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Published: October 8th 2014
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I have now been in Germany for a month. In some ways it feels like it has gone really fast, and in others it feels like I have always been here. Since I last posted on here, I have been up to quite a lot. I've been working at the school now for three weeks or so, and I feel pretty settled in. I have also been out a lot with my host family who are some of the nicest and kindest people I have ever come across. I always feel dirty when I use the phrase 'come across'... I will revise that sentence: they are some of the nicest and kindest people I have ever met. In addition to this, I have been to my first football game (and enjoyed it a lot) and also took in the sights of a
Volksfest- Stuttgart's answer to
Oktoberfest. So read through this post and share my experiences...
OK let me first talk about the school that I am working in. It is a
Grundschule (primary school) and a
Werkrealschule (a form of secondary school) mixed together. All in all, there are forty-something teachers and around five-hundred pupils. It seems
so small in comparison to secondary schools back home, especially my school which had around 1600 pupils in it. However, the
Werkrealschule is considered something like a 'bad' school, because the kids with weak social backgrounds and a lot of migrant children go to these schools. They all leave by the time they are about fifteen or sixteen, and they will then go straight in to work. I don't really like this system very much, because I feel that it makes the kids lack the motivation to go on to further study, but that's my socialist opinion for you.
The school itself is pretty nice (apart from the dangerous cancer-causing material found in the walls this summer which means we have to have the windows open all the time), and the teachers there have really made me feel welcome. Herr. V has done a great job getting me settled in, and there are a lot of other teachers who have helped me out. The students act like I am some kind of celebrity, shaking my hand and shouting "what's up, Mr. Reed?" when I get in to the school. It's all very ego-inflating. I do find it very strange
how different the school is to that of a British school. For example, I often hear the kids saying things like "
scheiße" and have "C*NT" written in big letters on their school folders. Today, a girl actually shouted at a teacher "Hey, what's up n*gger?". I was so taken aback, I nearly fell of my chair. The teacher just replied with "
nichts" (nothing). I think of how much trouble someone would get in to if they said that in a school in England: they would be sent out, parents called and even possibly suspended. Another thing is, the kids just get up and walk around the classroom/walk out the classroom whilst the teacher is talking. It's really weird. They will be halfway through an English lesson and someone will just get up, walk off somewhere and come back a few minutes later. It's really been a hard thing to adjust to, because it is so different. A few times I have shouted at/told students off, and they look at me like 'what the hell are you doing?', and I guess this is because they are not used to it. So I am trying to now adopt this laid-back approach too.
Before I talk about Stuttgart and the Oktoberfest and the football game, I will also now mention a particularly funny James life moment. Before leaving to come here, my German teacher (Hallo Nadine) told us to make sure we say 'yes' to all offers and make as many German friends as possible. So when a very kind elderly gentleman from the school came to me and asked if I wished to join his choir, I said 'yes'... Of course I didn't do that, haha... I actually did. I went home and told my house mate about it, and we had a laugh about me joining a choir, and he said "I hope it's not the gospel choir, as we do actually have one of those." We laughed the night away. So Thursday evening arrived and I was to be picked up at 8pm (late for a choir, I do believe. Not that my knowledge of choir times even exists). We got to the choir, and I thought I would just be watching maybe and join in later if I wanted to. No. Straight away I was doing warm up exercises and stretches getting me ready to sing. I was
then handed a song sheet, and discovered I had actually come to a gospel choir. I won't go in to great detail about it, but it was actually all right. I had quite a good time and the people there were all really kind. However, I feel that they are all too enthusiastic about me being there. Why do I get myself in these situations? It's like in my first year of uni when a friend asked me to go with her to ACS Society, cos her friend had asked her to go with her. I arrived at what neither of us knew was "African and Caribbean Society"... Fifteen or so black girls and me, a white boy. Then they were all confused and were asking me if I was from Africa. Why do I do it?
Stuttgart, anyhow, was great. I went and looked round the beer hall, had something to eat from one of the stands and walked round for a while. It was cool, and everyone was wearing their Lederhosen and traditional Bavarian clothing. I felt a bit left out, and wish I had gone in some now. I went with a friend I had made at the
Fremdsprachassistent training in Cologne, and he had bought the tickets for the football match online. It was my first ever live football game, and here are some things I discovered about live football:
1) There is no match commentary. I didn't realise that it was only on TV that you heard the commentators talking about the football game. I told my house mate's daughter this and she laughed at me.
2) The football players play around on the pitch before the game. I thought this would make them too tired to play later, but they all come out and warm up. This was quite obvious really, and I don't know why it surprised me.
3) When people boo, it's actually them that make that whistling noise. I don't know how they do it, and I thought it was some kind of instrument, but apparently not.
I now feel properly cultured in the art of football. I have seen one game and now I am an expert. I did really enjoy it though, and hopefully I will be able to go again soon, because it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I have attached a few pictures for you to have a glimpse at.
I have done quite a lot with the family I am living with as well. They invite me everywhere they go, offer me food and take me places with their friends. I am really lucky to have found such a nice group to stay with. The dad even washes my delicates for me and leaves them folded nicely outside my door. I have got to where I want to be in life.
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