Monday 31 March 2014

A trip to the theatre and a visit from Jake!

Monday began earlier than normal for me this week as I had been asked to do an extra class. This didn't bother me too much but surprise surprise, once I got to school it emerged the teacher was off ill and so the class had been cancelled. Typical. I know it's nobody's fault and because it was early there probably wasn't any way to tell me, but as I'm sure you've learnt from my posts, this seems to happen to me fairly often and it does become tiresome. I had a large gap until I was required again so I did some shopping. Many of the stores were actually still closed but the supermarket had just opened, so once I again I joined the pensioners and weirdos doing their food shopping on an early Monday morning. I was able to come back and relax before my afternoon class back at school. My afternoon class was with the dreaded Year 5 class and they reminded me this week exactly why I dislike teaching them. They were loud, obnoxious, disrespectful and just plain uninterested. It was really hard work. I raised my voice more times than I can remember and actually shouted, which I hardly ever do, and it still had no impact. I just found the fact that they completely ignored my requests plain rude. It once again made me realise exactly why I don't want to teach and also made me understand that maybe I'm just not cut out for teaching anyway. I don't think I'm particularly patient and throughout the class I was becoming increasingly tempted to just leave. The teacher was either outside of the room or inside the room but helping the weaker students who were struggling and she also had difficulty controlling them. She told me that she is really thankful to have me there because it does allow her to focus on the weaker students. The fact that I will only have 7 more lessons with this class, is the only thing keeping me going and stopping me from throwing the towel in! Saying that, this week there was no flying orange peel or competitive raspberry blowing, so I guess I should be thankful!

On Monday evening I had been invited by the English department at school to go the theatre with them. The performance was 'The Wave', a well known and really thought provoking story that is based on real events and that is certainly worth looking up if you haven't heard about it (several films have also been produced). The production was in English, so of course I had no trouble understanding it. I arrived and awkwardly joined the group of teachers who were standing in the foyer and as a few students began to arrive, tried making conversation with them. Disappointingly only about 10 students had accepted the invitation, so there weren't really that many of us, but the rest of the audience was made of students from the various other schools in and around Regensburg. Before we entered the auditorium, a teacher posed a question to me in German. "But Marcus can't speak German, can he?" asked one of the pupils to the teacher. "Of course he can. His German is very good" she replied. And that was it. The shocked faces, surprised expressions and gasps signalled that my cover had been blown. Since we had specific seats I found myself sat next to some of these students, who now grilled me in order to test my German knowledge. I was embarrassed at first, since I had only spoken in English to these particular students before and whereas I'm normally in my comfort zone and totally confident, now I felt exposed. However as the conversation began to flow and I eased into the situation, I began to relish the opportunity to practise my German and reassure myself about my ability. The students told me how impressed they were (not to mention how shocked they were) and I think they feel closer to me after it. I received explanations of the best bars to visit in Regensburg and they were really interested to find out some more about me. We discussed how English is easier to learn as a foreign language compared with German since English can be found everywhere you look here in Germany. Oh and the performance? The show was great and I really enjoyed it. It was very cleverly acted out and the evening flew by which must be a good sign. I came away feeling happy, reassured and content. As I cycled back from the theatre (it was dark by this point) I discovered that the traffic lights and road lights are turned off during darkness. Despite the obvious risks involved, I think this is a great idea since it is so quite at night and it also makes travel more efficient since you don't have to wait at traffic lights for ages when it is obviously safe to go. Not to mention the energy this must save. Great idea Germany!

On Tuesday I didn't have much to do. Two of my classes had a test, so I played the role of invigilator and simply monitored the class. (Although the teacher did ask me to do the test too and then collected it with the others for marking. It's going to be pretty embarrassing if I don't get 100%!)With 5 minutes left at the end it was 'Ask Marcus Some More Questions' time. This time I was asked a question which took my breath away like no other before. "Hey Marcus, do you have a child?" Now I've been told I don't even look 20, so I'm not sure what kind of person this student thinks I am! He was being serious too! I answered with the obvious, but I did think to myself that I must be giving out the wrong impression if people have to ask me a question of this nature in the first place. In the afternoon the Year 10 students had mock speaking exams. I spectated in a few of them (much to the horror and fear of the students) and gave feedback afterwards.

On Wednesday I had my usual conversation class with the 'referendar.' These are teachers in training, who regularly get assessed and we have a lesson a week to discuss all matters relating to English, teaching and more. I often find it difficult to think of what we can do since they are all older than me and can speak fluent English. But we talk about classes and lessons and I try my best to offer any advice or suggestions. Seeing as though I had nothing to do after this, I was invited to a Year 5 class to practise some speaking. The students were as excited as ever and when the suggestion for groups of 3 to come outside and talk with me was put forward, every single pupil eagerly put their hand up. Great, I thought, some enthusiastic pupils. It seemed however that the only thing they were enthusiastic about was leaving the classroom as once out there, they were very quiet indeed. I understand their English ability isn't that good and I know it's scary speaking to natives, but I found it very difficult to make conversation. "So, what did you do at the weekend?" I asked. "I don't know" was the reply I received. So I asked the next person "O.K, what did you do at the weekend". "I don't know". I asked about TV, school, hobbies, family but always got the same answer "I don't know." It was difficult and if the odd student hadn't asked me questions, the conversation wouldn't have gone anywhere at all. After this class I joined the Year 10 class and visited a local cinema to watch a series of short films that are currently being shown as part of 'Regensburg Short Film Week.' They were in English (although some were Irish films and the students said they had difficulty understanding the accent) and they varied from the serious, to the funny to the really, really wacky, but it was enjoyable and different. On the way to the cinema I walked and talked with different members of the class. At one point, when an awkward silence arose, the students began muttering to each other in German thinking that I didn't know what they were saying. "Ask him something! Make some conversation!" "Like what though?" "I don't know...Ask him about England!" I had to hide my smile as I didn't want to give myself up (I'm going to keep this up with this class for a little longer and make sure they aren't saying too many negative things about me and thinking I cant understand them!), but it was a good feeling being able to understand them.

Thursday was another uneventful day which involved only two classes. I assisted in one class with the Year 10s and then did my weekly conversation class. I had prepared some fun activities and the lesson flew by, which as I've come to learn, is always a good sign. With two weeks to go until they take the test, they are as talkative as ever which is really good. I had lots of questions and it was good to chat with them. I had a haircut after school (I've got the hang of German haircut etiquette now and I've calculated that I will only need one more haircut before back in England! Exciting!) and then came back to await Lois' arrival.

Weekly Friday Cake time!
On Friday we enjoyed our usual trip to town. We visited the 'historische Würstkuchl' or the 'old sausage kitchen', which is actually the oldest sausage house in Germany and one of the main attractions in Regensburg (Tripadvisor backs me up on this!). Whenever you walk past there is always a queue and the air is filled with the smell of smokey sausages being freshly grilled. The sausages are small - more like a chipolata and are actually rather expensive considering what you get, however the sausages are famous around Germany and have very impressive reviews. You can sit out and enjoy sausage and sauerkraut or get a 'bratwurstkipferl' (sausages in a roll) to take away. Having been in Regensburg for 7 months and not yet trying this local delicacy, I decided it was about time. We both tried some and it was indeed tasty. I tried mine with some sweet mustard which is really delicious. We will definitely go back before we leave. We bought some food for the weekend and after another stop for a slice of cake each (this time I went for a slice of 'Eierlikör' cake, you know like Advocatt, which was different and tasty), before we returned back - I'm pretty sure we will have sampled every type of German cake by the end of our time here! After an afternoon sat out enjoying the sunshine, we went back out in the evening in order to meet our friend Jake, who we know from university and who will be living with us next year, at Munich Airport as he was catching a late flight from Paris which is where he is currently doing part of his Year Abroad. Despite a little confusion with the terminals we successfully made it to his arrival gate and gave him a hearty 'Grüß Gott' (the Bavarian greeting) and welcomed him to Bavaria. We caught the train back to Regensburg, but unfortunately due to the time (it was now after midnight), the buses had stopped running. Rather than pay the overpriced taxi fare, we decided to walk back. It was very dark but pleasant. As soon as we got back we all settled down for bed in preparation for an active weekend.

 On Saturday we took Jake to Nuremberg. After a tasty 'Lois and Marcus Breakfast' we caught the bus and then the train. The sun was blazing and as we whizzed through the Bavarian countryside on the train, Jake was in awe. Coming from such an urbanised area, like the centre of Paris, he was really able to appreciate the greenery in Bavaria and it also reminded us just how lucky we are to be placed here. The journey was nice as we laughed, reminisced and talked about how excited we are for final year at uni. In Nuremberg we showed Jake some of the sights (only once we had escaped the crazy old man who wanted to tell us the entire history of Nuremberg - being British we were too polite to just walk off but after 10 minutes of endless talking, we had to make excuses and leave!) and took Jake to the castle at the top of the hill for a great view over the whole city. With the midday sun taking its toll on us, we had a much needed ice cream break. After this, Jake was keen to see the former Nazi party rally grounds which Lois and I visited last time we were there. Despite being there before, we had completely forgotten how to get there! We ended up getting on the wrong train and leaving the city, meaning we had to get off, get another train back and start again. As impatient Marcus began to get annoyed, luckily Lois and Jake were there to calm me down and after some successful planning from Lois, we reached our destination. We visited the museum, but unfortunately discovered that they had recently introduced an entrance fee which we didn't want to pay so we walked outside and strolled around a beautiful lake. The paths were full of people enjoying the sun, the majority of who were on roller blades. They really love roller blading over here - mothers, fathers, sons and daughters all wearing roller skates. We showed Jake the grounds and the platform where Hitler stood to view his troops. Jake was impressed, but by this point we were all in need of a rest so went back to the city centre, found a nice bar and sat out in the sun. Following a drink and completely by chance we found our favourite Italian restaurant chain, Vapianos, so decided that that is where we would eat. After a tasty meal, we returned to Regensburg and took Jake to one of our favourite bars (we had to show him something in Regensburg!) before returning to the flat. We had planned to make 'a night of it' on Saturday, but we were so exhausted, we ended up in bed long before any of us had planned!

 















Ice Cream time!

















It was such a nice day that even the Church service
was held ourside
On Sunday, Jake wanted to see some more of Bavaria, so where better than Munich! Lois and Jake packed their bags, and we all left for another busy day out. On the train, Jake was sniffling a lot since he was suffering with a cold. We were surprised when a friendly German lady gave Jake a pack of tissues out of the blue. Many would think this was very stereotypically 'un-German', but this is the sort of normal, friendly behaviour we have come to expect from the Germans throughout this year. It shows just how friendly Germans can be. That, or she was just getting really annoyed with Jakes constant sniffling. You can decide. In Munich, despite it being Sunday and almost everything in the city being closed, there were lots of other people enjoying another day of bright sunshine. Once again, we gave Jake a mini-tour of Munich and showed him the main things. We took him up one of the towers to get an idea of the size of Munich as you can see the whole city. The way up and down this old tower is very precarious and often there is only room for one person on the spiralling stairs. On my descent, a German lady who was wanting to ascend, looked and saw me coming. 'Du scheiss!' she exclaimed as I made my way down. I don't think I need to translate that one for you. (I'm aware what a mixed impression I'm giving about German people - from the friendly tissue lady and now to the abrupt lady in the tower - but I would say the latter is an exception) We visited the Frauenkirche, took Jake inside the Hofbräuhaus and relaxed in one of the parks. The gorgeous weather was the perfect excuse for more ice cream. Jake had not yet sampled any Bavarian food, so our final stop was a Bavarian restaurant where we were able to sit out and enjoy the local cuisine. Before we knew it, the weekend was over and Jake had to leave. We saw Jake onto the train to the airport and then we departed ourselves. I think we were all pretty exhausted after a hectic few days but I think we definitely made the most of it and hopefully showed Jake the delights of Bavaria. We will be seeing Jake in about two weeks when Lois and I visit Paris, so we are all looking forward to that.


The Hofbräuhaus



Jake enjoying the sun






ending our Sunday in typical Bavarian style






































Until next time,


Tschüß

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