Going Postal

An adorable, bespectacled elderly man, who works at the post office down the street from my apartment, has singlehandedly restored my faith in the friendliness of Germans.

To start with, he was considerate enough to ask me if the DHL boxes I was purchasing were for posting within Germany- since these particular ones couldn't be sent internationally. I gratefully replied that I was in fact attempting to purchase international boxes, and he then scurried to the back room and returned with two international packages. Then, instead of just selling them to me and waving the next customer over (which I expected him to do, since there was an epically long line behind me), he inquired as to where I would be sending them. Mind you, he picked up on the fact that my German wasn't from 'round these parts, and I noticed that he spoke much more slowly and clearly after the first couple of sentences that came out of my mouth. He didn't do it in a demeaning way though, the way so many people do without even realizing. He was obviously just trying to make sure I understood him, which made the whole interaction much more pleasant, especially on my end. So, I told him that one was going to the USA and one was going to Afghanistan. "Ach, Afghanistan!" He said with raised eyebrows. I nodded and tried to explain "Meinen Bruder ist einen Soldat, und er wohnt jetzt in Afghanistan." My brother is a soldier, and currently lives in Afghanistan. Not grammatically correct at all, really, and a little (ok, a lot) on the basic side. But, he smiled and said something along the lines of "Well, you're such a nice sister to send him a package. It must be for Christmas?" I nodded, and he then proceeded to write up a detailed list of how much it would cost me to send a package there, depending on how much it weighed. After that, he wrote me a few little notes on the back of the paper on what I should say to the person when I came back, depending on if I wanted to send it priority or not, and explained in detail how to fill out the customs slip. Finally, I paid, stuffed everything into my bag, and waved goodbye, thanking him profusely. As I left he said "Ich hoeffe deinen Bruder gesund und munter bleibt." I hope your brother stays safe and sound.


It was maybe a seven minute interaction, but I just can't stop thinking about how friendly this man was, in so many small ways. Not only was it more wonderful than I can say to understand EVERYTHING someone said to me witouth having to infer meaning while frantically trying to keep pace with them, it was great to encounter a person who really was just trying to help me and make my day a little better. He could have shooed me off after selling me the wrong boxes, or glowered at me when I spoke hestitantly in German- but he didn't. It's nice to know that there are some truly genuine and caring people left out there. This stranger was a tiny part of my day, but I'll remember him for a long time.


In completely unrelated news, I am obsessed with the new Lady Gaga song/video "Bad Romance." I honestly, honestly don't know why. I just can't seem to stop watching it, even though as my sister said when I convinced her to check it out, "It's pretty effing weird, and what's up with that hairless cat?"

I don't know! But I can't seem to get enough. So I'm foisting it on you fools! Buahaha. Enjoy.

The Makings of a Great Day

I bought a new hat today, and I'm quite enamored with it. Partially because it keeps me warm(er) in this frigid weather, and partially because it is just so stylish. Like me.

All the stores were playing Christmas music today! This warms my heart.

I'm watching The Office right now, and Michael Scott just killed the dreams of fifteen children. I love it.

My attempt to give up diet soda lasted exactly eight days. The upside: I am currently enjoying a crisp, ice cold diet Pepsi and it is delicious and delightful.

I heard via a RIDICULOUS and incredibly annoying amount of almost identical facebook updates that the Ducks won the Civil War. To be honest, I'm more annoyed about this bombardment of idiotic status updates than I am about them actually winning. Sorry Dad and Trevor. There's always next year.

Oops, I was trying to only write happy things in this post. Well, I guess if you're an Oregon fan that is a happy thing, so I'll let it slide.

The lens cleaning spray that the charming salesman at LensCrafters in Salem, Oregon convinced me to buy back in July works like a DREAM. This might not seem like something to get worked up about, but having smudgy glasses makes me want to scream and punch a baby. Thus, me having sparkling clean glasses not only makes me deliriously happy, but saves lots of babies from being punched. In their baby faces.

I can sleep until I decide to wake up tomorrow, because tomorrow is SATURDAY.


I hope this balances out my last post, which I admit was kind of depressing. Don't worry, that kid and I are moving onward and upward. To make the end of the week even better, one of my students left me a note on the whiteboard at the end of school today. It said "Miss Bri, I love you!" and while I was charmed by the sentiment, I did a fist pump in my empty classroom because she punctuated it correctly.

Now I'm on to 30 Rock and I just can't stop chuckling. Whoever came up with the idea of streaming TV shows online deserves a really big cookie.

Here's to the weekend, and two more weeks until Christmas break!