Fast Ferien!

Hallo!

Again, I’m going to start by apologizing for yet another long post! I’ve been meaning to write this one for a while, but it’s been a bit of a hectic week! Anyway, here’s the news from my past week and a half in Plauen!

Monday is proving to be a really busy day up to now! I’m in school from 7.15-2pm, and on top of that, we had a department meeting this week! I’m hoping that I’ll be able to join Plauen’s volleyball team after I get back from Berlin, who also happen to train on a Monday, so it’s going to be a very tiresome start to the week! Despite my long Mondays, I am still absolutely loving teaching. It is such a rewarding job! Once a week, I teach a year 6 class who have to have extra English lessons because they struggle. This week, one of the boys came up to me at the end of my lesson to tell me how much he’d enjoyed it. It’s nice to hear that they’re starting to enjoy the subject and hearing such nice comments makes all the hard work that I put into planning my lessons 100% worth it. The few weeks that I have been teaching for have confirmed that I definitely want to be a teacher of some sort in the future- although I’m still not entirely sure at what level. My mentor has arranged for me to teach a few lessons at a private school here in Plauen after the holidays. The students there will be a little older than the ones I teach at school, so this may give me a better idea of which age group I would like to work with. The teacher who I met from the private school seemed really nice and they are very excited to have an English native speaker to teach a few lessons!

Last Saturday, I went on a little trip with my mentor and her family. We went to a place called Mödlareuth in Bayern. Mödlareuth is also known as ‘Klein Berlin’ because it was divided in two during GDR times by a 700-meter wall- Just like Berlin, but on a much smaller scale! (The village only had 50 people who lived there.) We went to a museum there, which was really interesting. Even though I’ve read loads of books about the former GDR and have studied a bit about it, I still find it really bizarre hearing my mentor talk about her life during the GDR times and how much everything has changed since the ‘Wende’. It doesn’t matter how much I’ve studied and read about it, I still find it hard to imagine that people actually lived like that- Strange, I know!

Klein Berlin

What's left of the 700 Meter Wall

 I’ve only taught for two days this week. Yesterday and today I went on school trips, and I’m going on another trip tomorrow! The joys of being an assistant!! Yesterday I went on year 5’s Wandertag. I found it sooo odd that we were taking 28 10-year-olds on the train to get where we were starting our walk, but it seems that this is pretty standard in Germany! We walked about 14 kilometers in total around the countryside of the Vogtland. On our way, we stopped at a Gasthof owned by one of the students’ parents, where they had prepared some breakfast for us. There was Wurst, Pfannkuchen, doughnuts and plenty of fresh bread- really really tasty! This is when they told me that they had invited a reporter from the local newspaper along to take some photos and write a story about me. News must be slow in Plauen this week if they’re having to run a story about me!! Year 10 have also written an article about me for the homepage on the school website (http://www.diesterweg-gymnasium.de). Between stories being wrote about me and kids shouting my name down the street, I’m starting to feel like the new local celebrity!

Today, I went on a trip to Leipzig with the Oberstufe (6^th form). We went to the American Consulate this morning to listen to a speech about Obama and the upcoming presidential election in the USA. We then had the afternoon to do as we pleased, so I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with Mike, Chrissie and Graham (Bangor students studying at Leipzig for their ERASMUS year). It was really nice to see all three of them, even if it was only brief. I definitely didn’t have enough time to see Leipzig properly today, so will most likely be returning in the near future!

Chrissie, Mike, Graham and I in Leipzig

In between all these trips, I’ve been busy trying to make my room feel more homely! I now have a wardrobe but had a slight mishap with the sofa! I somehow managed to order a sofa cover, not the actual sofa. As it was pay on delivery, I hadn’t noticed! The cover still isn’t here, however, and IKEA has told me to refuse to accept the package when it arrives so that I won’t have to pay for it. I’m not entirely sure that I have room for a sofa any more, so I may wait a little before I decide to buy one! Stefanie’s friend has also been so kind as to hang up my photos and cupboards, and because my Wohnwand was looking a bit bare, I have bought a few bits and printed some more photos to make the room look homely! I think I’m happy with my room now! :)

My Wohnwand

My Room :)

Tomorrow, I’m going on a trip with the music department to and instrument museum. Apparently it’s really interesting, so I’m looking forward to going! Not as much as I’m looking forward to going to Berlin on Saturday, though!! I am so excited to see Jon and, obviously, to see Berlin. I found out yesterday that I actually have 2 weeks for half term, not one as I was originally told (I swear!!). It’s a shame, cause Jon will have to leave after a week, so I’ll have to plan lots of exciting things to keep me occupied in week 2!

That is all that I have to tell you for now! I do hope that I didn’t bore you too much! Next stop…Berlin! :D

Bis Bald!

Noch eine Woche schon vorbei!

So, another week of my year abroad is already over! I’ve been here for just over three weeks now. Lots of other people who are also on their year abroad have been telling me that it feels like they’ve been here for longer, but at the same time, that it’s all going very fast, and I tend to agree! I’m already feeling as though the year is going to be over before I know it!

Last week was my first full week in school…well, I say a full week! Wednesday was the German national holiday (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) so there was no school, and I have every Friday off any way, so I was only actually there for three days! Like I said in my last post, all of the staff are really friendly, and I’m getting on very well with all of them :) The pupils also seem very happy to have me around. There’s been more than one occasion this week when an excited stranger has shouted ‘Hallo Rebecca’ across the street! It’s nice to know that they are actually enjoying having me in their lessons. I didn’t have a fixed timetable last week, so I spent the week going into lots of different classes introducing myself and giving the pupils an opportunity to ask questions. Everyone loves hearing that I’m from ‘that village with a long name!’ I am slightly bored of having to write it on the blackboard every lesson, though!! The students have been asking some interesting questions (one of them being ‘What is the name of your Mum?!) but the most common one so far is ‘Can you speak any German?’ Naturally, I tell them that I am still learning and, despite most of the classes begging me to speak German to them, I’ve told them that I can only speak English with them in the English classes! However, my highlight of this week was when two of the teachers interrupted me when I told the classes that I was still learning German, and told the classes that I was already fluent! Although I don’t agree, it’s definitely a confidence boost and really nice to hear!

 On Tuesday, I also went to the school’s cross-country competition. The competition took place in the Stadtpark, which is about a half hour walk from the school. It was no mean feat trying to encourage the 10 year olds to talk less and walk more, not to mention trying to negotiate the traffic at the same time! I was very surprised to see how enthusiastic all the pupils were to take part in the cross-country competition. I know that when I was in school, everyone hated cross-country. I suppose it didn’t help that we had to run through boggy fields for 7 consecutive weeks in the middle of the winter! The winner of each year group got a sunflower, and some of the pupils even went round for a voluntary second lap! It’s nice to see the little differences between schools here and schools in Wales!

At the end of the week, I was given a fixed timetable from now until Christmas. It’s likely to change after Christmas ‘cause all of the English teachers want a chance to have me in their class. My timetable isn’t bad at all. Thankfully, I only have two 7.30am starts, and I have Fridays off, so I definitely can’t complain! I’m hoping to be able to attend a course at Jena university on one of my afternoons off- not least because I need a decent library so I can start my dissertation!

Last Thursday, I went out with my mentor and her two daughters. We went to a little café first for ‘Kaffe und Kuchen’- very German!- and then she took me on a little tour of Plauen. I was surprised to see how big it actually is and that there was so much that I hadn’t already seen. She took me to a place called ‘Bärenstein’ where there is a tower with a lovely view of the whole of Plauen. Despite the weather being horrible, the view was really nice and I had a lovely afternoon! We were supposed to meet up again on Sunday, but unfortunately, the weather was too bad to do anything, so we’re going to rearrange it for another time!

The view of Plauen from the Bärensteinturm

I went to Zwickau on Saturday to meet Sarah, the Australian girl who I shared a room with at Altenberg. We had a really nice day there :) First, we went to see the Herbstfest, but it wasn’t terribly exciting, so we decided to explore the town instead! One of the main reasons we were meeting was to try and find an amateur theatre group somewhere close by. It turns out there aren’t any, so I think I’m going to try and set up a theatre group in the school instead! Whilst we were there, we also visited the house where Schumann was born and got the chance to listen to a string/brass group rehearsing for an upcoming performance. All in all it was a lovely day, and really nice to see somewhere apart from Plauen!

Me at the Herbstfest

Well, today was a very exciting day, as my box FINALLY arrived! I was actually really lucky to get it today. Jon had text me when I was in school to tell me that he had been on the online tracker, and that the parcel was in the van ready for delivery. So in my hour break between lessons, I came home, hoping it would arrive. By the time I had to leave to go back to school, it still wasn’t there. However, as I was walking down the path, I heard the sound of a van, so I ran back, and it was in fact my parcel :) I was very lucky! I then had to run to school to avoid being late, only to be told that they were taking a photo of me for the school website… I wish someone had told me beforehand!! One of the German teachers has also brought me a desk today, and on Friday, I have a wardrobe and a sofa arriving! My room is slowly starting to fill up, and is feeling much more homely now that I have some pictures and stuff from home in it!

My new desk 

I think that is all that I have to tell you for now! I am still super excited for half term so I can see Jon and explore Berlin. I shall keep you all updated! :)

Bis Bald!

Busy Busy Busy!!

Hi!

The last few weeks have been a bit mad, which can only mean one thing...I have lots to tell you! I had to go to Altenberg last week on the introductory course, and haven’t had a chance to write since getting back to Plauen, so again, apologies for the long post!

Before leaving for Altenberg I got a little bit stressed out! My package still hasn’t arrived in Germany, and after receiving an email asking me to contact UPS directly to confirm my details, I was told that it had, in fact, been sent back to the UK. As you can imagine, I wasn’t at all pleased! Jon had to contact them several times whilst I was in Altenberg, until eventually they refused to speak to him and demanded that they spoke directly to me! I was told that if I wanted the package to be sent back to Germany, I would have to pay the fee again, despite the fact it was actually their mistake, not mine! It’s been such a hassle trying to phone and mail them from Germany, but this afternoon, they finally agreed to send it back to me free of charge! :) Hopefully, it will get here in 3-5 days!

On top of all the hassle re. my package, I also had a bit of a stress trying to meet my mentor! I wanted to see her before I left for Altenberg, as one of the reasons I came out early was to be able to get to know her and the school. We arranged that she would pick me up from my flat on Thursday afternoon, but she didn’t actually turn up! Apparently, she was a little late, and was actually let into my flat- but I was in all afternoon and definitely didn’t see her! So yeah, I did start to feel as if nothing was going right and because I didn’t really know anyone here, I started to miss home a lot. But I seem to have snapped out of it since Altenberg! 

Kölner Dom

So, because Altenberg is sooo far away from Plauen, and I didn't fancy the 7 hour journey on the Monday morning, I decided to travel to Cologne (where we were being picked up) on the Sunday. Phil, who is working in Cologne for his year abroad, kindly offered me a place to stay on the Sunday night and,as an added bonus, Rebecca (who also studies with me in Bangor) stayed the night too! It was sooo lovely to see some familiar faces, especially after having a few rubbish days! Rebecca, her friend Geordie and I spent the following morning in Cologne (unfortunately, Phil had to work) and we had a lovely time going up the Kölner Dom, even if I was nearly dying by the time we got to the top!! Köln was lovely, and Phil and his flat mates were extremely welcoming, so I’m sure I’ll be paying another visit some time during the year- especially seeing as I didn’t go to the Lindt factory this time!

Köln

So yeah…the course in Altenberg! I think it’s fair to say it wasn’t the most thrilling time of my life! I don’t feel like I particularly learnt much at all, and did find that I was bored a lot of the time! However, it was really nice to meet the other assistants who are working in Sachsen. I particularly liked the fact that you share a room with the person who’s school is geographically closest to yours. My roommate was an Australian girl who’s teaching in a Grundschule and a Gymnasium about 40 mins away from Plauen. We got on very well, so I will definitely be meeting up with her sometime soon :) Despite feeling bored a lot of the time, meeting some more people and being able to see Phil and Rebecca definitely made the course seem worth while!

95 course members from the UK& Ireland, Canada, New Zealand
and 1 from Australia!

I went to the school for the first time on Friday and (finally!) got to meet my mentor, who is lovely! I didn’t do very much on Friday apart from filling in some forms, getting my key for the staffroom, classrooms and copy room and meeting some of the staff. Being in the staffroom felt a bit daunting at first, but I soon learnt that the staff were all very friendly and really excited to have me in the school. One of the German teachers also has a desk that I can have, so they’ve all been really friendly and welcoming so far! Today was my first day of teaching, and when I arrived at the staffroom this morning, I found a vase of flowers on my desk off my mentor to welcome me to the school :) I taught classes 5, 6 & 11 today and had loads of fun! I really enjoyed teaching all of the classes, and was impressed by their standards of English. I also sat in on two Leistungskurs Deutsch (advanced German for the ‘sixth formers’) classes for my own benefit. It was really interesting to see how the Germans study German, and it will be interesting to see what literature they will be studying throughout the year. I had a really good day today, and am looking forward to tomorrow- even if school does start at 7.30am!

My Flowers :)

Even though I am really enjoying teaching up to now, I am super excited for the half term break in three weeks! Jon has booked his ticket to come and visit, and we are going to stay in a lovely hotel in Berlin for my 21^st birthday! I’m really really looking forward to it!

I think I’ve moidered enough now. This week I am going to join a few clubs- the shortlist so far consists of hockey, theatre and choir! Hopefully it’ll be a great way of getting to know more German people!

I shall be sure to let you know what I get up to!