And so with those words ("Tomorrow Mommy's making me pancakes!"), Aidan began speaking German. He's comprehended German for a long time, as Jen has been speaking the language to him since he was a baby. But, speaking with his German babysitter, Claudia, this was his first time uttering a full German sentence completely unprompted and unrehearsed. It took off from there - by the following week he was finishing a sentence for me when I got lost in my German word order. I am a distant third in this family in local language proficiency.
"And mmm, those Pfannkuchen were yummy"
This development was perfectly timed, because the next day was a big one for Aidan - his first day at kindergarten here in Berlin. He's had a few days where the dropoff has been a little difficult for him, but once there he's having a great time (he went through the same pattern when he started at his preschool in West Lafayette). Immediately he started making friends, telling us about his friend Katarina, with whom he plays "every day." Of course, next thing we knew he was playing with Charlotte instead. Ah, the girls do love Aidan. Alas, though, on day three he started feeling unwell and he missed the rest of the week of school, a consequence of being exposed to a whole new continent of kid germs. But he was back by the second week and he seems to be having lots of fun.
Future reporter Aidan gives a shout-out to his favorite elephant
This is not to say this is the only thing we've been doing with Aidan. The snow has now melted, but we took advantage of it while it was here:
Aidan invents a new sport, sled soccer
And, with the weather now having warmed up to a balmy 34, we've been able to get out and play ping pong on the graffiti-clad concrete tables at the local park:
Aidan takes a mighty swing (not pictured - ball flying over mommy's head)
So, Aidan is finally in school. On that note, we pause here to give kudos to Jen. Germany is a country of much bureaucracy and many bureaucrats. And, my German being what it is(n't), it falls to Jen to tackle all of this. And let me tell you, she is very, VERY good at it. Take, for example, the day we set up our bank account. As we waited our turn the woman at the bank was telling (berating) the guy in front of us that he couldn't just come in and set up an account if he didn't know the language, that there were too many things he needed to understand clearly, legalities and the like, and he'd need to come back with someone who knows the language. I was able to follow this well enough to be vicariously intimidated.
But then it was our turn, and Jen started in with her flawless German and her biggest, friendliest smile. And the bank employee was putty in her hands - she showed us happily to her desk, got us mineral water and coffee, the whole nine. Which is not to say I wasn't still scared of her, but Jen just has a way with such people. The person at the resident registration office? No problem. The person we needed to see to get permission to enroll Aidan in kindergarten? Delighted to help us out! Week by week Jen systematically slays the bureaucratic beast, speaking softly and carrying a big smile.
With Aidan in school and Jen doing her research, I am finally confronting the question many of you have asked me - what am I going to do in Germany? For four weeks that question mostly focused on occupying Aidan. But now? Eh, who knows. I do enjoy walking around the city, especially as I think about its past. For instance, last week I was walking down Unter den Linden, which during the Cold War was the major avenue in East Berlin. It was, therefore, a little odd to stumble upon this in the window of a car dealership:
That is a Bugatti Veyron, a 254mph, $1.4m car. Ah, how far we have come from the days of the Trabant. But lest you think that the former East has gone completely capitalist, one can always still find some form of left-wing protest at Alexanderplatz, this one a miniature climate change refugee camp:
One of my favorite things to do with my time is visit art galleries. Given that my tastes are toward more modern art, this can often be a hit-or-miss affair. For instance, at the Guggenheim in Berlin they had an interesting piece called "Memory", and I quite liked it. The thing is, though, that was it. That's all they had at that museum - one piece (granted it is a 24 ton piece of steel). I'd read that this was a small exhibition space (they actually have a postcard which reads, "FAQ - where's the rest of the gallery?"), but I figured that meant they'd have a small exhibition - not just one exhibit. I should have suspected something was up when it only cost 4 Euros to get in. On the flipside, though, there's a Paul Klee exhibition at a gallery here that is just huge. Klee is one of my favorite artists, and it took me so long to browse that collection that my legs hurt by the time we left.
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At the Hamburger Bahnhof museum, Colin is a "Mensch" |
One of my favorite pieces at the Klee exhibit - Klee poking fun at the high regard in which his students held him |
So anyway, that's what I'm doing. I'm being all cultured and stuff. And on that note, I'm off to watch "Happy Gilmore" auf Deutsch. While I do that, I'll leave you with one more video - Aidan rocking out at Kindercity.
