Woche 1
Halloooooooo meine Schaetzen (ich kann nicht die a/e/u mit Umlaut finden auf diesem Keyboard)!!!
So, the first week of the highly anticipated year abroad is over. Woooooo! We made it lads! LEGGOOOOO.
Overall feeling: Tired.
Cigarettes consumed: Too many (it's not my fault- people are more talkative with a cig in their hand)
Beer consumed: Not too much considering
Random German interactions: 2
Being mistaken for German: 1 (gut!)
New words that I have remembered to relay unto this blog: 2- Kuerbis (pumpkin) and Jakobsmuscheln (scallops)
Trains sat on: feels like 10,000,000, but was a grand total of 5
German spoken: more than expected, but that is good!!
German understood: most of what people have been saying, also good!
Denglish spoken: a lot, especially when tired
What a week though. I'll paint you all a picture of how its gone.
Monday:
Woke up 4am. Was tired. Was sick (always get travel sick, no clue why, I do it so much but my body hates it lol). Almost forgot laptop charger. Got to airport. Queued at departures in Birmingham airport. Said goodbye to Mom and Phil. Said goodbye to Joe. Tearfully stumbled through security wondering why on earth I did this to myself. Went to WHSmith. Bought insane amount of jelly babies, ready salted crisps, and wine gums, for NO reason. Boarded plane. Had window seat. Couldn't sleep on plane (too short).
I got off at Duesseldorf airport. I landed at about 10:10. Baggage claim was less of a gripe than previously anticipated. Had to wait around for my train at 12. Boarded Sky Train to the Duesseldorf HBF, where I got a train to Cologne, then Cologne/Bonn airport (the meeting point for those participating in the Einfuehrungstagung- teacher training). Woman asked me in German where something was. Had to reply in German that I wasn't German and didn't have a clue where I was going. Waited there for about an hour and half, tentatively eating a BLT I bought at a nearby REWE. Anxiety was eating me up.
Got on the coach to the place. Was in the middle of nowhere. Felt like a strange social experiment and we had all been randomly selected by the government to take part. Sat down and given the low down, what'll be happening, the WiFi code (phew!), and sorted into dorms. Spoke to people in my dorm, we are all going to Luebeck, thank fffffGod for that! Sorted into Bundeslaender. Told there's a bar. Shall we all go later? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmimsotiredbutok. Got speaking to a few people, realise they are nice and am gonna be ok here, met a few smokers and immediately establish unspoken bond. Go to bed, and holy poooooo, what a great sleep.
Tuesday:
Woke up 7am. 6 really because the bells at the Cathedral (which has the largest Cathedral window in Europe) went off for a solid hour. Had shower. Had breakfast. Long talks about German school system and how to plan a lesson. Had lunch. Get paired up into teaching groups. Had coffee and cake break. We decide to do a debate about Brexit, great, lets let these strangers have a free for all. Go to the bar again. realise that people are still nice, go to bed, great sleep again.
Wednesday:
Woke up 7 againnnnnnnnnn but bells were still annoyingly persistent. Had shower/breakfast. Gave our lesson and it went well. Sat through other people's lessons, and yes, we will all make adequate teaching assistants. Had lunch. Sat through more lessons and they will also make good assistants. Had coffee. Sat through summary. Had dinner. Went to bar and got more drunk and stayed much later than I should've done seeing as Thursday was leaving day (((YYYOOLLOO is what the youth say)).
Thursday:
Wake up 6 am, shower, breakfast, travel sick etc. Get coach to Cologne HBF. My train isn't till 12:10 and it is currently 9am. Great. Wait around train station for 3 hours. Woman asks me in German for a tampon, I give her one, worry that Tampon isn't the same word in German and I have just given a random woman a tampon for no reason, but no its ok it is the same word. She is confused by it (I gave her a posh one) but is otherwise thankful. I am impressed that my interaction was strange yet successful. Train gets delayed. 2 mins until train arrives changes platform. Rush to platform. No time to find my reserved seat with a massive suitcase, end up having an aisle seat so no sleep for meeeeeee. Get off at Hamburg (after 4 hourssss), nearly miss train to Luebeck, already missed the train to Luebeck we were supposed to be getting, run run run, throwing my suitcase up and down endless amounts of stairs, and MADEEE ITTT. Get off at Luebeck half an hour later. Meet mentor at station. Go back to her apartment and I am currently living on a mattress in her and her husbands' study. She is Irish, he is Spanish, and they speak German in the house, so great for comprehension and speaking German. Speaking German is a lot easier on your year abroad, its more casual and like its ok if you mess up. In school and uni people are too afraid of making mistakes, but here its more laid back and people tend to understand you even if your grammar or vocab isn't perfect. We have scallops and pasta for tea and it was amazing honestly. I fall asleep and I was so happy to be asleep.
Friday:
FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL HAD A NEW BACK PACK AND EVERYTHING. I got a name tag and a key. Walk to school is so scenic, its not like anything I've ever seen in Birmingham or even Nottingham, like you go across a bridge with a lovely view. Did however get catcalled at 7:15 in the morning, like dam dude get a life with your morning coffee. Meet some colleagues, everyone seems happy I am here, get a whistle stop tour of the school, think maybe it'll be ok working here. Sat through a few classes and was surprised at how students seem to enjoy learning English?? There was never any "but WHY do we have to learn English??" like back in the UK. Everyone seemed eager to learn. The school is for people who are doing apprenticeships, people who need their high school qualification or a levels, people who've been in care or are refugees, some have learning difficulties. Overall was impressed. One girl called her dog an "asshole" which I found hilarious, and the teacher's reaction was strange because back home if we dared to use "Arschloch" when speaking we would've been drawn and quartered. Got home. Went out for lunch and tried Flammkuchen. Was amazing I loved every second, would recommend. Mentor and her husband gave me a tour of Luebeck. Was amazed and kept taking pictures (feels a bit like a holiday at the moment, I need to remember that I am not a tourist here lol). Went home, then went out for a walk by myself for a bit as I spoke to my dad on the phone. Saw a bloke dressed as Napoleon giving a tour? (If anyone can explain that to me I'd be super grateful). Went home. Slept.
Saturday:
BOYYYY IT WAS GOOD NOT HAVING TO WAKE UP SUPER EARLY. Had a lie in, watched German version of Bake Off, but missed Noel Fielding, surely he can do the German one as well?? Showered. Popped out around town for a bit. Walked alongside the canal and phoned my boo back home (I miss u). It was beautiful. Walked back towards town and was impressed that I actually knew where I was. There was a little folk festival, but it was calm, I was like dam if this was happening in Birmingham there'd have been 3 arrests, 4 apocalypses and 10 cats stuck in a tree by now. An old man asked me for money, I inexplicably replied "No thank you". Went to book shop and bought a book by Thomas Mann and Guenter Gras (both born here) and a German cosmo. Went to REWE, spent half an hour looking for sandwiches, I chose a beasty ham, cheese and some random salad one. Can't find little packet of crisps anywhere, then it hits me that the Meal Deal hasn't made it to Germany yet, so had to buy a packet of Jumpys (paprika flavoured kangaroos), bought a Marzipan Milka (Luebeck is the Marzipan capital of the WORLD), bought a classic coke. Ate it. Bumped into another assistant. Both headed home. I asked the others if they wanted to go for pizza later, was a good idea. Watched Frozen in German (LASS ESS LOOOOSSSS, LASS ES LOS!), then went out, pizza was good (phew!), went to a bar after called Friends, came home about 10:30, was a good night.
Sunday:
Today we went to the beach. Was impressed (we don't have any beach near Birmingham nor Nottingham- its the Midlands duh!). Was very beautiful. I had, right, this is amazing so please sit down (if you're standing up and reading this uhh why??), but, it was a crusty cob (its a cob don't fight me on that), with like a GIANT FISH FINGER IN IT. Mate, it was the ultimate fish finger sandwich. The UK invented it but bitch the Germans are owning it. Was too impressed. Then had a cake and mateeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee marzipan cake with nut cream inside was amazingggggg ughhh. I'm going to be the size of Germany by the end of this placement. Went home, phoned and emailed more people about places to live (its so difficult!). Now am writing this blog!!!
I'll update more next week. Hope you've enjoyed :) Some pics are below! (More on my fb!)
So, the first week of the highly anticipated year abroad is over. Woooooo! We made it lads! LEGGOOOOO.
Overall feeling: Tired.
Cigarettes consumed: Too many (it's not my fault- people are more talkative with a cig in their hand)
Beer consumed: Not too much considering
Random German interactions: 2
Being mistaken for German: 1 (gut!)
New words that I have remembered to relay unto this blog: 2- Kuerbis (pumpkin) and Jakobsmuscheln (scallops)
Trains sat on: feels like 10,000,000, but was a grand total of 5
German spoken: more than expected, but that is good!!
German understood: most of what people have been saying, also good!
Denglish spoken: a lot, especially when tired
What a week though. I'll paint you all a picture of how its gone.
Monday:
Woke up 4am. Was tired. Was sick (always get travel sick, no clue why, I do it so much but my body hates it lol). Almost forgot laptop charger. Got to airport. Queued at departures in Birmingham airport. Said goodbye to Mom and Phil. Said goodbye to Joe. Tearfully stumbled through security wondering why on earth I did this to myself. Went to WHSmith. Bought insane amount of jelly babies, ready salted crisps, and wine gums, for NO reason. Boarded plane. Had window seat. Couldn't sleep on plane (too short).
I got off at Duesseldorf airport. I landed at about 10:10. Baggage claim was less of a gripe than previously anticipated. Had to wait around for my train at 12. Boarded Sky Train to the Duesseldorf HBF, where I got a train to Cologne, then Cologne/Bonn airport (the meeting point for those participating in the Einfuehrungstagung- teacher training). Woman asked me in German where something was. Had to reply in German that I wasn't German and didn't have a clue where I was going. Waited there for about an hour and half, tentatively eating a BLT I bought at a nearby REWE. Anxiety was eating me up.
Got on the coach to the place. Was in the middle of nowhere. Felt like a strange social experiment and we had all been randomly selected by the government to take part. Sat down and given the low down, what'll be happening, the WiFi code (phew!), and sorted into dorms. Spoke to people in my dorm, we are all going to Luebeck, thank fffffGod for that! Sorted into Bundeslaender. Told there's a bar. Shall we all go later? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmimsotiredbutok. Got speaking to a few people, realise they are nice and am gonna be ok here, met a few smokers and immediately establish unspoken bond. Go to bed, and holy poooooo, what a great sleep.
Tuesday:
Woke up 7am. 6 really because the bells at the Cathedral (which has the largest Cathedral window in Europe) went off for a solid hour. Had shower. Had breakfast. Long talks about German school system and how to plan a lesson. Had lunch. Get paired up into teaching groups. Had coffee and cake break. We decide to do a debate about Brexit, great, lets let these strangers have a free for all. Go to the bar again. realise that people are still nice, go to bed, great sleep again.
Wednesday:
Woke up 7 againnnnnnnnnn but bells were still annoyingly persistent. Had shower/breakfast. Gave our lesson and it went well. Sat through other people's lessons, and yes, we will all make adequate teaching assistants. Had lunch. Sat through more lessons and they will also make good assistants. Had coffee. Sat through summary. Had dinner. Went to bar and got more drunk and stayed much later than I should've done seeing as Thursday was leaving day (((YYYOOLLOO is what the youth say)).
Thursday:
Wake up 6 am, shower, breakfast, travel sick etc. Get coach to Cologne HBF. My train isn't till 12:10 and it is currently 9am. Great. Wait around train station for 3 hours. Woman asks me in German for a tampon, I give her one, worry that Tampon isn't the same word in German and I have just given a random woman a tampon for no reason, but no its ok it is the same word. She is confused by it (I gave her a posh one) but is otherwise thankful. I am impressed that my interaction was strange yet successful. Train gets delayed. 2 mins until train arrives changes platform. Rush to platform. No time to find my reserved seat with a massive suitcase, end up having an aisle seat so no sleep for meeeeeee. Get off at Hamburg (after 4 hourssss), nearly miss train to Luebeck, already missed the train to Luebeck we were supposed to be getting, run run run, throwing my suitcase up and down endless amounts of stairs, and MADEEE ITTT. Get off at Luebeck half an hour later. Meet mentor at station. Go back to her apartment and I am currently living on a mattress in her and her husbands' study. She is Irish, he is Spanish, and they speak German in the house, so great for comprehension and speaking German. Speaking German is a lot easier on your year abroad, its more casual and like its ok if you mess up. In school and uni people are too afraid of making mistakes, but here its more laid back and people tend to understand you even if your grammar or vocab isn't perfect. We have scallops and pasta for tea and it was amazing honestly. I fall asleep and I was so happy to be asleep.
Friday:
FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL HAD A NEW BACK PACK AND EVERYTHING. I got a name tag and a key. Walk to school is so scenic, its not like anything I've ever seen in Birmingham or even Nottingham, like you go across a bridge with a lovely view. Did however get catcalled at 7:15 in the morning, like dam dude get a life with your morning coffee. Meet some colleagues, everyone seems happy I am here, get a whistle stop tour of the school, think maybe it'll be ok working here. Sat through a few classes and was surprised at how students seem to enjoy learning English?? There was never any "but WHY do we have to learn English??" like back in the UK. Everyone seemed eager to learn. The school is for people who are doing apprenticeships, people who need their high school qualification or a levels, people who've been in care or are refugees, some have learning difficulties. Overall was impressed. One girl called her dog an "asshole" which I found hilarious, and the teacher's reaction was strange because back home if we dared to use "Arschloch" when speaking we would've been drawn and quartered. Got home. Went out for lunch and tried Flammkuchen. Was amazing I loved every second, would recommend. Mentor and her husband gave me a tour of Luebeck. Was amazed and kept taking pictures (feels a bit like a holiday at the moment, I need to remember that I am not a tourist here lol). Went home, then went out for a walk by myself for a bit as I spoke to my dad on the phone. Saw a bloke dressed as Napoleon giving a tour? (If anyone can explain that to me I'd be super grateful). Went home. Slept.
Saturday:
BOYYYY IT WAS GOOD NOT HAVING TO WAKE UP SUPER EARLY. Had a lie in, watched German version of Bake Off, but missed Noel Fielding, surely he can do the German one as well?? Showered. Popped out around town for a bit. Walked alongside the canal and phoned my boo back home (I miss u). It was beautiful. Walked back towards town and was impressed that I actually knew where I was. There was a little folk festival, but it was calm, I was like dam if this was happening in Birmingham there'd have been 3 arrests, 4 apocalypses and 10 cats stuck in a tree by now. An old man asked me for money, I inexplicably replied "No thank you". Went to book shop and bought a book by Thomas Mann and Guenter Gras (both born here) and a German cosmo. Went to REWE, spent half an hour looking for sandwiches, I chose a beasty ham, cheese and some random salad one. Can't find little packet of crisps anywhere, then it hits me that the Meal Deal hasn't made it to Germany yet, so had to buy a packet of Jumpys (paprika flavoured kangaroos), bought a Marzipan Milka (Luebeck is the Marzipan capital of the WORLD), bought a classic coke. Ate it. Bumped into another assistant. Both headed home. I asked the others if they wanted to go for pizza later, was a good idea. Watched Frozen in German (LASS ESS LOOOOSSSS, LASS ES LOS!), then went out, pizza was good (phew!), went to a bar after called Friends, came home about 10:30, was a good night.
Sunday:
Today we went to the beach. Was impressed (we don't have any beach near Birmingham nor Nottingham- its the Midlands duh!). Was very beautiful. I had, right, this is amazing so please sit down (if you're standing up and reading this uhh why??), but, it was a crusty cob (its a cob don't fight me on that), with like a GIANT FISH FINGER IN IT. Mate, it was the ultimate fish finger sandwich. The UK invented it but bitch the Germans are owning it. Was too impressed. Then had a cake and mateeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee marzipan cake with nut cream inside was amazingggggg ughhh. I'm going to be the size of Germany by the end of this placement. Went home, phoned and emailed more people about places to live (its so difficult!). Now am writing this blog!!!
I'll update more next week. Hope you've enjoyed :) Some pics are below! (More on my fb!)
Luebeck Town
My sandwich
Jumpys (they taste pretty great I can't lie, I'm a sucker for paprika flavoured potato snacks)
Cheeky purchases
Travemuende
Me auf dem Stand
Canal in Luebeck
Marzipan Cake and Fizzy Water (new band name called it)
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