitting in traffic for 3 hours - there was an accident on the M11 so nothing was moving.  There were no more flights to Berlin, Tegel is closed to arrivals after 11:00 PM, so I had to spend the night in Stansted - the middle of nowhere! how can they even call it London?! - and wait for the next flight in the morning, which was 7:55 AM and with the time change meant arriving in Berlin at 10:55 AM which meant that I would miss my train to Prague which left at 8:45 AM...the best laid plans!  

Arriving home, I unpacked and prepared for Prague and left for the 2:45 PM train...unfortunately what I could gather from the cab driver in my still quite broken German, is that the Doctors were demonstrating/striking (does that really happen?) and traffic was bad and I might not make my train due to "stau".  I began to think that maybe I really wasn't meant to see Prague.  I decided to call the train station to see when the next train would leave for Prague.  

Meanwhile, my friend Beth who left on the 8:45 AM train to Prague was already there, getting settled and scoping out what to do for the weekend.  I was hoping that someone at the train station would be able to speak English and was lucky after waiting a few minutes to get someone...I was informed that the next train was at 5:00 PM and I would arrive into Prague at 9:30 PM.  Not terrible news, at least there was a train!   The cab driver asked my options and I told him about the 5:00 train, he seemed relieved that I had another option.  He suggested that I sit in the station, relax and have a coffee.  I suggested that by the time I arrived at the station and had missed my train I might prefer wine.  He then said that after 2 hours of drinking I might be too drunk and miss my train again...of course, I didn't exactly understand what he was saying so he started acting out me being too drunk to walk...all this while driving! ; )

When I was on the phone with Die Bahn the gentleman had said that the train was leaving in 1 minute and that they left on time.  German transportation is notoriously timely so I didn't have high hopes that it would be late - but it was my lucky day! (okay, not really but at least this part was lucky!).  The train was still at the "gleis" and I was able to talk to the conductor who let me use my same ticket even though it was for 2 people and the ticket should not be split.  I settled into my First Class seat and began the 5 hour train journey.   

Arriving into Prague h.l.n. was like another world, it was dark, parts were under construction and it wasn't exactly clear where to get a taxi.  I finally spotted a sign and head in that direction, as I approached the exit a light was shining in the distance through a smokey alley where about 5 gruffy men were gathered in muted conversation smoking.  It was like a scene from a scary movie where you were willing the character not to go out the door because something bad was going to happen.  I really had not choice but to face the demons.  I exited to the smokey alley and found that it was a dead end under scaffolding with more men huddled around a fire in a garbage can.  I saw one car with a yellow taxi sign on the roof facing the exit somehow validating that I was in the right place.  I still wasn't sure but after asking was assured that this was the official taxi stand...welcome to Prague!

The taxi headed to Hotel Clarion one block from the river and on the edge of the old city.  The cab driver spoke only Czech so that limited me to taking in the sites as we drove to the hotel...ten minutes and 30 Euros later, I had arrived.  Beth had gotten us a great rate 115 Euros and a room with a view of the castle!  I was starting to relax and get in the spirit of a weekend away!

We dined at Nostress, and the restaurant was a psychological portal for me to actually have "no stress" at dinner I began to unwind and appreciate my surroundings.  The message in the name of the restaurant was not lost on me, nor was the humor or the irony.  Nostress was French Asian fusion, not exactly local but the fish was delicious and the wine was great.

Saturday morning we awoke to the amazing view and began our 'walkabout' journey...[more to come...pictures too! ; ) ]

Polizei!

This morning on Gleimstrasse I was so graciously hailed by the police officer to pull my car over.  "Who me??"  Surely there must be some mistake.  Okay, so I know that I was speeding, I was trying to get to the office quickly, how else can I do that?  I thought, this is perfect, I really don't speak German so maybe they will get frustrated with me and just tell me to leave.  Well, I am not so lucky - at least not this morning.  The police officer, even though he did not speak one word of English, managed to make if very clear to me that I needed to pay him 35 euros because I was driving 49 in a 30 zone.  He was able to make this clear simply by writing the numbers with an "X" through the 30, circling the 49 and putting a Euro sign next to the 35 and pointing an arrow to him.  I will have to remember his simple communication techniques.

I paid him his 35 euros and continued on my way to the office...driving the required 30 KMH - which is about 18 MPH...not very fast at all.  At least in the States they let you drive 25-30 MPH on side streets.  

I have not had a speeding ticket in the US for over 5 years (that's my truth as I remember).  Since I have arrived in Berlin, or really just this week I have had TWO speeding tickets.  Today and on Monday when I was driving to Tegel Airport to pick up Beth.  The traffic was terrible and her flight landed 40 minutes early (when does that EVER happen???).  There was a small segment of road where there was miraculously NO TRAFFIC  on Staatwinklerdamm, so of course I took advantage of this and was driving 80 KMH...all of a sudden there was a paparazzi flash!  At first I thought that someone realized who I am  (: ), then I quickly realized that no, my "paparazzi" are the police and they always seem to take such clear pictures - I hope I was smiling!  I am sure that this ticket from Monday will be coming in the mail any day now with a nice price tag and possibly some points from my license.  

I am becoming worried that before I have the chance to even get my German driver's license I will have used up all my points!  Last Thursday my car was towed...it was very strange, I came out of work at 8:00 PM to go to a business dinner.  I was running late (imagine!) and when I got to the street realized my car wasn't there.  Did I really park on Sellerstrasse?  After running through the details of the morning, I confirmed that Yes, I had parked on Sellerstrasse, right in front of the bus stop.  OOOOPPS!  Maybe I was too close to the bus stop?  I was a little frustrated as I knew that I had to call the police to find out what had happened to my car.  The police here don't have a very good record in my experience of speaking English.  How was I going to communicate all of this coherently?  I admitted that my terrible German would clearly miscommunicate my predicament and only serve to further alarm the police.  So, I very astutely asked our security guard in our building to call for me to find out where I could indeed find my car.  

The security guard called and found that my car had been towed to the corner of Gartenstrasse and Gartenplatz.  I asked the guard how much I would have to pay to get my car, he said nothing.  I was pleased that there would no fine for my poor parking judgement and exclaimed as much.   With a smirk, he quickly set me straight declaring that although my car was just towed to this particular street corner and all I needed were my car keys to pick it up that very soon there would a large bill for my "illegal" parking in the mail.  He estimated the cost to be about 200 Euros.  My sense of relief vanished. 

Oh well, I called a cab, found my car and am still waiting for the ticket in the mail.  

Lessons in Living in Berlin:  SERIOUSLY follow the posted signs for speed limits, parking, etc.  If you don't know what they mean (?!) find out fast or else the bills will really add up quickly!

PBN: It's strange, I almost forgot that it was 9/11 until I got an email from a colleague.  I guess when you are not in the States you aren't reminded as much of these things.  I was glad to be reminded and to remember those we lost that day and to appreciate more the people we have in our lives.

Why am I here? ...a Berlin crisis...

Okay, so this is not the existential question about why I am on the earth, it is the question of why am I in Berlin?   I am not really sure but I am pretty settled now and instead of rushing around trying to buy lights, lamps and closets, I am starting to actually be ready to create a life for myself here and I am not really sure what that looks like or how to create it.  

Why didn't I move to someplace warm and beautiful like Mexico?  Everyone else is doing it! ; ) The people in Mexico are nicer (right?).  The weather is getting cooler here, noticably fewer hours of daylight...it is only going to get worse.  But I am not sure that it is really the weather...or the people.

Anyway, I am sure I am just hitting some sort of bump in the road...or maybe an impenetrable roadblock (?) and that I will snap out of it.  Creating some sort of routine would be good.  Also, it sounds simple but I have a terrace and I have no plants there yet, granted they will not likely last long but it would be nice to have some green.  Nothing like a bit of nature to lift the soul.  

So, I will let you know when I have found the detour around the roadblock...