My normally lazy Monday became even more lazy this week, as I learnt that my only class on Mondays (the troublesome Year 5s) had no English lesson. I'm not sure why, but this meant I wasn't needed and consequently had the whole day to myself - perfect! As you can probably imagine, I was very happy when I received this news. I did my German practise in the morning by watching and reading German news and then went out later to do a little food shopping. On Mondays in Regensburg small food trailers pop up all over the place selling freshly roasted chicken. They seem pretty popular so I decided to sample one and see what it was like. I returned home with my half a chicken and concocted a delicious meal including Bisto Gravy and Paxo stuffing, both of which I had brought from home. It was like a Sunday Roast at home (but obviously not quite as good) and it made me realise just why I love being British so much! At this point in time, when we're both missing home a little, home comforts like these really do lift the mood.
On Monday evening I visited Regensburgs Irish Pub together with staff from one of the schools. I met Anja, my mentor teacher there, and we were joined by some of the trainee teachers. This was my first visit to the Irish Pub and it was a really cosy, cool pub. With the quiz in mind, I spent my afternoon anticipating what questions would come up and finding the answers for them. So I checked out Eurovision results and also learnt, in detail, information about the Giro D'Italia bike race, which is currently underway and that this year started in Ireland. 'Great' I thought 'I'm ready'. Typically, none of the questions I had expected were asked leaving me with very little to contribute. The quiz really was difficult. The questions were offered in both German and English and I was able to help a little with some of the English orientated questions. We did end up guessing many questions, but this seemed to pay off, as team 'Marcus & The Mechanics' came a very respectable third place out of 18 teams. The prize was a bottle of rum and despite being offered the bottle, I let the trainee teachers keep it and told them they could put it in their staff room, for when the lessons get a little too much. Throughout the evening as the German conversation flowed, I found it very difficult to follow what was being said. Like any pub it was quite loud, but I really did struggle to converse and this led to a few awkward moments. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of this German malarkey, I feel like I'm back at square one. It's frustrating.
I had another super easy day on Tuesday - once again, much to my joy. One teacher was doing a test with her class and another teacher was away meaning I wasn't needed until the afternoon. Once at school I learnt that this teacher was also away! I feel a little bit guilty for not doing anything for two days, but what could I have done!? On the way home I visited the hairdressers for my final German haircut - a very significant moment, I'm sure you'll agree. (Got to make sure I'm looking dapper for Venice ;) ). As I cycled back to the flat, a car passed me with a boy hanging out of the window waving frantically and with a huge grin on his face. I'm pretty sure he is a student at one of the schools, but there are so many, I'm not certain! He seemed to have recognised me anyway and I thought it was very friendly.
On Wednesday I had another quiet day with little to do once again. I found myself just spectating in a few classes. In one class I played the role of invigilator and ensured no cheating was going on during an exam and then later I found myself playing teacher and marking a presentation some students were doing.
On Thursday I had lots more to do. We were flying to Venice on Thursday evening so I had to take my suitcase to school with me and then make a mad dash to the train station as soon as I had finished in order to get to the airport on time! But back to school. My first lesson was with my favourite Year 5 class and they were learning how to give directions. We first of all discussed how to give directions and what the words mean and then as a little test, I asked some volunteers to come to the front of the class and then gave them instructions and they had to do as I say and make their way around the classroom. It was fun and they loved it. After this I put them in pairs and gave them some exercises to do. At the end of the lesson as I left the teacher said thank you to me for doing the lesson and then all of a sudden the students broke into a chorus of 'Thank You Very Much, Thank You Very Much...' and so on. (Although it was more 'Zank You Wery Much') It was really funny and put a big smile on my face, as I walked of the room with the entire class singing me out. Immediately after this lesson I was in a Year 8 class to practise some speaking skills. We were in a big circle and basically spent the lesson swapping partners and discussing different topics, which were written on cards. I really enjoy this aspect of work, but I find it difficult when you're paired with a shy person. Some people would only give me Yes/No answers and making conversation for 2 minutes proved difficult. At the end of the lesson my voice was almost horse from all the taking I had been doing! After a short break, I then found myself in another class where I had been asked to do a presentation about Yorkshire. To my horror, just as I was about to begin, the Headmaster of the school walked in and took a seat at the back of the class! But I reminded myself that I was English, and he was German, so whatever I said, I was right! (This is something I remind myself about a lot and certainly helps!). I told them about Yorkshire and showed a video from 'Welcome to Yorkshire.' I then explained a few 'symbols' of Yorkshire - Yorkshire tea, flat caps, and finally ended with a little lesson on Yorkshire dialect. I explained the phrase 'Ey Up' and told them this a greeting where I come from. We did a little acting and pretended we were in Yorkshire and we were greeting each other. 'Ey Up' I said to which the class all replied 'Ey Up'. It was surreal but it was pretty funny and made my day. In Bavaria they have something similar. They say 'Servus' as a greeting and this is only said in Bavaria, so it was good that I could compare something like 'Ey Up' to something that they could relate to. My final lesson of the day was my weekly afternoon class and this week only 3 girls came, so we ended up just having a relaxed conversation about some differences between England and Germany and it was really nice.
I left school on Thursday buzzing with excitement. Tomorrow would be my 21st Birthday and I would be spending the entirety of it in Venice with Lois - I couldn't wait...
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