Hi!
I can’t
believe how fast time is going! I haven’t written a post since the start of
November, even though it feels like yesterday! I have no idea where time’s
going to be honest with you, but not having written for such a long time means
that I now have lots to tell you! I will try and condense it as much as possible so as not to bore you too much!
At the
end of November, I went to London for a weekend for the UK-German Connection
conference. The aim of the conference was for us to find German partners, who
are working as Foreign Language Assistants in the UK, so that we can work on a bilateral project in our schools, as well as also learning how to
run a successful project. In order to find the right partner, we had a kind of
‘speed dating’ session on Saturday morning. We had 2 minutes (per person, obviously) to talk to 21
Germans about our project ideas which, on the one hand was a lot of fun, but on
the other hand it was exhausting having to take in so much information at once!
I did, eventually, find a partner called Anke, who’s working in a school in
Lichfield. We are planning to run a project with the sixth form,
Whilst we
were in London, we also had some spare time, which can only mean that we
shopped a lot, and we also did some sightseeing and visited a ‘German’ Christmas
Market on the Thames (how ironic!). I had a lovely weekend until it came time
to come back to Germany! The journey back was an absolute nightmare! I had a
three-hour delay in Heathrow, which meant that I arrived in Berlin just before
midnight, only to find that my luggage wasn’t there. After reporting my luggage
missing, I was told that there was nothing that the could do until morning, as
the airport has to shut at midnight, however it was likely that someone else
had taken my suitcase by mistake, as there was one case left on the belt that
looked similar to mine. So, off I went to the train station, hoping that my
suitcase would show up in the morning. I then found out that as it was
midnight, there was no train going in Plauen’s direction until 6am the following
morning! I was less than impressed! Thankfully, after a few hours of sitting in
the train station, I managed to get hold of Andrew, who came to rescue me! I am
very, very grateful! The following morning, my suitcase had been found and was
delivered to Andrew’s flat, and I eventually got back to Plauen at 8.30 PM-
more than 24 hours after I had left London! I have never been so happy to see
my bed!!
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| London Sightseeing! |
So, over
the past week or so, I have met lots of new people! I found that Zwickau has a
university, and after looking at their language department’s website, I found
that they also have a tandem programme, which means that you find a partner and
help each other with your langauges. (i.e. I offer help with English in
exchange for help with my German). I thought this would be a good way to meet
some new people who are a similar age to me, and so far it has proved to be a
success! I have been in contact with three people, and on Sunday I met up with
one of my tandem partners called Linda. We had a lovely afternoon looking
around the Christmas market in Zwickau and I’m looking forward to meeting up
with her again soon :) I will also be meeting two other girls, Sina and
Jeannine, but probably after Christmas because the run up to Christmas is so
busy! It’s nice to finally be meeting some new people, though!
Last
week, I also taught at the private school here in Plauen. I taught three
classes (one of which my flatmate was in- very strange!), and I spoke about the
British school system and the NHS (as most of them are studying to work in the
medical profession). I actually really enjoyed teaching there, and all the
staff were very welcoming. Bärbel, the English teacher, invited me round for a
traditional German meal last Saturday and I was also able to meet her daughter,
Daria. We had a lovely day of walking through the snowy countryside, visiting
the Christmas museum and market in Rodewisch and watching the GDR’s production
of Cinderella before returning to Plauen, where we also payed a quick visit to
our Christmas market here! :) I really did have a lovely day with Daria, and I
was feeling extremely Christmassy by the end of the day!
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| The Vogtland looks beautiful in the snow :) |
As well
as meeting Bärbel and her family at the private school, I also met the school’s
secetary, Moreen. Apparently, she was quite excited to hear that I was going to
the school, so she invited me round to her house that afternoon to spend time
with her and her family. She’s 31 years old (even though she looks like she
could be one of my students- I didn’t believe her when she told me she was
married with 2 kids!) and also lives in Plauen. We had a lovely afternoon
together, and tomorrow evening, we’re going to the cinema together. We get on
really well, and again, it’s really nice to spend some time with new people!
You may
have already gathered from this post that I am now feeling very Christmassy!
I’ve already been to the Christmas markets here in Plauen, and in Zwickau,
Rodewisch and Lengenfeld. They are all really small, so I’m really looking
forward to going to visit the market in Nuremberg this weekend with Sarah, the
Australian assistant. I have also bought some typical christmas decorations that originate here in the Vogtland and the Erzgebirge to try and make my room look as Christmassy as the streets and shops do! I really like the traditional decorations made of wood- I think they look much nicer than plastic decorations :)
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| Plauen's Christmas market |
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| Our pretty Tree in front of the old Rathaus |
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| My traditional decorations :) |
I
genuinely can’t believe how close Christmas is now! I will be home two weeks
tomorrow! I haven’t been this excited for Christmas since I was a little girl!
It will be so nice to spend some time with my family and friends, especially
now that we have a new edition to our family! My cousin (who also happens to be
one of my best friends!) had a little baby girl last week and I cannot wait to
meet her! I was a little bit sad that I wasn’t home when she was born, but it
just gives me more reason to look forward to going home!
Well,
that is all I have to tell you for now! These last two weeks before Christmas
are looking very busy already. I will try and post again before Christmas to
let you all know what I’ve been up to (for those who actually read this!) :)
Bis Bald
:)
