The Little Old Lady

Today, after my job interview (which went very well... I will be hearing more in the next week or so) I was sitting in the S-Bahn station waiting for my train. While I was sitting there I pulled this plastic folder that had all my job interview stuff in it out of my bag.

The folder is a little larger than a piece of paper (holds both letter and A4 size nicely) and is sort of like a flat box. It is closed by two rubber bands, one on either side of it. It is a very handy contraption. After sorting a couple of things, I put it back in my bag.

Then this little old lady (probably near 80) that was sitting next to me very quietly and politely inquired where I got it. I thought for a second (I bought it quite a few years ago, but think I got it at Wal-Mart) and responded, "Ich habe es in den USA gekauft." (trans: I bought it in the USA) At this point the lady must have realized from my awful accent that I was a foreigner. She then proceeded to ask me (in English) if I was American.

"Yes," I said. We then proceeded to have a nice conversation about Germany, the US, how you can buy things here that you can't there and vice versa, and how I came to be in Germany.

The funny part is that during this conversation, the lady spoke to me in English and I spoke to her in German. I was in a German frame of mind today and decided that I would not lapse into English as I am prone to do when people speak English to me here.

She was a very nice little old lady, but what struck me was her extremely good English. What I mean by this is that here in Germany I pretty much expect people my age (give or take 10 years) to at least know a little English, since it is taught in the schools from a very early age. But with older people, I don't have such expectations.

She was obviously pretty well-versed in English and enjoyed the opportunity to speak it with me. In addition, she told me that my German was very good and that she thought it was great that I had learned German so quickly. (Remember, I spoke NO German before coming here.)

After the 4 or 5 minute conversation she hopped into her train and I guess I will never see her again. However, she will always have a place as one of my wonderful memories of Germany.