Sprechen Sie Deutsch? / Thrill of a Lifetime

Wednesday night

Dream 1: Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

I was at a festival or a theme park where native South Americans (meaning Indians, not Spaniards) in colorful dress were mingling with white actors wearing costumes, including wooden swords. They seemed to be preparing to put on a big outdoor show, off in the distance. While trying to get a better view, I came across a bench where a well-fed young German family of four sat, beaming, enjoying themselves very much. They were looking toward me, and not toward the "actors and extras" in the background. For a moment I thought about trying to communicate with them, by using some lame bits of half-remembered German from a high school class long ago -- such as, "Sein kinder?" After a period of brief reflection I thought better of it, and said nothing.

Dream 2: Thrill of a Lifetime

A woman was promoting her business, which was encouraging couples to get married in hot war zones. A memorable experience was sure to be had by all. I heard her admit, "Getting married in Bosnia [now] isn't as exciting as it was a few years ago." Next, I saw an elegantly-dressed wedding party ducking and running across a street, into a building on the right.

*****

Dream 1: Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

I did take two years of German, but was never any good at it. I can count to 100 in their language, but that's about it. I've always heard that the key to learning a language is to go to the country itself, and immerse yourself among the locals; sort of the "sink or swim" theory. I got a sense of that while staying with a friend of my girlfriend (and future wife) in Finland for a while. I picked up on certain phrases (thank you, etc.) and learned to say the proper words for strawberry ice cream. I got the sense that if I had no other choice, I might learn enough of their language to get by, just through repetition. Not that it would be easy, of course.

Dream 2: Thrill of a Lifetime

I suspect that this dream came out of Hillary Clinton's oft-repeated [bogus] story about evading sniper fire while on a trip to Bosnia as first lady.