"Ich bin Berliner"

On our plane ride to Berlin, I was fortunate enough to be able to sit next to a Pennsylvanian woman that was also a second generation German-speaker. We had many laughs, as we read through my book of Dirty German phrases, and I was able to learn quite a bit about German sayings, colloquialisms, euphemisms, expressions, culture, and language! Es war Hammer (which means "It was awesome," exactly as she taught me on the plane ride)! I got to go over some phrases that I had been preparing for myself to be able to navigate the bustling German cities that we will be visiting in the upcoming future, like Münich, Wittenberg, Mainz, Nuremberg, and Frankfurt. Today, we visited a German KFC, and it felt great ordering my meal in German (Kann Ich habe die Nummer acht, bitte?). Another opportunity I had was in the bathroom of an Irish pub I gave a simple greeting to the man running the bathroom, collecting tips (as is the norm here in Germany). He must have recognized my thick American accent, and it was interesting to note that he used the “du” informal way to talk to me. I thought it was interesting because, as a non-native speaker, I'm quite unfamiliar with who I can address with "du," or even, who can address me with "du," but I suppose it made sense that he did because he is only but a humble old German man who must've thought it was nice to hear an American speak a little bit of German with him! I figured it would be a good idea to write my German professor about this interaction and here was his reponse: “If he is quite a bit older than you---let’s say 70 or 80 or more and you’re 20---he uses “du” with you and you respond with “Sie.” It’s a sign of respect for his age: as an older man, he gets to use du with those under 30, BUT then everyone uses Sie with him. I remember this happening to me when I was your age as well.”

During our time in Berlin, we had a fun time meeting the DEKRA University students, who were all various Communications majors. The first thing that they wanted to ask us about was our views on gun control, and we were asked to fill out a survey for them. Next, they brought us to dinner at a Bavarian-styled Hofbrau Haus. From there, we met up with them later, and they took us to a local indie-band concert, where “The Drakes” were playing. The band was OK, but what made it such a great time for me is that I was able to have tons of interactions with these DEKRA students in German, and was given tons of constructive criticism on my German-speaking, which I really appreciated. They were quite humbled to hear an American speak some German with them, an experience that they have never had before.