Trying to settle in

TUESDAY: So, I guess I've been freaking out a little lately. I suppose that's normal, living in a new country and all that. I just feel like my German should be better than it is, even though it shouldn't really necessarily. And of course I'm not going to befriend twenty Germans right away. But it's still a little tough.

I haven't been feeling great the past couple of days (Mom, relax, I'm fine), just stomach weirdness, probably from stress or the tap water or something or all of it. I've also had trouble adjusting to the fact that SALESPEOPLE ARE NOT NICE. In general, that is. They don't want you to ask them questions and they definitely do not want to escort you to the cereal aisle to show your where the cornflakes are. They would prefer to roll their eyes and point. I had tried two grocery stores up until today - which has been doubly stressful because I have no idea how to actually shop for groceries - and they both kind of sucked. There was an Asian one that I thought the people were nice, but they just didnt really understand me and turned out to be mean; and the one across the street, Netto, is a COMPLETE shithole. They have 0 selection, it looks dirty and unkempt, the people are mean as hell, and its just a horrible, awful, terrible place. And I assumed this is what they were all like, so I flipped out...

However, I just got back from the Kaiser's grocery store, and it was seriously like heaven. It was clean, well-organized, nice lighting, they actually had thing (including peanut butter - which, you all should know, is a rare delicacy here), and one of the people smiled and answered my question and asked if I needed anything else (that's customer service - which, you all should know, is a rare delicacy here)! So basically, Kaiser's is like the Michigan Avenue to Netto's Cabrini Green. For those of you not from Chicago, Cabrini Green is a horrible, dirty ghetto with lots of drugs and violence.

I also found hommus at a little stand outside, which was great, because I later found out that "hummus" in German basically means "fertilizer" - so no wonder I didn't get it when I asked the Asian grocer. And speaking of which - and to top off my mood-improvement for today - I found a package of cheese advertising its extra thickness, but the translation for that was "EXTRA DICK!" ...Insert puerile giggle here.


SATURDAY: I think I've figured out the crux of my problem: whereas German used to be "fun", it is now purely necessary. The novelty of "Huzzah I get to use my language skills!" has worn off, and now it's the big leagues. I imagine it's something like an artist deciding to go professional and then realizing it's not as fun when you have to do it. Or something like that.

In any case, Berlin is still as hoppin' as ever. I've met some cool Americans - we've been going out and having dinner parties and it's all very much like freshman year all over again, herds and all. But really, they're very nice. Wednesday night I went to a poetry reading (ooh la la, how cultured!) at a pub close to me. Didn't understand all of it, but it was a lot of fun and most of it was very funny.

Yesterday I went to the twice-weekly Turkish market with my friend Anna. We've been hanging out a lot - she's super cool, very much into arts and such, and she plays drums, so we're planning on joining or making a drum circle or something of the sort. At any rate, the Turkish market was very cool, a LOT like Morocco (fam, you know what I'm talking about - I even got that great bread we ate all the time!). Big moustachioed men yelling "Lettuce! Lettuce! Cheap cheap cheap! Tasty tasty tasty!" You get the idea. Anna and I got some good deals and then had a lovely time sitting on the river, watching swans and eating figs and goat cheese. That's European. The funny thing was, once we sat down, this Mexican band from Oaxaca started playing Indian-Mexican fusion music on the bank where we were sitting. It was really great stuff, and we ended up talking to them in our collective broken Spanish. We may end up getting together with a couple of them for some drumming, so that's pretty cool. The switching of foreign languages did indeed confuse me a bit, but I definitely want to continue with my Spanish. If I come back with a lisp, you'll know why.

So, liebe Leute, that's more or less all for now. Hopefully the culture shock will subside soon and I can go even more wild and crazy if only to bring you wilder, crazier stories. But don't worry, Mütti - we'll make sure to keep it safe.

Bis dann, Tschüss!