Saturday, September 21, 2013

In Which Even the Hund Gives Me the German Stare

I love Germany, but I'm not sure if Germany's flora loves me. I am extremely allergic to everything here. According to the doctor I see, many Americans are having a tough time with allergies in this region. My problem is that I'm allergic to pine trees -- and my city is surrounded by the forest! It's beautiful...and itchy.

My ailments came with me during my trip to Berlin...with ridiculous results. I was walking to my hotel when this huge sneeze just ricocheted out of me. Have you ever had one of those sneezes that out out of nowhere, with such force that it seems able to knock down a house? Well, this was one of those sneezes.

A block farther ahead, a woman and the dog she was walking both stopped dead in their tracks. In unison, they swiveled around and stared at me. In fact, they both gave me a good, long German stare. I am absolutely not kidding you; the dog was staring too! The similar look on his and his owner's face did me in. I had to stifle immediate giggles. I was too far away to say "excuse me" so I continued walking, swallowing down hysterical giggles.

--

I continue to have problems with these darn allergies and sneezing. I was walking in the pedestrian area when another sneeze overtook me. Someone deep inside a store called out "gesundheit!" I yelled back "Danke!" Oh goodness. This is really out of control! At least I haven't sneezed when I was near anyone and I did manage to cover it with the crook of my arm.

No comments:

Post a Comment