More questions, iffy internet and beer!

I learnt at the end of last week, that my timetable would be changing as the second half of the German teaching year began this week. A strange time to change timetables especially considering half term is only another week away. My Mondays in school have become radically different, whilst my Tuesday remains very similar. My Monday in school now doesn't begin until 13:00. That's right, I have all morning off. In fact, I actually start when most of the students leave to go home! It does make for a nice change considering most of my days begin with an early start. It's not all good news though, because I have to stay at school throughout the whole afternoon, so that I'm still working the same number of hours. My first lesson on a Monday is the conversation class with the Year 10s and after that I go to the Year 5 class that stay at school throughout the afternoon. This is the same Year 5 class that I helped a few weeks back. That's right, 'the-class-from-hell' class. The ones who like nothing more than throwing orange peel around the room and blowing raspberries. I can see my Monday afternoons becoming quite exhausting. I think I'm certainly going to need the extra few hours in bed in the morning!

This Monday I only ended up doing my conversation class, since the teacher for the Year 5 class was ill - yes, it appears the 'epidemic' still hasn't cleared. Of course, I was pretty happy about this. Tuesday was back to normal and involved me speaking with some more groups and doing a little reading for some other classes. I was also asked to help out in a Year 5 lesson with a class who haven't met me before. Again, cue lots of questions. The entire lesson consisted of the class asking me questions, which I feel was a good thing. Some of my favourite questions this time round were 'Do you like purple?' 'What are you parents called?' 'How many friends do you have?' and 'Do you have Facebook?' which was closely followed by 'What's your surname?' - Recognising that if I were to tell them my surname, I would be inundated with friend requests from 11 year old German children, I told them that they can just call me 'Marcus'. It was good fun and I'm pretty sure almost every child in the school knows me by now. The afternoon lesson was spent with the Year 10s again and working on the speaking exam. Once again I was required to act out a role play with the teacher. As I remarked last time, I'm no actor and it was very forced and unrealistic, but it doesn't bother me. Before this whole Year Abroad experience, something like that may have worried me, but now I just get up and do my thing. My increase in confidence is one thing I've recognised as my time here moves on. And that's just one of the many positive effects this experience has had on me.

As I browsed the German news that evening, I was surprised to find 'Bradford, West Yorkshire' mentioned in one of the headlines. Reading it further, I learnt that Bradford wasn't really being portrayed in a very good light. The article told of a wedding gone wrong, after someone threw a pork pie which then started a food fight. The wedding reception ended early with the bride being covered in pork pie remnants and WKD. It's great to see Bradford gaining such a positive reputation in German national press. You stay classy, Bradford.

On Tuesday night I had internet problems. I got pretty stressed out, more worried at the prospect of no internet for a prolonged period of time, rather than actually not having internet access right then. On Wednesday morning, I awoke extra early and made my way to school via the Tourist Information shop in Regensburg, since they offer round the clock free wifi. It was as I was sat on the cold stone steps, with the sun having just risen at 7:30 on this February morning and checking my emails that I realised just how dependant I am on the internet. My day at school went well, however and since I didn't have any internet access at home, I stayed at school and helped in an extra afternoon class. Following this I was invited for a coffee with Anja - In all honesty, I was putting off going back to the flat, since I knew I would be bored, so this invitation was just perfect. As you can see, the fact I lost my internet connection actually had positive elements, in the fact that I had to do some good, old-fashioned socialising. Anja took me to a great little French café in Regensburg, that serves amazing tasting coffee. We spoke German and it was a fantastic opportunity for me to practice. Despite stuttering my way through the entire conversation, I felt reassured that I could actually hold a German conversation, that made at least some sense. After passing the time back at my flat with a little cutting and sticking for the following days lessons, luckily for me, I managed to sort the internet issues out, with help from my landlady. I was massively relieved to be able to surf the web once again. Yes, I rely on it too much, but I would also argue that it is absolutely necessary for me at the moment. I use it to plan lessons, to practice German, to communicate with friends and family, but saying this, as I learnt, there are also some positives to life without it.

On Thursday I began a little later and in my first lesson participated in some speaking activities with the year 10s. After this, I found myself taking control of a lesson which I was in as the teacher was late. Last time I was in this class, they got very rowdy when the teacher was once again late and certainly took advantage of this fact. So much so, that when the teacher did arrive, the classroom was a complete mess. I made an effort not to let this happen again, so went to the front and began chatting with them. Sure enough, they were soon quiet and when the teacher arrived, she was pleasantly surprised. In this lesson I did some grammar exercises with a small group. Not that I'm very good at teaching and explaining grammatical rules (I do find it quite difficult), but I did my best and I hope I helped, even if just a little. The number of students in my afternoon conversation class was particularly small this week, meaning the 'thrilling' activities I had planned wouldn't really have worked. This scenario required me to think on my feet - a skill which has improved considerably during my time as an assistant - and fortunately the class went well. It was actually quite nice, as I was able to mix with every student. We had a good discussion before I let them leave early due to the poor turn out.

Friday was a wet and miserable day so Lois and I made the decision to stay around the flat. We spent the morning doing some essay work, before going to the shops to get some supplies. The rain was falling and got heavier whilst we were in the shop. On the way home, a car pulled up and asked us where we were going. I replied and the gentleman offered us a lift. Now I know that both of our parents and grandparents, are hoping right now that the next sentence will explain how we politely declined the lift and trudged back in the rain, wet through but secure in the knowledge that we were safe. I hate to worry you all, and probably disappoint you, but that isn't the case. We accepted the lift and within 5 minutes we were back home. The man was friendly and, like many Germans, had a very nice car. There were two of us and I had my phone. Poor excuse, but we made a quick decision and that was that. Don't worry, neither of us would ever do something like that alone. This friendly man just wanted to help us out and do his good deed for the day. Car sharing, as we have already experienced, is a lot more common here in Germany than in the UK, and though you may call me naïve, I think it's a lot safer. It's just a different culture. Furthermore, this also proves something very important - Germans are friendly too!

Friday afternoon consisted of films and relaxing, whilst on Saturday we ventured into Regensburg and sauntered round the city. It was a glorious day, perhaps the best day of the year so far, and the fine architecture of the city looked beautiful in the sunlight. We had almost forgotten just what a great place it was, since the past weekends have been so miserable, but this week, we really appreciated what a great place it is. The streets were bustling and the atmosphere was friendly. This was just a taste of what the city will be like in a few months and we can't wait! We visited a different, even bigger supermarket this week for our weekend shop and also, seeing as though we had come to the end of our first crate of beer, we bought another one (after we had cashed our old bottles in, so to say, and received our 'pfand' back). We're getting to know the best beers now and have bought a particularly nice one - It's a Munich beer, so we're also supporting Bavaria! Hoorah! Needless to say, as I plodded back, straining under the load of 20 X 0.5L bottles of quality German beer, I got some pretty surprised looks. If people don't think we're alcoholics, then they must think we host crazy parties. Some guy on the bus back mumbled something to me as he got off which I didn't quite catch - something along the lines of "have a good night" I suspect. I'm just glad I didn't see any of my students!

Not content with our very own crate of beer, we went back into Regensburg on Saturday evening with an eye to discovering a few new bars. I know I've told you before, but Regensburg has got the highest concentration of pubs/bars in Germany, so it shouldn't have been hard. And it wasn't. We began with cocktails at a standard German style bar. After this we found a really cool, trendy, young persons bar, playing cool music and with a huge variety of drinks. To finish we discovered another buzzing bar, again with good music and lots of other young people. Although our 'mini bar crawl' only consisted of these three venues, and we each only had one drink in each, I soon began showing the effects of the strong German beer and even stronger cocktails, in the typical 'Marcus' fashion of getting a little bit 'eager' and trying to sneak onto the dance floor. Looking back, fortunately Lois was there to hold me back. The evening went super fast, so much so that a little run was required to catch one of the last buses back!

On Sunday we planned our half term break (I will explain shortly) and did our usual Sunday wander. Once again the sun was shining and it was very pleasant. After tea it was once again time to say goodbye, but with half term to look forward to, it made it easier.

So, although the British half term is this week, the Germans take it the week after. And naturally, with a week to kill, we needed something to do. So what better way than to discover some more German cities. Next Sunday we travel to Düsseldorf where we will be staying for the entire week. Düsseldorf is in Nordrhein-Westphalen in north west Germany and is conveniently located very close to lots of other cities. During the week we hope to visit Bonn, Dortmund and Cologne. As I said, we have made a rough itinerary and since our friends Matt and Anna are placed not far from this area, we hope to catch up with them too. So we have an exciting week planned and we can't wait!

Due to us travelling on the Sunday, I will update my blog next Saturday before we go. The following week I hope to write a thrilling account of our half term experiences.

So until then,

Tschüß

Swearing Germans and a German Valentines Day

As I entered school on Monday and greeted one of my teachers with the greeting 'Ola!', I knew that a few extra hours in bed would have been necessary in order to fully recover from our busy weekend in Barcelona. As I approached the sheet pinned up in the staff room showing the daily timetable changes as a result of illness/classroom changes etc, I was surprised to see that, today, it spanned several sheets. A long list of teachers were off due to illness meaning that many classes had been cancelled or had to be covered by other teachers. I soon found out that two of the classes I am normally in, were to be covered by other teachers and as a result, I was not required to be there. With several hours now to kill, I made my way back home, via a stop off in town. I still had to go back to school for an afternoon conversation class, but there is nothing for me to do when I'm not in lessons, therefore I figured it pointless, and very boring, for me to just hang round the school. My afternoon conversation class went well - the students were very talkative and I feel as though they like me so I enjoyed this class. On my way home, I spotted the bus which I would catch, if I got the bus to and from school, and decided I fancied a little challenge. I raced the bus back, speeding along the bike paths and sprinting up the inclines all the way back. I beat the bus back with time to spare! I was pleased with myself and found it reassuring that, if I want it to be, my commute to school by bike, can actually be faster than if I were to catch the bus.

My journey to school on Tuesday was a little slower, as I felt the effects of the previous days short effort home (I need to get back into this cycling thing!). Again, as I approached the sheet showing the daily 'Vertretung' or cover lessons, I was surprised to see it was even longer than the previous day! More teachers were off with illness and as a result, almost all the classes had been affected and some of the teachers who were in school were now required to teach two lessons at once! Mad! As a result of this, what appears to be epidemic affecting the teachers at my school, all my lessons for the day had been cancelled or changed. All of them! I was a little frustrated that I had made my way in (again!) for no real reason, but I can't lie - It was nice knowing I had a free day. All that was left for me to do, was take a handful of sweets from the teachers' sweetie jar, turn around, and walk back out of the door, through which I had entered just 3 minutes earlier! Fortunately, as you can tell, I haven't spent much time in this school this week, meaning that hopefully (fingers crossed!), I haven't picked up the virus that is affecting the school so bad!

Whilst reading a newspaper this week, I discovered a rather shocking headline - "F**k you, Germany!". I was very surprised to find such a headline in a very highly respected newspaper (The German equivalent of The Times, if you must know). I tweeted this picture and received some 'feedback' from the German department at university, who explained that many Germans don't understand how strong this word is. I've certainly experienced this, as well as the use of the S word, which students use left, right and centre. They obviously hear it in films and music and get the impression that it is acceptable. It's pretty shocking to hear, but I guess it's just another example of the difference between cultures.

In school on Wednesday Anja showed me a few pictures and asked me what particular items were called in English. She was teaching the Year 10 class some vocabulary they wouldn't necessarily normally come across, but which could be useful for their exam. It was quite specific, so for example, there were pictures of kitchen appliances and home furniture etc. I was surprised, even frustrated, to find that the words didn't come to me easily - in English! For example, I was shown a picture of a coffee table and it took me a whole hour to search my brain for the correct term. The same happened when she showed me a picture of a coat stand. I just couldn't think of the word and embarrassingly, I had to say that I would get back to her later. The only thing I can put it down to is the fact that right now, I have so many words flying around my brain, many of them in a different language, that words I haven't used for a while, get relegated to the deepest depths of my brain and therefore require real effort to dig out! I hope this doesn't get any worse or I may have some issues on my return to England!

In the afternoon I was in the year 10 class with Anja, and whilst she prepared the computer, I was asked to simply chat with the class for a short time. Cue lots of questions. 'What do you think of Bavarian food?' 'Where have you visited?' 'Have you heard about the 'social beer drinking game''? And of course 'What's your favourite German beer?' - With the older classes I always seem to be asked about beer. But they're a really great class and I managed to make them laugh a little so I hope they like me. On Wednesday evening before I went to bed, I came to the end of my first German book. Ok, so I began this book last year, but I'm proud to say that I finished it and enjoyed it. This is the first book that I've read out of choice and not because I have been told to read it in the name of education. My policy was not to look up words that I didn't know (and believe me there were lots!) but instead, to read for gist. I certainly didn't understand everything, but I did understand the idea of each page and feel a nice sense of accomplishment at finishing it. I was recently given another book in German by Anja, so there's no rest and I'm straight into another one!

On Thursday I had an enjoyable day. I assisted with some speaking exercises in different classes before doing my weekly conversation class. For the first time, I watched as the class did the activities I had prepared with genuine enthusiasm and with smiles. Like I said, this was the first real time, so I must be doing something wrong or they are a hard bunch to please! But it was a great feeling and afterwards I had a really nice chat with a group who stayed after the lesson to ask me a few questions. I feel like they are really growing to like me, which makes me feel really comfortable when teaching. On the way home, for the first time, I even found myself thinking that maybe I shouldn't rule out teaching as a career! I was shocked, surprised, even horrified! But I quickly brought my head back out of the clouds and thought about it realistically. Both Lois and I have talked about this and it is very easy, especially after a good lesson, to be pulled by the idea of teaching. But for every positive feeling after a lesson, there are so many more feelings of worry, stress or negativity before a lesson and when planning lessons. It's really not worth it in my eyes and we've both said that we have to be realistic when we remember our experience. It's going to be very easy to look back at this experience 'through rose tinted glasses', and in reality, you don't remember all the negative bits. So just to make it clear, yes, I had a good lesson, it made me feel good and I enjoyed it. But no, I'm not going to teach. Period.

As I'm sure most of you are aware, Friday was Valentines day. Lois and I were fortunate to be able to spend it together, and we certainly knew how lucky we were, considering we were both on our Year Abroad and not many couples would have the privilege of doing so in this situation. Since this was indeed our Year Abroad, and would be, more than likely, the only time we would spend Valentines Day in Germany, we visited Munich for the afternoon, to celebrate in true German style - That was after we enjoyed our cosy valentines breakfast of course! It was a sunny day and warmer than it has been, which made a pleasant change. After a quick browsing of the shops, we took the brave decision to climb one of the church towers which provides some amazing views over the whole city. I say it was a brave decision because the climb to the top isn't particularly easy. The small, narrow wooden staircase that spirals to the top is steep and since there is only one way up and one way down, it can get quite busy. But as we are two fit, youthful twenty-somethings, we reached the top with relative ease (which is a lot more than can be said for many of the other people who made the brave decision with us). The views at the top were definitely worth the climb up and we were lucky it was such a good day. There isn't all that much room once you're at the top, but after a little pushing, nudging and squeezing, we were able to enjoy the view. You really get an appreciation of the size of the city and you're able to see things which are completely invisible at ground level. It was lovely to see the typical German architecture everywhere and the alps in the distance provided a stunning backdrop. Like I said, definitely worth the 1 Euro charge and the climb to the top if you're ever in Munich!

After this we walked along the river bank, hand in hand and just enjoyed being together - Oh, how soppy! After a quick cake stop (an important part of the day in Germany) we visited the university, as we had heard about an interesting exhibition that we wanted to see. The White Rose resistance group were a group of students who produced anti-Nazi leaflets during the 1940's and spread these leaflets around the university, telling of the atrocities being committed by the National Socialists. Two prominent members were Hans and Sophie Scholl, two siblings who studied at the university in Munich. Unfortunately the members of the group were discovered as they spread these leaflets, sent to trial and consequently executed by the Nazi regime. An area outside the university and a university building is now commemorated to these people, with emphasis on Sophie Scholl. The exhibition we had wanted to see was unfortunately closed, but we were able to see the memorial and to enter the building where they had been so prominent. We hope to go back and visit the museum next time. As it was getting dark, we made our way back to Regensburg and treated ourselves to a Valentines meal at our favourite Mexican restaurant. We had a delicious meal and it was the perfect end to a perfect German Valentines Day.

 Can you see the Alps in the distance?

 We were at the same level as the top of the New Town Hall - 'Neues Rathaus' and even higher than the famous 'Rathaus Glockenspiel' located midway up the tower of the Town Hall.

 A commemoration to Sophie Scholl - Notice the white rose.

 These are also part of the memorial and although they look like bits of paper, they are actually built into the ground and represent the anti-Nazi leaflets the resistance movement produced.

Saturday saw us doing some shopping and chilling around the flat, whilst Sunday was much of the same, but included our traditional Sunday walk. We had our usual weekend German conversations and I was really pleased to see a huge improvement in Lois' spoken German. She speaks a lot faster than when we had arrived and her sentences are really well grammatically structured. She sounds like a real German! I'm really impressed, but a little jealous as my German speaking skills frustratingly still don't seem to be improving. We are pretty much at the '6 months in Germany' point, so I'm hoping for some improvements (or for a better word, miracles) soon! This weekend was also important as it saw us book our flights home at the beginning of June. A while away you might say, but it certainly gives us something to focus on and look forward to. As much as we are having fun and learning lots from our time here, we would definitely be lying if we said we weren't excited about the idea of flying home. Now that the flights are booked, going home is a very real prospect.

Until next time,

Tschüß

Annoying Americanisms, the first signs of Spring and a rather interesting talk

Despite particularly lacking motivation on Monday morning (although this feeling is becoming an ever present part of my Monday morning), my week hasn't been bad. My first lesson went ok and involved me supporting students as they made posters about their favourite bands, which would then be presented the following lesson. I suggested some changes and corrected a few mistakes and I enjoyed it. The next lesson was with the Year 10s and doing a little more speaking preparation. I was in the class with them and just generally assisting the teacher with any queries. However, some of the things that we being taught grated on me a little. For example, the class were working on a picture description. They had to describe what they can see in a picture and make some suggestions as to the situation. One boy exclaimed that the boy in the picture was wearing 'sports shoes' - perfectly acceptable I thought. But the teacher quickly 'corrected' him and said they were called 'sneakers'. As I'm sure you folks at home are aware, we would never say this word! Sneakers is American and I've never heard it used in the UK. These Americanisms continued as words like 'realise' were written on the board, but spelt with a 'z' instead of a 's'. It's a trend I've noticed for a while now and it gets to me a little bit. The students learn 'English', and I therefore think that they should be taught 'English', as in British English. Unfortunately the dominance of America and American English in film, music, TV etc means that everybody, even us in the UK, begin to pick up these words and I just don't like it. It's not really my position to say what they should and shouldn't be taught, but unfortunately this is the case, and I don't think it's the case in my just school either. My final class of the day was my weekly conversation class, again with a Year 10 class. We did more speaking practice in preparation for their exam, but some of the boys were being a little louder than normal. Now I'm not someone who raises their voice and I would probably agree with the statement that I'm a pushover. I find it difficult to tell others off and I know that I let students get away with too much, but I just cant bring myself to discipline them! I asked politely a few times for them to quieten down, but the quiet didn't last long. However, Germany being Germany, people like to tell others exactly what they think, so soon enough, other members of the class, indeed their friends, were shouting at them and telling them to be quiet. Not even in a jokey manner, but full-on shouting and telling them to shut up. This seemed to work and they did quieten down (well, for a bit) I just thought this was so good and shows the attitude of most young people here. This is a stark contrast to England, where anybody who tried to tell other classmates to be quiet would be laughed at and labelled 'a geek' or 'a nerd'. The class is a great class and all very friendly and I enjoy working with them, but like all teenagers they just like to talk. My difficulty in disciplining is just another reason as to why I'm never going to be a teacher!

Monday evening brought a pleasant surprise, in the fact that it was still light at 17:30! That's right, I could still see daylight at half-past five! It's such a nice change, and equally, although I often still leave the flat in the dark, by the time I reach school, the sun is rising. I actually believe that Spring is slowly coming, now that I've seen the evidence. For the past month (January felt like a long month), I was beginning to question whether Spring was indeed approaching or whether it was a conspiracy and we would forever be stuck in this cold, German winter.

Tuesday was a particularly easy day as I only had one lesson. The other lessons I normally take part in were cancelled due to teacher illness and the whole school finished early as a result of a teacher conference taking place. I'm pleased to say I used my new found free time positively and did a little essay work and planned a few lessons. On Wednesday, I recorded another listening and checked some work. The students had been discussing the advantages and disadvantages of being famous and made a poster with the different reasons. I was highly amused by one poster which simply had one disadvantage - 'You will have Haters'. Another English/American word, which the Germans now use. It made me laugh. After this, since I had a free lesson, I helped Anja with some marking. The red pen once again made an appearance and I began correcting students' texts. I was, as ever, impressed and wrote some very positive comments. I enjoyed the marking process (although it took an age! Teachers really do have it hard!) and Anja later reported that the class loved the fact that I had marked their work. I may be doing more in the future. Something else worth mentioning that occurred on Wednesday, was a conversation between me and another teacher. She was asking me to do some lessons with here and practise speaking with her class. I willingly obliged and I thanked her. But why did I thank her? She immediately picked up on this and said "I should be thanking you!" and I realised she had a point. I had pretty much thanked her for giving me more work, which although I don't mind it, seems a little odd. This was just another example of the British being overly polite. The Germans don't say thank you (or rather 'Danke') very often, but when they do, at least you know they mean it!

Thursday was a particularly interesting day. My first lesson was with the Year 5s, who were as excited as ever. They appear to have cottoned on the fact that I can speak German, so I'm inundated with German questions. I tell them to ask in English and only then will I answer, which seems to work. Now to the interesting part - The school had a visit from a former Neo-Nazi who came in to talk about his time spent in an Extreme Right Wing group, with the Year 10s. It really was interesting, yet equally shocking, as he told of some atrocious acts which he had been a part of. He now speaks out against Right Wing extremism, after seeing it first hand. Apparently he's quite well known in Germany, but as a result of his anti-right-wing campaign, he has had to relocate several times. I thought this was one-off opportunity, as there are not many of these kind of people about and I think it really had a big effect of many of the students. His presentation lasted almost 2 hours and was obviously all in German. I can honestly say that after it, I was exhausted. Honestly, I was exhausted. Despite the fact I had only been sitting, I felt completely drained. That being said, I really did enjoy it. It's amazing how much energy you need to just concentrate! I had to go and get some food and fresh air and as it happened, I actually found myself enjoying a pretzel sat on the bank of the Danube and just relaxing watching the river and the boats on it - It was very peaceful and thinking about it now, so very German! After another conversation class and a quick haircut (which I'm pretty used to now), I then rode home. The sun was shining and it was actually warm. Regensburg looked so pretty and it was another moment where I realised how lucky how I was. Or maybe it was just the fact it was Thursday, my weekend had begun, and Lois and I were going to Barcelona! Woo!

Barcelona!

 

 

Our weekend in Barcelona began early on Friday morning. We awoke bright and early at 5:00 and got one of the first buses to the train station. At the station however, we soon discovered that the stereotype of German 'Pünktlichkeit' or punctuality, is actually a big, fat lie. People seem surprised when we've told them how impressed we have been with Deutsche Bahn so far. Despite the stereotype that the Germans are always punctual, Deutsche Bahn apparently is pretty unreliable. But like I said, this hasn't affected us at all - until now. And this time we had a flight to catch - Typical. We had given ourselves plenty of time, so as we got to the station and realised our train was delayed by 5 minutes, we didn't worry. As the display changed to 10 minutes we sighed, but still nothing really to worry about. As the time gradually increased we began to get very edgy and nervous. Since we still had to get a bus AFTER our train journey in order to reach the airport, we started to feel nervous. The display now read 20 minutes and as the 20 minute mark approached, and with no sign of the train, we got pretty flustered. We both had visions of a weekend stuck in Regensburg after missing our flight. As the train rolled in 25 minutes later, I glared into the drivers cabin in such a way as to make our feelings about this delay well known, and at this point it all became clear. The driver was a woman. Typical! (hehe). The train journey wasn't very pleasant as we were now cutting it a bit fine, considering we had also missed our connecting bus to the airport due to the delay. As we waited for our later bus, we really didn't know if we would get there in time. As we pulled up to the terminal, we leapt off the bus and did that sort of run / walk thing that can often be seen in airports and train stations and frantically tried to find our gate. We found it and luckily it was still open. We had made it! With our bags dropped off, we proceeded through to departures, where the flight had just began boarding - perfect timing as it so happened. We didn't have to wait around and kill time like most people at airports and we got on the aircraft straight away. Our flight was with Lufthansa and this was the first time either of us have flown with them, and boy were we impressed. For a start, you have considerably more leg space than on lots of other flights. Secondly the service is particularly good. And thirdly, you get food! We weren't expecting our little breakfast package but it was a lovely surprise. Fortunately this journey was on time and relieved that we had actually made it, we arrived in Barcelona at our expected time. The sun was shining, it was warmer than Germany and we were really excited to spend a weekend there.

 

Frühstück über den Wolken - Breakfast above the clouds

After just about working out the ticketing system for the transport network, as well as the transport network itself, we soon found ourselves in the city, trying to find our hotel. I made a complete fool of myself as I tried to ask for directions and pronounced the street that we were looking for in totally the wrong way - but we eventually found our hotel. It was a cute little hostel, very close to the centre but a slight walk from the metro station. Nevertheless for what we paid, it was perfect and it was brand new! Eager to explore, we dumped our bags and set out again. It was 14:00 and we had all afternoon to explore. The weather was positively tropical in comparison to the cold we had left behind in Germany, and I cant tell you how good it felt not to have to wear a big, thick, heavy coat. It really did feel like we were on our summer holidays as we wandered down the palm tree lined streets, as mopeds whizzed around, and tourists in sunglasses gasped at the funky architecture. It was such a good feeling. We strolled around the bustling streets, past posh, boutique shops, through fountain filled squares, past beautiful buildings, took in the sights of the vibrant market selling huge arrays of delicious fruits and meats and made our way all the way down to the beach. I'm sure you can see from the pictures, but the weather was just spot on and it was very easy to forget that it was actually the beginning of February. Lois kept asking me why we hadn't studied Spanish at university, since after a Year Abroad in sunny Spain, we would definitely be coming home with a good tan!

 

 
 

In the very centre is a long boulevard called 'Las Ramblas', filled with outdoor restaurants and places to sit and drink. Yes, it is very touristy and you're often approached and persuaded to take a seat, but the area is indeed really nice and the atmosphere is very friendly and relaxed. We hadn't been in Spain long, but we had already decided that it was time for Sangria and a Spanish beer, so we took a seat at one of the outdoor seating areas, bought a drink each and relaxed in the sun and people watched. It was just perfect and again, we had to keep pinching ourselves to remind ourselves that we weren't on our two week jollies and it wasn't the middle of August! As the sun was slowly setting and we were comfortably 'rehydrated', we made our way to the famous 'Magic Fountain'. This is a large fountain and on a Friday and Saturday evening, once the sun has set, you can watch a water show accompanied with lights and music. The fountain spurts water in different patterns and lights make the water appear coloured. It really was a fantastic sight and the music just completed the show. I can't compare it to anything I've seen before and it was certainly a highlight of the trip. A trip back to Las Ramblas saw us enjoying some more typical Spanish cuisine in the form of Paella and you've guessed it - more Sangria. The Paella was a little disappointing, but we felt it had to be done. We went back to our hotel to rest in preparation for another day of exploring on the Saturday.

Saturday began with another early start. We made our way to the Sagrada Familia, one of the most famous icons of Barcelona. We had heard that if you hadn't booked, you could find yourself queuing for hours. With this in mind we arrived before the opening time of 9:00, and sure enough there was already a queue. We reserved a slot for later in the afternoon and made our way to one of the many parks the city has to offer. A bit like Central Park in New York, there are several parks in the centre of Barcelona. A patch of greenery in a sea of urbanisation, if you like. It was very tranquil walking amongst green open space and flowerbeds, yet still being in the centre of a major city. We came across the Arc De Triomf, which if you hadn't guessed by the spelling, is not the one in France. The one in Barcelona is based on its French brother, but a little smaller and not quite as majestic. Nevertheless, it's an impressive sight. We returned to the city centre but this time via the Gothic area of the city. This was perhaps our favourite part of the whole city. The Gothic quarter is a maze of tiny little streets, densely packed with high rise flats and unique shops. It's a very old part of the city, and there really is so much to see. There are several points where you can go right, left or straight on and each street offers a huge variety of shops which in turn offer many culinary delights, traditional Spanish gifts, unique fashion styles and everything in between. It really is a lovely part of the city and it's so difficult to see it all. It's certainly one of these places where you can go back and see something different each time. We recommend any visit to Barcelona to include at least an afternoon meandering through the maze of streets in the Gothic quarter.

A trip to Barcelona wouldn't be complete without going to the beach and seeing the sea now would it!? I never thought I would be seeing the sea on my Year Abroad but here we were gazing out at it. People were surfing and the promenade was full of joggers, cyclists and other tourists. It's such a cool city, as the golden beach is only a short distance from the sights and sounds of the bustling city. We enjoyed our first ice cream of the year (in February!) and made our way back to the Sagrada Familia for our reserved time. The Sagrada Famila is a huge church, built by Gaudi, a famous Spanish architect, and is actually not yet finished. Gaudi was largely influenced by nature and these signs can be seen everywhere, from the spiral staircases which represent the spiralling of falling leaves to the large supporting pillars which give the illusion of being in a forest. It's a spectacular building and unlike anything else I've experienced - and that's something considering some of the Cathedrals here in Germany! It was a such a calming experience as we wandered around the building and took in the atmosphere. The beautiful stained glass windows gave the interior an amazing array of colour. We then took the lift up one of the towers, following a recommendation from a friend. As we stepped out and looked out over the entire city, we both gasped. The view was incredible, but not in the usual sense. Barcelona isn't a particularly pretty city to view from above. The colours of the buildings aren't really very attractive and the skyline is a little flat. The typical Spanish image of dirty balconies with washing hanging out can be seen everywhere, yet the view is still incredible. You can see so much and you really get an idea of the density of the city. The sea can be seen in the distance and it makes you realise just how big Barcelona is. We enjoyed the view, but looking down gave me wobbly knees, so we soon began our dodgy descent down a long, spiral staircase. At the bottom we returned to the main church and took a seat to soak up the calming atmosphere before leaving and going back to our room for a quick rest. The walking had really taken it out of us, so the rest was very much needed.

Feeling a little more energised we made our way out for our last evening in Barcelona. We found a very, very well priced Sangria bar and enjoyed maybe one too many jugs of deliciously fruity Sangria before making our way back to the Gothic quarter where we enjoyed some typical Spanish tapas. We tried some Spanish ham, Spanish potatoes and we even had some octopus! We were sat outside and it was a lovely final meal out. There was just enough time to sample the Spanish delicacy of hot churros and chocolate as dessert before heading back to the hotel for a much needed sleep! We were exhausted after a very busy few days, but we're so glad we did what we did, as we really feel we made the most of it.

Barcelona should definitely be on everybodys 'places to visit' list. There is so much so see and it's a beautiful city. We've both said that it has been one of the best places we've ever visited. Ok, it's quite expensive, and some parts are a little too touristy, but the city itself has a wonderful atmosphere and we hope to return one day.

 

But for now it's a return to cold, snowy Germany!

 

 

Until next time,

Tschüß!

A little snow and a trip to Stuttgart

On Monday morning I discovered exactly why everything continues to run so smoothly following heavy snowfall here in Germany. And the reason... Because they start shovelling the damned white stuff at 5:00 in the morning! I was woken on Monday by the sound of a spade scraping across rough tarmac right outside my window. Now I knew the Germans were efficient, but not this efficient. The snow had barely settled and already it was being shovelled to the side to allow the week to begin as normal. Although I complain, I guess it's a good thing and I can put the timing down to the fact that everyone begins school / work so early in comparison to the UK. I have to say, the subsequent ride to school was, at times, a little sketchy, but I made it without any problems. This is the heaviest snowfall I've experienced here in Germany so far, but like I said, it doesn't create a problem. Roads are cleared from the early hours, as well as most footpaths, and it really isn't as exciting as it in England. Maybe I've just grown up too fast or maybe because the chance of a 'snow day' is virtually non-existent here (since they are all too good at dealing with it! - Many students can't remember the last time they had a day off because of the snow), but the excitement and joy I used to feel when I opened my curtains to fresh snow has completely disappeared and has been replaced with frustration and a begrudging sigh.

It was a normal Monday for me this week. In one of my lessons I was put on the spot and asked whether the British still consider Germans to be 'Nazis' - I felt unbelievably awkward as the class turned around and awaited my answer. I think its difficult to say, because I know a lot of people strongly associate the two. However I explained that this isn't really case, especially with the younger generation. We didn't experience the era of Nazism and I think young people now are a lot more open minded. But I think for some of the older generations, the Germans and Nazis are always going to go hand in hand. For the past 3 years, I've been met with expressions of shock, surprise and confusion when I tell people I'm studying German. "Why?" is what everybody asks. And I think these expressions of shock and surprise are as a result of the negative, warped image of Germany and Germans, that many people unfortunately still have. One boy was quick to point out, that there is actually more Right Wing extremism in England than in many other countries at the moment, which gives an idea of the real situation.

Also in this class I was asked to act out part of the Year 10 speaking test with the teacher. It's basically introducing yourself to each other for 3 minutes. However when we had finished, and I'm no actor in the first place, I was criticised by the teacher for asking her too many questions about herself. She then put this down to the fact that I'm British and that's just how we are - polite. I would agree, and I think this can be a little strange for other cultures to understand. But I'm certainly proud of the fact that we are seen as a polite nation. We went on to discus how we Brits queue for everything, which is another strange concept for Germans especially to understand.

 

The ride home was a very pleasant one. The sun was gleaming in the sky and the snow reflected the rays, meaning I often found myself squinting. But the snow covered roofs and the covering of snow on top of the Cathedral in the distance made for very pretty sights.

Tuesday was a normal day, with very little to report (apart from the fact I may have treated myself to a new bike for the summer months back in England! I'm excited to ride it already!) On Wednesday, I did some more speaking with a Year 5 class. They are slowly opening up, but it is still pretty hard to get anything other than "Yes/No" out of them and sometimes I have to revert to German, in order to get through to them. I was blown away, however, when one young girl approached me after the class and asked for my autograph. That's right, my autograph! I proceeded to sign her piece of paper. I had barely finished before a hand was thrust into direction, with another girl asking me to sign her actual hand! I did this as well, and before I knew it, there was a line of students, with outstretched arms asking me to sign them! Crazy! Signing on skin is actually pretty difficult, I'll have you know! I hope their parents didn't mind. I can imagine a few confused faces, even angry expressions, when their child comes home with the signature of an Englishman in black ink on their body! Nevertheless, I had to smile about it and as I explained to Anja after "Ich fühlte mich wie einen Star" - I felt like a celebrity!

Thursday was a busy day in school, but with nothing much to report. For the first time in a while, I really enjoyed teaching one of my lessons, which was a pleasant change. Friday was another chilled day in Regensburg with Lois (which involved nearly being charged several hundred pounds when we
mistakenly booked a train journey at the 'Deutsche Bahn' ticket office in the train station. Fortunately we made it out before being forced to pay, but the assistants were definitely not happy with us!) On Friday evening we received news that we had successfully got a flat for our final year at university. This made us really excited and we cannot wait to move in in September. We are living with some really great people, who also study German, meaning there is going to be lots of partying 'German Style!'

Our weekend trip to Stuttgart, which I mentioned last week, took a disappointing turn on Thursday evening, when it turned out that Anna and Anthony wouldn't be joining us. Their journey to Stuttgart would last around 9 hours, meaning the time we could spend in Stuttgart would be even less than normal. They decided that the journey just wasn't worth it and we, although very disappointed, agreed. This didn't stop Lois and I still making our way to Stuttgart on Saturday morning. (The hotel had already been booked, so we didn't really have much choice!) We didn't really know what to expect, but looked forward to visiting one of 'The 10 best reviewed cities in Germany'...according to TripAdvisor anyway (we've done them all, except 3! We're hoping to tick them all off). Stuttgart is famous as the home of Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and 'Ritter Sport' Chocolate (The Germans love it!). We successfully navigated the Stuttgart Transport Network, (we're getting pretty good at finding our way round now), but it wasn't made any easier by the fact that the U-Bahn (Underground) actually runs overground. Was it just us, or does this make no sense at all!? Anyway, we found our hotel, which was just on the outskirts of the city and despite the deceptively shabby exterior, the interior was rather posh. We, the two of us, checked into our 4 bed room that we had booked, which probably looked a little odd, but it meant we had lots of space. We went back into the centre and investigated what it had to offer. Stuttgart is a modern metropolis and full of shops. Königstraße, the main street, is almost a mile long and is similar to Oxford Street in London. It is just full of shops. It's a great young persons' city or great for a girly shopping day. It's definitely the best city we've seen in Germany in terms of shopping, but the city lacked culture and history. Yes, you can visit the Mercedes Museum, or the Porsch Muesum, or even the Pig Museum, but I felt it lacked the architectural beauty, and quite simply the 'German-ness' of many other German cities. It could have been a high street anywhere in the world.

The walk around the city was made a little more exciting by the discovery of (another) protest. If you remember, when we visited Leipzig, we almost got caught up in a rowdy protest. Here, with a large police presence, we made sure we didn't get too close. However, as one drunken man next to us, began scuffling with police, we decided to scarper! If you haven't guessed, Germans love to speak their mind and in this case it was concerning Sex Education in schools. Well, they love to speak their mind, or we just choose the wrong days to visit other cities! Protests aside, as the sun set we decided to look for somewhere to eat. Despite the huge collection of shops, we found it difficult to find a good restaurant to eat at. Our search ended up leading us to a 'different' area of town. We soon discovered we had found the red light district of Stuttgart. With flashing signs all around us advertising various 'shows' and with strange men wandering the streets and pavements, we concluded this was not somewhere we wanted to spend a lot of time, so made a quick exit. Fortunately we soon found a really cute little bar and restaurant and decided to make ourselves comfy. We enjoyed some good, and slightly stronger than normal, beer and exceptional food in a really cosy atmosphere. After this we made our way back for a well earned sleep.

 Mercedes Benz is Stuttgarts claim to fame

 Königstraße is the bustling hub of the city with lots and lots and lots of shops

 There is a large house in the centre (in the background here)but it seems to be unfortunately 'outshined' by the shops.     

 

 Having a well earned cake break - This Mohn Streusel has become one of my favourites!

 

Another protest!   

 

 

We discovered that there is a large Turkish population in Stuttgart. This is the biggest Döner I've ever seen!

 

This shop made us both laugh - On the right, the regular 'adult' entrance. On the left a special entrance for children. Or for people under 1 metre. Unfortunately I was a little too tall.

Sunday morning consisted of another quick visit to Königstraße, but as I'm sure you now know, NOTHING is open in Germany on Sundays, so we ended up passing the time in Starbucks before getting our train back. Four hours later, we were back at Lois' flat, another weekend over. Next weekend, we have a particularly exciting weekend trip planned. On Friday we're flying to Barcelona for two nights. We can't wait! But before then, another week at school beckons. With the Year 10 speaking exams getting ever closer, I sense my workload increasingly over the next few months. However, it's now February and it's nice to see the back of January. The weeks are slowly getting ticked off, and I know the end will be here before we know it. But until then, we have lots more to look forward to.

Until next time,

Tschüß