Directionless

[muckefuck]

Last night, I thought I might be dining out with friends (and it might've been better if I had, since I ended up making some poor food choices on my own) so I was killing time in E-ton as I waited to hear from them. I grabbed a bagel from Panera (alas! the XXXtreme cutie I discovered working there on Tuesday was nowhere to be found) and found a lovely street corner to munch it on. People were out, music was playing (Chef's Station, across the street, had hired a jazz combo to serenade the outdoor diners which weren't there), the breeze was blowing, the sun was setting.

Two middle-class teenagers of different races came up to me and one asked, "How far is it to Wilmette?"

"What do you mean? You mean to walk?"

"Yeah. A mile?"

I hemmed. I admit, I really suck at being asked to give directions. Perhaps you could call it a form of performance anxiety, but when someone asks me out of the blue how to get someplace, I suddenly become terribly unsure of facts I would spout in all confidence if I were directing someone to a place I'd thought of first. Like later than evening, spookyfruit asked me where Wellington was. I know exactly where this street is; I used to get off at the Wellington stop on the El all the time. But when he said, "Where do I want to get off the Drive for Wellington? Fullerton?" all that knowledge was wiped from my mind and no amount of straining would restore it. I just stammered like a jackass as he answered his own question.

So it was here. I know where Wilmette is; I've been there a couple of times. But I also know I have a tendency to confuse it with That Other Super Expensive North Shore Suburb What Begins With 'W', so I was stricken with doubt. I ended up saying:

"Maybe more like two. The train goes there, though."

"Which one?"

(The El, you jackass! The train you ride every day! The last station is Wilmette! You've even been there before!) "Uh..." Looking over the tykes head, I saw the Metra station looming. "The Metra goes there."

"What's the stop? Is there more than one?"

"Maybe. What part do you need to get to?"

"Oh, just anywhere in Wilmette."

Comments

[my-tallest.livejournal.com]

Like later than evening, spookyfruit asked me where Wellington was. I know exactly where this street is; I used to get off at the Wellington stop on the El all the time. But when he said, "Where do I want to get off the Drive for Wellington? Fullerton?" all that knowledge was wiped from my mind and no amount of straining would restore it. I just stammered like a jackass as he answered his own question.

Brain... hurting...

Poor neurons. They'd switched over all references to Wellington Street to my new home, and you have to go and get me concentrating on where the hell Wellington is in Chicago. I gave up, went to Mpa Quest, and now I don't know where I live.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

You're hurting? Just imagine what it was like for me, coming to Chicago from St. Louis, and finding that they, too, have a St. Charles, a Forest Park, etc. but that these are all in the wrong places!

[my-tallest.livejournal.com]

But, but... I thought I was prepared. Every township in Massachusetts has a Winter, Summer, and Pleasant Street. Heck, driving from one town to another, Winter often turns into Summer, and vice versa. I never assume anymore that a street should be in basically the same place from town to town. Or, at least I do when I'm thinking in Boston. (Yes, I'm going native. Even my thoughts lengthen As and switch the Rs around now)

But Wellington, that's supposed to be rare. And now my brain is wracked looking for a Forest Park in Boston, thanks. 8-P

One more brain spasm, and I'm moving back to the South, where the names are just different enough. Yah dahn't see Dinwittees, Boutetourts, and Beauvilles 'round heah.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Gottseidank for the Spoedes, Litzingers, Chouteaus, and Lindberghs of my home town!

[nibadi.livejournal.com]

In einem meiner Reiseführer steht, dass die Menschen in Chicago sooooooooooo hilfsbereit sind, dass sie sich schon mal als Begleiter anbieten. So how about you? :)

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Das hab tatsaechlich um Gelegenheit getain--aber der Befrager muss doch wesentlich schoen sein!

[mollpeartree.livejournal.com]

I have the same problem, and I think it has to do with not driving; I tend to navigate by landmarks and the look of the street instead of names and numbers (so much so that I'm really stumped sometimes on how to give directions to things I walk by every day. "Up that way and over a little ...")

[lhn.livejournal.com]

Driving doesn't necessarily help, since familiar routes rapidly become instinctive and I don't necessarily pay attention to street names or exit numbers. Our place is on a north-south street between two east-west streets. I know the two east-west streets, but I can't always reliably remember which is which. And *I* know which block to turn at, but not always how many blocks down it is or how far past which light. Of course, it's also true that knowing walking or transit directions doesn't help much with giving driving directions, and vice versa.

At least the Chicago street grid lends itself somewhat to dead reckoning. Suburban Detroit, where I grew up, also had a grid (at one mile intervals). Chicago suburbs are a pain (particularly since what grid structure it has is invariably interrupted by a forest preserve or something whenever I try to make use of it), and in non-grid cities like Boston I can get in trouble without a compass.

[keyne.livejournal.com]

Hell, in Boston and surrounding towns I can get in trouble with a compass. I spent forty-five minutes yesterday trying to reach an address when I knew exactly where it was and which streets theoretically led there. Damn one-way streets, dividers, bridges, and Eternal Construction. :/

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

Best answer to any question for direction: You can't get there from here.
(Shows I spent a lot of time in Maine)

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

In Germany, we used to joke that the answer to any request for directions always included the phrase: "(Und dann) immer geradeaus."

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

Well, that usually is the last part of the answer. It can range from a few meters to a few kilometers, but it is usually correct. *g*
How long have you been in Germany?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Ich bin nicht im Deutschland.

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

F**k grammar
I know. What I meant was How long had you been in Germany.
*frown* Is that correct now?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Depends what you're trying to say. The most normal way to refer to be fixed period of time in the past is with the simple preterite, i.e. "How long were you in Germany?" Using perfect tenses in English emphasises the present result of a past action. "How long have you been Germany?" implies that you're there now. "How long had you been in Germany?" implies that you're referring to an event which took place in the past. For instance, "How long had you been in Germany when you met her?" (This can only mean that you met her during your stay in Germany. Cf. "How long were you in Germany before you met her?"; the meeting could've taken place in Germany or elsewhere.)

Ich war nur ein Jahr dort.

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, it is the easiest things that don't come to mind. Of course, what I wanted to ask was "How long were you in Germany." Anyway, thanks for figuring that out even with my messed-up grammar. *g*
One year sounds like quite a long time to live in a foreign countr, though. And not at all common for Americans, I think. Not like Germans who go to America for Au pair work all the time. (What's so great about taking care of other people's brats children?)

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Tell me about it. It felt like a solid twelve months!

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

What did you do these twelve months? Taking care of other people's kids??

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Ich muss lachen! Ich, Au-Pair?

Damals hab ich an der Uni studiert. Dazu bin ich ein bisschen herumgereist.

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

*gg*
Every post triggers new questions. So here goes:
Which Uni? What did you study? Where did you travel?
Ever been to Eastern Germany?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

1. Albert-Ludwigs-Universität
2. Sprachwissenschaft
3. Die Schweiz, Frankreich, Spanien, die Niederlande, Grossbritannien, Tschechei, Italien
4. Berlin, Rügen und Usedom

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

Thanks. And... No, I'll stop now. Bothered you enough.