GERMANY
I don't know how long this will keep being updated on a daily basis, but seeing as it's still the first week and I'm still in the odd transitional phase between seeing everything for the first time and being a bit more settled, I guess it's acceptable. That's the excuse anyway; I'll keep it at hand in case I'm ever accused of posting every sordid detail a little too often.
Today I branched out in my exploring of Neuerburg; I went up a street I've NEVER BEEN UP BEFORE. Coincidentally its the last road that I can find that I haven't already seen, but thats ok.
Anyway, this one was a special one. Turns out there are 2 castles in Neuerburg, theres a white one with some red trimming on the tower which seems to appear in all the photos, but there's also a 2nd one which I visited today up the SECRET ROAD which is a kind of aesthetically pleasing off-beige with brown trimming and a grey shingled roof. Man, what the hell am I talking about?
But I drew a nice picture of this latter castle, which some of you may see one day. The perspectives a little off in some places and there's a window which I had to move and resize slightly so it looked better, but you wouldn't have known if I hadn't just told you. You and I both will probably have forgotten it ever exists by the time I get back anyway.
The high point of this however was a 30-strong group of kids about 10 years old on a trip from Trier, and to whom this English bloke with his sketchpad was God's gift to entertainment. I actually seemed to hit it off quite well with these kids, which made me more sad that I'm not at the Realschule in my town, as younger kids I can entertain far more easily.
This was also the ultimate test for my german skills, because we were about as skilled at the others language as each other, meaning that any word we didn't understand we then had to explain, which made it difficult. There were a couple of ace kids who explained their words and sentences really well when I got confused, but there were also some who chugged out german like a machine-gun, leaving me lost after the 2nd sentence and staring blankly for the explanation which never came. They liked the drawing though; the most frequent question was 'is this your job?'. It might be one day, children, but until then I have to help you speak English apparently.
I managed to get some adult speak in as well, with their teachers/minders. I was a little worried at first, because when they found me I was just kinda sat there; a foriegn person surrounded by a lot of children he'd never met before, which could have been interpreted badly. I thought they might shout at me and take my name, but they were ok in the end. I'd also have gone a bit Braveheart on their asses if that had happened though. "You can shout at me, but you'll never take my NAME!"
And then, en route back home from Lidl with a shitload of meat, cheese and chocolate milk, I accidentally scared the hell out an old lady, which turned into a walking discussion about Neuerburg. Encouragingly, it's a place with "no hate" which is always nice to know, and then she said something about influences. I heard "America", "War", and "Multiculturalism" in a short monologue that could have come straight from one of my last year's university modules, but I still didn't really get that bit. Still, no hate in Neuerburg. I'm a fan.
I found that today actually. It's through interacting in German and realising your linguistic shortcomings that makes you want to be fluent. And you know that the only way that fluency will come about is with further interaction. And, even though the prospect is daunting, you know that ultimately it's never as bad as you expected. I guess I offer this to people I know who are feeling nervous about this year. Take it from me - It's never as bad as your mind convinces you it will be.
Obviously you might be tempted to take this with a pinch of salt seeing as it's only day 3 and in the grand scheme of things, I haven't spoken a vast amount of german yet. But on the other hand, it's still a good sign that I can feel as confident as I do after such a short while.
Check out me being all corny and inspirational.
Oh, and you know what would be wicked? Send me your addresses so I can send postcards and whatnot. This may take a while but it will happen eventually, even if it's a case of me giving it to you when I see you again next year. The thought that counts, right?
I don't know how long this will keep being updated on a daily basis, but seeing as it's still the first week and I'm still in the odd transitional phase between seeing everything for the first time and being a bit more settled, I guess it's acceptable. That's the excuse anyway; I'll keep it at hand in case I'm ever accused of posting every sordid detail a little too often.
Today I branched out in my exploring of Neuerburg; I went up a street I've NEVER BEEN UP BEFORE. Coincidentally its the last road that I can find that I haven't already seen, but thats ok.
Anyway, this one was a special one. Turns out there are 2 castles in Neuerburg, theres a white one with some red trimming on the tower which seems to appear in all the photos, but there's also a 2nd one which I visited today up the SECRET ROAD which is a kind of aesthetically pleasing off-beige with brown trimming and a grey shingled roof. Man, what the hell am I talking about?
But I drew a nice picture of this latter castle, which some of you may see one day. The perspectives a little off in some places and there's a window which I had to move and resize slightly so it looked better, but you wouldn't have known if I hadn't just told you. You and I both will probably have forgotten it ever exists by the time I get back anyway.
The high point of this however was a 30-strong group of kids about 10 years old on a trip from Trier, and to whom this English bloke with his sketchpad was God's gift to entertainment. I actually seemed to hit it off quite well with these kids, which made me more sad that I'm not at the Realschule in my town, as younger kids I can entertain far more easily.
This was also the ultimate test for my german skills, because we were about as skilled at the others language as each other, meaning that any word we didn't understand we then had to explain, which made it difficult. There were a couple of ace kids who explained their words and sentences really well when I got confused, but there were also some who chugged out german like a machine-gun, leaving me lost after the 2nd sentence and staring blankly for the explanation which never came. They liked the drawing though; the most frequent question was 'is this your job?'. It might be one day, children, but until then I have to help you speak English apparently.
I managed to get some adult speak in as well, with their teachers/minders. I was a little worried at first, because when they found me I was just kinda sat there; a foriegn person surrounded by a lot of children he'd never met before, which could have been interpreted badly. I thought they might shout at me and take my name, but they were ok in the end. I'd also have gone a bit Braveheart on their asses if that had happened though. "You can shout at me, but you'll never take my NAME!"
And then, en route back home from Lidl with a shitload of meat, cheese and chocolate milk, I accidentally scared the hell out an old lady, which turned into a walking discussion about Neuerburg. Encouragingly, it's a place with "no hate" which is always nice to know, and then she said something about influences. I heard "America", "War", and "Multiculturalism" in a short monologue that could have come straight from one of my last year's university modules, but I still didn't really get that bit. Still, no hate in Neuerburg. I'm a fan.
I found that today actually. It's through interacting in German and realising your linguistic shortcomings that makes you want to be fluent. And you know that the only way that fluency will come about is with further interaction. And, even though the prospect is daunting, you know that ultimately it's never as bad as you expected. I guess I offer this to people I know who are feeling nervous about this year. Take it from me - It's never as bad as your mind convinces you it will be.
Obviously you might be tempted to take this with a pinch of salt seeing as it's only day 3 and in the grand scheme of things, I haven't spoken a vast amount of german yet. But on the other hand, it's still a good sign that I can feel as confident as I do after such a short while.
Check out me being all corny and inspirational.
Oh, and you know what would be wicked? Send me your addresses so I can send postcards and whatnot. This may take a while but it will happen eventually, even if it's a case of me giving it to you when I see you again next year. The thought that counts, right?
