Well.. when I last left you all, I was complaining about having to pay 163€ to go to Cologne for my induction course.. so we will take it from there!
So on the Monday.. I got all my trains etc and everything went according to plan which was very good as that was my first train journey anywhere other than Potsdam! My only complaint.. the guy sat opposite me on the train was really creepy and singing.. or should I say grunting.. along to his music! :| but other than that, everything ran smoothly and I got to where I should have been when I should have been there! :D
So after making us wait around for aaaages in the train station and on the coaches and everything - the police even told us we had to move!! - we finally set off from Cologne to Altenberg which was about 45 mins away or something like that. We got there and it was raining and no one really knew what they were supposed to be doing or where they were supposed to be going or anything because we weren't told a thing! Finally.. they told us we had to go inside (which they could have bloody done sooner so we didn't get all wet!!) We went into this big hall thing and all sat down. I looked around and so many people already seemed to know each other but I didn't have a clue who anyone that was there was!! They did a short introduction type thing saying who all these different teachers from the different areas of Germany were and thanked us for coming and explained a few other things. Then they announced who would be in what room and who with etc. It's at this point I realised just what a bloody small world it is. I ended up sharing a room with a girl who I went to Brownies AND High School with and she still lives in Meltham now. I mean.. I didn't really know her, but was just bizarre to be over 800 miles from home and still meet someone I sort of know and end up in the same room as them!
So anyway I won't bother going into all the ins and outs of what happened there cause a lot of it won't interest most of you. We did however have to do mock lessons, so I had to teach a group of 20 - 22 year olds and pretend they were German primary school kids. Was quite funny really. Oh and on the last night we did a quiz, which was extremely difficult! Though I did know one of the answers..! And even the people that did the quiz didn't know why. The question was 'What nationality is Super Ted?' Oh yeah! I knew! WELSH!! lol
Oh and also.. the money I complained I had to pay to travel there... they reimbursed us with 100€ so it wasn't as bad as I expected really. So anyway, I came away from there with a few friends and all in all it wasn't a bad 3/4 days. Oh and on the train coming back.. I had a Subway for my dinner! So can't complain :D yum!!
When I got back it was the umm.. 8th October so at that point I began counting down the days til I went home! :P I didn't really do much between then and going home. Anne's sister had come to visit. But I didn't do that much. Oh I had to help out at this thing at school where we did a 'traditional' English teatime with cakes etc. Especially with the oh so traditional English 'Orange Cake'.... no ? I hadn't heard of it either! But they made me help out cause it was something to do with an English project they are doing with schools from all over the world so they wanted me to show my face basically to say look at us, we have an actual English person helping! :D I didn't mind, beats doing nothing at home!
So anyway, after a few days of not really doing much.. it was time to go home!! Woot! I couldn't wait! Can't believe I wasn't going to bother going home at all until xmas!! Now this was my first time getting to the airport alone! Luckily there is a train that goes directly there and the station is actually attached to the airport so I had no problems. But.. I didn't want to arrive too late because I had images of huge queues and missing check in and missing my flight etc.. so I got a train that I knew would get me there on time... Or in this case, early! Whilst I was sat around waiting, I was greeted with the sight of a German policeman, gun in hand! Scary stuff! ha. Though luckily, I didn't have to sit around for too long once I arrived. I managed to check-in relatively queue free. I was also very impressed with myself going through the metal detector machine things. Every single person in front of me.. for about 5 people, set the machine off and had to be scanned with the hand held thing. I just walked through.. no noise at all and off I went.. laughing in my head at those that were scanned!
Had to get something to eat now.. so went to Burger King.. and the tables didn't even have chairs.. so I had to stand at a table all on my own eating a burger! What a loser! haha. After that I had a bit of time to kill so I went and looked around all the duty free shops and stuff. There was quite a lot of stuff I wanted to buy but in the end I settled on buying a shot belt! A belt.. with about 24 mini bottles of alcohol all around it! I loved it! Though it didn't last long. It was gone almost as soon as I got back! :P
So anyway, I finally got on my plane with no worries, got a window seat as I had wanted and all was well :D When I landed my bag came out relatively quickly again! Lucky me! James was picking me up from the airport so I walked out to the arrivals bit and looked around. Couldn't see him. Waited a bit, looked around a bit more and still saw nothing. (I knew he was already here at this point cause I had texted him) so in the end I called him. Asked where he was, said I couldn't see him... turns out he was stood behind a pillar and hadn't seen me come out! The idiot :P But we went to his car and drove off back to his! :D
It was then at his that my shot belt soon got drunk! Along with a bottle of wine! :D Good times! Met his parents for the first time then too, which wasn't all that scary really! :D
So on the Friday I took my stuff home, said hi to my parents then stopped at James's again cause we were going to the Trafford Centre the next day. Great I thought! I had a lot of money to spend and a lot of things I wanted to buy! So we drive all the way there, get inside and start walking around. I'd say no more than 10 minutes in.. what do I realise... ? I don't have my bloody card with me! So can't buy a thing!! Luckily James lent me a bit of money so I managed to buy some stuff and just paid him back! I'm a complete tit at times!
Didn't really do much on Sunday. Oh actually, had Sunday Lunch at James's and met his sister for the first time then too! :D
Then on Monday, we went to Whitby for the day! The weather behaved itself, though it was bloody freezing! We walked around all the nice shops, the whales bone thingy, the abbey and all sorts. I even bought a lucky duck! Lets hope some of the luck rubs off on me :D
We then went out Monday night and James got very very very drunk! Was funny though! :D Just about managed to get him home in one piece! :P
I don't think we did too much on Tuesday or Wednesday, but I can't remember! But Wednesday night, we went out! I got very drunk, don't remember a lot of it but at least I made up for James being so drunk on Monday since he had to practically carry me home! :D Good times! Nice way to meet his friends for the first time too! :D haha
I want to say that we did something else whilst I was home too.. but I can't for the life in me think what it would be.... ! On Saturday I went shopping and must have spent about £200 on all sorts of different things! Then that night we had a very nice curry at mine :D YUM! Then on Sunday I had to fly back to Germany :( Boohoo! haha. Wasn't too bad though since my parents were coming back with me for a few days :D
Everything worked out fine with the flight coming back, no delays or anything which was good :D Took my parents to their hotel and then got a taxi home. Didn't end up getting home until about midnight! Next day, went into Berlin with my parents. We looked around some shops and also went on a boat tour thing (photos on facebook) which showed us all these different governmental buildings and stuff do do with East and West Germany, cause the river we were on had split the too. There were also things commemorating people who had died trying to cross the river to get to West Germany. That was all very interesting and stuff :D
Then, the next day we had a walk around Potsdam, just looked at the shops etc cause my parents were flying home that day so didn't have too much time to do much else. It was all very good though :D
They left 27th October and since then I haven't done too much. I have had to plan a few lessons for school. One of the lessons I had to plan was on Guy Fawkes. Something we don't even learn about here! Can anyone tell me anything about him other than the fact he tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament? Nope, didn't think so! So that involved a lot of research etc, then a lot of dumbing down cause it was aimed at Primary School kids learning English as a second language! That went down quite well though and I think they found it fairly interesting!
I also went to a Filmpark in Babelsberg with Anne last Saturday! It was bloody freezing but it was a really fun day. There was all sorts of different things to look around, mostly German tv shows so I didn't really know who any of the characters were but it was still fun. We also went into a 4D cinema (same as 3D but the seats move etc..) and went into a TV studio where they were showing us how all the different filming things worked etc. Anne and I had to pretend to be on a soap for that.. in front of about 100 - 150 Germans! :| but it was cool. I didn't have to say anything - I was just a background character! :D
Then, we ended the day there watching a stunt show. It was really cool. They were abseiling from really tall buildings and free-falling from high towers and doing jumps on motorbikes and running around whilst set on fire! It was really good :D haha.
Since then, I've just been back at school so haven't done too much really. The weather is cold so I bought scarf, gloves and this nice headband thingy instead of a hat! :D they keep me nice and warm :D
Oh and yesterday, I met up with a couple of friends who live nearby that I met in Altenberg - David and Erdem. We went to Erdem's flat here and met his girlfriend, Tara. We went to a park near their flat called Mauerpark and set off some fireworks which were cool :D then went back there and had some nice food and stuff! It was a fun day :D I even managed to make my way there ok! Though on the way back, my very first connection got to where I was meant to be 2 mins late which made me miss my next connection. Not a problem too much cause there was another not long after, but cause I had missed the 2nd connection, it meant I had missed my bus home from Potsdam! The next bus was going to be in 27 mins so I thought no way! Got a taxi home instead!
Now today is Sunday.. I haven't done too much so far apart from a bit of exercise and showering! But all in all life is good and I'm in a very happy mood right now! :D
You are now all officially updated on my life here in Deutschland! I'll try not to leave it so long the next time I update!! :D
Lots of Love
AMY!! :D
When I got back it was the umm.. 8th October so at that point I began counting down the days til I went home! :P I didn't really do much between then and going home. Anne's sister had come to visit. But I didn't do that much. Oh I had to help out at this thing at school where we did a 'traditional' English teatime with cakes etc. Especially with the oh so traditional English 'Orange Cake'.... no ? I hadn't heard of it either! But they made me help out cause it was something to do with an English project they are doing with schools from all over the world so they wanted me to show my face basically to say look at us, we have an actual English person helping! :D I didn't mind, beats doing nothing at home!
So anyway, after a few days of not really doing much.. it was time to go home!! Woot! I couldn't wait! Can't believe I wasn't going to bother going home at all until xmas!! Now this was my first time getting to the airport alone! Luckily there is a train that goes directly there and the station is actually attached to the airport so I had no problems. But.. I didn't want to arrive too late because I had images of huge queues and missing check in and missing my flight etc.. so I got a train that I knew would get me there on time... Or in this case, early! Whilst I was sat around waiting, I was greeted with the sight of a German policeman, gun in hand! Scary stuff! ha. Though luckily, I didn't have to sit around for too long once I arrived. I managed to check-in relatively queue free. I was also very impressed with myself going through the metal detector machine things. Every single person in front of me.. for about 5 people, set the machine off and had to be scanned with the hand held thing. I just walked through.. no noise at all and off I went.. laughing in my head at those that were scanned!
Had to get something to eat now.. so went to Burger King.. and the tables didn't even have chairs.. so I had to stand at a table all on my own eating a burger! What a loser! haha. After that I had a bit of time to kill so I went and looked around all the duty free shops and stuff. There was quite a lot of stuff I wanted to buy but in the end I settled on buying a shot belt! A belt.. with about 24 mini bottles of alcohol all around it! I loved it! Though it didn't last long. It was gone almost as soon as I got back! :P
So anyway, I finally got on my plane with no worries, got a window seat as I had wanted and all was well :D When I landed my bag came out relatively quickly again! Lucky me! James was picking me up from the airport so I walked out to the arrivals bit and looked around. Couldn't see him. Waited a bit, looked around a bit more and still saw nothing. (I knew he was already here at this point cause I had texted him) so in the end I called him. Asked where he was, said I couldn't see him... turns out he was stood behind a pillar and hadn't seen me come out! The idiot :P But we went to his car and drove off back to his! :D
It was then at his that my shot belt soon got drunk! Along with a bottle of wine! :D Good times! Met his parents for the first time then too, which wasn't all that scary really! :D
So on the Friday I took my stuff home, said hi to my parents then stopped at James's again cause we were going to the Trafford Centre the next day. Great I thought! I had a lot of money to spend and a lot of things I wanted to buy! So we drive all the way there, get inside and start walking around. I'd say no more than 10 minutes in.. what do I realise... ? I don't have my bloody card with me! So can't buy a thing!! Luckily James lent me a bit of money so I managed to buy some stuff and just paid him back! I'm a complete tit at times!
Didn't really do much on Sunday. Oh actually, had Sunday Lunch at James's and met his sister for the first time then too! :D
Then on Monday, we went to Whitby for the day! The weather behaved itself, though it was bloody freezing! We walked around all the nice shops, the whales bone thingy, the abbey and all sorts. I even bought a lucky duck! Lets hope some of the luck rubs off on me :D
We then went out Monday night and James got very very very drunk! Was funny though! :D Just about managed to get him home in one piece! :P
I don't think we did too much on Tuesday or Wednesday, but I can't remember! But Wednesday night, we went out! I got very drunk, don't remember a lot of it but at least I made up for James being so drunk on Monday since he had to practically carry me home! :D Good times! Nice way to meet his friends for the first time too! :D haha
I want to say that we did something else whilst I was home too.. but I can't for the life in me think what it would be.... ! On Saturday I went shopping and must have spent about £200 on all sorts of different things! Then that night we had a very nice curry at mine :D YUM! Then on Sunday I had to fly back to Germany :( Boohoo! haha. Wasn't too bad though since my parents were coming back with me for a few days :D
Everything worked out fine with the flight coming back, no delays or anything which was good :D Took my parents to their hotel and then got a taxi home. Didn't end up getting home until about midnight! Next day, went into Berlin with my parents. We looked around some shops and also went on a boat tour thing (photos on facebook) which showed us all these different governmental buildings and stuff do do with East and West Germany, cause the river we were on had split the too. There were also things commemorating people who had died trying to cross the river to get to West Germany. That was all very interesting and stuff :D
Then, the next day we had a walk around Potsdam, just looked at the shops etc cause my parents were flying home that day so didn't have too much time to do much else. It was all very good though :D
They left 27th October and since then I haven't done too much. I have had to plan a few lessons for school. One of the lessons I had to plan was on Guy Fawkes. Something we don't even learn about here! Can anyone tell me anything about him other than the fact he tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament? Nope, didn't think so! So that involved a lot of research etc, then a lot of dumbing down cause it was aimed at Primary School kids learning English as a second language! That went down quite well though and I think they found it fairly interesting!
I also went to a Filmpark in Babelsberg with Anne last Saturday! It was bloody freezing but it was a really fun day. There was all sorts of different things to look around, mostly German tv shows so I didn't really know who any of the characters were but it was still fun. We also went into a 4D cinema (same as 3D but the seats move etc..) and went into a TV studio where they were showing us how all the different filming things worked etc. Anne and I had to pretend to be on a soap for that.. in front of about 100 - 150 Germans! :| but it was cool. I didn't have to say anything - I was just a background character! :D
Then, we ended the day there watching a stunt show. It was really cool. They were abseiling from really tall buildings and free-falling from high towers and doing jumps on motorbikes and running around whilst set on fire! It was really good :D haha.
Since then, I've just been back at school so haven't done too much really. The weather is cold so I bought scarf, gloves and this nice headband thingy instead of a hat! :D they keep me nice and warm :D
Oh and yesterday, I met up with a couple of friends who live nearby that I met in Altenberg - David and Erdem. We went to Erdem's flat here and met his girlfriend, Tara. We went to a park near their flat called Mauerpark and set off some fireworks which were cool :D then went back there and had some nice food and stuff! It was a fun day :D I even managed to make my way there ok! Though on the way back, my very first connection got to where I was meant to be 2 mins late which made me miss my next connection. Not a problem too much cause there was another not long after, but cause I had missed the 2nd connection, it meant I had missed my bus home from Potsdam! The next bus was going to be in 27 mins so I thought no way! Got a taxi home instead!
Now today is Sunday.. I haven't done too much so far apart from a bit of exercise and showering! But all in all life is good and I'm in a very happy mood right now! :D
You are now all officially updated on my life here in Deutschland! I'll try not to leave it so long the next time I update!! :D
Lots of Love
AMY!! :D
No comments:
Post a Comment