The penultimate week before the much needed Christmas break had an intense beginning. On Monday, I had not one, not two, but three lessons with year 6 classes. I hadn't met any of these classes before, and as always (especially with the younger pupils), they were very intrigued by the presence of a real Engländer. Now, I know that I've said I enjoy working with younger pupils, and I do, but after almost four hours with extra loud, extra enthusiastic pupils and after answering question after question is does wear you out! But I would much rather it be this way, than them not saying anything at all. It was all good fun and I started with introducing myself with the help of some pictures ( including one of my family - I hope you don't mind guys!) and then got them to prepare a little information about themselves to read out. I was very surprised to learn that at least half of the pupils in these classes, had one parent from another country. But this just made the presentations more interesting! Especially when they had to tell us about their favourite food - Food from Kosovo, Brazil, Spain and Poland where all mentioned - and that's just mentioning a few! In the afternoon, I had a solid two hours of this and when it finally was time to leave, I was pleased - that was until I exited the school and discovered the rain. So, remember I cycle to school? And remember it takes about 30 mins? Yes, well it was a wet ride back on Monday afternoon. In addition, my current bike doesn't have any mud guards, meaning all the dirt and water from the road gets thrown up onto me and my face! I arrived back with a mud-splattered face and some very dirty clothes. Thankfully it was on my way home (it could have been embarrassing if this was the case on my way TO school!) and there is a washing machine here (although the less said about that the better - I very nearly flooded the room because I added too much powder and couldn't read the German instructions! Oops!). This Year Abroad really is character building!
On Tuesday, I was with another new class. Here, we talked about England and the symbols they associate with England and then the same for Germany. So for England we had things like Big Ben, the Royals, Manchester United, Fish & Chips and strangely The Golden Gate Bridge was suggested (what is it with Germans and their lack of Geographical knowledge about the Golden Gate Bridge!?) but we quickly established it was Tower Bridge that was meant. A particularly interesting one, was one boys suggestion of 'The cool pronunciation of words'. I think this is nice to know - Never be afraid to speak to a German people, by the sounds of it, they will love your voice! For the Germany ones, we had lots of football related suggestions (FC Bayern, Allianz Arena etc) and unsurprisingly 'Beer' was the first suggestion. Of course Lederhosen, Bratwurst and Pretzels were also on the list. It was a fun class and they asked if I would come back again - I'm sure this 'phase' of pupils wanting me to come back will wear off soon. I think I'm still a novelty.
This was taken on my way home from school one evening. I thought the Regensburg Cathedral against the red sky made for a very tranquil setting and a good picture.
On my return to the house on Tuesday afternoon I discovered a table full of biscuits and treats. A little note had been left basically saying 'Help yourself'. With no one else in the house, this could have been a dangerous manoeuvre on Beates part! (I contemplated devouring the majority and blaming it on the cat, but decided against it) These 'Plätzchen' (Cookies/Biscuits/Treats) had been baked by Beate the previous night. I spoke to her about it and she explained that it is very traditional for Germans to bake these types of things at Christmas time. She only made about five different batches (only - pfftt) but she told me it isn't uncommon for people to make twenty or thirty different batches of these for the Christmas period! I think it's really nice, that simple traditions like home baking at Christmas certainly hasn't 'died out' here in Germany. I know people in England do a little baking during Christmas, but this is definitely on a much bigger scale! And yes, they taste delicious! In other festive news, my evenings of lesson planning have been accompanied by Christmas songs which has been really nice and exciting. I love it! On Wednesday in school, I discovered my talent (or maybe 'lack of' is more suitable) for acting. Myself and a fellow teacher did a 'role-play' in one of the English lessons, to introduce some new phrases and vocabulary to them. We had a few props, but I left them in my bag. Although it didn't go completely to plan, we still got a round of applause and hopefully it did the job. I didn't have anything planned on Wednesday evening and was consequently feeling bored and a little fed up, but fortunately for me Beate came to my rescue! At about half past six, she spontaneously invited me to a Christmas Concert, to which she had some spare tickets. It turned out that, not only were the tickets 30 Euros each (and she was offering them to me for free) but they were also to see the Regensburg Domspatzen (or Regensburg Male Choir). Now this choir is world famous - They performed for the Queen when she visited Germany, they performed at a NATO summit for world leaders and in 2006 they performed for the Pope himself in the Vatican city. I had heard about them and I was looking forward to seeing them. The performance took place in one of the big lecture theatres in the University and there was a good turn out. The Choir sounded heavenly (can't believe I just used that word) and they are seriously talented. They have a range of ages, from very young boys who sing the high notes, to the older boys, who sing the lower tones, but everything just fits together so well. The first half consisted of traditional German / Latin Choir songs, which I didn't recognise or understand, at all. However, after the interval, it got a little more festive and I recognised just a few songs. I did enjoy it, but it doesn't give me as much of a 'buzz' as maybe it does with others. Nevertheless, another good experience (which, according to Lois is becoming my phrase of the Year Abroad)
Thursday was simply 'another day in school'. I had a particularly unmotivated group of students, and despite my best efforts, the only answers I seemed to get were 'Yes' or 'No'. Some students really are keen to talk and make the most of having me around, but others, and I totally understand it, are very intimated and as a result, just don't talk! It's very difficult and at times awkward trying to motivate these particular students. On Thursday evening Lois and I made our way into Regensburg to visit the markets and to meet with another language assistant based in Regensburg. We had a catch up, had a Bratwurst (obviously!) and enjoyed the Christmassy atmosphere.
Friday was 'Christmas Shopping Day'. After a haircut (Despite getting maybe a little too much taken off AGAIN (I'm sorry Lois), this experience was much more pleasant and I created small talk with the hairdresser - much more like England and less of the sitting in awkward silence, which the Germans seem to prefer), we began the task. We both had good ideas of what we needed, so it was a really fun day. I even managed a little 'haggling' with a market trader - ok, I only saved 1 Euro, but it's still a deal, and surprisingly, we both had ticked everything off our lists by the end of the day.
On Friday evening, it was party time! We had both been invited to a Christmas Party at one of my schools. We went along, wearing a Christmas Jumper and armed with Mince Pies, but still with a little trepidation. There was that awkward standing around, like at any party and I was really glad to have Lois with me, as otherwise I would have been a right loner! The teachers already had little groups, but as the night went on, the situation eased. We enjoyed some tasty German party food (Ham, Potato Salad, other salads, pasta...) and had a really fun time doing the quiz. We were both in demand as English speakers, and we were split up as the team were organised into months of birth. My team aced the music round (thanks to my amazing knowledge on Christmas Music and we actually ended up winning! Woop!) and fortunately both Lois' team and my team got the question about the Queens speech correct. We chatted a bit, practised German and met some new people. It was a very calm 'party', but it was nice. All that was left before we departed, was for me to embarrass Lois a little by joining the group of teachers signing a few festive hits. I was asked, and since the songs were in English, I felt I had no excuse. Much to Lois' embarrassment and horror, I left my mark on the Christmas party by singing Jingle Bell Rock with the teachers - it was all good fun. On our way out, we were disappointed to see that, of the six mince pies we had brought to the party, only 1/3 (that's right 1/3) of ONE Mince pie had been 'nibbled' - it seems Mince Pies are even more unpopular in Germany than they are in England!
Saturday was another day to be merry and festive. We did a little more shopping and browsing in Regensburg, really trying to make the most of our last full weekend here before Christmas. Our afternoon got a whole lot warmer, when we discovered the free Jägermeister samples in one of the shopping centres. Only in Germany! After a warming hot chocolate and Jägermeister (it works surprisingly well!), we merrily went on our way and returned to the house to continue the festivities with a Christmas film. 'The Holiday' was Fridays choice and it was lovely to watch together and left us feeling all festive. We ended Saturday with a delicious meal at a Mexican restaurant in Regensburg. Seeing as though this was our final weekend in Germany, and we have successfully made it through almost half of our Year Abroad, we figured a celebration was in order, and we can think of no better way than to celebrate with Nachos, Burritos and Enchiladas! Like I said it was absolutely delicious and whilst eating we laughed and reminisced about all the great things we've done. It was a real celebration, and we feel it was thoroughly deserved. We waddled back, with stomachs almost bursting and big smiles.
Free Jagermeister Hot Chocolate!
On Sunday, we continued with the Christmas theme and decided to visit the daddy of all Christmas Markets - Nuremberg. Nuremberg is famed for its Christmas Market and it's easy to see why. No, it's not as huge as we were expecting, but it's still pretty sizeable and it's just so Christmassy! There's a real mix of things for sale and some beautiful decorations on display. We arrived about 10:30 and fortunately before the crowds. We explored and the fact it took us two hours to see it all, shows how much there is to see. By lunch time it was getting very busy and the small paths between stalls became slow moving queues of people waddling whilst at the same time eating sausage and drinking Glühwein. We saw some really cool things, tried some new foods and had a great day out. We were both impressed with the Market and would definitely agree that it is the king of Christmas Markets.
There really are some beautiful gifts at the Weinachtsmarkts.
The Market Square in Nuremberg is just full of stalls
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A Lebkuchen Heart to share. Ich liebe Dich = I love you
And of course, no Christmas Market experience is complete, without seeing Santa playing an accordion with his little helper sat patiently by his side. So with one week to go, we are both super excited. This week in school, we are both doing various Christmas themed lessons. For example, we prepared a British Christmas Quiz together, which should be fun (I think I've been asked to do the quiz with around 10 classes - I will know it off by heart by the end of the week!) and it should make the last week a little more relaxing. But to think that this very time next week, we will both be home is a spine tingling thought. It's not that we aren't enjoying ourselves - totally the contrary - it's just that we haven't seen family and home for a while and we both need a little break. I plan on doing another post at the end of the week, before we make our way to Munich on Saturday and then fly home on Sunday, so check back soon!
Below are two pictures that I would like to leave you with:
This German Pun actually made me laugh. Let me try and explain.
Many Germans eat Goose for Christmas dinner. Got it?
The German word for Goose is 'Gans'.
Still with me?
'Ganz' (which when pronounced sounds just like 'Gans') means very or much.
Therefore this reads "A Goose Merry Christmas".
But if someone were to say it, it would mean "A very Merry Christmas"
Get it?
It's like us saying "A turkey Merry Christmas"
(If turkey also meant very)
Ok, scrap the last bit. But the Germans find this funny, OK?!
And here, we see a clever system which enables us to tell the weather. The sign reads:
Stone Dry - Nice
Stone White - Snow
Stone Wet - Rain
Stone Shiny - Frost
Stone Invisible - Fog
Stone on the ground - Earthquake
Stone no longer here - Stolen
Oh, those crafty Germans!
That's all for now folks! Until next time,
Tschüß!
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