A visit from home

On Saturday morning Lois and I caught an early train to Nuremberg to meet her family as they arrived. We bought some pretzels so that we could welcome in typical German fashion. We didn't have to wait long until they walked through the arrivals gate. It was so great to see them and also a little surreal, as we were still obviously in Germany, but it felt like we were back in the UK. We hopped into the hire car and made our way to Eichstätt, where Lois could show them her 'hometown.' We successfully navigated our way to Eichstätt, which is impressive since we none of us have any experience with German roads and had a wander through the town and to Lois' flat. The weather was beautiful and it showed Eichstätt in its true beauty. Following a tasty cake stop at one of the bakeries, we made our way to Regensburg. It was an interesting experience driving down the narrow, cobbled streets of the Old Town, as Tony did his best to avoid gormless pedestrians and suicidal cyclists, but eventually we got to the hotel where Jenny, Tony and Georgie would be staying.

We went our separate ways and arranged to meet later on for our evening meal. Regensburg was buzzing (it was a Saturday night), so our first choice of restaurant was completely full, however we managed to get a table and enjoy some tasty Italian food at one of the pizzerias Lois and I had already discovered.

Sunday was to be an epic day. Seeing as though most of the cities close down on Sunday, we figured it would be best to visit somewhere else. One of the places we all wanted to see was Neuschwanstein Castle which is on the border between Germany and Austria. After debating the best way to get there, we ended up agreeing that travelling by car would be best. Although it was a lengthy drive, we had actually forgotten to turn our clocks back (end of German summertime) so we had an extra hour to play with. Decision made, we set off. As I said, the castle is located on the border between Austria and Germany, in the Alps, so our first 'checkpoint' would be Munich and then from there, we'd carry on south towards the border. Getting the Munich wasn't too bad. It's around 1.5 hours from Regensburg. However getting to the castle was a different story. You would have thought the Germans (what with their 'efficiency' and all that) would make huge, clear road signs and that they would be regularly spaced out with relevant places signposted on them. As we soon found out, this is not the case. We couldn't find any signs towards our destination and when we did, the roads were closed. The signs were small, difficult to read and often not relevant to our journey. If you want to travel the 600km to Berlin, you'll be fine - this is sign posted. But if you want to travel the 50km to Füssen, you're going to struggle. Even diversions around the closed roads suddenly ended, leaving us in the middle of nowhere.

Despite getting very lost, the journey had taken us on some beautiful roads and one observation we all made, was just how good the German roads are - considerably better than British roads. Even the roads in the middle of nowhere were very well maintained. Also, we must mention one particular highlight on the epic journey to the castle. As we travelled down the Autobahn we were all eagerly looking for any indication as to which direction we should be going in. In Germany every exit from the Motorway is signposted - Ausfahrt (Exit). After seeing many, many of these signs, Jenny said "It's a shame we're not going to Ausfahrt. I've seen loads of signs for that place." Lois enlightened her, through fits of giggles, on what she had just said, and the whole car laughed. It was particularly funny and cheered us all up after hours of travel.

Finally, following the purchase of a much needed map we reached our destination. We were all soon of the opinion that our long journey had been totally worth it. Unfortunately due to our late arrival, the tickets for the castle had sold out, but that didn't mean we couldn't go up to the castle and see it. We made our way up the long, steep road towards this picturesque, fairy tale castle. From the viewing platform you could see the castle and turning around, you could see the fantastic most southern Bavarian landscape. Again the weather was on our side and the view was simply stunning. We made our way behind the castle and up some more and walked over a bridge which gives an even more amazing view of the castle. From this point you see the countryside behind the castle and its breathtaking. We ventured even higher into woods and enjoyed the view from there. Neuschwanstein really is as spectacular as everybody says it is. You can certainly understand why Walt Disney based the magical castle of Sleeping Beauty on it. It is a must do for anyone in Germany and I really don't think the castle can look bad. Rain, shine, snow - the castle always looks good. There is so much to see too. You can see a beautiful Alpen lake behind the castle, as well as several other majestic buildings close by.

We timed our departure perfectly, as the heavens opened as soon as we reached the car park at the bottom. Although it only lasted a short time, water was pouring down the steep hill from the castle. We decided to head home, but this time, with the help of the map, we thought about it carefully. The journey back was a lot more successful (forgetting getting a little lost around Munich) but we were back in Regensburg just in time for some great burgers at the American Diner. We were all tired out but had a fantastic day. It was definitely worth the journey and kudos to Tony for driving the 550km there and back.

Monday was to be spent in Regensburg. We visited the cathedral, the Arcaden shopping centre, the old town, the stone bridge, we climbed the church tower and enjoyed more wonderful views and enjoyed delicious ice cream in the afternoon. Again the weather was beautiful, and it was great that Lois and I could talk a little bit about Regensburg, as we are getting to know it pretty well now and the fact we have also done a city tour. The evening meal was again delicious and in one of Regensburg's best restaurants, where they serve the biggest pizzas I have ever seen! We said an emotional goodbye on the stone bridge and went our separate ways, due to an early departure in order to catch a morning flight.

The three days went super fast, but it was such a lovely three days. It was very easy to forget we were in Germany at times because we were all there together. We had some fantastic experiences, the weather was perfect and I really don't think anything could have gone better. It was sad to say goodbye, but Christmas will be here soon and Lois and I are looking forward to our next adventure which begins tomorrow...Prague!

1000 Views!

This is a very short post just to say Thank You to everybody who has been reading my Blog. There have been over 1000 views on my Blog so far, and it's very encouraging to know that people are taking an interest in both my and Lois' experiences here in Germany.

I hope you all enjoy reading my posts and I hope you continue to catch up on our adventures!

A busy school week and a VERY important day!

As I'm becoming more accustomed to the schools and the way they do things, I'm beginning to play a bigger role and on Monday I found myself in my most active role yet! I had been asked the previous week, if I would like to teach the year 8's about the difference between American English and British English. I thought this was quite an interesting topic and was keen to get fully stuck in, so I agreed. I prepared some bits over the weekend and then it was time for Mr Begley (Cringe!) to get to work! The pupils were excited at first to have a totally new teacher. They were very well behaved but in terms of contributions from the class - well, the phrase 'blood out of a stone' comes to mind. They were very quiet and even when the teacher prompted them from the back of the classroom, it didn't really have much of an effect. I played the song 'Lets Call The Whole Thing Off' to try and illustrate the differences in pronunciation of certain words and they seemed to like that. They struggled with the worksheet that I gave them, but that's understandable, as it was pretty hard! It looked at two different passages, one in British English and one in American English, and it had gaps which the pupils had to fill in. So on the British English sheet, the missing word would be petrol, whilst on the American English sheet, the missing word would be gas. Other words included Motorway - Highway, Taxi - Cab etc. We didn't manage to check all the answers as I ran out of time, but of course I still had time to give them some homework - He's a mean one, is that Mr Begley! The teacher said she thought I was very natural and I did enjoy it. It was a good experience for me.

After that lesson, it was time to speak with the year 10s. I had prepared the classic 'Who Am I?' game to do with them. This worked well but the only problem was, was that they were too good! They played several games and only 15 minutes had passed. I hadn't prepared anything else, so the last 15 minutes was filled with very small, small talk and lots of awkward silences. I told them they could leave early as we had done everything I had planned, but they were too scared that they would get told off, so they stayed! This is something that would never happen in my previous school, so I was very surprised. If someone gave me the chance to leave a class early, I would have leapt in the air, fist pumping and crying 'Yiippeeeee' and then ran out of the door in a flash. They did seem a little annoyed that I hadn't been as prepared as maybe I should have been, but next time I will make sure I have lots of extra activities to keep these super-clever, English learners busy!

Tuesday was a particularly short day at school, as it was the day of annual Teachers Trip. I was a little nervous, as I didn't really know many teachers going. At times it was a little awkward as all the teachers had already established friendship groups, so I found myself flicking between for a while. We went to a nice restaurant in a small village close to Regensburg for some delicious lunch and then walked to a castle where we were going to have a tour. The walk involved lots of hills and forest tracks and the weather was lovely and the scenery was equally as nice. We then reached the castle, which wasn't really as spectacular as some of the other castles I've already seen here in Germany and it's now used as an old peoples home. As we arrived we met our tour guide. As it turned out, this old-ish man was appropriately named Fritz Jägdl - He couldn't have been given a more German name if his mother had tried. And to go with this über-German name, he spoke with a thick accent and spoke in dialect. For those who don't know, there are lots of different types of German spoken in Germany. The German that we're taught is the standard German or 'Hochdeutsch'. However, each region has it's own particular accent and often, dialect. The accent situation is comparable to England - Scouse, Geordie, Irish, Welsh - All accents, but accents that everybody can (usually) understand. The thing with dialect, is that it's almost a totally different language. So much so, that someone from North Germany would not be able to understand someone from Bavaria, if that person was speaking in Bavarian or 'Bayerisch'.

So back to the tour - Fritz spoke in Bavarian. I don't speak Bavarian. Therefore, I couldn't tell you anything about the castle I spent two hours being told about, other than he said something about the year 1800 and that for a short time it served as a prison. Doing a two hour tour in a language you don't understand really isn't much fun, just to let you know. I was however, encouraged by the fact that many teachers also struggled to understand him, and I thought it was really thoughtful that some of the teachers even attempted to translate some of the things being said. It was a long afternoon and by the end I was pretty fed up. My brain actually hurt from trying to decipher the weird, mumbling, utterances that Fritz spoke in. But on the positive side of things, I really feel like I got to know a lot of the teachers a lot better and I did speak a lot of German, so I guess I'm glad I went.

                                                   Nice Castle, but I couldn't tell you anything about it!


On Wednesday, I took another class totally alone. It was my mentor teachers class and she was away for the day. The lovely Anja had already prepared what they needed to do, so I just had to ensure they did it! It was a year 7 class and I really enjoy working with these younger pupils. They were very excited as I walked in, but at the same time they respected me and listened to what I had to say. Before every single lesson, the pupils must stand up and the teacher says "Good Morning/Afternoon" and the pupils all reply simultaneously "Good Morning/Afternoon Mr/Mrs/Marcus" (it's not Herr or Frau because these are English lessons, remember!) It felt very special and a little surreal hearing them all greet me like this. They worked through their necessary worksheets and I helped when needed. I do find it very difficult explaining why we say what we do and the grammar behind it. For example, could you explain to a student how to form and use the Past Progressive tense? What about the Present Perfect? I can't recall ever being taught these in my English lessons. I have been taught all about these tenses in German but not in English. As native speakers we just 'know' what to say and how to say it. Explaining the reasoning behind this is very difficult.

The lesson went well. I didn't need to raise my voice or tell anyone off. They worked hard and efficiently and I had very little to do, to be honest. But I enjoyed it and will feel even more confident next time I'm in this position. Towards the end of the class, some of the students asked if I could speak German. I replied that I couldn't. So they began to teach me something. "O.K. Say this...Ich" They said. "Ich" I replied, trying to sound as confused and English as possible. "heiße" "heiße" "Marcus" "Marcus" "Ich heiße Marcus" "Ich heiße Marcus" "Hooray!" They all shouted, as they celebrated teaching me how to say my name. Most of the other students in the school know that I can speak (bad) German, but I wonder how long I can keep my lack of German knowledge up with this class. It could be amusing.

Later I went to a year 9 class and just practised some conversational skills with them. Their English was particularly good. One boy asked me how old I was. "20" I replied. "20!? You look about 17!" Hmm. I'm not really sure how to take this...

On Thursday I helped out firstly with the young year 6 class. I ended up doing quite a bit with them and did an exercise where I said a number / day of the week in German and they had to write it in English. They seemed to like hearing me speak German (I told them that I had learnt just a few numbers and days of the week especially for this class) and I most impressed when they were able to spell 'Wednesday' correctly - I still have to think twice before writing it! I then did a presentation about Australia with a new year 10 class. They were really cool and I really enjoyed working with them. They also knew my name before I had even introduced myself, so it is clear to me that I'm getting a reputation around school - although I'm not sure if its a good one or a bad one. My final class involved taking students out of the classroom and talking with them in small groups. This went well, although it is difficult as the abilities really vary and some are very shy. Normally when I ask them if they have any questions to ask me, they all shake their heads. But today, one group kept asking me questions. I quickly worked out that this was a 'stalling technique' as they didn't want to go back into the classroom and actually learn! But hey, at least they were talking!

I also nipped out into the town centre when I had a free hour and when I came back it was break time. As I entered the playground where all the pupils were playing, I was literally mobbed! Everybody was shouting my name and trying to talk to me. I honestly can't go anywhere in the school without somebody running up to me and saying hello. I really do think this is fantastic and I love it! If this continues, I'm going to have to reserve an extra seat on my flight back to England next year - One for me and one for my ego!

Lois arrived on Thursday afternoon and we get to spend over a week together which is really nice. We celebrated surviving our first term in Germany by sharing a huge sundae at one of the many ice cream cafes around Regensburg. The ice cream here is just amazing and no matter what time of day it is there is always someone eating ice cream - rain or shine, hot or cold. It appears there is never a time when ice cream is not acceptable, which is something I could certainly get used to.

Friday was one of the most important and significant days of my time here so far. The event planned on Friday would have a lasting effect on me. It could make me or it could ruin me. That's right people, it was time for my first German haircut. I was pretty intent on the fact that I didn't want to return with a typical, 1980's style German mullet, for which the Germans are infamously well known for (I have seen some of these about) so Lois and I researched some useful vocabulary that I could use at the Hairdresser's. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous as we made our way to the Hairdressers in the town that I had already decided I was going trust with neatly trimming my beautiful locks. As we entered, we were instructed to take a number and take a seat. This is a very efficient service indeed. It requires no booking and it means the 'first come, first served' policy is strictly adhered to. It reminded me of when I was younger and I would visit Clarks shoe shop with Mum and Dad to get my new school shoes for the coming year. At least you can try shoes on before you buy them. Getting your hair cut is a little more...risky.

I had prepared a little description of what I wanted. I was called up and took a seat and fortunately my hairdresser seemed friendly. I explained I was English and that my German wasn't that good. I told her I wanted my hair to be 3mm long around the back and sides (Typical Germans, eh! - They want exact measurements and clear instructions) and just thinning out on top as I wanted to keep it fairly long, so that I could 'sweep' it to the side and maintain my Leonardo Di Caprio look (See previous post!) She got started and I immediately regretted opting for a 3mm length on the back and sides. I had thought, that 3mm was the equivalent to a 'number 3' in England, which is what I normally get. However, as I type this with a military style short back and sides, I now know that it is not. However, she didn't take much off the top and it turned out ok. I do like it and it does mean that I shouldn't have to get my haircut again until I'm back in England over Christmas. It could have gone ALOT worse and it was another experience that I will remember for a long time. I cant imagine there's many people who have had their hair cut in a foreign country with very limited 'haircut' vocabulary. Now
its this sort of useful stuff they should be teaching in schools!

So, Lois' family arrive tomorrow morning and we are meeting them at Nuremburg airport. We have a few ideas of things to do, but I think we will just decide on the day and see how we all feel. Nevertheless I'm really looking forward to it. I will update next week on all the happenings.

Bis bald

Two Rebels in Nuremberg

Another busy Saturday this week, as we visited Nuremberg (or Nurnberg auf Deutsch). I will get to that shortly, but of course you want to know about the rest of my week first, don't you!?

On Thursday in school, I visited a class I hadn't been to before. As I walked in, the class did the usual turning around, mumbling and staring. As I took a seat at the back of the room, one of the pupils leant over to me and said 'Bonjour'. Startled, I replied by saying that I was English. 'Ach Sooooo' (which is a standard German phrase used several hundred times a day by a single person) was the response. It then occurred to me that he, and presumably other members of the class, thought I was French! I'm not sure, if it was the Beret, the baguette under my arm or my stripy jumper that gave them this preposterous idea, but I'm glad that it's been cleared up. (That of course was a joke - I'm struggling to understand how I can be mistaken for being French!) I'm also still surprised at how amazed the pupils, specifically the younger ones, are at the prospect of a 'real English person.' One of the pupils approached the teacher after one of my lessons and asked "Ist er ein echter Engländer?" (Is he really English?) and when she replied that I was indeed 'really English' his mouth dropped open and a look of confusion appeared on his face. They really cant believe it, but I think this is good, as it means they are equally as fascinated and curious as they are amazed, and it encourages them to ask questions and speak with me.

On Thursday afternoon I travelled to Eichstätt to stay with Lois for the weekend. The last time I was in Eichstätt was mid September, so I was looking forward to going again. We went out on Thursday night to a Bavarian restaurant. We hadn't, up till this point, visited a real Bavarian restaurant, so we thought as we are both becoming ever more established Bavarians, it simply had to be done. I tried something new (Schweinebraten) and Lois had a good old Schnitzel. Both were delicious and it was good to try something new.

On Friday we went to one of Lois' schools, as they had won a competition, and as a reward, a band had come to play during the morning break. We got there and they had already started. It was like a small concert in the school play ground! There were lots of people there, most them singing along (Lois even saw some of her teaching colleagues 'bopping' along to the music!) and the music was good. We went back to Lois' and switched on the TV and tuned into 'The Voice Of Germany' (Just like 'The Voice' in England but better - you should try it!) and you'll never guess what... The person we had just watched performing at the school is one of the judges on The Voice! He's the lead member of a band called 'Sunrise Avenue' and that's the band who were performing at the school! Cool, eh!?

So as I said at the beginning, Saturday involved a visit to Nuremberg. Luckily we had picked another lovely day and we were really excited to go. A mere 90 minute train journey and we were in another major city! There is so much to see and do and lots to learn about, so we had made a rough itinerary of things we wanted to do. Our first stop took us the 'Reichsparteigeländemuseum' (Germans like these long words) This was on the site of the well-known Nazi Rally grounds - The place where huge rallies, often a 'show of force' and speeches took place. The Museum was really interesting and we could have spent the entire day there as they was so much to read, but we wanted to see the actual grounds so we wandered outside. The famous Zeppelin Field, which can be often seen in documentary footage, was really interesting to see. It was a huge area and although there is very little left of the buildings that were there, there was an eeriness about it all, especially when we imagined the place being full of roaring crowds and thousands of troops. It was a very 'sinister' feeling, as we stood on the small exposed platform which is where Hitler stood as he gave long, inspiring speeches and where he stood as he watched his troops march past. To think that less than 100 years ago, such an infamous figure was stood exactly where we were stood was both fascinating and terrifying. It isn't until you actually see these places that you realise the scale of the events you see in film. It was a really meaningful experience.





















This picture shows the Zeppelin Field during a rally. The white construction in the distance is the picture above






























After this we lightened the mood, by exploring the beautiful old town and doing a little window shopping. (I was also told I looked like Leonardo Di Caprio in Titanic by one man at a market stall - I'm definitely taking that as a compliment!) We strolled through some lovely streets up to the Kaiserberg, which is the castle overlooking the entire city. It was really nice and the view was great on such a clear day. Following this we decided to go to the Courthouse, where the infamous Nuremberg Trials were held. It's slightly out of town and it's still an active Courthouse. We walked straight in, following the signs and upstairs to the actual courtroom. It was very modern and not how I expected it. We were going to go to the exhibition above the courtroom, but at this point, we were approached by a uniformed woman, who informed us that we hadn't paid and needed to go back downstairs and do so! We were very surprised and a little embarrassed, and hadn't meant to commit such a felony! Honest! As it turned out, we weren't that interested in paying to go into the exhibition, so we left, with our pockets as full as when we entered and with the added knowledge that we had visited the Courthouse of the Nuremberg Trials for free! Ooo how cheeky!

You see - People actually wear Lederhosen!




























I think they stole the 'Boris Bike' concept - In Nuremberg they have 'Noris Bikes'









We ended the day with a beer (Obviously! We are in Germany)followed by a delicious Mexican meal ('Enchiladas' in Nuremberg is definitely worth a visit!) and got a late train back. On Sunday we had a relaxing walk around Eichstätt. Autumn is here and the trees are wonderful colours at the moment.

We're both really looking forward to doing one more week in school and then breaking up for half term, which means one week off. Lois' family are coming to visit next weekend for 4 days, and we're both really excited to see them and spend some time altogether. We have lots planned for that week so I'm sure I will have lots more stories to share soon.

Tschüß

But Marcus, it's only Wednesday - Why the long post!?

Ok, another long one I'm afraid but just thought I would give you all a mid-week update about what has gone on so far this week.

First of all, on Sunday evening, Lois and I booked our flights back to Germany in the new year. I'm afraid it's another early start Mum and Dad, but we got them at a good price and it just means it is one less thing to sort out.

On Monday it was back to school. Unfortunately I wasn't told that my first class was cancelled due to a First Aid training course for the pupils. I got there for 8:30 only to be told, that I wasn't needed until lunch time! I had nothing to do, so I came back to my flat for a little bit. When I went back in the afternoon, I helped out in a year 8 class before doing a conversation class with the year 10s. I hadn't expected to be teaching the whole class, so I was a little shocked when I found that I was. I managed to conjure up a few exercises we could do and they seemed to work well and got the pupils talking. One of them involved us all sitting in a circle and each person saying a sentence so that it made a story. It was good as you had to listen to the person before you and then think spontaneously. Saying that, the story ended up revolving around 'a man' and 'a dog' and got very repetitive. I tried to 'spice things up' by including the sentence "The man then won the lottery", which I had hoped would start a new, exciting and enthralling Epic, an Epic to rival the likes of 'The Lord Of The Rings', 'Harry Potter' and 'War and Peace', an Epic that would go down in the history books as the greatest story ever told, but unfortunately that didn't happen. Instead what did 'the man' do? Well, he bought another dog.

On Monday evening, I had my first meeting with my new 'Tandem Partner' - This is a scheme where two people of different nationalities are partnered together in order to improve one another's second language skills. My partner is Verena, a student at the university here in Regensburg. She wants to improve her English and I, obviously, my German. Before we met, she emailed me to arrange our meeting. She said 'We could meet for a coffee or some tea' - I thought this was funny. In England we would just say 'We could meet for a coffe' wouldn't we? But obviously, because I'm English, she felt the need to offer Tea as well! It made me smile. She was really nice and despite her saying her English was bad, she is pretty much fluent! We spoke for half the time in German and half in English and it was good to practice in an informal and friendly atmosphere.

In one of the lessons on Tuesday, a few pupils asked me to repeat the Bavarian word 'Zipfelklatscher' Unbeknown to the meaning, I was keen to prove my ability (or perhaps lack of) in pronouncing German words, so I repeated it. What followed was lots of sniggering, giggling and from the pupils who didn't know what was going, but had heard me say this word, gasps of shock. I'm sure you can probably work out the meaning of the said word, (defining such a word on such an eloquently written and delicate blog would certainly not be wise) but as one boy put it 'it's a bad word'. The pupils did ask me to say the word to the teacher, but by this point I was wise to their tricks and I had a pretty good idea that this would not be in my best interests. My lesson in Bavarian continued after class, when the same pupils asked me to repeat 'Oachkatzlschwoaf'. I had learnt my lesson and asked someone trustworthy the meaning before repeating it. This is simply the Bavarian word for 'a squirrels tail' and because it is pretty difficult to pronounce, if you can pronounce it correctly, you are considered to be 'a true Bavarian' - Needless to say, following a few attempts and several bursts of laughter, I managed it and I'm slowly becoming more and more Bavarian. (Since I mentioned Squirrels, the common misconception that Germans cannot say the word 'Squirrel' is not true. Every German I have asked can say the word perfectly. Just thought I'd let you know, before you embarrass yourself by overconfidently asking a German to say 'Squirrel' and expecting to laugh at them when they fail miserably - It won't happen. You, however, try saying the German word for Squirrel 'Eichhörnchen', without being laughed at by a native German speaker!)

Another interesting observation - After break time, the floor of the main hall is always covered with litter. At my old High School, it would be the job of the cleaners to come and clean the hall. Germany, however, have come up with an ingenious idea. Why employ cleaners, when the pupils can do it instead?! As soon as the bell rings indicating break time to be over, a team of young pupils efficiently and orderly sweep the hall and tidy the litter. Not only do they do this willingly, I even overheard an argument about whose turn it was to sweep! England definitely needs to take a leaf out of Germanys book on this one! (I have the feeling this wont be the last time I say this)

I did another conversation class in the afternoon, which took the form of a Question and Answer session. I got the standard questions to be expected from an all male year 10 group - have you ever got a 'tactical nuke' on Call Of Duty, how does the beer compare and of course, how do the girls compare. Following that, I enjoyed an unexpected buffet lunch in the staffroom. I was really surprised to see some teachers wash this down with a beer! At school! Ok, the school day was over, but there is something a little odd (maybe even concerning!) about watching teachers drink beer in the staffroom at 1 O'clock on a Tuesday afternoon!

This week I've been surprised to hear that so many people like the sound of English. One teacher described me speaking as 'beautiful' and another even said 'it was music to her ears'. I guess the English take it for granted and don't appreciate it, but I really don't think it sounds anything special! But I bet the Italians would say the same about their language, and everybody else seems to love hearing Italian being spoken. Furthermore, it has been good to hear so many Germans sympathising with me as a learner of German. Several native German speakers have told me that even they don't understand some of the grammar rules etc. in German and they all say that it is a lot harder to learn German than it is to learn English - I found this surprising, but comforting.

And finally, a couple of interesting facts about Regensburg! This week, I finally discovered the house where Oscar Schindler (Think Schindlers List) lived for several years after the war, which is located in the Innenstadt. It's not much really, but it puts Regensburg 'on the map'.

"During the time of the crimes committed by the National Socialists, Oskar Schindler saved 1200 Jews from certain death. He lived in Regensburg from November 1945 until May 1950, first at this house, then later at '25 Alte Nürnberger Strasse'

Dedicated to him by the town of Regensburg in 1995"

Also, I learnt that Regensburg has got the greatest concentration of bars in all of Germany, and possibly even all of Europe! Now if that isn't a reason to come and visit me, I don't know what is!?

'Der Engländer' goes to Salzburg

Good evening one and all!

It's getting pretty chilly here in Germany at the moment, so I'm writing this whilst trying to get as close as possible to the radiator. I've been told that the winters here are really cold so I'd better 'man up' and get used to it - It's certainly not going to be getting warmer any time soon.

So another week has passed but I'm still having a great time. I've been pretty tired this week, as I still haven't quite recovered from our fantastic trip to Vienna. I'm beginning to play a more active role within my schools, as both teachers and pupils begin to start trusting the 'Engländer'. 'Engländer' is a term (for which the translation should be obvious) that I have overheard quite a lot whilst walking down the corridors at school. 'Er ist Engländer' whisper the pupils to one another as I pass - I'm not sure if its excitement, curiosity or indeed fear that I sense in the tone of these hushed whispers as I wander to wherever I may be next. Saying this, the pupils remain really enthusiastic and  are often pleased see me. I even got cheers and round of a applause as I entered a year 7 class the other day! Furthermore, one teacher told me how disappointed her class was in learning that I was unable to attend their lesson due to a clash in my timetable. It really is nice to know that my presence is valued, not only by the teachers, but especially by the pupils. I've really enjoyed talking to the pupils as well, whether it be just after lesson, after school in the playground or sometimes even in town during the evening/weekends. One particular keen pupil, is showing his appreciation of me teaching him English by trying to teach me 'Bayerisch' (Bavarian Dialect) whenever he sees me. This week I received a little note with some new vocabulary for me to learn. I had better revise them tonight, I would hate to disappoint him when he questions me about them this week!

As I said, I've been playing a more active role in the schools this week. Monday began with me helping out in the year 10 conversation class. We did a speed dating exercise, which was effective in that it got everybody talking and it ensured everybody spoke with every other member of the class. It's definitely an exercise I will remember and hopefully use in other classes. On Tuesday it was time to play 'Who Am I?' (That old chestnut which involves sticking a post it note on your forehead, with the name of a famous person written on it - you don't know 'who you are' so you have to ask questions which only have Yes / No answers, like "Am I a singer?" "Am I American?" "Am I over 50?" ...you get the picture) I wrote 'Queen Elizabeth' on my post it note and stuck it on the forehead of one of the German boys in our group. A post it note was then stuck on my head and the game began. As the rest of the group slowly figured out who they all were, that's right, I was the only one left with a post it note stuck on his forehead. I wasn't getting anywhere and I just had no clue who I could be, so I agreed to give up. I peeled it slowly off my forehead and read the name "Dieter Bohlen" - Now, unless you have access to German TV channel RTL or are an avid watcher of 'Das Supertalent', you, like me, will have absolutely no clue who Dieter Bohlen is. The students didn't seem to realise that German TV isn't quite as popular in England as it is in Germany, but hey, who would've guessed!? Anyway I explained that I had no clue who this person was and following the gasps of horror, I was told that he's a judge on the German version of 'Britains Got Talent'. The Simon Cowell of Germany is probably a good analogy. We swapped groups and the next game was a little more successful. O.K, it turned out I was Barney the big purple dinosaur, but at least I guessed it! I knew all those hours sat in front on the TV as a child, watching Barney & Friends (Barneys Musical Castle is a must see, by the way) would pay off at some point in my life.

On Wednesday I gave an introductory presentation to the year 10 class on Australia. This involved a quick quiz (Australia has more Kangaroos than it does people, don't you know!?) and a brief history of Australia that I had prepared. They got involved and laughed at the right bits, so I felt it was a success. On Wednesday evening I went and played Basketball with the teachers at one of my schools. I'm not usually a Basketball player, but this was as a result of my 'Say-Yes-To-Everything' policy that I'm trying to follow throughout my Year Abroad. It was good fun and I was told that I had improved throughout the evening, which I'm sure is just a polite way of saying "you were really rubbish, but now you're just rubbish", but hey, maybe by the end of the year I will be good! Thursday was a quieter day for me at school, as the teacher I should have been with was ill. Unbelievably, I'm finding that even though I'm barely working 12 hours per week, I still can't wait for the weekends! So a slightly earlier finish on Thursday was a pleasant surprise.

Lois arrived on Thursday evening and then Friday was a miserable and rainy day spent around Regensburg. However, as Saturday was going to be nicer we had decided that we would visit Salzburg. The 'Bayern-Ticket' allows unlimited travel within Bavaria for a whole day on trains and other public transport. It costs 13Euros per person when two people are travelling together. So we can go to so many cool places including Munich and Nuremburg and back for just 13Euros each. Furthermore you can also go to Salzburg using this ticket!
"Hang on!" I hear you cry. "Salzburg isn't in Bavaria, it's not even in Germany! It's in Austria!" You are, of course, correct. But it's actually only several Kilometres over the border and since it's so close to Bavaria, you can use this ticket. Not bad, eh!

We set off nice and early and got to Salzburg just before lunch time. We soon found ourselves in Salzburg centre and explored the small alleys and admired the beautiful buildings. It looked lovely in the sunlight and you could see the Alps in the distance. It's a very pretty city. We climbed up to the fortress and viewed the city from above. It was bustling with tourists and street markets and it had a very nice atmosphere. We visited the 'Volksgarten' which was equally as beautiful. Salzburg is of course the birthplace of Mozart and also the filming location of 'The Sound Of Music', so it's a very 'musical' history. So this being said, we found that there wasn't much else there. For those with a passion for Classical Music, you could spend a lot of time in Salzburg, visiting Museums etc., but for everyone else, a day trip is long enough. Like I said, it's a beautiful city and certainly worth seeing and we both really enjoyed our day out. As we left Salzburg slightly earlier than planned, we ended our day with a pizza in Regensburg. We dined in a really nice Pizzeria in the Innenstadt, that was actually visited by Penelope Cruz a few years back when she was in Regensburg. I think it's fair to say that as a result, we're almost famous.

It's a little odd to think that we went to another country for a day trip, but at the same time it's really cool! We both really appreciate the fortunate position we are in, when we can visit such iconic places so easily. I'm so pleased to be placed in Bavaria, as it's such a good location, not only for exploring Germany, but also for exploring other countries as well. We certainly have ambitions to make the most of our fortunate location.

 

 

 

 

That's everything for now. Thanks for reading!

Liebe Grüße aus Deutschland!

A long weekend in Vienna

Ok. This has the potential to be a very long post, so I suggest you grab yourself a cup of tea and several biscuits...(I'm serious)

So our trip to Vienna had been planned for a while. Ever since we worked out that we would be on our Year Abroad for both of our 21st birthdays, we decided it was only fitting to do something particularly special. Lois, very wisely, suggested we visit Vienna for her 21st birthday. Lois' birthday coincided perfectly with 'Der Tag der Deutschen Einheit' which is one day after. This day celebrates the reunification of East and West Germany and is a national holiday. Since we would both be off school, and seeing that we both have Fridays off anyway, we didn't have to take time off and still had a 4-day weekend. So after a lovely meal and a few drinks in Eichstätt on Lois' actual birthday, we set off on the Thursday morning for Vienna (via Munich).

Now we had arranged to travel from Munich to Vienna using 'Mitfahrgelegenheit' - A car sharing service. Much to our annoyance and frustration our driver didn't turn up. We had just raced from one side of Munich to the other and he didn't turn up. He didn't even ring us. No "I'm sorry, but the car wouldn't start", no "I'm sorry, I've eaten a dodgy Bratwurst and I've been hugging the toilet for the past 9 hours" Not even a "Bayern München won last night and I'm clearly still well over the drink drive limit" (Bayern-München did actually win the previous night - I'm convinced this is the actual reason) But if your reading this Andreas... Screw You!

Lois and I were pretty annoyed by this, so like any normal person in this situation, we went and committed 'Carbicide' (gorging on a massive amounts of Carbohydrates for everyone who is not 'down with the kids') by feasting upon huge Pretzels. The Pretzels in question were quite a lot bigger than both of our heads, but it filled us up and gave us the energy to carry on. And by carry on, I mean buy an overpriced train ticket and sit on a train for far too long. Eventually we reached Vienna, albeit a little later than expected.

We successfully navigated the U-Bahn (Underground) system and found the station close to our apartment. However as we only had a street name and it was now getting dark, things weren't looking promising. We asked in a Petrol Station for some directions but the cashier didn't have a clue. But fortunately, a taxi driver overheard the conversation and offered his help and said he would take us to our apartment. I explained very clearly that we had no money as we had spent it on the train here but he insisted and said he wouldn't charge - I've definitely heard that before, so I was a little weary but we didn't have much choice. Luckily he took us directly to our street and didn't ask for money. He was probably the nicest Taxi driver I've ever had and we were very appreciative of his help. There's not many Taxi driver like that around these days and I hope Karma rewards this nice Austrian man. The next challenge was finding our actual apartment!

Walking down the road, a hooded figure asked if we were looking for number 13 - we were! He told us he was here to meet us and that he would take us to our apartment. Feeling a little unsure, we followed him inside. Fortunately it all worked out and he (who turned out to look like a French Rowan Atkinson's younger brother - do you get the picture?) walked us in to our apartment, where we would stay for the next three nights. We were the first ones to stay there and it had been newly renovated. It was super. Very modern, clean and spacious and had a kitchen with all the utensils you would need as well as a coffee machine - that's right, our very own coffee machine! Unfortunately the TV didn't work until the following morning, so we had to settle with listening to the only CD available for our evening entertainment. It was a classical CD, full of symphonies from Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss, which only seemed right considering we were in Vienna. We cooked a tasty meal, had some cake then went to bed to re-energize for the next days antics!

On Friday morning, we ventured into Vienna centre and discovered Stephansplatz, a large area with a magnificent cathedral and lots of expensive shops, and explored a few other places too. In the afternoon, I had booked, for us both and as part of Lois' birthday present, a tour. Now this tour was to be a little different to other tours. This was a Segway Tour! That's right, we would whizzing (we soon learnt that 'terrorising' is probably a better verb) about Vienna on Segways. The tour began with a 'training phase' where we would learn how to control the Segway, although this ability seemed to allude certain members of our group. We were both pretty nervous about getting on, as it's all about balance and you actually lean to move. Lois went first and picked it up in a heartbeat. Like a pro, she was flying up and down the pavement within minutes. I then went for it and found it to be easier than expected. Once this was complete, we began the tour. The tour lasted three hours and thanks to the Segways we were able to see so much of the city. We were whizzing from one sight to the other, zipping through squares full of people, zooming down bike lanes and weaving in and out of traffic. It was such a thrill! We learnt lots, as at each stop we would listen to interesting stories and facts about that specific site. The architecture in Vienna is spectacular and there really is so much to see. We sometimes dismounted but other times we would just stay on the Segway whilst we learnt about the vast, vast history of Vienna. I would recommend this experience to absolutely everybody. It really is the best way to see any city. You have loads of fun and learn things too. Vienna is very spread out, so this really was the best way to see everything. It was AMAZING and consequently a Segway is now the first thing on my Christmas list.

Another little surprise I organised, was to take Lois out for cocktails in the evening. I had booked a really cool bar which overlooked Vienna, so that evening we went there for a few birthday drinks. It was lovely and the view really was fantastic. Lois said her cocktail was the best she'd ever had, so that's definitely the sign of a good bar.

Day two in Vienna and we decided to visit the winter palace, which is just outside of the city. Schönnbrunn Palace is huge and the gardens are even bigger. We hit it on a glorious day, but it was pretty chilly. We opted not to go inside but we ventured into the huge expanse of gardens. Behind the house, we climbed a hill where we could see the whole city of Vienna with the house in the foreground. This view was magnificent and is one of those views that will stay with me forever. It was quite overwhelming and took me a while to appreciate the natural beauty of it all. It's definitely a 'must-do' for anyone in Vienna.

The afternoon consisted of a lovely catch up with a fellow Aston student, also on her Year Abroad. Naomi is based in Vienna so it seemed silly not to meet up. We had a really nice chat over a coffee and its really nice hearing about other peoples experiences. After this we went to the Sacher Hotel to sample the world famous Sacher Torte. It's one of those things that has to be done in Vienna. This is where the famous cake was invented and is the only place you can sample the real, original Sacher Torte. It was a really nice experience, in lovely traditional surroundings and no trip to Vienna should be without it.

We went back to the apartment and had a lovely chilled evening in. For our return trip to Germany, we had arranged another 'Mitfahrgelegenheit', which fortunately was a success, so we arrived in Regensburg mid afternoon, after a nicer, cheaper and quicker journey than if we had caught the train. We're both disappointed that our stunning long weekend in Vienna is over, but we have lots more travels to look forward to.

So we're both back to our schools tomorrow, but what better way to end the post but with the help of a certain Billy Joel. Lois showed me this (very apt) song on the final night and it will always remind us both of our wonderful trip.