Had a Real Good Donut

If you were to take the total number of words that are possible in the German language and compare it to the total number of words that exist in my functioning German vocabulary, you would find... a great disparity. And let me tell you- more often than not, that disparity has lent itself to relying on the kindness of the German-speaking population more than our ability to verbally communicate with one another.

Be that as it may, perhaps two of my most pleasant interactions in Leipzig germinated from communicating with with two different people having as much English to use as I have German.

The first interaction took place at a store on-campus of die Universität von Leipzig, or as the shirt I now own says: Universität Leipzig. Having stumbled upon the expansive campus of the university in Vienna, I made a point of trying to collect the merch of universities in the cities on our trip. With no luck finding a shirt to purchase in Vienna, and no luck reaching the university in Prague, my hopes for t-shirt success were mountainous in Leipzig. 

The size of the city l, largely achievable by foot, meant that I had already found the university on our first full day in town. The next day I returned with my task before me. 

I spotted my target through the window of the cafeteria, an unassuming shop across the outdoor corridor leading to the main university plaza. I walked over and tried the handle. Locked. Not twenty seconds later, a wiry, middle-aged man with typical black eyeglasses, standard jeans, and the type of black t-shirt paramount to the wardrobes of most people of a similar description came out of a door directly adjacent to the shop whilst apologizing profusely between the last bites of some midday meal. "Entschuldigung" is, in my understanding, a mostly informal apology in German, one of few words I am quite comfortable with in the language, and the only reason I know the shop worker was apologizing as he unlocked the shop and allowed me inside. When I asked the man if he spoke he English (in my best German), he laughed a little too hard and convinced me of his "no". Luckily our apparent comedy created enough comfort for me to somehow communicate that I was looking for a t-shirt. Soon a pile of blue, green, red, and gym-class grey shirts were before me as the shopkeeper thumbed through them identifying them as either "L", "M", or "S". "L", I said, and blue was the only "L" available, so that's what I got. Somehow the atmosphere of our interaction was pleasant enough for the shopkeeper to provide me with a university tote and two pencils (a bargain, I know). That was the first time on the trip I felt confident enough to say "auf Wiedersehen" in parting. 

Hubris pulsating, I departed campus and reached the location of my second pleasant interaction: a pastry stand. Target 2 sighted- a round, cinnamon sugar covered donut I believe to be called "fastnachtkrapfen". Through either my successful request for one of the donuts (eins, bitte) or the stand worker's pity for my poor attempt at communication, I walked away with a real good donut.

And I hope... that you enjoy this picture as much as I enjoyed mein wirklich guter Donut.