Insomnia auf Deutsch

Every night around two or three o'clock, I wake up. I roll around for little while until I can't stand it any longer. Sitting up in bed, I'll yank out the earplugs I am wearing and grumble sleepily to myself.

Since I live in the middle of the Altstadt (Old City), there is always a lot of noise. I also, somehow, probably for the sake of cosmic irony, ended up in a fraternity house. Nonetheless, neither my location nor the people traipsing around outside my window are the cause for my insomnia. No, I can't seem to fall back asleep because all my thoughts are in German.

I am no stranger to insomnia. For the last several years, I have religiously followed all those ridiculous "sleep hygiene" rules in efforts to curb my wakefulness. However, every now and then, no matter how much warm milk I ingest and meditation I attempt, I'll still find myself staring, wide-awake at the ceiling for the vast majority of the night. I didn't think things could get any worse than that; however, they can. You see, it is far more frustrating to be incapable of understanding the thoughts hounding one's brain. I'll wake up, and I can't seem to grasp any meaning from the German gibberish flying through my head. I know they are my thoughts, but it makes no difference. I don't understand.

Sometime back when I was frantically trying decide between Germany and Austria, one of my professors told me that it would be exhausting to think constantly in another language. But I've found that is an exciting exhausting. I'm elated when I can understand everything one of my professors said. The highlights of my days are when I am able to have full conversations in German about anything from the weather to relationships to art to videogames. I've also made it a sport to try convincing non-Germans that I am a native speaker. Nonetheless, don't overestimate me. I have the vocabulary of a seven-year-old, the fluency of a toddler, and I am trying to convey the thoughts of a twenty-year-old. Needless to say, to all the fraternity brothers I live with, my choice of words is endlessly funny.