Recently I have found myself thinking in German, translating my thoughts for practice just in case I get a chance to share them with someone. I don't know if that's a sign that I'm crossing over or just a sign that I'm going insane, in Deutsch. I started out yesterday with my German lesson, 90 minutes of discussion about hobbies and memories of grade school, and I rocked it (in an American -learning-German sort of way). Then Ben and I walked downtown and I got a haircut. There were no words exchanged in English. And the cut looks great, sans words, although she did ask me if I was on "holiday" in Jena. What I wanted to say was "Are you joking? Who would come to Jena for holiday?" but I couldn't conjure up the German words so instead I explained about "mein Mann" and the Max Planck Institute.
When we returned home I went to the basement to throw a load of laundry in the washing machine only to discover that it was filled with water. Again. I decided I'd had enough, I was calling the Hausmeister right away to complain, when I looked out the window and there he was, working on a door in the next building with the locksmith. They were working on apartment six, but also had the door to apartment seven open, the apartment that Joslin's folks stayed in and that Mark's family will occupy while they are here. Joslin still has the key and was worried that they were changing the locks, so we went outside to investigate. She said to the Hausmeister "All ist gut mit sieben?" to which he replied "Ya, all is gut mit sieben und all is gut mit sechs". Now, I am not a mind-in-the-gutter sort of gal, but I silently chuckle to myself when we say the number six in German because it sounds exactly like sex in English. And obviously I am not the only one, because the locksmith walked by me on his way to leave and muttered under his breath "Sechs ist immer gut", which translates as "Six is always gut", but which I'm sure he meant as a joke about sex. And I was so freakin' proud of myself for understanding the joke (my first encounter with German humor!) that I let his inappropriateness slide, because I'm fairly sure that after the brief exchange I had with the Hausmeister in my broken German, Herr Locksmith was pretty sure I wouldn't understand his words at all.
We're on our way to Berlin on Thursday to soak up some sights. The Berlin Zoo has a panda and I've been wanting to visit what's left of The Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. I hear they have a Starbuck's (gasp) and I'm planning to eat a jelly doughnut while I'm there.
When we returned home I went to the basement to throw a load of laundry in the washing machine only to discover that it was filled with water. Again. I decided I'd had enough, I was calling the Hausmeister right away to complain, when I looked out the window and there he was, working on a door in the next building with the locksmith. They were working on apartment six, but also had the door to apartment seven open, the apartment that Joslin's folks stayed in and that Mark's family will occupy while they are here. Joslin still has the key and was worried that they were changing the locks, so we went outside to investigate. She said to the Hausmeister "All ist gut mit sieben?" to which he replied "Ya, all is gut mit sieben und all is gut mit sechs". Now, I am not a mind-in-the-gutter sort of gal, but I silently chuckle to myself when we say the number six in German because it sounds exactly like sex in English. And obviously I am not the only one, because the locksmith walked by me on his way to leave and muttered under his breath "Sechs ist immer gut", which translates as "Six is always gut", but which I'm sure he meant as a joke about sex. And I was so freakin' proud of myself for understanding the joke (my first encounter with German humor!) that I let his inappropriateness slide, because I'm fairly sure that after the brief exchange I had with the Hausmeister in my broken German, Herr Locksmith was pretty sure I wouldn't understand his words at all.
We're on our way to Berlin on Thursday to soak up some sights. The Berlin Zoo has a panda and I've been wanting to visit what's left of The Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. I hear they have a Starbuck's (gasp) and I'm planning to eat a jelly doughnut while I'm there.
2 comments:
it wasn't the door itself. it is the frame, the part on the right side of the FRONT door as you're looking at it. Not to worry. It will be fixed by the time you return.
I've already treated the dog with Frontline, as the vet said it was the easiest way (i.e. not picking them off one by one) to get the ticks off. She should be good to go for the next 3 months.
Loved the Kennedy refn! If you didn't get the joke: JFK famously said, "Ich bin ein Berliner", but a Berliner over here is a Jelly Doughnut.
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