My First Swiss Sunburn

I could tell you everything that's happend this past week, but it's nothing too exciting. Work is work. I'm ready to finish up. The sun shines almost every day. I'm starting to feel like I already miss this place, and I'm not even gone yet.

The most intriguing thing to write about now is my day trip I took today. I went to Basel, Switzerland by myself. And let me tell you, it was quite the experience! Switzerland has won my heart once again. I now have high expectations for any time I go in the future. Something about the fact that it's touristy yet still really non-touristy! It's such a weird thing! It's like, a touristy city, but only for high-class tourists. (This is so not true. It's just the vibe I get.) Allow me to tell you about my day. I'm kind of writing this blog post for myself, so I can remember how cool it was. Mostly, the language is what was so awesome. I love the fact that I can get by and actually try doing things in German. Read on if you want to hear.

First of all, can I just say that today I learned there's a city in France called Rixheim? That sounds so German, I can't stand it. And it sounds really harsh and negative. To be honest, I think it sounds like the name of a concentration camp. And I'm not trying to be funny. I seriously think it does. It's the last city in France I'd ever want to live in. But then again, I'm totally judging a book by its cover right now.

I left Lure this morning at 6:46. Ugh. I did that last week, too. Nothing to say about the train ride there, but I finally arrived at 9:30am. My ticket was to one train station in Basel, but not the main central station, which is where I'd be leaving from. Because I didn't want to deal with finding the other one right off the bat and possibly having to walk pretty far, I decided to stay on the train for an extra seven minutes because it'd be going to the center anyway. I had no reason to think they would check my ticket. They hadn't yet, so they probably weren't going to. So I took the risk, something I'm not fond of doing when it comes to trains.

And it was fine. :) Ha. You thought I was going to say I got cought, didn't you?

I had absolutely no clue what to expect once I arrived. Basically I just took a road and followed it. I don't know how I chose my path, but I chose the right way. I just so happened to choose the busiest and most happennin' place in the city, though at 9:30 in the morning it's not so happennin'. So really there was no way I could have known that. While I was walking, the first cool thing of the day happened. I heard a woman close behind me say "excuse me" in German. And the only reason I know the word is because I took German 101, and we practiced using it a lot. So first of all, it made me happy that I was able to react to it appropriately by turning around. (Someone who doesn't know German whatsoever wouldn't have known someone may have been talking to them.) It was weird that I didn't even realize I recognized it. It just did. It felt obvious. So so far, it sounded/looked like I knew what she was saying to me. The she said something more. And I don't know why or how, but I understood her. She asked if I was from/knew the city well. And you know what I said? "Nein." And she understood it. And she apologized and let me go. And it felt so good! I felt like I really tricked someone into thinking I knew what I was talking about, that I was a local (maybe... maybe not). I love when I do that. You just have to walk without a map or camera and look like you know exactly where you're going. And walk kind of fast so it looks like you're not trying to just enjoy yourself like you would on a vacation.

I found my way to the Rhine river, where I sat on a bench, watched these two guys dig rocks/sand for some reason I couldn't figure out (something to do with the boat), and ate the apple I packed in my bag. It was sooooo nice out, and quiet enough to be relaxing, but busy enough with people walking and jogging that I felt... alive.

After that, I just walked along the river forever before I decided to walk back in the direction of the train station so that I could go the other direction and see if maybe there was stuff going on over there. Turns out, the roads just led me back to the happennin' places I'd just been. Oh but wait, I almost forgot...

Down by the river, I slowly developed a greater and greater need to use the restroom. I don't know what it was. Typically, when I travel, I make a point not to drink much before leaving in the morning, or any time throughout the day for that matter, just to avoid having to look for a bathroom. And today I REALLY didn't drink anything extraordinary. I had one SMALL glass of apple juice with my breakfast, but that was all I drank. Anyway, I thought I'd just deal with it, but I started becoming miserable just thinking about how many hours were ahead of me before I'd be leaving. So since I was going back to the train station anyway, I knew I'd find a bathroom in there. (Sorry, I'm not trying to broadcast my bladder patterns to everyone, but you'll get it in a second...) So why am I telling you this? I'm telling you because I just want to say I paid freaking two Swiss francs to use the potty. That's like... more than two dollars!!! Seriously, come on. Good thing I decided to bring some with me from last time I was in la Suisse. I would have died of misery. But anyway, I'm really pissed about the two francs I had to spend. Pun intended.

Next I went to a store and bought something. Nevermind what. It's not important. What's important is this: I wanted to try to pay in euros because I knew I could potentially get francs back, which I could use later that day or on my next Swiss adventure and not have to go through my bank to get them. I was really excited to try to talk to someone. I hadn't really done it yet. So far, both times I've been to German-speaking places, I've had a German speaker with me. Today I didn't have that. It'd be all me. And it's not like this would have been THAT hard to do without words. But I was excited to use my German for REAL instead of just trying to impress my friends with my vacuum cleaner phrase. Before going to Basel, I had also made a point to try to talk to someone there in French, considering French is a national language, and Basel is RIGHT next to France. I was curious as to whether people there could speak it or not. Originally, I was going to ask the cashier if she speaks French... in French. But I decided to do it in German. It came to my mind at the last minute, and I was so excited! I repeated it to myself over and over, convincing myself it was correct. So I asked her in German if she speaks French. She said she does a little, but that she also speaks English. *Insert game show losing noise here.* (<---- Certain people know what I'm talking about.) I smiled a little, and inside I was kind of thinking, "Oh, it figures. Everyone speaks my language." So, once again, I defaulted to my own language. At the request of the non-foreigner. I finally decided to suck it up though and be happy about the conversation. Whatever. If I have to do things in English, I have to do things in English. I even thanked her in English, AND she even told me to have a good weekend! I was impressed.

Next I sat on a park bench and ate a sandwich. Nothing really to say about that. It was good?

Basically for the rest of the day, I just walked and walked and walked. I'm serious, no shoes are good for me. I thought I had really comfy shoes. And they typically are really comfy. But the more I travel the more I hate my shoes. All of them. I have no idea how the heck I'm going to make it a MONTH AND A HALF traveling around with any of the shoes I own. If one day did me in, what's a month going to do?

Some things I thought about while walking around: You know those people who sit/stand on the sidewalks and play music, and they want money? Well first of all, I've always been tempted to give money to the really good ones. But only if I'm seriously impressed. However, I never have done it, even when I'm impressed. But today I was thinking that these people in Switzerland who do that have to work even harder. They have to be REALLY good. I'm not about to give away my Swiss money. Everything's so expensive. Those crappy street musucials don't deserve it. Today I saw a man playing a violin, but it was super bad. Well not really bad, but just not at ALL impressive. I could have done what he was doing, and I've never had a single violin lesson. And then he was just like humming and making noises that weren't cool at all. Whatever, I'd just like to know who enjoys that.

I stumbled across this huge rummage sale. Not sure if it's something that goes on all the time in Basel or what, but I walked through it. There was SO much stuff people were selling. In my German 101 class at UWEC, one of the first units we worked on was about being at a flea market and how to ask how much things cost, what things are, whether or not they work, etc. I personally thought it was useless at the time. But I was wrong! I seriously was looking so hard for anything that resembled a vacuum cleaner so I could use my infamous, "Is this a vacuum cleaner?" Line. I never thought I'd use it, and today I could have. I was also considering asking someone whether the lamps were lava lamps (obviously they were not) and whether they worked or were broken. Just because I could. But I didn't.

Oh, an old woman asked me to help her cross the street. It was weird. I was just walking along and she stopped me, grabbed my hand, and said something in German. I had NOTHING to say back, so I just helped her and then smiled and walked away. (Afterwards, things came to me that I could have said.) Learning to say please, thank you, and you're welcome are really important.

The other thing: Okay, Switzerland might be really classy and exotic to me, but what I don't understand is why there are SO many people there who smoke. Just because you have a higher ranking (in my head) than other people doesn't mean you're less likely to die from lung cancer. I mean seriously. I can't stand when people smoke. At this point in time, I honestly think people who smoke are stupid. (Yes, they may be smart in other areas, but that is just stupid stupid stupid. I'm sorry. Cancer kills! Wait till it happens to you and maybe you'll regret every cigarette. Okay sorry I'm done with that now.) And I swear, every third person I saw today was smoking.

I'm so exhausted and tired right now, I can't think of everything else I want to say. But I know for SURE I want to tell you about what happened right before I left.

Honestly, I had had a day. I didn't do anything over-the-top fun, but I was so tired, so hot, and getting so crabby. There were a LOT of people in Basel today, and the temperature had to have been in the 70s, at least. If not, it sure felt like it. And knowing I have most of my summer clothes at home, and thinking about how much traveling I have ahead of me, I was getting even crabbier. So I parked it in a park (ha) and sat there with a bottle of water, just watching people walk by. That's fun anyway. Relaxing is interesting. And it was cool to listen to a language I really don't know.

So I was sitting there, and I hear, "Entschuldigung" from a man walking by. (I hope I spelled that right. I had to google it!) That's the same "excuse me" from before. So I look at the man as if I'm willing and able to help. Listen intently with a worried smirk on my face. I try to tell him I don't speak German. Something I KNOW I know how to do. And nothing would come out of my mouth. I don't even remember what I said, but it was some crappy mix of German words, all having something to do with me, German, and some kind of negative. Finally after about three tries I got out, "Ich spreche nicht deutsch." And I didn't say it straight-faced. He was very well aware at this point that I don't speak German. But he was very interested in allowing me to finish my sentence and in speaking more with me. HAHA Good idea! No actually, it was a good idea. I sat there for like 15-20 minutes having an actual conversation with a complete stranger, all in German. He spoke no French (I asked) and extremely little English. Like not enough English to even be helpful. So here he is, rambling off a bunch of stuff, and it's all going right over my head. I can't even remember everything right now, but somehow we managed to have a semi-understood conversation. I do know I told him I studied German for four months, but I think he assumed I was better at it than I actually am. And I told him my name, and he told me his. He asked my age, and for whatever reason, I couldn't for the life of me remember how to say my numbers higher than ten. Fail. I wanted him to give me a second. It would have come to me. But he forced me to type it into his cell phone before I could even think. And when he tried typing in his age, he kept typing "62," which I knew was obviously wrong. He meant 26, but couldn't seem to figure out the 2 must be pressed before the 6, even though in German you say the 6 first. Idiot. I even know that, and I don't speak German. I'm sure when he writes it, he writes the 2 first. So why would he type the 6 first? Beats me.

He asked me how long I was in Basel for. (Don't ask me how I understood this. But I did.) "Heute" was all I could say back. And he asked about what I do for work. (Thank you, German 101!) I didn't know how to tell him WHAT I do, but I told him where I do it. I kept telling him that I'm American, I work in France, and I'm only in Basel for the day. And he kept repeating it to me, except every time he said something about Germany. NO!!!! I'm not going back to Germany!!! My train was in like 20 minutes, and I spent like 2 minutes forming the sentence trying to tell him I'm taking a train back to France very soon. (It later occured to me that I TOTALLY know how to say "I'm going home." Why I didn't think of it then, I don't know. But I wish I would have.) A't one point he asked me if I drink Coca Cola. Yes, I do. And then he kept talking about the center of town with all the music and people and stuff. I knew exactly what he was asking me. He was clearly asking if I wanted to go get a drink with him before my train (which I had accidentally told him comes two hours later than it does... stupid 24-hour clock). And I kept trying to explain that I had a train to catch. And he kept using the word zusammen, and then looking at me for an answer, as if I were supposed to say yes or no. I was sooooooo frustrated because I knew I'd learned that word and used it in class, but I could absolutely not remember its meaning. I tried telling him I don't know, but I ended up just repeating the word, looking confused, and then he'd be like "yes yes!! zusammen." He thought that by me repeating the work, I understood it. But really I was trying to get him to explain the word. Finally it dawned on me. Together. How do you even say that you don't understand a word? I mean I supposed I could have used my flea market vocab and asked, "What is that?" But in the moment, it wasn't coming to me. But whatever, it all worked itself out.

 He walked with me to the train station (which I found weird and awkward, but he said goodbye there and everything was fine), and I wasn't sure what to think. It was super cool that I actually just sat there and had a sort-of conversation with someone in German. Trust me, there was a lot of head-nodding and confusing looks from me. I mean seriously, when you just don't know at all what to say, what do you even say?! I even defaulted (in my head) to Spanish a few times because it accidentally felt more natural than German. It sure made me feel extra-fluent in French. The little amount of German I did learn in class started coming back to me. Things I forgot I knew. It was cool how much I actually could say, even though it was much more obvious what I couldn't say. Language is really a helpful tool.

I LOVED IT!!!

I am realizing that being alone is good for my foreign language skills. I think when I have someone else with me who speaks the language, I use them as a crutch, and I don't allow myself to take risks and make mistakes. Rather, I have them do it for me, or I do the minimum. But when I'm alone, I can't rely on someone else, and I don't care if I make mistakes because no one's there to witness them. I know I shouldn't have this attitude to begin with when I have someone with me, but I can't help it. I just do. And that's why today was so awesome. Learning foreign languages is so practical! And today I experienced the practicality firsthand.

Oh, and I'm super sunburned now. That's how warm it was today. I remember in 2005, I went to a beach in Spain with the family I lived with in Pau for a week. The mom told me I had my first French sunburn (even thought I was actually in Spain). Well, today I officially got my first Swiss sunburn. I like that. I'm going to shower now. I feel like I do after a day of laying out in our pool. Sticky and gross. And I even feel red. Yeah, I know you were wondering.