I’ve been learning German for a few months, so thought it was about time I visited the place, to see what it’s all about.

So I went to Frankfurt.

I arrived late on Friday night, and got the train to my hotel.  I couldn’t see where my hotel was tho, so had my first real chance to try out my German..

“entschuldigen Sie, vissen Sie wo ist das Hotel Savoy bitte?”

Not great German grammatically.. but the man understood what I was asking, and explained to me where to find the hotel.

Which is where I realised what my big problem would be.. I could make myself understood.. but I had no idea what he just said to me!  Luckily he pointed, so I nodded like I knew what he was saying, followed his finger, and found my hotel!

The ‘not understanding when people speak back to me’ became a frequent problem.  Later in the weekend I went to KFC with Nina & Ricarda, tried to order a chicken salad in German.. the girl on the till asked me a question about my order, I panicked, and ended up with a tub of coleslaw for my meal.  By the Sunday, I’d given up trying to understand, if someone answered me back I’d just look blankly at them, then turn to Nina or Ricarda to answer for me.. or just let them do the talking in the first place..

I’d read bad things about my hotel in internet reviews, like people finding blood in their bed, and staff refusing to sort out problems.  But I also saw that the hotel gives away free cakes between 2 and 5pm every day, so I booked.  The hotel was great.  They listened sympathetically to my bad German, answered me in German, and even though I pretended to understand, they repeated it in English for me.

I had a great weekend.  I went to an art gallery (to find out if art in any way interests me.. it doesn’t), went to a flea market (where a scary looking guy was selling Russian military stuff), then met up with twins Nina & Ricarda who live nearby.

The twins showed me some of Frankfurt’s landmarks, a church where their parents got married, a bridge that James Marster’s stood on once, a club that James Marster’s played in once.  Then they took me shopping, and introduced me to some German music and films worth trying.  We met The Simpsons,

Then visited the twins favourite pub, then on the train back to their hometown of Jugesheim to watch Buffy in German, go to a street party, wander out drunkenly into the pitch-black countryside, brave the dangers of diseased foxes and wild boars, a German cornfield, back to the street party, and then an early morning train back to Frankfurt.

A cool day!

On Sunday I slept most of the day, then got the train again to Jugesheim to meet Nina & Ricarda, went to a funfair, met a Gage lookalike (for anyone who knows Gage), went to an Ice Cream café, then to the cinema to watch Rush Hour 3 in German.  I barely understood a word, but Rush Hour films are never about the complex plot, so it was still cool.  Then back to my hotel again.

On Monday I wandered round the shops, bought one of the German dvd’s the twins had recommended, went to a museum and met some dinosaurs, then flew home.

I had such a great weekend!