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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowline.
Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail.
Explore. Dream. Discover
.
---Mark Twain

7/27/10

Screw ya Volkshochschule (Berlin)

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I am actually interested in formally learning the German language. I wasn't before but I am now. Some people told me to look into the Volkshochschule ("People's school") in Kreuzberg. It's where lots of foreigners go to study the language and the course fees sounded really cheap. Sounded good to me. I made sure to get clear directions; but, still, I couldn't find the building. The day was a sweaty hot one and, so, I gave up to try again another day. Got nearly identical directions from another individual -- so I knew I was walking in the right direction -- and set out again for the well known you-can't-miss-it Volkshochschule. But, dammit, miss it I did. 


Then, with sweat dripping from the forehead and down my back, I came to realize the school building is completely obscured by construction work! Scaffolds, tarps, fencing, barrier tape cover from the entrance up to several feet of the building. I passed up the place umpteenth times...and all because no one at the school thought enough to put out a sidewalk sign indicating HERE IS VOLKSHOCHSCHULE. WE'RE STILL OPEN!


What kind of professionalism is that? If they're not smart and thoughtful enough to direct people to the school, then I have misgivings about how well they can teach me German. After all the effort it took me to find the hidden place I was too put off to even bother to enter and inquire about enrollment. So to Volkshochschule I say screw ya!  


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