die Abenteuerin
Abenteuerin adventuress
The title of this blog post is sarcastic, since I am anything but.
As I was scanning my Wörterbuch (English-German dictionary) for appropriate titles for this blog entry, I was reminded of something that I think is very cool about the German language: just about any German word can be dissected into parts and you can discover its meaning. It's actually kind of fun.
My German oral exam is not on Tuesday like I thought, but next month (collective sigh of relief)! My German comprehension has increased a lot, but my speech and grammar is still abysmal. And whenever I am in a situation where a German speaks to me, any German knowledge that I had suddenly goes out the window and I am speaking cave-man German or just copping out by saying "Ich verstehe nicht!" (I don't understand).
But back to the title of the blog...
Mike and I are working on the necessary paperwork for us to join in holy matrimony sometime this summer. On Thursday Mike said to me, "So tomorrow you will go to the consulate in Leipzig and get this form."
"Huh? We are going to Leipzig tomorrow?" I replied.
"No, you are."
Of course this made me scared. I usually try not to expose myself to situations where I may have to actually speak German. I mean, I have "mastered" the trams in Dresden and I can pretty comfortably go to class and shopping by myself. But travelling to a whole different city on my own? No way!
"It will be easy. You will get a train to Leipzig and then you'll have to take a taxi to the consulate."
"Huh? Taxi? I have to talk to a taxi driver? No! I can't do it. Boo hoo!"
"It will be easy, I know you can do it."
"I know that I can. But I don't want to!"
So on Friday morning I got on a train to Leipzig. We had compromised by deciding that I would not take a taxi but walk, so Mike printed me out a map. For some reason the taxi idea really freaked me out.
The trip was relatively uneventful. The walk was not that long, the weather in Leipzig was nice, and I got to walk through the center and see some of the nice buildings, although I didn't know what I was looking at. I think this picture is of a church.
The consulate was weird. The whole street was blocked off and I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to go in, so I wandered around for a while. There were lots of cops, so finally I just approached one. Suddenly my cave-man German came into play and I must have said something like "me want marry, must go consulate". Finally I showed them my passport and they let me in. When I got in they checked me for weapons and then confiscated my cell phone and camera. A woman escorted me into a room and I sat down at a table. No one was speaking English with me, so I tried in my cave-man German to tell them what I needed: a Konsularische Ledigkeitsbescheinigung. What?! I couldn't even say it. Finally I just said "Ich will heiraten" (I want to get married). The woman said "congratulations!" and switched to English (thank you!).
They asked me for my address in the U.S. and in Germany, my father and mother's names, and then they printed me out a paper in German and English saying that I am single.
So, my little adventure went smoothly. I even got to have some McDonald's at the train station before I left.
Soon I will have to post a blog about how to marry a German in Germany. But first I have to finish figuring it out myself.
In other news, our kitchen was installed in our apartment! It looks really nice. Today Mike and I went over and cooked a meal there, even though we didn't have any chairs to sit on since we haven't bought any yet. I am really excited to move in. I just wish I could wiggle my nose like Jeannie and make all the heavy furniture in our apartment here suddenly appear in the new one. We probably can't afford movers, and besides, I don't know who would want to carry all of this already assembled furniture down from the top floor of our apartment. Atleast our new one is on the first floor.
And for fun, here is Penny. I know you all want to see another hundred photos of my cat, right? She is excited about the new apartment as well.