Monday, 18 February 2013
The Best Things I Probably Shouldn't Have Taught to my Students
Another little interlude post for you; Mainz one is coming, I'm just currently up to my (slightly too large for my liking) ears in YARP writing to have much energy left for serious posts.
These types of posts seem to be more popular anyway so I should try and write more.
So.
The Best Things I Probably Shouldn't Have Taught to my Students.
Now I don't mean like, illegal things or anything. I haven't been telling them the best ways to get a fake ID or rob a bank anything, though I have a feeling that would be a popular lesson. No I'm talking about stuff I either, in a fit devilry, taught them deliberately, or stuff I accidentally mentioned and then was forced to explain.
1# Cwtch, to cwtch.
No actual regrets here but I probably shouldn't have taught a class of 10 and 11 year olds the Welsh term for cuddling (umarmen in German if you're interested) before they know the English for it. Or, you know, how to count past 20, stuff like that.
In fairness, I did reluctantly teach them the English word afterwards. Cwtch is so much better though.
2# Popty ping.
Similarly, they asked me if all Welsh words were odd so for the giggles I taught them popty ping, which for the un-enlightened reading means microwave. They found this hilarious.
3# "budge up"
Not really necessary tbh. They all still remember it though, funny that.
4# The After Eight game.
Yeah so in yr 6 today they were learning the prepositions 'before' and 'after' and the teacher asked the kids if they knew the chocolates After Eights. Apparently they're much beliebt in Germany as there was a chorus of "jaaa"s.
Anyway, I stupidly piped up and said we play a game with them back home. Regretted it immediately when asked to explain the game, which basically involves putting it on your forehead and guiding it down your face as it melts, without hands, to your mouth, whereupon you eat it.
Small silence. Fit of laughing. Kid put her hand up..."Frau Thomas...sind alle Engländer verrückt?" (Miss Thomas, are all the English crazy?)
5# That I have (had) a fear of blackboards.
Bit random, but I have never been a fan of chalk on black boards. Luckily almost all classrooms in my comp had white boards, so I was spared, but I spent most of French Ling (inexplicably taught in the maths building at Southampton uni) cringing every time anything was written on the board.
When teaching my AG, we were telling each other unusual facts about ourselves by way of interesting introductions, so I told hem about my fear of writing on black boards.
I've had to get over this fear from day one in Germany as all classrooms are equipped with chalk and black boards, but now I've confided in the year 10s about my former fear they look at me with intense pity and concern every time I have to write on the board when teaching them.
6# That lacrosse is only taught in private schools in Britain
When learning about Canada the subject of lacrosse came up (Canada's national summer sport in case you're keen), and the teacher asked me if we play it in Britain.
My (absent-minded) response? "oh, only in private schools"
Now, until I arrived at uni (where to be sure all kinds of people play lacrosse) I'd only ever heard of the sport in the context of Mallory Towers books, and certainly not being taught at any of the many local comps in South Wales, so for some reason I have it in my head that its a 'private school sport', which I'm pretty sure is wrong.
Unfortunately the teacher responded with "echt?! Interessant. Schreib das mal auf Kinder" (really?! Interesting. Write that down kids). Oops.
#7 Welsh Days of the Week song...in English.
Ok so back in school we had this song that went "Dydd Sul, dydd Llun, dydd Mawr dydd Mercher, dydd Iawn, dydd Gwener, dydd Sadwrn hooray!" (Sunday, Monday, Tues, Weds, Thurs, Fri, Sat hooray!). When my mentor was teaching her yr 5s the days of the week they weren't really getting it, so (as usual without thinking) I said I knew a song to help, planning to adapt the tune to the English days as I went along.
Sadly, my basic music skills failed me as I forgot that the way it is sung in Welsh there are more syllables than there are in English. Also I cannot hold q tune to save my life. Cue me standing awkwardly infront of the class going "Sunda-a-ay, Monda-a-ay..." And so on. Afterwards, faced with 29 even more confused faces the teacher just went "anyway...turn to page 38 in your textbooks"...
#8 That everyone has tapestries on their walls.
This one was a joint effort from Soph (friend from my school days who visited recently) and I. When teaching about the parts of the house a student asked "was ist Teppich auf Englisch?" In a momentary fit of madness Soph and I agreed it was tapestry...until, just as they're about to write it down it hits me that it means wallpaper, duh. So luckily my students were just spared from learning that all British houses are full of tapestries.
#9 The name "bunk beds" is related to bunkers in the world wars.
Whilst this is true, I regretted going on to explain to the class that the bomb-proof buildings used during the world wars are called bunkers, and that the beds within them would be called bunk beds, when a) the class looked confused and a few brave souls put their hands up and asked "es gab einen Krieg?" (there was a war?) and b) the teacher pursed her lips, gave me a haughty look and changed the subject.
Don't. Mention. The. War.
#10 My Dad shook hands with a bear.
Picture the scene. Yr 7 are learning about Canada. There is naturally a lot of talk about bears (or rather "beers"). I am telling the story of how when cycling in the Rocky Mountains my Dad came across a bear, and luckily was far enough away to retreat without sparking its anger (or rather hunger). Unfortunately, I was telling this story in German, and used the verb "treffen", which without reflexive or preposition means more to meet someone, or shake their hand. Which meant I gave my yr 7 class a highly amusing mental image of my father casually making the acquaintance of a bear.
Who said teaching is boring?
Plus, hey, at least this year I'll know I made some sort of impression...
P.S. Hey guess what? It hit me the other day I've been in Germany for 5 and a half months already. Crazy!
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Ende gut, alles gut.
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Beth's hectic life in Germany!
This post is about a fun weekend in February (the first weekend). Soo picking up straight after the last one, Soph left my flat at 3.10 am to catch the dratted Flibco bus to fly home, which can't have been fun for her. 3 hours later, my own alarm went off and the horrific event I'd been dreading happening since I began working on a mountain an hour's train ride away happened: I accidentally pressed cancel instead of snooze.
A good 30 mins' dozing later, I began to sleepily register my lack of second alarm, so rolled over and looked at the time...a few seconds of pure confusion followed by utter horror, it was 6.53. My train left at 7.04 and the station is 7 mins (speedy) walk away. Shooting out of bed, I was a blur of terrified Welsh girl chucking clothes on and hoping for the best. Things were made more complicated by 2 things: 1) I was doing substitution first thing and had a class of 29 ten year olds waiting for me, so missing the train wasn't an option. 2) I was heading straight to Landau for the weekend after work, so had to pack 3 days worth of stuff into my little rucksack.
Year Abroad Tip: try and get stuff ready the night before work, even on normal days when you have more than 4 minutes to get ready it is a lifesaver.
Mettlach Bahnhof, my second home.
Anyway, I miraculously made the train, but unfortunately my stress levels soon peaked again when faced with 29 very whiny 10-11 year olds, who were doing their best to terrorize the sub. I hereby apologise to all sub teachers I made it my business to be rude to in school, I have now been on the other end of it and it really isn't fun.
Anyway, the less said about that class the better, except I accidentally told the class to "halte die Klappe", which basically means shut up and isn't the politest thing to say, oh and I made my first ever (and ideally last ever) student cry when I wrote his name on the board as a warning if he didn't stop talking. Na ja, teaching isn't all sunshine and lollipops.
Later that day (and having done my third run of the day for public transport), I found myself back on the Harry Potter train (see here for clarification) to Landau to visit Helen, with Meg coming to stay too. We've been trying to keep up these mini Southampton uni reunions roughly once a month as its a nice piece of home life that relieves the craziness of casually living in a foreign country.
Then followed a luuuurverly weekend of films, good food, a trip to Karlsruhe to see the beautiful palace, a looot of walking, lush cocktails and a pleasant evening in the rather pretty Irish pub, the evening only being marred by the discovery that my new set of playing cards weirdly only consisted of cards 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace, twice. This limited the amount of games we could play to er, snap.
Anyway, the less said about that class the better, except I accidentally told the class to "halte die Klappe", which basically means shut up and isn't the politest thing to say, oh and I made my first ever (and ideally last ever) student cry when I wrote his name on the board as a warning if he didn't stop talking. Na ja, teaching isn't all sunshine and lollipops.
Later that day (and having done my third run of the day for public transport), I found myself back on the Harry Potter train (see here for clarification) to Landau to visit Helen, with Meg coming to stay too. We've been trying to keep up these mini Southampton uni reunions roughly once a month as its a nice piece of home life that relieves the craziness of casually living in a foreign country.
Here's the route I took to Landau from Trier. Basically the same as to Wissembourg, as they're very close together.
Then followed a luuuurverly weekend of films, good food, a trip to Karlsruhe to see the beautiful palace, a looot of walking, lush cocktails and a pleasant evening in the rather pretty Irish pub, the evening only being marred by the discovery that my new set of playing cards weirdly only consisted of cards 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace, twice. This limited the amount of games we could play to er, snap.
Helen and I infront of Karlsruhe Palace, pretty breathtaking! Also very cold.
Stolen off Google, this is a shot of Karlsruhe (the palace is at the bottom of the picture) which shows how the city spreads out in a fan like shape from the palace, which I found immensely cool.
Me looking very sad at discovering I'd bought a specialised set of cards by accident that missed out numbers 2-8.
I'm sitting writing this on the train back to Trier from Landau. We had a bit of a lie in after a long sleep (in which Helen and I both nearly elbowed eachother in the face, oops) and a bit of a walk around Landau itself, which I actually really liked.
This week should be interesting: got a few things to sort out with my mentor teacher, who is still making me do a lot of substitution, plus a timetable to jiggle about for a bit of frische Luft as the Germans say.
Next weekend is...Karneval!!! I am more excited than an overly excitable dog about to be fed, so watch this space for a blog post next week explaining what it is and just how much fun I had running around Mainz in my dalmatian onesie/Welsh rugby gear. That's once I've got over the killer hangover, of course.
Tschüssi! Xx
*Oh, and the title is German's equivalent of all's well that ends well.
#YOLO
So writing this regularly seems a little difficult at the moment, but I'm pleased to report I'm having too much fun and am a little too busy on my year abroad, so that's the most important thing, gell?*
Anyway, so much to write about! I'll start with Strasbourg.
Feeling a little adventurous and fancying a weekend away Tylor and I headed to Strasbourg, in the Alsace region of France. I'd always wanted to go there, having heard it was nice and also being the geeky linguistics student that I am I've written an essay or two about code switching in the area so was curious to see the linguistic situation for myself.
We headed down on the train, enjoying crossing the border into a new country in a comfortable but empty train. Our hotel was just outside of the main town, so ideal. And what a BEAUTIFUL place. Surrounded entirely by water, the old houses lean crookedly on one another for support, overshadowed by a number of majestic churches and of course the cathedral.
Petit France, Strasbourg cute oder?
A view of some lovely houses by the canal in Strasbourg.
I did it, I went full Alsace.
We enjoyed ourselves going for walks, eating crepes and practising our rusty French, until alas I was struck down by food poisoning and consigned to watch crappy French reality TV in bed, leaving Tylor to venture out in the snow alone and feed me miniature amounts of ginger ale.
On Sunday morning we travelled home, breathing a small sigh of relief upon returning to Germany, where you weren't in danger of breaking your leg the moment you stepped off the train, as they'd actually bothered to clear the ice unlike France.
Next fun activity: well actually kinda sad at the same time, but on the Thurs there was a WG party in honour of two things - my flatmate Marie's birthday and a friend, Chiara's, leaving party. Marie cooked an amazing meal for about 12 of us, then ( with a bit too much Riesling getrunken) we headed upstairs to the party.
That's me in the middle with a selection of flatmates and friends :)
Soppy moment here (I try to keep them to a minimum I promise) but several times during the evening I found myself thinking wow, how lucky am I. This is the kind of amazingness I set out for on my year abroad, but didn't hope to actually get; the opportunity to chat with good friends, meet new people, and even better party with them, entirely in German! When I think how lonely I could have been considering the location of my job I feel so very lucky that I took the gamble of coming to live in Trier. I realllyy don't want to leave at the end of the year!
Finally this week my school friend and fellow germanophile Soph took a break from serious doctory stuff to come see me in Trier. Was lush to see her: we reminisced about old times, tried some Guiness and Soph even came to school with me to see how terrible a teacher I am. We played a fun game with my AG (after school English club) where teams had to compete to conjugate a verb correctly: their reward? Being allowed to ask Soph a question. The team at the end with the most amount of info about her won.
I love being able to plan fun lessons like that.
I've already written the follow up post to this about the weekend after Soph's departure, so read on lovely people.
Bis gleich!
*gell is a local dialect word which is making it's sneaky way into my vocabulary, it means "isn't it?"
Also, the title is a shout out to Soph's catchphrase, which I think I heard at least once an hour during her visit :P
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Ah, Germany.
This post in inspired by a couple of stress-inducing occasions, triggered by my feeble attempts to integrate further with German society.
German readers: apologies if you think I'm just whining here, I probably am but Britain really is much more laid back in certain ways, and also much more disorganised!
Basically, some of the best bits of German leisure time can also be the most confusing for foreigners. Most of that results from my own slowness and misunderstanding. Sometimes, to be honest, Germany has made an everyday process so complicated or efficient it actually gets a little bit terrifying (I refer you here to this post, about supermarkets)
The German Mensa
Whether it was in school or university I can't remember but at some point I clearly remember being sat in a German class, doodling away as usual, and having my ears prick up at the subject of the German university Mensas, and how amazing they are. The Mensa is the cafeteria, and I was promised that if I ever got the chance to go to one I should not pass it up, being lauded as a place to get seriously cheap and good food every day.
Having now lived in Germany, with a uni pass to boot, for over 4 months without having paid it a visit, I jumped at the invitation to meet a friend there last week. Cue utter confusion.
There are 3 (or is it 4?) different stations, with a couple of different options each. Huge queues tail back from each, and once you've made your decision, it's difficult to go back. Haughty German women behind the hatch stare at you with a careful mixture of disapproval and indifference as you try and choose between two. Drinks can only be bought in vending machines with pre-loaded cards at most stations.
As an indecisive Welsh girl, who can be a little fussy about food, and still hasn't quite adapted to German briskness, this was a little terrifying. Especially as there's even a specific order your dishes have to be stacked on the tray, with a moving conveyorbelt to add that extra dash of angst.
However, the food is nice (especially the chocolate pudding), it is a cheap as advertised all those years ago and all the German students seem to manage fine, so I think I'll put this one down as learning experience.
The Library
So for my Year Abroad Research Projekt (bleh, btw) I had to venture into Trier University library to find some decent books about Saarland. I was apprehensive about this, as I remember the hours spent wandering around Southampton Uni library in the first few months of my first year, hunting down books which turned out to be 3 floors above me.
This was made worse when Tylor informed me that you are not allowed to bring bags etc. into the library, and are expected to have a padlock ready for this purpose. Not having one, Tylor kindly offered to set up camp with a book and my stuff outside.
Anyway, I wandered in, looking as lost as an English guy in a welsh pub on St.David's day, and thankfully spotted someone I knew. She advised me to go speak to the guy at the desk to ask how the library works, which I duly did, and got an earful of ranting about "stupid, lazy students who need to learn to do things on their own" for my trouble, but amongst the beautifully declined adjectives I salvaged a word which sounded like WebCat, which is the name of Southampton's online library database. Turned out Trier has a similar system, so after a bit of searching I find a promising sounding book.
Cue 20 mins of attempting to look like I knew what I was doing (a skill you perfect on your year abroad) and repeating the location of the book over and over in my head. Eventually I found it, and made a bid for freedom with the book under my arm.
It may be a small book, and a small feat, but I still get proud when I achieve stuff like this on my own. Plus, I only got shouted at once, which in terms of German bureaucracy is about the best you can hope for.
The Swimming Pool
This wasn't too bad. Germans love their swimming pools. Probably something to do with only having a coast to the north. Anyway, I went with a couple of friends to the local pool, which was reallly nice! Big improvement on Pencoed swimming pool back home, where you feel cold and damp for days after, and get a verruca the moment you walk through the door, shoes and all.
After figuring out the system, which based around a waterproof chip you put around your wrist, I had to stifle a giggle upon getting in the pool. It was chaos. A boiling pot of swimmers going up and down, following no system at all, so every few metres you had to dodge out of the way of someone else, and occasionally got a kick in the hip/elbow in the face for your trouble.
Anyone know the German for "why don't we all swim in a clockwise direction?"
I'm just joking really. German pools are 100 x nicer than back home (along with most things). But the lack of efficiency did tickle me.
Hope everyone is well!
I'm off to Strasbourg now, so next post will hopefully be less rambling from me and more beautiful pictures.
Bis bald!
German readers: apologies if you think I'm just whining here, I probably am but Britain really is much more laid back in certain ways, and also much more disorganised!
Basically, some of the best bits of German leisure time can also be the most confusing for foreigners. Most of that results from my own slowness and misunderstanding. Sometimes, to be honest, Germany has made an everyday process so complicated or efficient it actually gets a little bit terrifying (I refer you here to this post, about supermarkets)
The German Mensa
Whether it was in school or university I can't remember but at some point I clearly remember being sat in a German class, doodling away as usual, and having my ears prick up at the subject of the German university Mensas, and how amazing they are. The Mensa is the cafeteria, and I was promised that if I ever got the chance to go to one I should not pass it up, being lauded as a place to get seriously cheap and good food every day.
Having now lived in Germany, with a uni pass to boot, for over 4 months without having paid it a visit, I jumped at the invitation to meet a friend there last week. Cue utter confusion.
There are 3 (or is it 4?) different stations, with a couple of different options each. Huge queues tail back from each, and once you've made your decision, it's difficult to go back. Haughty German women behind the hatch stare at you with a careful mixture of disapproval and indifference as you try and choose between two. Drinks can only be bought in vending machines with pre-loaded cards at most stations.
As an indecisive Welsh girl, who can be a little fussy about food, and still hasn't quite adapted to German briskness, this was a little terrifying. Especially as there's even a specific order your dishes have to be stacked on the tray, with a moving conveyorbelt to add that extra dash of angst.
However, the food is nice (especially the chocolate pudding), it is a cheap as advertised all those years ago and all the German students seem to manage fine, so I think I'll put this one down as learning experience.
The Library
So for my Year Abroad Research Projekt (bleh, btw) I had to venture into Trier University library to find some decent books about Saarland. I was apprehensive about this, as I remember the hours spent wandering around Southampton Uni library in the first few months of my first year, hunting down books which turned out to be 3 floors above me.
This was made worse when Tylor informed me that you are not allowed to bring bags etc. into the library, and are expected to have a padlock ready for this purpose. Not having one, Tylor kindly offered to set up camp with a book and my stuff outside.
Anyway, I wandered in, looking as lost as an English guy in a welsh pub on St.David's day, and thankfully spotted someone I knew. She advised me to go speak to the guy at the desk to ask how the library works, which I duly did, and got an earful of ranting about "stupid, lazy students who need to learn to do things on their own" for my trouble, but amongst the beautifully declined adjectives I salvaged a word which sounded like WebCat, which is the name of Southampton's online library database. Turned out Trier has a similar system, so after a bit of searching I find a promising sounding book.
Cue 20 mins of attempting to look like I knew what I was doing (a skill you perfect on your year abroad) and repeating the location of the book over and over in my head. Eventually I found it, and made a bid for freedom with the book under my arm.
It may be a small book, and a small feat, but I still get proud when I achieve stuff like this on my own. Plus, I only got shouted at once, which in terms of German bureaucracy is about the best you can hope for.
The Swimming Pool
This wasn't too bad. Germans love their swimming pools. Probably something to do with only having a coast to the north. Anyway, I went with a couple of friends to the local pool, which was reallly nice! Big improvement on Pencoed swimming pool back home, where you feel cold and damp for days after, and get a verruca the moment you walk through the door, shoes and all.
After figuring out the system, which based around a waterproof chip you put around your wrist, I had to stifle a giggle upon getting in the pool. It was chaos. A boiling pot of swimmers going up and down, following no system at all, so every few metres you had to dodge out of the way of someone else, and occasionally got a kick in the hip/elbow in the face for your trouble.
Anyone know the German for "why don't we all swim in a clockwise direction?"
I'm just joking really. German pools are 100 x nicer than back home (along with most things). But the lack of efficiency did tickle me.
Hope everyone is well!
I'm off to Strasbourg now, so next post will hopefully be less rambling from me and more beautiful pictures.
Bis bald!
Sunday, 6 January 2013
Christmas in Trier!
Hullo everyone, I'm back in Trier and back on the blog posts. Happy New Year everyone!
In Germany, New Year's Eve is called Sylvester, and as well as wishing people happy new year you also wish them "ein guten Rutsch", which means a good slide. So, have a good slide into the new year. Cute, oder?
A few to catch up on now, and most importantly I would like to tell you about December in Trier, Germany. December in Germany means many things, the coolest of which is....Christmas Markets!
Trier has a particularly nice one. Not huge but big enough and undeniably pretty.
Trier by Day, looking at the Cathedral. Photo courtesy of Tylor.
Trier by Night, the Hauptmarkt.
During the day they're a little cold, but there's plenty of stuff to look at, and in the evening the place becomes full of people young and old, local and foreign drinking Glühwein from commemorative mugs and eating yummy yummy Bratwurst. During the month of December until I flew home on the 22nd I think I went to the markets about 17 times. So, most days.
The next fun activity myself and the other assistants decided to indulge in was ice skating! Not once, but twice sogar.
The relative skating ability of the assistants was directly related to where they'd grown up.
Tylor and Hilary, having grown up in Canada, a land where you eat ice for breakfast, were brilliant and put us all to shame.
Whitney won the bronze medal representing Alberquerque, USA.
Then the UK in its entirety were the runners up, shuffling around the ice with the occasional wobble, progressing to a half decent and reasonably fast but definitely not stylish parade around the ice.
Special mention to Gunjan, who was a champ on her first time, especially considering she grew up in India, where (according to the ever trusty Wikipedia) there are a grand total of 5 indoor ice rinks.
Trier Assistants on Ice, December 2012. Photo courtesy of Hilary.
What else? Oh yes, my mum came to visit! Bringing my aunt with her, we spent a few days exploring Trier, sliding around in the snow (this was the same week that I got caught in the snowstorm) and buying stuff at the markets. We also headed to some other markets, one at Saarlouis (disappointing) and Saarbrücken (better).
My final weeks involved drinking Glühwein with the Lintzstreet chicks, singing christmas songs (the best German one is called in the Christmas Bakery/In der Weihnachtsbäckerei) and teaching kids about Christmas back in Wales. All I managed to do was give the impression that we drink a lot, oops.
We also had a Christmas pot-luck dinner amongst us assistants, which resulted in lovely food, a great secret santa exchange and a group viewing of The Muppet's Christmas Carol. As we say in Wales, lush.
On December 22nd I flew home for Christmas and I was genuinely saddened to go. I love my life here in Germany, I have made amazing friends, enjoy my job and believe it or not my German is getting pretty good too. I realised I would be incredibly sad to leave in the first week of June but hey, that's still 5 months away so in the meantime I will make the most of it.
Bis gleich! xxx
In Germany, New Year's Eve is called Sylvester, and as well as wishing people happy new year you also wish them "ein guten Rutsch", which means a good slide. So, have a good slide into the new year. Cute, oder?
A few to catch up on now, and most importantly I would like to tell you about December in Trier, Germany. December in Germany means many things, the coolest of which is....Christmas Markets!
Trier has a particularly nice one. Not huge but big enough and undeniably pretty.
Trier by Day, looking at the Cathedral. Photo courtesy of Tylor.
Trier by Night, the Hauptmarkt.
During the day they're a little cold, but there's plenty of stuff to look at, and in the evening the place becomes full of people young and old, local and foreign drinking Glühwein from commemorative mugs and eating yummy yummy Bratwurst. During the month of December until I flew home on the 22nd I think I went to the markets about 17 times. So, most days.
The next fun activity myself and the other assistants decided to indulge in was ice skating! Not once, but twice sogar.
The relative skating ability of the assistants was directly related to where they'd grown up.
Tylor and Hilary, having grown up in Canada, a land where you eat ice for breakfast, were brilliant and put us all to shame.
Whitney won the bronze medal representing Alberquerque, USA.
Then the UK in its entirety were the runners up, shuffling around the ice with the occasional wobble, progressing to a half decent and reasonably fast but definitely not stylish parade around the ice.
Special mention to Gunjan, who was a champ on her first time, especially considering she grew up in India, where (according to the ever trusty Wikipedia) there are a grand total of 5 indoor ice rinks.
Trier Assistants on Ice, December 2012. Photo courtesy of Hilary.
What else? Oh yes, my mum came to visit! Bringing my aunt with her, we spent a few days exploring Trier, sliding around in the snow (this was the same week that I got caught in the snowstorm) and buying stuff at the markets. We also headed to some other markets, one at Saarlouis (disappointing) and Saarbrücken (better).
My final weeks involved drinking Glühwein with the Lintzstreet chicks, singing christmas songs (the best German one is called in the Christmas Bakery/In der Weihnachtsbäckerei) and teaching kids about Christmas back in Wales. All I managed to do was give the impression that we drink a lot, oops.
We also had a Christmas pot-luck dinner amongst us assistants, which resulted in lovely food, a great secret santa exchange and a group viewing of The Muppet's Christmas Carol. As we say in Wales, lush.
On December 22nd I flew home for Christmas and I was genuinely saddened to go. I love my life here in Germany, I have made amazing friends, enjoy my job and believe it or not my German is getting pretty good too. I realised I would be incredibly sad to leave in the first week of June but hey, that's still 5 months away so in the meantime I will make the most of it.
Bis gleich! xxx
Friday, 14 December 2012
My Shiny New Favourite German Words.
Living in a flatshare with German students, and working in a mildly crazy "Team" of teachers means I get exposed to a lot of German words that they don't exactly teach you in university. This is just going to be a short post of the best ones I've come across so far, enjoy, learn and repeat. If possible, adapt into your own language's vocabulary and use on unwitting natives in your own country.
1) Gammeln.
This is a fantastic verb which according to dict.leo translates as "to bum around". To avoid any awkward confusion, its better explained as what you do when you spend the best part of your day in jogging trousers/pyjamas, a hoodie and your biggest, fluffiest socks (or hausschuhe). You might venture outside, but only to the local Aldi. Being seen by friends in that state is embarrassing, but no worries, I can now at least explain the excuse for my state.
2) Weinchen.
Wein is...well, wine. "Chen" is a quirky part of the German language; a suffix one can add to the end of most nouns to indicate that its smaller. So weinchen is a small amount of wine. The lovely girls that live in my building taught me this word very quickly, and its a key bit of vocab before a night out with them.
3) Ätzend.
This is a word that loosely translates as "god-awful". So not very positive but it sounds cool!
4) Wichteln.
This is the german term for "secret santa". It is named after a small implike figure in Germanic folklore called a Wichtel (or a wight in English, not to be confused with their evil purpose in Tolkein's books) who slyly do helpful things around the house at night. Cute, eh?
5) Voll die Spassaktion!
Couldn't possibly not put this in! This is a phrase one of the girls in my building (she'll know who she is, if she reads this) uses all the time, usually after instantaneously planning a flat party and accidentally inviting a bus load (literally, once) of people. It means "what a fun activity", but sounds way cooler (!) auf Deutsch.
6) So ist das Leben.
A favourite phrase of one of the friendliest (if slightly crazy) teachers at school, it means "such is life" and I hear it roughly 3 times a day when at school, usually more though. Generally used at the end of a debate with another teacher but directed at me, for unknown reasons.
7) Ebenso/gleichweis
These words mean "you too!". So if when you're leaving a shop you say to the cashier "schönen Abend noch" (have a good evening) he or she will reply with one of the above. The first time I heard gleichweis I misheard it as "ja, ich weiss", (yes, I know) which I thought was a bit dismissive, but being a scared little foreigner with no trust in her own german language ability I didn't question my own interpretation for a while.
8) Schwätzen
The dialect that is spoken around the area of my school uses this little gem in place of "reden" (to talk). Longer and considerably harder to pronounce and conjugate, but hey, convenience isn't high on the list of priorities when it comes to German dialects, and personally I prefer it. It's cute, don't you agree?
9) beknackt
I'm not sure what this literally translates as but it kinda means like 'messed up', or 'daft'. But don't quote me on this. I have yet to venture to use it myself.
10) Pennen
Slang for sleep, means the same as "to kip" in English.
Hope you liked this! Next blog post up: Christmas in Trier - Voll die Spassaktion!!
Thursday, 13 December 2012
The Chronicles of Beth and Getting Down the Mountain
First of all, sorry for taking so long to finish a post! I have about 3 on the go at the moment but hey, I finished this one!
Anyway,
Funny title, odd subject.
So I've alluded to it in previous posts, but the thing that triggered this post is related to the location of my school. Drawing the short straw, location wise, it is up a mountain in a small (but very friendly) village.
In the bigger town at the bottom of the mountain is a train station, which has been mentioned before in this post. Every morning I catch the train there from Trier, then get a lift up the mountain to school. Every afternoon, I frantically try and find some way of getting back down the mountain. This has varying degrees of success and has resulted in a number of "escapades", for want of a better word.
Of Taking the Bus with the Students
The most common involves me giving in and paying to take the bus down the mountain...with all the pupils. You wouldn't think this is such a big deal, but for the kids in my school it apparently is. I did it once in my first week, which was awkward enough but the good thing was hardly anyone knew who I was, so apart from a few curious looks and a half hearted attempt by one of the older students to find out who I was (I'd like to think he wasn't flirting) interest was quickly lost and I made it to school in one peice. 3 months later however, and my english club causes me to take the bus with a variety of kids from my school, including several I'd taught that day.
The bus falls completely silent apart from a few stifled giggles. Slowly, slowly, the kids creep up the bus, until I feel breathing on the back of my head. I oh-so-casually turn my head around, and there are about 20 students standing right behind me. Awkwardly I smile. The boldest shouts "Hallo Miss Thomas!" before they all explode into giggles and rush back to the end of the bus. Sigh.
Of Overly-Friendly Bus Drivers
Scenario 2 takes place exclusively on Tuesdays, when I finish after the second lesson at 9.45 am. A few weeks ago the only bridge over the Saar in the town where I take the train went under construction, so the normal 11.26 coach was replaced with a minibus. The first week it didn't show up, meaning I had to wait another hour for a bus to a completely different town with a station, where I then waited 45 minutes for an hour long train ride, returning home at 2pm. In total it took me 4 and a quarter hours to get home, nearly 3 times the amount of time I'd spent teaching.
The next week however proved more awkward, when David the 42yr old minibus driver (and owner, he was quick to add) appeared to take me down the mountain. Cue a few weeks of increasingly more uncomfortable bus rides, with questions that became more and more personal as time went on and I'd been subjected to complicated, bitter and seemingly endless stories of how and why his marriage failed. The week before last he turned to me and suggested I seemed like an interesting person and a nice change from his wife. I replied with "oh" and sat in awkward silence til we reached the train station.
Readers will be pleased to know I have since found alternative transport down the mountain on Tuesdays :)
Of Getting Caught in Snowstorms.
My school is officially the highest point of Saarland, which means I was told very early on that it is one of the worst places in the region for snow. Cue last Friday (7th of Dec), when my lift told me that by 10 am that day the snowstorm that was causing havoc in France was about to hit us, so school would probs finish early.
Before we even got to school, the snow had started, and by 9am we had 6 inches of snow. Saarland has this stupid rule that no matter how much it snows schools cannot officially shut, so its the parents' choice if they send their kids to school or not. Anyway, cue CHAOS. By 9.45 we were verging on a foot and a half and it wasn't slowing down. Told very sternly to flee the school by my teachers, I ran to the bus stop. And waited. And waited. After nearly an hour and resembling a very life like snow(wo)man, I remembered I had a number for the bus company. Rang up to be told "Leider sieht es nicht so gut aus" (sadly it's not looking good). I trudged back to the school, to the surprise of my teachers. An hour or so later and I managed to get in the car with a teacher heading down the mountain.
Due to the careful driving of said teacher we made it to Merzig. During the trip he regaled me with his stories of living in the Student Village in Swansea uni on his year abroad and the crazy, liver-poisoning antics of his flatmates. Ah, freshers.
I made my way to my friend Katie's flat in Merzig, where bless her she put me straight to bed, me being half girl half icicle by this point, and brought me soup, pretzel, cheese and copious amounts of tea. Bliss.
These sorts of escapades sound rather annoying but hey I will always take them in good spirits. No matter how cold, irritated or mildly traumatised I am when I get home to Trier, being able to come home to lovely people and the knowledge that that evening I won't be spending alone on a beautiful but rather sparse mountain watching tv all evening makes it so, so worth it.
Anyway,
Funny title, odd subject.
So I've alluded to it in previous posts, but the thing that triggered this post is related to the location of my school. Drawing the short straw, location wise, it is up a mountain in a small (but very friendly) village.
In the bigger town at the bottom of the mountain is a train station, which has been mentioned before in this post. Every morning I catch the train there from Trier, then get a lift up the mountain to school. Every afternoon, I frantically try and find some way of getting back down the mountain. This has varying degrees of success and has resulted in a number of "escapades", for want of a better word.
Of Taking the Bus with the Students
The most common involves me giving in and paying to take the bus down the mountain...with all the pupils. You wouldn't think this is such a big deal, but for the kids in my school it apparently is. I did it once in my first week, which was awkward enough but the good thing was hardly anyone knew who I was, so apart from a few curious looks and a half hearted attempt by one of the older students to find out who I was (I'd like to think he wasn't flirting) interest was quickly lost and I made it to school in one peice. 3 months later however, and my english club causes me to take the bus with a variety of kids from my school, including several I'd taught that day.
The bus falls completely silent apart from a few stifled giggles. Slowly, slowly, the kids creep up the bus, until I feel breathing on the back of my head. I oh-so-casually turn my head around, and there are about 20 students standing right behind me. Awkwardly I smile. The boldest shouts "Hallo Miss Thomas!" before they all explode into giggles and rush back to the end of the bus. Sigh.
Of Overly-Friendly Bus Drivers
Scenario 2 takes place exclusively on Tuesdays, when I finish after the second lesson at 9.45 am. A few weeks ago the only bridge over the Saar in the town where I take the train went under construction, so the normal 11.26 coach was replaced with a minibus. The first week it didn't show up, meaning I had to wait another hour for a bus to a completely different town with a station, where I then waited 45 minutes for an hour long train ride, returning home at 2pm. In total it took me 4 and a quarter hours to get home, nearly 3 times the amount of time I'd spent teaching.
The next week however proved more awkward, when David the 42yr old minibus driver (and owner, he was quick to add) appeared to take me down the mountain. Cue a few weeks of increasingly more uncomfortable bus rides, with questions that became more and more personal as time went on and I'd been subjected to complicated, bitter and seemingly endless stories of how and why his marriage failed. The week before last he turned to me and suggested I seemed like an interesting person and a nice change from his wife. I replied with "oh" and sat in awkward silence til we reached the train station.
Readers will be pleased to know I have since found alternative transport down the mountain on Tuesdays :)
Of Getting Caught in Snowstorms.
My school is officially the highest point of Saarland, which means I was told very early on that it is one of the worst places in the region for snow. Cue last Friday (7th of Dec), when my lift told me that by 10 am that day the snowstorm that was causing havoc in France was about to hit us, so school would probs finish early.
Before we even got to school, the snow had started, and by 9am we had 6 inches of snow. Saarland has this stupid rule that no matter how much it snows schools cannot officially shut, so its the parents' choice if they send their kids to school or not. Anyway, cue CHAOS. By 9.45 we were verging on a foot and a half and it wasn't slowing down. Told very sternly to flee the school by my teachers, I ran to the bus stop. And waited. And waited. After nearly an hour and resembling a very life like snow(wo)man, I remembered I had a number for the bus company. Rang up to be told "Leider sieht es nicht so gut aus" (sadly it's not looking good). I trudged back to the school, to the surprise of my teachers. An hour or so later and I managed to get in the car with a teacher heading down the mountain.
Due to the careful driving of said teacher we made it to Merzig. During the trip he regaled me with his stories of living in the Student Village in Swansea uni on his year abroad and the crazy, liver-poisoning antics of his flatmates. Ah, freshers.
I made my way to my friend Katie's flat in Merzig, where bless her she put me straight to bed, me being half girl half icicle by this point, and brought me soup, pretzel, cheese and copious amounts of tea. Bliss.
These sorts of escapades sound rather annoying but hey I will always take them in good spirits. No matter how cold, irritated or mildly traumatised I am when I get home to Trier, being able to come home to lovely people and the knowledge that that evening I won't be spending alone on a beautiful but rather sparse mountain watching tv all evening makes it so, so worth it.
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