Summer Begins – The Adventure Continues
The weeks are starting to blend together, and I find myself in a good rhythm. I have finally figured out the bus and train schedules (which recently switch to summer schedules), and my time spent at the bakery and butcher shop continue to surprise and frustrate me, but more to come on that.
My efforts to find an apartment in Erfurt are slow-going. I have had many good conversations with rental agencies, but it seems that my being foreign and not having an income are quite problematic – I’ve been passed over a couple times now.
It was suggested that I simply put on the apartment applications that I am a student because that is easier to understand. Know I will not resort to that. In fact, a couple people that have befriended me have suggested that I literally apply to be a student; apparently Germans like when everything can be easily categorized. However, I refuse to fit neatly into a box. In fact, when I said that to my brewer-friend, he laughingly agreed that he’d already figured that out about me.
The summer break has started, which also means that many of my extracurricular activities are also coming to a halt. Last week was the last tap class; we reconvene in September. I have been invited to teach the beginner class – the advertising that an American is teaching a tap class has already begun.
As for the advanced class I have been taking, I have learned that since I’ve arrived, the choreography has gotten significantly more complex. I am told that I was to be impressed (you know, rather than frustrated). I am curious to see how this plays out when I start teaching; he already informed me that he would like to sit in on my class – so that I don’t teach anything incorrect.
In the next couple weeks, the Tuesday night choir I’ve been attending will also go on break. I was invited to join by someone in my tap class. It is a beginner choir that sings easy, three-part American oldies. I am meeting some great people, and practicing my German-English accent to “Barbara Ann” and “Love Me Tender”.
The time spent with the local artisans continue to surprise me. They are all truly masters of their crafts, but the way they interact with each other and with unannounced guests is a bit appalling. The things they say to me, or about me while I’m standing there, simply makes me shake my head.
I can no longer count on one hand the number of times I’ve come close to walking out of the bakery, never to return. But I then remind myself that I am, in many ways, representing the US and should probably drop the dramatics. And while they are short with me, I still cannot get myself to snap back – it simply feels wrong even though it probably would be garner respect. I just smile and agree to sweep the floor a second time.
The butcher is also teaching me all the different ways to use the word ‘shit’ – adjective, noun, adverb, verb, and often it is in a pile. He has his days when nothing seems to be going right, and he sure let’s people know. The difficulty with this situation is that we are surrounded by sharp objects.
That said, I am continuing to be grateful for the people I’ve met: a guy from Washington, who is helping me find an apartment; a guy in choir, who is letting me crash at his place every now and then rather than paying for an Airbnb; and my brewer/baker friend, who lets me complain in English when rarely needed and then gives me a beer.
A couple weekends ago, Erfurt celebrated Krämmerbrücke Fest, which seemed to me a mash-up of a Renaissance Festival (with costumes) and a music fest (with many stages). It was packed with old people and had numerous, redundant booths selling artisan breads, calligraphy, and unnecessary glass ornaments.
The Tuesday after, I found my favorite microbrewery closed as they were still recovering from the fest. While the introvert in me hated the idea, I did find an alternative watering hole. After a beer’s worth of people watching, a man from a nearby table approached me, and he proceeded to tell me about his trip to San Francisco. He then came back a couple minutes later and said (in German), “I’m not the boss where I work, but we record audio guides and have many British English speakers and not enough American English speakers. Here’s my card if you are interested.”
I emailed him that very night. Cross your fingers (or press your thumbs, if you are a German) that something comes of this!
