DSL and talking to yourself

I finally have an Internet connection at home (along with a telephone).

I’ve been debating whether or not that is good. I’ve gotten used to not having Internet access all the time, always checking email, the weather, racing results, etc. I’ve been able to read books, made out of real paper. I think I’ll need some discipline to keep from being on-line all the time.

It’s taken a full 2 months to get the DSL connection. Getting the appointment with Deutsche Telekom is the first hurdle. Then the installer doesn’t show up for the appointment. Then he shows up but there is a problem with the system in the apartment, requiring access to a locked closet, for which we don’t have a key.

Sometimes it seems every little thing is difficult here. But in the end it makes for a good story.

The DSL guy is quite personable and helpful. As usual, I try to speak in German as much as possible. The DSL guy speaks pretty good English. So as is also common, I speak in German and get answered in English. People here often want to practice their English as much as I want to practice my German.

The DSL guy tells me he doesn’t get too many English-speaking customers, and says his English isn’t as good as he would like. Still, it’s better than my German. I never stop being impressed at how many people here can speak more than just their native language.

He often stops and searches for the right word in English, saying it first in German. It’s interesting for me to see someone do this with English, and imagine that this is what I look like with German. It often feels like I will never reach a decent level of fluency in German. There seem to be so many words to learn.

The DSL guy thinks out loud as he works. He repeats out loud what he is doing, like a narrative. He tells me that he talks to himself to help keep organized. He says he even does this while driving in his car.

Then he tells me he’s divorced and how he needs to go pick up his son later. I’m wondering if his (ex-) wife got tired of hearing him talk all the time.

I think of the Austin Powers movie, when they unfreeze Austin and he says (out loud) that he now has no inner monologue. I keep waiting for the DSL guy to say something when he sees the dust bunny in the corner (or worse).

He says that after working with a customer who speaks English he finds himself talking to himself in English.

I tell him maybe I should try that with German. I think that if I ever do start thinking in German, out loud or not, I will finally have “gotten it”.