A week of Expereinces

Before I Start, I would like to say Hello to the lovely students of mine that read this !!   HI! :D
Anyway...
Nearly a week an a half ago days ago, on Thursday 1st November, I was on my was to Frankfurt Airport to pick up a friend who was arriving from England.  I got their pretty much as his flight took off, so I had a fair while to wait whilst I was waiting for him to arrive.

His flight was on the board.. but the 2 hour flight from Heathrow seemed to be taking a long time!

I had a few beers, a coffee, a sandwich and still had about an hour left to wait. But then, at that moment - it got much more exciting, with the arrival of a coach load of Police.

Yes, a coach dropped them off. blue lights, sirens and a whole heap of noise. But they got off calmly, more like a load of pensioners at Llandudno and then walked into the terminal.

They walked in  line, to a part of the terminal, turned around and then one police officer (with 3 start on his shoulder) Shouted "ladies and gentlemen, please leave the building immediately"  (but in German first)

there was a pause.. people who were waiting for friends, loved ones or colleges just ..stared...  and questioned..  I half expected a man to appear from nowhere with the phrase "yeah, right!"

The policeman rolled his eyes, and with the look of a guy about to give up yelled (in very clear English)
"There could be a bomb, get out!"

The Cordon

People understood that!  but this is Germany.. there was no running, screaming or tripping over, no crying children that had been separated from their mother - NO. Everyone, as if they were now walking to the shops shrugged their shoulders and began to walk silently away from the cordoned off area. The shops along the side of the airport started to roll their shutters down and we were out of the 'effected area' within seconds.

There was of course the odd person who argued the case, but the police soon taught them the meaning of the words "bomb scare" and soon 'assisted' them into the safe area!

We stood, watched and waited...  no news was coming through, no radio communications from the police, just about 400 sets of eyes watching to see what was going to happen

What  did happen?

A thumb up...

The airport was open again..   and that was it ..   after 15 minutes of a scene that would only be in the 'deleted scenes' of an action movie, everything was back to normal in seconds.

This happened twice. The second time, was conveniently as my friend was coming through the arrival gate:

"Welcome to Germany: We have a Bomb scare"

Anyway, I picked him up, we headed to the trains, and to be fair - it was like the last time we had seen each other was yesterday...

There was a race on (so I thought) to catch the last train from Frankfurt to Schlüchtern - as I was not willing to spend a night in a shitty hotel in Frankfurt..  anyway, it turns out that we had enough time to get a Mcdonalds! Win!

Friday (so exactly a week ago) we went to Frankfurt.  This was odd..   Not for any other reason, but that for all the touristy things I had been doing not 6 weeks ago, I was now the tour guide to a bloke who had never set foot in Germany...

We did the typical...
Main Tower

Town Hall

The boat ride was not running, annoying - because if you have read my previous blogs, you will know how much I liked it!

Shopped a tad

Food

Sightseeing.

The Daytime Main Tower View - Richtung: Hauptbahnhof

It was a good day - the only slight issue was the weather.  But - as people from the UK, we could manage a bit of crappy weather! It was howevera goo day.With another citizen of the UK being won over by Germany. I was pleased that my freind felt this way!

Throughout the previous week however, My little hometown was being destroyed by Pikeys, turning up with their funfairs and sweet-selling stalls, causing road closures and keeping the shops open late. But, at the same time.. they were creating one of the biggest events in Schlüchtern's Year

Kaltermarkt.

Basically, the cold market - and I wouldn't call it a market, but the chance to eat every possible food going, get hammered and then throw it up on the fair!

Still. It turns Schlüchtern into a nice place, with all the lights, sounds and smells of a typical market!

Kaltermarkt in the dark

Kaltermarkt

The Fair at Kaltermarkt

Me and my Friend went on the Saturday. 

Well, it was pretty good!  When I say "pretty good" , I mean i liked it - but im conscious that for those who go every year, its just the same thing.. over and over again...

Well, my friend speaks no German - he can say a few words, but only because I forced him to! so we were sampling the wears of the market, everything from the food, to the beer to to chocolate! We met up with 2 colleges  and had a chat etc etc  and it was all very enjoyable!

I am an Air rifle instructor. I earned this title about a year and a half ago. So I am now pretty well practiced.

There was, at the fair, an air rifle stand, and of course, I wanted a go.

I had 61 shots over the weekend..  I hit all of them... accept 1.  I was gutted! (and still am, as my mate will tell you!)  But, never the less - I won some Fish (they are stuffed ones, not real ones!)  At the bottom is a video of me hitting 15 of the targets...

Me on the rifle range!

Fireworks

So much so that we ended up going on Sunday too! Sunday had a slight difference, however - which was the firework display! 

The kaltermarkt was handy..  especially because we could go at any time. This meant that we could watch the Formula 1 too! :D 

Anyway, all too soon, Monday came around, and it was the day when I had to take my friend back to the airport...

It took the usual amount of time and I saw him off (more to make sure he had gone! :P) and got home at the ripe old time of 3PM, where I bumped into some of the teachers from the school

I ended up in the Handball tent.. downing pints of beer...  

and that..  is what I remember of Kaltermarkt..

Anyway, a week past at work, as per..   On tuesday, I inadvertently managed to accept an invitation to a 'class meeting'.  Again, Germans know the meaning of a "meeting"

We has steak. Argentinian, to be exact  and it was big enough to hang off the plate!  Cooked to perfection "englisch"style (or Medium rare to english folk) it was awesome. The chips and everything were bliss!
I had:
A steak that hung off the plate
A huge pile of chips
Salad
2 Beers

Total:  €16.80...
BOOM!   Germans can do steak too,it seems!


Now, though Friday's steak adventure was great, and Saturday was a (well needed, though I say so myself) rest. Sunday was a day of peculiarity.

Sunday was 11\11\12 - or Remembrance Day in the UK

As a Scout, I have spent the last 15 years getting up early, ironing my trousers and my shirt, and heading out to church.
This was not the case.
Germans do have a day of remembered, but its in March, as is not on the scale that it is in the UK.

I had to remember the time difference, so actually  my 2 minutes were going to happen at 12 which was the first odd thing. But the second was when I actually did the silence.

I had the TV off..   But I could here:

- Next doors TV

- a car alarm

- people talking walking the dog

- Police sirens

- a man on the phone

- someone coming up the stairs

Though I am fully aware that it is not the day Germany has set aside for this event, It was very strange, realising that a whole country, frozen for 2 minutes of reflection, with people pulling over in cars, people standing up from a seated position, and hundreds of war veterans from every generation were standing, paused in thought, whereas the other - went about its business ..

I don't really know my true feelings .. I guess that Germany's view on the whole period is different to the UK's.. but I cant get my head around it...  and .. somehow   don't think I ever will..

On a different note: My time here.

- I am beginning to 'gear up' for the wind down to Christmas. Though it pains me to say that word in November!

I see statuses on Facebook and Twitter about Christmas songs and the Coke advert and Im kinda glad that Germany's attitude isn't so materialistic, so we don't have a toys'R'us advert every 2 minutes, or the next cheap wifey offering me some shite that Iceland are selling..

What I am realising, is that 80 days ago today, I was spending my last night in an English bed, and that since then I have managed to survive pretty well.

I am in (as near as) full time work here, I have a flat and friends, and most of all,I am doing the job that I want to do in the future.

It has made me realise, that I am absolutely pig sick, of being a student.

Every year, just by signing on to the uni, I spend near enough 4K, and then there is grants and loans as well.  Its not hard work, but at times, it can appear pointless work.
I constantly have to battle with exams and stuff, when here I know that my German has improved, a damn sight faster that it would have done if I have spend the 3 months at uni. Its not free..  But it wont land me in student debt!

Ill be honest, getting back to Sunderland will be bitter-sweet. I like Sunderland  don't get me wrong, but I enjoy working too much to go back to studying. At least it will be my last year before I actually start my full course on teacher stuff. I hope, that by doing the teaching course, I can find some enthusiasm to carry on.

Though oddly, being here has made me realise that I really do waste time in the UK. German can* be learned from a textbook.  What that also means is that , as long as I have the textbook, I can probably use the time in front of the TV to revise grammar.. It takes minutes..   Writing out is a different matter.. but , you don't have to write it out all the time!

*can - one has the ability to - im not commenting on quality,mind

 I am fully aware that I "wont get these years back" and all that Jazz... and I am not going to let all enthusiasm die because I have decided Im fed up of it all...  I just think that when I get back to Sunderland, I need to find a new attitude to it all, especially as it is the final year.

So.. this entry is a mixed basket of Eggs...

nevertheless, Christmas is less than 7 weeks away for me!  Im sure its going to be great fun flying home on the 20th December!  but we shall see!!


below is my Kaltermartk Rifle video....    Enjoy!