Saturday 10th - Sunday 18th April
This title is not named after the retailing season, although it will surely be appearing in shops soon! Instead, it is an unsarcastic, unironic statement about my first week back in Saarbruecken.
As at Christmas, I made the decision to travel on the Saturday before work started again on Monday. Two main reasons for this: SNCF, and sleep! SNCF because it's a Sunday, and their service is sometimes a little sketchy on Sunday, even if they had to decided not to partake in a mouvement social (a strike to you and I), and despite the fact that the majority of my journey is spent on my laurels reading a book, listening to my MP3 player, or simply admiring the view (albeit at 270 km/h), travelling halfway across Europe (well, through France anyway) can take it out of you - so I travel on Saturday so that I can catch up on a little bit of train-lag before going back to work, where it's expected that I'm not still rubbing sleepy dust out of my eyes!
So, the journey started about 7.55 at Chippenham railway station, where it was a very nice day, and I had far too many layers on (simply to save me having to put them in the already bulging suitcase!). Now being a seasoned traveller I'd half expected the train to be late into Chippenham, but it had managed not to be. So, we left on time, and powered our way towards the only London station named after a bear who likes marmalade sandwiches. All was going tickety-boo (well clickety-clack, but you get the idea) until just outside Reading, where we seemed to stop for a while in the middle of nowhere. The Train Manager told us that there was an issue on the line in the Slough area, which was why were being held up before Reading. We eventually crawled into Reading, where the Train Manager was able to find out that the delay had been caused by someone jumping in front of a train in the Slough area, and the line was duly closed to allow a clear-up operation to begin, and then the lines were only gradually re-opened, which meant that the signalmen (and I daresay women) had to sort out the backlog. This they managed, and then we continued on our way to London, arriving a mere 45 minutes late. I would like to take this opportunity to do something which I don't do very often, and that's to have a bit of a rant!
My chosen topic this time is "People who jump in front of trains". Now, before I start I should say that I accept that suicide is not an easy decision to take, and the people who choose to end it all, are desperate and at their wits' end, and this rant is not about suicide itself, simply about the choice of someone to jump in front of a train. For this reason, I would ask people not to jump down my throat for what's about to come!
Jumping in front of a train is one of the most selfish ways of committing suicide that I can think of. On the very basic level, you will cause delays to the rail network, but let's face it the Train Companies can do that on their own without the help of someone standing in front of a train. So, all in all, the delays it causes are not my primary issue, merely an annoyance. That said, I seem to take delays better than others; one day when I was commuting to Bath, the trains had been cancelled, or severely delayed because of someone jumping in front of a train, and a lady comes down the stairs onto the paltform, and says "I hope he's dead!". I don't get that annoyed by it, instead I find an alternative way to uni. But, as I said that's not my main problem with it, my biggest issue is the effect it has on people who are innocent, and who have to deal directly with the person's suicide - people like the Train Driver, who may never be able to sleep at night again, the Police Officers of the British Transport Police who have to attend what they call 'one unders', along with the Network Rail employees who have to clear-up the line so that the trains can run again. All of these people have to deal with sights that are simply awful, and could cause untold psychological trauma. Or, in the case of Stanley Martin, the ultimate price, because someone decided to kill themselves by parking their car on the line and waiting for a train to crash into them.
Now as I said, this rant was about the effect that 'jumpers' have on others who were otherwise going about their normal daily business, and have had to deal with such horrors.
Now I've got that off my chest, I shall continue with the story! I got to St. Pancras, where I had arrived about 3 hours before my train was due to leave, so I went to a cafe and read my book with a mug of coffee in the sunshine whilst waiting for check-in to open. The Eurostar left, pucntually, and had an uninterupted journey to Paris, except for the planned stop in Lille. We arrived in Paris about half five, and as I walked to Paris Est I found somewhere to eat some tea, before meeting Esther at the station. We travelled back on the ICE together, where we also arrived on time, which is a rarity amongst the trains to/from Paris! After a short bus journey home, I was in bed by 11 o'clock!
Sunday was spent unpacking, well, rather putting away the stuff I'd already unpacked (onto the floor) and I had a private lesson in the afternoon. Otherwise, it was a quiet day, involving me pretty much catching up on a weekend of stuff I'd missed on iPlayer!
The first week back at school was full of the usual post-holiday chaos! With the ash cloud posing problems all over Europe, I was impressed that none of the teachers had been silly enough to get themselves stranded in a really hot, sunny country, instead of being shut in a room with 30 excitable children! I also rose to a certain level of fame, or the negative form thereof, because it was during this week that the English Abitur (A-Level) exam took place, on the higher tier of which all of the students in Saarland would have been told what to do by yours truly. That said, I still haven't heard it, and my ask one of my teachers if I could have a copy of it, so I can enjoy my slurring of the letter 'r' in a typically Westcountry manner!
It was this weekend in which Esther and I had originally planned on going to Munich, but time constraints let us down. It was only on the train back from Paris that we were supposed to be going then, and as nothing had been booked or organised, we shelved it, perhaps for another year! Instead, I took advantage of the fantastic weather which we've been experiencing in Saarbruecken, and spent most of the weekend by the Saar in the sun! Over the weekend there were also a couple of evening get-togethers too, in which I took part.
So, what's coming up next week? Not a lot regarding school, it's been a pretty quiet week really. There is a weekend trip to Freiburg im Breisgau (on the edge of the black forest, near the Swiss & French borders) for me and Harriet to look forward to.
Showing posts with label Saarbruecken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saarbruecken. Show all posts
Friday, April 23, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Chapter 22 - Nearly the holidays again!
Monday 1st - Sunday 7th February
As the title suggests, it is, indeed, nearly time for the holidays again! It doesn't seem like I've been back at work very long at all to be honest, and certainly I haven't been to many places! I have only got one week until the holidays arrive, during which I shall be heading to the Berlin, which I'm very much looking forward to!
School was pretty standard this week. One of my 7. Klasse at the Gesamtschule have now been divided from a class of 31 to classes of 15 and 16, which is apparently a 'normal' class size for languages. The teachers were somewhat surprised to discover that 31 was a pretty average class size when I learnt French at school!
I have also begun to to undertake some private tuition. The reasons for this are two-fold; the primary reason (seeing as I live in a capitalist society) is financial gain - I offer my services and receive money. The second, somewhat less fiscal reason, is that it gives me something to do in the evenings. One of my students is a trainee English teacher, and the other a psychology student from the uni. It's nice to get to meet some new people, and certainly from the teacher learn some new things myself (e.g. teaching methods, materials etc.).
The Gymnasium at which I work held its Tag der offenen Tuer (Open Day) on Saturday, which involved me being at work for 8 in the morning! I shan't discuss my thoughts about holding open days on a Saturday on here again, those of you have read this blog up until this point, will undoubtedly be bored by them! I was able to actually teach a lesson on Open Day. I taught a 6. Klasse (Year 7 equivalent), who had only been learning English since September. It was an eye-opening lesson; the kids were pretty much able to understand everything I said, and the lesson was conducted wholly in English for my part - something of a difference to the Gesamtschule, where they are able to understand a fair bit, but they have been learning English for one year longer, and are probably not as good! What was also interesting about Open Day was the different amounts of effort the teachers went to in terms of deciding what to wear! The Schuldirektor (Headmaster) had a suit and tie on, other teachers had also dressed up a bit (i.e. suit without tie), some had dressed as if it were a normal day (shirt and jeans), and others had got up, gone "It's Saturday, all my work clothes are in the wash, where are my DIY clothes?" (Naturally they would have said this in German, but as it's a ficitious, imagined occurence, I shall allow you the ease of having it in English).
Following the Open Day, I met up with Claire and Esther and we had a nose around the Art Gallery in Saarbruecken. This was OK, there were certain things that were eye-catching, interesting, some more traditional works of art, and some that I could have done (and I missed the artisticly talented gene when I came onto this Earth - my sister seemed to get my share!). Following the art gallery we headed for lunch in the city, and had a drink there, when we heard that Will was coming into Saarbruecken to watch the rugby at the Irish Pub. So, we thought we'd do the friendly thing and tag along! So, the evening was spent watching the England v. Wales match in the Irish Pub, drinking some Stowford Press Cider! Those of you who know me, will know that Sport wouldn't be my Mastermind Specialist Subject. However I learnt more about the rules of rugby in that one evening than from the 5 years of compulsory PE I did at school. The key principle, which, to be fair, I did already know, is that you run forwards and through backwards. If you have the ball, it's a good idea not to stand still as there are likely to be some rugby players with the finesse and elegance of a Tomahawk cruise missile homing in on you! Still, the result was approved by the majority of the pub (mainly English and Irish ex-pats, who took the mick out of the sole Welshman there). One thing that did become apparent is that during the time when Wales had the ball, Jones and Williams stood a good chance of having posession!
Sunday was a day spent tidying my room, I decided that it needed doing, and as everything is closed on sundays I set about it. It actually didn't take as long as I had envisaged, and so I had intended on writing this blog entry then, but just forgot about it, so here it is, slightly late again!
Coming up next week, is the day trip to Worms, and the preparations for my week in Berlin during the holidays!
As the title suggests, it is, indeed, nearly time for the holidays again! It doesn't seem like I've been back at work very long at all to be honest, and certainly I haven't been to many places! I have only got one week until the holidays arrive, during which I shall be heading to the Berlin, which I'm very much looking forward to!
School was pretty standard this week. One of my 7. Klasse at the Gesamtschule have now been divided from a class of 31 to classes of 15 and 16, which is apparently a 'normal' class size for languages. The teachers were somewhat surprised to discover that 31 was a pretty average class size when I learnt French at school!
I have also begun to to undertake some private tuition. The reasons for this are two-fold; the primary reason (seeing as I live in a capitalist society) is financial gain - I offer my services and receive money. The second, somewhat less fiscal reason, is that it gives me something to do in the evenings. One of my students is a trainee English teacher, and the other a psychology student from the uni. It's nice to get to meet some new people, and certainly from the teacher learn some new things myself (e.g. teaching methods, materials etc.).
The Gymnasium at which I work held its Tag der offenen Tuer (Open Day) on Saturday, which involved me being at work for 8 in the morning! I shan't discuss my thoughts about holding open days on a Saturday on here again, those of you have read this blog up until this point, will undoubtedly be bored by them! I was able to actually teach a lesson on Open Day. I taught a 6. Klasse (Year 7 equivalent), who had only been learning English since September. It was an eye-opening lesson; the kids were pretty much able to understand everything I said, and the lesson was conducted wholly in English for my part - something of a difference to the Gesamtschule, where they are able to understand a fair bit, but they have been learning English for one year longer, and are probably not as good! What was also interesting about Open Day was the different amounts of effort the teachers went to in terms of deciding what to wear! The Schuldirektor (Headmaster) had a suit and tie on, other teachers had also dressed up a bit (i.e. suit without tie), some had dressed as if it were a normal day (shirt and jeans), and others had got up, gone "It's Saturday, all my work clothes are in the wash, where are my DIY clothes?" (Naturally they would have said this in German, but as it's a ficitious, imagined occurence, I shall allow you the ease of having it in English).
Following the Open Day, I met up with Claire and Esther and we had a nose around the Art Gallery in Saarbruecken. This was OK, there were certain things that were eye-catching, interesting, some more traditional works of art, and some that I could have done (and I missed the artisticly talented gene when I came onto this Earth - my sister seemed to get my share!). Following the art gallery we headed for lunch in the city, and had a drink there, when we heard that Will was coming into Saarbruecken to watch the rugby at the Irish Pub. So, we thought we'd do the friendly thing and tag along! So, the evening was spent watching the England v. Wales match in the Irish Pub, drinking some Stowford Press Cider! Those of you who know me, will know that Sport wouldn't be my Mastermind Specialist Subject. However I learnt more about the rules of rugby in that one evening than from the 5 years of compulsory PE I did at school. The key principle, which, to be fair, I did already know, is that you run forwards and through backwards. If you have the ball, it's a good idea not to stand still as there are likely to be some rugby players with the finesse and elegance of a Tomahawk cruise missile homing in on you! Still, the result was approved by the majority of the pub (mainly English and Irish ex-pats, who took the mick out of the sole Welshman there). One thing that did become apparent is that during the time when Wales had the ball, Jones and Williams stood a good chance of having posession!
Sunday was a day spent tidying my room, I decided that it needed doing, and as everything is closed on sundays I set about it. It actually didn't take as long as I had envisaged, and so I had intended on writing this blog entry then, but just forgot about it, so here it is, slightly late again!
Coming up next week, is the day trip to Worms, and the preparations for my week in Berlin during the holidays!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Chapter 19 - Returning to Normality
Monday 11th - Sunday 17th January
Again, I would like to apologise for the tardiness in this entry - it's been on my "to do" list every day for quite a while, but has repeatedly been overlooked or given simply a cursory glance!
So, after the first week of hand-shaking, snow, and trying to remember how to speak German it was time for life to return to some sort of normality. This week itself will probably be one of the shortest blog entries, simply because not a huge amount happened!
School was pretty standard, although I did start a 4 week project with the 8. Klasse (Year 9 equivalent) whereby they will produce 5 minute presentations about different counties. This should be quite interesting, not only for them, but I intentionally chose counties about which I have a limited and hazy knowledge - so hopefully I, too, should learn something new. I'll report back at the end of the project to tell you how it went!
Friday, my day off in the week, was an interesting day - I met up with one of my fellow Bathonians who I'd not seen since she was in Strasbourg, and we had a nice day just wandering round the town; seeing the sites. Here's a good time to mention that Saarbruecken is not a particularly big city, and so it can be difficult to drag out seeing the sites to a whole day - so I ought to own up to the fact that a fair amount of the afternoon was spent in a cafe; people watching and catching-up!
Saturday was the Open Day at my Gesamtschule, to which I had been heartily invited (which is one step down from being expected to go!) It involved having to get up at 6, and be in school for 8, and finishing at about 12.30. It was a knackering day; I worked with a class I hadn't worked with before, but they weren't really interested! Still, it gave the parents, remarkably few in number as they were, the chance to see the school. I, personally, have reservations about holding an open day on a Saturday. It is a compulsary school day for the kids (and teachers too, obviously), which immediately causes alarm bells. It's difficult persuading kids to see a Saturday as a school day - so many simply didn't turn in, others forgot to check the bus times, and as such turned up up to 45 minutes late. Also, the teachers were tired, and not really able to continue their normal lessons due to the high absence rate, so had to do something less productive. I think a system, similar to that which we did at Sheldon (my old secondary school) whereby the Open Days were held on normal school days gives a far more realistic overview of school life than opening at the weekend. Still, it gave me something to do on Saturday morning.
Sunday was my hermit day of the week, where I spent it inside doing some uni work, lesson planning, and catching up on TV!
Also, I'd just like to further comment on the weather situation over here in Saarbruecken. It's still winter, so it's still cold, it still might be icy and it still might snow - but everything is still carrying on as normal!
So, hopefully, in the next couple of days you should see the entry for this last week,which was slightly more interesting!
Again, I would like to apologise for the tardiness in this entry - it's been on my "to do" list every day for quite a while, but has repeatedly been overlooked or given simply a cursory glance!
So, after the first week of hand-shaking, snow, and trying to remember how to speak German it was time for life to return to some sort of normality. This week itself will probably be one of the shortest blog entries, simply because not a huge amount happened!
School was pretty standard, although I did start a 4 week project with the 8. Klasse (Year 9 equivalent) whereby they will produce 5 minute presentations about different counties. This should be quite interesting, not only for them, but I intentionally chose counties about which I have a limited and hazy knowledge - so hopefully I, too, should learn something new. I'll report back at the end of the project to tell you how it went!
Friday, my day off in the week, was an interesting day - I met up with one of my fellow Bathonians who I'd not seen since she was in Strasbourg, and we had a nice day just wandering round the town; seeing the sites. Here's a good time to mention that Saarbruecken is not a particularly big city, and so it can be difficult to drag out seeing the sites to a whole day - so I ought to own up to the fact that a fair amount of the afternoon was spent in a cafe; people watching and catching-up!
Saturday was the Open Day at my Gesamtschule, to which I had been heartily invited (which is one step down from being expected to go!) It involved having to get up at 6, and be in school for 8, and finishing at about 12.30. It was a knackering day; I worked with a class I hadn't worked with before, but they weren't really interested! Still, it gave the parents, remarkably few in number as they were, the chance to see the school. I, personally, have reservations about holding an open day on a Saturday. It is a compulsary school day for the kids (and teachers too, obviously), which immediately causes alarm bells. It's difficult persuading kids to see a Saturday as a school day - so many simply didn't turn in, others forgot to check the bus times, and as such turned up up to 45 minutes late. Also, the teachers were tired, and not really able to continue their normal lessons due to the high absence rate, so had to do something less productive. I think a system, similar to that which we did at Sheldon (my old secondary school) whereby the Open Days were held on normal school days gives a far more realistic overview of school life than opening at the weekend. Still, it gave me something to do on Saturday morning.
Sunday was my hermit day of the week, where I spent it inside doing some uni work, lesson planning, and catching up on TV!
Also, I'd just like to further comment on the weather situation over here in Saarbruecken. It's still winter, so it's still cold, it still might be icy and it still might snow - but everything is still carrying on as normal!
So, hopefully, in the next couple of days you should see the entry for this last week,which was slightly more interesting!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Chapter 17 - Back to Germany
The return train journey to Saarbruecken
Saturday 2nd January 2010
Well, as regular readers of this blog will know, I'm not very good at updating punctually! So here, albeit a week late, is the story of my journey back to Saarbruecken. The good news is that it wasn't quite as eventful as the homeward journey. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride...
First off, I should make a mention to my sister whose birthday it was on the 2nd - annoying though it was to travel back on this date - it was better than travelling on Sunday where certain places' public transport is somewhat lacking on the day of rest! My train was due to leave Chippenham at 07.55, but because, as I found out later, the driver couldn't release the brakes at Bristol, the train left Chippenham at 08.12. This wasn't a problem in itself because I had 2 and a half hours in London to get from Paddington to St. Pancras International. The journey to London was relatively painless - we stayed about 15 minutes late, which was about as much as I'd hoped for!
Now it's worth pointing out that Transport for London (TfL) had decided that this weekend would be a good weekend to undertake some engineering works on some of the lines - i.e. the Circle Line and Hammersmith & City Lines in particular; which as Londoners will know are the two direct lines between the termini I wanted. Thus, I had to catch the Bakerloo line to Oxford Circus, and come back up to Kings Cross/St. Pancras on the Victoria line. This part of the journey was actually problem-free; although I did feel like I'd walked most of the way by the time I got out of the Tube station at St. Pancras.
Seeing as I like to turn up at somewhere in plenty of time; I made my first port of call the check-in hall for Eurostar; which was substantially easier to find than its Parisian counterpart. The first thing that struck me was how busy it was! There were hundreds of people in the check-in hall, and no real sense of what one was supposed to do. It turned out that check-in opened an hour before the train left, so seeing as I was there 90 minutes before my train left, I hid at the back of the hall and read my book, and then joined a queue exactly an hour before my train left - i.e. 10.32. The check-in seemed slightly chaotic, to be honest; everyone was queued up together irrespective of what train they were catching, and the people on earlier trains were then being lassooed out of the queue by Eurostar staff and ushered to the front. I did eventually get to the head of the queue where once you have put your ticket in the machine, you find you find yourself immediately thrown into the security zone. The first thing you have to do is take off coats, fleeces, scarves, gloves, hats. All these, along with your luggage, go through the X-Ray machine, while you walk through the Metal Detector. Now, despite wearing almost the same clothes back to Germany as I wore home, I didn't buzz as I went through! The next stage is the PAF (see last entry for explanation) who had a cursory glance at my passport. There were also UKBA officers loitering with intent around the terminal area. Once I'd got through all those I found a seat and waited for embarkation to commence at 11.12 (20 minutes before scheduled departure time) - however, embarkation was to be delayed because the train had arrived late. We were only delayed by about 12 minutes in actuality and left St. Pancras at 11.45.
The journey to Paris was OK, I read my book, ate my lunch, looked out the window, changed my watch and phone times. Some 2 hours 45 minutes later we pulled into Paris Gare du Nord. Prior to coming back, we'd arranged that we would meet up in Paris. Esther was on an earlier Eurostar than me, so met me at Gare du Nord, from where we walked to Paris Est and used the left luggage facility there, so as not to have to carry our suitcases all around Paris. Then we purchased a carnet of tickets for the public transport network in Paris. From Paris Est, we took the Metro to Louvre, which I'd only seen in Tricolore (for the young'uns reading this - it was the book that we used before Metro!) beforehand. From there we walked in a random direction across the Seine, from where we walked through the cultural heart of Paris - Saint Germain des Pres. Then we walked over to Notre Dame, and looked at it; we didn't go in because the queue was quite long. We then ambled past the Hotel de Ville (where the Mayor of Paris works - somewhat more architecturally pleasing than the Ghurkin in my opinion), before catching the Metro back to Paris Est where we waited and met up with Claire and Harriet who had flown into Charles de Gaulle.
After we'd met up, and Esther and I had retrieved our luggage, we headed off to board the train to Saarbruecken (or Sarrebruck as the French call it). The train left promptly but then because of the snow, the line through Lorraine (or Lothringen as the Germans call it) had had its speed reduced meaning that we would be about 15 minutes late into Saarbruecken. This would make the connection to the bus very tight, and indeed when we arrived into the Hauptbahnhof we had 3 or 4 minutes to get to the bus stop. Luckily the bus hadn't arrived when we got there, and we managed to get on the faithful 121 home. I eventually got in about 22.00 before realising that I also needed to make my bed and unpack quite a lot of stuff before I could go to bed!
So, in the next installment I'll be talking about the first week back in Germany...
Saturday 2nd January 2010
Well, as regular readers of this blog will know, I'm not very good at updating punctually! So here, albeit a week late, is the story of my journey back to Saarbruecken. The good news is that it wasn't quite as eventful as the homeward journey. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride...
First off, I should make a mention to my sister whose birthday it was on the 2nd - annoying though it was to travel back on this date - it was better than travelling on Sunday where certain places' public transport is somewhat lacking on the day of rest! My train was due to leave Chippenham at 07.55, but because, as I found out later, the driver couldn't release the brakes at Bristol, the train left Chippenham at 08.12. This wasn't a problem in itself because I had 2 and a half hours in London to get from Paddington to St. Pancras International. The journey to London was relatively painless - we stayed about 15 minutes late, which was about as much as I'd hoped for!
Now it's worth pointing out that Transport for London (TfL) had decided that this weekend would be a good weekend to undertake some engineering works on some of the lines - i.e. the Circle Line and Hammersmith & City Lines in particular; which as Londoners will know are the two direct lines between the termini I wanted. Thus, I had to catch the Bakerloo line to Oxford Circus, and come back up to Kings Cross/St. Pancras on the Victoria line. This part of the journey was actually problem-free; although I did feel like I'd walked most of the way by the time I got out of the Tube station at St. Pancras.
Seeing as I like to turn up at somewhere in plenty of time; I made my first port of call the check-in hall for Eurostar; which was substantially easier to find than its Parisian counterpart. The first thing that struck me was how busy it was! There were hundreds of people in the check-in hall, and no real sense of what one was supposed to do. It turned out that check-in opened an hour before the train left, so seeing as I was there 90 minutes before my train left, I hid at the back of the hall and read my book, and then joined a queue exactly an hour before my train left - i.e. 10.32. The check-in seemed slightly chaotic, to be honest; everyone was queued up together irrespective of what train they were catching, and the people on earlier trains were then being lassooed out of the queue by Eurostar staff and ushered to the front. I did eventually get to the head of the queue where once you have put your ticket in the machine, you find you find yourself immediately thrown into the security zone. The first thing you have to do is take off coats, fleeces, scarves, gloves, hats. All these, along with your luggage, go through the X-Ray machine, while you walk through the Metal Detector. Now, despite wearing almost the same clothes back to Germany as I wore home, I didn't buzz as I went through! The next stage is the PAF (see last entry for explanation) who had a cursory glance at my passport. There were also UKBA officers loitering with intent around the terminal area. Once I'd got through all those I found a seat and waited for embarkation to commence at 11.12 (20 minutes before scheduled departure time) - however, embarkation was to be delayed because the train had arrived late. We were only delayed by about 12 minutes in actuality and left St. Pancras at 11.45.
The journey to Paris was OK, I read my book, ate my lunch, looked out the window, changed my watch and phone times. Some 2 hours 45 minutes later we pulled into Paris Gare du Nord. Prior to coming back, we'd arranged that we would meet up in Paris. Esther was on an earlier Eurostar than me, so met me at Gare du Nord, from where we walked to Paris Est and used the left luggage facility there, so as not to have to carry our suitcases all around Paris. Then we purchased a carnet of tickets for the public transport network in Paris. From Paris Est, we took the Metro to Louvre, which I'd only seen in Tricolore (for the young'uns reading this - it was the book that we used before Metro!) beforehand. From there we walked in a random direction across the Seine, from where we walked through the cultural heart of Paris - Saint Germain des Pres. Then we walked over to Notre Dame, and looked at it; we didn't go in because the queue was quite long. We then ambled past the Hotel de Ville (where the Mayor of Paris works - somewhat more architecturally pleasing than the Ghurkin in my opinion), before catching the Metro back to Paris Est where we waited and met up with Claire and Harriet who had flown into Charles de Gaulle.
After we'd met up, and Esther and I had retrieved our luggage, we headed off to board the train to Saarbruecken (or Sarrebruck as the French call it). The train left promptly but then because of the snow, the line through Lorraine (or Lothringen as the Germans call it) had had its speed reduced meaning that we would be about 15 minutes late into Saarbruecken. This would make the connection to the bus very tight, and indeed when we arrived into the Hauptbahnhof we had 3 or 4 minutes to get to the bus stop. Luckily the bus hadn't arrived when we got there, and we managed to get on the faithful 121 home. I eventually got in about 22.00 before realising that I also needed to make my bed and unpack quite a lot of stuff before I could go to bed!
So, in the next installment I'll be talking about the first week back in Germany...
Monday, November 2, 2009
Chapter Eight - the Eighth Week
Monday 26th October
So, this is the first full week of my parents' visit to Germany. So what did we decide to do to celebrate the fact that they will be enjoying the full German Experience...we went to France (again). I like Germany, really I do, but I genuinely feel it would be negligent to allow myself not to take advantage of the proximity of the borders with the former Saar protecting power.
Today we took the car to Metz. (Those of you astute readers who have been paying attention to my blog entries will know I've already been there once before with the staff of my Gesamtschule). Now, as I've mentioned previously the French Customs Officers (Douanes) are a little seen species of French officials...but not at the border crossing of the motorway between Saarbruecken and France. These seem to be the less shy type of Douanes. Why do I say this? Well, for the second time in as many visits to Metz I was stopped by the Douanes and asked some questions!
I semi-expected it this time, I saw the look in her eyes when she saw a British car driving towards her...she wanted some English practice, which being the Europhile I was, I declined to give her and answered her in French. This seemed to surprise her, and we were allowed on our way with little fuss this time. I'm beginning to think I may simply have one of those faces, which the French dislike!
So, on arrival in Metz, we encountered the first hurdle, which we'd not had with the coach trip...parking! There was parking available, and finding a space was a little challenging, but not too stressful...the problem was once we'd found the space, it was remembering where we'd left the car! To solve this problem we took the GPS out of the car, saved its location, and planned to use that to get us back!
After leaving the car where it was we headed for a coffee, and then we walked around the cathedral. I still found it as awe-inspiring as the last time I went there. (You can read more about it in the Thursday part of this entry)
After visiting the Cathedral again, we headed into the tourist information office, where they gave us a town map, on which, using the GPS, we marked the location of the car! Following this little breakthrough, we decided to embark on a walking tour of the town, for which I was the guide! (I had, unfortunately, forgotten my red umbrella and bad dress sense, but apart from that I was like any other town guide!) . We had a look at some gardens in front of the barracks, then we walked down by the canalised part of the Moselle (Mosel for the Germanists!) and across the little Paris-esque island in the middle of the River, before heading back up to the Cathedral square, and in turn the car.
We thought it might be nice to have lunch in the botanical gardens in Metz, which shouldn't have been a problem; we knew where they were, we knew where we were and we've got a pretty reliable GPS system...hmm, no quite as easy as it first seemed. Why so? Well, Metz is quite a small city, with quite a lot of people living there, so the buildings are quite tall - the GPS struggles to get a signal surrounded by tall inanimate objects (remember it was originally US Defence technology, if that helps explain it!), but nevertheless, with a certain amount of what I would call intuition and logical thinking (others would probably call it guesswork) we made it to the gardens, where we had lunch and wandered round, before heading home via the E. Leclerc over the border from Saarbruecken to do some shopping for the week.
After dinner, we wandered down into town again for a couple of drinks before enjoying the bus ride home! Long Live Saarbahn!
As a fore-warning, we did do quite a lot this week, so there's a chance this could become a long blog entry...so get yourself sitting comfortably!
Tuesday 27th October
This morning we did my favourite thing in the whole world. (As with the bit from last week, that would also have been written in the sarcasm font if I had one). We went shopping in Saarbruecken. Now, I, being a bloke, am not a fan of shopping, I go shopping when I need stuff - like food for example...I don't traipse around the supermarkets because it's fun, rather because I need something! But anyway, that's what we did...we went round some of the smaller shops, had a look around Saturn, then Dad wanted to rekindle his younger years (so, we tried to go somewhere that was Sepia coloured) so we went to C&A, which he was disappointed with, so we didn't stay too long!
After our morning of fun and games, we headed over to a small town called Voelklingen. At Voelklingen, there is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city of Bath is a World Heritage Site, the Cathedral in Cologne is also a World Heritage Site, as is Stonehenge...so what delights awaited us in Voelklingen - an old steelworks!
The main reason for going this afternoon was that it's free on a Tuesday afternoon - instead of €10 each...this struck me as quite a good deal! It was quite an interesting afternoon - it was interesting seeing how much it had both deteriorated (i.e. become very rusty, and in some places rotted through), and in other places it had flourished - there is a part of the works, which the owners have left as a wilderness to see what develops. It was a throughly enjoyable afternoon - perhaps if I'd understood the steel making process in a little more detail (i.e. if I'd listened a bit more to the details explained to me at GCSE science), I would have got even more from it.
That was about it for Tuesday, with another European journey planned for the Wednesday!
Wednesday 28th October
So, today we were off to Luxembourg (or as us Germanists spell it - Luxemburg). We decided it would be easier to take the bus from Saarbruecken to Luxembourg - that we wouldn't have to find somewhere to park there, which I had heard was truly an horrendous experience bound to cause stress to even the most placid people! At €14 each, it wasn't too unreasonable either! The coach took about an hour and a quarter to get there, and was driven by someone who looked like he was on his holidays from school. (Maybe I am getting old after all!).
The journey was pleasant enough (most of it was on motorway, so there wasn't a huge amount of interesting things to report from the journey itself!). We alighted from the bus in the heart of the old town, as this was where I'd been told it was nicest in Luxembourg. The first thing we did was get coffee...well it seemed to make sense! After that, we headed down to one of the bridges over the gorge between the new and old town. We took some photos from there, and then we headed over to the Cathedral to have a look inside. On the way to the Cathedral we passed the CitySightseeing booth, and we thought it would be worthwhile having a tour to make sure that if we hadn't the opportunity walk around everything, we should probably have seen it from the tour. We opted for the Noddy Train tour, because it was cheaper, and less likely to get caught up in the traffic jams, which seemed so prevalent in Luxembourg.
The Noddy Train ride was as uncomfortable as ever, and my spine is still recovering (everytime I sit down it sounds like someone playing a xylophone down my back!). It took us down into the gorge, from where you could see the old fortifications clearly and it told us a little of the history of the city, sorry Duchy. The only problem was that the majority of the roads were cobbled, and my teeth were chattering as we were going along!
We also looked at the Cathedral, which was nice...still not as nice as Metz, in my opinion, but nice nevertheless. We then did another unofficial walking tour of Luxembourg (i.e. I held the map and chose where we went!). We saw quite a lot there, which I shall attempt to list now! We saw: the Finance Ministry, the Royal Palace, the Parliament Building, the Red Bridge (originally called because it's a bridge, and it's red...I don't know how they do it!), the Municipal (or should I say National, because in Luxembourg they're pretty much the same thing!) Library, the National Bank, the Municipal Park, and Old People's Home (that looked more like a palace to me!), and the Town Hall amongst other things.
Then we caught the bus back to Saarbruecken, before having a meal out in the pub, which I have come to call my 'local'; despite it being nearly 800 miles from my actual home! The food there reminds me of good quality, cheap, pub grub - which I'm a big fan of!
Thursday 29th October
Another day out on public transport today. But, today, at least, we stayed in Germany! We went to Trier on the train. We visited many of the same places as we visited last time I went there with some of the other assistants. You can read about those experiences here if you haven't already! Basically, to summarise, we visited the following places there: The Porta Nigra, the Cathedral, the Electoral Palace (Trier's answer to Versailles), Woolworth (I know, I know, but it was for old times sake!), down by the Mosel(le), then back up past some churches before catching the train back to Saarbruecken. Again, it was a pleasant day, and the weather seemed to hold out, which was nice too!
After dinner, we headed down into town for a couple of drinks at my 'local', before heading back and preparing for a nice day in and around Saarbruecken!
Friday 30th October
Today, we stayed in the environs of Saarbruecken; in the morning we walked out to the pub at Guedingen and had a coffee or two before walking back to Brebach, from where we caught the tram back to town. We did a little more shopping (can you imagine the amount of joy I felt at that prospect?) in Saarbruecken, and I got the new edition of the bus timetable, to find that in fact my local bus service is staying the same as it has been since I've been - still it might work out to be worth it in the long run!
For lunch, I took the old folks out to what we in Saarbruecken affectionately know as the DFG. (Deutsch-Franzoesischer Garten (German-French Garden), which, funnily enough, lies on the border of France & Germany. (Some more outside of the box thinking going on there!) We had lunch there, and had a wander round; it was nice, but with it being the end of autumn, the majority of the plants have gone over, and it was looking slightly folorn. I'm sure it'll look fantastic in the spring/summer though! So, I'll definitely be heading back there! The garden itself came about, basically, because after the war, the people on either side of the border (who had for the last 5 years or so been bitter enemies) decided that they would plant a garden together, and as such the garden is managed by both the Saarbruecken municipal works and the Lorraine authorities.
After lunch, we took another exciting trip out to E.Leclerc supermarket over the border, which was OK. I realise I may be appearing as a little contradictory over my opinion on shopping, so let me briefly clarify; I dislike "going shopping" for the sake of having something to do - I think there are better ways to fill your time like redecorating and then watching it dry, but I don't mind shopping when I need to get something - like food!
Tonight, after dinner, I had my hair cut, and then we had a relatively early night, because we were up early the next morning to head to Koblenz.
Saturday 31st October
For our Hallowe'en day out we decided to travel to Koblenz on the train. The journey itself takes just a little over two and a half hours, but it's worth it. Between Trier and Koblenz the views over the river are very nice - rather like a picture postcard of how I imagine Germany to be! It features the railway running directly next to the river, with steep hills on both sides, completely full of vines - exactly how they harvest them I'm not sure! Oh, I forgot to mention that we took a double decker train, and because the novelty will never wear off, we sat upstairs.
When we got to Koblenz, we had a coffee...this, I ought to add, is pretty standard procedure for us - when we arrive somewhere, it's nice to sit down and decide what we want to see over a coffee! We then headed to the Toursit Information Centre; conveniently hidden next to a Sparkasse. I also checked the T&Cs of the ticket, which meant we could use buses to get around the city - so rather than walk to the Old Town, and the confluence (join) of the Rhein and Mosel, we took the bus, which saved us about 30 minutes or so!
The joining of the two rivers is marked by a statue of a bloke on his horse; not John Wayne or Clint Eastwood, but Kaiser Wilhelm I. The statue is huge, and looks out over what is known as Deutsches Eck (German Corner). From there we did the usual...I took the map, and we had a nose around the city. It was a nice city, with many very nice buildings in the old town, and it was obviously a town where a lot has historically taken place, but the tourist map didn't really provide much information. Luckily, I had consulted Wikipedia the night before, so I was up on some of the details! So, after much walking, much photography, and much coffee, it was time to return to Saarbruecken.
The train I'd planned to take should have been straight through, however because of some sort of engineering works, the train we were on was terminated at a town called Merzig, from where we had to change to the stopping service, running about half an hour later. So, that was just enough time to head to the station bar, and have a glass of the local beer.
To illustrate the difference between the RE (Regional Express) trains, and the RB (Regional Bahn - stopping) services one only needs to look at the number of stops they make between Merzig and Saarbruecken. The RE has 3 stops until Saarbruecken, and the RB has about 10. However, because the German railways are run in a more efficient way, the trains stopped, normally, for less than 45 seconds at each of the stations - none of this doors will be locked 40 seconds before departure rubbish over here!
So, after returning to Saarbruecken about 30 minutes later than originally planned, we headed to the usual place and had a nice dinner out.
Sunday 1st November
Today is the last day of my parent's visit here. I'd left today pretty much blank in the itinerary to go to a few places I thought were worth a look, but not worth a whole day! So, to start the day we headed up to the University's Botanical Garden, which was nice, but quite disappointing - less of a botanical garden as one might imagine it to be (a smaller version of Kew), more an open space with some trees dotted around!
So, not to be put off, we headed off to Ottweiler, again a place I'd been before, where not a huge amount goes on; especially on a Sunday! Still, it was a nice stroll, and we had lunch there before heading off to St. Wendel, which is a slightly bigger town, but still as busy as Ottweiler! There's a nice church there, but that's about it really! After St. Wendel we took to Illingen, which is the only place I can honestly say I've seen chalk for sale! We had a coffee here, and a quick stroll around what is pretty much a ghost town on Sunday!
We then came home, relatively early, so that Mum & Dad could pack and load the car for their departure in the morning. Additionally, my landlady had invited us out for dinner at a restaurant just over the border in France, which is like the Ritz of Saarbruecken; not as posh, and more rurally French, not even the best food in the area, but it is the place to be seen if you weild power or money, or want to climb the greasy pole of influence. Another pleasant evening was had by all, with me acting as an interpreter between my landlady and my parents, after having consumed a couple of alcoholic beverages!
So, in summary, a very interesting week, albeit slightly tiring. It was, obviously, lovely to see Mum & Dad again, and to be able to take them around the place where I've found myself!
So, this is the first full week of my parents' visit to Germany. So what did we decide to do to celebrate the fact that they will be enjoying the full German Experience...we went to France (again). I like Germany, really I do, but I genuinely feel it would be negligent to allow myself not to take advantage of the proximity of the borders with the former Saar protecting power.
Today we took the car to Metz. (Those of you astute readers who have been paying attention to my blog entries will know I've already been there once before with the staff of my Gesamtschule). Now, as I've mentioned previously the French Customs Officers (Douanes) are a little seen species of French officials...but not at the border crossing of the motorway between Saarbruecken and France. These seem to be the less shy type of Douanes. Why do I say this? Well, for the second time in as many visits to Metz I was stopped by the Douanes and asked some questions!
I semi-expected it this time, I saw the look in her eyes when she saw a British car driving towards her...she wanted some English practice, which being the Europhile I was, I declined to give her and answered her in French. This seemed to surprise her, and we were allowed on our way with little fuss this time. I'm beginning to think I may simply have one of those faces, which the French dislike!
So, on arrival in Metz, we encountered the first hurdle, which we'd not had with the coach trip...parking! There was parking available, and finding a space was a little challenging, but not too stressful...the problem was once we'd found the space, it was remembering where we'd left the car! To solve this problem we took the GPS out of the car, saved its location, and planned to use that to get us back!
After leaving the car where it was we headed for a coffee, and then we walked around the cathedral. I still found it as awe-inspiring as the last time I went there. (You can read more about it in the Thursday part of this entry)
After visiting the Cathedral again, we headed into the tourist information office, where they gave us a town map, on which, using the GPS, we marked the location of the car! Following this little breakthrough, we decided to embark on a walking tour of the town, for which I was the guide! (I had, unfortunately, forgotten my red umbrella and bad dress sense, but apart from that I was like any other town guide!) . We had a look at some gardens in front of the barracks, then we walked down by the canalised part of the Moselle (Mosel for the Germanists!) and across the little Paris-esque island in the middle of the River, before heading back up to the Cathedral square, and in turn the car.
We thought it might be nice to have lunch in the botanical gardens in Metz, which shouldn't have been a problem; we knew where they were, we knew where we were and we've got a pretty reliable GPS system...hmm, no quite as easy as it first seemed. Why so? Well, Metz is quite a small city, with quite a lot of people living there, so the buildings are quite tall - the GPS struggles to get a signal surrounded by tall inanimate objects (remember it was originally US Defence technology, if that helps explain it!), but nevertheless, with a certain amount of what I would call intuition and logical thinking (others would probably call it guesswork) we made it to the gardens, where we had lunch and wandered round, before heading home via the E. Leclerc over the border from Saarbruecken to do some shopping for the week.
After dinner, we wandered down into town again for a couple of drinks before enjoying the bus ride home! Long Live Saarbahn!
As a fore-warning, we did do quite a lot this week, so there's a chance this could become a long blog entry...so get yourself sitting comfortably!
Tuesday 27th October
This morning we did my favourite thing in the whole world. (As with the bit from last week, that would also have been written in the sarcasm font if I had one). We went shopping in Saarbruecken. Now, I, being a bloke, am not a fan of shopping, I go shopping when I need stuff - like food for example...I don't traipse around the supermarkets because it's fun, rather because I need something! But anyway, that's what we did...we went round some of the smaller shops, had a look around Saturn, then Dad wanted to rekindle his younger years (so, we tried to go somewhere that was Sepia coloured) so we went to C&A, which he was disappointed with, so we didn't stay too long!
After our morning of fun and games, we headed over to a small town called Voelklingen. At Voelklingen, there is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city of Bath is a World Heritage Site, the Cathedral in Cologne is also a World Heritage Site, as is Stonehenge...so what delights awaited us in Voelklingen - an old steelworks!
The main reason for going this afternoon was that it's free on a Tuesday afternoon - instead of €10 each...this struck me as quite a good deal! It was quite an interesting afternoon - it was interesting seeing how much it had both deteriorated (i.e. become very rusty, and in some places rotted through), and in other places it had flourished - there is a part of the works, which the owners have left as a wilderness to see what develops. It was a throughly enjoyable afternoon - perhaps if I'd understood the steel making process in a little more detail (i.e. if I'd listened a bit more to the details explained to me at GCSE science), I would have got even more from it.
That was about it for Tuesday, with another European journey planned for the Wednesday!
Wednesday 28th October
So, today we were off to Luxembourg (or as us Germanists spell it - Luxemburg). We decided it would be easier to take the bus from Saarbruecken to Luxembourg - that we wouldn't have to find somewhere to park there, which I had heard was truly an horrendous experience bound to cause stress to even the most placid people! At €14 each, it wasn't too unreasonable either! The coach took about an hour and a quarter to get there, and was driven by someone who looked like he was on his holidays from school. (Maybe I am getting old after all!).
The journey was pleasant enough (most of it was on motorway, so there wasn't a huge amount of interesting things to report from the journey itself!). We alighted from the bus in the heart of the old town, as this was where I'd been told it was nicest in Luxembourg. The first thing we did was get coffee...well it seemed to make sense! After that, we headed down to one of the bridges over the gorge between the new and old town. We took some photos from there, and then we headed over to the Cathedral to have a look inside. On the way to the Cathedral we passed the CitySightseeing booth, and we thought it would be worthwhile having a tour to make sure that if we hadn't the opportunity walk around everything, we should probably have seen it from the tour. We opted for the Noddy Train tour, because it was cheaper, and less likely to get caught up in the traffic jams, which seemed so prevalent in Luxembourg.
The Noddy Train ride was as uncomfortable as ever, and my spine is still recovering (everytime I sit down it sounds like someone playing a xylophone down my back!). It took us down into the gorge, from where you could see the old fortifications clearly and it told us a little of the history of the city, sorry Duchy. The only problem was that the majority of the roads were cobbled, and my teeth were chattering as we were going along!
We also looked at the Cathedral, which was nice...still not as nice as Metz, in my opinion, but nice nevertheless. We then did another unofficial walking tour of Luxembourg (i.e. I held the map and chose where we went!). We saw quite a lot there, which I shall attempt to list now! We saw: the Finance Ministry, the Royal Palace, the Parliament Building, the Red Bridge (originally called because it's a bridge, and it's red...I don't know how they do it!), the Municipal (or should I say National, because in Luxembourg they're pretty much the same thing!) Library, the National Bank, the Municipal Park, and Old People's Home (that looked more like a palace to me!), and the Town Hall amongst other things.
Then we caught the bus back to Saarbruecken, before having a meal out in the pub, which I have come to call my 'local'; despite it being nearly 800 miles from my actual home! The food there reminds me of good quality, cheap, pub grub - which I'm a big fan of!
Thursday 29th October
Another day out on public transport today. But, today, at least, we stayed in Germany! We went to Trier on the train. We visited many of the same places as we visited last time I went there with some of the other assistants. You can read about those experiences here if you haven't already! Basically, to summarise, we visited the following places there: The Porta Nigra, the Cathedral, the Electoral Palace (Trier's answer to Versailles), Woolworth (I know, I know, but it was for old times sake!), down by the Mosel(le), then back up past some churches before catching the train back to Saarbruecken. Again, it was a pleasant day, and the weather seemed to hold out, which was nice too!
After dinner, we headed down into town for a couple of drinks at my 'local', before heading back and preparing for a nice day in and around Saarbruecken!
Friday 30th October
Today, we stayed in the environs of Saarbruecken; in the morning we walked out to the pub at Guedingen and had a coffee or two before walking back to Brebach, from where we caught the tram back to town. We did a little more shopping (can you imagine the amount of joy I felt at that prospect?) in Saarbruecken, and I got the new edition of the bus timetable, to find that in fact my local bus service is staying the same as it has been since I've been - still it might work out to be worth it in the long run!
For lunch, I took the old folks out to what we in Saarbruecken affectionately know as the DFG. (Deutsch-Franzoesischer Garten (German-French Garden), which, funnily enough, lies on the border of France & Germany. (Some more outside of the box thinking going on there!) We had lunch there, and had a wander round; it was nice, but with it being the end of autumn, the majority of the plants have gone over, and it was looking slightly folorn. I'm sure it'll look fantastic in the spring/summer though! So, I'll definitely be heading back there! The garden itself came about, basically, because after the war, the people on either side of the border (who had for the last 5 years or so been bitter enemies) decided that they would plant a garden together, and as such the garden is managed by both the Saarbruecken municipal works and the Lorraine authorities.
After lunch, we took another exciting trip out to E.Leclerc supermarket over the border, which was OK. I realise I may be appearing as a little contradictory over my opinion on shopping, so let me briefly clarify; I dislike "going shopping" for the sake of having something to do - I think there are better ways to fill your time like redecorating and then watching it dry, but I don't mind shopping when I need to get something - like food!
Tonight, after dinner, I had my hair cut, and then we had a relatively early night, because we were up early the next morning to head to Koblenz.
Saturday 31st October
For our Hallowe'en day out we decided to travel to Koblenz on the train. The journey itself takes just a little over two and a half hours, but it's worth it. Between Trier and Koblenz the views over the river are very nice - rather like a picture postcard of how I imagine Germany to be! It features the railway running directly next to the river, with steep hills on both sides, completely full of vines - exactly how they harvest them I'm not sure! Oh, I forgot to mention that we took a double decker train, and because the novelty will never wear off, we sat upstairs.
When we got to Koblenz, we had a coffee...this, I ought to add, is pretty standard procedure for us - when we arrive somewhere, it's nice to sit down and decide what we want to see over a coffee! We then headed to the Toursit Information Centre; conveniently hidden next to a Sparkasse. I also checked the T&Cs of the ticket, which meant we could use buses to get around the city - so rather than walk to the Old Town, and the confluence (join) of the Rhein and Mosel, we took the bus, which saved us about 30 minutes or so!
The joining of the two rivers is marked by a statue of a bloke on his horse; not John Wayne or Clint Eastwood, but Kaiser Wilhelm I. The statue is huge, and looks out over what is known as Deutsches Eck (German Corner). From there we did the usual...I took the map, and we had a nose around the city. It was a nice city, with many very nice buildings in the old town, and it was obviously a town where a lot has historically taken place, but the tourist map didn't really provide much information. Luckily, I had consulted Wikipedia the night before, so I was up on some of the details! So, after much walking, much photography, and much coffee, it was time to return to Saarbruecken.
The train I'd planned to take should have been straight through, however because of some sort of engineering works, the train we were on was terminated at a town called Merzig, from where we had to change to the stopping service, running about half an hour later. So, that was just enough time to head to the station bar, and have a glass of the local beer.
To illustrate the difference between the RE (Regional Express) trains, and the RB (Regional Bahn - stopping) services one only needs to look at the number of stops they make between Merzig and Saarbruecken. The RE has 3 stops until Saarbruecken, and the RB has about 10. However, because the German railways are run in a more efficient way, the trains stopped, normally, for less than 45 seconds at each of the stations - none of this doors will be locked 40 seconds before departure rubbish over here!
So, after returning to Saarbruecken about 30 minutes later than originally planned, we headed to the usual place and had a nice dinner out.
Sunday 1st November
Today is the last day of my parent's visit here. I'd left today pretty much blank in the itinerary to go to a few places I thought were worth a look, but not worth a whole day! So, to start the day we headed up to the University's Botanical Garden, which was nice, but quite disappointing - less of a botanical garden as one might imagine it to be (a smaller version of Kew), more an open space with some trees dotted around!
So, not to be put off, we headed off to Ottweiler, again a place I'd been before, where not a huge amount goes on; especially on a Sunday! Still, it was a nice stroll, and we had lunch there before heading off to St. Wendel, which is a slightly bigger town, but still as busy as Ottweiler! There's a nice church there, but that's about it really! After St. Wendel we took to Illingen, which is the only place I can honestly say I've seen chalk for sale! We had a coffee here, and a quick stroll around what is pretty much a ghost town on Sunday!
We then came home, relatively early, so that Mum & Dad could pack and load the car for their departure in the morning. Additionally, my landlady had invited us out for dinner at a restaurant just over the border in France, which is like the Ritz of Saarbruecken; not as posh, and more rurally French, not even the best food in the area, but it is the place to be seen if you weild power or money, or want to climb the greasy pole of influence. Another pleasant evening was had by all, with me acting as an interpreter between my landlady and my parents, after having consumed a couple of alcoholic beverages!
So, in summary, a very interesting week, albeit slightly tiring. It was, obviously, lovely to see Mum & Dad again, and to be able to take them around the place where I've found myself!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
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!
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