I feel really hesitant speaking German. It’s not that I feel a deep need to be correct or perfect, it’s mostly when someone asks me something in German, my mind goes blank and I can’t think of any syllables to string together in a coherent manner. Needless to say, I need some chutzpah..In addition, I accidentally bought soy yogurt at the store this weekend and we can’t make that fake dairy mistake again!

At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about taking a language class with Freddy. It somewhat pains me that I took 10 years of French class and he is leaps and bounds ahead of my comprehension. I really try to not be competitive with my husband given we work for the same company, got promoted in the same cycle, see ourselves as competent mountain athletes..it just wouldn’t be healthy and I see our common path as an asset most of the time. But I could really envision myself becoming a brat if Freddy naturally picks up German and my skill level remains 0. In the end, we decided to take the same class, so we’re learning at the same speed and have someone to practice with. We also thought it would be fun to take a group class in person to be able to practice with more folks. 

We walked into our first class today at Inlingua, it felt weird to be in a dingey classroom again. Peggy walks in and says “it’s just you two!” Quel horror! How can I not compare myself to him!! It’s like you get to sit next to the cute boy in math class, and you want to act cool but you legitimately can’t count to ten!!

Peggy assuaged most of my fears by introducing herself in English and giving us the lay of the land, then it was all German from there. We went back and forth for 2 hours.. “Hello, I’m Frau Lacampagne” .. “Are you Roger Federer?” .. “Nein! Ich bin Herr Mondale” We learned the present conjugation of “to be,” asking someone their name and how they are doing. I can only be “guht” because I don’t know how to say “I’m not good.” And I have homework!! By end of January, I will be certified at the A1 level of German. Guten Abend tout le monde!