A New Year

So, a new year has begun…

As always, this is a time for realising aspirations and settings goals; less so a time for reflection on what has already passed. I think it is fair to say that 2018 was not always the kindest, and so it is perhaps best to look ahead rather than back.

I recently saw someone list some of the things that they found beautiful about the world, and thought it a wonderful glimpse into what a person valued above all else. In that light, I compiled a little list of my own. A way of reminding myself of the beauty that can be found in the very smallest things and in the very smallest acts…

Twinkles in eyes. Iridescence. The golden hour. Affection. Stars. Unspoken understanding. Tranquillity. Flowers. Antiquity. Expression. Anticipation. Reassurance. Laughter. Shivers. Whispers. Curiosity. Old books. Textiles. Mosaics. Willows. Swifts. Snowflakes. Bare feet. Purrs. Empathy. Admiration. Cordial. Compassion. Language. Origami. Inner beauty. Kindness. Exuberance. Gentleness. Companionship. Histories. Harmonics. Grace. Humility. Meadows. Animals. Contemplation. Forgiveness. Blossom. Dawn. Dusk. Fountain pens. Incense. Spices. Sunlight. Scarves. Discovery. Frost. Heartbeats. Consideration. Tenderness. Acceptance. Strings. Wonder. Illumination. Scent on a warm breeze. Stained glass. Embraces. Promises. Courage. Kind souls. Love.

To capture and experience some of these things will make 2019 a year worthy of remembrance.

Here’s to that year.

 

Herbstferien Adventure Day 4 and 5: Düsseldorf and Tübingen

Tuesday

On the Thursday we decided to go on a day trip to Düsseldorf as it is only about an hour and a half away. I didn’t know what to expect from the city at all before we went but my first impression wasn’t that great! From what we saw, most streets were lined with skyscrapers and industrial buildings; a very business-orientated city. Hardly a place for a day trip. But we persevered and managed to find a few gems as we made our way to the Old Town. First of all we stumbled upon the Johanneskirche; a church which was unfortunately very modern and bare inside. The Königsallee canal, however, was a sight to behold, with russet trees lining the stretch of water.

The Johanneskirche

The Königsallee canal

Next to the Königsallee canal

Once we made it to the Altstadt (Old Town) our opinions of Düsseldorf started to change. Here, the streets were cobbled and there was a lot more greenery. Always a good combination. We then made our way to the edge of the river where we caught a glimpse of the Rheinturm (a huge telecommunications tower and landmark) and treated ourselves to an ice cream because the weather was so beautiful. We felt very touristy. Afterwards, we wandered back into the Altstadt and found the Rathaus (town hall) which looked lovely with its flower boxes in full bloom. By that time we had to catch our train back to Münster where we enjoyed our last evening with Rae (and the Aasee).

The Altstadt (Old Town)

The Rheinturm (Rhine Tower)

St. Lambertus

The Rathaus

The Königsallee canal

The beautiful Aasee in Münster

Wednesday

The next day was spent travelling all the way to Tübingen, a town in south-west Germany where Beth, a friend from university, is living and studying. She had kindly agreed to put us up for a couple of nights so we bid a fond farewell to Rae and Münster and set off on our 7 hour train journey. We followed the path of the river Rhine for most of the journey, down the length of Germany. It was amazing to see the landscape change from the relatively flat Lower Saxon region that Walker and I are used to, to the much more mountainous and varied countryside. And I have to say how spectacular this autumn has been in Germany. Travelling the length of the country made it even more evident. The trees have displayed the most beautiful russet, amber and golden hues this year; it has been stunning to witness.

Autumn in Germany

It was early evening and already starting to get dark when we finally reached Tübingen and Beth came to meet us at the Hauptbahnhof. As we had been travelling all day and Beth had been at university we decided to have a fairly relaxed evening, settling down in a little bar for a few drinks. I also learned the very important difference between the English and German ‘pepperoni pizza’. If you order one in Germany, I really hope you like jalapeños…

Learning the hard way…

Herbstferien Adventure Day 3: Münster to Köln (aka homage to Cologne Cathedral)

The next day, we all got up early and decided to go to Köln (Cologne) for the day as it’s only a Katzensprung (stone’s throw) away from Münster. We hopped on a train and reached Köln Hauptbahnhof late morning. But before I go on to recount our antics, there are a few things I want to say about Cologne. I think the city will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first place I ever visited in Germany back in 2010 as an excitable first-year university student. However, if I had to pick the one feature in Cologne which means the most to me and captivates me above all else, it would, without shadow of a doubt, be the cathedral. As international symbol for Cologne, this may seem an obvious choice,  but I don’t think I have the words to describe how utterly swept away I was upon first glimpsing this spectacular piece of architecture. I remember standing at the foot of the cathedral for the first time, feeling absolutely awed and incredibly small. Nothing will prepare you for the sheer scale of the building. It is, however, not just the size that is impressive, but also the beautiful carvings which frame the great doors and reach to the cathedral’s very peak. I could talk for hours about my love for this building, but I think you understand how I feel!

The stunning cathedral

Aptly, my first act in Cologne that day was to climb all 533 steps up to the top of the cathedral’s south tower in order to admire the incredible view out over the city. Now, this is a lot of steps! And it is not only a series of spiral staircases which you have to scale but also a rather imposing scaffolding tower which takes you up to the higher levels. On the way up, you do get the opportunity to see St. Peters bell which hangs in the belfry of the south tower. (It also grants you a few minutes to catch your breath!) Once you have made it to the top, you are greeted with a fantastic panorama of Cologne with the Rhine glittering at its heart. Scaling the tower also affords you stunning views of the cathedral itself from a very different perspective. Although the walkways are surrounded by metal meshing to prevent anything being thrown off the top, you can look over the edge and see the huge pillars of stone plummeting away from you towards the earth. Whatever time of day you decide to climb to the top, there will always be an incredible view waiting for you.

Before the ascent

The scaffolding tower

Made it to the top!

The beautiful view of the city and the river Rhine

The cathedral from a different perspective

After spending a good while at the top of the tower admiring the view, we decided to start our descent. Once back on solid ground, we went into the body of the cathedral. Although I am not in any way a religious person, I feel that churches and cathedrals posses a mystery and a beauty which can be appreciated by all. The silence and serenity lend themselves to such appreciation. And Cologne cathedral is no exception. The soaring arches which line the nave draw your gaze up towards the simply but beautifully vaulted ceiling. The stained glass windows bathe the interior of the building in a warm, soft, glowing light while the pillars of the aisles reach up to become the trunks and boughs of vast stone avenues. I think these photos speak for themselves…

Inside Cologne Cathedral

Inside Cologne Cathedral

Inside Cologne Cathedral

Inside Cologne Cathedral

After whiling away the morning amongst the towers and beneath the arches of the cathedral, we regrouped with some other language assistants who are currently living in and around Cologne and decided to get a cable car across the Rhine. On the other side there is a lovely park and a way down to the banks of the river. The six of us piled into two cable cars and were soon enough being whisked over Cologne. It was fantastic to see the city and the river from yet another perspective.

In the cable car

In the cable car, crossing the Rhine

View of the Rheinpark from the cable car

Once we touched town, we made our way towards the Rheinpark. It was such a beautiful, warm afternoon; everything seemed so fresh and verdant. We traced the paths through the park until we found a way down to the river. It was much cooler here, but pleasantly so. We wandered along the bank, skimmed stones across the water and sat by the riverside to enjoy the view of the cathedral in the distance. After a good while, we decided to head back over the river in search of lunch.

The Rheinpark

The Rheinpark

The Rheinpark

The Rheinpark

The Rheinpark

A view of the cathedral from the banks of the Rhine

Me and Rae in the cable car

Back to solid ground

Having made it back to the other side of the Rhine and eaten, we decided to visit Cologne’s Old Town. Here we found the Rathaus (town hall) with its myriad of architectural influences and its chiming Glockenspiel. There was also a huge array of cafes, lending the square a very continental air. Entering into the spirit, we sat down for a recharge with a refreshing drink before making our way back to the Hauptbahnhof. By then, it was late afternoon and time for Rae, Walker and I to catch our train back to Münster, but not without one final glimpse of the beautiful cathedral.

The Old Town

The Rathaus (Town Hall)

A farewell, but not a goodbye to Cologne cathedral

Heading back to Münster

Herbstferien Adventure Day 2: Hannover to Münster

Excited for our adventure!

It was up early the next morning to head to the Hauptbahnhof and kick-start Walker’s Herbstferien adventure. We were off to Münster to spend a few days with Rae, our good chum from university. Our train connections meant that we had an hour’s change in Bielefeld and so we decided to have a little explore rather than kicking around in the train station. Our usual first port of call in any new city is the Rathaus (town hall) as they are usually spectacular and so, laden with rucksacks and sleeping bags, we set off in search of the building.

Searching for the elusive Bielefeld Rathaus

As we had so little time there and due to Bielefeld being actually quite a lot bigger than we anticipated, we spectacularly failed in our attempt to find the Rathaus. We did get a little feel for the city though. Soon enough it was time to make our way back to the Hauptbahnhof, through the 22 degree heat (Germany was conveniently having a mini heat wave!) and onwards towards Münster. On the train we made friends with a girl who was studying English and about to have an exam. It’s amazing and also lovely how many people will come over and chat to you when they hear you speaking English!

In the early afternoon we arrived at Münster Hauptbahnhof where Rae came to meet us and take us back to her WG (Wohngemeinschaft – flatshare) so that we could drop off our bags. It was so lovely to see her again. It had seemed like forever since we were last exchanging Midlands anecdotes and a mutual appreciation of Led Zeppelin.  After a brief pit-stop we headed back out again and Rae gave us a little tour of the city; her home until May. It truly is a very pretty place. Tragically, the Medieval city centre was destroyed during the Second World War, but it has been carefully and faithfully reconstructed to resemble its former self. Cobbled streets and a beautiful roof scape all add to the elegant, historic atmosphere of the city. But there is a certain vibrancy, too. From the moment we stepped out of the Hauptbahnhof it became apparent that the best way to get around was by bike. Thousands of students fly by on their bicycles and give life to the city. This is no town stuck in the past but rather a living, breathing, vibrant city, proud of its history.

On our whistle-stop tour of Münster, Rae guided us to the St. Paulus cathedral with its beautiful oxidised roof; the Prinzipalmarkt, which is the city’s historic marketplace and to the stunning spire of St. Lambert’s Church, nestled away amongst the buildings of the Prinzipalmarkt.

St. Paulus Dom

The roof scape of the Prinzipalmarkt

St. Lambert’s Church

Having seen a handful of the gems of Münster and having been on the go all day, we decided to find somewhere to eat. This was another thing which I particularly loved about the city. It felt very continental in the sense that everywhere you looked, people were sitting together outside enjoying meals and each other’s company. Entering into the spirit (and due to the beautiful weather), we too found a table outside Vapiano’s, an Italian restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal. In order to tip the balance back towards the German way of life we also skipped across the road and indulged in a cheeky post-Vapiano’s ice cream. Just to restore the balance, you see.

St. Ludgeri Church

Exeter chums reunited

The light had all but faded by the time we had finished our cultural balance-tipping, but we decided to go for a twilight stroll towards the Aasee, the beautiful lake surrounded by parkland. Rae remembered that the International Space Station was due to go over that very evening. As we sat dangling our feet over the wall at the edge of the lake, gazing out across the water, we saw a bright circle of light appear in front of us and glide serenely through the sky. No one said a word. We just watched in silence as it passed above and gradually faded out of sight. It was a beautifully humbling experience, and one which will remain with me for a very long time.

The parkland surrounding the Aasee

The Aasee

The International Space Station passing overhead

 

 

 

P.s. Afterwards we went back to Rae’s and watched ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ in our pyjamas.

Herbstferien Adventure Day 1: Bremen to Hannover

This week at school passed quite quickly as I had a very exciting fortnight coming up. The Friday before breaking up for half term was, however, a little different. One of the teachers was retiring and it was her last day at school. As a result, all members of staff headed to the Mensa (school canteen) at the end of the day to say goodbye. It started off with a couple of lovely farewell speeches from other members of staff, and then took a little turn! As she was a P.E. teacher, she was given a series of sport-related tasks to complete. This included cycling around the well-crowded Mensa, performing balancing acts on a wooden beam, shooting basketball hoops and extreme skipping, which we all rated by holding up either a little green card with a thumbs up on it or a red one with a thumbs down! It made for a fun afternoon and although I didn’t know the teacher who was leaving very well, it was nice to see how well all of the members of staff get on at my school.

Showing off some basketball skills

Verabschiedung (farewell) in the Mensa

After saying goodbye and wishing everyone “Schöne Ferien!”, I cycled home and finished off my last little bit of packing. Walker and I had decided, as we both were on half term for the next two weeks, that we would do some travelling and see some more of Germany. We’ll never have a better opportunity than this, after all! A few of our friends from university had very kindly agreed to put us up for a few days each: Rae in Münster, Beth in Tübingen and Anne in Stuttgart. Our first stop was Bremen which is one of my favourite cities in Germany. We had arranged to meet up with a huge group of other FremdsprachenassistentInnen (foreign language assistants) for the day as the annual Freimarkt (Free Market) was taking place. Here’s a link to some more information on the Freimarkt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freimarkt.

So, on Friday afternoon I hopped on my bus and spent the night in Löningen, as Rhiann and I needed to get an early bus to travel to Bremen the following morning.  We reached Essen, where the nearest train station is, and had a really good (and thankfully uneventful!) journey to Bremen Hauptbahnhof where we met up with the rest of the other language assistants. And so my Herbstferien (autumn holiday) adventure began!

We started off by visiting the historic square in the centre of the city which boasts the most stunning cathedral and town hall, as well as the Stadtmusikanten (town musicians) and stately Roland, the patron of the city. He looked very fine decked out in his festive attire! The square itself was full of funfair rides and lots of little colourful market stalls selling every kind of Wurst and Lebkuchen under the sun. There was just such a lovely atmosphere. The sun was shining and had brought out throngs of people to come and admire the Freimarkt.

The cathedral

Stalls and rides in front of the beautiful Town Hall

The fantastic Town Musicians

Roland, joining in with the festivities

Freimarkt stalls in front of the Church of Our Lady

We made our way back towards the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), past the beautiful Mühle am Wall windmall, to where the main part of the Freimarkt was. Before heading to Bremen, I didn’t really know what to expect from the Freimarkt, but it was absolutely breathtaking! The city didn’t hold back whatsoever! There were hundreds of huge funfair stalls inviting you to throw hoops, shoot water pistols and test your strength. There were also the most incredible rides. A few brave souls from our group decided to go on a water ride which had a surprise backwards drop and got them very wet! The dodgems were great fun too and although I managed to collect a good few bruises, I was laughing the whole way round! There was a fantastic range of food on offer, too, although I think all of us opted for the ½ foot bratwurst!

Mühle am Wall windmill

Brave…

… but soggy language assistants

One of the many huge Freimarkt stalls

That’s right, a gherkin stall

“It’s on!”

It was lovely to see some friendly language assistant faces

By the time we had completely tired ourselves out from frolicking around the Freimarkt for the best part of the day, it was late afternoon and getting dark so we decided to rest our feet for a little while and refuel at Karstadt. Some of our group then had to head back home but Walker, Rhiann, Matthew, Rachel, Sam and I decided to return to the main part of the Freimarkt in order to see it by night. And what a sight! The lights made the fair look even more impressive. We had about an hour before we had to catch our train which we spent just wandering around the market, taking in all the music and lights. It was absolutely brilliant to see it so transformed by the night.

The Freimarkt by night

Airwolf: sounds exciting!

The ridiculously huge ‘Olympic Rings’ ride

(L-R) Sam, Rhiann, Matthew, Rachel and Dan

Me and Rhiann

Me and Walker

Eventually it was time to catch our train so Walker and I said goodbye to the other language assistants and made our way to Hannover. Walker’s mentor was very kindly letting us stay at her apartment and I had my very own bedroom! We got an early night in preparation for my second stop on my Herbstferien adventure: Münster!

Oktoberfest!

This Saturday was spent in anticipation of the evening, when I experienced my first authentic German Oktoberfest! And also getting better, but I’ve nearly managed that now. With stereotypes a-plenty flying through my mind, I decided against going with my hair in plaits (Heidi-style) as it was absolutely freezing! So, I donned my prized Dirndl (after first having to show Christin and Karl-Heinz – they wouldn’t let me out of the door, otherwise) and headed off to Löningen with Ellen, a teacher at my school, who was also going. She dropped me off at Rhiann’s who had also found a fantastic Dirndl to go in. If anyone’s searching for a Dirndl, we got ours from this website: http://www.lederhose.de/ They are really good quality and great value for money!

Ready for Oktoberfest!

We made our way into town looking like traditional Bavarian Mädels and soon found the huge tent which had been put up for the occasion. We got there while the night was still young which meant that not many people were there to begin with. But we found a table to set up camp and the tent gradually filled up as the night went on. A great brass band had already started playing by the time we got there and provided entertainment for the first half of the evening. Every five minutes the tent was punctuated with a new round of drinking songs and cries of “Alaaf!” and “Helau!”. It was fantastic and really set the atmosphere! And that was the most important thing that evening: the atmosphere. That evening the Germans were living up to their traditional stereotypes, and loving it! The tent was just a sea of Dirndls, Lederhose and huge glasses of beer.

The brass band

It seemed the whole town had come along

Some way into the evening, the  brass band retired and a ‘DJ’ (in the loosest possible sense of the term) made his appearance. I can honestly say that The Backstreet Boys and The Spice Girls were, musically, the best thing to happen to the tent all evening (apart from the brass band, of course). That gives you a pretty good idea of the quality of music that was played. It wasn’t great. But, we embraced the cringingly cheesy German music and had a good time regardless! It was hard not to when everyone else in the tent was belting out song after song with a huge Maß of beer in their hand, whilst wearing either a fetching pair of Lederhose or a Dirndl. It was such a fantastic atmosphere and it seemed as though no one had a care in the world. With it being one of the world’s most renowned drinking festivals and me being a non-drinker, I was slightly apprehensive about the whole thing, but it was just so much fun taking part and experiencing an authentic German Oktoberfest, even with a bottle of coke in my hand…

Just for show

Book Groups, Cigarette Boxes and Nausea

This week, I felt a lot more confident in my classes. I had to prepare a presentation on the Great Lakes of North America for my 8^th class which went down really well. I’m really enjoying working with them. They are at a good age: old enough to be able to tackle more complex English but still young enough to be inquisitive and want to ask questions. In another of my lessons, Meike, one of the teachers I work with, asked me to teach half of her lesson just on the spot, without any preparation. I had no idea that she would ask me to do that! It was putting questions and commands into reported speech, which they fortunately seemed to get the hang of quite well. But I do feel that I would have been able to have done a much better job had I been given prior warning. They seem to have very high expectations of someone who has absolutely no teaching experience! Ellen asked me to prepare the same material later on, but I now know it pretty well as I’ve already delivered it to a class.

Sometimes I feel that the school doesn’t really know how to use me. Sometimes I simply sit at the front of the classroom the entire time whereas in other lessons I take the whole lesson. I would much rather work with small groups of three or four and do some speaking practice with them. That was what I was expecting to be doing before I came out to Germany as it seems the best way to make use of a native speaker. I’ll have to suggest it.

Roswitha had invited me to go with her and a friend, Dorothea, to a Literaturkreis (book group) on Wednesday in Haselünne which was very interesting. I felt slightly overwhelmed by the speed of conversation and range of topics covered but did manage to pick up some useful vocabulary. I often find that you simply need to hear an expression or a phrase being used to discover that it is just a literal translation from English, to then be able to use it yourself. So it was really good exposure, even if I didn’t make any noticeable contributions! A local poet had come in to read some of her work to us, which we then discussed.

Half way through the night, however, I started to feel really sick and struggled to maintain a happy, friendly English girl role. Dorothea drove us back to Herzlake, pulled up outside my house but then suggested that we went to see her house as it had been decorated for her daughter’s birthday. So I was whisked away from my bed for another half an hour when all I really wanted to do was curl up into a ball and sleep off whatever I had picked up. The house was very impressive though. As is tradition in northern Germany, hundreds of empty cigarette boxes had been strung up and draped all over the house and front garden. This is because Dorothea’s daughter was still unmarried at the age of 25. Apparently the guys get socks or bottles. I’m glad I won’t be turning 25 in Germany!

We then exchanged email addresses and I was taken home. I slept a few hours but was ill in the middle of the night.

The next morning I didn’t know whether to go to school or not as I still felt really nauseous. I decided to give it a shot  and head home if I felt any worse. I was, fortunately, not particularly active that day, having to deliver just one lesson. (I didn’t have to rush out of the room which is always a cheeky bonus). I headed home once I was done at school to find that I had got a box of goodies through the post from my parents. Now I was homesick as well as normal sick! That afternoon and evening consisted of lots of sleeping.

On Friday, Anne offered to take me to Haselünne with Christin. It’s the next bigger town over from Herzlake. I thought some fresh air would do me good so got ready and headed out with them. I misheard the time that we were supposed to meet up though. I thought I had twenty minutes, but it turned out that I had an hour and twenty minutes! I wandered around some more shops but I was done in about half an hour. So I found a little patisserie and hunkered down with a croissant to wait for Anne. We drove back to Herzlake and I had a little bit of lunch before getting a lot more sleep in the afternoon. Either I’m hibernating or recovering. Not altogether too sure… I also read some more of The Hobbit in English. It’s been my trusty companion when I’ve needed some English in my life.

Hannover: Sightseeing, Spaghettieis and Friendly Faces

On Tuesday Roswitha, the lady in Herzlake who I tutor, offered to take me to Hannover as she had to go there on business and could take me along for free. So, naturally, as I had the day off school, I said yes! One of my best friends from uni is living and working in Hannover at the moment and so we arranged to meet up in the afternoon once he had finished teaching. Roswitha picked me up at an insane hour that morning and we made our way to Essen-Oldenburg, the closest train station to Herzlake. We got there a little early and so waited for our train on the platform – it was absolutely freezing! I have no idea how I’ll survive the German winter if it is already this cold in October! Our train eventually pulled into the station and we were whisked Hannover-wards. I found it surprising how easy it was to talk to Roswitha during the journey. If someone had told me a couple of years ago that I would have to make small talk in German for the best part of three hours, I would have run for the hills! But Roswitha speaks very clearly which helps a great deal. She also understands what it is to learn a foreign language, and so was very sympathetic when I struggled for words (which happened a fair amount)!

We arrived in Hannover just after 9am and arranged to meet back at the station at 5pm so that we could return to Essen that evening. Roswitha headed off to her office and left me with five hours to fill before I met up with Walker. Armed with just a small map and a half-decent sense of direction, I set off on five hours of solitary sightseeing. After admiring the statue outside of the Hauptabhnhof (main station), I headed down the main street as it seemed the logical place to start. After purchasing some usually unattainable essentials (unattainable in my little Herzlake, at least), I took a side street which lead to a fantastic church. Hannover boasts many beautiful and unique buildings. I had a great time photographing everything it had to offer, being unashamedly touristy with my pocket map and camera. I continued in this fashion for the next couple of hours, letting my feet take me towards the next spire on the horizon.

After exhausting the ‘head to the next interesting thing that you can see’ technique, I turned back and headed towards the Hauptbahnhof. Roswitha had mentioned that the opera house was worth seeing, and it definitely was. A beautiful stone building standing proudly in a square, it really is an impressive thing.

The Marktkirche

The Marktkirche

The Opera House

Having had enough of sightseeing on my own, I headed to the Ernst August Gallerie where I attempted to find a couple of CDs which I had been after for a while. It turns out that it was ridiculously difficult to find a shop that sold CDs. I was pining for my good old HMV. Having tracked down a tiny corner in Hugendubel that had CDs (Hugendubel. What a name.), I promptly walked out having caught a glimpse of the price. 16 euros for a CD?! No thanks. I used the rest of the time to stock up on some wintery essentials, managing to find some brilliant fleecy mittens which will hopefully prevent me getting frostbite this winter. One can always hope.

Two o’clock came around soon enough and I headed to the Kröpke clock (a renowned meeting place for Hannovians) in order to meet up with Walker and Shane. It was lovely to see a couple of friendly faces after months out in the German sticks.  It was also lovely to be with someone to whom Hannover is a home from home. Now we could get some real sightseeing done (having bought a Bahncard at the Hauptbahnhof – hurray for discounted rail travel)! We made our way to the Rathaus (town hall) first of all, which has to be one of my favourite buildings in the city. Perched at the side of the Maschsee (lake), the Rathaus, with its oxidised copper roof and brick red tiles is truly stunning. Inside and out. We wandered inside and explored the many staircases and poignant displays (depicting Hannover throughout the years, from its foundation to its near destruction in 1945). We then moved on, following the ‘Rote Faden’ (a red line tracing a path through the city), visiting the Altstadt (Old Town) and many churches and curiosities along the way.

The Rathaus

Inside the Rathaus

The Maschteich

The Rathaus

The Aegidienkirche

The Aegidienkirche

Having accomplished a quite Herculean tour of Hannover, we decided to have a pit stop and refuel with a good old German staple: ice cream, of course! Here we are, looking all happy!

Me enjoying ice-cream

Dan and Shane enjoying ice-cream

Having refuelled and had a good catch up, it was time for me to pop back to the Hauptbahnhof and meet Roswitha. It had been a lovely day. Lovely to leave my tiny village, lovely to meet up with my best chum and lovely to explore a new city. I’ll definitely have to return at some point in the near future.

Dirndls, Nightclubs and Cottage Pie

As both Rhiann and I have Fridays off, we decided to go on another Dirndl hunt! I got in to Löningen at 8:30am but it turned out that the buses to Osnabrück were not running early enough to make it worth going, so we decided to go somewhere a little closer to home. We hopped on a bus to Cloppenburg, a town about 40 minutes away from Löningen. The weather was absolutely shocking that day! But, we persevered.  I felt like such a country girl, being amazed by such a small city! The population is a little over that of my hometown. It was so nice to be able to do a bit of shopping though – it is absolutely NOT an option in Herzlake! Roswitha calls it a ‘Kaff’, which roughly translates as ‘a tiny village where nothing happens’! Fantastic.

We stumbled across an amazing shop with decorations and wrapping paper for all occasions. It even had Halloween paper! We then wandered to the high street where most of the shops were. I picked up a recipe book – I thought it would be fun to cook for the family that I live with.

My new recipe book

By that time, we were getting quite peckish and so we found a lovely little bakery where we had Brötchen, pastries and hot chocolates. I felt more French than German! And all for six euros! Bargainous. I also managed to find some good, sturdy boots (which I desperately needed – my others had holes in, which isn’t ideal when the harsh German winter is drawing in!) and a blazer, which I’ve been after for years! I felt bad blowing my money in such quick succession but I really have to take advantage of going to cities where these things are actually available! It’s quite ridiculous.

The weather had perked up by the time we had finished our lunch, so we enjoyed strolling around town a bit longer. We thought the bus went back to Löningen  at 17:30, but it turned out to be 18:30. This was the last bus home, however, so we couldn’t afford to miss it! Fortunately, we didn’t. We took it easy when we got back to Rhiann’s, cooked tea and then got ready to see what Löningen had to offer in the way of nightlife! We decided to give it a go as we realised that we know very few people of our own age. We headed to a bar first of all, but it was pretty much empty. We cheekily managed to slip out without buying a drink and then ran away to Blur, Löningen’s nightclub. It was an absolute fail. The problem was that you couldn’t see how many people were inside the club until you had paid your five euro entry. It wasn’t full of young people, as we had hoped, but rather four predatory 30-40 year old men. Brilliant. But, not ones to give up in the face of adversity, we sat at a table and decided to wait it out.

It’s not going to become our regular…

Before too long, one of the men came over and invited us go join them and share some shots which they had brought themselves! So, we chose life and ran away to sit at the bar, under the protection of the barmaid. She told us that more people would come later. We waited a little while longer, got approached by the creepy men again and decided to bail as no one else had arrived while we’d been there! We also tried a pub on the way back but we only met a very drunk German guy in his mid-thirties whose favourite word to say was ‘f**k’! “You came from England to live here?! F**K!” So, we called it a night. You can’t say we didn’t try.

I got the bus back to Herzlake the next morning to find that my Dirndl had arrived! It was the right size, fortunately, and so much better than the ones we had tried on in Quackenbrück. I skyped Mum and Dad straight away as they both wanted to see me in my traditional Bavarian dress! After all of the excitement, I headed to Aldi to pick up the ingredients for my cottage pie which I’d promised to make for the whole family the next day.

On Sunday, Rhiann came to Herzlake to help me cook the cottage pie for 10 people. It went down really well! Even little Maja seemed to enjoy it. The Erntedankfest (Harvest Festival)  was also taking place in Herzlake that day. We wandered down to the church and awkwardly got stuck in a church service. Once that had finished, the tractors and floats made their way through the town, celebrating a successful harvest.

The Erntedankfest parade

The Erntedankfest parade

The Erntedankfest parade

Afterwards, we went for a wander around town. It was a beautiful day and a good opportunity to take everyday photos of Herzlake. It may seem a little  premature to be thinking about the things I’ll miss when I get back home, but I think that I will appreciate having photos of ‘everyday Herzlake’ to look back on.

St Nikolaus

The fountain in the town centre

The river Hase

The Alter Hase restaurant

The mental beast which the kids at the primary school made

Me, outside my school

After showing Rhiann around town and visiting my school, we went for a walk along the River Hase. There we met the friendliest sheep in the world!

The Hase

New friends

A Cultural Outing

It was an early 7:30 start on Thursday as I headed back to school after our lovely countryside ‘Tag der Deutschen Einheit’. I wasn’t used in the first class at all (which isn’t altogether uncommon) and then I had two frees! So I spent the time sorting out some Erasmus forms with my mentor, as this is the only way I’ll get my grant. I was a little more active in my next lesson that day with Ellen. The class had a test coming up so I helped them to revise all of the tenses in English. We drew a huge table on the board and worked through all of the different tenses. It made me realise just how many we have in English!

1. Simple Present
2. Present Progressive
3. Simple Past
4. Past Progressive
5. Present Perfect
6. Present Perfect Progressive
7. Past Perfect
8. Past Perfect Progressive
9. Will Future
10. Going to Future

And more! Poor kids having to get to grips with all of that!

I went back via Sparkasse, paid my rent and also the deposit for our house in fourth year! Exciting times! When I got back, I found an email from Roswitha waiting for me in the junk folder, inviting me to the theatre! As it had been sent to the junk folder, the email didn’t tell me when she’d sent it, so I didn’t know if ‘do you want to go to the theatre tonight?’ meant tonight or last night! I sent a swift email back and it turned out that I hadn’t missed it, so I was invited to go and see a play that night.

Roswitha and her friend picked me up that evening and we made our way to Lingen (a town, about half an hour away from Herzlake). The play was called ‘Coco Schumann – der Ghetto Swinger’ and was a really interesting piece. It presented the life of Coco Shumann, a musician in the early 1900s. As time passes, he gets swept into the brutality of the Third Reich’s regime and finds himself deported to Theresienstadt, Dachau and Auschwitz. His music is the only thing which provides him with the will to survive and keeps him from giving up in a world filled with misery and suffering. It really was a very interesting thing to go and see. One moment you were clapping along with the musicians on stage as they were playing together, and the next, the theatre is plunged into darkness as the characters perish at the hands of the National Socialists. It was absolutely great to go out and experience some German culture though, and also lovely to get to know Roswitha and her friend a bit better.

The musicians in their prime

Arrest and deportation to the concentration camps

Music: the force that drives them on