Basel Minster

Sunrise on the Rhine River

Guten Morgen, Danke Schön & Auf Wiedersehen

Good Morning, Thank you, & Goodbye.

The three phrases in German that helped me get by in Switzerland this weekend and I was excited to know.

I was able to use these phrases when ordering food and paying for things, simple day to day things I usually wouldn't have to think twice about doing. 

However, ordering can be more tricky. 

Embarrassing Encounter #1: 

One day for lunch I went to a specific food vendor because I wanted to try a Basel Wurst and this specific vendor sold different kinds of sausage. However, I know when people shake their heads and use the word "nein" in the sentence- it means I'm out of luck and there are none. However, I hadn't thought that far ahead. So staring at the menu and having no idea what the differences between all the sausages were, I gave up, looked at the grill and said "that one." I was only slightly judged by the vendor owner but you know, whatever works. I got my point across and it was also very good!

Less Embarrassing Encounter #2:

After being up before sunrise and walking around the city. I began to get hungry and on my way back to the airbnb I passed a pastry shop. When I went in, I looked over the pastries (that also had neat labels in front, so I knew what to call it) and I attempted saying the name of the pastry I wanted. What I said was at least close enough because the baker handed me what I asked for. I was also excited that when I asked for a donut, even though I didn't recognize the words she was saying, I had enough background knowledge to know she was asking if I wanted the jelly filled or the creme filled donut. I am an easily impressed person, so this little communication victory made my day!

Least Successful #3

My friend and I went to a corner shop on the way back to the airbnb for snacks and when we were inside she was picking out a 2 liter of soda. The man at the cash register said something to us about the sodas and it could’ve been anything. It could’ve been the price or a special deal he was offering, but we will never actually know and that’s okay.

Communication is important in any culture and there are so many different ways to communicate with others! 

Basel, Switzerland

This past weekend, I got to travel to Basel, Switzerland with a friend!

It was a wonderful trip and a beautiful city. We stayed at a nice little airbnb that was close to the city center. During the weekend, we took a historic town tour, went to the zoo, and explored Basel. Being my first time in a German speaking country, I was unsure about how my communication skills would be. Thankfully, it worked out and I was excited about experiencing Basel's culture.

For our last morning in town, I woke up at 5:40 am so that I would be able to go down to the Rhine River and watch the sunrise. It was definitely worth waking up for (which I debated for a while the night before, haha) After sunrise, I enjoyed my morning walking around and seeing the influx of people as they began their work week. Being able to experience new things and interact with people from different cultural backgrounds has been enriching. I love listening to people as they go about their day to day lives.

In our airbnb, the family we stayed with had a child who would easily go back and forth from speaking in German to speaking in English to us. If only it was that easy for me to switch between foreign languages! I learn what people call "survival skill" phrases and hope for the best. Being in a foreign speaking country has given me insight to even the simplest of things that I would never really think about otherwise.

View from the flight to Basel (Mountains below) 

Sunrise on the Rhine