if you weren't already feeling chilly....

You guessed it - fast internet at McDonalds equals uploaded pictures! Below, taken on my birthday, are some chilly photos of my current surroundings. Yes, it's cold...

(and I can't work out how to correct the layout, or add subtitles - oh well, can't have everything I guess! haha)

happy birthday to me

Sooo... on Friday I turned 25. I feel as though I should put 'The Big' in front of that number, as suddenly I feel... older. Every year, on every birthday people ask that ridiculous question - 'do you feel older?' - and for some reason this year I really do. Where on earth does time go? However, if I start getting philisophical I might never get around to writing about the actual event, and will you will probably end up asleep on your desk. So, here goes.

My birthday began at midday on Thursday, when I was in one of my year 9 English classes. I suddenly realised that with the 12-hour time difference it had clicked over to the 26th in NZ, which of course meant it was 'officially' when I was born 25 years previously. Cue Happy Birthday being sung in German, English and Portuguese (yes, I'm not joking) - then an ... interesting ... falsetto duet sung by the teacher and a student. On Thursday evening, my birthday-eve, I was invited to dinner by ze twins plus one - charming! We went to an Italian restaurant with an all-you-can-eat scampy (spelling?) menu. Big shrimps, anyway. I was totally thrilled as behind my family, girls at work and wide open spaces, FISH and seafood is what I miss most about NZ. So, we spent an evening consuming goodness knows how many scampy, washed down with (what else?) German beer and then gelato. Once again I stress, I HAVE to work out some way to import some real Italians to NZ, haha.

On my birthday I woke at 6am to a call from home - cue tears, of course. It's no secret I miss my family more than anything, and speaking to them was really special. I spent some time opening my birthday cards and post (the postman must've been slightly perplexed this week - I've had a bumper post week - THANK YOU ALL! :) ... then it was off to school. The walk to school was fantastic. The day before the marketplace had been decorated with lights and the MASSIVE Christmas tree put into place. It was FREEZING, dark and there was even some snow around. 'Magical' would be a good word.

The highpoint of the day was in my politics class. (Never thought I'd be writing that particular sentence, haha!) Decorated blackboard, CAKE (yum), singing, and even a little gift. Said gift came from a student who I absolutely love to have on. And vice versa, I might add! He gave me a little red stone heart - I, in turn, hugged him in front of the whole class. Guess we're even, haha. That class made my day, even if we did have to talk about politics after a while.

In the evening was my planned 'English Language Extravaganza' - which fell flat on it's face, haha. It was my plan to speak only English with ze twins plus one, which turned out to be much easier said than done. FAR too quiet - so we kind of mixed the two, whilst playing cards. Really nice evening. After a while it was decided we'd go to the movies. We tried to get in to Jackass (well, I WAS with two 17 year old boys) - unfortunately as it was R18 we didn't get far, despite laying on the charm, the foreign guest AND the birthday girl routine. We had some time to kill before the next session, so we went and drank cocktails in the upstairs bar. Highly ironic how in the very same establishment they'll serve minors cocktails, but not let them into a film. We ended up going to Harry Potter at 11.15pm. Needless to say, it was so late that I slept through the whole first half and woke up with about an hour to go (HA!) Oops! Apparently I really am getting old, haha.

So, now it's over. Thank goodness. But thanks to everyone for your birthday greetings. It was possibly the strangest birthday I've had to date, but somehow it turned out to be a really nice one too. Have been trying to upload photos for an hour, but having no success. Methinks a visit to McDonalds is on the cards in the near future...

better letters

I began to write some philosophical blog about today being the eve of my 25th (gasp) birthday - but stuff it, I'm scrapping that idea. I will only write this: I feel a bit... apprehensive... about my birthday, as for me the best celebration involves my family, mum's homemade burgers and a pavlova. This year, I'm thousands of miles away from all of this and ... meh. It's just going to be different. But hey, let's see how tomorrow pans out before I cast my verdict, haha. As mum wrote to me recently:

"Keep your face towards the sunshine, and let the shadows fall behind..."

Although, at the moment I could rephrase: "Keep your face towards the weak, cold half-light that creeps out every now and then between 8am - 4pm, and let the shadows fall behind..." I always wish sunshine for my birthday - this year I'm (honestly) more likely to get snow. Woo.

However, I decided to keep this blog upbeat, so instead will write about my most positive moments - all of which happen in school. I have a year 9 class I particularly enjoy - though recently we're making decidely less progress. Why? Because they've decided that my accent is absolutely hilarious and I can now barely say 5 words without the class disintegrating into laughter. The problem lies in the humble letter 'e'. Today we were writing 'formal letters', which was diabolical.

Miss Wilson: "Read the text so you......"
Class: (amidst laughter) "Read the WHAT?"
MW: "The text"
Class: "The tixt?"
MW: "The text" (...you little smartarses...)
Class: "Which tixt?"
MW: "Read the text so you learn how to write better formal letters"
Class: (amidst laughter) "bitter litters?"
MW: "Read the t-e-x-t so you learn how to write b-e-t-t-e-r formal ... uh... things"...
Class: (by this stage almost rolling around on the floor)

Thank goodness I'm not Australian, then they truly WOULD have something to laugh about. Hehe.

But, I am actually really aware of my accent. Earlier this week I downloaded some Shortland Street off the internet. For those non-kiwis, Shortland Street is a highly educational, classy TV programme from NZ. Only kidding - it's a trashy NZ soap opera set in a very fake hospital. Totally addictive. I played some to my year 10 class and just about died - far out, is my accent THAT strong??? I was absolutely horrified! Nothing much I can do about it though - so students, like it or lump it. And as for me, avoid 'better letters' at all costs. Ha.

thought for the day

"Wer Schmetterlinge lachen hoert, weiss, wie Wolken schmecken."

(Those who hear butterflies laughing, know how clouds taste...)

coming to life

Soo... a mid-week update with no special rhyme nor reason, just because my internet is actually working at the moment! I have been back to my normal timetable this week, somehow still feeling absolutely exhausted from last week despite having the world's laziest weekend on record. The moment came yesterday when I'd come face-to-face with my students who I met whilst at the Kirmes fest two weekends ago. I must confess, I had been looking forward very much to bringing up the topic, especially with the boy who very suavely purchased me a drink (it wasn't a coke, either). It didn't surprise me at all that he took my public ribbing extremely well, and even attempted (in English) to give as good as he got, so real kudos to him. Perhaps that's part of the reason he had a massive gaggle of girls flocking around him at the Kirmes (and at all other times, now I think of it...) I broke the news to the class that unfortunately I would henceforth be declining invitations to events which involve socialising with 15/16 year old students, just as another boy said he had planned to invite me to another such fest in December. Uh huh, apparently I'm doing SOMETHING right at the moment! Haha.

It occurred to me that perhaps I should write something about my 'normal timetable'. I write these blog entries without actually knowing if anyone even reads them, so they generally just contain snippets about what I'm feeling at the time, in no logical manner. So, for the first time on this blog I shall try to be informative, haha.

I work Tuesday to Friday in the KHS (Koenig-Heinrich-Schule), which is in good old Fritzlar. On Monday I (possibly illegally, haha) lend my skills elsewhere. But, Tuesday to Friday is my official working week. According to my job description I am contracted to work 12 hours a week, which I do not do for several reasons. One: if I'm only in school for 12 hours, what exactly else do I have to fill my time with? And two: my job is extremely good fun. I love it. Have probably written that before somewhere I imagine, haha. Because of those reasons, I am usually in school between 20-25 hours over 4 days. Each day I start at 7.55am, and before that I walk 30 minutes to the school. That gives me sufficient time to at least half wake up.

I am a 'Fremdsprachassistentin' (Language Assistant)... or basically, a 'jack-of-all-trades' to do with the English language. Or a walking dictionary. Or whatever the teacher wants me to be. I am currently involved in ... hm ... 9 different classes across a variety of levels. I am in two year 6 classes (age 11-12), three year 9 classes (age 14-15), one (aforementioned, many a time!) year 10 class (age 15-16), one year 11 class (age 16-17) and two year 12 classes (age 17-18). I am also the English speaking team member of a bi-lingual Politics/Economics year 9 class, which does my head in for many, many different reasons, none of which I can write here apart from my complete disinterest in and ignorance of either subject. Ha. Just trust me when I say it's *quite* difficult to appear even halfway knowledgable when 5 minutes before class you're handed a complicated text (in German) about the progression from an agrarian society to modern time, with the instructions 'translate and explain'. Ha. Good times.

So, a jack-of-all trades English assistant does more or less the following over the course of a week: walks around assisting students; participates in group work (which can involve anything from comparing answers to acting in a highly embarrassing roleplay; motivates and encourages; speaks ONLY English to the students and then cops flack for it; laughs a HELL of a lot; sits and counts the amount of times the boys in the front row smooth down their fringes; acts as a walking dictionary; corrects numerous exercise books full of work; laughs a lot more; tries to convince students I'm not a terrifying language monster... etc. You get the picture. Once a week, for 45 precious minutes I am the teacher. Lesson 5, class 10c, every Tuesday. I have no idea how this was worked into the timetable, but I love it. Every week I prepare something educational, and I can recall having pulled off a complete lesson ONCE. Every week after the lesson I always feel vaguely annoyed with myself that the class have (yet again) managed to convince me that games and conversation are more important than actual work. At this point, if any of my former students from NZ are reading this they may well be thinking "some things never change..." haha. Thankfully my mentor seems to be of the opinion that all the students need is to hear me speak, so each week the students have 45 minutes of the dulcet tones of my voice, and I have 45 minutes of laughter. When you have the task 'get them to talk as much as possible', it is absolutely hilarious some of the things you find out. One student ate a 1.5 kg burger last weekend, which cost 15 Euro. (I told him he obviously has too much time and money, haha). One student has a sister who has 33 pairs of shoes. One student's favourite food is doner without the vegetables. For example.

My absolute favourite part of the job is the students. I mean, ever since I first set foot in a classroom it has been. I'm not teaching because I'm so passionate about my subject that I feel I need to go and share it with the youth of today. I'm not teaching because I like the power and authority. It is the small things like finding out about a 1.5 kg burger that really makes my day. My special favourite students are in year 9/10, as they're old enough to have a good grasp of English, but still young enough to not care (much) about mistakes and just go for it. One of my colleagues paid me the greatest compliment recently without even knowing it. He said "in the classroom you come to life." And I think I somehow agree.

networking

Hello, and greetings from McDonalds in Kassel. In the last few days my internet has all but given up the ghost. I am guessing it has something to do with the wind/generally awful weather, but I nevertheless can't quite fathom how it's possible for no better connection to exist in Fritzlar. Anyway, in the meantime I'm enjoying a McFlurry and an hour of free super-fast internet at McDs. Thank goodness for the golden arches.

I have just survived an extremely busy week with the school network (as mentioned in my previous post, if I remember correctly). I woke up yesterday feeling totally 'fertig' (finished off, basically). Apparently it's been a very long time since I worked so hard. But overall it's been an absolutely fantastic week. I imagined I'd be tearing my hair out by Tuesday afternoon (the theme of the week was 'energy' ...), but no. It was *gasp* good fun. On Tuesday out whole group of around 60 bussed 3 hours to Wolfsburg, home to the original Volkswagen factory. Ding, ding, as a lifelong VW fan AND Top Gear devotee this was pretty neat. The set-up is amazing, they have not only a factory there but basically a theme park with all sorts of high-tech exhibitions. The best part was this: on our tour our guide (who was the splitting image of Tom Cruise, I kid you not!) took us into the 'executive lounge', or something to that effect. I was supervising a group of 15 students (all 16-17 years old) - somehow I'd managed to get an all-boys group. Do you want to know how to bring a group of teenage boys to absolute silent reverie? Take them to an exhibit containing nothing other than a Bugatti Veyron. Thanks to my Top Gear devotion, I also was aware that this was a pretty special car. There are only 300 in the world (mostly owned by Arabian Sheiks, David Beckham and the like). It was very, very cool. The boys stood with jaws on the floor for probably 5 minutes - as a teacher I can appreciate that it was kind of a miracle, haha. Perhaps my McDonald's internet will even allow me to upload photos!

On Wednesday... eugh. Not such a high-point. A "fascinating" tour around the rubbish-burning plant in Kassel. I could smell rubbish for the rest of the day. Thursday was my personal challenge. The whole day was devoted to chemistry and physics workshops, where I was expected to a) assist and b) translate from German to English. Those who know me may also know that my final science grade in school was really something to laugh at. For a while. So it was kind of funny getting my white coat and safety glasses on and making out like I had the faintest idea what I was doing. The highlight of that day: having a photo taken for the local paper, complete with scientists kit and boiling experiment. As yet it hasn't appeared in print, but I SO cannot wait to laugh at myself. It's going to be funny.

Yesterday was the final day. The whole day was devoted to preparing items about the week's activities for the students to present at the farewell evening; as well as so-called 'national items'. I was instructed to motivate a group of highly un-motivated boys with their presentation. Lo and behold, we managed to cobble together what I thought was a fantastic sketch. I was feeling pretty proud of myself (and the boys)... until they had to practice on stage and they froze and decided to not perform half of it. I could've ... hm ... I probably shouldn't think ill of students (or at least not write it in black and white!) But I was dissapointed. The farewell evening was still a fun experience though. I slept extremely well last night. I can't wait for my 'normal' timetable next week.

The best part of the whole week? Getting to know so many students better. The German contingent was made up of ... probably 30-40 year 11 students, 95% of whom I hadn't known before this week. The whole week was (in theory) conducted in English, and I was blown away at the effort the students put into actually speaking the language. I often have a problem that students are hesitant to talk to me (the scary native speaker, haha) - or they know I speak German so they don't try to speak English. Happily, this wasn't such an issue this week. The more and more time I spend around the students, the more I'm convinced I'm doing the right thing with my life. It's fun.

revenge is a dish...

Life is on the up. Definitely. There's no other way to describe it. If you read my last entry (EDIT 19/11 - which is now deleted) you could probably deduce that for around 3 weeks my life was a bit shit. I really had no idea if I could feel happy again, but thankfully I've discovered it is possible. Since I've returned to Fritzlar after the holidays I've had the best 2.5 weeks here since I arrived... for no special reason, really. I've just been reminding myself to stay positive, make the most of everything, and most importantly, not care overly about what people may or may not be thinking about me. This formula seems to be working, touch wood. Feigning self-confidence doesn't come easily, but I think I'm improving haha.

It all started the first day back at school, when I volunteered to help a colleague mark a stack of English exams. Now, in NZ we generally tick, cross, then give an Not Achieved, Achieved, Merit or Excellence. In Germany, to grade a paper involves giving separate marks for style, content, and then an extremely complicated error index. You can probably reckon with 30 minutes per paper. If you're quick. Marking is a bitch of a job, BUT I discovered that night when we were still only halfway through at 11pm, it can also be incredibly social. Oh my exciting life, haha. But it put me out there, and it's a great way to get to know colleagues better.

The pinnacle of my social life was last Friday night. At the end of my last blog I promised a witty story about the antics of German students, so here goes. I went with the twins plus one to a 'Kirmes' fest. Of course, I was none the wiser as to what that actually meant, and truly found out the hard way. The fest took place in a village, and was basically a school disco with alcohol. Literally two minutes after I stepped out of the car I saw one of my students, and by the time I'd actually reached the hall I felt like quasimodo or some other circus attraction, haha. "Miss Wilson!! Aaahhahahaha!" (<<<--- screaming year 9/10 girls) All of a sudden I felt my full 24 years and was regretting immensely being the sober driver. Thankfully, after not long I decided to just go with it and not give a stuff. After all, it was actually hilarious entertainment watching all these 'good' students downing tacky vodka shots and chasing each other around. The absolute highlight of my evening was when I was approached by one of my year 10 boys and he'd bought me a little bottle of vodka. (When I mentioned this to a colleague the following day he pointed out this was actually illegal as the boy was underage... oops. I just think it makes the story even better!). I have a feeling that the highlight of my upcoming week will be when I run into the poor boy and he's sober. Hopefully this happens first during class time, haha. I am so mean.

This week I am involved in the school 'network week', which is kind of an exchange run between KHS in Fritzlar, and schools in Hungary, Holland and Italy. There are around 50 students involved here and several guest teachers. I am involved the whole week to translate (as everything's done in English), but I think my official title should be "general dogsbody". The theme for the week is 'energy', which doesn't especially excite me, but so far it's been not bad. Highlight of the week so far - finally getting some English from one of the twins. After 2 months of him hearing my faltering German, I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy that sweet dish best titled 'Revenge', haha.