Sundays, Baristas, Goethe

I was going to do laundry today but the laundromat is closed. Today is Sunday, and perhaps 80% of the retail shops are closed. In Europe, where most people do not go to church, the sabbath is a day of rest. In America, where most people do go to church, the sabbath is great for getting some shopping done.

Have no fear though. The closed laundromat is but a minor setback. I shall survive. And tomorrow, marching forth in my dress socks and swimming trunks, I shall do battle with the laundry beast.

In truth, everyday seems like a day of rest. In the future, I will write about the sedate pace of life here. This is the banking capital of Europe, yet in spirit it is as far from New York as could be. The pace is even slower than in Portland.

Maybe it has something to do with summer vacation though. It was explained to me that each of the different German states have their own vacation period. They fall anywhere between June 15th and September 15th. I`m not sure when Frankfurt`s is.

I ordered a coffee in German at Starbucks earlier today. The first part was astoundingly difficult, but I managed. "Grande Kaffee bitte." Then I got tripped up at the point when he said "for here or to-go." I`m glad the German`s who named me not-the-worst-speaker were not there.

"Gehen" is the literal German verb for "to go." I was expecting it, or some variant on it. But the phrase they use for to-go, when transliterated, is "to take with" (zum mitnehmen.) Take-out. Much of learning German seems to be understanding which English synonym they use. For example, you don`t say "I know a little German." You say "I know a bit of German."

As with many of the Germans I meet, the barista was quite enthusiastic about me learning the language. And quite eager to help. Unasked, he wrote the phrase for to-go on the back of the receipt, then we chatted for a while about how my studies were going and the differences between English and German. Another barista soon joined him and started offering words and suggestions of her own. As the conversation wound down, she suggested I find a "tandem person to study with." I like the idea. Find some German who wants to learn English. When I get to Berlin, that will be high on my priority list.

What is not so high on my priority list is going to the Goethehaus. (Haus = house.) Well, the first day I wandered over to it, but it`s five euros for entrance! (It is about 1.4 dollars to euros, at the moment.) Instead, I went to a beer garden and sat for an hour. I read Wilhelm Meister`s Apprenticeship and had a few beers. I think Goethe would have approved.

I will leave you with a quote from Wilhelm Meister that I read last night:

"You are right," replied [Wilhelm Meister], not without embarassment; "man is ever the most interesting object to man, and perhaps should be the only one that interests. Whatever else surrounds us is but the element in which we live, or else the instrument which we employ. The more we devote ourselves to such things, the more we attend to and feel concern in them, the weaker will our sense of our own dignity become, the weaker our feelings for society. Men who put a great value on gardens, buildings, clothes, ornaments, or any other sort of property, grow less social and pleasant; they lose sight of their brethren."

Next post: the hunt for the best döner kebab, the European (lesser) equivalent of the burrito.

(And the "next post" I promised last time is coming too. Pehaps I should start saying "A future post.")