Merry Christmas (only slightly late)

Schloss Merode

Christmas Market at the Schloss

I know you will all be finished with Christmas but I'm still smack bang in the middle so I thought I'd write a bit about how it all works over here. Last weekend both my host-sisters arrived home for the holiday which is awesome and so the whole family went to a Christmas market at a palace/castle/big pretty building. Definitely one of the cooler markets we've been to mainly because of the castle and the atmosphere that creates! They also had people dressed up doing flag dances and people telling the nativity story and crowd carol singing so it was a whole lot of fun. We also decorated the real tree all together and I must say it looks pretty darn good!

Vera and I putting on the lights

Christmas here starts on the 24th with church (I played the flute) and then a large evening meal and then present opening. I've been given a 1000 piece puzzle that is mostly black and white so I suspect that will keep me amused for a good long while. On the 25th we went to Manuela's parents and had lunch with them, checked out their village church which is super old and then ate a very large evening meal. Then we played a card game and did the dishes until 11:30 pm. Today was our day off and we went rock-climbing (Christmas present for Vera's boyfriend Steffan) which was fabulous. Having not done any climbing for the last year or so, my muscles are definitely not pleased but it was good to be up on the wall again Check out the link! Climbing/Flying
 My knee performed beautifully and I hope we go back soon.

Sisters! (Ute, me, Vera)

Tomorrow the eating continues with lunch/dinner at Siegfried's parents and all his side of the family. I'm rather glad we did some exercise today otherwise I'd be feeling rather unhealthy! I hope everyone at home had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all a very happy holiday.

Christmas Fever

There are positive and negative things about the start of December over here. The major negative being the weather. We had our first big storm of the winter at the end of this week with high winds and snow showers. Thankfully better than most of the rest of the country! But I've definitely noticed the temperature dropping and find myself asking why on earth I came for the German winter. But I've resigned myself to being freezing for the next 3 months or so and can only look forward I guess. The positive thing is that 1st of December is the start of the Advent time and therefore the start of Christmas markets. Last Sunday we had a very little market here in Effeld and my orchestra had our Christmas concert. Thankfully it went better than I expected and I had a lot of fun. It's been getting dark about 5pm now and everybody has lights in their windows or lights in their trees and the village looks rather festive. On Wednesday I sang with my choir at the Heinsberg market and Manuela took a video for you all to watch. My camera isn't great with video so I'm afraid the quality is pretty average but hopefully you can get an overall impression.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=194kBkId218

The 6th is Nikolaus day and the kids all put their shoes out and in the morning there are oranges and nuts and toys and chocolate inside. I went to primary school with Manuela and Nikolaus came to school and so they sang songs and read the Nikolaus story and then all the classes received special bread. Pretty cool tradition!

Ice-skating outside

On Saturday we went to Koblenz and the Christmas markets there which was awesome. The rain stayed away so I only had to combat the cold. Koblenz is different from a lot of other cities because they spread their markets out through all the little squares. This means you wander through the streets and come around a corner to find brightly lit stalls, yummy smells and music. Most markets are half food and drink stalls and half crafty Christmas themed things to buy and so there is something for everyone. The guys tend to find somewhere to stand and drink mulled wine while the girls go shopping!

Routines and Castles

It has been really good getting into a normal routine and focusing a bit on everyday life before heading off on new adventures. School is going really well and I am finding ways to be useful in all my classes. I had to show my scary side to the year 12s with positive results and the year 10s have finally figured out that I can speak German. I commented on their "private" conversation when they should have been doing their work and they were horrified to learn that I could understand them! I have been enjoying my Spanish course at Düsseldorf Uni even if it does take me two and half hours to get there. The Spanish it at the right level but I've had some issues when asked to translate it into German - or vice versa. My third language into my second language?? Um, slight problem right there. It has been getting easier but I'm glad I am not trying to pass the course. I bike along to symphonic band every Tuesday night and apart from the fact that I need earplugs to hear myself playing, it is going really well. We have a concert on Sunday for the first of Advent which will hopefully go really well. Choir every Wednesday evening is also great fun and we'll be singing in Christmas markets over the next couple of weeks.

Over the weekend I went down south to visit the Franks. They used to live in Dunedin when I was in year 9 and I practised my German with their toddler. They now have a total of four kids and I had a very intense weekend keeping everyone amused. I hadn't realised how much I missed having little people around although I very nearly went hoarse from book reading! The train ride there was mostly pretty boring but there is one stretch along the Rhine where every corner reveals a castle on a hill. It's like travelling through a fairytale!

Hambacher Schloss

The Franks took me to see their local castles as well which is always a win situation with me. I don't think I'll ever get sick of visiting castles. On Friday we went to the Hambacher Schloss which is where German democracy originated and they have a very good exhibition all about it. Very interactive and we could all get dressed up as well which the kids loved.

The Franks dressing up (Alena, Kilian, Esra, Marit and Pavo)

Castle Trifels from below

On Saturday we went to Castle Trifels which has to be the coolest castle I've been in. It's located in the hills and sits out on a big cliff. For anyone who know what Gondor looks like, it has a jutting out rock formation exactly the same. What was great was that we could explore all over without a guide or anything and you really get the proper feel of being in a castle. Oh, and Richard the Third (the Lionheart) was imprisoned here after his third Crusade. Pretty cool huh? I certainly had a fantastic time!

The throne room

Breslau, Poland

Buildings in the main square

Far out what a full on holiday. School was definitely a shock to the system this morning! On Thursday Manuela and I flew to Breslau, Poland to see Vera. Her friend Ariane and her mum came too and so did family friend Claudia. It was a new experience to be travelling as part of a big group and I found flying with other people way more enjoyable than by myself. my first impressions of Breslau weren't that great and I felt like we'd stepped back into post-WW2 Eastern Bloc. The houses are all grey and run-down and the place just has an un-looked after kind of feel. But the centre city has been beautifully restored and rebuilt and was an incredible place to visit. The other thing about Breslau it that food, accommodation and culture are ridiculously cheap. We stayed in an awesome apartment in the middle of town and payed less than half what we would in Germany.

Our first day we checked out the main square in the evening we went to a Bach concert. Sadly the Bach was pretty average (very poor choice of pieces) but the random Polish composer was worth going for. The next day was All Hallows and a national holiday so nearly everything was shut and the entire Polish population in church services or visiting graveyards. We strolled around the Cathedral island, saw where Vera is studying and living, looked at more churches (it's incredible how many churches there are in one place) and waited until evening. Then we also visited the main Breslau cemetery which is HUGE. We seriously walked around it for over an hour and a half. But every grave had massive bunches of flowers and coloured lanterns so that the place looked incredible in the dark. There were families out with their kids, couples, widowers, friends, all visiting family graves. Definitely something I hadn't ever seen before.

Breslau from the Elizabeth church

Saturday it rained so we slept in a bit and then visited the main Uni which had some amazing rooms that have all been restored after the war. Breslau has around 135,000 students over 30 universities and students come from all over Europe to study there. We also climbed the Elizabeth Church tower to get a view over the city. 300 and something steps and my legs were like jelly by the time I got back down. My physio would be happy! Claudia and I had a look around the city hall which is one of the oldest in Europe and then we all went to a cafe in the evening. I had a mint hot chocolate which was literally just melted chocolate with a mint syrup.

I could nearly stand my spoon up in it! Very yummy but a lot of sugar and I didn't feel like moving afterwards. We flew back to Frankfurt early Sunday and I came home rather exhausted. Thankfully school wasn't too strenuous and it was nice to be back in the classrooms. I hope everyone at home is enjoying spring and the students are looking forward to freedom at last!

Ritchie with some of the gnome statues which are all over the city. I have no idea why they are there!

Class trip and Kiel

Polar bears but sadly no ice...

Hedwig!

It's been a busy two weeks but I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. Last Monday I went with 3 year 7 classes to Bremerhaven for the week. It was definitely interesting to be on the other side of a class trip! The bus trip there was VERY loud and the kids were very happy to finally arrive after about 6 hours underway. The weather was average but we still had a great time in the really cool museums. I found the shipping museum very interesting but I suspect the kids were not so enthused. However, the German Immigration House was very well put together. Everyone received a passport and then we immigrated. They had built a wharf where we learnt about why people left and where they were going and then we boarded the ship. Inside they had built three replica cabins showing how the ships had evolved over time from the sailing ships through to modern day cruise liners. We then left the ship and could watch films about Germans in other countries. Then we immigrated back to Germany! Definitely a great experience and interesting to learn about.

In Samoa

We also spent 4 hours in the Climate Change museum which has to be the best museum I've ever been to (including Te Papa). The first part was a special exhibition about the dinosaurs with life-size plastic models and also live animals like snakes, crocodiles, turtles, lizards etc. No tuataras though! Then you go on a world journey. Bremerhaven is at 8degrees East longitude and they take you through all the other countries that are on the same line of longitude. Each place is built to look like somewhere in that country and is the same temperature as well. There are videos, listening stations, pictures, info sheets in each country and you learn about a family there. They tell you all about the climate in their country and how climate change is affecting them.

 Very amazing to walk through, though the 48 degree temperature was not to my liking. Thankfully Antarctica came next so I cooled down there. The third part is more scientific and explains all about climate in the past, present and future and the final part is all about how we can change our lives to be more environmentally friendly. Overall a fantastic place to go and very thought-provoking. We also went out on the mudflats, on a harbour boat-tour and visited the zoo. I didn't get a huge amount of sleep as we had to keep on getting up to deal with kids but a very fun week!

Exploring the mudflats. NOTE: in bare feet! Freezing

Ritchie and I on the ferry

The canal

Wiebke

On Friday I caught the train to Kiel to see an old friend who was in NZ for a year. Wiebke is studying medicine there but had only just started the Uni semester so had time for me too. It was really nice to be by the sea and one day we took a ferry out to one of the beaches. But on the way our motor broke and we spent half an hour or more bobbing around in the shipping channel until we could be towed to the right place! We also visited Hamburg one afternoon and the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal which connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea and is the busiest man-made canal in the world. I also got to do lots of sleeping and lazying around which was awesome too.

Kiel harbour

Stormy sunset

Oktoberfest

It's been a mixed week at school with some classes being totally boring and some being full-on work. My year 12 extension class were very hard work and I think some silly games are in order to lose some of their fear. They were definitely not keen to participate in a discussion and I found it very frustrating to ask a question and be greeted by 15 blank faces. But a challenge is always fun so hopefully I can find some way to bring them out of their shells. On Wednesday the teacher I was with told me, on the way to class, that I had half the year 9 class for the next two hours. Thanks for the heads up! "Just get them talking" she said. Out came the youth group games and drama exercises, tweaked a little and actually the whole thing went pretty well. The kids seemed to have fun and wanted to know when they were next with me. These are the kind of experiences that remind me why I'm here and why I want to be a teacher. Because it's so satisfying to see students enjoying a lesson and learning something useful!

Last night was our local Oktoberfest. I went with Ute and some of her friends and had a rather interesting evening. Getting dressed up in our dirndls was a whole lot of fun but the actual party was average. SO many people packed into a large tent, very loud music combined with everyone having shouted conversations and beer everywhere. The floor was sticky with it and there were beer glasses and broken glass all over the place. A serious danger was having someone tip their beer all over you because there was simply no room to move! We ate hot chips, checked out everyone else's dirndls, danced a bit and then I came home at 1am. It was cool to go and see but probably not something I would do again.

Ute, Maria and I ready to go

This week I head off to Bremerhaven with the year 7 classes and then it's school holidays. Hard to believe I know and I certainly don't feel like I've done enough work to deserve a break so soon. However, I'm not complaining and am going to enjoy visiting friends and seeing some more of Germany!

Prussia Day

First of all, the really terrible news. Some of you will know that during the weekend my cat Laptop had to be put down. He developed a fast growing tumour in his mouth that couldn't be operated on so the best thing was to let him go. Probably the worst email I've ever woken up to. Saying goodbye on Skype was really difficult and not being able to mourn with the rest of the family has been hard. Thankfully, he was old and had a wonderful life and will always be here in my heart.

The military band 

On a more positive note, the rest of the weekend was a lot of fun. Manuela and I drove to Koblenz where Siegfried works and spent the afternoon walking around the Altstadt (old city) and I bought a dirndl! Next weekend is Oktoberfest in our area so I''m going with my younger host-sister Ute and her friends. Should be interesting and everyone knows I can't pass up the opportunity to buy a pretty dress. Pictures will follow. In the evening we drove up to the old Roman fort where they were holding the Prussia Day celebrations. I have no idea why they do this but I'm not complaining. We had a stunning view over the city as the sun went down and then listened to the military band by firelight.

With the Kaiser (guy wearing what looks like a lampshade)

On Sunday we took the gondola back up to the fort and watched the fashion show. Not your normal fashion but a walk through the last 200 years or so of clothes. Some rather crazy outfits and some crazy people to go with them but a lot of fun to watch. I had a go on some of the old bikes and hammered away at the blacksmith as well. Later, we were "attacked" by the "enemy" and so they fired all the cannons which was very loud and very awesome! It was interesting to wander around the fort as it is largely intact even if you aren't allowed inside most of it. Very impressive and you can tell that it is built to be a death trap for any enemy who made it past the curtain wall.

Ritchie liked the cannons

Looking down from the top of the fort

Learning how to ride this bike was not as easy as it looked!

Prepare to fire...

Back to school again today and I taught my year 12s by myself! I thought it went pretty well although I came out feeling like I had no idea what we were going to do for the rest of the year. But on the bus home my head began to swirl with ideas so I guess it will go just fine!

Tradition, Teaching, Technology

It seems that new village traditions pop up every couple of weeks here! Last week we had the farmers market where Ritchie was fascinated by the tractors (old and new) and I was more interested in the horses. Very cool to see some of the huge, expensive farm equipment as people prepare to harvest the corn soon. Also, since it's autumn, everyone now has pumpkins outside their doors. Why not I guess? Definitely some strange varieties of pumpkins around and none seem to look like the ones we have at home...


Manuela and I have been trying a different church each week and so far I haven't found anywhere I like. It seems that the most modern thing churches here have done in the last 100 years is to say mass in English instead of Latin. But hopefully I will eventually find somewhere. I'm also nearly registered as a student at Düsseldorf Uni so maybe there will be a Christian group there I can connect with.

Teaching is in it's second week and I am more than ready to start doing stuff. Just sitting in class watching has got rapidly very boring and I'm looking forward to being the real thing next week. Looks like Drama won't be happening as organising it got too complicated and I'll be running conversation classes for teachers instead. Got to admit I'd rather be doing the Drama! I missed my bus this morning by about 10 seconds and the only option for getting there on time was to bike. Now, we are all aware that I haven't been able to much exercise for the last year because of the knee so this was a bit of nightmare. Plus I think the 8km to school is probably the furthest I've biked ever. In my life. AND, school is at the top of the only hill for miles around. Typical huh? But I managed it and apart from the sore muscles thought it was quite a nice ride. Perhaps I should do it more often...

Probably the thing that has surprised me the most here is the technology. Or rather, the lack of technology in school. So far the music room is the place I've seen a whiteboard, everything else is blackboards and chalk. I think only a few rooms have data projectors and most others have overhead projectors (I'm not sure I even know how to use one of those!). I think there may be one computer room but I haven't been there yet. It means I'm having to review my thinking about lessons and what resources I can use. Not being able to show videos and pictures makes things just that little bit harder.

Training and first day

Ritchie in our hotel room

Maria in der Aue

On Monday I went to a training program at Maria in der Aue, a beautiful hotel near Köln. I was surprised to meet over 140 other English assistants and they were only for 3 of Germany's regions. Apparently there are over 900 foreign language assistants in Germany at the moment! Most of the people in my course were from the UK and Ireland although there were 5 other Kiwis and one lone Australian. They did a lot of explaining of all the paperwork we have to do (German bureaucracy huh?) and then attempted to tell us enough about teaching to get us through the next 9 months. I am SO glad that I know a bit about this already. I can't imagine what it would be like going into a school with only a day and a half of training. I personally didn't learn much but I guess that's a good thing. I did meet a lovely Irish girl and some of the people who are living near me.

Climbing in a sports store in Köln

Yesterday was my first day at school and it was definitely a bit overwhelming. The school has 1300 kids between the age of 10 and 19 but it looks like I'll be mostly working with the older kids. My mentor teacher seems really nice and so was everyone else I met. Every time I was introduced to a class they were told that I speak no German, therefore they have to speak English! Pretty funny trying to pretend that I had no idea what was going on. The scary bit is that they want me to take classes on my own. Technically this is not allowed but they think I'll be fine with just 13 kids. It's definitely daunting to think that I'm going to have be organising my own lessons by myself right from the start but at least they mainly want me to do speaking practice. So no difficult grammar lessons. I've also been asked to start a Drama club with the younger kids - again by myself. These kids don't speak a lot of English so that will be interesting to see how it goes. I've been given my keys and told that I am under no circumstances to lose the keys! Would be just my luck to be the one that means all the locks in the school have to be changed.

I believe I shall be the first person to send in an insurance claim. Had to go to the doctor yesterday with nasty itchy bites. Apparently they aren't from a mosquito but some other bug with a nasty poison that they've been having problems with this summer. Basically just have to wait for my immune system to sort it out and try not to itch it in the meantime. The bites are also very sore so a bit unpleasant.

Overall it looks like school is a welcoming and nice place to be. Yes, it's scary to start off with but I hope that it will get easier and I can fall into a routine quickly.

At St Martin church in Köln

Arrived!

Just a quick post to let everyone know I've arrived safely. Flight from Auckland was bumpy all the way to LA but I managed to sleep for 4 hours. Lufthansa was better than I was expecting and I spent 11 hours watching movies! It is HOT here, 31 degrees in Frankfurt when I arrived. Thankfully my train was easy to catch and my host-mum Manuela met me Köln. Then it was about 40 minutes in the car home. I went to bed pretty early and have slept really well. Another hot day and I've just been unpacking and lazing around. The German is going all right although there is definitely a bad smattering of Spanish in there! Manuela is forever saying "ah Anna, Spanish I think." Oops. But I'll get there!

Here we are with the Southern Man at Dunedin Airport

And Ritchie getting used to our new room