Yesterday i heard a whole lot of banging, as if someone was installing or fixing something to the roof. I could hear plaster trickle down in between the walls. I didn't think much of it since i knew the owner of the house is still doing renovations and insulating parts of the house. And as long as our walls were intact, i didn't make much of a fuss or had any reason to be worried.
After a few hours it was done and then our doorbell rang. I figured it was the owner wanting some help so i made my way downstairs to the front door.
But it wasn't the owner, it was some contractor. He rang the doorbell to tell me something. I say "something" because i don't actually know what he said. He was speaking in German and apart from, "i'm sorry to disturb you" and "i saw the window open...", everything else was pretty much a blur.
After replying with, "Ja", he quickly went on to explain some other detail.
Details that are beyond my German comprehension.
And at the time i was thinking, maybe now is a good time to tell him my German isn't so good and that i don't understand.
But i didn't.
I don't know why but i have a tendency to get temporary amnesia when faced with unfamiliar conversations or language confrontations.
So anyway, there he was standing at the front rambling on and on, hand gestures included about whatever he was installing/fixing up on the roof. I say the roof because that's where i thought the sound was coming from.
For all i know he could have said, "Oops i made a huge hole in the roof please don't kill me or tell the landlord" and i just said, "Ja" [yes] and "Alles klar" [It's all good].
A few hours later J came home and i told him the story of the mystery contractor and how i simply agreed to everything he had said even though i had no idea what he was saying. My main worry was that maybe there was something wrong and who knows, maybe there was a hole in the roof!
So i begged J to SMS our owner in German no less, and say that the contractor had come and that it would be best that he ring him back.
It's moments like those that i wish i lived in an English speaking country. I reckon daily life would be so much easier.
Note to self: Next time someone gives me instructions or rambles on in German and i don't understand, don't just nod my head and agree!
Important words to say/remember: "Entschuldigung. Sprechen Sie Englisch?" [Sorry. Do you speak English?]
And if all else fails, shrug/smile and say: "Ich verstehe nicht" [I don't understand] and hope he gets the picture.
After a few hours it was done and then our doorbell rang. I figured it was the owner wanting some help so i made my way downstairs to the front door.
But it wasn't the owner, it was some contractor. He rang the doorbell to tell me something. I say "something" because i don't actually know what he said. He was speaking in German and apart from, "i'm sorry to disturb you" and "i saw the window open...", everything else was pretty much a blur.
After replying with, "Ja", he quickly went on to explain some other detail.
Details that are beyond my German comprehension.
And at the time i was thinking, maybe now is a good time to tell him my German isn't so good and that i don't understand.
But i didn't.
I don't know why but i have a tendency to get temporary amnesia when faced with unfamiliar conversations or language confrontations.
So anyway, there he was standing at the front rambling on and on, hand gestures included about whatever he was installing/fixing up on the roof. I say the roof because that's where i thought the sound was coming from.
For all i know he could have said, "Oops i made a huge hole in the roof please don't kill me or tell the landlord" and i just said, "Ja" [yes] and "Alles klar" [It's all good].
A few hours later J came home and i told him the story of the mystery contractor and how i simply agreed to everything he had said even though i had no idea what he was saying. My main worry was that maybe there was something wrong and who knows, maybe there was a hole in the roof!
So i begged J to SMS our owner in German no less, and say that the contractor had come and that it would be best that he ring him back.
It's moments like those that i wish i lived in an English speaking country. I reckon daily life would be so much easier.
...
Note to self: Next time someone gives me instructions or rambles on in German and i don't understand, don't just nod my head and agree!
Important words to say/remember: "Entschuldigung. Sprechen Sie Englisch?" [Sorry. Do you speak English?]
And if all else fails, shrug/smile and say: "Ich verstehe nicht" [I don't understand] and hope he gets the picture.
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