Locals Day

Yesterday, Tuesday, was tourist day, which saw yours truly visiting the "must see" places in Munich: The hop-on/hop-off tourist bus, Hard Rock Munich, the Hofbräuhaus, Deutsches Museum, things of that nature. Today, I did just the opposite. I gave up the subays, rode the buses, ate in the local sandwich shops, listened to German radio while walking downtown, and all in all tried to live as if I truly lived here. A few interesting things started to happen: After three full days here, I can say that my German truly is getting a bit better. Part of it is that the old high school braincells seem to be coming back to life, but even more important I think that my confidence is increasing---I'm more insistent that we try to speak German rather than falling into English, and I am not worried about pronouncing every syllable. (Let's face it, nobody ever annunciates everything; we speak rapidly, slurring words together, yet we understand each other perfectly well as we get the bulk of a conversation's meaning from context.)

I honestly feel that if I were to remain here for a month, I would blend in pretty well, and given three months I could probably pass off as a Munich inhabitant (maybe not a native, but definitely not a tourist).

People are mixed, just as anyplace else in the world: Some are abrupt and not terribly helpful, others are warm and memorable. There's no real pattern of predictability: Age, gender, none of it really will tell me if the person I am about to speak with will be pleasant or otherwise. It is really the same as in the US.

I have found another interesting tidbit when trying to speak the language: Even if you know you are bombing what you are attempting to say, smile rather than scorn. It's amazing, but just by changing the facial expression, the other person is more relaxed and willing to work through the conversation than if you seem nervous about slaughtering the language.

All in all, this was a very great day, a chance to have a short glimpse into what it would be like to live in a foreign country, not simply visit it.

Long day, and I'm tired, so this will be a short entry....