As I am sure many of you are well aware, moving to a new country can be both exhilarating and frightening but, when you do not speak the language, it brings with it its own mixture of adventures. I moved to Germany eight years ago and took on the challenge of learning the arduous German grammar rules. Der, die und das — I would just manage to accomplish one sentence only then to discover that it changes with movement, e.g. Ich bin in der Stadt — Ich gehe in die Stadt (I’m in the city — I’m going to the city! This was extremely confusing and frustrating. This cannot be, why must it be said like this, I would cry out in frustration!
At the beginning, the supermarket was a nightmare for me. How can one best avoid speaking to anyone in a supermarket? I come from Ireland and it is quite a difficult task there as inevitably someone will ask you something or just make small talk. It’s not so difficult in Germany because the people can be more standoffish and just go about their business. One of the many things I did to avoid conversation was to go to the self service check out. This all worked out well until there was a problem with scanning and then the shop assistant would come asking to help, with an underlying tone of ‘what did you do now?’ Frantic hand gestures would then begin, with a flushed face, wanting to simply grab the few bits and run out of there from sheer embarrassment!
When the self service was too busy and I was forced to go to the cashier, I would start to memorise a few words in my head while placing the items on the conveyor belt. Guess how many words there are in German for the word receipt…two, three…no…many more…rechnung, bon, quittung, beleg, kassenbon, kassenbeleg, zettel — I’m sure there are probably even more! Oh, and they should all be written with a capital letter! Try to learn these words when you are struggling with everything else! Each time the cashier would use a different one, plus asking something about a customer card, plus a thrown in question about loyalty points — information overload — I would just nod, smile and flee as quickly as I could!
The funniest experience in the supermarket came with wanting a delicious fish for dinner. Could it be easy with the fish just in front of me so that I could simply point to the one I desired? Oh no, all packed up nicely in ice, they all lay behind the fishmonger. ‘Das’ (that one — completely incorrect grammar), I said pointing to a fish. She would painstakingly lift one up to which I would shake my head and the procedure would begin all over again. After a few minutes of this extremely demeaning procedure — I only wanted some salmon for goodness sake — I decided that I needed to change tack. I fled from the supermarket back to my apartment, picked up my cookbook and ran back again. The fishmonger was distraught to see me once more and so soon but smiled so widely when I produced my cookbook and showed her what I needed. We developed a good relationship after that. :)
Eight years later, I no longer frequent the self service check out. I ask for the loyalty points and I proudly hand over my customer card! Getting the exact piece of meat I want is still an ordeal but, hey, it makes the experience less boring and remains a little challenge for me!
