Learning German

Moving to Vienna has involved a new challenge compared with the LA experience: dealing with the language! Even though English was at times a challenge in the US we were able to communicate rather easily from the beginning. Both of us have learned German in school and our own mother tongues are derived from Germanic as is German. So speaking German shouldn't be that difficult, right? Well, it is! Actually it is not that bad. We can order coffee, ask for directions and a whole lot more, but it's simply impossible to express oneself as freely as we are used to. Bjarni has been through all this before when he moved to Denmark and had to learn Danish, but for me it's a new thing, which is both exciting and frustrating depending on the mood that I'm in. It's been my job here to order internet, call the electricity department and so on, where I have had the joy of talking German on the phone! It's a whole lot easier to talk a foreign language you are not too sure about, when you are standing in front of the person you are talking to and you can use your arms and body language to express yourself with, rather than talking over the phone. But I know I know, there is only one way to learn, and that is by trying and making mistakes. And hey, by using my broken German on and and off the phone I can proudly annouce that I've managed to get my hair cut, get registered at the gas and electricity company and I'm almost there with getting registered at the university (somehow that is dragging out because I'm not Austrian).
Usually if it's something important (like getting my hair cut..) I ask if the person speaks English. Often I get a no, and then there is no way around it but speaking German. And I suppose that is not too bad either when I have to learn the language. The sooner the better.
Today I have joined an intensive German course, so that I can improve more. I'll keep you posted on how I'm progressing.

New and shorter hair looks like this:

Oversæt til dansk