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 23rd 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 24th 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
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!
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