A Totally Reasonable Purchase

I went to Germany and I bought a copy of Pride and Prejudice in German.

No, I don’t speak or read German beyond a finely honed ability to order tea and cake. I did spend months using Duolingo (hence the ability to order tea and cake) but Duolingo thinks I need to be able to praise my husband’s intelligence (true) and discuss my owl’s (???) food preferences more than I need to actually communicate in German.

While I was there I went in a thrift store and found a copy of a British Library Crime Classic I didn’t already own. (This made me very happy because what is a vacation without a book purchase or two?) When I went to the counter to pay for it the lady working looked at the book, looked at me, and asked if I could speak German. I said no and she said, “Then you should be buying German books so you can learn” and proceeded to kindly lecture me on the best language learning programs. She also suggested I buy a copy of a favorite book in German and then read it side-by-side with the English copy. Who am I to argue with such good advice? I promptly located a bookstore and bought Pride and Prejudice.

I am ridiculously thrilled with this purchase. It is Jane Austen! It is pretty! Who wouldn’t want it? I am now dreaming of learning to read German and greatly expanding my reading horizons. Maybe one day I will be sitting in a German cafe eating cake, drinking tea, and reading Pride and Prejudice in German. Please don’t tell me I am unlikely to achieve that goal because I really like the mental image.

We had an absolutely lovely time in Germany and I took five million pictures but I haven’t had time to look at them yet. I’m sure there will be a post or two once I (sadly) settle back into real life.