Daily Archives: 10. Juli 2011

一個人在異地

當一個人在異地時……

你會買自己喜歡吃的食物去烹調
卻因知道吃的只有自己, 買便宜些及隨便煮也便可

你會很自由的選擇進餐入睡的時間
卻更需要遷時差去skype和whats app遠方的親友

你會很隨心在途中哼著iPod的音樂
卻在聽到有共鳴的歌時感觸不已

你會把開心的事情用大聲公廣播
卻隱晦地將不快輕輕帶過

你會偶爾裝傻扮細待友善的人樂於主動幫你一把
卻要經常裝強扮惡以防被壞人欺負
更要無時無刻告訴自己要堅強去面對具體和無形的挑戰

你會少了親人在耳邊叮囑你要去幹些什麼
卻多了計劃自己每天應該做些什麼

你會很懶與人接觸, 因在陌生的環境由零開始建立關係不是易事
卻會很主動與人保持聯絡, 因你深明遠水不能救近火的道理

你會嘗試到很多你夢寐以求想去的地方和嚮往的遊歷
卻發現心中的烏托邦其實是自己一直身處的家鄉.

First Impression on Germans

Just a very general impression on Germans after staying here for a month, so please forgive me if there’s anything wrong as it’s only my personal views.
Proud, Tough, Loud, Casual, Helpful, Domesticated
These are the words that come into my mind when I brainstormed Germans.
Proud, or sometimes arrogance, in terms of their own language. It’s so common that when I speak English to a German, he or she will reply me in German. I just wish I know German too.. I understand some Germans really don’t know English. But for the Government officers like those who give out residence permit or tax card, there should be at least speak a bit English or other languages to cater the non-Germans.
Tough and loud, the way they act and speak, fast, precise, strong.
Casualness is reflected on their outlook, a t-shirt and jeans, not many jewels nor makeups. On the other hand, it’s so easy to see people start a conversation with a newly-met person. Haha and I like it~
Generally Germans are helpful if you seek help. Even if you don’t ask for, there’s still people who see you in a difficult situation, e.g. carrying a 7kg backpack and at the same time pulling a 33kg luggage up the stair, they will give you both hands.
Domesticated, Germans spend a lot of their time on making their home better. The decorations, the equipment, the use of the basement, the garden, etc.  I like the way they want to make a better living. Not only monetarily, but also the real living.
Looking forward to discovering more…

Die Emails auf Deutsch

The „fast track“ to learn a language is undoubtedly to use it more often. There are tons of ways like reading the news in that language, watching Television and listening to radio and songs, reading children books… All these work well if I were a self-motivated person. But well, it always works better for me if there is a little pressure to a thing. And thus, in order to be able to communicate in German without much difficulties after a year, I choose to learn German in a language school, practise with my classmates after class, find some language partners, and even write emails in German. Apart from paying the school fee, all other ways involve another party and thus it gives me more motivation to use German.

I am so lucky that when I propose the idea of writing emails in German to my German friend, he replied me as follows (extracted from an email):

„no problem, you send your emails in German if you like (Kein Problem, du kannst deine Emails in deutsch schicken, wenn du möchtest.). Also no problem to tell you what is wrong (Es ist auch kein Problem dir zu sagen, was falsch ist.). Another idea I could write the mail in German and English (Eine andere Idee wäre, dir die Mail in deutsch und englisch zu schreiben..).“

I am so touched after I read the lines as I didn’t expect that he would write in both German and English, which would double the time he spends in writing the email. Truly thankful for his effort and I will definitely pay much more effort to learn German in every way I can!!