Exam Season has just finished here in Germany. It has been a long time coming for the students, who by the end really just wanted to sit their Exam.
Pre-exam season here is strange. Teachers are asking the students what they want to do. We would never have this in England, we would be told that we had to learn Grammar for the 200th time, and revise topics and stuff..
Im absolutely certain that one class I had, was helped by my idea of forced revision... We watched a movie! :P
Emperor's New Groove!
I was invited to go and see the Exam questions during the exam. This confused me from the off, because teachers are not allowed in out exams in the UK. Here, there are no exam invigilators, the teacher do it. So I guess it must be ok for me!
The English questions were ok. out of the 3, I would have chosen the second set, but there were some that chose other ones too! (great for me, who has to mark some of them - its not as boring! :P)
I walked into the exam, and was baffled totally...
The exams are about 4 hours long- that may be crucial, before we get started!
Each student has their own table.
They all bring their own entire picnic of goodies and things to eat and drink. Cakes, Sweets, Fruit, Coke, Water.. everything.They just sit, do the exam and munch away! IN the UK, we have to take the label off the bottle of water we are allowed!! Here, they just eat!
Second, they are very allowed to get up and strut around the room. They have access to information which is at the front, so they are up, and off to go and have a look! We would be killed for this!
AND - they can go to the toilet alone! we have some creepy 70 year old guy follow us! but these guys here just get up and they are off!!! (so, arrange to meet people! its aparantly, very easy! :P)
Its now Easter Holidays. 2 friends are heading to Germany right now. One comes today and will be here for a fair while, and the other comes on the 4th and is visiting me for a few days! :D I plan to see the other one at some point in May: He is living in Koblenz!
Right. I think its best to do a better one later, when I have more to say!
After Easter! :D
Frankfurt in the Evening
Taken from the boat, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Thursday, 7 March 2013
Time really does only go forward....
Today, I looked in my diary at school.
I do it every day, so that I can write down what I have done with each class and what we are doing next lesson.
I love my diary, it keeps me organised, and it also helps me to remember what I have done whilst I have been here!
It usually brings good news: Things that I look forward to and things that I have thoroughly enjoyed in the months that I have now spend here.
However, today, It only brought bad news..
Its only 2 weeks until Easter. This news is so bad, that the start of the F1 season in 10 days, was scarcely a consolation.
To understand why this is such bad news, you will need to know that my last day at work here in Germany, is the 30th May. This means that from the start of the Easter Holidays, I only have 70 days left in Germany and, due to the holidays, only 41 days left in school, after taking away the weekends and Fridays that I don't work.
It got me thinking. I have spent a long time here, doing a job I really enjoy in a country I will never forget, in a town that will always be special to me and with people that I hope I will never lose contact with.
This kinda makes this the most relevant blog post for anyone who is planning year abroad.
I can remember March last year. I was in Sunderland, going to lectures and trying my best to get as much information as I could about this year abroad.
I can remember even more prominently, June onwards, when I really had to plan this trip. I was stressed out and at one point, simply declared that I wasn't going to do it, specifically using the Facebook status
"This trip to Germany can fuck off now"
As im sure you can guess. I feel pretty stupid for putting that right now.
I began to realise, that Germany has been good to me, and not just from an educational point of view.
Linguistically , it has been amazing. My German has come on 10 fold and I really enjoy speaking German in Germany. Knowing that I rely on it forces me to speak it, because there are times that you simply don't have the option to speak English and THAT is how you learn
In terms of Experience; It really has provided. I have lived by myself now for a fair few months. It is great at times. Peace, quite and the ability to have thing how you want, when you want and what you want is great. It gives some freedom in the sense that there is no one here to moan If I don't tidy up, forget to turn the light off, or don't put my mug in the wash. I have learned to manage without an Oven, and with only basic cooking utensils and managing a budget for food and I have very much learnt to manage money for my rent.
The negative side to this , is that living alone is precisely that. Alone. The silence is, at times, unbearable and I really feel for my best mate at home who can, at times be relentlessly pestered by me - apologies mate!
but i suppose it brings out the creativity in you! its amazing how exciting German grammar can be when you are bored!
Aside from that, this year has pretty much set my future in stone. I now cannot wait to be a teacher, and the experience I have gained will be invaluable when applying for my PGCE. I love this job. yes, i moan at times about the early mornings and suchlike... but I think ill find, that its what 'working' is all about!!
And then, there is the.. well... its kinda.. basically,
Its everything I have seen, Everything I have done, Everything I have heard, Everything I have tasted, Everything I have felt and Everything I have said.. Germany has really provided this year, and im sure that the last 70 days will keep on giving it. Nothing will rival this, and it have been made all the more special when I think that I was about to give up on it a few weeks before I came here.
Above all, the people here that I have met, whether teacher, Student, fellow Fremdsprachenassistent or just that man that says hello to me every single morning - they have made it for me..
Im not going to say my thank-yous yet. I do still have a few weeks left, but looking through that diary today has really been a hit home.
If you are a Language student, im sure that you can see how fantastic a year abroad can be. The last few posts I put on here will be the ones for you guys.. as well as the usual antics! :P
I do it every day, so that I can write down what I have done with each class and what we are doing next lesson.
I love my diary, it keeps me organised, and it also helps me to remember what I have done whilst I have been here!
It usually brings good news: Things that I look forward to and things that I have thoroughly enjoyed in the months that I have now spend here.
However, today, It only brought bad news..
Its only 2 weeks until Easter. This news is so bad, that the start of the F1 season in 10 days, was scarcely a consolation.
To understand why this is such bad news, you will need to know that my last day at work here in Germany, is the 30th May. This means that from the start of the Easter Holidays, I only have 70 days left in Germany and, due to the holidays, only 41 days left in school, after taking away the weekends and Fridays that I don't work.
It got me thinking. I have spent a long time here, doing a job I really enjoy in a country I will never forget, in a town that will always be special to me and with people that I hope I will never lose contact with.
This kinda makes this the most relevant blog post for anyone who is planning year abroad.
I can remember March last year. I was in Sunderland, going to lectures and trying my best to get as much information as I could about this year abroad.
I can remember even more prominently, June onwards, when I really had to plan this trip. I was stressed out and at one point, simply declared that I wasn't going to do it, specifically using the Facebook status
"This trip to Germany can fuck off now"
As im sure you can guess. I feel pretty stupid for putting that right now.
I began to realise, that Germany has been good to me, and not just from an educational point of view.
Linguistically , it has been amazing. My German has come on 10 fold and I really enjoy speaking German in Germany. Knowing that I rely on it forces me to speak it, because there are times that you simply don't have the option to speak English and THAT is how you learn
In terms of Experience; It really has provided. I have lived by myself now for a fair few months. It is great at times. Peace, quite and the ability to have thing how you want, when you want and what you want is great. It gives some freedom in the sense that there is no one here to moan If I don't tidy up, forget to turn the light off, or don't put my mug in the wash. I have learned to manage without an Oven, and with only basic cooking utensils and managing a budget for food and I have very much learnt to manage money for my rent.
The negative side to this , is that living alone is precisely that. Alone. The silence is, at times, unbearable and I really feel for my best mate at home who can, at times be relentlessly pestered by me - apologies mate!
but i suppose it brings out the creativity in you! its amazing how exciting German grammar can be when you are bored!
Aside from that, this year has pretty much set my future in stone. I now cannot wait to be a teacher, and the experience I have gained will be invaluable when applying for my PGCE. I love this job. yes, i moan at times about the early mornings and suchlike... but I think ill find, that its what 'working' is all about!!
And then, there is the.. well... its kinda.. basically,
Its everything I have seen, Everything I have done, Everything I have heard, Everything I have tasted, Everything I have felt and Everything I have said.. Germany has really provided this year, and im sure that the last 70 days will keep on giving it. Nothing will rival this, and it have been made all the more special when I think that I was about to give up on it a few weeks before I came here.
Above all, the people here that I have met, whether teacher, Student, fellow Fremdsprachenassistent or just that man that says hello to me every single morning - they have made it for me..
Im not going to say my thank-yous yet. I do still have a few weeks left, but looking through that diary today has really been a hit home.
If you are a Language student, im sure that you can see how fantastic a year abroad can be. The last few posts I put on here will be the ones for you guys.. as well as the usual antics! :P
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