So when I first got to Germany I really had never had any problems when It came to reading signs, understanding what people say to me, and my communication skills weren’t great, but I could definitely survive. Well I guess that wasn’t as true as I thought it was based on my two fairly significant mistakes since I’ve been in Berlin.
Both of these mistakes are related to ordering food and subsequently ordering the wrong thing. The first time was while Katie was here and we went to this restaurant/bar called Treffpunkt Berlin. It was a nice place that had menus is multiple languages, so naturally we got a German menu and an English menu. I decided to go with fish for lunch and I looked at both menus to make sure I knew what I was getting and I wasn’t translating anything incorrectly. I thought I was ordering two filets of fish with onions (I figured they would be cooked) and bread. Well when it came out it was definitely not what I was expecting. There were two things of fish, but the fish wasn’t cooked. It was more like another version of lox and there were a bunch of raw onions on top, four slices of rye bread, which I don’t like, and then a salad with some sort of yellow, dill dressing. Needless to say I was glad that I at least liked lox and was able to eat the fish. It wasn’t exactly something that hit the spot, but I was able to stand it and choke it down. The bread I couldn’t do and luckily Katie liked it so she ate that. The salad I just ate the stuff that didn’t have dressing on it. I honestly thought that was one of the worst lunches I had ever had in Germany and I just felt stupid for ordering the wrong thing. I do think though that the actual dish didn’t translate because there was no mention of raw/smoked fish on the English menu and I think that you just know what that type of fish is in German.
Well I thought that was one of the bigger mistakes I had ever made, but I was mistaken because I made a worse mistake on my last night in Berlin. We all went out to dinner at this nice Italian restaurant we had been to earlier in the week and I thought I would get something different. I decided that Spaghetti Marinara would be good and I looked and I knew I saw mention of tomato sauce and I just figured it was like spaghetti with marinara sauce. When the waiter/ober brought it out, I saw stuff sticking up along the sides and I couldn’t imagine what that was. Then when he put it down in front of me, I realized that they were mussels and I had ordered seafood pasta. Jeannine asked me if I liked mussels and I just said that I had never had them before. I looked in the pasta and I thought there were some mushrooms in it so I ate those first and they were definitely not mushrooms. I never really figured out what they were, but I managed to eat them. There were also little shrimps, some octopus or squid in there, and I think something else. I really don’t know what all was in that pasta bowl, but I know I was very nervous about how this meal was going to turn out. The good news is that I was able to eat most of it and it wasn’t the worst thing I had ever eaten. The mussels weren’t eaten and neither was the squid that I could still see the tentacles. That meal then took over the spot for one of biggest mistakes I have ever made.
Katrin asked me after dinner if I enjoyed myself and I said I did. She then asked if I enjoyed the food and so I just explained that I had misread the menu completely and thought it was only pasta with tomato sauce. She laughed and I reassured her that I did still like it, but it just wasn’t what I was expecting. During the meal I did have to try not to laugh because I was pretty amused by the fact that I had managed to misread the menu for a second time and I knew I should have stuck with what I had eaten last time. I knew my dad would laugh hysterically at me like he did when I told him about the first menu mistake I made. I really worry myself sometimes with my horrible comprehension skills.
Not only is it bad that I ordered that horrible seafood pasta, but the first night in Freiburg we went out to an Italian Restaurant with our program. Well I ordered something that was not called Spaghetti Marinara and the people around me knew about what I did the night before because I said something. Well they brought out my food and it was exactly the same thing from the night before. I somehow managed to order the same meal, mussels, squid, something else fishy tasting, and little shrimp. I seriously thought I was going to die. Everyone laughed and I think they did something wrong. I stared at that menu to make sure I got something I would want. Apparently I failed at life yet again :( I was lucky though that Noah, another IES student, was willing to trade with me so I didn't have to eat it. It was pretty embarrassing though.
Those three mistakes have definitely taught me to read the menus as closely as possible and to make sure I understand everything. I will always point now to what I want and say the number and get things that I know what every single word is. Never assume! You know what they say about assuming…;)
HAHA you never told me that story, that's hilllarious
ReplyDelete