Today in class, I sat next to one of the students, Michael, and he started talking to me in German (a no no). Anyway, he was so easy to understand, I new he couldn’t be a native Austrian. Turns out he’s actually from Thüringen, which is a state in the middle of Germany. He invited me to go for a walk along the river with him and his poodle. So I did. The poodle’s name is Einstein and it’s very cute. We spoke English and then German. I made it clear, of course, that we must speak English at the college. I don’t want it getting out that my German isn’t terrible. I think it was nice that his speech was easy to understand and it was nice that since we will both be language teachers, we have an understanding about how to best encourage another person to speak their second language. Plus, I think we are close to equal in our language skills, and we both make mistakes, so we don’t have to be too embarrassed when we speak the other’s language.
I think we’ve already told you about how dogs are allowed in shopping malls and on buses. I think they’re also better behaved and socialized here. Dogs often walk next to their owners without leashes and they go up to other dogs to sniff each other.
Also, I’ve noticed that it’s often easier for couples to hang out with other couples; I think it takes some extra effort for Will and I to get social with all the single Americans we know. Michael has a girlfriend, so it might be easier for us to do things with them. I guess we’ll see.
I’m excited about it!