Monday 18th - Sunday 24th January
Firstly, I would like to give congratulations to...myself...for managing to complete this blog entry more punctually than previous entries! So, well done me!
Now I did claim, at the end of last week's entry, that this one would be slightly longer and more interesting, and it will be; but it probably won't be edge of the seat stuff (not unless you forgot to put your glasses on anyway!).
So, school was OK this week. On the Tuesday I had to start quite early (8 a.m.) and was a cover teacher for two double lessons with the 12. (Year 13/Upper Sixth (for you old fogies) equivalent) and 11. (obviously Year 12) classes. I had to do some preparation for this, which basically involves me playing around on the Internet for a couple of hours trying to find a suitable article to adapt and create activites for. Obviously, upon finding the articles I then have to create a lesson plan around them, which is the more time consuming part - as I have to try and remember what I could do at their ages, and then create activities of a suitable level (apparently 5,000 word essays aren't suitable!).
Also on Tuesday, I had my first private tuition lesson. That is to say (which is less clumsy in French) I was giving the lesson, and receiving payment, not being the student. What's more interesting is that the person I'm giving tuition to is a Referendarin (Trainee Teacher). The tuition is easy, from my perspective, too - all I have to do is sit there and be a guinea pig (I tried being a hamster, but the wheel just wasn't for me) for her lessons, which she runs through with me, and then I comment, suggest, and correct where applicable.
Friday saw some more recording taking place, I would tell you what it was about, but I wasn't invited this time, so I can't! I did meet up with the other assistants after they had finished for a drink. After this Harriet and I took the Saarbahn to Sarreguemines (which I won't describe again - because seasoned readers of this blog will likely be bored by it!(if you've not heard of it, go back to the beginning and start again!)), where we had a wander round some of the shops - looking for French things to boost our cultural knowledge at a low price. Our journey was largely fruitless, so we returned empty handed to Saarbruecken and disappeared into the night (by which I mean we went home!).
Saturday, the day of Brunch, arrived plenty early enough. Several of us were meeting at Harriet's for Brunch. Arriving punctually (this German thing is starting to rub off on me!) clutching my bag containing tomatoes, a cucumber and a red pepper, we spent several hours there; chatting, comparing lecturers, universities and experiences. We also met some Erasmus students from the University of Saarland, which I had hoped to do earlier, but other things came up (i.e. I forgot).
At the moment Saarbruecken is the home of the Max Ophuels Film Festival, which is up there, as you would imagine, rivalling Cannes in prestige and glamour. (Rather like David was rivalling Goliath). So, being the cultural beings we are, we decided to head into town on Sunday evening (well, what else is there to do?) and watch a film being shown as part of the festival. The film we opted for was U.F.O., which tells the story of a family living in Germany in 1986 (a year of explosions - with the Challenger Space Shuttle exploding during take-off, and the small matter of Chernobyl (or Tchernobyl) exploding. The story focuses on the mother's paranoia about danger from the sky/space. She appeared to believe that the above named explosions were the actions of aliens, who had also invaded Earth, and were posing a direct threat to her and her family. Needless to say, this caused a certain level of stress within the family unit, until she drives off in a car and has an accident, after which she is sectioned and treated for Schizophrenia. She is released, but refuses to take all of her pills, so has a relapse, and goes to jump off the roof of her block of flats. I fear that a cliche may be necessary here, but you did, really, have to be there to make much sense of that description.
As a review, I would say that it was no Disney film, it's not particularly comic, preferring instead to show the effects of Schizophrenia on a family (rather than directly on the patient) and how they try and cope with it, that said, it did have a happy ending. It was a good film though, and one I would recommend to others interested in experiencing modern German cinema.
So, that was this week. Those of you who have read this before will know that before Christmas it was not uncommon for a group of assistants to go and do something at the weekends, and you will also note that this hasn't really happened at this juncture. Fear not! We are heading off to Karlsruhe for the day on Saturday, so I will report back on that next week! (Hopefully on Monday, as I have the day off!)
Showing posts with label Sarreguemines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarreguemines. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Chapter 14 - The End is Nigh! (well, Christmas holidays, at least!)
The Last Two Weeks in Saarbruecken
(Monday 7th - Friday 18th December)
So, because I've had a lot to do during the last couple of weeks, I may have decided that the blog wasn't my highest priority - or I may simply have forgotten to update it!
Quite a lot has happened over here during the last couple of weeks, which I shall now attempt to chronicle!
The week following our Nuremberg adventure was slightly more interesting than normal. On the Thursday, I had been summoned (well, invited really, but summoned sounds more important) by the Ministry for Women, Families, and Education to record some instructions for the German equivalent of A-Level listening exams this year. Naturally I could disclose in a public forum what the topics to be covered are...but that would render me somewhat (to coin a French phrase) dans la merde. So, as such, I shall refrain from detailing the topics and types of activities to be covered here; lest somehow it got into the wrong hands. (I know it's not National Secrets, but it wouldn't be fair for some kids to know the topics and others not to!). What I can say though is it took me about half an hour, and involved me speaking slower than I would normally speak, whilst simultaneously (nice word there!) trying to make it sound natural - this was not the easiest thing in the world. However, the Ministry decided that it wasn't challenging, and I would have to work a bit harder to earn my money - so they wrote it in English, which we, or I at least, simply wouldn't use - but my job was simply to read the script - and like anyone with a good GCSE Drama result - I know how important it is to forget about whatever crap it is you're actually saying and concentrate on how you actually say it! Needless to say, I managed to get through the 30 minutes and earned myself a little bit more money.
On Friday, it was the turn of some of the other assistants to go and do some recording for the Ministry. They were, however, being paid twice as much as me, and subsequently I hoped they had to work for it - which I'm reliably informed they did - they actually had to think about what they wanted to say...I'm not cut out for thinking - especially not in English! After the others had finished at the Ministry (some five hours later) we decided we'd head into Sarreguemines. The reason for this is two-fold; we hadn't been there for a little while, and certainly not in the run up to Christmas, and secondly because they had a Christmas market and I was curious to see what a town like Sarreguemines would produce under the banner of a Christmas market! I was neither surprised nor overwhelmed! As you will now from my previous blog entries (which, obviously you've all read), Sarreguemines is a distinctly small, but pleasant French town (probably about the size of Corsham, for those of you who are from my neck of the woods). Their Christmas Market consisted of about 13 stalls, which were all located in front of the train station and the Courts. Throughout the town there was also Christmas music being played through loudspeakers! After a brief wander, the obligatory cafe visit, and a look at the Market, we headed back to Saarbruecken on the tram and prepared ourselves for our adventure to Strasbourg the following day!
Saturday came around, and today was the day we'd decided to head back to Strasbourg to savour what is supposed to be the best Christmas Market in France. We caught the train at about 10.35, which was due into Strasbourg at about the 12 o'clock mark. Now, as a commuter at home I'm used to busy trains...but I've never been on a train that was so busy that the train crew were preventing people at the stations from boarding the train. Luckily the four of us travelling there had managed to get seats; unfortunately the seats faced the toilet - but beggars can't be choosers! On arrival in Strasbourg we found a cafe - as is compulsary wherever we go - from where we looked at where we wanted to go. We decided to do the things further out of the city centre and then work our way back into the centre, where the main part of the Christmas Market was located. We got on the trams, which if I'm honest aren't quite as efficient (for efficient read fast) as the faithful Saarbahn. We first stopped off at Place de la Republique, which had a large number of official looking buildings, and according to Harriet, 14 Tricolores flying - just in case any random German soldiers walked in and were unsure as to who Strasbourg belonged to perhaps? From there we went out to look at the European Parliament and other European Institution buildings. Now, I can mind-read, the European Parliament is in Brussels I hear you say - well, yes, you're right...but basically there's one in Strasbourg too, because the French President at the time wanted the European Union (or EEC, or whatever it was called back then!) to be based in France; not an unreasonable request you might think. However, it is important here to realise something about the French psyche here...France and her people are like small children...give them a centimetre and they take a kilometer (measurements duly changed for realism!), and when you say no to them they throw their toys out of their metaphorical tram - either by threatening to refuse to take part (as in the case of the EU), or by striking (there are to many examples of French strikes to list here!). The former is exactly what happened in Strasbourg; because France threatened not to play the game any more, the EU gave in and let them have a Parliament building - it is used about once a month, or maybe even less...but it keeps the French happy, and that just makes for a quieter life for everyone! Thereafter, we had a look at a few other interesting looking parts of Strasbourg, before heading back into the centre.
In the centre of Strasbourg there were, and at the time of writing, probably still are, lots of small markets (I understand there to be about 12 in total), which alltogether make up the Strasbourg Christmas Market. We had a brief look through the market on our way to a "Tudoresque" area of Strasbourg, called La Petite France, which is very nice. From there we headed, again, back into the centre and went to the Cathedral. The Cathedral is pleasant, but not as nice as some of the ones I've visited previously. Moreover, there were so many people there, it made it more of forced procession through, rather than walking through at your own pace, and enjoying it. So, we left after about 1/3 of the way round. From here, we had a good look at the Christmas Market. I'm not going to describe the market too much, it's similar to most other Christmas Markets; full of; brightly coloured sheds selling stuff, mulled wine, people pushing their way through, and a bloody cold night too! Despite all of these things, it was a very pleasant day out; I do like Strasbourg, and I like Christmas more this year than I have done for a few years now! If you want to see my pictures from Strasbourg, then click here.
Sunday was set to be a rather uninteresting day; I'd planned to sort out my pictures and write my blog, and generally be lazy! However, something exciting happened to us here in Saarbruecken...............................it...............................SNOWED!!! Proper thick snow, that wasn't melting as soon as it hit the ground!
I woke up about 8 ish, as I usually do on Sunday, turned on the computer, and popped out to the bathroom. On the way, I looked out of the window and then I saw it...white snow all over the garden and still falling from the sky! So, I stayed in bed and did my photos and then decided I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by, so I went out with my camera and a pair of waterproof boots and walked all over the city taking photos of the snow. It was very pretty, and somehow, in an almost childlike way, exciting. After being out for a couple of hours I got a message from one of the other assistants about going to play in the snow - now as a mature 20 year old, working in a position of responsibility in a school, I jumped at the chance! We met on an almost untouched area on the bank of the river and threw a few snowballs, prior to building a snowman. The snowman, whom I should refer to by his name; Rudolf the Red Nosed Snowman. You can see my photos of the snow, and of Rudolf here.
Monday was a pretty normal day, I went to school, went shopping and then went home! Nothing interesting there!
Tuesday morning was just as usual at the school, but in the afternoon some of us assistants had organised to go Ice Skating. It didn't start well for me...admittedly it's been nearly 10 years since I did it last! But I didn't fall over for at least an hour, by which time I'd improved (not quite to Torville and Dean level, but going in the right direction!). In the end I fell over three times, without any serious injuries - apart from to my pride, luckily though, the kids who had been watching from my Gesamtschule had long since left!
After a couple of hours ice skating, it was time for me to go to the Gesamtschule Christmas Dinner. A pleasant meal in a restaurant under the town hall was had, and a good opportunity to get to know my colleagues a bit better! (i.e. learning some of their names!) Back home by 10, in bed by 11...ready for a 6am start the following day - it's a tough life!
Wednesday, again, was a normal day at the Gesamtschule - although it was my last day there of 2009! After work, I met Esther for lunch, as she's going home after work on Thursday. Again, an afternoon of genuinely intelligent conversation followed (terrorism legislation, ID Cards, Knife Crime, Theme tune from Playdays, Favourite children's TV programmes!). After lunch, I came home and tidied my room, and did the majority of the packing for my homeward trip on Friday.
So, today, Thursday 17th December, is my last full day in Germany before Christmas - and quite a lot was undertaken. I went to my Gymnasium for the second lesson, where I took part in a tutorial session with Sabine (my mentor teacher), after which we went to the Christmas Church Service, which was very good (although I declined to sing, or pray aloud for fear of looking more of a muppet than normal). I found that it was relatively easy to understand and follow. After the Church Service, all the teachers went for a meal (which was, obviously, the main reason for going into work today!) at a restaurant on the other side of the hill where I live. The restaurant overlooks a lake, which because of our cold snap (since Saturday afternoon, the temperature's not managed to rise above 0 degrees), was frozen over. During the meal, the snow started again, which just looked serene!
After lunch I headed into town and met up with Claire and Lucy, and whilst there we waved off Esther and Harriet on their ICE to Paris. The exodus has begun!
So, what of this evening; I've got a suitcase to finish packing, I've got to dust and mop my room, and then maybe think about sleeping, but not before putting my phone on charge for the morning!
Tomorrow, I take the train from Saarbruecken at 8am, and get home at 1710 GMT. I'll update you on the journey when I get home, between working shifts at Morrisons!
(Monday 7th - Friday 18th December)
So, because I've had a lot to do during the last couple of weeks, I may have decided that the blog wasn't my highest priority - or I may simply have forgotten to update it!
Quite a lot has happened over here during the last couple of weeks, which I shall now attempt to chronicle!
The week following our Nuremberg adventure was slightly more interesting than normal. On the Thursday, I had been summoned (well, invited really, but summoned sounds more important) by the Ministry for Women, Families, and Education to record some instructions for the German equivalent of A-Level listening exams this year. Naturally I could disclose in a public forum what the topics to be covered are...but that would render me somewhat (to coin a French phrase) dans la merde. So, as such, I shall refrain from detailing the topics and types of activities to be covered here; lest somehow it got into the wrong hands. (I know it's not National Secrets, but it wouldn't be fair for some kids to know the topics and others not to!). What I can say though is it took me about half an hour, and involved me speaking slower than I would normally speak, whilst simultaneously (nice word there!) trying to make it sound natural - this was not the easiest thing in the world. However, the Ministry decided that it wasn't challenging, and I would have to work a bit harder to earn my money - so they wrote it in English, which we, or I at least, simply wouldn't use - but my job was simply to read the script - and like anyone with a good GCSE Drama result - I know how important it is to forget about whatever crap it is you're actually saying and concentrate on how you actually say it! Needless to say, I managed to get through the 30 minutes and earned myself a little bit more money.
On Friday, it was the turn of some of the other assistants to go and do some recording for the Ministry. They were, however, being paid twice as much as me, and subsequently I hoped they had to work for it - which I'm reliably informed they did - they actually had to think about what they wanted to say...I'm not cut out for thinking - especially not in English! After the others had finished at the Ministry (some five hours later) we decided we'd head into Sarreguemines. The reason for this is two-fold; we hadn't been there for a little while, and certainly not in the run up to Christmas, and secondly because they had a Christmas market and I was curious to see what a town like Sarreguemines would produce under the banner of a Christmas market! I was neither surprised nor overwhelmed! As you will now from my previous blog entries (which, obviously you've all read), Sarreguemines is a distinctly small, but pleasant French town (probably about the size of Corsham, for those of you who are from my neck of the woods). Their Christmas Market consisted of about 13 stalls, which were all located in front of the train station and the Courts. Throughout the town there was also Christmas music being played through loudspeakers! After a brief wander, the obligatory cafe visit, and a look at the Market, we headed back to Saarbruecken on the tram and prepared ourselves for our adventure to Strasbourg the following day!
Saturday came around, and today was the day we'd decided to head back to Strasbourg to savour what is supposed to be the best Christmas Market in France. We caught the train at about 10.35, which was due into Strasbourg at about the 12 o'clock mark. Now, as a commuter at home I'm used to busy trains...but I've never been on a train that was so busy that the train crew were preventing people at the stations from boarding the train. Luckily the four of us travelling there had managed to get seats; unfortunately the seats faced the toilet - but beggars can't be choosers! On arrival in Strasbourg we found a cafe - as is compulsary wherever we go - from where we looked at where we wanted to go. We decided to do the things further out of the city centre and then work our way back into the centre, where the main part of the Christmas Market was located. We got on the trams, which if I'm honest aren't quite as efficient (for efficient read fast) as the faithful Saarbahn. We first stopped off at Place de la Republique, which had a large number of official looking buildings, and according to Harriet, 14 Tricolores flying - just in case any random German soldiers walked in and were unsure as to who Strasbourg belonged to perhaps? From there we went out to look at the European Parliament and other European Institution buildings. Now, I can mind-read, the European Parliament is in Brussels I hear you say - well, yes, you're right...but basically there's one in Strasbourg too, because the French President at the time wanted the European Union (or EEC, or whatever it was called back then!) to be based in France; not an unreasonable request you might think. However, it is important here to realise something about the French psyche here...France and her people are like small children...give them a centimetre and they take a kilometer (measurements duly changed for realism!), and when you say no to them they throw their toys out of their metaphorical tram - either by threatening to refuse to take part (as in the case of the EU), or by striking (there are to many examples of French strikes to list here!). The former is exactly what happened in Strasbourg; because France threatened not to play the game any more, the EU gave in and let them have a Parliament building - it is used about once a month, or maybe even less...but it keeps the French happy, and that just makes for a quieter life for everyone! Thereafter, we had a look at a few other interesting looking parts of Strasbourg, before heading back into the centre.
In the centre of Strasbourg there were, and at the time of writing, probably still are, lots of small markets (I understand there to be about 12 in total), which alltogether make up the Strasbourg Christmas Market. We had a brief look through the market on our way to a "Tudoresque" area of Strasbourg, called La Petite France, which is very nice. From there we headed, again, back into the centre and went to the Cathedral. The Cathedral is pleasant, but not as nice as some of the ones I've visited previously. Moreover, there were so many people there, it made it more of forced procession through, rather than walking through at your own pace, and enjoying it. So, we left after about 1/3 of the way round. From here, we had a good look at the Christmas Market. I'm not going to describe the market too much, it's similar to most other Christmas Markets; full of; brightly coloured sheds selling stuff, mulled wine, people pushing their way through, and a bloody cold night too! Despite all of these things, it was a very pleasant day out; I do like Strasbourg, and I like Christmas more this year than I have done for a few years now! If you want to see my pictures from Strasbourg, then click here.
Sunday was set to be a rather uninteresting day; I'd planned to sort out my pictures and write my blog, and generally be lazy! However, something exciting happened to us here in Saarbruecken...............................it...............................SNOWED!!! Proper thick snow, that wasn't melting as soon as it hit the ground!
I woke up about 8 ish, as I usually do on Sunday, turned on the computer, and popped out to the bathroom. On the way, I looked out of the window and then I saw it...white snow all over the garden and still falling from the sky! So, I stayed in bed and did my photos and then decided I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by, so I went out with my camera and a pair of waterproof boots and walked all over the city taking photos of the snow. It was very pretty, and somehow, in an almost childlike way, exciting. After being out for a couple of hours I got a message from one of the other assistants about going to play in the snow - now as a mature 20 year old, working in a position of responsibility in a school, I jumped at the chance! We met on an almost untouched area on the bank of the river and threw a few snowballs, prior to building a snowman. The snowman, whom I should refer to by his name; Rudolf the Red Nosed Snowman. You can see my photos of the snow, and of Rudolf here.
Monday was a pretty normal day, I went to school, went shopping and then went home! Nothing interesting there!
Tuesday morning was just as usual at the school, but in the afternoon some of us assistants had organised to go Ice Skating. It didn't start well for me...admittedly it's been nearly 10 years since I did it last! But I didn't fall over for at least an hour, by which time I'd improved (not quite to Torville and Dean level, but going in the right direction!). In the end I fell over three times, without any serious injuries - apart from to my pride, luckily though, the kids who had been watching from my Gesamtschule had long since left!
After a couple of hours ice skating, it was time for me to go to the Gesamtschule Christmas Dinner. A pleasant meal in a restaurant under the town hall was had, and a good opportunity to get to know my colleagues a bit better! (i.e. learning some of their names!) Back home by 10, in bed by 11...ready for a 6am start the following day - it's a tough life!
Wednesday, again, was a normal day at the Gesamtschule - although it was my last day there of 2009! After work, I met Esther for lunch, as she's going home after work on Thursday. Again, an afternoon of genuinely intelligent conversation followed (terrorism legislation, ID Cards, Knife Crime, Theme tune from Playdays, Favourite children's TV programmes!). After lunch, I came home and tidied my room, and did the majority of the packing for my homeward trip on Friday.
So, today, Thursday 17th December, is my last full day in Germany before Christmas - and quite a lot was undertaken. I went to my Gymnasium for the second lesson, where I took part in a tutorial session with Sabine (my mentor teacher), after which we went to the Christmas Church Service, which was very good (although I declined to sing, or pray aloud for fear of looking more of a muppet than normal). I found that it was relatively easy to understand and follow. After the Church Service, all the teachers went for a meal (which was, obviously, the main reason for going into work today!) at a restaurant on the other side of the hill where I live. The restaurant overlooks a lake, which because of our cold snap (since Saturday afternoon, the temperature's not managed to rise above 0 degrees), was frozen over. During the meal, the snow started again, which just looked serene!
After lunch I headed into town and met up with Claire and Lucy, and whilst there we waved off Esther and Harriet on their ICE to Paris. The exodus has begun!
So, what of this evening; I've got a suitcase to finish packing, I've got to dust and mop my room, and then maybe think about sleeping, but not before putting my phone on charge for the morning!
Tomorrow, I take the train from Saarbruecken at 8am, and get home at 1710 GMT. I'll update you on the journey when I get home, between working shifts at Morrisons!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Chapter Seven - The Seventh Week
Monday 19th October
So, today we headed off to Trier, which isn't actually in Saarland, instead it is in Rhineland-Palatinate (or as the Germans call it Rheinland-Pfalz). Rhineland-Palatinate is effectively a cushion for Saarland against the perils of the rest of Germany - it surrounds our little Bundesland on all its internal borders.
Trier is also the oldest city in Germany (according to Wikipedia, which is always right!), the birthplace of Karl Marx (him of communist manifesto fame, rather than a brother of Groucho!), as well as having some roman buildings too!
We caught the semi-fast train there, which took us just over an hour, which wasn't too bad. The views along the side of the river are pretty nice...what I would describe as picture postcard Germany. In fact, when we went along there this morning, the mist was just rising off of the river, and it was quite eery (I'm not sure how we'd spell that in English, so that's how it stays!).
When we got to Trier we thought we'd have a look around. There were a few places we thought we ought to see there, for example; Porta Nigra (an old Roman gateway to the old city) - still looking quite impressive considering its age, The Dom - which is a real mish-mash (that technical term again) of historical periods, with the main part being built during the Roman times, and other bits added on through medieval times. We also thought we ought to visit Karl Marx's house, which, if I'm honest, was a bit of a let-down. I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but it didn't really live up to it!
So, we did have a look at all of the above places, as well as wandering aimlessly (although we had a map, in case it wall went askew) through the streets of Trier; some of which were very pretty. There was also a market there today, and a mini-Versailles. Then we headed towards the river, which is the Mosel (Moselle in French) and walked long there for a bit, admiring the views on the other side.
Then we headed back to the Bahnhof, and enjoyed a nice train journey back to Saarbruecken from Trier, again enjoying the views from the train window!
This, ladies and gents, is why I came to Germany!
Just to make it easier, and to save uploading photos to two different places. You can see my Year Abroad photo album here
Tuesday 20th October
Sorry, it's taken me an age to get round to updating this....this can be explained simply by saying "Microsoft Windows". I shall explain more about this later!
After our trip to Trier yesterday, we had originally thought about going by tram to Sarreguemines and then taking an SNCF train further into France. This idea, typically, encountered problems! This time in the form of a national strike by SNCF (who else!). Not being deterred from a day out in France, I thought we might go to Forbach (which I think is just one big housing estate full of HLM (council flats, for non-French speakers)) and if we go as a group we may find something else worth visiting...so we arranged to meet at the train station to catch the bus to Forbach in the morning. I have travelled to Forbach by bus before without problems using just my university semester ticket...however, for some reason best known to the driver, we weren't able to travel on this bus...so again, determined to visit France today, we waited quarter of an hour for the tram to Sarreguemines.
We had another wander around Sarreguemines (although, it was still pretty dead), had a cup of coffee, looked at the cinema to see if there were any films worth seeing (there weren't any on until the evening), and then headed over to Intermarche to grab a few groceries before heading home.
So, all in all, a typical day - brick walls, more brick walls, and a couple more just for good measure! Still, the tram ride was pleasant!
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the computer problems....so when I got home from Sarreguemines I flicked on the laptop, went and put the kettle on, came back ready to log-in, to find it had a corrupt boot-up file...being a technical whizz-kid I knew what this needed, so I switched it off and on again! Erm...this didn't work, and I was out of ideas! So, this wasn't a pleasant evening all in all...and a day in which Obstacles seemed to be the word of the day! You'll be pleased to know the computer problems were solved later on in the week!
Wednesday 21st October
Today I had my final round of bureaucracy in Germany...after this, no other German authorities need to be told about me! I had an appointment at 11am at the Auslaenderamt (Foreigners' Office) to get something called a Freizuegigkeitsbescheinigung (which I now know is effectively a piece of paper, saying that I can do as I please in Germany as I'm a citizen of the EU). I walked there from home, and got there about 10.35, and my number was called (another one of these ticket and number systems) at 10.45. The process involved me handing over pretty much every other piece of paperwork I had accumulated during my time here and the man in the office photocopying it. Then he gave me this piece of paper and I was free to go. I left the office at 10.55 (5 minutes before my original appointment time) - this was a true example of German efficiency at work!
Following my appointment, I decided to have a random day out on the trains, so I travelled on the train to a town called Dillingen, where I'd seen there was a branch-line, which I thought I'd take; just to see where it goes really! It goes to a place called Niedaltersdorf - which is, as I realised, just a small village with a church, a river, and a pub (which was closed for lunch!). Thus, it was a difficult place in which to kill 45 minutes waiting for the train to come back - so I sat down and read some of my book! After going there, I headed back to Saarbruecken, with the intention of going shopping...this I didn't do, preferring instead to head home and do very little!
Thursday 22nd October
Today, I had a lot to do! With Mum & Dad arriving in the evening, I felt it was necessary to do some tidying up! So, I started in earnest to do that about 10 am, after being distracted by the internet far too easily! After tidying for a bit, I decided it would be a good idea to iron the clothes that had been languishing on my clothes horse for the past few days - when at the same moment, I realised my laundry basket was full...so off I trotted to the washing machine with my bag full of clothes.
After I'd started the whole washing process, and begun to iron...I remembered I had to go shopping too. So, down to the bus stop I went with all my bags and shopping list. I had a bit more shopping this week, what with having to feed two other mouths and all, so it was a bit bloody heavier coming up the 67 steps to my house!
When I got back, I finished the ironing, and fetched the washing from the machine, and reloaded my clothes horse (so, really my room was just as full this morning, all I had achieved was to put some more of my clothes back in the wardrobe!).
During the afternoon, I had the fun job of dusting and cleaning my room! Ladies & Gents, please take note - as nice as laminate flooring looks, it is a right pain in the backside to keep clean, as it attracts dust like nobody's business!
As you can tell, the bulk of my day was well planned, well executed and generally was a lot of fun. (I've not got a sarcasm font, but if I did, this last sentence would appear in it!)
When Mum & Dad arrived, we had some tea, and spoke to my landlady, and then we went for a walk down to the Schloss, and had a beer before enjoying the bus ride home!
Friday 23rd October
So, on the first day of my parents' being here, we decided that instead of enjoying some of Germany, we would have a trip to Sarreguemines. We wandered around there for a bit, had a nice walk around the market, and then had a coffee! We then walked down by the side of the Saar (or Sarre, if you're a patriotic Frenchman), before heading off to Kleinblittersdorf for lunch and to repeat my walk from Kleinblittersdorf to Guedingen.
I should, at this juncture, briefly mention the weather (well, as there's three English people here - it would be negligent of our stereotype not to!) - it was a drizzly and cloudy day, but not exceptionally cold.
The walk was broken at Guedingen, where they conveniently left a pub, with a couple of drinks, before walking back to Kleinblittersdorf. It would appear that in this part of Germany they have employed the same person to count the distances as they have in Devon. (For those of you who don't know - Distances in Devon are often far further than the signs tell you they are - e.g. if a sign tells you it's 5 miles to Modbury, be aware it could be 8 actual miles!). How do I know this? Well, at one end of our walk, it purports to be 5km to the other end, whilst at the other end walking back along the same path will be 7.5km...where do the extra 2.5km come from? Who knows!
After walking as far as we did today, we decided to stay in and watch a film tonight.
During the film, we decided to use my computer's own rescue and recover system - this basically reformats my computer and then kindly installs Windows back on it. This might sound awful, but luckily I had saved a lot of my work on a memory stick, so that wasn't so bad! What's more annoying is that I now have to re-install a lot of my software back on the computer, which is more a time-consuming problem than anything else! Damned computers!
Saturday 24th October
Today we went to a couple of towns not too far away from Saarbruecken - indeed actually doing something in Germany! One of these was Saarlouis, which I had already visited with some of the other assistants; here we walked around the market and the infamous Tedi shop (basically a poundstretcher). We also had a walk along the side of the moat around the old fortifications in Saarlouis, which was very nice. At the moment, it is a perfect time to get some fantastic pictures of the orange, and red leaves on the trees!
After lunch in Saarlouis, we headed off to Merzig, where we actually went in a Woolworth (not quite the same thing as the ones which closed in January, but started by the same American). After walking around the town, which is nice, but there really isn't a lot here (except for two train stations!)...there is, though, a hill, from which you can have some fantastic views over the Saar and over the valley. (I've already put some photos on the blog in one of my September entries, if you're interested!)
This evening my landlady cooked a typical Saarlaendisch dinner for us. It consisted of a rare Saarlaendisch delicacy...err...maybe, not rare....in fact, not normally a delicacy....potatoes. The meal started with Potato soup, followed by pureed potato with cabbage, followed by a Lyoner sausage (which is originally French, but the Saarlaenders like to claim ownership for it!). This was finished off with stewed apple, and a few pieces of french cheese. All of this was washed down with a little (or, in fact, quite a lot) white wine! I would also like to add my name to the list of people (mainly students) that argue that alcohol makes languages easier and more fluent!
All in all, a very pleasant evening to end a pleasant day! It was also an opportunity to get to know my flatmate a bit better, because prior to this, we had often passed like ships in the night (me early in the morning and her late back in the evening!).
Sunday 25th October
So, today, we went out to see some more picturesue places within Saarland. The main reason for this was that everything is shut on a Sunday. The first port of call was a small town in Northern Saarland called Mettlach. Near to Mettlach is a famous bend in the Saar called the Saarschleife (Saar loop)...it is basically the only thing that normal Germans would recognise from the Saarland! I'm no geographer, so I'll explain it in layman's terms - it's basically a bend in the Saar, which almost goes back on itself. (I will put some pictures up when I put that piece of software back on my newly reformatted computer!).
From Mettlach, we thought it would be a good idea to walk along the river, to see what the loop was like from the bottom of the hill. It is pretty unimpressive to be honest. Admittedly, the river finds itself in a very deep wooded valley, which at this time of year is very pretty with the autumn colours, but in terms of noticing the actual bend, it's negligible because you are on the bend for so long, it becomes normalised.
So, after walking around the bend and back, we decided to head up to the viewpoint, from where there are some pretty good photo opportunities to be had of the view over the Saarschleife. We took some photos and decided that it was well worth the journey!
It was a little bit early to go home, so we headed over to Losheim am See, where there is a railway museum (which I knew would be closed, being a Sunday and all). It was surprising how easily accessible the museum property was; you could walk pretty freely around the main platform areas, and they are running trains along their preserved line at the end of November - so guess where I'll be then!!!
After briefly walking round there, we headed home and had a nice stroll down by the Schloss (castle) in Saarbruecken before catching the friendly bus back!
Several European, and intra-German excursions planned next week...I'll keep you posted!
So, today we headed off to Trier, which isn't actually in Saarland, instead it is in Rhineland-Palatinate (or as the Germans call it Rheinland-Pfalz). Rhineland-Palatinate is effectively a cushion for Saarland against the perils of the rest of Germany - it surrounds our little Bundesland on all its internal borders.
Trier is also the oldest city in Germany (according to Wikipedia, which is always right!), the birthplace of Karl Marx (him of communist manifesto fame, rather than a brother of Groucho!), as well as having some roman buildings too!
We caught the semi-fast train there, which took us just over an hour, which wasn't too bad. The views along the side of the river are pretty nice...what I would describe as picture postcard Germany. In fact, when we went along there this morning, the mist was just rising off of the river, and it was quite eery (I'm not sure how we'd spell that in English, so that's how it stays!).
When we got to Trier we thought we'd have a look around. There were a few places we thought we ought to see there, for example; Porta Nigra (an old Roman gateway to the old city) - still looking quite impressive considering its age, The Dom - which is a real mish-mash (that technical term again) of historical periods, with the main part being built during the Roman times, and other bits added on through medieval times. We also thought we ought to visit Karl Marx's house, which, if I'm honest, was a bit of a let-down. I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but it didn't really live up to it!
So, we did have a look at all of the above places, as well as wandering aimlessly (although we had a map, in case it wall went askew) through the streets of Trier; some of which were very pretty. There was also a market there today, and a mini-Versailles. Then we headed towards the river, which is the Mosel (Moselle in French) and walked long there for a bit, admiring the views on the other side.
Then we headed back to the Bahnhof, and enjoyed a nice train journey back to Saarbruecken from Trier, again enjoying the views from the train window!
This, ladies and gents, is why I came to Germany!
Just to make it easier, and to save uploading photos to two different places. You can see my Year Abroad photo album here
Tuesday 20th October
Sorry, it's taken me an age to get round to updating this....this can be explained simply by saying "Microsoft Windows". I shall explain more about this later!
After our trip to Trier yesterday, we had originally thought about going by tram to Sarreguemines and then taking an SNCF train further into France. This idea, typically, encountered problems! This time in the form of a national strike by SNCF (who else!). Not being deterred from a day out in France, I thought we might go to Forbach (which I think is just one big housing estate full of HLM (council flats, for non-French speakers)) and if we go as a group we may find something else worth visiting...so we arranged to meet at the train station to catch the bus to Forbach in the morning. I have travelled to Forbach by bus before without problems using just my university semester ticket...however, for some reason best known to the driver, we weren't able to travel on this bus...so again, determined to visit France today, we waited quarter of an hour for the tram to Sarreguemines.
We had another wander around Sarreguemines (although, it was still pretty dead), had a cup of coffee, looked at the cinema to see if there were any films worth seeing (there weren't any on until the evening), and then headed over to Intermarche to grab a few groceries before heading home.
So, all in all, a typical day - brick walls, more brick walls, and a couple more just for good measure! Still, the tram ride was pleasant!
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the computer problems....so when I got home from Sarreguemines I flicked on the laptop, went and put the kettle on, came back ready to log-in, to find it had a corrupt boot-up file...being a technical whizz-kid I knew what this needed, so I switched it off and on again! Erm...this didn't work, and I was out of ideas! So, this wasn't a pleasant evening all in all...and a day in which Obstacles seemed to be the word of the day! You'll be pleased to know the computer problems were solved later on in the week!
Wednesday 21st October
Today I had my final round of bureaucracy in Germany...after this, no other German authorities need to be told about me! I had an appointment at 11am at the Auslaenderamt (Foreigners' Office) to get something called a Freizuegigkeitsbescheinigung (which I now know is effectively a piece of paper, saying that I can do as I please in Germany as I'm a citizen of the EU). I walked there from home, and got there about 10.35, and my number was called (another one of these ticket and number systems) at 10.45. The process involved me handing over pretty much every other piece of paperwork I had accumulated during my time here and the man in the office photocopying it. Then he gave me this piece of paper and I was free to go. I left the office at 10.55 (5 minutes before my original appointment time) - this was a true example of German efficiency at work!
Following my appointment, I decided to have a random day out on the trains, so I travelled on the train to a town called Dillingen, where I'd seen there was a branch-line, which I thought I'd take; just to see where it goes really! It goes to a place called Niedaltersdorf - which is, as I realised, just a small village with a church, a river, and a pub (which was closed for lunch!). Thus, it was a difficult place in which to kill 45 minutes waiting for the train to come back - so I sat down and read some of my book! After going there, I headed back to Saarbruecken, with the intention of going shopping...this I didn't do, preferring instead to head home and do very little!
Thursday 22nd October
Today, I had a lot to do! With Mum & Dad arriving in the evening, I felt it was necessary to do some tidying up! So, I started in earnest to do that about 10 am, after being distracted by the internet far too easily! After tidying for a bit, I decided it would be a good idea to iron the clothes that had been languishing on my clothes horse for the past few days - when at the same moment, I realised my laundry basket was full...so off I trotted to the washing machine with my bag full of clothes.
After I'd started the whole washing process, and begun to iron...I remembered I had to go shopping too. So, down to the bus stop I went with all my bags and shopping list. I had a bit more shopping this week, what with having to feed two other mouths and all, so it was a bit bloody heavier coming up the 67 steps to my house!
When I got back, I finished the ironing, and fetched the washing from the machine, and reloaded my clothes horse (so, really my room was just as full this morning, all I had achieved was to put some more of my clothes back in the wardrobe!).
During the afternoon, I had the fun job of dusting and cleaning my room! Ladies & Gents, please take note - as nice as laminate flooring looks, it is a right pain in the backside to keep clean, as it attracts dust like nobody's business!
As you can tell, the bulk of my day was well planned, well executed and generally was a lot of fun. (I've not got a sarcasm font, but if I did, this last sentence would appear in it!)
When Mum & Dad arrived, we had some tea, and spoke to my landlady, and then we went for a walk down to the Schloss, and had a beer before enjoying the bus ride home!
Friday 23rd October
So, on the first day of my parents' being here, we decided that instead of enjoying some of Germany, we would have a trip to Sarreguemines. We wandered around there for a bit, had a nice walk around the market, and then had a coffee! We then walked down by the side of the Saar (or Sarre, if you're a patriotic Frenchman), before heading off to Kleinblittersdorf for lunch and to repeat my walk from Kleinblittersdorf to Guedingen.
I should, at this juncture, briefly mention the weather (well, as there's three English people here - it would be negligent of our stereotype not to!) - it was a drizzly and cloudy day, but not exceptionally cold.
The walk was broken at Guedingen, where they conveniently left a pub, with a couple of drinks, before walking back to Kleinblittersdorf. It would appear that in this part of Germany they have employed the same person to count the distances as they have in Devon. (For those of you who don't know - Distances in Devon are often far further than the signs tell you they are - e.g. if a sign tells you it's 5 miles to Modbury, be aware it could be 8 actual miles!). How do I know this? Well, at one end of our walk, it purports to be 5km to the other end, whilst at the other end walking back along the same path will be 7.5km...where do the extra 2.5km come from? Who knows!
After walking as far as we did today, we decided to stay in and watch a film tonight.
During the film, we decided to use my computer's own rescue and recover system - this basically reformats my computer and then kindly installs Windows back on it. This might sound awful, but luckily I had saved a lot of my work on a memory stick, so that wasn't so bad! What's more annoying is that I now have to re-install a lot of my software back on the computer, which is more a time-consuming problem than anything else! Damned computers!
Saturday 24th October
Today we went to a couple of towns not too far away from Saarbruecken - indeed actually doing something in Germany! One of these was Saarlouis, which I had already visited with some of the other assistants; here we walked around the market and the infamous Tedi shop (basically a poundstretcher). We also had a walk along the side of the moat around the old fortifications in Saarlouis, which was very nice. At the moment, it is a perfect time to get some fantastic pictures of the orange, and red leaves on the trees!
After lunch in Saarlouis, we headed off to Merzig, where we actually went in a Woolworth (not quite the same thing as the ones which closed in January, but started by the same American). After walking around the town, which is nice, but there really isn't a lot here (except for two train stations!)...there is, though, a hill, from which you can have some fantastic views over the Saar and over the valley. (I've already put some photos on the blog in one of my September entries, if you're interested!)
This evening my landlady cooked a typical Saarlaendisch dinner for us. It consisted of a rare Saarlaendisch delicacy...err...maybe, not rare....in fact, not normally a delicacy....potatoes. The meal started with Potato soup, followed by pureed potato with cabbage, followed by a Lyoner sausage (which is originally French, but the Saarlaenders like to claim ownership for it!). This was finished off with stewed apple, and a few pieces of french cheese. All of this was washed down with a little (or, in fact, quite a lot) white wine! I would also like to add my name to the list of people (mainly students) that argue that alcohol makes languages easier and more fluent!
All in all, a very pleasant evening to end a pleasant day! It was also an opportunity to get to know my flatmate a bit better, because prior to this, we had often passed like ships in the night (me early in the morning and her late back in the evening!).
Sunday 25th October
So, today, we went out to see some more picturesue places within Saarland. The main reason for this was that everything is shut on a Sunday. The first port of call was a small town in Northern Saarland called Mettlach. Near to Mettlach is a famous bend in the Saar called the Saarschleife (Saar loop)...it is basically the only thing that normal Germans would recognise from the Saarland! I'm no geographer, so I'll explain it in layman's terms - it's basically a bend in the Saar, which almost goes back on itself. (I will put some pictures up when I put that piece of software back on my newly reformatted computer!).
From Mettlach, we thought it would be a good idea to walk along the river, to see what the loop was like from the bottom of the hill. It is pretty unimpressive to be honest. Admittedly, the river finds itself in a very deep wooded valley, which at this time of year is very pretty with the autumn colours, but in terms of noticing the actual bend, it's negligible because you are on the bend for so long, it becomes normalised.
So, after walking around the bend and back, we decided to head up to the viewpoint, from where there are some pretty good photo opportunities to be had of the view over the Saarschleife. We took some photos and decided that it was well worth the journey!
It was a little bit early to go home, so we headed over to Losheim am See, where there is a railway museum (which I knew would be closed, being a Sunday and all). It was surprising how easily accessible the museum property was; you could walk pretty freely around the main platform areas, and they are running trains along their preserved line at the end of November - so guess where I'll be then!!!
After briefly walking round there, we headed home and had a nice stroll down by the Schloss (castle) in Saarbruecken before catching the friendly bus back!
Several European, and intra-German excursions planned next week...I'll keep you posted!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Chapter Two - My Second Week
So, here comes Week Two, this one ought probably to be shorter than the last one, but we shall see how it develops!
Saturday 12th September
Today was quite an exciting and novel day for me. I was able to leave the country by walking only 20 metres. How so, I hear you ask. (well obviously I can't, but I'm presuming that you want to know...if I'm wrong, then skip onto Sunday and don't bother with this entry!) Directly outside my door is a tram stop...so what, well this tram service is a bit special. It runs to France, it actually leaves Germany, and crosses the frontier. For a reasonable fee, it's possible to travel to a town in the Lorraine (57) region of France called Sarreguemines. The journey itself is not overly different to being on a normal train when you get out of Saarbruecken's city centre, and you're not stopping every 200 metres. It runs parallel to the Saar most of the way, which is nice. The tram arrives into the main Gare at Sarreguemines, from where it is possible to catch trains to Strasbourg amongst other places.
Sarreguemines itself is a nice French town, but with clear German influences in places (this area of France has throughout its history been hotly contested by the two nations). It has a nice collection of typically French shops (i.e. cafes, tabacs, bakeries, hairdressers, oh and banks!). This wasn't really a long visit, I thought I'd save it as a place to come back and visit, perhaps over a whole day. I also wanted to explore some of the other places on the tram-line back to Saarbruecken.
So, after a brief stroll around this town, I caught the tram back to Kleinblittersdorf, a small German on the bank of the Saar. When you get off at the station, it is possible to cross over the Saar and pass into a French village, with a slightly unusual (i.e. not typically French) name: Grossblitterstroff. A true example of the way the local dialect works. Anyway, it was a nice day, so I thought I'd explore this quirky French village, partake in a little coffee from one of the inevitably many cafes in the village....erm....I was slightly wrong. Grossblitterstroff is perfect if you want your barnet looked at; I counted 4 hairdressers, cafes; there was one, and it was closed! How a French cafe could be closed on a Saturday afternoon, I'll never know...but it was a little inconvenient to say the least. Having quashed my main purpose for looking around the village, I returned to the tram station, where I found I would have to wait a mere 54 minutes for a tram...not having a huge amount of patience/nor a good book on me...I had a Top Gear moment. I thought I'd walk back to Saarbruecken, after all, how hard can it be!?!
Well, it turns out, it was slightly further than I'd thought. I followed the path along the bank of the Saar, which also doubled as a cyclepath (judging by the number of disgusted looks I received, I guess it was probably a cyclepath, which the cyclists had been forced to share it with us homosapiens who don't possess a mechanical contraption for movement). Anyway, I walked for a bit, and after a couple of hours, I resigned myself to having a beer at the next available watering hole....I mean I was back in Germany by now, reputedly Europe's biggest beer drinkers, so how far would it be...not too far obviously! Erm....I may have been wrong again...it was another 4 km I walked before I found a biergarten! Now, I'd walked about 8.5 km from Grossblitterstroff to a suburb of Saarbruecken called Duedingen. I was quite proud of this walk, so I thought I'd sit down and take the wait off, before finishing the last 6 km or so into town....this was another misjudgement...as soon as I sat down, my feet began to let my brain know they had adopted a French mindset, and had gone on strike! After refuelling (i.e. finishing my beer), I decided that I would walk a little further (500m to be precise) to the tram station, from where I caught the next available tram, and then just about managed to hobble the last few metres from the tram stop to my room....although I regretted that it was on the 1st floor quite a lot!
When I got back to my room, I did the diplomatic thing, and gave into my complaining feet, and pretty much got into bed, and stayed there all evening!
Sunday 13th September
Today is a Sunday (obvious I know, but it sets up the rest of the sentence, so bear with it!), and in Saarbruecken 99% of everything shuts on Sunday. Indeed the only places I've found that open here are cafes. So not wanting to be a boring recluse, I thought I would meet up with our newest arrival, and show her around Saarbruecken a bit. It was a nice day, so we started with coffee in the St. Johanner Markt, which I'm sure is compulsory on Sunday's! Then we followed a similar tour to that which Sabine had taken me. Then we thought we'd just keep walking, and we tried to find one of her schools. We found the road it was in, so then we walked and talked about anything and everything that came to mind. We walked back through the suburbs, which went from being normal "middle class" houses, through to an area, which it could be suggested had problems with unemployment, and high numbers of immigrants....how can we tell....because in advance of the pending Budestagswaehl in Germany, there were only NPD posters up in this area that hadn't been vandalised at all! But it was nice (if that's the right word), to see a different face to the city. After that, we went home and braced ourselves for our forthcoming weeks at school!
Monday 14th September
Today, I worked with some of the other English teachers; each has their own style and rapport with the pupils, and it's nice watching and sometimes participating in the classes too. Today was spent working primarily with the lower years at the school, which is nice, because they often ask the questions which are the most difficult to answer on the spot. "Why am I here?", "Why did you bother learning a language, everyone else speaks English anyway?" and some more quirky ones..."What colour's your favourite shirt!?!", "What's your phone number?". But I'm really impressed at their grasp and standard of English, sometimes they just need coaxing but with a little bit of work, they'll all be talking away in English before long.....just you wait!
After school, which I finished early today, I went back to Sarreguemines today...not for the same hike as the previous day, I went to see what was in the town centre, but I got distracted by boxes of books for sale. I'm really a sucker for books, particularly French ones...so I came away €3 lighter, but with 5 books to peruse. Two about learning English & German (albeit in French, but potentially useful too), Le Petit Prince (just because I've heard it mentioned a lot, and thought I probably ought to make an effort to read it), 20,000 leagues under the sea (simply so I can see what this whole pride in Jules Verne is all about!), and Le Proces by Kafka (so I could pretend to cultured really, but I'll still read it, and probably find it just as difficult to get my head round!). So, with my backpack loaded up again, I went home and set about deciding which one I should read first - settled on Le Petit Prince (it had pictures to go with it!) and I'm finding it quite good actually!
Tuesday 15th September
Today, I worked with the Oberstufe (Sixth Form equivalent) English classes today, and was again blown away by not only their level of English ability, but their really intelligent and well-thought out arguments! We were discussing immigration, and some of them were able to give real-life experiences, they were able to discount the political propaganda being thrust upon them, they gave me some really intelligent suggestions about how the problems could start to be resolved.
It's days like this, that remind me why I want to teach!
Wednesday 16th September
Today was my first proper day at the Gesamtschule in Ludwigspark. I spent the first lesson with my Betreuungslehrerin observing her in a cover lesson with a 7. Klasse (Year 8 equivalent), which was quite an interesting experience. The lesson was spent with the students doing colouring by numbers exercises to practise new vocab learnt. Then I observed a German lesson, as there was no English lesson being undertaken at this time. It was nice to see German being taught as a 1st Language - they were doing the basics of summarising a text about a local wolf sanctuary. I spent my 3rd and last lesson of the day, with the Schuldirektor covering another English lesson with the class from my first lesson. It was also interesting to note that there was little difference in how the children behaved for the Headteacher than the other English teacher. During this lesson, we carried out a quick name eliciting exercise, whereby I took half the class, and asked their name and where they were from....of the 17 or so children I asked....3, yes three, were native Germans. All of the others had an immigrant background of some description, which perhaps goes some way to explaining why the children are less likely to pay attention in English lessons - simply because it's too hard for them to learn another language on top of the German they've already had to learn. So my first impression of the Gesamtschule is that it will be more of a challenge, but I like a challenge, and it'll be a rewarding year hopefully, watching them learn and progress on with their languages.
Thursday 17th September
Back at the Gesamtschule today, where I had to take a cover lesson on my own (you know, the one thing the British Council say you shouldn't be asked to do) but it went OK really. As expected the class pushed the boundaries, but I like to think we came to a certain understanding! Apart from that little shock, the day itself passed without incident really!
Friday 18th September
Today was the day of the Kollegiumsausflug from the Ludwigsgymnasium, where we went for a 10km walk around a (very old) disused quarry about 40 km outside of Saarbruecken. There would have been some fantastic views, had the weather been less cloudy, but it was nice to be able to get to know some of the other teachers better, and for them to get to know me as well. I'm not sure of the educational benefits for the pupils of the teachers effectively going on a jolly for a day, but hey, as a member of staff, it was a fantastic day, which hopefully will start to catch on in the UK, although i doubt it will! After the walk, during which I mainly spent the time talking to one of the English teachers who was an assistant in Bristol, and so had some knowledge of the area, we had a nice buffet lunch. It was a generally fantastic day, and one which I thoroughly enjoyed. I should point out that my militant socialist feet were again protesting in the evening, but it was just tough!
Saturday 19th September
Today I moved! :-) This is fantastic for me...I'm moving out of my very expensive temporary solution into a much cheaper room, in quite a posh area of the city. The house is on a one way street, with no tram in sight, which means I sleep like a baby (although without my thumb in my mouth, nor the baby alarm). It's got TV too, which although not compulsory is a fantastic luxury, which I've not had until now! So, generally chuffed with it! Thanks should also go to Sabine, without whose help, I would have had to trek my stuff across town using public transport, which would have taken, err, all day, and most of the evening too! My only small complaint is that the militant wing from my feet, have now passed to my arms, where I pulled a muscle....but I'll get over it!
Sunday, 20th September
Finally, the end of the week! Today, I met up with some of the other assistants again, we had lunch together, and then we went for a stroll up by the Saar, and then ambled back again. Made a very nice afternoon of it!
Just as an afterthought
I thought I would live up to the stereotype here and give you a brief update on the weather here...It has rained about twice seen I've been here, mainly at night, although I did get a little bit rained on one day...other than that, it generally very cold in the morning meaning I dress warm, and then when I finish at school about lunchtime...the sun is beating down, and it's then a fantastic day!
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