Walking Instead of Taking the Bullet Train

I am now reading Michael Ende's Momo in German. Reading this elegant language again for the first time in many years, I have to check the dictionary dozens of times to finish a page. I think it is safer to say that I don't know any German.

So in two days, I only managed to read ten pages. I think if I read in English, Chinese or Japanese, I'd already have finished this children's book. I feel as if I were walking from Tokyo to Osaka (or from Berlin to Munich) instead of taking the bullet train (or Inter-City Zug).

The amount of word I can process is so small but it is enjoyable to see the beauty of the language, the similarity to and difference from English and so on. Moreover, it is fun to see my vocabulary and knowledge of German grammar grow as I go on reading. It is really like going on a long hiking, slowly enjoying the scenery...

In the past six month, I read at least a few thousand pages. It was fun to finish reading a book after another as I used to be a very slow reader in my school years (that ended 14 years ago). And I tend to see the ability to read smoothly as an indicator of my mental state so I was so glad that I went on reading, reading and reading. Then I read in excess and even had a very bad digestion problem.

So I am going to enjoy this hiking with Momo for a while and learn how to pace myself and enjoy things deeply...

Well, the only thing that Momo is rich in is time. And that makes her an excellent healer. It indeed is very suggestive for me, a psychotherapist-wanna-be...