It's the little things

I am constantly reminded that it is the little things that one takes for granted when living abroad. For example, today I embarked on a two-day business trip to London, which will be followed by two more days of business in Warsaw, Poland. I had forgotten the ease and simplicity of being able to coherently converse in a country’s native language (too many years in Korea, Taiwan, and now Germany). It is usually very broken German (or most recently Chinese) that I am trying to use when talking with locals. Which is not to say one should not attempt to speak the language of the host country, but it does not happen over night. And there are plenty of Germans who speak English quite proficiently and with great precision. It is just that my German is really bad and my vocabulary is non-existent. I was pleasantly jarred into reality when I stepped on to the British Airways flight this morning and the flight attendant greeted me in English. It just caught me a bit off guard because I do not often hear it spoken these days as a matter of course.

I took that observation to the next level when I arrived at Heathrow Airport and I was accosted by all the advertisements written in English, TVs and radios blaring in English, and millions of voices speaking in English. It was absolute sensory overload.

Add to that the simple ease of being able to direct a taxi driver to a destination without resorting to very poor German or worse yet, having to call a friend or colleague on my mobile phone to perform translation services. This morning there was a spring in my step as I realized I could navigate the entire process totally on my own without any translation issues or mishaps.

At lunch, I was reminded that I could actually use words and phrases to request my order rather than simply pointing at the foodstuff I desired and holding up one or two fingers to denote quantity.

It may not sound like much to you, but for a brief period this week I actually feel a bit more self-reliant and less mentally taxed in doing daily routine or mundane tasks. The next time you are at the dry cleaners and need to address a dry cleaning issue on a piece of clothing you own, just remember me….that conversation alone can wreak havoc with my day…