Maybe next time...

This is a survey. What does "Maybe next time" mean in your country?

I was supposed to meet up with Kasia yesterday at the fair, but wasn't able to because I just didn't stay that long. There really isn't that much to do at an Oktobermarkt in a small town like Nastätten (if you remember, it's about 10 kilometers from Diethardt, and that's where most of our daily lives takes place: the kids go to School and Kindergarten there, Manuela works there, it's where Norina has Ballet on Tuesdays, and where I go grocery shopping at least twice a week. It's where I had to go to register for my German visa, and where Anna's friend Jenny got married on Saturday. The bank is there, the post office is there, the pharmacy and the bookstore are there. There are a couple of Videotheks, an ice cream parlor, two Turkisch Laden, and a Hamburger place at which I have no desire to eat called Pimp My Burger. There are a couple of overpriced clothing stores, at one of which however I found some cheap tops, and there is a used clothing store by the Lutheran church but I've only been inside once and everything was folded instead of hung, so I didn't really feel like rifling through. But I digress.

The point of that was that I was supposed to meet up with Kasia and didn't, and then I couldn't even call her that evening to apologize cause Simon and I were in Mainz, so instead I called her today and asked if she would like to come over and watch a movie. She was talking to her sister online, however and said, "Maybe another day." At first that seemed perfectly normal to me. In the U.S., after all, that's a perfectly normal way to tell someone that you don't dislike hanging out with them, but you don't have a particular time in mind that you would like to arrange in advance. The more I though about it, however, I think that may be the first time I've heard that in Germany, and I wonder how a German would interpret that. Would they think they were being blown off? (goodness knows it can also be used that way in the U.S.) Or would they take that to mean that they have to set up a particular time right away? Americans delight in having so many more acquaintances than Germans, it's inconvenient to think that we have to arrange something with them on a particular timetable. Am I right, Americans?

I have had Germans complain to me about the way Americans say, "I'll call you," so casually, even when we have no intention of calling in the immediate future. Now, granted, I've said that before when I wanted to blow someone off, but usually I just mean it in the sense of, "We'll talk again sometime. When I have a good idea, which could be anywhere from two days to two years from now, I'll make sure I have your number on hand." Would you agree with me so far?? Germans, on the other hand, I've been told, don't say such things unless they plan to call right away. I ask myself, then, what do they mean by right away? If I tell a German I'm going to call him or her, how long do I have before they assume I flaked? Is a week too long?? It's like the age old question when a guy gets a hot girl's number and doesn't want to make himself look desperate by calling too soon.

Sorry this was kind of a rambling blog entry. The clocks changed last night, so it feels much later than it actually is, and I'm really just trying to kill time because it's too early to go to bed.

We didn't end up going to the theater last night. Simon had called his friend Katrin to see if she wanted to go with but she had already made plans to go to a "Studentenparty" in Mainz, and invited us to go with. It's not my favorite thing to do, but it sounded like something different. The theater is always there, but I'd never met Katrin before, so I said, sure, we could check that out instead, and I'm so glad we did! The party itself was pretty lame. There was a cover charge of 6 euros (luckily I only had to pay 4.50 cause I had my old CSUN ID with me. Sigh, that thing has saved me so much money on this trip!), and of course all they played was house music with a couple of 90s rock hits and the obligatory Baby Got Back. But I absolutely fell in love with Katrin! I swear, I walked into her room and felt like I had found my German twin. I was greeted at the door by a dog, a rat, and two bearded dragons. She had posters on the wall with Japanese characters, incense burning on the table, and when she found out I was from California the first thing she asked me was whether I like the Gilmore Girls as much as she does!!! When we got to her house it was a bit early for partying, so we decided to watch a movie and the first one she suggested was Emperor's New Groove. It's the first time I've seen it auf deutsch, but Simon quotes it almost as often as I do auf englisch. (I think it's high time I introduced him to Napoleon. Rendy, can you find out whether that movie was ever released in German??)

Katrin was fascinated to find out that I studied Linguistics, and shared with me her passion for learning how to say, "I don't speak....." auf verschiedene Sprache. Simon and I were able to expand her knowledge to include spanisch portuguesisch japanisch and ASL, which she is so eager to learn she even offered to pay me to give her private lessons. I had to warn her that it's not the same sign language as is used here in Germany, and that I'm not totally fluent even in American Sign Language, but I would gladly teach her what I know, just cause she is so much fun to hang out with! Seriously, after having met Katrin, I see now why Simon is friends with me :)