Visit from Denmark!

This weekend, I'm getting my first visit from Denmark! And I couldn't be more excited. Although I'm beginning to settle in and getting used to life in Berlin, it's still a bit lonely, when you hardly know anyone and are just beginning to build a new social life in a new city. So a visit from home is very welcome! Especially, when it's from mr. Boyfriend. I'm looking forward to just relaxing and being together. It can't get better than that!

Getting used to working again

My first full working week in Berlin is over, and soon so is the weekend. It has been a long hard week with many new impressions and experiences. After 4 months of not doing much, starting a 40 hour work week is hard. It's funny how you don't have to get used to going from working to not working, but the other way around, it's a whole other story. But even though, this week has been long and I've slept much more that usual, I am confident that I will get used to working life again soon.

My first impression of the new company is good: I have been welcommed very well  and everyone's very overbearing when in comes to my lacking German skills. Speaking of my German skills, I'm picking up on more and more. But it's slow progress. I'm sure some sort of German classes will be a good investment, I just haven't gotten around to that yet.

New beginnings

The say that all beginnings are hard. When starting any new job there are always things to get used to, people to get to know, routines to familiarise yourself with etc. When starting a new job, in a new city, in a new country, you have to add a million other things to the list. After my first two work days, my head is still spinning. There are so many new impressions to process and so many things to remember. The working culture is also very different in Germany than in Denmark. Which is something else to get used to. Everything from the company structure to lunch breaks is new. And I have still to learn to find my away around. Today, I accidentally took the U-Bahn in the wrong direction on my way to work. Which is very unusual for me. Fortunately, I discovered my mistake before I travelled too far and only ended up being delayed by ten minutes.

So yes, beginnings are hard, but luckily, the people I have met so far – both at work and otherwise – have been very friendly and helpful. And that makes any beginning a little bit easier ;)

But why?

My first impression of Germany in general and Berlin specifically has been great. Except for one thing. It’s something that I knew of before I came here, it is however something that I will never understand. Dubbing! You turn on the TV and immediately recognise the programme as NCIS, a show you actually like, but you soon realise that something is wrong, very wrong! First of all, the voices are all wrong - Gibs doesn’t sound likes Gibs and Siva certainly doesn’t sound like her usual self! Then you realise that it’s because they all speak German.

My German is still very limited and unfortunately, I simply can’t understand what’s being said on German TV. It would have been nice to relax in front of the TV after a long day of doing whatever. But with only German speaking TV programmes I have to choose between concentrating really hard to follow the plot or give my brain some time off and not understand a thing.

I do realise that the tradition of dubbing goes very far back and that Germans shouldn’t change their ways to please non-German speaking people living in or visiting Germany. I just can’t see what’s wrong with subtitles. I grew up watching subtitled TV-show and I turned out great, in my own humble opinion ;) It must be cheaper too. Hiring all these people to do the dubbing must be way more expensive than just hiring a translator to do the job. Of course, being a translator myself, I might be slightly biased in favouring this solution.

The other day, two movies were on. I had a choice between the first Twilight movie and Star Wars Episode III. Both movies were of course dubbed. Knowing that watching a movie originally filmed in English but dubbed in German could ruin the movie for me forever I obviously chose Twilight. Nothing to ruin there. And Star Wars is after all a classic ;)

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

Here I am, in a cosy café in Berlin. The search for a free wifi connection paid off:-)

The first couple of days in the German capital have been both hectic and very quiet. I have been to the Bürgeramt to register my address, to the bank to open an account, to the finanzamt to set up tax payments.

But when I return to the flat I currently and for the next 3 weeks call home it's very empty and quiet. I look forward to getting to know people here in Berlin, then it won't be so quiet.

My sentence/question of the week is Sprechen Sie Englisch. I have used it several times and have not always been met with a positive answer. But it has worked out in the end anyway:-)

All in all, my first couple of days in Berlin have been a positive experience!

This is it!

Tomorrow, I'm leaving for Berlin! The last two months have flown by and now the day of my departure is just around the corner. I'm as prepared as I'll ever be, but I'm not sure I'm ready, if you know what I mean.

It's a very ambivalent feeling; on one hand I'm very excited to start a new job and experience heaps of new things in a new city, on the other hand I'm sad to leave my friends, family and boyfriend behind in Denmark.

So tomorrow, my Berlin adventure will officially start. I'll do my best to post regularly. One of my first priorities is to get online;-)

Stay tuned:-D