GERMANY
The second set of training events ran yesterday, the aforementioned 'classroom scenario' one most prominently. Contrary to initial expectations along the lines of 'a child is ill. What should you do?', we worked in groups to prepare a 45 minute lesson which was then presented by the group (though as if it were only a single teacher) to the rest of the class and our German overseer.
The second set of training events ran yesterday, the aforementioned 'classroom scenario' one most prominently. Contrary to initial expectations along the lines of 'a child is ill. What should you do?', we worked in groups to prepare a 45 minute lesson which was then presented by the group (though as if it were only a single teacher) to the rest of the class and our German overseer.
I've never really been worried about speaking in front of people, but subtlety when things go tits up and rapid improvisation are not my forte, which isn't a redeeming feature for this line of work, but hopefully it'll be ok on the night.
Because yesterday was the last day and we're now considered fully fledged foreign language assistants (which doesn't bode well for the english skills of Neuerburgs teenage contingent) we celebrated accordingly and made sure that beer to the brain took precedence over oxygen. Sadly, a steady stream of finest Bitburger and Kölsch made todays 6am start an absolute motherbitch of a task. There was grunting, cursing, shivering and other mixed feelings of general 'I feel pretty shite today'. Good vibes, good vibes.
But, after planning my train journey to Bitburg-Erdorf for pickup, I was lucky enough to grab a lift off one of the guys on our course who's living not too far from where I am, and to him I am eternally grateful. At 7am, we were bombing down the Autobahn away from Haus Altenberg (note for readers: he's an excellent driver, and our lives would probably have been more at risk if we pootled along at 70 like some loser from Britain, as opposed to clocking 120 like everyone else around us. The Autobahn is a mad and awesome place.
But, after about 50 miles or so the houses became fewer and fewer and the fields and forests became fuck-off massive. Seeing as I can't speak for all of Germany, I'll confirm on a more local level: Rheinland-Pfalz has more wind turbines than you can shake a stick at. Nor are they the gay little ones that we have, these things are absolute monsters.
The scenery is crazily idyllic. Most of the forests we drove through are so dense one can only see past the first couple of rows of trees or so, and there's this vaguely creepy perpetual fog that rolls through the canopies from time to time. It's bloody beautiful.
And after 100 miles, we entered Neuerburg itself, and contrary to popular belief, the first bastard thing we saw was a bus. There is no denying that its a tiny town in a remote spot, but it has a lot of charm. Y'know the stuff. Its one of those places you look at and go 'aahhh' at in a kind of sentimental way. The houses are pink and things. You know what I mean.
And then of course, the Gymnasium itself, which is what these here folk call a 6th form college or a grammar school. I got down with the kids immediately and confidently asked for directions to the main office. I pretended to understand where they told me to go (golden rule from Altenberg: never let on to the children that you don't have a clue, wheyyy) and confidently strode off in the wrong direction. They spoke a little German to one another as I did a 12 point turn with my suitcase, and it was probably less along the lines of 'cool, new language assistant!' than 'this English bloke's a fucking moron'.
Then I met some of the staff, including the one and only Gunther, and a friendly bloke called Herr Reichert with whom I spoke some long exchanges of kick-ass Deutsch between painful, painful silences.
After this I was shown my apartment by a friendly lady called shit shit shit I've forgotten what her name was, and its actually pretty awesome, far more so than I'd envisioned. I operate my blinds by pressing a button on the wall, and they respond to sunlight, how wicked is that? There seems to be something amiss in the ratio of 'cool technology' to 'necessary technology': solar powered blinds, modern-art style lamps and wall mounted flatscreen TV's are all lovely, but was it not even a bit possible that you could have fitted more than one plug socket? I either charge my phone, use my laptop, or have the big lamp on and just sit for a bit.
And that's it thus far. I've yet to meet my flatmates, or eat anything, or check out the Kuche downstairs, but this should happen this afternoon, unless I have the mother of all power-naps. I also need to work 'subtly find out friendly woman's name again' into my agenda.
____________
I was considering starting this entry with something poignant and romantic, something like "From my window, I can see the morning dew adding a tranquil sparkle to the already perfect scenery. A few students, each walking separate paths but with the same destination, stroll calmly through this surrounding natural bliss. All I feel is a subconscious satisfaction that nature has somehow preserved this recurrent beauty."
But it made me feel like a pretentious wanker, and it was a lie anyway.
Because yesterday was the last day and we're now considered fully fledged foreign language assistants (which doesn't bode well for the english skills of Neuerburgs teenage contingent) we celebrated accordingly and made sure that beer to the brain took precedence over oxygen. Sadly, a steady stream of finest Bitburger and Kölsch made todays 6am start an absolute motherbitch of a task. There was grunting, cursing, shivering and other mixed feelings of general 'I feel pretty shite today'. Good vibes, good vibes.
But, after planning my train journey to Bitburg-Erdorf for pickup, I was lucky enough to grab a lift off one of the guys on our course who's living not too far from where I am, and to him I am eternally grateful. At 7am, we were bombing down the Autobahn away from Haus Altenberg (note for readers: he's an excellent driver, and our lives would probably have been more at risk if we pootled along at 70 like some loser from Britain, as opposed to clocking 120 like everyone else around us. The Autobahn is a mad and awesome place.But, after about 50 miles or so the houses became fewer and fewer and the fields and forests became fuck-off massive. Seeing as I can't speak for all of Germany, I'll confirm on a more local level: Rheinland-Pfalz has more wind turbines than you can shake a stick at. Nor are they the gay little ones that we have, these things are absolute monsters.
The scenery is crazily idyllic. Most of the forests we drove through are so dense one can only see past the first couple of rows of trees or so, and there's this vaguely creepy perpetual fog that rolls through the canopies from time to time. It's bloody beautiful.
And after 100 miles, we entered Neuerburg itself, and contrary to popular belief, the first bastard thing we saw was a bus. There is no denying that its a tiny town in a remote spot, but it has a lot of charm. Y'know the stuff. Its one of those places you look at and go 'aahhh' at in a kind of sentimental way. The houses are pink and things. You know what I mean.
And then of course, the Gymnasium itself, which is what these here folk call a 6th form college or a grammar school. I got down with the kids immediately and confidently asked for directions to the main office. I pretended to understand where they told me to go (golden rule from Altenberg: never let on to the children that you don't have a clue, wheyyy) and confidently strode off in the wrong direction. They spoke a little German to one another as I did a 12 point turn with my suitcase, and it was probably less along the lines of 'cool, new language assistant!' than 'this English bloke's a fucking moron'.Then I met some of the staff, including the one and only Gunther, and a friendly bloke called Herr Reichert with whom I spoke some long exchanges of kick-ass Deutsch between painful, painful silences.
After this I was shown my apartment by a friendly lady called shit shit shit I've forgotten what her name was, and its actually pretty awesome, far more so than I'd envisioned. I operate my blinds by pressing a button on the wall, and they respond to sunlight, how wicked is that? There seems to be something amiss in the ratio of 'cool technology' to 'necessary technology': solar powered blinds, modern-art style lamps and wall mounted flatscreen TV's are all lovely, but was it not even a bit possible that you could have fitted more than one plug socket? I either charge my phone, use my laptop, or have the big lamp on and just sit for a bit.
And that's it thus far. I've yet to meet my flatmates, or eat anything, or check out the Kuche downstairs, but this should happen this afternoon, unless I have the mother of all power-naps. I also need to work 'subtly find out friendly woman's name again' into my agenda.
____________
I was considering starting this entry with something poignant and romantic, something like "From my window, I can see the morning dew adding a tranquil sparkle to the already perfect scenery. A few students, each walking separate paths but with the same destination, stroll calmly through this surrounding natural bliss. All I feel is a subconscious satisfaction that nature has somehow preserved this recurrent beauty."
But it made me feel like a pretentious wanker, and it was a lie anyway.
