Sitting in a busy Offenburg intersection, simply drinking my very strong coffee–black–I can’t help but imagine the lives of those who pass me by. The girl wearing converse, yet holding a pair of white nameless sneakers in her hands. The crowd of fourteen year old girls who pile into the corner bakery together, laughing the way only a crowd of fourteen year old girls can. The man too attractive for words to describe, in a suit and tie. All of these people have a few things in common–they Germans in Offenburg who likely have no idea they are being written about. I’m just an unsuspicious woman drinking coffee and contemplating the ability I have to master this foreign language. As I look diagonally across the way, my German Language school stands (Later I learn that it isn’t located there, as there are two buildings for that school and I was a seven minute walk away from my actual classroom..)–my ladder into fluency, my bridge to communicate with that attractive man in his own tongue.

How greatly I yearn to no longer translate this language, but flow with words without thinking. To toss my dictionary back on the shelf and no longer flip through it’s pages a thousand times while trying to translate an article in the daily newspaper.

Another man–perhaps more attractive than the man in the suit–just passed. Oh god, I really need to speak German.

After Class..

Class was.. overall great. There are a couple people who get it and a few more who absolutely don’t. I wish the speed would pick up. Everything we are covering for the next couple weeks will be review for me. Although reinforcing the grammatical aspects is quite helpful, even if, when tested, I get them all correct. It’s strange being back in a classroom, especially where the teacher actually has to measure the understanding of the group. In college, professors measure through quizzes and exams, but typically go at the speed expected for the course and level. It’s like high school all over again–although the entire class is taught in German. My classmates come from all over the world. France, Africa, China. Most understand a little English, so explaining is easy when the teacher points to me and I try to explain the difference between formal and informal YOU. This class will prove interesting.