This time two weeks ago I had arrived in Germany and was staying with my tutor. I can't believe how much has happened in such a short space of time- found a flat, moved in, been to Cologne and back, done some 'study', opened a bank account, signed my life away on contracts, got a landline, internet, been to school (and actually taught a lesson!!), met so many people that I can't remember all their names, met the former english language assistant, and done so much walking I think I could have hiked up Everest by now!
Oh but the food is great! Well, it takes me a while to make my way around the supermarket because there's so many nice and shiny things, or interesting names for things like 'baking powder' (Backpulver if you're interested). Trouble is I couldn't remember it when I went to the shop this evening so I fruitlessly scanned the aisles. But it certainly makes shopping fun!
The only thing that was slightly confusing was the european shoe and clothes' size, which meant I had to try on a million coats before I found the right size. 20 minutes later, like a typical woman some would say, I left the shop still without a coat. Indecision, we've all been there.
School is fun. Maybe that's just because I'm not a pupil! I participated in a banking class yesterday, just going around and checking work. The students have a few lessons a week on the theory of banking and also learn business english, which even I found hard, and then they spend a month or so I think on a placement. I really enjoyed that class mainly because they were all a bit older and just really wanted to learn.
Today I actually taught a lesson on my own, which I'm not really supposed to do but well I don't think the British Council would hang me for it. Anyway, it was a 12th grade class I think and the teacher asked me if I would work with 6 other students in another room, 4 of whom had german as their second language because they either came from Kazakhstan or Russia. A challenge... hmmm well the material that their teacher gave me to do was definitely too difficult for them as well as for me seeing as I didn't have a dictionary and was having to translate sentences to do with business into german! Still in some ways it was good practise. Though I really feel for these girls who have to do their exams at the end of the year and don't even seem able to properly introduce themselves in english. The problem with most school systems is that they just can't help teenagers with an immigrant background simply because there's neither the time nor resources. Language courses at the Volkschule here in Germany, a kind of adult school, are not that expensive but still take up time and may not be seen as a necessity for young people who are meant to be getting their education in school.
Tomorrow I shall be flexing my DIY muscles and putting up a couple of bookshelves come clothes racks, as well as cleaning off an old comfy chair that a very kind friend of my housemate's has given me along with the shelves. So my room doesn't feel quite so big now and my voice doesn't echo quite as much! It isn't a highly colour coordinated room but it does have a MASSIVE map of Deutschland that my housemate also gave me... and it's a kid's one so it has lots of rather amusing pictures portraying various towns and attractions!
Another thing I haven't quite gotten used to is looking the right way when crossing the road, which proved a little scarier when I used my housemate's bike to go food shopping and almost went down the wrong side of the road! I don't really want to experience the german health system just yet. So, it's been an eventful week so far and God-willing I shall live to see the next!
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