Home.......t-minus one week.

Well, it's definitely been a long time since I posted anything, and a lot of stuff has happened.

Most importantly.....I will be home in one week!

I have literally never been so excited about anything in my life, can't wait to see my family and friends of both the mancunian and brummie persuasion.

So, going back a few weeks.........

Emily's housewarming........epic. Lots of drunken fun had by all, don't really need to say much else about it I suppose. Following this, I decided to go and visit miss Gravy Bates in Muenster, thinking we'd watch a film, have an early night. Nope. Drank nearly a full bottle of vodka and ended up at a nightclub, getting in at half 5......the spontaneous nights out are the best ones.

Somewhere along the line managed to get myself bronchitis. Cue me, at home, doing nothing for 2 weeks ......so einsam!

Missed out on bloody bierbike in Muenster. Stayed at Gravy's that night and she went out and left me by myself, getting in at 10 past 7. Hardcore.

I seriously haven't seen the group as hungover as I did that Sunday, Ciaran gets the prize though for disappearing, wandering down the autobahn and going back to Dortmund (via Essen) without telling anyone. Inexplicable bruises all over the shop.

Stuttgart......

After going mental in my flat for so long, was very nice to get away from Remscheid and give Baden-Wuerttemburg a visit, for one night anyway. It's a really beautiful place, and the Christmas markets were great. Bit too much Gluehwein consumed by all I think. The people however, were incredibly unfriendly, even by German standards.

Lots of drinking games at the hostel were followed by another unexpected night out at a club called climax (although not before me and Emily went to the wrong place) ....... lots of dancing, jaegerbombs and shots led to us getting about 4 hours sleep, and feeling so rough the day after that we went to the cinema and watched 'Zweiohrkueken' just so we could sit down and get away from the daylight. Didn't explore Stuttgart at all really. Well worth it :).

Straight after Stuttgart came chocolate workshop.......

half the group ventured into the 'Scheid with me to make chocolates with Nathalie, who apparently does it a few times a year leading up to Christmas. Little did we know that it would take 10 hours. I really never thought I'd say the phrase 'I'm fed up of chocolate'. but by god I really was.

and this weekend..........Weihnachtsparty!

well, in honour of Christmas and it being the last weekend the group would spend together this year, costumes were introduced.

Nana started it by deciding to be a Christmas tree, followed by Emily and Bethan deciding to be presents and Ciaran buying a Santa outfit. We spent the whole day looking for a Scrooge outfit for me, but sadly couldn't find anything..... schade. Would have been perfect too.

Ciaran also made my year by letting me paint his nails bright red. love you Ciaran, really :).

Yeah needless to say, drunkenness followed. We decided it would be a good idea to sing Oasis to the German people in the room, of course leading to me expressing just how proud I am to be a Mancunian and the usual Yorkshire vs Lancashire debate, which Lancashire wins of course, every time :).

So as I keep mentioning at every opportunity I'm so looking forward to getting home. I really have got so much to look forward to, including seeing everyone, Christmas, Ayesha and Darren's wedding, New Year's eve, Imogen Heap in concert (twice, most likely) and another 6 months in Germany.

As is my favourite phrase at the moment......I really am living and breathing year abroad 09/10 xxxx

Schule.....Soest.....Studienkompaktkurs.

I actually can't believe how quickly time is passing.

I've been pretty busy in the last few weeks. Been much more active at school, but getting to have my own lesson on film/camera techniques this week, which is pretty nerve wracking, especially since it's with the less-than-enthusiastic year 12 Leistungskurs. It's also a bit strange since it's something I had a few lessons on myself just last year at uni.

Me and team fabelhaft went to Movie Park in Bottrop on Halloween. They had lots of actors just wandering around scaring everyone which was a really great effect. They also had one of those actor-filled haunted houses, which we all went into holding hands. Fairly sure the actors were all

picking on Beth though, poor thing :) .

We also managed to get in to see Shrek 4D. In Dutch. Sad thing was, we'd literally just missed the Englis

h one too. Getting home was a bit of a drama, but all in all a good day.

We also managed to get to Soest for the 'biggest funfair in Europe'. Great fun, so much food

mixed with Gluehwein and rides. Rides being the worst ghost house ever created and the most unpleasant ride I've ever experienced in

my life. The other guys also went on this ridiculously high chair swing and an intense looking thing that swung really high upside down, on which Martin looked a bit afraid.

So last week all of the assistants from the Bezirksregierung Duesseldorf and Detmold met for a 'Studienkompaktkurs'. It was basically 3 days of boring excursions, the idea being to educate us all about the Ruhrgebiet. The whole thing was compulsory, meaning that everyone was even less enthused. We visited the Landtag in Duesseldorf, Bergbau Museum in Bochum, Gasometer in Oberhausen and Landschaftspark in Duisberg. All in all the whole thing was incredibly dull, but I did get to meet some awesome new people.

Poor Nadia was feeling pretty ill the entire time, and ended up going to Hospital with Sammi on Thursday night, shame that the people running the entire thing didn't exactly jump up to help. They were left attempting to explain to German doctors what was wrong, making the whole experience much more stressful I imagine, not cricket really. But I hope that you're feeling better Nadia....don't let that certain German person grind you down.

Almost had another encounter with my favourite french teacher at school. I'm sitting, minding my own business on the computer, making a couple of notes about potential project subjects. She suddenly pipes up to another teacher across the room saying 'you know, it's 2 days in a row now that someone's been so inconsiderate and sat at the computer making notes in front of it. Do you think it's acceptable that they've been doing that? How inconsiderate.'

Maybe she thinks I don't understand German or is just intent on being an idiot every time I'm around, but I genuinely pity her. It's hardly my fault she's so miserable in her job that she has to pick on the youngest person in the room. However, one more word from her in my direction and I think i'll have to tell my mentor. Last thing I need is some middle aged woman giving me trouble on a regular basis.

I've officially turned my brain towards coming home for Christmas now, I'm so excited about seeing everyone, and it's only 5 weeks away :) :) :)

Doesn't time fly?

Well that's it, the holidays are over already!

I'm being taken back to my teen years with the overwhelming thoughts of 'not wanting to go back to school on Monday'

Overall the holidays have been really good.

went shopping in Essen with Gravy, wandering in Duesseldorf with Fraser and also had a visit from my dad and sister.....during which we went to Wuppertal Zoo, got lost in Duesseldorf and went to Koeln, tonnes of fun :). Dad and Jen also came bearing lots of gifts, including a huge bar of dairy milk - i'm definitely all about the glass and a half situation.

Picking them up from Duesseldorf airport was interesting to start with, after getting kicked off the S-bahn at Duesseldorf Hbf because there was a bomb deactivation going on somewhere between Duesseldorf and Duisberg, meaning I got stuck at the Hbf while they were stuck at the airport. Never a dull moment, I of course found them sitting in the bar at Terminal C arrivals having a drink and watching the football....

Finally managed to get enrolled at Wuppertal Uni....after paying 100 euros for the privilege. Then, it turns out I'm only allowed to go to certain lectures - there's a choice of about 15 different lectures, most of which are based on History. exciting.

I am, despite this, very pleased with the success, because it really became something I was determined to see through to the end. I also found the look of sheer disdain on the woman's face when she had to enrol me hugely amusing.

Frau Kremendahl 0 - 1 Me :)

I've been thinking an awful lot about my year abroad project this week too, I would like to have a good idea on what i'm going to do some time in the near future. The plan is, to be organised with the whole thing in the hope that it gets me good marks. I'd really like it if this year the German department didn't think I was a student with poor referencing and a 'hazy command of English', to quote some of my previous essay feedback. Whether or not I get past the thinking stage in the next month remains to be seen....hopefully going to some lectures will help me figure it out.

So on the whole, I'm feeling a lot more settled. I realised the best thing to do is be more assertive and try not to get worked up by the various things I would consider to be 'rude' or 'abrasive'. The absolute solution to being stared at is to stare back, they soon look away :)

Freedom!

.....well for 2 weeks, anyway.

So things are going significantly better these days, I'm definitely more settled in and actually starting to feel like I'm part of the staff at school, but even better than that, Autumn holidays mean I've got 2 weeks off!

So I went to Wuppertal zoo on Monday, that was great fun. Anyone who visits me should probably expect to go there, because I like it so much :). I also got to ride on the Schwebebahn...which is apparently unique in the world. It's like a monorail that hangs from the rail rather than sits on top of it. It swings from side to side as it goes, doesn't feel all that safe. Didn't do my sea legs any good either.

I've also discovered I'm really fond of the year 5 classes.....10 year olds are much friendlier than the older kids, even if they're too shy to speak English. I also got to have a class to myself on Wednesday (year 8) and they were actually really good for me. Despite being a foundation course they've really surprised me with the level of English they can come up with, I've realised that it's my job now to build their confidence.

Herr Taeger, who is responsible for international projects has also asked me to help with the Comenius International project, which is a group of the best students from the 9th and 10th classes. I'm just hoping I get to go on the trip with them, it's looking like they're going to Majorca :). I've also decided to observe some German and French classes on top of my English ones, figure I can get some more teaching tips that way.

So the plan for the holidays so far is just to see as much of Northrhine Westfalia as possible.....Muenster this weekend, then Koeln, Aachen, Essen, Duesseldorf and maybe even Steinfurt ;). Nathalie and I have also decided to go to Holland for the day at some point as well.

Dad and Jen are heading over on the 19th too....fabelhaft! Looking forward to seeing you guys.

I still haven't managed to sign up at the Uni in Wuppertal, I'm thinking I may have to write it off as a bad job, take it that it just wasn't meant to be. Shame though, would have definitely been nice to get that Semesterticket, see some lectures and meet some people. Other than that I suppose my only other option is to head for Cologne, one the one hand it's a bit of a pain to get to, but on the other I really really do want to do it.

I really am starting to miss people now though....... all the guys from manc, and a few from brum, too. :) xxxx

Iceland were right......

..........Mums are heroes.

I had a fab weekend, got to see duesseldorf, koeln and remscheid and show mum around. She also brought my birthday gifts from the family (thanks guys they're all brill) and some jelly tots as well :). I'm so glad she came out to see me, I really don't feel half as homesick now and went into school today smiling and thinking 'monday is the start of a new week'.

Thanks for coming out mum, made me feel tonnes better :) x.

Nathalie, who is a student teacher of English and German at school also baked a couple of cakes for me and brought them into the staff room for everyone to share. She bought me a book called 'Immer dieser Michel' by Astrid Lindgren, who is supposed to be a really well known children's author, thought that was really nice of her.

The other language assistant also arrived at school today, she's called Duygu and comes from Turkey. She doesn't speak any German. She's already ridiculously upset and homesick and apparently spent most of the weekend crying on the phone to her dad. I feel really bad for her, considering how difficult I've found my first few weeks and I can get by speaking the lingo to ze Germans.

Me and Nathalie have also been to see 'Oben' (or 'Up') tonight, it's brilliant! I really enjoyed it even though there were bits of speech I didn't understand (thanks to them trying to fit the german with the characters mouths, therefore making it lightspeed in some places). The story is really sweet and there are some really funny moments.

So all in all, I've had a really good birthday weekend. Thanks everyone for the birthday messages and gifts. Getting some visitors next weekend to celebrate my birthday some more, although apparently there's nowhere to go in the 'Scheid, so it's looking a bit like we'll have to go to wuppertal. I'm sure that wherever we end up it's going to be a fab weekend :) x x x

The Honeymoon's over, it seems.

Truth is, this week's been so difficult!

Homesickness has officially set in, I find myself thinking 'I'm so sick of Germans' and also thinking of how much easier situations would be if I could just speak English!

On Monday I went to Wuppertal Uni to register, only to get fobbed off by the (very rude) woman, who simply said 'I don't know why you're here, I can't help you'. Cheers Love.

For some reason they don't seem all too happy about there being a person wanting to do lectures without getting credits in return, somehow other Unis in the area seem to have the idea, Dortmund ,Duesseldorf, Koeln.

After spending all of Monday frustrated and upset, I also found this week that even really tiny stupid things have the potential to annoy me, makes me very pleasant to be around :).

Today a teacher fell out with me in a rather serious way because I used her tip-ex without asking.

In the staff room at school there's bits of stationary in little pots everywhere, which I honestly thought were for the staff, in general. Anyway this woman sits and watches me take it, and use it without saying a word. I go off to photocopy something, come back and she was stood, ready and raring holding her tip-ex. She then proceeded to make a scene, in front of the entire teaching staff in the room. 'This is mine and you just took it. Then I have to get up and put it back myself' (for the record I left it on the table with the intention of returning it to it's place once I had returned from the photocopier)

The question I ask here, is why watch someone take your stuff and use it, before saying anything? and why make a massive scene? All she needed to do when I picked it up was say 'oh, that's mine' and I would have apologised and put it back. She basically made me look a sodding idiot in front of everyone. How German of her.

Anyway on the upside, it's my birthday on Sunday. and mum's coming to visit, I'm so excited to see her, not only because I'm super homesick, but also because she comes bearing gifts :). We're going to see Duesseldorf, Koeln and Remscheid in all it's glory this weekend, Deutsche Bahn's definitely getting some cash out of me this weekend.

Oh and on a random note, aspirin is only available at the chemist and costs 5.20 Euros! this is something you can get in Asda for 13p.

God I miss Asda. and orange cordial.

F is for Fabelhaft....

So here it is. I have a blog, because I just have so many things I need to share.

It's been just over two weeks in the old Deutschland and so far so good.

Spent the weekend in Dortmund, had a top laugh with the guys getting ridiculously sweaty in a nightclub that was about a million degrees, plenty of swift dance moves and laughter, which is the standard now for our group when we meet.

It can't be helped though, what with all the alter egos, robot dance moves and songs. (Beef and Gravy will be on a music channel near you very soon).

Things at school have been a little difficult though, my confidence speaking German took a bit of a battering when many people couldn't understand me. It's pretty difficult to feel comfortable when you're not only by yourself but also not being understood by the people around you. I'm also hoping the incessant staring from the students will subside soon.

Today however, Maturnus Honnen (who is now most definitely my favourite teacher) told me that my German is good (including my accent) which has literally done wonders for my mood, and I could speak English at a fairly natural speed to the year 12 class and still have them understand me. If teaching is for me, at the moment I feel like I may have to opt for the older classes.

I've also started my Dutch course, I genuinely struggled for the first hour or so, couldn't remember most of the things I'd learnt but as time went on it all came flooding back and I still love it! Especially the part when the teacher (whose name is Wiesje) said 'We're going to sing a song' and then broke out her guitar for us to sing along to. Awesome.

Though I must admit, I miss classes with Marjolijn.

Speaking of things I miss, care packets containing copious amounts of Jelly Tots would be greatly appreciated. :) xxx