[originaltext]Pete: Hey Markus. I have a question I’d like to ask you.Markus:

Pete: Hey Markus. I have a question I’d like to ask you.
Markus: Yes. Go ahead.
Pete: Well，I’m thinking about going to Germany this summer，and I need some advice. You’re the best person I know to answer my questions since you’re German.
Markus: Thank you. What do you want to know?
Pete: Well，don’t laugh，but I met this really nice woman through an online music mailing list，you know，a discussion group on the Internet. I need some advice. You see，Claudia，…
Markus: Okay. So it’s Claudia，oh?
Pete: Yeah，yeah. See，she invited me to spend two weeks in Germany. And well，I told her I had studied a little bit about the country and language。and she’s kind of expecting that I know more than I really do.
Markus: Hum. You’re really in hot water now!
Pete: Yeah. I think so.
Markus: Well，what do you want to know?
Pete: Well，she’s planning on introducing me to her parents.
Markus: Hey. Sounds kind of serious.
Pete: It isn’t，at least I think it isn’t. Anyway，what should you do when you greet someone for the first time in Germany?
Markus: Well，it depends upon your relationship with the person. Now，speaking of your girlfriend， Claudia…. .
Pete: Hey，I didn’t say she was my girlfriend.
Markus: Ah，okay，okay. Now if you’re meeting someone formally for the first time，like Claudia’s parents， you should make sure you arrive on time.
Pete: Okay，so arrive on time. Uh，what about common greetings?
Markus: Well，Germans often shake hands，and they use the person’s family name，unless they’re really close friends.
Pete: Okay，what about with Claudia?I’m not sure what I should do in her case.
Markus: Ah. You can call her Claudia，shake hands，and why don’t you take her some flowers?
Pete: Oh，how do you say“Nice to meet you”anyway?
Markus: Oh，“Ich freue mich，Sie kennenzulernen. ”
Pete: “Ich freu me senselen…?”
Markus: Uhhh. Not exactly. “Ich freue mich，Sie kennenzulernen”.
Markus: Humm. Honestly，I think you need to take a crash course in German before you leave. Claudia might think you’re speaking Chinese or something if you don’t.