The joys of learning German in Berlin

I woke up at 7:45 this morning; painfully early for me and I hadn't slept too well; to get ready to go to a German lesson before work.

It was really cold, my breakfast was cold, I couldn't make tea because a friend was asleep in the living room slash kitchen, so I had a glass of cold water.  I sat in bed began to think of excuses not to go, but what little dedication I have pulled me through.

I put on my coat and cycled to the café where we meet for the lesson.  I was the first there.  I put my belongings down and went to order a drink to warm up where the employee greeted me with an almost-smile.  Now was my first chance of the day to use the skills I was patiently working towards.  "Ich hätte gern einen Americano bitte" I said in my best German.

"Want anything else with that?" he replied.  Sometimes I don't know why I bother.

Thrown in at the deep end

Germans are much more mean when they want to challenge someone from the beginning.

Whereas in England you would be thrown in at the deep end (and only of the pool), in Germany you would "ins kalte Wasser geworfen/geschmissen werden".

And whereas where an english person might jump in at the deep end, a german would "ins kalte Wasser springen".

I imagine this to be in the arctic, through a hole that an inuit had dug to go fishing through.  Maybe it's not so bad though.

Two Beer Please

My German friend said it never crossed her mind, but when ordering multiple items in a restaurant or bar, you don't always use the plural.  For example:

One beer please = Ein Bier bitte.
Two beers please = Zwei Bier bitte.

A more interesting example?  So how about two glasses of wine?   And the logic breaks down...

Two glasses of wine, please = Zwei Glas Wein, bitte,
Two glasses of wine, please = Zwei Gläser Wein, bitte.

Yup, both are fine.  That's weird.  If I'm wrong, please let me know.

Throats and Necks

I was familiar with Halsschmerzen. A sore throat, right?

Yup, but der Hals is literally the neck, but in the context of pain, means throat. So what word does one need in order to describe a nice English neck pain? It seems that Nackenschmerzen is what you are looking for.

 Also, I am told that Germans don't brownnose, but rather, brown neck. The interwebs have little to say here, but it appears that Germans looking to get in with their superiors get even more intimate than that.

-r Arschkriecher is a word and kriechen is to crawl. Like I said, intimate. I think I'll be able to remember the word 'kriechen' now though!