Stories of this Canadian girl's adventures exploring Europe & beyond...join me!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

real life

Well, the ‘honeymoon’ phase is over now, and real-life is hitting me over the head like a 2x4. For reasons I did not expect, the language difference is really impacting me. I am missing the freedom, ease and comfort of being able to speak and understand everything…and I actually know German. I cannot imagine what it would be like to move somewhere where I don’t know the language at all.

When I moved from Alberta to Saskatchewan 3 years ago, right away, I got involved in a whole bunch of community activities; the library board, basketball, choir. It was easy and fun; asking questions, finding out information, getting to know people, creating a place for me in a new place. But here, I procrastinate every day, not wanting to speak to any strangers in my broken German. I am scared of sounding stupid, looking stupid, of not being able to express what I mean, of being misunderstood, and of not understanding. So, I haven’t really looked into getting a job. I haven’t really looked into taking conversation German classes. I haven’t really done much. And, I’m not feeling very good about that.

Basically, I have spent the past 6 weeks helping great guy make the new häuschen into a home ( it’s looking and feeling good), cooking, working out, writing and exploring a little bit. But, I really feel like I need to get ‘out there’ and get a life…a German life. I just don’t know what that should look like. What I do know, is that it won’t happen unless I try. I think I'll start tomorrow. Wish me luck.

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2 comments

  1. you don't need luck - you have lots to offer, even with unperfect German! :) Anybody you would enjoy working for or with would be the kind of person who would appreciate your language skills and not nitpick the details. Even the ladies in my Spielgruppe were very tolerant of my grammatical disability! Have fun and tell good stories about it all tomorrow on the blog.

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  2. I know completely how you feel! When I moved there after high school I just "hung out" for a very long time. It was so intimidating! In the end I was so happy to get a job and broaden myself there. I know you will do great! You are a catch in every sense of the word...great friend...great girl friend...great auntie (the girls still bring up your name daily) and great employee! Love you!

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