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