anerkannt

[jaimeee]

it's official: i am going to Germany
for work from March 10-15, approximately

Comments

[dojothemouse]

Congratulawesome.

[jaimeee]

nice portmanteau, kid.

[flourishing_me]

o0o0 lucky duck! I got to go to Stuttgart for work back in 2001.

My biggest suggestion to you: Enroll in a frequent flier program, if you haven't already!!

[jaimeee]

excellent suggestion :)

i've got jet blue, us airways, american, and southwest.
but i typically don't do enough travel with one airline, steadily, to really rack it up.

still!
whee.

[flourishing_me]

Well, you can add to one, or start anew. When I flew for work I flew Delta and because I wasn't a member they were offering a double miles promotion - I racked up about enough for a free continental US ticket, and over time I've earned enough for my Hawaii ticket (which, when I bought it last year cost $10 ROUND TRIP. Of course when I couldn't go it cost me $50 to get my miles back, but whatever.)

[jaimeee]

oh dang.

i think it *just* clicked how many
miles i am going to get for going overseas.

[weshouldplaygod]

Hooray! You will love it, but a word of advice - LEARN GERMAN. As much of it as you can. Because when people say "It's okay, with the strong university system in Germany today everybody can speak English!" it's a lie. They don't know English. In a week in Berlin I met maybe five people who could speak English, and three of them were barely passable. My German was barely passable as well, so it was difficult. The Lonely Planet german phrasebook saved my ass. I suggest you get a copy stat.

Anyway, biggest phrases:
Wo ist? (where is)
Wieviel ist? (how many/how much)
Ich mochte (I want)
Bitte (please)
Danke (thank you/you're welcome)
Rechts and Links (right and left)
Ich bin auslander und spreche nicht gut Deutsch (I am a foreigner and don't speak much German)
Sprechen Sie English? (Do you speak English? Listen for Nein (no), Ja (Yes), or Kleine (little bit))

Good luck. If you can make it to Berlin, I can give you a suggested itinerary. The city is extremely well laid out and easy to navigate. Language is really the only

[jaimeee]

amazing and informative.

thanks, darlin.

[infromthecold]

it's rare to find a person in germany who doesn't speak english, so don't worry about german! seriously, i've been there several times and rarely have i had an issue.

one train conductor didn't speak a word, and i now know the word "zuschlag" forever ('express', ie, give me more money to ride on this train)

[jaimeee]

i'm hoping my boyfriend can come with
he speaks it fluently. if not? adventuretime!

heh

thanks!

[weshouldplaygod]

You must have amazing luck then, because I was in Berlin and it was a struggle. I used a lot of hand signals, and that's with four years of German language behind me.

[infromthecold]

Well, I've never been to Berlin, but Aachen, Coln, Cochem, and Frankfurt several times, and I got along pretty well - except for that one train conductor!

[karcuri]

You only need to know one phrase in Germany:

Die Sauerkraut ist in mein Lederhosen

[jaimeee]

danke.