What a long day it has been! And I am using a German keyboard! Expect öomlauts galore.
Woke up at my sister's in Hannover then her family caught trains to Sweden and I went to Berlin. I have spent a long, long day walking all over Berlin. On my sister's recommendation, I went to the DDR Museum which represents life in East Berlin and East Germany from 1961 to the fall of the wall in 1989. Fascinating portrait of a socialist society! I couldn't believe the detail I saw and touched, as it was very hands on. I grew to appreciate what life must have been like for the citizens.
Lots of U Bahns, S Bahns, and trains today. The German mass transit is very efficient but this city is confusing. Many times I took the wrong trains and relied on the kindness of strangers. Thank God for kind strangers. There are many museums on my list for tomorrow: Checkpoint Charlie, the underground bunker tour, Alte Nationalgalerie, Neues Museum, Pergamon Museum, Holocaust Memorial, Reichstag, and maybe a soccer game against Stuttgart. Is that too much?
Nicht schon. I'm reluctant to take risks speaking my rusty German so don't improve. When I say I hope my Nepalese or German language "come back" I see now that's too passive (who has agency, where's the noun, in that sentence?). When I'm back in California I vow to take Spanish lessons and to try to speak more since that's the only way to fluency.
ReplyDeleteThat said, my command of German was once quite good and I passively understand about forty per cent.