German Tales from the Black Forest: Part 1

Before coming to Germany, I had thoughts and aspirations to speaking German fluently. Working in an English speaking community that is BFA has brought the realization that learning German is hard. I have to be intentional and make time to study and step forward, out of my comfort zone, and speak to my local neighbors. I enjoy learning and most of the time look forward to these conversations and opportunities to learn about my neighbors along with some German. A friend suggested a blog post of some of my stories and experiences. Below is one of my "Deutsch-speaking" experiences while living in Kandern.

• My first summer in Germany was exciting with cycling adventures and fruit stands where I could buy kirshen (cherries), erdbeeren (strawberries), and more! I was riding towards Mulheim and saw some signs for Frieberg only a little over 40 km. I remember thinking miles are longer than km's, so why not? I started heading towards the Freiburg signs and a German cyclist caught up and asked in German, where I was heading. To Freiburg! He did not know any English, but I could understand most of what he said. He claimed to know a way to Freiburg that went through the villages and would keep us off the main autobahn. So, I followed him! Since he did not know any English and knew very little German, our conversations consisted around words I knew; corn (mais), asparagus (spargel), cherries (kirschen), strawberries (erdbeeren), and a few more. As we got closer to Freiburg, he needed to head straight (geradeaus) towards home and needed to head links (left) towards the innenstadt (city center) to the "Catethedral" (Kirche, Cathedral). From there, I should be able to find my way back to Kandern! He asked if I would make it back on my own, to which I replied, Sure! Thinking, I hope so! I was so excited when I found the Cathedral and even used a little German and some English to talk to two mountain bikers who were waiting for friends. One of them said he was heading to Boulder, Colorado in a few days to meet up with friends and do some riding! Small world! They pointed me in the right direction and I kept going. At one point, I was heading towards Colmar, France and realized I should turn around! Yikes! I found a local German couple out for a hike and clarified directions with them. After I continued along some more, I found another strawberry stand! I stopped and purchased some strawberries and started eating them right away. An older gentleman commented on my bike and showed me his e-bike. He was really hard to understand. The lady running the stand spoke to me in German after he would say something. I thought perhaps he was speaking Alamannic and she was translating into Hoch Deutsch which would be easier for me to understand. I could understand her German better than his, so am not sure. The strawberries were excellent! Yum! I made it home, back to Kandern and was very tired after my adventure! 
• Stay tuned for more German Tales from the Black Forest....:)