Hilfe!

So. I need to book some doctor's appointments. My relocation consultant gave me a website where I can locate an English speaking physician. I used the website and found a local doctor who indicated that she spoke English, German and Italian. I sent a request online for someone to contact me (in English) to schedule an appointment.

This morning, I received a nice email in English with a few appointment time options and instructions to call the office to choose a time. So, silly me, I called the office. The woman answered in German. Here's how the conversation went...

Receptionist (R): "Jallo [insert name of doctor's office]."
Me: "Jallo. Entschuldigen. Sprechen Sie English?" Hello. Excuse me, do you speak English?
R: "Nein." No.
Me: (long pause, confused)
R: "Jallo? Kann ich Ihnen helfen?" Hello, can I help you?
Me: (looking frantically at the email I received) "Entschuldigen. Ich spreche venig Deutsche. Ich kann sprechen mit [insert name of person who emailed me]?" Excuse me. I only speak a little German. Can I speak to [insert name]?
R: "Nein." No.
Me: "Entschuldigen. Jemand sprechen Englisch?" Excuse me, anyone speak English?
R: "Nein. Sie moechten einen Termin?" No. Do you wan tot make an appointment?
Me: (understanding what she said) "Ja!!! Mit arzt, bitte." Yes!!! With a doctor, please.
R: "Something something something Friday something something doctor"
Me: "Entschuldigen. Ich verstehe nicht. Hilfe? Englisch?" Excuse me, I don't understand. Help? English?
R: (laughing at me now) "Nein"No.
Me: (silence)
R: "Jallo?" Hello?
Me: "Um... I will just call back. Tschuss!"

I hung up the phone. Keep in mind that the above involves quite a bit of paraphrasing as that woman and I went round and round for quite some time. I think at one point I was pulling out every German word I've learned trying to piece a sentence together.

Imagine my surprise then when, about five minutes ago, I receive a phone call from the office assistant who originally emailed me. He spoke perfect English, albeit with a very heavy Bavarian accent. He apologized for the situation earlier and helped me make an appointment. I was incredibly impressed - not only was he incredibly helfpul, but he called me.

I'm finding that on the whole, Germans are incredibly polite.
Also, I cannot wait until I understand more German. I'm already quite pleased with the words I have been able to master, and the fact that I can put a few sentences together but it is SO frustrating not to be able to communicate. The upside is that I'm understanding quite a bit of what I hear. The downside is that my conversational skills are limited to discussing chicken, bread, ball point pens and how to spell my name.