So far all that I've been doing as far as work, is restock shelves. But it won't be that way for the entire time, I've already been told that I will be able to work the cash registers! In order to do that, my German has to still improve a bit more, so that the customers will be able to understand me and I will be able to understand them all the time.
Right now it's about 50/50. But there's just so much new vocabulary, that it's going to take me awhile to figure it all out. Every time I am able to help a customer out, I get so excited and proud of myself. Like today, a customer asked for Erdnussbutter (peanut butter), which was on the other side of the store from where I was working today (again in the coolers), and I was able to show her right where it was without any help. Many times I have to tell them to ask my Kollegen (colleagues, co-workers), because I'm just not sure I understand them. But when even my Kollegen can't answer them (i.e. we don't carry the product they're asking for), then I don't feel so bad.
Then there's some words that just sound so different with a German accent, those that are slang, and those that are used in Northern Germany, but not necessarily everywhere.
For example:
Sonnabend: Samstag (Saturday)
---this word got me thinking I was going to have to work the entire week! But alas, my boss wrote Sonnabend, not Sonntag (Sunday).
Pappe: Papier (paper or cardboard)
---not father or dad.
Margarine (in German it kinda sounds like Macarena but with a G sound)
Müll: Abfall (garbage, waste)
This week I will again be working the early morning shift- six in the morning until noon. As some of you may know, I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON. To be somewhere by six, meaning ready and alert, is darn near impossible for me. Some days I can do the ready, other days I can do the alert part.... but today, I did neither. I was almost three hours late to a six hour shift.... Ugh. Not good. At least I learned a new word: ausschlafen. Ich habe ausgeshlafen (I slept in).
But that does bring me to yesterday and what a day it was!
Of course I slept in because it was the only day I was able to. And I surfed the web. And talked to people. It took me a couple of hours to research and verify where I was going, what I was going to see and my routes to get there (in Hamburg).
Well, as you well know, what I plan doesn't always happen the way it was planned. But sometimes, that ends up being a good thing.
I might also want to mention that I did go into Hamburg on Saturday too, and bought my ticket to go see Tarzan on stage at the Theater Neue Flora next Sunday. I can't wait!
This past weekend there was construction on the S21 route- the route I take from Reinbek to get to the Hauptbahnhof- from the Bergedorf stop to the Berliner Tor stop. Saturday I didn't know what was going on, and luckily for me (first that I didn't stay on the same train I was on and go back to where I started), I saw that there was a train coming in about 10 minutes that was going to the Hauptbahnhof (a RE- regional train, instead of the regular SBahn) on another track. When I finally did get to the Hauptbahnhof, I asked what was going on, and how I was supposed to get back.
You know, I did my thing (bought tickets, checked out times and costs for the Haganbeck Tiergarten, walk, walk, look, look, etc), then it was time to go back to Reinbek.... So I take the U2 to Berliner Tor.... And I have no idea where I was. Thankfully they have extra workers around to show you where you're supposed to be going during construction and all that (linie U3 also has major construction going on- but more about that later).
But I didn't figure that out before I walked around the Berliner Tor stop... it was actually kinda creepy. And it was starting to get darker.
Finally I did find help, got on the bus straight to Bergedorf, got on the train from Bergedorf to Reinbek... then I had almost an hour before the next bus (since I was just a few minutes shy of making the previous). So I went to the corner Döner shop. The conversation of course was about the soccer games (the US and England were playing at the time).
One thing that has stuck me as odd is that almost no one has guessed that I'm from the States. They all can tell I have an accent- that German is not my Muttersprache. I've gotten people asking me: Are you from Austria? Are you from a Scandinavian country? England? Australia? Hmm.... I must have a very interesting accent when I speak German.
The end of the story on Saturday includes me drinking my first beer in Germany during this trip- and my first time drinking outside. I also talked with the bus driver who spoke English very well. I was exhausted and went right to bed- at about 10ish.
Okay, now back to Sunday. So I know about the construction on the S21 line. I go straight to the bus stop and have no troubles getting to the Hauptbahnhof and then finding the line (U3) that went to Baumwell so that I could go to the Miniatur Wunderland. It took me over an hour and a half to find it.... Between U3 having construction and having to take U2 the opposite way so I could go back to U3 and taking both lines in the wrong direction and U3 stopping at St Pauli and having to run around in the Schlump stop....
Okay- the point is, construction is difficult to deal with in a town you're not familiar with.
Then I decided that I better look for the museum, or else I wasn't going to able to see it at all.
I was kinda doubtful about it though; I'm not really into model trains or things of that sort.
But I would definitely recommend Miniatur Wunderland to anyone who visits Hamburg!
It was great! Let's just let the pictures do the talking:
Some of my favorite parts were.... well, maybe I shouldn't tell you all- then there wouldn't be any reason for you to go yourself! But really, trust me, this is a must see!
I was there for about two hours- and probably could have spent a little more time, but unfortunately, it was closing time, so I had to leave.
But fear not, it was actually pretty good timing. The museum closed at 8pm, and the big game (Deutschland gegen Australie) started at 8:30, plenty of time for me to get something to eat.
Well, because of the construction, and the fact that it was Sunday and everything is slower (at best), the game was already on when I found a Döner shop. I sat, ate, and watched the game until half time (or whatever the soccer equivalent is) and then went to find Heiligengeistfeld (which isn't too hard, once you actually open your eyes to look for it) for the public viewing. But by time I got there, the crowds were starting to exit the park... Even though I knew the game wasn't over, I decided not to go in, not this time, because I had too much stuff with me (ie, my good camera) and I looked absolutely ridiculous.
I had nothing that was black, red and yellow or anything that said Deutschland on.
That, and I did remember that I had to get up early in the morning.... though I failed to do.
But, because I did watch the game (at least part of it), all was forgiven.
And I apologize if this is confusing in any way... Just let me know and I will try to clarify/reorder things/give more details.
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