Day 56: Couch Potato Part 3

A Sign from the Universe

I’ll take this as a sign that I probably shouldn’t talk so much. I woke up again and my voice could barely make any noises. I had to resume my position on the couch today with my laptop and do work while trying to recover and re-energize. At some point, I decided to put the laptop away and just sleep some more, which was probably the better decision. I missed a lot of meetings today. I can catch up next week.

Learning German

Unfortunately, I haven’t been spending as much time as I would have like over the past 3 weeks or so on advancing my German verbal skills. My comprehension skills have become much better since I’ve arrived. I try to read and watch the German news frequently and I encourage my co-workers to keep speaking German around and to not change to English.

However, my verbal skills are still not very good. It comes from not practicing enough, and therefore not having enough confidence to speak with others. So to make myself more comfortable with speaking, I’ve been watching movies and television shows on Disney+ in German with English CC.

I don’t do this for all shows and movies, only ones that I know really well. I have to admit, I know the scripts of many movies (in another life, I would probably be a screen writer). This has made it a lot easier to match the voice-acting (intonations, enunciations, etc.) to the German language and grammar. Just as Obi-wan showed Luke the way of the Force, I hope he makes me more comfortable speaking German.

Treats from the Bäckerei

Bäckerei in German means bakery. There’s almost a bakery on every single street and corner in Germany. German bread is world famous, and I don’t think there’s anything in the US that compares. Unless, of course, you know how to make German bread.

Now, while I don’t know how the magic is made, I know how it tastes - sehr lecker (translation: very delicious). While I don’t think this qualifies as a traditional dish, I had Pizzatasche, or pizza bread. It wasn’t half bad. I normally like to grab something sweet as well (big sweet tooth!), but I didn’t have the appetite. In trips past, I have spent unnecessary amounts of money on pastries from a German bakery. I'll do that again soon when I’m 100% recovered.

I hope I’m on the final days of recovery, and I hope tomorrow goes by more smoothly.

Frieden und Liebe ❤️ (translation: peace and love)