OK, here it is… the announcement I alluded to yesterday: (drum roll please)
Last week I was contacted by the good folks over at Expatica.com who had been reading my blog. Recently they decided that an expat blog column would be a good addition to their website that is chock-full of news and information for expats living in France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands. In the email they sent me, they asked me if I would be their “German” expat blogger!
I was extremely flattered. After all, their “French” expat blogger is none other than Petite Anglaise who, as many of my readers know, is a wonderfully talented writer. After many back and forth emails clarifying all the details, I accepted.
That’s why tonight I am announcing that my expat blog over at the German section of Expatica.com is now officially up and running! I will be posting some of my German adventures over there once or twice a week now, so do come over and check us out.
And as a matter of fact, today’s entry, “A Trip to the Post Office,” is brought to you by Expatica.com.
One thing about living in a foreign country that never ceases to amaze me is how an otherwise mundane task has the surprising ability to turn into an outright adventure. Take, for example, an ordinary trip to the post office.
A while back I had a package that needed to be sent via certified mail. I had sent many packages to the U.S. in the past, but had never sent something that required a signature upon arrival.
Of course, I didn’t have any packaging at home that would work, so I decided that I would just take the recipient’s address and the materials I needed with me to the post office. There I would purchase the envelopes, address the package, and after making sure a signature would be required upon arrival, send my little package off to Switzerland.
Before I left the house I verified what I thought might be useful words and phrases in my German-English dictionary; “versichern” – to insure, “die Unterschrift” – signature, and “das Einschreiben” – certified/registered mail. Though “das Einschreiben” might have been the most useful word of the day, unfortunately it was also a new word for me. Therefore once I actually got to the post office it went straight out of my head.
As I walked to the post office, I rehearsed the conversation with the postman in my head.
Ich möchte dieser Brief versichern, bitte. Ja, der Brief braucht eine Unterschrift. Vielen Dank.
I knew that the chances were slim that I would actually use those words with the correct grammar, I seldom do, but it doesn’t stop me from practicing anyway.
I purchased my padded envelopes without a fuss and sat down to stuff and address my package. In my perfect penmanship, I began writing out the recipient’s address. However, as I came to the last line, my pen hovered above the envelope: My package needed to go to Switzerland!
In German, Switzerland is a country that requires an article (der, die, or das) and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember if Switzerland was masculine, feminine, or neutral. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t even sure if I was required to put the article on the envelope. I agonized over the matter for a few minutes until I finally decided to take the easy way out: I wrote “Switzerland” in English and hoped for the best.
I took my package to the desk and though the postman didn’t question the fact that “Switzerland” was in English, he didn’t seem to comprehend what I wanted when I indicated that the package should be “versichert.” When I finally told him that it needed “eine Unterschrift” he understood and filled out a form for my little package. In turn I got a receipt with a tracking number and the recipient’s name and address on it.
I then went home and for the next week anxiously awaited an email from the addressee telling me that the package had arrived at its intended destination but was not released from the post office’s custody without the requisite signature.
When I learned that the package had arrived safe and sound, I was elated: not only because the package had arrived, but because I could add another success story to my list of everyday tasks that I can accomplish in Germany. However, I’m still not sure if I need to add “die” to Schweiz when addressing an envelope.
They are mailing it out to me today and I should have it back in a day or two. YIPEE!