Chapter Four - The fourth week

Monday 28th September

Well, I survived my lesson on London with the 8. Klasse. It went surprisingly well, we managed to do most of the work I'd planned, although I planned too much to realistically get through, so it's not really a failure in that respect! The kids took to it really well and were really responsive! After that lesson, I was in the 10. Klasse lesson, which was pretty uneventful, although I learnt a new technique for vocab learning, which was quite interesting. Following that lesson, I worked with another 8. Klasse, where I was invited, by the class tutor, to go rowing on the Saar with him and his tutor group on their "Wandertag" tomorrow, which should be nice! Then I worked with another English class, whose teacher will be away in Barcelona for a week in a fortnights time - so I have been drafted in to work as a cover teacher for her lessons. This will entail working with the 5., 6., and 9. classes for 5 lessons over the Monday and Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it, I do like a challenge, and it should be another interesting experience - taking me slightly out of my comfort zone. As classroom experience goes, it will be a second to none opportunity!

Today was the first of my lessons with the Oberstufe classes too. That also went well, we discussed a wide range of topics, and again, as per usual, I was very impressed at their English proficiency. I tend to approach these lessons in an informal manner, as I believe that the way for me to get the best out of the sixth form students, who are the most self-conscious about their language in front of a native speaker, (I know I was one not very long ago!), is for me to make the lesson a relaxed lesson, which gives me, also, the opportunity to raise my game a bit if they are still proving difficult to work with!

After work, I met up with another of the assistants in Saarbruecken for a drink, and a general chin-wag. I enjoy the time spent with other English speakers, it is a nice way to relax. I don't feel it's detrimental in any way, because I spend the whole day communicating through German with everyone else around. That doesn't just mean speaking, I listen to a lot of German here too, and obviously have plenty of information to read (especially bureaucracy!), while I'm here too! So it's nice to have a bit of time to relax without having to remember what case to use, and where to put the verb in the sentence!

So, tomorrow, a nice row on the Saar, followed by a little pic-nicking by the river, followed, in turn, by a trip to the Cinema! All in all, a very stressful day tomorrow methinks. Not to worry though, I can use my Kollegiumausflug on Thursday to Metz to recover!

Tuesday 29th September

Today I felt like Ratty out of the Wind in the Willows. I spent the morning rowing a dragon boat on the Saar with one of the English teacher's tutor groups for their Wandertag. A Wandertag is basically run twice a year for the tutor groups to get to know each other in a more relaxed and fun environment. The reason for the dragon boat rowing was because the class wanted to do something team-building focused, and it was that! The first challenge for some of the kids was deciding which boat-related club to wait outside...the Rowing Club or the Canoe Club? The correct answer was, in fact, the Canoe Club; so having got over the first hurdle, we then approached the second hurdle head on. (I fear that may be a mixed metaphor, but who's checking!?!) This involved moving the dragon boats from the stands where they looked quite comfortable, and putting them on a trolley, and then plunging them into the Saar. This sounds like a relatively simple procedure, but the dragon boats weigh 250kg each (a quarter of a tonne) and there were 5 adults and 26 children (who were of varying levels of excitement; from "I don't want to do this, I might get wet" to "I'm in the boat first") to move them. Still, after much huffing and puffing (either like the Big Bad Wolf or a Steam Engine; whichever comparison is easier for you to imagine!) we managed to get both of the boats in the water.

Now, those of you who have seen professional dragon boat rowing will notice that all the oarsmen (and women) all row in time with each other. This took a while to get right (or as near to right as it was possible to get with the kids!), but we got there in the end. Then, after some more practising of technique (I'd never realised it was quite as complicated as it actually is - especially when I had to translate the instructions from the Trainer!), we had a race...or two races in fact...which I can proudly say our boat won with a clear victory. This was partly due to the fact that we were simply more co-ordinated, but may have had something to do with the fact that there were twice as many adult oarsmen on our boat than on there's! Then we had a small tour of the Saar, although we still had to work for it! Then, after we got back to the embarkation point, we had to reverse the process to put them away. This time the kids were much more subdued and co-operative. (For subdued, read tired!).

After the rowing, we had a picnic on Potato Island; which is a kind of fake beach for Saarbruecken, that has a bar, and food facilities etc. during the summer months. Then, we went to the cinema to see "Oben", (in English "Up") a Disney Pixar film, in 3d. I felt slightly odd wearing two pairs of glasses for the film, but it was a good film. I probably wouldn't have gone to see it normally, but it was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

Following the film, I made one of my regular trips to Edeka to do some shopping, and that was Tuesday really. We really should have more days like this in the UK!

Wednesday 30th September

Back to work today, after my stressful day rowing yesterday! Today was my day of 2 lessons at the Gesamtschule, followed by an Oberstufe lesson at the Ludwigsgymnasium this afternoon!

The first lesson passed without major incident at the Gesamtschule, working with the kids on the topic of school, so that they could prepare a short text about their school. The second lesson was more of, let's say, a challenge. I was trying to teach them how to tell the time. This should not be a particularly big challenge one would think...with the exception of half past (in German they say half-to), all that is required is to translate the words into English. However, apart from a couple of very keen pupils, they seemed to have switched off. Their teacher was also surprised about their apparent difficulties. Ah well, we'll get there in the end!

The next stage of the day was expected to be the most challenging and stressful element of the day. Over three weeks ago I opened a bank account, with which I was told I would be sent a card and PIN through the post within about 10 days. As it had been so long, and as I'd moved I went back to the bank today with the intention of having an argument with them about their inefficiency and general poor service. So, when I told the cashier the problem, he simply explained the woman who opened my account with me was wrong, and that I shouldn't have been told they would be sent to me. I was, instead, expected to pick them up, and that he would go and get them for me there and then. When you come across service like this, it's very difficult to stay cross for long - it would seem that the management of LloydsTSB and Halifax should join the First Group management on a working trip to remind them what Customer Services is all about.

After that had taken the wind out of my sails, I went home, put some washing on (I'm becoming more and more domesticated over here - I'll be allowed on the Sofa soon!), and then ambled down to the Ludwigsgymnasium. As before, I don't tend to plan anything specifically for the Oberstufe speaking lessons, I tend to pick a starting discussion topic and see where that leads! Again, it was a nice, informal class, with the students doing most of the speaking, which was, as expected, of a high standard.

Once I'd finished at the school, I met up with one of the assistants in town, and we had a nice stroll along the Saar in the sunshine!

Thursday 1st October

Today was the Kollegiumsausflug to Metz (France). For those non-Germanists (which is indeed a word!) among you, for Kollegiumsausflug - read Staff Jolly. So, we rendez-vous(ed) at the school for a prompt 9 o'clock departure on the coach to Metz. The coach journey itself was relatively uneventful, got held up slightly crossing into the border by the Douanes.

Here, it would be appropriate to mention my surprise at actually seeing Douanes. I thought they were some mythical beings of the French Minsitere de l'Interieur. In all my trips to France (and there have been quite a few), I have actually seen a Douane at the port/border crossing ONCE. (Even then, I may have been mistaken, I was getting off a ferry at 6am, so it may have simply been the cleaner larking about for all I know!). I am of the opinion that there are two possible reasons that Douanes are so seldom seen: One is that a lot of their work is done in plain clothes so as to catch the perpetrators of heinous crimes against the Hexagone in the act; the other, and, in my opinion, more plausible, reason for their being concealed is that they simply don't give a damn!

Now, back to the story! The Douanes had decided today that our coach was worth a stop. They looked slightly bemused to see a coach registered in France, being driven by a German, and full of German people. They checked everyone's ID cards and seemed satisfied, until they got to me. Now, being a British Citizen, I know I can travel freely between France and Germany until I get bored. However, the Douane who got to me had still not recovered from the confusion over the coach and its load, and was even more surprised to see an English person in the middle of this coach of German people. He asked me, in French (naturally, it is assumed by French figures of authority that if you are visiting France, you obviously speak fluent French - if you don't, then you are treated with contempt!), why I was on the coach. I explained that I was working at the school as an English assistant and was taking part in their Kollegiumsausflug (the French translation is slightly more wordy!). He was now very surprised by my ability to understand and reply to his question, and I fear I may have burst his little bubble of superiority there and then...but after a few more questions he seemed to get bored with me and moved onto the next person.

When we got to Metz itself, we took a ride on a Noddy Train with a guided tour of Metz (in German, naturally). The last time I remember riding on one of these noddy trains was when I was in Tunisia; it was so bumpy I'm still not 100% convinced my bones are back in the right places now! Noddy Trains, for those of you who aren't quite sure what I'm talking about, are also called Land Trains and are designed to give tourists a sightseeing tour without the effort of walking and trying to follow an umbrella. The passengers travel in carriages, which are effectively trailers without any suspension. Metz is an old city, and as an old city, it has old roads, old roads have cobbles, and cobbles are bumpy. This is not the worst of it though, Metz also seems to have some sort of Speed Hump fetish. The tour itself was interesting, the method of transport was somewhat less pleasant!

Bearing in mind, this is a staff jolly, no, sorry, Kollegiumsausflug, the emphasis there is on the word Kollegium (which refers to the Staff); I had, therefore, expected to go around Metz as a whole group, or maybe in smaller groups to see different things. This happened, partly. We all went for coffee together(this was after all France; when in Rome and all that). There, however, ended any real sort of group trips. I went to have a look at the Cathedral with one of the English teachers. The Cathedral itself is just astonishing - it's soooooooo big, the roof seems to be somewhere in the distance. In addition, there are some truly fantastic stained-glass windows there too. After that, we had a wander around some more of the town - before settling down in a cafe with some of the other teachers for a bit to eat!

The coach journey was uneventful. This was primarily because teachers in Germany are not programmed to function in the afternoon. The school-day starts at about 8ish in the morning, and is normally finished about half past one. Up until, say about half two, the teachers are fine! After this time, though, they begin to feel tired and require urgent sleep! So, the journey back was quiet enough because they were mostly asleep! This meant I had the chance to plan the lessons I will be covering when I come back from Altenberg.

When we got back, I went into town with a colleague and had a few drinks, and something to eat in town, before coming home and giving in to my eyelids' strongly persuasive desire to sleep!

Tomorrow is the start of the Tag der Deutschen Einheit celebrations here in Saarbruecken, so I'm thinking of going down and having a shufty around tomorrow!

Friday 2nd October

Today is the beginning of the national celebration of unity; which, as I said before, is being celebrated in Saarbruecken this year. To this end, I thought it would be nice to meet up with some of other assistants and have a nose around what was there. So we met in the usual place at about 12ish and had a cursory glance through the stands about Saarbruecken, and the sponsers' stands of the event, which were situated in the main street, Bahnhofstrasse. Then we ambled up to the Schloss, where there were a few stands relating to some of the Bundeslaender (Federal States). On the road below the Schloss, there was a stand for each Bundeslaender; so that they could raise their profile, talk about how the Fall of the Wall affected them, and sell some "local" food. For the record, the local food on nearly every single one was a type of sausage; except, if I remember rightly Rhineland Palatinate (who had cheesecake!), and Mecklenburg Pommerania (who had fish!). On the other side of the Saar, there is also some stands devoted to the various seats of power (Parliament, Government and some of the Ministries). In front of the Staatstheater there is, at present, a stage where music is played during the day, and probably into the night as well!

While I'm on the subject of the Tag der Deutschen Einheit, I feel it worth pointing out how much higher the police presence is in Saarbruecken. They seem to have drafted in police officers from all over Saarland, along with some help from the national police, who are here too. Indeed, one of the helicopters of the Bundespolizei has been circling over Saarbruecken throughout the day. On top of all that German police power, there are also some PAF (Police Aux Frontieres - French Border Police) around (although this is not uncommon in Saarbruecken), there some members of the Gendarmerie Nationale and Police Nationale of France, along with some members of the Luxembourg National Police too patrolling the streets. I got the impression it may have been more of a jolly for them than actual work though!

After our excursion into town, I went to see a film with some of the other assistants - Die nackte Wahrheit. It was a Romantic Comedy film, which probably wasn't aimed at my demographic to be honest, but it was OK. It beat typing up lesson plans hands down, and it was an evening out - a chance to practise hearing German quite intensively (i.e. without the ability to go Wie, bitte? when it gets too complex) after a day, where English was quite heavily spoken today!

Tomorrow, then, Pete, a friend from my uni course, who is studying presently in Strasbourg (or Strassburg to the locals) is coming to visit me here and to experience the Tag der Deutschen Einheit!

Saturday 3rd October

The Tag der Deutschen Einheit! So, Pete came up from Strasbourg and got here about half nine! Then we wandered around the town a bit, before having a better look at some of the stands that have been set up for it. We did this twice, as the first time was quite early and most of them were still setting up this morning. On the second trip round, we bumped into one of the other assistants and had a little chat; during which a random person stood beside us and tried to find out where in the UK we came from. Apparently Oxford is in the North East now! After that, we wandered over to my school, which wasn't too far away and had a drink at the cafe nearby. (Behind the church where Angie and the President had their church service in the morning.)

Angela Merkel's visit has caused a little controversy in Saarbruecken, because apparently it wasn't safe enough for her to walk around the stands and see what was available. This, I find quite surprising, when I consider the number of police officers that were in Saarbruecken yesterday. (About twice as many as on the Friday!) At the same time, I'm aware that a man has been arrested here in Germany over a terrorist threat made during the election. However, most Germans aren't quite sure where Saarbruecken is, I'm not overly concerned that any terrorist organisation will be any more certain!

After Pete returned to the land of snails and frogs-legs, I met up with some of the French Assistants, one of whom is working at my Gymnasium. We had a drinks, as a mass of Language Assistants and then about 2200 headed down to Tblisi Place for the Grand Finale of the celebrations. The concert itself was quite an eclectic mix of music, and dancing. There was Precious Wilson, who having looked on Wikipedia was a singer active between 1975 and 1993, who sang a few songs. There was quite a bit of dancing, by the MM Dancers from Berlin, during the gaps in between the other acts. Also playing we had a Korean opera singer, a choir from Berlin, an accordion and violin duet; but the night was really finished off by Chico and the Gypsies. They are musicians born in Morocco or Southern France, whose parents were Spanish and fled during the Civil War. They played quite a few songs, that everyone was able to sing along with, and really ended the evening on a high.

But, that wasn't the end! After the music had finished, there was a truly fantastic firework display, which seemed to correspond with some music being played; including the Marseillaise and, naturally, the European Hymn, Ode to Joy. You can see some of the official pictures of the finale here.

The concert finished about half eleven, so I wandered over to catch the last bus home, and got home about five past midnight. But, it was a fantastic evening, and although it's an annual event, I'm pleased to be able to say I was at the 2009 National Celebration of the Tag der Deutschen Einheit! Tomorrow, I've not got anything quite as exciting planned - packing for Altenberg, and tidying up a bit!

Sunday 4th October

So, this morning I had a rare lie in! When I did finally get up, I sorted out my packing for my trip to Altenberg tomorrow! After that I walked into town (the buses are hourly on Sunday, and about 5 minutes before I decided to leave!) to meet up with some of the French & English assistants. We had a wander through the main shopping street and around St. Johanner Markt and the town was more of a ghost town than it normally is on a Sunday - hardly anything was open, even in terms of cafes!

We did eventually find somewhere, and then I had a nice stroll with two of the French Assistants around Saarbruecken. We did quite a random circuit around the town, up to the Schloss, along to the road alongside it, and back again, down past my school, and over to find out where the Auslaenderamt is. Then we had a nice drink in the cafe across the road from where one of the French Assistant lives. So, all in all, a quiet day really here in Saarbruecken!

As I mentioned earlier I'm off on my Introductory course at Altenberg tomorrow. As there is very little Internet access, I won't be able to update this blog until I get back Thursday. But, rest assured, I shall write all about it then!

Chapter Three - The Third Week

Monday 21st September

So, back at the Ludwigsgymnasium today. Working with a whole variety of the lower school classes. Covering topics as interesting as London (which I've visited, err....about twice!), disciplining children, and the differences between American English and British English. (That one's quite easy to explain...British English is right, any other attempt version of English is simply wrong! [In case you were in any doubt, that was a tongue in cheek comment, not a comment that could be considered subversive to the American Government]).

I have been asked to prepare a lesson on London....that was my brief....so I can cover anything I want really. So, I opted for group work - I thought it would be a nice way to get them speaking English...and it could work, and if it does, it will work well...but it may not, and then it'll be about as spectacular a failure as Apollo 13.

I will, of course, write here how the lesson goes...if I survive!

Anmeldening (a slight anglicism of a German verb there - which will probably happen quite a lot throughout this blog) was put back a day, because of German work ethics - i.e. the office was closed! So, we'll brave this stage of German bureaucracy another day!

Met up with a couple of the other assistants in the afternoon, had a nice drink by the Saar and an in depth discussion about philosophy! (Which I fear I may have lost!)

Tuesday 22nd September

Today, only 2 lessons at the Gymnasium today - working with the sixth form again, although a different class than before. We had an interesting class discussion on the advantages/disadvantages of the recent reforms to the Abitur (A-Level equivalent) in Germany. During the debate, I featured as the expert on the English school system, and how it compares!

Then, I got promptly ripped off by the Hausmeister (Caretaker) for keys to get around the school. At least it's only a deposit - but €25 seems a bit steep for two keys to me, but at least I don't have to stand outside the staffroom anymore looking like a lost sheep! (A promotion from my rabbit impression, and yet another animal impression I'm perfecting - if I keeo going like this I will be able to imitate a zoo when I get back!).

After that, I returned to the Buergeramt (where you anmelden, rather than get a Big Mac), which was indeed open today! (Stage 1: Complete!). Once you get in, you take a number (rather like how it used to be at the Deli Counter in Sainsburys) and wait until your number flashes on the screen. Fine, except my number was 142; the number itself isn't a problem, I'm not superstitious, but the fact that when i got there, we were on number 119 meant I was in for a long wait. During this wait, which wasn't as long as it could have been because some people had given up waiting, so we shot through the 120s like there was no tomorrow, I engaged in people watching, and trying to guess what they might want! For the record, I don't know if I was right or not with the guesses, but it passed the time, in the absence of a book! Finally, number 142 flashes on the screen, and not wanting to appear to keen, I resisted to go "meep, meep" as I zoomed to desk number 5. At desk 5, I handed over the Mietvertrag, and my Passport - anmeldening is a relatively easy process I'd been told by others who have survived this trial. I was doing quite well, until she decided she wanted to know who actually owned the house I was living in...information I didn't bring (silly me, I know!). So she gave me a form, to take back and get signed....I had failed this stage of the anmeldening process. I got the same feeling as you imagine a professional computer gamer gets when he's 99% complete, and he sneezes and loses his last life and the words GAME OVER appear on the screen. So, I shall now have to retry this stage on Thursday, as they only do half days on Wednesdays, which unfortunately correspond with the same half of the day as I work (i.e. Mornings). So, I'll be back on Thursday to brave it again...

As I was waiting for my bus to take me home, I was spotted by some of my fellow assistants, so we had a drink together, and then we all went shopping. Conveniently for me, 2 cheap supermarkets are all very easily reachable by bus for me. Although the 63 (yes, SIXTY-THREE) steps to my road from the bus stop, really reminded my feet to take up their militant stance again. I took the Neville Chamberlain approach, and spoke firmly to them, until I got home, when I almost immediately appeased them!

Wednesday 23^rd September

Today I discovered why I like being an assistant. I started work at 08.10, which is early, and had meant getting up at 6. This, I might add, is not a clear advantage of doing an assistantship over the other Year Abroad options. However, I had finished work by about 09.50. Yes, that’s 1 hour and 40 minutes of work today. My 2 lessons consisted of working with a small group this morning talking about food, and then with my second lesson working with some 10-11 year olds practising numbers up to 100, and days of the week. The small group were really hard working, and we’d finished all the set work with 15 minutes to spare; which meant that I needed to find something else to do...games! So we played a game where they had to take it in turns to add things to a shopping list, whilst remembering everything that had gone before them. My second lesson was spent in competition…not with the teacher, not even with the pupils, but with the Tree Surgeon, who had decided to be cutting down trees outside the room today! We got there in the end though! We did some drilling work (not Changing Rooms style) on the days of the week, then had a numbers quiz. Alas, this early finishing will not be a recurring event; as of next week I agreed to provide extra classes for the Oberstufe at the Ludwigsgymnasium on Monday and Wednesday afternoons from now on (in Period 9, which runs from 1515 until 1615).

So, what to do after I’d finished at work today…well, I opted to go into town and have a coffee and read my book! I found a nice café in the main shopping street, where by chance, there was a cellist and a clarinet player playing some fantastic music together…this is definitely the life! Anyway, after a couple of coffees, and a hundred or so pages of my book, I needed to do some shopping. I needed to get a new bag, as mine had broken – that, I thought, shouldn’t be an overtly difficult request. In a similar vein to several other times that week, I was wrong…I objected to paying €88 for a backpack (not even a hiking/camping big backpack…like a normal backpack). I was nearly resigned to having to walk around with my bag on one shoulder for the next few weeks, when I was wandering down a quiet side street, where there was an emporium that was in the midst of a closing down sale. They had some bags for sale, so in I went, and a few minutes later, I had accomplished my mission!

On top of this already near perfect day, I was able to catch up with my landlady, who was able to /sign the necessary paperwork so that I can go and anmelden at the Buergeramt tomorrow (although I shall try not to jinx it, by counting my chickens). I’m trying to decide whether it would be worth picking up a number on my way to work tomorrow morning, and then I won’t have too long after work tomorrow! Another short day tomorrow, only 4 lessons!

The weather, by the way, is still fantastic, and I’m slightly annoyed at myself for bringing hat, scarf, gloves and a thick winter coat, but no shorts!

Thursday 24^th September

So, back at the Gesamtschule for my 4 lessons today. They went OK, the first lesson was spent overseeing a class doing a test, which was a chance for some peace and quiet (slightly necessary after my early wake-up call!). Some of the kids found it easy and were finished really quickly, and others really struggled. Unfortunately the classes are not set at the Gesamtschule, which means that there are children of all abilities in the same class; thus either some get left behind, or some get bored! My second lesson was with Stefan, the Schuldirektor, I say with, that’s probably an exaggeration. He took two-thirds of the class away to get their new textbooks, so I was left with 10, very nice, pupils reading me their homeworks about their school. During the break Stefan and I had an interesting discussion; mainly revolving around 2 of his major interests; schools, and beer. Following this discussion, I was invited to the Teamsitz, which is basically a staff meeting for all the teachers at the school. More about the meeting later…

After I’d finished at the school (about 11.15) today, I decided I would brave the Buergeramt again! This time, as for Tuesday, my number and the number on the board seemed so far away! Luckily the time passed relatively quickly, and off I trotted to Desk 17. At Desk 17 sat a friendly chap, who looked genuinely delighted when I told him I wanted to anmelden. (although, I have a suspicion it could have been my German accent he could have been smiling about – it wouldn’t have been the first time!). With regards to the form I received on Tuesday, it wasn’t really a worthwhile task getting it filled out, the amount of attention he paid to it. Still, after we’d got around the question of my nationality (he seemed under the impression that because my passport says on the front “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” that I was from Belfast), still I eventually managed to convince him that I was from England – at which point he put down my hometown as London…having been exhausted mentally and linguistically from the previous discussion, I settled to accept that, in the eyes of the Saarbruecken Buergeramt, I am now a Londoner. That was it, or so I thought…I’m now required to arrange an appointment with the Auslaenderamt to get hold of an Ausweis (effectively an ID card). Still, it’s all part of the fun!

So, after successfully letting the German authorities know where I’m living, I returned to the school for the staff meeting. What Stefan had failed to mention was that the meeting was not at the school itself…it was, instead, at a pub, which finds itself in a secluded part of the woods near to Saarbruecken. We had the formal part of the meeting (albeit suitably lubricated with drinks), and this was then followed by a Saarland tradition of cooking meat by grilling it on a swinging grid. All in all though, a very pleasant afternoon, and much better than I had originally planned (i.e. nothing)! Also, I was told by Stefan I could go to Metz next Thursday on the Gesamtschule’s Kollegiumsausflug – so next week is looking up! (Not to mention Oktoberfest, and the National Celebration of the Day of German Unity being celebrated in Saarbruecken all coming up soon!)

Friday 25th September

I got up late today, so was at a bit of a loss as to what to do today. So, I thought it was about time I did the "touristy" thing in Saarbruecken today. So, with that in mind, I trotted off to town with my camera. I spent this morning, then, walking around the town taking pictures of anything vaguely interesting! Then, after lunch I went back to Sarreguemines, to have a better look round. There's more to it than meets the eye; it seems to go on for ages! It's, as I said previously, a pretty, typical French town.

The sun is still shining and the temperatures have been around 18-20 during the day, so in an atypically British manner, I shan't complain about the weather - long may it continue!

Tomorrow, is a day in Merzig beckoning with some of the other assistants here. There's some sort of festival going on there, so it should be a nice day!

Saturday 25th September

So, today was the day we went to Merzig. Merzig is a smallish town about 30 minutes away from Saarbruecken on the train. Merzig are enjoying their Oktoberfest for a week this week, but today is a special day there - today was the Viezfest (Cider Festival); which, being from the Westcountry I would be betraying my roots if I didn't attend! Three of the assistants were let loose in Merzig, exploring and savouring the smells and sounds of the festival. I think it's worth adding that Lederhosen are definitely not a thing of German mythology; they were alive and well today in Merzig. As was the typical German dress for women. After wandering through Merzig for a bit, we thought we'd just wander along a random road for a bit, and see where we ended up! As it happens, we followed a road up a hill, around a couple of very nasty bends to a chapel on the hill; from where it was possible to have a fantastic view of the Saartal (Saar Valley)...it's a difficult view to put into words, so I shall try and add the photos to this blog!

Today was my first use of the Deutsche Bahn network - I was very impressed, and enjoyed being able to sit upstairs (which is a novelty, which may take a while to wear thin!). It follows the stereotype, but if the timetable says the train leaves at 11.05, then it leaves at 11.05! I think the managers of First Group could do with a working trip out here, there's a lot they could learn from the Germans!

The Saar from the hill in Merzig

A view of the skyline from the Chapel on the Hill at Merzig

Sunday 27th September

Today is election day in Germany. This has been described by some journalists as the most boring election campaign in Germany for years, many people had predicted that Angela Merkel would remain as Chancellor, but that her coalition with the Social Democrats would be abolished. Looking at the news this morning, they were right! Angela Merkel has vowed to continue her work as Chancellor to guide Germany through these troubled economic times, and has also undertaken to start talks swiftly with the leader of the FDP (Liberal party) about forming a coalition, which would give them 48% of the seats in the Bundestag. Not quite a majority, but sufficiently large to still be successful in their tasks.

Anyway, that's enough of the election! Today, I went on a boat trip along the Saar, which was fantastic. There was a commentary, and there were many things that you wouldn't see by walking along the side of it. There are even turtles in the Saar, I know because I saw one! There are about 5/6 turtles measuring about 30cm in length which are visible throughout the summer months every year. There were a couple of herons on the trip too, and quite a few ducks (funnily enough!). The weather was fantastic, which seems to be the norm at the moment here! Looking at the ever resourceful Wikipedia, it claims that we should have about 67mm of rain (that's about 2 1/2 inches) during the month of September, although I've yet to see anywhere near as much as that!

So that was the end of week three, already I can feel my German has improved, certainly my ability to understand it, as well as my confidence in having to speak it! A few people in one of my classes at the Gesamtschule were convinced I was actually really German, and just pretending to be from England - which I took as a compliment!

Chapter Two - My Second Week

So, here comes Week Two, this one ought probably to be shorter than the last one, but we shall see how it develops!

Saturday 12th September

Today was quite an exciting and novel day for me. I was able to leave the country by walking only 20 metres. How so, I hear you ask. (well obviously I can't, but I'm presuming that you want to know...if I'm wrong, then skip onto Sunday and don't bother with this entry!) Directly outside my door is a tram stop...so what, well this tram service is a bit special. It runs to France, it actually leaves Germany, and crosses the frontier. For a reasonable fee, it's possible to travel to a town in the Lorraine (57) region of France called Sarreguemines. The journey itself is not overly different to being on a normal train when you get out of Saarbruecken's city centre, and you're not stopping every 200 metres. It runs parallel to the Saar most of the way, which is nice. The tram arrives into the main Gare at Sarreguemines, from where it is possible to catch trains to Strasbourg amongst other places.

Sarreguemines itself is a nice French town, but with clear German influences in places (this area of France has throughout its history been hotly contested by the two nations). It has a nice collection of typically French shops (i.e. cafes, tabacs, bakeries, hairdressers, oh and banks!). This wasn't really a long visit, I thought I'd save it as a place to come back and visit, perhaps over a whole day. I also wanted to explore some of the other places on the tram-line back to Saarbruecken.

So, after a brief stroll around this town, I caught the tram back to Kleinblittersdorf, a small German on the bank of the Saar. When you get off at the station, it is possible to cross over the Saar and pass into a French village, with a slightly unusual (i.e. not typically French) name: Grossblitterstroff. A true example of the way the local dialect works. Anyway, it was a nice day, so I thought I'd explore this quirky French village, partake in a little coffee from one of the inevitably many cafes in the village....erm....I was slightly wrong. Grossblitterstroff is perfect if you want your barnet looked at; I counted 4 hairdressers, cafes; there was one, and it was closed! How a French cafe could be closed on a Saturday afternoon, I'll never know...but it was a little inconvenient to say the least. Having quashed my main purpose for looking around the village, I returned to the tram station, where I found I would have to wait a mere 54 minutes for a tram...not having a huge amount of patience/nor a good book on me...I had a Top Gear moment. I thought I'd walk back to Saarbruecken, after all, how hard can it be!?!

Well, it turns out, it was slightly further than I'd thought. I followed the path along the bank of the Saar, which also doubled as a cyclepath (judging by the number of disgusted looks I received, I guess it was probably a cyclepath, which the cyclists had been forced to share it with us homosapiens who don't possess a mechanical contraption for movement). Anyway, I walked for a bit, and after a couple of hours, I resigned myself to having a beer at the next available watering hole....I mean I was back in Germany by now, reputedly Europe's biggest beer drinkers, so how far would it be...not too far obviously! Erm....I may have been wrong again...it was another 4 km I walked before I found a biergarten! Now, I'd walked about 8.5 km from Grossblitterstroff to a suburb of Saarbruecken called Duedingen. I was quite proud of this walk, so I thought I'd sit down and take the wait off, before finishing the last 6 km or so into town....this was another misjudgement...as soon as I sat down, my feet began to let my brain know they had adopted a French mindset, and had gone on strike! After refuelling (i.e. finishing my beer), I decided that I would walk a little further (500m to be precise) to the tram station, from where I caught the next available tram, and then just about managed to hobble the last few metres from the tram stop to my room....although I regretted that it was on the 1st floor quite a lot!

When I got back to my room, I did the diplomatic thing, and gave into my complaining feet, and pretty much got into bed, and stayed there all evening!

Sunday 13th September

Today is a Sunday (obvious I know, but it sets up the rest of the sentence, so bear with it!), and in Saarbruecken 99% of everything shuts on Sunday. Indeed the only places I've found that open here are cafes. So not wanting to be a boring recluse, I thought I would meet up with our newest arrival, and show her around Saarbruecken a bit. It was a nice day, so we started with coffee in the St. Johanner Markt, which I'm sure is compulsory on Sunday's! Then we followed a similar tour to that which Sabine had taken me. Then we thought we'd just keep walking, and we tried to find one of her schools. We found the road it was in, so then we walked and talked about anything and everything that came to mind. We walked back through the suburbs, which went from being normal "middle class" houses, through to an area, which it could be suggested had problems with unemployment, and high numbers of immigrants....how can we tell....because in advance of the pending Budestagswaehl in Germany, there were only NPD posters up in this area that hadn't been vandalised at all! But it was nice (if that's the right word), to see a different face to the city. After that, we went home and braced ourselves for our forthcoming weeks at school!

Monday 14th September

Today, I worked with some of the other English teachers; each has their own style and rapport with the pupils, and it's nice watching and sometimes participating in the classes too. Today was spent working primarily with the lower years at the school, which is nice, because they often ask the questions which are the most difficult to answer on the spot. "Why am I here?", "Why did you bother learning a language, everyone else speaks English anyway?" and some more quirky ones..."What colour's your favourite shirt!?!", "What's your phone number?". But I'm really impressed at their grasp and standard of English, sometimes they just need coaxing but with a little bit of work, they'll all be talking away in English before long.....just you wait!

After school, which I finished early today, I went back to Sarreguemines today...not for the same hike as the previous day, I went to see what was in the town centre, but I got distracted by boxes of books for sale. I'm really a sucker for books, particularly French ones...so I came away €3 lighter, but with 5 books to peruse. Two about learning English & German (albeit in French, but potentially useful too), Le Petit Prince (just because I've heard it mentioned a lot, and thought I probably ought to make an effort to read it), 20,000 leagues under the sea (simply so I can see what this whole pride in Jules Verne is all about!), and Le Proces by Kafka (so I could pretend to cultured really, but I'll still read it, and probably find it just as difficult to get my head round!). So, with my backpack loaded up again, I went home and set about deciding which one I should read first - settled on Le Petit Prince (it had pictures to go with it!) and I'm finding it quite good actually!

Tuesday 15th September

Today, I worked with the Oberstufe (Sixth Form equivalent) English classes today, and was again blown away by not only their level of English ability, but their really intelligent and well-thought out arguments! We were discussing immigration, and some of them were able to give real-life experiences, they were able to discount the political propaganda being thrust upon them, they gave me some really intelligent suggestions about how the problems could start to be resolved.

It's days like this, that remind me why I want to teach!

Wednesday 16th September

Today was my first proper day at the Gesamtschule in Ludwigspark. I spent the first lesson with my Betreuungslehrerin observing her in a cover lesson with a 7. Klasse (Year 8 equivalent), which was quite an interesting experience. The lesson was spent with the students doing colouring by numbers exercises to practise new vocab learnt. Then I observed a German lesson, as there was no English lesson being undertaken at this time. It was nice to see German being taught as a 1st Language - they were doing the basics of summarising a text about a local wolf sanctuary. I spent my 3rd and last lesson of the day, with the Schuldirektor covering another English lesson with the class from my first lesson. It was also interesting to note that there was little difference in how the children behaved for the Headteacher than the other English teacher. During this lesson, we carried out a quick name eliciting exercise, whereby I took half the class, and asked their name and where they were from....of the 17 or so children I asked....3, yes three, were native Germans. All of the others had an immigrant background of some description, which perhaps goes some way to explaining why the children are less likely to pay attention in English lessons - simply because it's too hard for them to learn another language on top of the German they've already had to learn. So my first impression of the Gesamtschule is that it will be more of a challenge, but I like a challenge, and it'll be a rewarding year hopefully, watching them learn and progress on with their languages.

Thursday 17th September

Back at the Gesamtschule today, where I had to take a cover lesson on my own (you know, the one thing the British Council say you shouldn't be asked to do) but it went OK really. As expected the class pushed the boundaries, but I like to think we came to a certain understanding! Apart from that little shock, the day itself passed without incident really!

Friday 18th September

Today was the day of the Kollegiumsausflug from the Ludwigsgymnasium, where we went for a 10km walk around a (very old) disused quarry about 40 km outside of Saarbruecken. There would have been some fantastic views, had the weather been less cloudy, but it was nice to be able to get to know some of the other teachers better, and for them to get to know me as well. I'm not sure of the educational benefits for the pupils of the teachers effectively going on a jolly for a day, but hey, as a member of staff, it was a fantastic day, which hopefully will start to catch on in the UK, although i doubt it will! After the walk, during which I mainly spent the time talking to one of the English teachers who was an assistant in Bristol, and so had some knowledge of the area, we had a nice buffet lunch. It was a generally fantastic day, and one which I thoroughly enjoyed. I should point out that my militant socialist feet were again protesting in the evening, but it was just tough!

Saturday 19th September

Today I moved! :-) This is fantastic for me...I'm moving out of my very expensive temporary solution into a much cheaper room, in quite a posh area of the city. The house is on a one way street, with no tram in sight, which means I sleep like a baby (although without my thumb in my mouth, nor the baby alarm). It's got TV too, which although not compulsory is a fantastic luxury, which I've not had until now! So, generally chuffed with it! Thanks should also go to Sabine, without whose help, I would have had to trek my stuff across town using public transport, which would have taken, err, all day, and most of the evening too! My only small complaint is that the militant wing from my feet, have now passed to my arms, where I pulled a muscle....but I'll get over it!

Sunday, 20th September

Finally, the end of the week! Today, I met up with some of the other assistants again, we had lunch together, and then we went for a stroll up by the Saar, and then ambled back again. Made a very nice afternoon of it!

Just as an afterthought

I thought I would live up to the stereotype here and give you a brief update on the weather here...It has rained about twice seen I've been here, mainly at night, although I did get a little bit rained on one day...other than that, it generally very cold in the morning meaning I dress warm, and then when I finish at school about lunchtime...the sun is beating down, and it's then a fantastic day!

Chapter One - The first week

So, here we go, time for me to explain what's happened since I arrived! Probably easiest to do this in the form of a diary! (Also, this will make it much easier for me, when it comes to writing my reports for uni about what I've done!)

Friday 4th September

Today's the day I leave home for the first time properly, albeit at half 6 in the morning (meaning I was only half awake at the time!). Then began the drive to Dover, which went surprisingly well! (All the accidents on the M4 and M25 happened behind us!) We arrived in plenty of time to catch the ferry on which we were booked at 1200, but with a bit of asking nicely Norfolk Line agreed to put us on the ferry before, which left about half an hour later. The ferry crossing itself was reasonably uneventful - I spent two hours reading my book and drinking coffee, psyching myself up for the long drive the other side.

When we arrived in Dunkerque, it was my turn to take the wheel for the long haul part of the journey to Saarbruecken. If you draw an imaginary straight line between Dunkerque and Saarbruecken, then avoid it, that was the way we came - I've never been in so many European countries as on that day! We drove through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and then back into France again, where the hotel was! Hooray for the Schengen Agreement! (We drove past Schengen actually!) The drive itself was relatively stress free, apart from the Stau we sat in as we crossed into Germany for an hour because they'd closed the motorway! Poor TomTom couldn't cope! Then we checked into the Hotel F1 about 15km outside of Saarbruecken, and slept in advance of an exciting and interesting day ahead!

Saturday 5th September

So, this was it, my first proper visit to Germany ever (the previous day didn't really count!). Had a few things to do on this day, the first was that we had arranged to go and see a room at 11am, which I was led to believe was one of many this particular woman had available to rent. However, it turned out she only had one room, and that it wasn't her decision about whether I could have it or not; it was the decision of the other people in the flat. On top of that, the room wasn't available until the 1st October. It's worth pointing out, at this juncture, that whilst the schools had not found me anywhere specific, one of my mentor teachers had offered me a room at her house, if I couldn't find anywhere else! So, rather disheartened and let down - we thought we'd go and have a look around Saarbruecken, which was at first glance an OK city (although we didn't really take the time to look on the Saturday!), then after we'd had a short look down the main street (which I know now is called Bahnhofstrasse) we returned to France to do some shopping at the E. Leclerc across the road from the hotel. After all that, we returned to the hotel for a sleep, and hopefully a better following day!

Sunday 6th September

Sunday was set to be a hectic day. I was meeting mentor teachers from both schools (the Ludwigsgymnasium and the Gesamtschule in Ludwigspark) at 10. We had, luckily found the place the day before, so we knew roughly where we were going! After having a coffee, we embarked on a tour with one of my Mentor Teachers from the Ludwigsgymnasium, Sabine Kackert, who showed us some of the more historical and cultural parts of Saarbruecken, as well as giving me the lowdown on the school itself, how the English lessons worked, and how she perceived my role to work. After the tour, we had another walk around Saarbruecken, listened to some live music by the Staatstheater and then went back to the woman from the previous day who had a room I could rent (by the day) until I found somewhere less expensive! After moving in, no mean feat in itself, as I'd brought sooooooooooo much stuff with me (all of it essential, absolutely!) we went for what my Dad ominously termed the "Last Supper"; ooh, did I feel positive then or what! ;-) We had a nice meal in a cafe/bar/restaurant in the St. Johanner Markt in SB, before we returned to my room, and said our farewells.

Then, I was all alone, in the big, wild world that is Saarbruecken...(cue dramatic music)

Monday 7th September

My first day at school! (well, not exactly; I have been to school before, but you get what I mean!) Today I was shadowing my other Mentor Teacher at the Ludwigsgymnasium, Thomas Gross, who was very friendly and welcoming. We met the Schuldirektor, Dr. Heinz Paulus, who teaches English, French and Spanish! After that Thomas introduced me to some of the English teachers, and the rest of the staff in the staffroom. Although I'm sure I spent most of the time looking like a rabbit caught in headlights, just nodding and saying "ja" quite a lot. (Incidentally in Saarland they tend to say "jo" instead of "ja", along with "Meue" instead of (Guten) Morgen or Moin). After my brief meeting with my colleagues for the next nine months, I followed 3 of Thomas' lessons, and one of Rainer Andler's lessons. Both lessons were carried out in slightly different ways, although they all used music in some way to illustrate a point, or to practise specific language! After the lessons, I agreed to meet Thomas again in the afternoon, when we would go and open a bank account.

When I got back to the school, it was a short walk to the bank, and the process of opening the account in itself was much more painless than I imagined it might be! It was all done within about 30 minutes, which left me the afternoon to explore more of Saarbruecken on foot!

Tuesday 8th September

Tuesday was my second, and last day, of the week at Ludwigsgymnasium, and on this day I followed my other Mentor Teacher, Sabine, for her lessons, which again used music in some way. Also, I was set my first homework during this period too! I had to prepare to discuss the topic of Immigration with the Oberstufe, who, for the first time ever, have to do formal oral exams in languages! I finished early at the school today, as Sabine had free lessons, so I used the opportunity to meet up with another English Assistant, and begin the process of registering at the uni as foreign students. This, I thought, would be a 1 day 'in-and-out' job; how wrong I was!

The trip up to the uni itself isn't too bad, about 15 minutes on the bus, which is about the same as Bath to be honest. When you get to the uni, it's relatively easy to find the building in which the Akademische Auslaendersamt is situated, however, when you go in the building you are left to your own devices. We do eventually find it, although it's a wonder there aren't assistants/students from last year still searching the building for it! At the office, they then basically agree to take us on as students, (which we're only doing to get free travel around Saarland, and access to the library and other uni facilities). They then give us a list of things to do/bring with us the next day. So, back into town we go, off to pay €137 at the bank for uni registration for 1 semester. That was pretty much it for Tuesday!

Wednesday 9th September

Wednesday was the first day at my other school, the Gesamtschule in Ludwigspark. I was told on Sunday to report to the Schuldirektor at 9.30 on Wednesday morning and he would sort me out! So, getting there nice and early, (we've all heard the stereotype about German's disliking tardiness) I set about asking the first person I saw where his office was....fine.....but the first person I saw was the Hausmeister, who seemed to recognise what I was saying as German, but felt the need to respond in a thick Saarlandisch dialect (which can sometimes feel as foreign as welsh, although I'm assured it's not really that hard!). After giving him my best rabbit in headlights impression (I'd had a couple of days to perfect it by now!) He eventually took me there. Now comes a dilemma.....what to do.....do you:

a) Wait until 9.30 when he should come and out and meet me?

b) Knock on his door and tell him you're there?

c) Knock on his door and just walk in?

d) A mixture of all of the above?

I opted for D...I waited until about 9.35, after watching the way other teachers handled this dilemma - they all opted for C, but I thought I'd go for B after I'd done A for a bit...but there was no answer....so I bit the bullet and went for C. Surprisingly this seemed expected, and he wasn't at all put out by this! When I told him who I was, he had a bit of a head in hands moment, as he'd forgotten I was coming. Not to worry, he gave me a quick tour of the school, and I was walking home half an hour later!

So, after the short spell at school, I returned to the Uni for stage 2....

Having paid the money into the uni's bank account, and collected the various things I needed to take with me...I headed up to the International Office to collect some more bits of paperwork to take to the registration office. At the registration office, they registered me on a course of Romanisitic Studies (it had lots of places, and it's not expected for me to attend!). Ah, I'd cracked it I thought...when do I get my uni card/bus pass? Alas, not until the next day....ah, well....I was beginning to enjoy the bus ride to the uni anyway!

Thursday 10th September

Another short day at the school, 1 lesson observed, the children were of mixed ability, with some very keen and able, and others who were less of both. I've been reliably informed though that the students do seem to have improved since our first meeting, which can only be a good thing right!?!

The afternoon was devoted to another trip up to the uni, me and bus route 124 are getting to know each other quite well it would seem. Finally, I got my bus pass today, although after being given all your paperwork back, you then have to go to another office where they print your card, and you then validate it in the machine. Then I realised my pass isn't valid until the 1st October. Oh well, it did seem too good to be true! So, until then I'm limited really to Saarbruecken, and some of the small towns surrounding it (although more on those to come later!)

Friday 11th September

Today, I met up with some of the other assistants in Saarbruecken, there's probably about a dozen altogether in Saarland, and about 6 in Saarbruecken itself. We had a coffee, followed by a walk along the Saar, followed by an afternoon spent on Saarbruecken's fake beach (rather like Paris' attempt, but the river seems somewhat cleaner than the Seine!) having a few beers (when in Rome and all that!).

There endeth week one really, there's more to follow, but for now, it's time for bed!

So, the important questions first...

What?

As I'm doing a degree in Modern Languages & European Studies, I have to spend a year of my studies abroad. Thus making my Bachelor's course 4 years, instead of the usual 3. For my Year Abroad, I'm spending the year working as a Language Assistant in a Gymnasium (Grammar School) and a Gesamtschule (Comprehensive School) in Saarbruecken.

Where?

Saarbruecken (or Saarbrücken if you've got a keyboard with a number pad) is a smallish city in the Saarland. Saarland is one of the smallest Bundeslaender in Germany, and has a history steeped in confusion over its identity. The Saarland has a unique history within Germany, seeing as it has been controlled by both Germany, France, then Germany again, then Independent (although with leanings towards France), then back to Germany again. So, are the Saarlaender German or French.....err...neither, they're Saarlaender, obviously!

Why?

Why Saarbruecken?

I chose Saarbruecken for several reasons. The primary reason is that I can go to France on a regular basis and practise my French while I'm here. Another reason was that when I told people I was thinking of coming here, they all sort of went, "where?" - and I like going to those sorts of places, which people haven't heard of and making them my own!

Why being an assistant?

That's a much easier question! In the future I want to teach Languages in a secondary school in the UK, thus being out here will give me more school experience (always helpful!), as well as allowing me to contrast the different teaching methods and school systems. Also, I get the school holidays off, and also finish at about lunchtime (win-win situation!)

So that's the basics covered....now let's move on to the story!