Challenges facing a returning Brit after four months away!
So, there was a lot of stuff explained to us before we came out here by the the Lecturers at Bath about cultural awareness, and how life in Germany may be different from life in the UK. Now, it's my turn to return the gesture, and explain the challenges that are facing me, and my fellow assistants on our return to our home country!
The first, and certainly most dangerous, cultural difference between Germany and the UK, is that when you cross a road in Germany you look left first...I'll give you a couple more minutes to think it through before nodding to yourself in agreement......whereas, because in the UK we drive on the left, you look right before you cross. Now, when you're at home you don't give it a second thought, but for about the first two weeks over here, you have to force yourself to think "Look Left, you muppet"...based on this cultural difference alone, I would like to apologise if there are no further blog entries on this blog - it will have been because I will have been killed by the UK being different to the majority of mainland Europe!
Secondly, and this is only applicable if you live outside of London in the UK. All buses over here have a door at the front (as do they at home I know, I'm not dense), but over here that door serves as an entrance only, with a door in the middle of the bus as an exit. Now, it's only a matter of time before I get on a bus at home, press the buzzer, get out of my seat and walk back towards the middle of the bus, before attempting to make it look planned and not like I was being a bit dim. This cultural difference isn't dangerous, but seriously runs the risk of damaging your pride!
During my time over here, you may have noticed that I socialise quite regularly with other English assistants. During these meetings, it's true that we speak 99% of the time in English. This does not however mean that our German suffers, in fact if we didn't speak in English, our English standard would diminish substantially over the time we were out here. Indeed, presently, my English is at a lower standard than when I left...I quite often find my saying English sentences using German word order, which is nowhere near similar for you non-Germanists! Not only has my English proficiency decreased, we, as assistants, have developped our own take on English. We, invariably, interject English sentences with random German words - not out of any attempt at humour...it just seemed to develop out of nowhere. One example of this is that I would find it difficult to say: "We'll meet at the train station"...instead, you're more likely to hear "We'll meet at the [Haupt]Bahnhof" cross my lips - now over hear with other fellow Germanists that's not a problem - we all understand each other, but at home...this could be a problem...I could end up looking a twit!
On the subject of language, I would like to comment on a similar issue. When we, as assistants, do go out together, we find it very easy to pick up on each others' mistakes in English - but we all make similarly stupid mistakes. It is not uncommon for me not to now the English word for common everyday items anymore, but to be able to tell you what it is in German without too much hesitation! This means, that despite English being my Mother Tongue, I may appear as a bit of a foreigner, or just a moron, on my return - if I do, please bear with me...I will get there...it might take a minute or two though!
Another, quite obvious, point is that in Germany the currency is the Euro (€). Now this, in itself, is not too big a problem, you get used to that. But the biggest difference between the Euro and Sterling is the coinage - why, oh why, is Sterling coinage ridiculous shapes? What's wrong with having round coins? I am now at the stage, where I'm recognising the coins by their size in my pocket without having to look. So what I hear you ask? Well, during the holidays I'll be working in a supermarket; and if I'm put on the tills, I'm going to spend the first few minutes just looking at the coins in puzzlement! So, if you see me at the till, and you're paying cash - choose another till!
The final cultural difference, which springs to mind, on this my final evening in Germany before Christmas, is one which I'm entirely guilty of! (I know that's not proper English, but I don't care!) When you wait for a bus at home, you turn up at the bus stop a few minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive at the bus stop, you wait patiently until the bus turns up; which when I was at home could be anything up to 25-30 minutes. You did this in a British way, i.e. without complaining and just accepting that this is the way life is sometimes...and that there's nothing that you can do about it - indeed you, deep down, expected it to happen like that! Now, in Germany, where, generally (although there have been a few exceptions), public transport runs punctually, it is not uncommon to arrive at the bus stop about 2-5 minutes before the bus is scheduled to turn up, and then it starts. The discrete watch checking - until the scheduled bus time passes, then it's acceptable to do it visibly and also sigh in a complaining manner, and after about 2 minutes, it's acceptable to doubt the bus' arrival at all. After 3-4 minutes, you start complaining to other passenger about it. If the bus does turn up with a delay, say about 5-6 minutes, it's as if it's completely ruined your whole schedule for the day! Now, I'm not sure it would be a good idea for me to use public transport in the UK - I'm not quite patient enough anymore!
So, as you can see, whilst it's difficult setting up life in another country, where life is quite different - coming home poses just as many challenges, although they are somewhat more frustrating because 4 months ago, I would have had no problems with any of the challenges listed above!
I'll sign off now from Germany. My next entry will be written from my room in Wiltshire, and be about the trip back. During the holidays I'll be taking up my old job in Morrisons! Check back on the 10th January for the first entry of my time back in Germany!
Auf Wiedersehen, Froehe Weihnachtszeit und ich wuensche Ihnen alles Gut fuer's neue Jahr!
Showing posts with label Buses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buses. Show all posts
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Chapter Six - The Sixth Week
Monday 12th October
We're back using Firefox now, which is good, and is my preferred browser, as Opera started to play silly beggars! Although, it would appear it is now seemingly impossible to underline things on the blog in Firefox, but such is life!
Anyway, the first day back at school after my Introductory Course (jolly) at Altenberg. Would they still remember who I was, would they have forgotten I was supposed to be a cover teacher for Fr. Zils, who has gone on the exchange to Barcelona? Alas, they still knew who I was, and indeed I was still down to do these cover lessons.
Now, before I go on, I feel I should say something about abbreviations in the schools in which I work. In both Secondary Schools and Uni, names are abbreviated to initials - for example Mark Lister, becomes MRL, Karoline Von Oppen becomes KVO...thus I would be AJV. This makes sense, this is a standard, universally understood way of doing things. However, in Germany it is not. Germany, the land where rules and order are at their most prevalent, has adopted a completely different system for abbreviating names. Although, system may be a bit of an exaggeration, because the word 'system' implies a standard way of doing things, a pattern, if you like....Examples include Fr. S. Zils, who has the abbreviation Zs, and Hr. T. Gross, who has the abbreviation Gs. This might seem like a pattern, but then someone like Hr. J. Leistenschneider comes along and stuffs it all up by having Ls. How is a man supposed to cope? So, the dilemma for me was, how do I sign my name? Easy, AJV...they'll get used to it sooner or later!
Returning to the course of Monday, I attended Hr. Leistenschneider's lesson as per normal. This lesson is always a nice way to break into Monday morning, because I can sit at the back of the classroom (normally) and only need to say something every now and again to clarify a language/pronunciation point! Today, though I committed a cardinal sin in Germany...I arrived a few minutes late. To be fair, I had been in the school for the last 45 minutes, but had had to fight with a photocopier in preparation for the following lesson. Why are photocopiers so damned complicated, and why are they so slow when you're in a hurry?
After the lesson with Herr Leistenschneider (which I still maintain is the most quintessentially German name I've ever heard!) it was my turn to be the teacher! I had to cover a lesson with the 6. Klasse (year 7) and today we did alphabet revision - nothing too complicated, and they seemed to be a good class on the whole. I seemed to judge their ability about right, which wasn't bad considering I'd not met them before.
The next lesson was with the year above, who I covered the topic of school with, and it seemed to go very well actually. They finished the work faster than I expected, which, for a teacher, is a damned sight more annoying than not finishing it (they can finish it at home, i.e. no more work for you). We had been working on a fun poem about school, which they understood really quickly. The homework I had planned on setting them (i.e. learn a verse off by heart) had been duly changed to learning the whole thing off by heart - that'll teach them to work faster than my lesson plan!
The last lesson of the day was with a 9. Klasse (year 10), with whom I normally work. Today we did work on Emergency Services - I was slightly concerned that it would be a little bit too basic for them, but again I seemed to have judged the level about right. Maybe I should think about becoming a teacher! ;-)
Again, as for every day until Thursday, I had a class in period 9 (between 1515 and 1615) with the Oberstufe, which is always a pleasure to do, because the students are so good at English, and intelligent!
Tonight, there was the first Stammtisch meeting at the brewery in Saarbruecken - it was a pleasant evening with the French, American and one Spanish assistants, and not too pricey either, which was nice!
Tuesday 13th October
So, today I had an early start at Ludwigsgymnasium - I caught a bus at 7.00 (that's 6am for those of you reading this in the UK!) and was at the school about 7.25. I couldn't risk taking the later bus; it's bad form when the teacher's late - especially as I have to unlock the door to the classroom to let them in - I wouldn't even be able to hide the fact that I was late! Still, it's been a while since I've had to go to work in the dark! Although, I'm gonna dig out my gloves, scarf and hat for tomorrow!
My first lesson went well, as it happens, we revised numbers, simply by playing games! This was good for the kids, and a relatively stress-free lesson for me too! Just what the doctor ordered at that time of the morning!
The second, and last of my cover lessons this week! We worked on the British school system today with the 7. Klasse (year 8), using a letter, which I wrote purporting to be from a year 7 at Sheldon School. This worked well, and they seemed to understand it quite well, and they've got the whole of the holidays to write a reply - so there'll be no excuse for not having it done!
The next formal lesson was with the Oberstufe class of my Betreuungslehrerin. I was supposed to start with a 10 minute discussion about the Emancipation of Women - this turned into a whole lesson talk. I was surprised at the opinions of some of the young lads, they were almost out of the 19th century! So much for the New Age Man - I'm not sure that it's got to Saarbruecken yet!
Over lunch I went to the station, where there is a comemorative "Zug der Erinnerung" (Train of Remembrance) which includes a display about the trains used by the Nazis to deport people to the Death Camps. It was quietly moving, (although purely on a metaphorical level - it wasn't going) - it makes you think, and put things in perspective in life. For you Germanists, here's a website link for it!
This evening I went to dinner with a colleague, and it was a very pleasant evening! Another early night coming up though, because I've got to go out early again in the morning!
Wednesday 14th October
Back to the Gesamtschule today for the usual thing! 2 lessons; one witgh a 5. Klasse, where I take a small group to another room and cover the classwork with them - we usually get through it quite quickly! Then I work with another teacher and her 6. Klasse for my second lesson. Today I had to oversee some people doing their tests, because they hadn't had the opportunity to finish them during the first lesson. So, it was a nice quiet morning for me!
After the hard work at the Gesamtschule I ambled into town and met up with one of the other assistants for a coffee.
This afternoon I'd agreed to do some work with one of the Gymnasium teacher's students - she wanted help on her pronunciation, and seeing as the teacher had helped me conquer the Secretariat for a Photocopier Card I thought it only right to do him a favour in return!
I also had an Oberstufe Class during period 9, which, as per usual, was a pleasure to do!
Another early start tomorrow, because I need to go to the station on my way to work tomorrow to get my tickets to Paris for Christmas. At present, I can get home from Paris, and back again, but not actually from Saarbruecken to Paris and vice versa.
Thursday 15th October
The last day of school before the holidays! :-) Not a particularly long day either, in terms of lessons!
As I said yesterday, I would have to get up early to buy my tickets to Paris for Christmas. So, up I got at 5.30 and logged on to t'internet and checked Deutsche Bahn and SNCF for ticket prices. It turned out to be 20€ cheaper to buy it from SNCF, and includes free seat reservations. It did mean that I needed to have a trip to Sarreguemines to pick up my ticket from the nice people there.
School was pretty standard, I spent most of the time working with smaller groups and covering the majority of the classwork quicker than the teachers and their big classes. This meant that my kids had less homework than their counterparts - so even if they don't really want to come and work with me, there's a very clear advantage of them doing so!
So, after work, I sent a message round some of the other assistants asking if they wanted to go to Sarreguemines. Otherwise, it's a slight extravagance (despite the fact that it's free) to go all the way there just to pick up a ticket. So, Esther and I went to Sarreguemines, had a wander round, and had a couple of cups of coffee (Beer is more of a summer drink, and it's definitely not summer here anymore!). So, after waiting an inordinately long time at the guichet (ticket office booth thing (see, my French translation skills are still there!)) I was able to get my ticket, and then we headed home.
I would like to revert to stereotype now, if I may (and let's face it, it's my blog, so I may), and comment on the weather here. It's gone from being fantastic 23 degrees sunny days, to 6 degrees overcast damp days almost overnight. I had to find out my gloves, hat and scarf the last couple of mornings to go to school. As Esther described it: "It's gone from Spain to Siberia in 24 hours". We haven't had snow though, which I know a couple of people in Germany are experiencing!
Friday 16th September
Today was the first day of the holidays as far as we, assistants, are concerned. So, we planned a rendez-vous (a multi-lingual blog this one!) at 11 am (who thought 11am was a good time...I've had to get up at 5.30 three days this week!) in front of Johanneskirche. The plan, if you can call it that, was then to walk to the Hauptbahnhof, and get on the first train going somewhere in Saarland! So we did, we went to Saarlouis, which is about 30 minutes away on the train. Now, Germans are generally practical people, and they like things to work smoothly....maybe Saarlouis is an exception! The Hauptbahnhof is 4.5km away from the town itself....so if you've not been there before it's very easy to go there, walk around the few buildings near to the station (although avoid the toilets) and think that that's all there is!
We nearly did this, but then we decided to catch a bus into the town itself, and have a look round. Saarlouis is actually quite a nice town, there's more there than I imagined. It's not really quinitessentially German, but instead has strong franco-germanic-luxembourgish influences...it's is, to use a technical term, a mish-mash. We had a look around some of the shops there, before heading out to IKEA, which is not very far on the bus.
I've never been to IKEA; both of the other assistants have, and they were determined to show me what it was all about. Now, I didn't need anything, and I was expecting to be bored out of my skin - imagining it as a cross between MFI, DFS, and B&Q (other furniture & DIY retailers are available, but their names were too long). I was pleasantly surprised....the attention to detail in IKEA is fantastic. Looking at it from the perspective of someone who has worked in retail for the last 4 years, it was clear to see what they'd done and why...and it really worked. Basically, for the people that haven't been, they have displays of how rooms could look, and I mean loads of them...and the attention to detail is just spot-on. There's also a "suggested route", which has a different colour on the floor, and it's expected that most people follow it.
Also, the stuff in there, isn't too pricey either (some stuff is dear, other stuff looks cheap and nasty, but generally it's OK), and it has everything you could need for setting up a home. So, it's easy to see why it's become so popular, and successful!
Saturday 17th October
So, today I played a game. An interesting game in the city. I found about the game from a fellow assistant whose church group was organising it. The game is called "Scotland Yard" and is effectively a grown-up version of the playground classic "Cops and Robbers". The rules were quite simple, the 2 pairs of fugitives would be using public transport in the city, and you had to track them down! You could only use public transport too, and weren't allowed to walk other than to the nearest bus stop/tram stop etc. Every 20 minutes, we would give our location to the central control, and shortly after would receive a message from control giving us the location of the fugitives. Naturally, we didn't know which buses they were on, or in which direction they were travelling; so a lot of it was down to trying to second guess the fugitives.
We found the first pair quite easily (after going in completely the wrong direction to start with!) on the tram, by meeting them at a tram crossing point. The second group, though, were much mroe challenging to track down, but we did eventually find them, purely by chance by getting on the first tram to come along. The only problem was that Harriet's group had got on at the tram stop before (no more than 500 metres up the road) and found them first.
Still, it was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and we saw some different bits of the city!
To revert to type again, I feel I must comment on the weather; when I walked down into town today, it hailed...and not the 5 minutes worth of hail we're used to in Britain, this was about 15 minutes of it, and when I was walking along, I could here it crunching under my feet on the pavements! Other than that, it was a cloudy day, and still cold here!
Sunday 18th October
I waited in this morning, because I had accumulated so much washing, that I had nothing to wear tomorrow! Two lots of washing took me up till about 1 o'clock. Then I decided I wanted to go somewhere outside of Saarbruecken. I have a book of things to do in all the different towns in Saarland, so I simply opened it at a random page, and then asked Deutsche Bahn how to get there!
The place I landed was, was a place called Sankt. Wendel. It's about 30 minutes away by train, and was a nice little town. The shops were open there, although I would presume this was for a special occasion rather than the norm, as nothing in Saarland is normally open on Sunday, excepting a few cafes! I had a nosey round there, took a few photos and then decided I would call in at Ottweiler on the way back. Ottweiler is a much smaller town, but, in my opinion, a prettier town...literally nothing was open there, and I saw about 3 people wandering round. There is a museum railway running along a 21km line to a railway museum, which leaves from Ottweiler Bahnhof, however today was the last running of the year, so I'll have to wait until the new year to have a look there!
When I'd finished in Ottweiler, I took the train back to Saarbruecken, but it was still quite early, so I decided to head out to Voelklingen to have a look around! Although I walked in the direction of the Voelklinger Huette rather than into the town itself. Again, I took a few photos there, before heading back into Saarbruecken and off home!
Tomorrow, I'm heading off to Trier with a couple of the other assistants, which should be nice, especially as we can travel the majority of the way for free!
We're back using Firefox now, which is good, and is my preferred browser, as Opera started to play silly beggars! Although, it would appear it is now seemingly impossible to underline things on the blog in Firefox, but such is life!
Anyway, the first day back at school after my Introductory Course (jolly) at Altenberg. Would they still remember who I was, would they have forgotten I was supposed to be a cover teacher for Fr. Zils, who has gone on the exchange to Barcelona? Alas, they still knew who I was, and indeed I was still down to do these cover lessons.
Now, before I go on, I feel I should say something about abbreviations in the schools in which I work. In both Secondary Schools and Uni, names are abbreviated to initials - for example Mark Lister, becomes MRL, Karoline Von Oppen becomes KVO...thus I would be AJV. This makes sense, this is a standard, universally understood way of doing things. However, in Germany it is not. Germany, the land where rules and order are at their most prevalent, has adopted a completely different system for abbreviating names. Although, system may be a bit of an exaggeration, because the word 'system' implies a standard way of doing things, a pattern, if you like....Examples include Fr. S. Zils, who has the abbreviation Zs, and Hr. T. Gross, who has the abbreviation Gs. This might seem like a pattern, but then someone like Hr. J. Leistenschneider comes along and stuffs it all up by having Ls. How is a man supposed to cope? So, the dilemma for me was, how do I sign my name? Easy, AJV...they'll get used to it sooner or later!
Returning to the course of Monday, I attended Hr. Leistenschneider's lesson as per normal. This lesson is always a nice way to break into Monday morning, because I can sit at the back of the classroom (normally) and only need to say something every now and again to clarify a language/pronunciation point! Today, though I committed a cardinal sin in Germany...I arrived a few minutes late. To be fair, I had been in the school for the last 45 minutes, but had had to fight with a photocopier in preparation for the following lesson. Why are photocopiers so damned complicated, and why are they so slow when you're in a hurry?
After the lesson with Herr Leistenschneider (which I still maintain is the most quintessentially German name I've ever heard!) it was my turn to be the teacher! I had to cover a lesson with the 6. Klasse (year 7) and today we did alphabet revision - nothing too complicated, and they seemed to be a good class on the whole. I seemed to judge their ability about right, which wasn't bad considering I'd not met them before.
The next lesson was with the year above, who I covered the topic of school with, and it seemed to go very well actually. They finished the work faster than I expected, which, for a teacher, is a damned sight more annoying than not finishing it (they can finish it at home, i.e. no more work for you). We had been working on a fun poem about school, which they understood really quickly. The homework I had planned on setting them (i.e. learn a verse off by heart) had been duly changed to learning the whole thing off by heart - that'll teach them to work faster than my lesson plan!
The last lesson of the day was with a 9. Klasse (year 10), with whom I normally work. Today we did work on Emergency Services - I was slightly concerned that it would be a little bit too basic for them, but again I seemed to have judged the level about right. Maybe I should think about becoming a teacher! ;-)
Again, as for every day until Thursday, I had a class in period 9 (between 1515 and 1615) with the Oberstufe, which is always a pleasure to do, because the students are so good at English, and intelligent!
Tonight, there was the first Stammtisch meeting at the brewery in Saarbruecken - it was a pleasant evening with the French, American and one Spanish assistants, and not too pricey either, which was nice!
Tuesday 13th October
So, today I had an early start at Ludwigsgymnasium - I caught a bus at 7.00 (that's 6am for those of you reading this in the UK!) and was at the school about 7.25. I couldn't risk taking the later bus; it's bad form when the teacher's late - especially as I have to unlock the door to the classroom to let them in - I wouldn't even be able to hide the fact that I was late! Still, it's been a while since I've had to go to work in the dark! Although, I'm gonna dig out my gloves, scarf and hat for tomorrow!
My first lesson went well, as it happens, we revised numbers, simply by playing games! This was good for the kids, and a relatively stress-free lesson for me too! Just what the doctor ordered at that time of the morning!
The second, and last of my cover lessons this week! We worked on the British school system today with the 7. Klasse (year 8), using a letter, which I wrote purporting to be from a year 7 at Sheldon School. This worked well, and they seemed to understand it quite well, and they've got the whole of the holidays to write a reply - so there'll be no excuse for not having it done!
The next formal lesson was with the Oberstufe class of my Betreuungslehrerin. I was supposed to start with a 10 minute discussion about the Emancipation of Women - this turned into a whole lesson talk. I was surprised at the opinions of some of the young lads, they were almost out of the 19th century! So much for the New Age Man - I'm not sure that it's got to Saarbruecken yet!
Over lunch I went to the station, where there is a comemorative "Zug der Erinnerung" (Train of Remembrance) which includes a display about the trains used by the Nazis to deport people to the Death Camps. It was quietly moving, (although purely on a metaphorical level - it wasn't going) - it makes you think, and put things in perspective in life. For you Germanists, here's a website link for it!
This evening I went to dinner with a colleague, and it was a very pleasant evening! Another early night coming up though, because I've got to go out early again in the morning!
Wednesday 14th October
Back to the Gesamtschule today for the usual thing! 2 lessons; one witgh a 5. Klasse, where I take a small group to another room and cover the classwork with them - we usually get through it quite quickly! Then I work with another teacher and her 6. Klasse for my second lesson. Today I had to oversee some people doing their tests, because they hadn't had the opportunity to finish them during the first lesson. So, it was a nice quiet morning for me!
After the hard work at the Gesamtschule I ambled into town and met up with one of the other assistants for a coffee.
This afternoon I'd agreed to do some work with one of the Gymnasium teacher's students - she wanted help on her pronunciation, and seeing as the teacher had helped me conquer the Secretariat for a Photocopier Card I thought it only right to do him a favour in return!
I also had an Oberstufe Class during period 9, which, as per usual, was a pleasure to do!
Another early start tomorrow, because I need to go to the station on my way to work tomorrow to get my tickets to Paris for Christmas. At present, I can get home from Paris, and back again, but not actually from Saarbruecken to Paris and vice versa.
Thursday 15th October
The last day of school before the holidays! :-) Not a particularly long day either, in terms of lessons!
As I said yesterday, I would have to get up early to buy my tickets to Paris for Christmas. So, up I got at 5.30 and logged on to t'internet and checked Deutsche Bahn and SNCF for ticket prices. It turned out to be 20€ cheaper to buy it from SNCF, and includes free seat reservations. It did mean that I needed to have a trip to Sarreguemines to pick up my ticket from the nice people there.
School was pretty standard, I spent most of the time working with smaller groups and covering the majority of the classwork quicker than the teachers and their big classes. This meant that my kids had less homework than their counterparts - so even if they don't really want to come and work with me, there's a very clear advantage of them doing so!
So, after work, I sent a message round some of the other assistants asking if they wanted to go to Sarreguemines. Otherwise, it's a slight extravagance (despite the fact that it's free) to go all the way there just to pick up a ticket. So, Esther and I went to Sarreguemines, had a wander round, and had a couple of cups of coffee (Beer is more of a summer drink, and it's definitely not summer here anymore!). So, after waiting an inordinately long time at the guichet (ticket office booth thing (see, my French translation skills are still there!)) I was able to get my ticket, and then we headed home.
I would like to revert to stereotype now, if I may (and let's face it, it's my blog, so I may), and comment on the weather here. It's gone from being fantastic 23 degrees sunny days, to 6 degrees overcast damp days almost overnight. I had to find out my gloves, hat and scarf the last couple of mornings to go to school. As Esther described it: "It's gone from Spain to Siberia in 24 hours". We haven't had snow though, which I know a couple of people in Germany are experiencing!
Friday 16th September
Today was the first day of the holidays as far as we, assistants, are concerned. So, we planned a rendez-vous (a multi-lingual blog this one!) at 11 am (who thought 11am was a good time...I've had to get up at 5.30 three days this week!) in front of Johanneskirche. The plan, if you can call it that, was then to walk to the Hauptbahnhof, and get on the first train going somewhere in Saarland! So we did, we went to Saarlouis, which is about 30 minutes away on the train. Now, Germans are generally practical people, and they like things to work smoothly....maybe Saarlouis is an exception! The Hauptbahnhof is 4.5km away from the town itself....so if you've not been there before it's very easy to go there, walk around the few buildings near to the station (although avoid the toilets) and think that that's all there is!
We nearly did this, but then we decided to catch a bus into the town itself, and have a look round. Saarlouis is actually quite a nice town, there's more there than I imagined. It's not really quinitessentially German, but instead has strong franco-germanic-luxembourgish influences...it's is, to use a technical term, a mish-mash. We had a look around some of the shops there, before heading out to IKEA, which is not very far on the bus.
I've never been to IKEA; both of the other assistants have, and they were determined to show me what it was all about. Now, I didn't need anything, and I was expecting to be bored out of my skin - imagining it as a cross between MFI, DFS, and B&Q (other furniture & DIY retailers are available, but their names were too long). I was pleasantly surprised....the attention to detail in IKEA is fantastic. Looking at it from the perspective of someone who has worked in retail for the last 4 years, it was clear to see what they'd done and why...and it really worked. Basically, for the people that haven't been, they have displays of how rooms could look, and I mean loads of them...and the attention to detail is just spot-on. There's also a "suggested route", which has a different colour on the floor, and it's expected that most people follow it.
Also, the stuff in there, isn't too pricey either (some stuff is dear, other stuff looks cheap and nasty, but generally it's OK), and it has everything you could need for setting up a home. So, it's easy to see why it's become so popular, and successful!
Saturday 17th October
So, today I played a game. An interesting game in the city. I found about the game from a fellow assistant whose church group was organising it. The game is called "Scotland Yard" and is effectively a grown-up version of the playground classic "Cops and Robbers". The rules were quite simple, the 2 pairs of fugitives would be using public transport in the city, and you had to track them down! You could only use public transport too, and weren't allowed to walk other than to the nearest bus stop/tram stop etc. Every 20 minutes, we would give our location to the central control, and shortly after would receive a message from control giving us the location of the fugitives. Naturally, we didn't know which buses they were on, or in which direction they were travelling; so a lot of it was down to trying to second guess the fugitives.
We found the first pair quite easily (after going in completely the wrong direction to start with!) on the tram, by meeting them at a tram crossing point. The second group, though, were much mroe challenging to track down, but we did eventually find them, purely by chance by getting on the first tram to come along. The only problem was that Harriet's group had got on at the tram stop before (no more than 500 metres up the road) and found them first.
Still, it was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and we saw some different bits of the city!
To revert to type again, I feel I must comment on the weather; when I walked down into town today, it hailed...and not the 5 minutes worth of hail we're used to in Britain, this was about 15 minutes of it, and when I was walking along, I could here it crunching under my feet on the pavements! Other than that, it was a cloudy day, and still cold here!
Sunday 18th October
I waited in this morning, because I had accumulated so much washing, that I had nothing to wear tomorrow! Two lots of washing took me up till about 1 o'clock. Then I decided I wanted to go somewhere outside of Saarbruecken. I have a book of things to do in all the different towns in Saarland, so I simply opened it at a random page, and then asked Deutsche Bahn how to get there!
The place I landed was, was a place called Sankt. Wendel. It's about 30 minutes away by train, and was a nice little town. The shops were open there, although I would presume this was for a special occasion rather than the norm, as nothing in Saarland is normally open on Sunday, excepting a few cafes! I had a nosey round there, took a few photos and then decided I would call in at Ottweiler on the way back. Ottweiler is a much smaller town, but, in my opinion, a prettier town...literally nothing was open there, and I saw about 3 people wandering round. There is a museum railway running along a 21km line to a railway museum, which leaves from Ottweiler Bahnhof, however today was the last running of the year, so I'll have to wait until the new year to have a look there!
When I'd finished in Ottweiler, I took the train back to Saarbruecken, but it was still quite early, so I decided to head out to Voelklingen to have a look around! Although I walked in the direction of the Voelklinger Huette rather than into the town itself. Again, I took a few photos there, before heading back into Saarbruecken and off home!
Tomorrow, I'm heading off to Trier with a couple of the other assistants, which should be nice, especially as we can travel the majority of the way for free!
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