Sunday, March 14, 2010

Chapter 26 - Nearly the holidays again!

Monday 8th - Sunday 14th March

So, this time I decided I would be more punctual, and I'm actually writing this in a computer room at school on Wednesday. This means that I won't have so much to write on Sunday! As the title suggests, it is nearly the holidays again - I only have one week left of school before my Easter holidays. The school holidays start in two weeks, but I'm going to spend a week with Christin, my German assistant from when I was at school (some three years ago now!), before I go (or come, depending on where you're reading this) home to good ol' blighty!

So far, this week has been pretty average. Monday was a busy day with a whole two lessons, and little else! Tuesday was somewhat more manic at the Gesamtschule, I had to take two cover lessons for the Schuldirektor (one of which I was prepared for, the other was sprung on me with the worst class (not ability-wise, but behaviour-wise)). With the unexpected, and as such unplanned, class I came to an agreement which, whilst not being the most condusive to learning English, meant that I could do English with some of the class, because otherwise, put simply, nothing gets done, except the hoarsening of my voice! So the compromise/agreement we came to was that they could either do their homework or play English games. This actually seemed to work, because they were aware that if they didn't do either they'd be copying out the Hausordnung (Code of Conduct/School Rules) at least 3 times.

Tuesday afternoon I had quite a bit planned - well two things really - meeting up with my tandem partner (with whom I practise my German, and she practises her English), and a private lesson. As is usual, these plans fell through within about five minutes of each other. The others had planned an afternoon in Völklingen, so I thought I would join them there. We had all intended to climb up to the top of the steelworks to enjoy the view - instead we got distracted by an interesting exhibition about the brain, memory and senses. It was quite interesting, and not what I expected. I had to leave Voelklingen just before the others went up the steelworks because my private lesson had been re-arranged for later in the evening.


So, here we are on Wednesday, which presently appears to be pretty standard - normal school lessons, normal weather, and even the buses are running normally punctual! We shall see if anything exciting develops, and I'll add it on Sunday!


Where was I? It's now Sunday, and I'm writing this at on my bed, after having watched the Bahrain Grand Prix on RTL and a few episodes of Yes, Minister too! So, what happened between Wednesday and now? Not a huge amount; a few things, but not a lot particularly exciting!

Wednesday evening I went out with Esther, and as usual, it went on longer than foreseen, i.e. we met about 3.30 and I caught the last bus of the night home again at 00.17 Thursday morning. Somehow though, I felt better after having less sleep than normal, and was fresher and more alert in the morning. That said, this is not a method I plan on introducing on too regular a basis! Friday was not an overly exciting day, I did the washing, I wrote some more of my essay, and I watched a bit of TV, that was pretty much it really! Saturday involved a pretty lazy morning, and then meeting Harriet in town in the afternoon for a drink! Sunday, as I said previously, has been spent watching the Bahrain Grand Prix on RTL, in German, which was interesting - but there's so many new teams, it took a while to get my head around it!


What does next week hold? My last week of school before Easter, and the preparations for my trip to Jena; at the moment, not a huge amount is planned - but we shall see what develops!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Chapter 25 - Two for One!

Monday 22nd February - Sunday 7th March

As the title suggests, this entry is rather like a supermarket promotion. You're getting two weeks worth of blog for the price of one entry! The simple reason for this is, as usual, I forgot! Luckily, I didn't do too much over these past couple of weeks; so this shouldn't be too long a read for you!


So, where did we leave the story? I'd just returned from Berlin, where I had a fantastic half-term. The first week back at school entailed a massive timetable upheaval (in that I swapped the days I worked at the schools), but once I'd got my head round it, it was a doddle! This half-year's timetable isn't quite as student friendly as the last one - I have 1 early start, and 3 starts in lesson 2. This means more early mornings, but as always, there is a plus side - I finish work by the fourth lesson on every day! 


The rest of the first week was pretty much spent chasing my tail, trying to catch up on planning my lessons for my private students, and preparing for a project on addiction at the Gymnasium. 


On Wednesday of the first week, we all headed out to Saarlouis to have dinner with Jenny, one of the assistants, who was leaving at the weekend to begin her next half-year placement in Paris. We went to a nice italian restaurant, and it was a very good evening. It was only slightly dampened by the driver of Bus 404 who decided that it was perfectly to stop at the Bus Station (not just any bus stop) for a mere 5 seconds, and then to drive off like a maniac despite the group of people running for his bus. Still, I got the chance to practise my complaining skills in German - and, touch wood, they seem to have been relatively successful.


On Saturday we saw sunshine - real unhidden, unblemished sunshine - it was really there! I could hardly believe it! Still, I soon realised that the appearance of the sun had had a similar effect on most other people. I went in to town to meet up with the others, and found that every man, woman, child, and all their dogs were in town enjoying the sun, and clogging up the main street. On Saturday, we organised our future weekend trips away, and we decided upon: Munich, Freiburg/Basel, and Lille. So keep your eye's peeled for those, although they're not until after the Easter holidays, which are remarkably close! Then we ended up stuck in Sarreguemines because Saarbahn decided that les Francais don't need a half-hourly service after 16.00 to Saarbruecken! 


That was a brief summary of what I did duringg the first week - I may have done more, but nothing particularly memorable!


The second week, on the face of it, has a similar level of excitingness (I may have created this word, but can't be bothered to check!). The schooldays themselves were pretty normal except for Wednesday. 


Wednesday saw the beginning of the 10. Klasse (Year 11) English project on addictions. This meant I had a full day of lessons (Periods 1-6), which is something almost unheard of for me. Never mind, though, I managed to cope! The students spent the whole day working on a mini-presentation on the topic of Alcholism, through which we guided them, and gave them support/advice. They now have to work on a series of other addictions over the next two weeks and produce some sort of handout, presentation and vocab sheet, which will help prepare them for their exam, as well as providing useful presenting skills - which, as anyone who has been through second year at Bath will know, are vital!


Friday was the other interesting day of this week - a trip to Heidelberg. Firstly, let me make reference to the weather; it was a fresh day (i.e. not terribly warm), but the sun was shining and that made all the difference. Looking at the weather forecast for Saarbruecken when I write this tells me that it's going to get down to -11 tonight - I may have to dig out the thick coat again! Anyway, back to Heidelberg, it is a very pretty city, especially the Old Town area, and the views from the Castle on the side of the valley are just fantastic. You could really see for kilometres (or miles if you refuse to me metricised!). 


The weekend was used, sort of, to do household chores - i.e. cleaning up my room, doing the washing, and cleaning the bathroom - I know how to live!


Back to the topic of weather, it has snowed again - now I though we had got past the snow, but it would appear not. I'm a little sick of the white stuff, and have developed a nervous twitch in my fist when someone says "isn't it pretty/fun?".


At present, next week doesn't seem to be too interesting at the moment, but I'll see what I can do! We shall see!