The doorbell chimed merrily for a second time as I slid down the hall and tripped over the rug just inside the living room. My momentum carried me, completely against my will, into a large pile of boxes and the top two crashed to the floor, scattering books and CDs. I ignored the mess, slammed into the front door, wrestled with the lock, and finally managed to yank the door open with a flourish. A woman with lovely brown hair stood on the stoop, looking shocked.
"Guten Tag," I greeted her breathlessly.
"Guten Tag," She returned with a bemused smile.
"Sorry about the wait," I continued in German.
"No problem. Though I must ask if you're quite alright. There was an awful lot of noise…"
"Oh fine, fine. Totally fine." I waved my hand as though that would make the mess behind me suddenly disappear. "Would you like to come in?"
"Yes. Thank you."
I stepped aside and the woman entered my rather disheveled house. Her blue eyes traveled to the CDs and books that were spread all over the floor. Noticing the direction of her gaze, I chuckled.
"Explains the noise, right?"
She laughed as well.
"Excuse me for putting this bluntly, but uh, who are you?"
"Oh! Sorry! My name is Valeria Gottlieb. I live just across the street. We saw the moving truck yesterday, so I thought that I'd bring this by today. I hope you like cake." Ms. Gottlieb flashed a set of perfect, white teeth and indicated a cake that I had somehow managed to not see in her hands before then.
"I love cake. What kind is it?" Please say Schwarzwalderkirschtorte.
"Schwarzwalderkirschtorte." Score!
"One of my favorite things about Germany is all the cakes," I confided. "Nusstorte, Sachertorte, Schwarzwalderkirschtorte; it's a wonder I haven't gained at least fifty pounds since getting here." Taking the cake from her, I walked it into the kitchen and returned to find Valeria gingerly fixing the rug that had sent me flying earlier. "I don't think I've introduced myself. Name's Kirsten." Grinning, I gave her my hand and we shook. Ah, so it's Mrs. Gottlieb, I thought to myself when I felt her ring.
"Es freut mich Sie kennenzulernen," We said together, then laughed.
"So you're not from Germany? Where are you from?"
"America. Born and raised. Love it here though. Don't think I'll ever leave."
"Well your German is excellent. I barely even notice any accent."
"Thank you. I've been studying the language for ten years, and have lived here for six of those. Might have been easier to learn if I hadn't been dividing my attention between multiple languages."
Frau Gottlieb turned her head to the side slightly, a questioning look in her eyes.
"I speak six languages fluently and I'm working on the seventh."
"Wow. That's…really quite impressive."
"Vielen Dank."
"Would you like some help unpacking? I didn't just come over to give you the cake. My husband and I wanted to be sure that you got a proper welcome to the neighborhood. He's working, otherwise he'd be here." Frau Gottlieb's smile was really quite infectious.
"Er, well yes, actually. It's going to take ages by myself. But, I don't want to impose…"
"I'm glad to help."
"Alright. Well, we should probably start with this mess," I swung my hand at the knocked-over boxes. "Don't want the CDs getting scratched."
Valeria removed her jacket and laid it over a chair before plopping down upon the floor and starting to sort out the mess. Dropping down beside her, I picked up a Megaherz CD and fit it back into its case. We chatted quite pleasantly as we worked, discussing our tastes in music and books, as that was the obvious topic of conversation.
Frau Gottlieb picked up another disc and turned it over to see what case it belonged with. She seemed to blanch at the title.
"You know Oomph?"
"Know them? I love them. They've been my favorite band for years."
"Really? How interesting." There was an odd note to her voice as she spoke, but I shrugged it off.
We finally got all the books and discs back into the two boxes. As we carried them down the hall, I explained that as the house was a three-bedroom and I lived alone, I used one of the spares as a library. Valeria gasped when she walked into the room.
"You didn't bring all these books from America, did you?"
"Of course not," I tittered. "I've bought most of these since my arrival. One of the very first things that I bought in Germany was actually a German translation of the first Harry Potter book. I wanted to see how it compared to the original. Plus, it really was good practice, at that point."
We dropped the boxes onto the couch that I had in the room. It was a pull-out, in case I ever found myself with a house full of guests.
"Time to alphabetize. My favorite," I winked and she rolled her eyes.
Several hours later, we had managed to file away all of my absurdly large music and books collection. I offered to cook dinner, but Valeria had to get home to cook for her own family. Thanking her for all the help and for the cake, I waved goodbye and watched her walk across the street to her house with the elegant garden.
