so i've just broke a glass table. not a big one. more like a small circular coffee table. but, i've broke it nonetheless. and right now, i'm debating on whether i should clean it up and hope no one notices or clean it up and tell someone. it seemed sturdy enough. i mean, i just wanted to sit on it while i played the piece of crap keyboard that we have here. a couple of shifts of my weight and SNAP! oh, more like CRASH! and i'm sitting in the wooden frame like a woman who didn't notice the toilet seat was up when she went to the bathroom in the middle of the night. "oh, fuck," i says to myself.
now normally i wouldn't worry so much. i can get away with one stupid thing about once a month. that not only applies to being here in Germany, but Canada as well. the only thing is that i've already used that "get out of jail free" card this week. or at least i hope i have.
on tuesday, while trying to do something quickly, i accidentally hit a small wall with an electric pallet jack, nudging one brick and cracking a couple of others. with this mishap, though, i'm more inclined to not feel guilty about it. i'm always told that i should be working faster. "wir mussen gas geben" and "zack, zack, zack" are the common phrases to tell me i'm too slow. one time one of my many bosses told me he thought i was Canadian, as if it is a Canadian stereotype to do things quickly. and that since i had not filled this stereotype i wasn't Canadian. i was supposed to cut a piece of wood to size for a trailer wall, which i had finished, i just didn't know what the fuck to do with it after i had cut it. i don't know if it's a German thing, but they certainly don't like giving me all the information at once. or more than 5 minutes before it's supposed to be done. it has made me want to pull my hair out on more than one occasion. and i could deal with this, if i knew that i wasn't going to be talked about as lazy. it's just: how can i do something quickly and do it correctly at the same time, when i'm missing "why, when, how, how much, where, or what."
sorry, i'll stop venting. most of the time everyone is really nice here. the IT guy in the office is giving me a black macbook to record music between christmas and new years. and he went with me to the music store to help me rent a guitar because he knows the owner.
hmm, this post was meant to lead to into some thoughts on Christmas away from home. and it was supposed to funnier. it started off pretty good and well, i think there's an sexual innuendo that would serve as a metaphor here, but my mom read this periodically so i'll have to leave you hanging. i'll write something happier this week. or maybe sadder since it's Christmas and i might be feeling a little blue.
a little note: the weihnachtsmarkts (christmas markets) here are really neat. gluhwein and bratwurst have become fast favourites.
4 comments:
is andreas still the IT guy? or has he since been replaced?
Tim Sauder, who was the trainee at the Albrechts immediately before and after me once assured me that I was remembered fondly by the family. but I have never quite been able to shake the feeling that all germans thought I was lazy regardless of how hard I actually worked. Actually it was at the nursing home where I recieved the harshest criticisms regarding the efficiency and quality of my work. I am of the oppinion that the real problem is that most people are not sure how to relate to a foreigner among them. I am currently on the opposite side as I was in germany, I am a native english speaker trying to teach english to non-english speakers in the USA. THis experience has been enlightenting. When dealing with someone who comes from a foriegn place most of us tend to criticize them overly harshly unless they greatly exceed our expectations.
but it's not all bad, if you seem like a pretty nice guy to them, they'll put up with your "incompetance".
Mach's gut
Ben
At least you didn't horribly disfigure you ass on the broken glass... which could've led to an embarrassing show and tell session with the Hospital and various campus uberchristians.
yeah, andreas is still the it guy. he's great. i'm using the macbook that he lent me right now. i realize i haven't blogged incredibly fondly of being here in Gießen. it think there were some internal struggles with some people in the office that lead to increased stress where the actual work is done, in the warehouse. i really do like it here, it just feels like that trainees are only a resource sometimes.
i am looking forward to going to the farm. hopefully i don't break anything there.
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