I have many stories about this trip that I have not yet shared. Many I probably just forgot at the time…. Or well, (for some of these at least) hoping to forget.
Mein schlechtes Deutsch
Yes, this has been a common theme in many other posts.
But that’s not to say that I didn’t improve at all. (It was just taking a lot longer than anyone would have liked.) If you compare some of the things that I said, did not know…. and all in all just screwed up, you would definitely see some improvement too.
Like, for example, on my second day of work. People kept asking me if I would like to see the Werbung. Not remembering what this word meant, I answered with the response: I have to work this weekend. For some reason, I was thinking it had to do with the theater or a concert or some other happening the next weekend…. After I got home that evening, it popped into my head.
Werbung=advertisement.
They were wanting to show the ads for next week’s sales.
Yeah, go ahead and laugh, but save some air for this next tale:
I was (like usual) up in Obst und Gemüse helping Frau Wulf. I was unpacking some Eisberg Salat when a costumer came up and asked a question. At this time, I was still quite new and my response to everything was: “One moment, let me go ask my colleague.” I proceed to fetch Frau Wulf and tell her that a customer had a question.
The customer was puzzled. All she wanted was the particular head of lettuce that was in my hand.
There are other stories of the like.
Like, I thought I had to work 7 days a week for the first couple of days….
Sonnabend = Samstag (Saturday). Sonnabend ≠ Sonntag (Sunday).
Or the time that a customer was just making a joke at my expense and I asked a coworker for help because I didn’t understand. And when people were talking about Pappe (papier-paper), I thought that they were referring to Papa (Vati, dad). Nope, just the cardboard and waste paper.
Gees, I really was a burden, huh?
Though, I swear, I did improve. I was so excited during my first week when a shopper asked where the Erdnussebutter (peanut butter) was, I knew exactly what she was saying- and where it was!
By the end, most of the time I was asking for my colleagues’ help not because I needed help with translation, but because I didn’t know the answer.
Example of improvement: One day I was working alone in the Mopo (Molkerei- milks, butters, yogurts, quarks, cheeses, etc.) and I was on a fifteen question winning streak. Every question a customer had, I answered all on my own! Where was the sour cream (not with the other crèmes like you would think, but next to the quarks), where was the margarine, where was the frische Hefe (live yeast)?
The question that ended my streak was one about the prepared meats…. which was an area I had never worked. So did that really count and end my streak- since I had never worked with meats?
My Fiancé
Have I told you guys that I have a fiancé?
Yeah, I don’t know his name, but I know he works at the Döner stand outside the Schlump UBahn stop in Hamburg. I guess I don’t have to worry about knowing too much about him (and never returning to that Döner stand) since he only wants me so he can receive a green card.
Turkish men seem to have a thing for me (yeah, I know, it could just be because I’ve been eating a lot of Döners). Right now I have one guy that keeps winking at me every time I pass by.
Jazz Music
The second to last Friday night I was in Hamburg I ran into a little jazz concert in an art gallery.
So yeah, there's plenty of other little stories like that that I can share. I'll work on getting more of them up later.
Tschüss!
