A lesson on English Grammar, a strange snake and more beer!

I was pretty tired after the weekend so my lie in on Monday morning was very much appreciated. I went to school just after lunch and this week helped out Annette in the conversation class. Normally I have my own group, but since their exam is next week, Annette tried a new format which involved the whole class. My job was to spectate and offer feedback as the students moved around the room practising all parts of the exam. It worked well and I enjoyed the change. Due to teacher illness, my class with the Year 5's was once again cancelled, which was absolutely fine with me. I made a quick visit to my other school, since I had been asked to record something for one of the referendar. Once at the school, I learnt that this was a dialogue between Goofy and Mickey Mouse. I'm pretty proud to say I played the role of both of them in this recording and it was good fun. This recording will be played in the referendars lesson which is assessed by several other teachers, meaning that my voice actually has an important role. I hope they like it!

Tuesday was particularly interesting and I feel as though I learnt a lot, but not about German as you may think, but actually about English! I was with the Year 7 classes and they were doing lessons on grammar. The teacher explained the topic of relative clauses very well, and embarrassingly enough, I didn't understand them at the beginning but by the end I had a good grasp. I was sat in the class room with my own desk and working through the sheet just like the students! But I feel pleased that I now have a better understanding of this. Like I've said before, native speakers often find it difficult to explain the grammatical rules in their language, even my teacher agreed that he couldn't explain the topic of relative clauses in German, so this lesson was very useful for me. It was definitely a case of me being a student again rather than an assistant.

After a long and boring Tuesday afternoon in my flat, I was feeling pretty fed up. I therefore made the decision to go out into town after learning that Bayern München were playing Manchester United. I made my way to the sports cinema, which I've previously been to, and which shows all the big football games. I set off early so I could get a seat before the kick-off. But as I arrived on my bike, I was staggered to see long rows of bikes lined up around the cinema and, low and behold, a queue stretching out of the door. With a first come, first served policy, it looked like, despite being early, I just wasn't early enough. The Germans really do take their football seriously - this is especially the case for anyone in Bavaria as soon as Bayern München play. There were no seats left, so I returned home, feeling disappointed. The ride back in the low evening light and surprisingly warm temperature was, however, very pleasant. Never mind, there is another match next week, which I would like to watch - I will just have to ensure I leave EXTRA early this time!

On Wednesday I spectated in a lesson, before my weekly conversation class with the referendar in which I checked lots of important lesson plans for mistakes. Whilst it may seem a little boring, I actually enjoy this role. After this I conducted some more speaking practise and helped out in another lesson. This week I stayed for an extra long afternoon since it's the last week before the speaking exam and some teachers are doing extra lessons. I helped in a conversation class and we had lots of fun. No boring grammar, no quiet reading, just lots of speaking, fun and games. The class were really keen to practise and really made the most of me being there. I was asked several times to give examples of 'perfect answers' (talk about pressure!) but, as I've said before, my ability to think on the spot and my levels of confidence have both improved, so this is no longer such a daunting task. A particularly funny part of the lesson was when a boy entered the lesson 5 minutes late after the lunch break. "Why are you late?" the teacher asked. "I'm sorry, the snake was really long" he replied, totally genuinely. In German the word for 'queue' is 'schlange', but 'schlange' also means 'snake'. The boy had obviously got a little mixed up, but it certainly humoured the class, and the teacher and definitely myself, for a little while. After the class, I received an invite from some of the students to a house party on Friday night. Despite the promise of 'lots of cola and sprite' (the teacher was listening and the students aren't old enough to drink - but I highly doubt that these would be the only drinks flowing), I had to decline. (I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to be attending students house parties!) I was quite honoured to have been asked - They either think I'm cool or they have just worked out that I have no other friends to do anything with. I'm not quite sure.

On Thursday I did a fun lesson on food with a Year 5 class. This is a different class to my Monday Year 5 class and the difference is huge. This class is genuinely keen to learn, very well behaved and listen carefully to what I say and as a result, I really enjoy teaching them. Personally, I put the difference down to the teacher and how they control the class. I've learnt that a good teacher is firm. The 'I'm your friend' approach (the approach which I use!) just doesn't work. After this class, I helped out with more speaking practise before I did my very last conversation class. I've come to really like my conversation class and I would say we get on well. The class is voluntary meaning the pupils, almost always, make an effort to learn and engage themselves in the activities. As I wished them good luck for their exam next week, I was thanked and they departed. Two girls stayed behind, thanked me again and expressed a genuine appreciation for my help which was very humbling. It's also worth mentioning that several weeks ago, one girl in the class approached me and asked me to check a text she had written which would be appearing in an art magazine, since she was a keen, up-and-coming artist. I was honestly blown away by the text. It was so well written and her drawings were even more impressive. I made a few corrections but really had very little to do. Anyway, this girl came to me on Thursday with the magazine that her article had been published in and said she thought that I may like to see the finished product. Her article and pictures were spread over several pages, in an art magazine that is published world wide, twice a year and contains articles by internationally recognised artists, so it really was something for her to proud of. It is nice knowing I played a little part in this huge achievement. Since this was my last conversation class, Anja asked if I could continue with some sort of afternoon class on Thursdays. After the Easter break, I will start a class about current affairs and news, which will involve us looking at newspapers etc. I'm not sure if it is really of interest to the pupils, but it will be voluntary once again, so we will see. Anja gave me the choice to choose what I would like to do and its nice being able to have the freedom to select something which I would like to do - I was also asked which age group I would like to work with and, unsurprisingly, I chose the older classes - Despite my positive experience earlier in the day, I didn't even need to think twice.

On Friday Lois and I made our usual trip to town. Once again the weather was fine meaning a pleasant walk in our t shirts was on the cards. We spent most of the afternoon in town, since we had a few tasks to fulfil, then we ended with our Friday supermarket shop and made our way back. The walk back was pretty energy sapping because it really was so warm! We found ourselves complaining once again, this time that it was too warm! You just can't please us! We were pleased to get back having spent the entire afternoon walking around and we enjoyed a really tasty tea consisting of homemade burgers and an ice cream sundae outside on my balcony. It was lovely and it's so nice being able to enjoy the weather in this way.

 

We found ourselves once again in the city on Saturday completing a few more errands. You can guarantee that I will see at least one pupil from one of my schools when we're in town and the fact that I'm always with Lois provides lots of gossip for them to whisper about as soon as we've passed. On Saturday evening we went to the Bishofshof brewery, which is the biggest brewery here in Regensburg, and one of the biggest in Bavaria for that matter, in order to do a tour which we had booked a few weeks back. The tour was obviously all in German and it's always reassuring to do something like this and be able to understand the majority of what is being said. We both found it really interesting. We were shown the huge vats that mix the ingredients and the pipes and machines which then filter the mixture. Considering neither of us had a clue about how beer is produced, it was definitely an eye-opening experience. We learnt some really interesting facts and even some history - for example, the 'Reinheitsgebot' or the German Beer Purity Law, which is well known and is still a very important written law in Germany today, was originally written in Regensburg. A further fact, that we both found staggering, was that, as a worker of the brewery, you are given 160 Litres of beer PER MONTH for free. This works out at 320 bottles, every month. Wow! Of course, any brewery tour wouldn't be complete without sampling the beer, so after viewing the factory, we were led into the bar and given 3 different beers to try - A Helles (light beer), a Weizen (Wheat beer), and a Dunkel beer (dark beer). Neither of them disappointed and the helles was particularly good. It's also worth mentioning that the Dunkel beer, was voted the worlds best beer at a recent beer competition. That's correct - WORLDS best beer! Not a bad accolade to have! After receiving a certificate to say that we were now 'official beer connoisseurs' and after receiving a complimentary beer glass, we left with the taste of the perfect mix of hops, yeast, water, grains and malt still fresh in our mouths - That's just a good beer to you and me. Considering how good the beer was and the amount you're given as a worker here, it's fair to say that I'm seriously considering starting a career here!

Hops, malt and grain - mixed with water, these are the foundations to a good beer

Some of the machinery used to produce the beer

And finally - Tasting time!

We got to try three different beers - but don't worry, we didn't get
a bottle each! It's pretty strong and I'm not sure I would have made
it home if we had had a bottle each!

An official beer connoisseur!

On Sunday, we enjoyed a walk around the local area and just relaxed. With just one week to go before the much anticipated 2 week Easter break, we're feeling very, very excited. We have a jam-packed Easter planned - A visit to Berlin, Paris and then my family are visiting for the second week which we simply cannot wait for. This has been in planning for an age and it is almost hard to believe that it is finally (almost) here. We have lots planned and hope they enjoy seeing Regensburg and Bavaria.

I haven't mentioned this before - This is something
I'm certainly going to miss when we leave.
1kg of Stracciatella yogurt. It's delicious!
The only problem is before I know it, I've eaten
almost an entire tub!  

This tree looked a lot different when I arrived in January.
It's so nice to see it blossoming. It's definitely spring now!

In other news, Lois' current hometown, Eichstätt, has recently been officially named 'The Best Place to Live in Germany' - that's right - This tiny town in Bavaria is the best place to live in the entire nation! How impressive is that! A survey was conducted which analysed every town in Germany and it found that Eichstätt had the lowest unemployment figures, very good infrastructure, one of the best locations and a very high standard of living. This was the first town we both arrived in when we started our Year Abroad back in September, so it has a place in both our hearts. And the fact that Lois has lived here for a whole year, I think is very cool indeed. Below is a link where you can see a bit of Eichstätt for yourself (The young boy interviewed is also one of Lois' students!):

http://www.dw.de/the-best-place-to-live-in-germany/av-17538028

Due to us leaving for Berlin next Saturday, I will update my blog on Friday with a little information about my final week at school before the holidays.

Until then


Tschüß