Living abroad is exciting. Fact. I won’t lie, it's had its ups and downs, lefts and rights and has presented me with a few
teething problems along the way. But most of the time it’s been fantastic, and
that’s part of what makes it so exciting. You can never know what is waiting around the corner for you – sometimes it’s a trip to a vibrant, cosmopolitan
city, other times it’s new people that end up becoming really good friends, or
occasionally it might just be a big dose of homesickness, but this year teaches
you how to deal with all of those things. Life is nothing if not one big
lesson, and I guess the lesson would be pretty pointless if you didn’t learn
anything along the way. What could be more exciting than that?
This year has marked my first break from full time education
in 16 years. For the first time, my life doesn’t revolve around deadlines,
trips to the library and the next social gathering in the SU. Youth, time and
funds are three key things that pretty much everyone on their year abroad has
available this year; three things that might not exist simultaneously in our
lives ever again. It’s the one and only opportunity I’ve ever had to jet off
somewhere cultural for the weekend at a moment’s notice, to sit in quaint
little cafes on weekday afternoons drinking a hot chocolate with my Kindle and a
Moleskin notebook for company, all whilst scoffing a load of cake. I’ve been
able to try my hand at anything I want and try out any version of myself, and
what’s more, I’ve probably ended up trying things that would never normally
occur to me, because I know that this opportunity probably won’t ever come
knocking again. I’ve seen so many new places, met so many lovely people and
tried so many different things. What could be more exciting than that?
“Look for the bare necessities, those simple bare
necessities, forget about your worries and your strife.” That’s another thing
I’ve learnt this year. I’m finally able to appreciate the message that good old
Baloo is trying to convey. I am a worrier. In fact, if worrying were an Olympic
sport, I would win the gold medal fifty times over. But this year has vastly improved my ability
to forget about the silly little things and just focus on what’s important. I’ve
come to realise that, at the end of the day, all I need is a roof over my head,
a family that loves me and a decent supply of tea bags to keep myself going,
and that everything else will eventually fall into place. Life on your year
abroad removes you somewhat from the trials and tribulations of the quotidian
back at home, and has encouraged me just get on with enjoying myself and making
the most of my time. What could be more exciting than that?
That’s not to say that once the 31st May rolls
around, I pack up my stuff and settle back into life in my little patch of
North London, life will never be exciting again. Even now, I find myself
starting to conceptualise my final year at university and what may or may not
lie beyond it. And, similarly to how I felt before coming to Germany, I find
myself simultaneously looking forward to it and quaking in my boots at the very
prospect. The destination, more commonly referred to as ‘The Rest of My Life’
is gradually edging ever-closer, and I’m sure it promises plenty of exciting
opportunities along the way, too. But this year has been a huge stepping stone
towards that destination, one that I hope will stand me in good stead for the
challenges that I’m bound to face. What could be more exciting than that?
On that note, I’m off to Berlin for a few days. What could
be more exciting than that?
After the excitement of Munich, the last couple of weeks
have been fairly quiet. Last weekend I was very excited to welcome my lovely
friend Kathryn to Bensheim. It’s so nice to be able to catch up and share many
a weird and wonderful tale of life in Germany. Though the weather was slightly
on the chilly side, we had a lovely couple of days filled with chats, cocktails, Downton Abbey and many-a giggle. I’m very fortunate that my town is within very easy reaching distance of Heidelberg – easily one
of the prettiest towns in Germany. I love showing it off to people when they
visit as if I were a resident of the city myself. I really wanted to show
Kathryn the view from the top of the castle, as it is definitely a sight not to
be missed. Naturally lots of photos were taken, including several with a group
of Chinese tourists, who I think adopted us as their new best friends! A lovely
city, with even lovelier company – what else could you ask for?
Look who came to see me!
I also had the opportunity to experience parents’ evening
last week at school. It was a little surreal for me at first, as I’m so used to
being the student, waiting to see what my teachers thought of me and my
abilities, (or lack thereof!). This time, however, it was parents and students
who wanted my opinion – something I’ve never experienced before. This year has
shown me just how hard teachers have to work. The stereotype of a teacher,
namely that they work short hours, enjoy long holidays and merely have to turn
up in the morning and teach a class, could not be further from the truth. There
is so much preparation that goes into planning a lesson, not to mention the
marking, organisation, support and pastoral care that they have to provide –
it’s a wonder they’re not thoroughly exhausted all the time! Also, it never
ceases to amaze me just how scary teenagers can be. I’ve been fortunate enough
that the classes I teach are mainly full of nice young people, but the fact
still remains that walking into a classroom to be faced with 30 expectant
faces, some of whose desire to be there is questionable, is not a task for the
fainthearted!
When I stop and pause for breath, it’s weird to reflect on
how much has changed and how much I’ve changed since coming to Germany. I think
in general I’m still the same girl who will quite happily dance around her room singing along to Disney songs, but I also hope that this year has helped me grow
up a lot. I'm a lot less afraid of what lies beyond the end of my front garden than I was this time last year. I think that living abroad has also helped me come out of my shell a lot more. Way back in August, the prospect of teaching a whole class of
students filled me with terror, whereas now it’s become routine to stand up in
front of a class and do my spiel. Even taking cover lessons is far less terrifying than it was five months ago. Self-reliance and
self-confidence is something I hope I’ve gained a lot of this year, which just
goes to show that forcing yourself out of your comfort zone and facing your fears
really can reap its rewards.
What an exciting couple of weeks it’s been! The more time I
seem to spend in Germany, the more I fall in love with it, and the less I want
my year abroad to end.
Last weekend I headed back down to Bavaria with some other
ELAs for Munich, round two. Though the weather remained below freezing for
almost three days straight, we battled against the elements to spend three days
sight-seeing, eating cake, drinking beer and of course taking many-a touristy
photo.
Getting there was a bit of a fandango, to say the least,
mainly because the more experience I have with the German transport system, the
more I loathe it. Deutsche Bahn and I will not part on good terms when I go home. The Germans are renowned the world over for their efficiency
and time-keeping skills. The German people, yes, their transport system…not so
much. I have yet to go on a journey where all my train connections have been on
time. Anyway, there I was, sitting on the train to Munich, feeling very happy with myself as
I had managed to find a direct train from Bensheim that worked out a lot
cheaper, casually ignoring the fact that it was running forty minutes behind,
when the train conductor suddenly announced that the train would not be stopping
in Munich today. Errrrr, say what now?!?!? I may not be a train connoisseur,
but I can say with some certainty that it’s a bit off to suddenly announce that
the train will not be stopping somewhere once
the passengers are already on the train! Anyway, the long and the short of
the story is that I found myself abandoned in some random place in the south of
Germany, in a town I’d never even heard of, trying to get to Munich. I did have
visions of myself remaining stranded on this platform for the rest of my days,
unable to find a connecting train, but as it was a nice business man kindly
took pity on me and told me the best way to get to Munich. Panic over. If
anything, it was a character building exercise. (At least, that’s what I keep
telling myself when any of these sorts of things happen to me!)
So, once I had safely arrived at my destination, warmed up a
little, eaten something and met the others, it was time to turn our attention to
all the tourist activities we had planned for the weekend. For any tourist in
Germany, no matter which website you look at or guidebook you read, a visit to
the Neuschwanstein Castle in Füssen in southern Bavaria is always at the top of
their recommended list. “You’re travelling to Munich – oh, you must visit
Neuschwanstein,” they say. It’s the castle that was used in Chitty Chitty Bang
Bang and also the castle that a lot of Disney ones are based on. Well, being
a humongous Disney fan myself, it was something I just had to see. I would
heartily recommend it to anyone! The higher into the mountains we travelled the
colder it felt and the deeper the snow became. If you google pictures of Neuschwanstein, a significant proportion of them will be of the castle in the
snow. It looked like something on a postcard. Absolutely beautiful!
Saturday was mainly spent seeing the sights in the centre of
Munich, trying to do as much walking as possible to prevent our toes from going
numb in the sub-zero temperatures,taking every opportunity to dive into
coffee shops and patisseries to escape the snow and sample even more of
Germany’s delicious pastries. We also paid the Olympic Park from the 1972
Olympics a visit. Being a biased Brit, it wasn’t quite as impressive as London,
but an enjoyable experience, nonetheless. No visit to Munich, however, would be
complete without a trip to the ‘Hofbräuhaus,’ the most famous of Germany’s beer
halls. I really don’t think you could find something that was more typically
German if you tried! Hundreds of people line wooden benches, drinking beer
from a tankard with one hand, eating a pretzel with the other, as waiters and
waitresses dressed in lederhosen and dirndls serve you typically German meals.
Naturally, we embraced this wholeheartedly. I think I definitely must be
embracing German culture, as my love of beer has definitely grown somewhat
since living in Deutschland.
One of the many cake shops we spotted en-route
A view from one of the highest points in Munich - quite impressive, no?!
Ich liebe Bier <3
It just had to be done...
Sunday was a bit of a slower day, as we walked a little way
through the English Gardens in the morning, a park that is apparently bigger
than Central Park in New York, and came across some crazy daredevils who
thought it would be a good idea to surf in the river that runs through the
garden. In all honesty, I’m not sure if they were incredibly brave or
incredibly stupid, but either way it was exciting to watch them! Then there was
just enough time for a quick pit-stop in Starbucks for a hot drink and one last
pastry before facing the long journey home, and yet more delayed connections. I
was grateful to get home on Sunday night and took full advantage of my lay-in
on Monday.
You have got to be off your rocker to try that!
This weekend is known as Karneval
in Germany; where adults and children alike dress up in crazy costumes,
sing crazy songs and drink crazy amounts of alcohol. (Well, not the children,
at least I hope not!!) I’ve experienced Fasching, as it is also called, once
before, and though I didn’t really mark the occasion this year, it didn’t stop
me enjoying the bank holiday the Germans are given on Monday. I travelled over
to Heidelberg, a city that I could definitely see myself living in, to meet up
with a teacher from school and explore the city away from the tourist path. She
took me up into the hills above the city, where the view of the castle and the
bridge is unrivalled, showed me the cafeteria and the library of the
university, (it made me miss Warwick) and showed me some very traditional
German pastry shops. I tell you know, I am going to be the size of a house by
the time I go home. It was a really lovely day, and a great way to round off a
really great couple of weeks.
( I don't know if you've noticed, but I do like it when I find a song that fits in with what I want to write about!)
Some things in life are bad, they can really make you mad...
Now, I don’t know about you, but I have truly had enough of
winter. Whether it be the mornings that are still cold, dark and miserable, the
snow that was pretty for, ooh about three hours and then just becomes
inconvenient, or the sun that occasionally pops it’s head out for five glorious
minutes before retreating humbly back behind the grey, swollen clouds, I’m fed
up with it and cannot wait for spring. However, we have the rest of February to
get through yet, which means several more weeks of numb extremities, red noses
and hat-hair. One thing that is improving, however, is that the days are slowly
getting longer. I no longer have to walk to school in the complete darkness and
it’s no longer pitch-black outside when I settle down to my mid-afternoon
cuppa.
Other things just make you swear and curse...
Coming back to Bensheim after Christmas, I was very
enthusiastic to face the new year and the new term. Maybe it was the weather
(believe it or not, snow can get a little depressing after a while), or maybe I
just hadn’t anticipated that I would have to settle back into German life quite
as much as I did, but with one thing and another I had a case of the post-holiday blues after having been
back about 10 days. My head was all over the place; I was forgetting things
left, right and centre, including how to speak German, was missing the comforts
of home and was thoroughly fed up of constantly being cold. I’m pleased to say
that has passed, however, and I have lots of things to keep me busy over the
coming weeks.
When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble, give a whistle,
and this'll help things turn out for the best
Last week at school,
the Year 11s had ‘Projektwoche.’ For anyone who has seen the film ‘Die Welle,’
(The Wave) the concept is very similar, only without all the drama of the
re-birth of fascism inside a German school. Basically the teachers offer the
students a particular project for the week; one that is somewhat off the beaten
track of what is normally covered in the curriculum. The topic dealt with in
the film is autocracy, which, to keep it simple, gets out of hand, shall we
say. Our topic was a lot tamer than autocracy, namely international humour;
comparing British, German and American comedy series. It’s difficult to pick up
on the humour in something when it’s not in your native language. Half the time
you’re so preoccupied with translating the dialogue from one language to the other,
the comedic value sometimes gets lost on you. This being true, I thought in
general the students tackled the concept of ‘comedy auf Englisch’ rather well. Programmes like ‘How I Met Your Mother’
and ‘Big Bang Theory’ are very popular over here, so I guess they’ve become
used to regularly watching TV programmes in English. The comedy series from
Britain - Fawlty Towers, The Office, Human Remains and League of Gentlemen -
didn’t quite go down so well. British comedy, like the British people, is
rather understated – it’s a lot more subtle than its American counterpart, so
I’m not sure the students completely understood what was supposedly funny about
the programmes. (In fact, sometimes, nor did I!) They did manage a few laughs
during Fawlty Towers, however, which made me happy. On the last day of the
project week, the students had to come up with and present a comedy sketch of
their own. One of the groups decided to do a sort of parody of the four
teachers, myself included, who had taken the project. It’s always interesting
to see how other people perceive you. The girl playing me chose to adorn big
glasses, her hair in a high bun, and said ‘lovely,’ over and over again. She
got me down to a T, and I thought it was brilliant. What struck me most, though, was that, yes is was supposed to be a comedic parody of the teachers, but the student playing me chose to portray me as quite a cheery person. Now, anyone who knows me well will probably tell you than I can moan for England when I put my mind to it, but I've decided to try to always have a postive mental outlook, wherever possible. Hence...
Annnndddd... Always look on the bright side of life...
I seem to have a lot more time on my hands this term for some
reason, so I have decided to try to make the most of it. Instead of sitting at home, twiddling my thumbs and working my
way through my entire Downton Abbey DVD collection, I have decided to get active. After losing the will to do
any form of exercise apart from my daily walk to school at the end of last
term, combined with eating far too much turkey-and-stuffing-goodness over
Christmas, I decided it was about time that I introduced some form of physical
activity back into my life.
For anyone who reads this regularly, or for
anyone who happened to read last week’s post, I have started salsa lessons.
These are *touches wood* so far, going surprisingly well. I have not fallen
over yet, nor have I stepped on my dance partner’s toes, so I’m thinking that, for
me anyway, this is one major achievement!
After an extended break, I have started going
back to zumba classes à la deutsch. It’s not the most high-intensity work out
ever, but it’s an hour’s worth of jiggling away one’s wobbly bits, so I can’t
complain. I did have a very surreal moment during this week’s class, though.
They introduced a new routine to the…wait for it…gangnam style. Oh. Dear.
God. Watching a load of 40-something women do the gangnam style is
an image that will remain burned on my memory for many years to come.
Every year, I tell myself that I will get into
some form of regular exercise routine. Without fail, it appears in my New
Year’s Resolution’s list. This grand plan lasts roughly until about the 5th
of January, before I lose any modicum of will power to do any exercise other
than getting off the sofa to walk all the way to the kitchen to make a cuppa.
Not this year, however. I’ve decided that the only way I will make myself do
something is if I have a goal to work towards. Therefore, on the 14th
July 2013, once I am back in Blighty, I, Emily Clarke, will be running the Race
For Life. Yes, it’s only 5km, but it’s a target, and one for a good cause, as
it raises money for Breast Cancer Care. I’ll let you know how it goes.
And finally, before I bore you all half to death with my
ramblings, there’s just enough time to look ahead to all the things coming up
this term. The German Karneval season
is almost upon us, where for a couple of days each year, the Germans let loose
and ‘party hard,’ so to speak. Fancy dress costumes are adorned, crazy German
music (think ‘oops upside your head-esque’ but in German!) is played all hours of the day and night, and it is the
perfect excuse for a beer (or six). I’m spending most of the Fasching weekend
in Munich, so I’m sure many-a tale will be told after that.
So despite being cold, it seems I have a lot of things to be positive about, and even more things to look forward to. Life isn't so bad, after all!
I apologise for the lack of pictures in this post, by the
way. I haven’t taken any photos since I’ve been back. Here's a song you might enjoy, though...
Anyway, that’s all for now. My post-holiday blues have
passed, and this term feels so much different. I say this time and time again, but the time is going so quickly! I'm incredibly lucky to have all these opportunities this year, and I thoroughly intend to make the most of them with the time I have left. Looking on the bright side of life really does make things so much better!
