So I'm Getting a Bit More Comfortable
It's our ninth day here, and I'm beginning to not feel like such a foreigner. Learning the language would probably help. I've been attempting to speak it and have generally not made a fool of myself, and maybe I'm learning more of it than I think I am, what with the immersion and all, but it's still a struggle. But really - when you order a coffee to go in the States, do they ask if you want a lid with it? No, they assume you'll just need one. This was one of the problems. So for further reference - Deckel means lid.
Today we went to two distinctly different neighborhoods. One was populated mainly by Turks, the other mainly by hipsters. And when I say hipsters, I mean Chuck Taylor- wearin, dyed hair-havin, studded belt-sportin hipsters. I felt like I was in the Mission district, except it was populated with Europeans and not North Americans. Lots of record stores and trendy shoes and locked hair in topknots. One thing missing: tasty burritos.
And now for some non-sequiters:
Just watched the movie Charade for the umpteenth time. Still good.
According to the two-screened TV that plays in the U-Bahn, 31% of kids ages 13-17 in our district smoke cigarettes. What is going on there?
I'd like to get a job.
Stay tuned for pictures of the inside of the Kuhlschrank.
Today we ate at a Russian stand - an Imbiss. I had some awesome pelmeni with dill on it. My Russian came back easily. I consider it a personal triumph that I was relieved to hear someone say "Надо еше?"
2 comments:
i ate some herring a moment ago. i'd only ever had it once in rotterdam. i was at the nordic house buying red cabbage and lignonberry jam and ginger cookies and goat cheese and rye crackers and potato bread and marzipan cake. i told the guy i thought i was scared of herring. he told me i was crazy. i told him my story. he said dutch herring blows, sticking his finger in his mouth as people do. "you're british, right?" he said. he is taller than me and blond, like all the other customers. everyone there towers over me. many of the items, especially the christmas serving trays, are on low shelves, so it's very easy for me. he let me try two herrings, because i had just bought a $7 jar of jam. they were delicious! especially the curry one. they also sell curry ketchup there, but it's a small bottle for $6, and one can just buy some heinz and some curry powder etc. where you live you can buy curry ketchup as cheaply and easily as i can breathe practically. you're so lucky! now i have a faint vinegary pickled postpartum. i have to drink some water. when i lived in the federal republic there were no deckel because the germans hadn't yet succombed to the paper cup coffee to go. i hear the french still hate it. older rock stars tell me kids the world o'er are dressing more and more alike. i miss landliebe joghurt mit apfeln.
ha, ha.
well, about the coffee lid: at least you're not as much of an idiot as me. when i was in London, i ordered a tea to go at a rinky-dink stand in the victoria train station, and the guy said "black or white?", and in my mind i thought, "white tea? wow, i can't believe they even have that here!", not that i even wanted it, mind you. so i smiled and said "black, please!".
much to my dismay, what the man meant was, "would you like cream in your tea or not?", so i got my black tea, with no milk (bummer!), and my boyfriend explained to me what my error was. i felt like such an idiot that i couldn't give it back to the guy and ask for some damned milk, please.
...hi, katie!! great to hear about your new life :)
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