Audrey and I arrived in Berlin yesterday afternoon and parted ways for the first time in weeks – she is staying with her relatives in east Berlin and I am back with the Kasten family. On our way to Berlin, we had planned to spend a night in Hamburg but discovered that all of the hostels were booked solid. We spent a couple hours in the Hamburg train station trying to figure out where we could find a bed, thinking we might have to ride trains all night or sleep in the station. Instead, we caught a train to Lubeck and found a hostel with space, to our delight.
I’m staying with Dirk, Anna and Dirk’s two children – Sophie and Maxi. They took me to see the castles in Potsdam today. The weather is extremely hot, so we’ve spent the afternoon in the garden soaking in the sunshine and swimming in Werner and Hannelore Kastens’ (Dirk’s parents) pool next door.
Dirk and Anna both speak English (and better than they give themselves credit, I must add!), but the kids have been putting my German comprehension to the test (I’m afraid I’m doing quite poorly, but they’re patient). It’s been fun picking up words from them – and I’m a tad braver trying out my German with kids. Three-year-olds don’t notice if your grammar is horrid! And it really doesn’t take a lot of speaking skills to toss a ball, spin a top or give a high-five. I think kids have a talent for finding commonalities and breaking down cultural barriers.
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