And so the fun begins!

We have been in our new place almost a week, and yesterday the phone and internet were hooked up. This afternoon I'm going to try to get some photos to post. Anyway, Brian accidentally left his cell phone at the house this morning. The phone rang a little while ago, and a woman was on the line, speaking German (this is Germany, after all) asking for Herr Harvey. I told her (in English) that I'm Frau Harvey, Herr Harvey is at work. Then said, in German, "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" She hung up. I called Brian at work and gave him the number to call her back. Ahh. One of the fun things about living in a foreign country is trying to learn the language. I am a firm believer that one should make an effort to learn the language of the country you are living in, but I also know from experience that it's easier said than done. The learning by immersion that one hears about so many times is not as easy as it sounds. Despite the fact that we live on the economy (off post, in German housing and a German landlord), so much of our work, business and social interaction is built upon American military bases that it becomes difficult. Our only practice comes with restaurants, shopping, and traveling. I remember more than I thought, and I intend to learn more with time. Until then, I'll leave today's blog with one parting thought: the woman was calling to let us know that the heater/water leak repair person was arriving tomorrow between 1 and 3. Dealing with repairpersons is challenging enough when you both speak the same language. It'll be another learning experience...