Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

My goal this year is to learn German and learn it well enough that I can actually communicate- do things on my own. You know, things like calling the doctor, making friends at the park, understanding what is going on at church, apologizing to other mothers when Moses terrorizes their child (this has happened more than once). 

So, in February, I started a 3 month intensive German course. Every afternoon I took the train into town and sat in class with 13 other people for 3 hours. At first it was really frustrating. Every time I'd open my mouth Norwegian would come out. Slowly but surely it got better. I studied all the time (a new thing for me. I mean I got through college writing 10 page research papers the day they were due). And I think it paid off. I am actually pretty proud of how far I've progressed since February.  I tested the highest in my class (here is an explanation of the scores). I still have a long way to go.

 I am not anywhere close to being fluent. I can talk about normal every day stuff (how old my baby is, the weather, how much something is at the store etc) but full on conversations that go beyond small talk are still out of my reach. And then there is the whole Swiss German vs. high German debate. Don't even get me started on that ridiculousness.

Moses had a difficult time with me being gone every day. And to be honest it wasn't that much easier for me. I missed Moses. I cried when I walked to the train station after leaving him sobbing in the arms of his Oma. I came home, made dinner, put Moses to bed and tried to clean the house/do the laundry/study/hang out with Andreas all at the same time. I didn't get a lot of sleep for those 3 months.

So I decided to take a few months off. I leave for Maddy's wedding soon. When I get back we're moving to Bern. Then it'll take some time to settle in. After that I'm going to take up classes again. I've never been that good at the whole self-study thing so hopefully I can work something out.

But regardless I'm proud of myself that I've come this far. I've made a lot of goals in the last few years and haven't really accomplished any of them- especially since Moses came along. So it's a big deal. At least to me.