My week started as ever with an enjoyable lie in, before, since I was feeling particularly refreshed, I nipped out and did a little shopping before school. I once again visited the 'chicken man' (as I've come to call him) and purchased another half a rotisserie chicken. Once back at my flat, I just couldn't resist tucking into it, so I ended up having it as a tasty lunch before I left for school. At school it was my penultimate lesson with the Year 5 class. The class is split into two groups and I take the first group for the first hour and the second group for the second hour. The first group were really good, maybe the quietest they've ever been! However the second group proved a lot more louder. Maybe this was because it was the second hour and they were ready for home, or maybe they're just a louder group. I'm really not sure. But I am sure that, despite their friendly greetings whenever they see me and the funny questions that I often get asked, I am sort of looking forward to next week being the last lesson with them.
Before the lesson on Monday, I had a quick chat to the teacher who gave me an overview of what we would be covering the class. She gave me a book and told me which page to turn to and without thinking I turned straight to the page. It's really difficult to explain, but it felt as though I didn't even use my brain. Even after all this time in Germany, when someone says something to me in German I still have to think pretty hard in order for it to go in, but Monday was the first time I really noticed this difference. I don't really know how it happened, but it just did and afterwards, once I'd realised, it reassured me.
The weather this week has been lovely, with the mercury hitting a staggering 30 degrees during the week (Hotter than Spain, I'll have you know!). I enjoyed a little bike ride in the sun on Monday and I'm really enjoying being able to enjoy the sun from my balcony.
On Tuesday I did some conversational stuff with a Year 7 class and just spectated in another. Tuesday was also spent doing lots of administrative tasks, which I'm trying to do early rather than leave everything until the last week, which I know will be pretty hectic anyway. With another afternoon to kill and the sun blazing down, after I'd been back to the flat and changed into my shorts, I cycled to the 'Dultplatz' where the Regensburg fair is currently being held. It was nice wandering round in the afternoon sun and it was quiet since everyone else was still at work. I was impressed with the size of it and what it had to offer - a huge wheel, lots of rides, several large beer tents and the standard array of candied nut stands, bratwurst sellers and ice cream stalls. Due to our busy weekend plans Lois and I haven't had and won't have chance to visit, which is unfortunate, but as an official Regensburg citizen, I'm glad I can say that I've been. The sun was still shining after tea, so I went on a short walk. The smell of BBQ's filled the air and it made me jealous. I'm so excited to have a BBQ when I'm back at home!
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| The Regensburg Dult |
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| The view over the River Danube is beautiful. It's something which I've actually got used to and it's very easy not appreciate things you see every day. That being said, I know I will miss it once I've left and I'm making an effort to really enjoy things like this in my final few weeks here. |
In my first lesson on Wednesday I was asked if I could do a spontaneous presentation about Birmingham. I always like to have at least something prepared so I was little on edge, but it went really well. As a student there I was able to talk about the city enthusiastically and I think I sold it pretty well ;) I say this because after my presentation even I was excited to go (back) to Birmingham! As I exited the class, I was asked how old I was. "21" I replied. "I thought you were 16" said the boy. This isn't the first time this has happened, and I imagine it won't be the last. I was also surprised, and disappointed, to learn that one of the teachers has sensed a little competition between many of the Year 7 girls - they compete to sound as American as possible when speaking English. The influence of America on the English language really does grate on me, and I don't think you realise the effect it has until you come to somewhere where English is learnt as a second language. Why couldn't they be having a competition to sound as British as possible!? After my weekly conversation class with the trainee teachers, I saw that I had a whole 4 hours before I was needed again. With nothing to prepare, I went back to the flat and chilled. A few hours later, I left the flat again, bought some lunch in the city, sat out eating my tasty Leberkäse sandwich in the sun overlooking the Danube before proceeding onto school for my final lesson of the day. This was with a Year 8 class, and I had been asked to just do some fun speaking activities with them. I had found several in my huge collection of teaching material that has built up over the past 9 months and the class went well. It went a lot better than I had expected it to actually. As I exited school on Wednesday, one boy greeted me on the way out. "Ey Up" he said. I smiled. At least someone remembered something from one of my lessons. I did some shopping before going back and enjoyed tea on my balcony.
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| The view from my school is also something I really don't appreciate enough |
Thursday was another very hot day, but in the school I was left disappointed since I wasn't required at all. I was disappointed because this was my last ever Thursday and I really would have liked to be a bit more active. I had been asked to come into school for the third lesson where I would be helping out in a very important way, however when I arrived I was informed that the lesson had been moved forward and had already finished! With nothing else for me to do until my last conversation lesson, I found myself just killing time on the computer. Shortly before the class would begin (a matter of minutes) I learnt that my conversation lesson wouldn't take place because the students were revising for important exams. (I had prepared a fun lesson too! :( ) So although I was indeed in school, I wasn't actually needed at all! So unfortunately my final Thursday was pretty uneventful.
On Thursday evening Lois and I received emails from university giving us our marks to our essay that we spent the last few months completing. Unfortunately I got a very disappointing mark, but I'm pleased to say Lois did really, really well. Getting my mark made me really concerned - I still struggle to speak German and evidently, I also struggle to write in German, and this led me to question my entire life and whether I was doing the right thing. I was disappointed because I really did try hard and put in a lot of effort. Oh well, I guess I just need to work extra hard next year. Chin up Marcus - tomorrow we were to travel to Berchtesgaden.
Berchtesgaden is located in the deep south of Germany. In fact, once in Berchtesgaden you're only a 30 minute drive from Salzburg in Austria. We caught an early morning train on Friday and by lunch time we had arrived. The final part of the train journey took us through alpine valleys that gave incredible views of the snowy alps which made the journey a little more pleasant. We found our hotel, which was a small little alpine house that also offered rooms and were given a hearty welcome from the super friendly owner. After a quick bite for lunch, we met at the designated meeting point for the tour we had booked on. The tour was a special 'Eagles Nest Tour', which, surprise, surprise, was to take us to the famous 'Eagles Nest' as well as other places and we felt this was the best way to see everything and also learn lots. The tour was in English, so we joined with lots of Americans and boarded a coach which took us up some extremely steep roads (27% in places!) to the Dokumentation Centre in an area called Obersalzburg. During the journey we were given a fascinating history of the Nazi party in this area of Germany by our very good tour guide. At the museum we were given a tour of the exhibits before making our way below ground into the bunkers, built especially as protection against air raids for the leading Nazis who lived around this area. The bunkers were of an impressive construction and almost like a small village under the ground. After this part of the tour we then boarded some special buses to take us to the final part of our tour. (the buses are equipped with special engines for the climb up the 'Eagles Nest' and also special brakes for the descent!). The 6km road up to the 'Eagles Nest' was specially built, and is closed off to everything apart from these special buses and the journey up is beautiful. The views are just incredible as the smooth road winds its way up the mountainside. As long as you don't look down the treacherous drops either side of the road, you can enjoy views of Berchtesgaden, Salzburg and the Alps.
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| Our cosy little guesthouse |
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| The view from the Museum in Obersalzburg |
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| Just one part of the huge maze of underground bunkers |
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| This was Hitlers own private entrance to the train station in Berchtesgaden, which then led on to his own private platform. This gives you an idea of the significance of this area. |
For those of you who don't know, the 'Eagles Nest' is a house constructed especially as a 50th birthday present for Adolf Hitler in 1938. The house was to serve as a place where the 'Führer' could retreat to and as a place of entertainment for high ranking officials. The house has no bedrooms, so was never intended as a place to stay. The house is at an altitude of 1,834m and for the last 124m an elevator is used to reach the top. We made our way up inside the shiny, golden elevator and into the house at the top. Nowadays there is a restaurant at the top and not much else, but as we wandered through the various rooms we were told information about their former uses. Surprisingly, because of its impracticality and the effort it actually takes to get there, Hitler only visited the 'Eagles Nest' a grand total of 14 times. Unfortunately on the day that we visited, the 'Eagles Nest' was completely surrounded by cloud, meaning we couldn't see anything. Normally, you can get some of the best views in Germany at this location, but we weren't able to experience this and we felt a little disappointed. Nevertheless it was a very informative visit and we're so glad we've been. The tour was totally captivating throughout and it was definitely worth doing. It's worth mentioning that, as I mentioned before, the whole area of Berchtesgaden was used by the Nazis during the period of their control, yet there is very little left now. Hitlers famous 'Berghof' residence has been completely destroyed, as has his tea house that we would walk to every single day. Interestingly, Hitler himself spent 3/4 of his ruling time here in Berchtesgaden and Obersalzburg, considerably more time than he spent in Berlin or anywhere else. Not only is it a fascinating area for these reasons, it is also an area of tremendous beauty.
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| The snow indicates how high we were! |
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| Unfortunately we couldn't see much! |
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| And this is what it should have looked like! (Courtesy of Google Images) |
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| If the clouds weren't there, this would have been a super picture! |
After the tour on Friday evening, we strolled around in the old town centre of Berchtesgaden and found a lovely Greek restaurant for our evening meal. We were able to sit out in the shadow of the Alps and enjoyed a delicious meal - We've worked out that we have actually enjoyed 12 different cuisines during our Year Abroad, something we think is pretty cool! After our meal, we had a little walk in the evening light before going back for some much needed sleep.
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| The location for our evening meal |
On Saturday, the weather was glorious and there was not a cloud in the sky. Since we felt a little let down that we weren't able to enjoy the view from the 'Eagles Nest' the following day, we decided to try again on Saturday. We purchased an all day transport ticket and made our way up. Once at the foot of the road which takes you up, we learnt that our ticket wasn't valid for these particular buses, and not wanting to pay the overpriced fare to the top, which we had already seen, we opted to return to the town. The only problem was that the buses weren't regular and we would need to wait several hours. With this in mind, we reluctantly began to walk the long descent back down to civilisation. By the time we reached the bottom our legs were exhausted, simply because of the gradient the entire way down! With time running out before we had to catch our return train, we jumped on another bus which would take us to the most popular sight in this area, Königsee. Königsee is an alpine lake and once there, we understood why it was the most popular thing to see. The crystal blue water lying in the middle of an alpine ravine was simply stunning. Frustratingly we weren't able to take a boat trip on the lake due to time restrictions, but we were able to get a taste of the beauty of the area. We enjoyed the view and checked out a few of the unique shops around the area before returning to the town and catching a train back. The train journey back lasted 4 hours and once back in Regensburg we bought some tea and returned to the flat. With our legs still feeling the effects of our long, steep descent and our bodies tired from a few busy days, we were in bed pretty early.
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| Königsee |
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| It's a shame we couldn't take a boat trip on the lake |
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| We enjoyed our time in Berchtesgaden |
On Sunday, we relaxed on the balcony, once again enjoying a day of hot sunshine. We also took the opportunity to write our thank you cards for our teachers which we would give to them over the next few days. In the afternoon we visited the train station and booked our train tickets which would take us to the airport in 11 days time, which was very exciting. After this we went to Margaritas, the Mexican restaurant where we're now regulars and took advantage of their great value Sunday meal deal. We sat out in the blazing sun and enjoyed delicious Mexican food and a beer (generously paid for by Lois' mum. Thanks Jenny!), before coming back, packing Lois' bag and then walking to the train station where we said goodbye for the last time in Germany - We could hardly believe it, but the next time we see each other in just 3 days time, we will have finished at our schools and will be with each right up until we're back in England.
This final week has been a long time coming, but we feel mixed about the last days at school. Whilst we're nervous about the obligatory goodbyes, we're also excited to finish, whilst at the same time, we're also pretty sad to be leaving. Anyway, I will update you all next week.
Until then,
Tschüß
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