Careful on the roads!
Friday, 5 August 2011
Thursday, 5 May 2011
University decision
I've decided to study Russian at UCL (University College London) in September, and just need to sort out student finance and accomodation before the end of May.
Lucky me :)
Lucky me :)
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
XXL Week! (+ Tensing concert) – Week 32
On Saturday 9th April 2011, the XXL-Kindertag (Kids‘ day) took place in Frankfurt (Oder), with 158 children taking part in the competitive city-building game all over the city centre, and then enjoying a show by Ronny and Adina Kropf, children’s evangelists, and also the appearance of ‚NoLimit‘, a group of 15 young people from Saxony (region of Germany directly above the Czech Republic) who performed tricks whilst skipping with/between two ropes (which is known as Double Dutch).
The week leading up to the big day, I accompanied Ronny and Adina into local schools, where Ronny put on a show, with magic tricks, hand-held puppets (he’s a ventriloquist), moral-type stories, including short snippets of his own humbling story, and mentions of Jesus, following which, in some cases, he invited the kids to the XXL-Kindertag if appropriate. He uses a method called something like sketch and tell, where he tells a story and paints its events onto a board at the front, rather interesting.
All in all, I worked 67½ hours during this particular week, the most yet, though it wasn’t as exhausting as it could’ve been, and actually a lot of fun.
I got on really well with Ronny, a 95% hyperactive, ex-alcoholic hardman turned Christian, who now does children’s programmes throughout the country with his wife Adina, originally from Romania, who I also got on very well with. Ronny is very good at/enjoys being childish, and I also enjoy being childish, so we had great fun together. And I was honoured to be told I was welcome to work with him in future...well I never!
Ronny seemed to really like the fact that I was from England (from London Heathrow, he said, the only place he really knows/remembers), and he made jokes about living with rain and fog (a typical continental view of day-to-day life in Britain), and made me laugh with attemps at speaking a very German English („I can speak a paar broken.“)
On the last day of school visits, we visited the Christian primary school where I run an English club. In a room of about 100 children, I was surprised by the number that put up their hand when asked if they knew me – about half, it seemed like. And after Ronny going on about me lots during the school visits and XXL-Kindertag as well to some extent, people were telling me that every child in Frankfurt must know my name.
The week was made all the busier by a Tensing ‚Kurzkonzert‘ (short concert) on Thursday evening, which made for carrying a lot of instruments and sound equipment up stairs and down again on the Friday. The concert was part of an event that evening with a sort of interactive, participant-led Bible study, which was part of the evangelical (big, state) church’s youth week, and, needless to say, it didn’t go that great at all. When singing in the choir, the bass were really quite lost until the choir leader came and stood next to us and sung our tune.
But Saturday 9th came, sure enough, with lovely sunshine (thankfully, after rain two days before, which had us worried) and I (having been held as a ‚joker‘ to replace anyone in their role who turned out to be sick or some such), I was glad to be allocated a group of 6 kids, quite mixed, with some 10 and 11 and some smaller ones aged 8, which I on occasion carried on my back when we ran through the city from one station to another. I also had two good friends from confirmation class to help me, so we were a nice, big group.
Link to photos of all participants in front of the town hall and (part of) my group (amongst other photos)
25 teams were divided into five cities competing against each other, each team being assigned one of five initial career paths, gaining points for completing training and education at primary, secondary or university level. We were assigned ‚cook,‘ and our first task was cooking a dish I’ve never come across before: grated potatoes, chopped-up onion and flour, fried in oil and topped with sugar. After completing primary school we were able to move to the level above, cooking (and eating) the same dish but decorated with whipped cream, smarties, chocolate sauce, etc, (and it tasted quite good). But we also trained to be waiters (carrying a tray of filled glasses around an assault course), barbers (removing shaving foam from balloons using rasors without them popping), nurses (drawing blood – pink squash – from the arms of a puppet) and fitness trainers (wearing ourselves out on a kind of bungee bouncy castle where you attach yourself to a big elastic cord and try to run as far as possible before being whipped backwards to the ground by the cord). We also completed the exams for primary school and secondary school, and enjoyed the fantastic XXL-burgers for lunch. And had to complete cultural tasks to receive special culture points to get a theater. At the end we had to rush back to the central HQ (in the town hall, which was where the event started) to make sure our latest points counted – particularly tiring for those that had worn themselves out on the fitness trainer.
We then made our way to a ‚community house‘ belonging to the evangelical (big, state) church, where the rest of the programme took place – first in the street, with the Double Dutch group NoLimit giving us a chance to skip with two ropes.
Then Ronny took to the stage in the hall inside, with a few Christian songs, appearance of a hand-held puppet, a magic trick, and a story based on one of Jesus‘ stories about a man finding a treasure in a field, and selling everything he had to buy the field in order to get the treasure.
He then talked about Jesus Christ being the treasure he found in life, and invited the children to accept him into their lives, and pray together afterwards, which a handful did, including one girl from my group.
That evening there was a party in the CVJM youth house for all the volunteers/helpers who made the day possible, during which I taught Ronny the word ‚thingamijig,‘ which he found hilarious.
The following morning Ronny appeared again in a church service, this time at the Baptist (evangelical free church) church here in Frankfurt (Oder), which I attend most regularly. He made some rather outrageous jokes, including one insider about a ‚thingamijig,‘ and preached using his sketch and tell method again, about Jesus giving us freedom, love, and eternal life.
NoLimit then hosted a Double Dutch competition, seeing who could achieve the most skips with two ropes, in which I came second with 238 – the record being 304, made by an 11-year old. Then, people started to go their separate ways, with NoLimit taking the train home, Ronny and Adina heading off home in their big ‚Time for Jesus‘ bus, back into everyday life, which I greeted by enjoying a relaxing afternoon and a bike ride in Poland.
Yes! I’m glad this week was.
Here, Ronny and Adina Kropf's website (Google translated into English).
The week leading up to the big day, I accompanied Ronny and Adina into local schools, where Ronny put on a show, with magic tricks, hand-held puppets (he’s a ventriloquist), moral-type stories, including short snippets of his own humbling story, and mentions of Jesus, following which, in some cases, he invited the kids to the XXL-Kindertag if appropriate. He uses a method called something like sketch and tell, where he tells a story and paints its events onto a board at the front, rather interesting.
 |
| Ronny's show in a school in Frankfurt, with sketch-and-tell board |
 |
| Ronny and his newest hand-held puppet, Sascha, the Russian eagle, who makes some funny mistakes speaking German |
All in all, I worked 67½ hours during this particular week, the most yet, though it wasn’t as exhausting as it could’ve been, and actually a lot of fun.
I got on really well with Ronny, a 95% hyperactive, ex-alcoholic hardman turned Christian, who now does children’s programmes throughout the country with his wife Adina, originally from Romania, who I also got on very well with. Ronny is very good at/enjoys being childish, and I also enjoy being childish, so we had great fun together. And I was honoured to be told I was welcome to work with him in future...well I never!
 |
| Ronny being childish with me, probably wiping his spit from my face, or pretending to... |
Ronny seemed to really like the fact that I was from England (from London Heathrow, he said, the only place he really knows/remembers), and he made jokes about living with rain and fog (a typical continental view of day-to-day life in Britain), and made me laugh with attemps at speaking a very German English („I can speak a paar broken.“)
On the last day of school visits, we visited the Christian primary school where I run an English club. In a room of about 100 children, I was surprised by the number that put up their hand when asked if they knew me – about half, it seemed like. And after Ronny going on about me lots during the school visits and XXL-Kindertag as well to some extent, people were telling me that every child in Frankfurt must know my name.
The week was made all the busier by a Tensing ‚Kurzkonzert‘ (short concert) on Thursday evening, which made for carrying a lot of instruments and sound equipment up stairs and down again on the Friday. The concert was part of an event that evening with a sort of interactive, participant-led Bible study, which was part of the evangelical (big, state) church’s youth week, and, needless to say, it didn’t go that great at all. When singing in the choir, the bass were really quite lost until the choir leader came and stood next to us and sung our tune.
But Saturday 9th came, sure enough, with lovely sunshine (thankfully, after rain two days before, which had us worried) and I (having been held as a ‚joker‘ to replace anyone in their role who turned out to be sick or some such), I was glad to be allocated a group of 6 kids, quite mixed, with some 10 and 11 and some smaller ones aged 8, which I on occasion carried on my back when we ran through the city from one station to another. I also had two good friends from confirmation class to help me, so we were a nice, big group.
Link to photos of all participants in front of the town hall and (part of) my group (amongst other photos)
 |
| Me and Ronny on the 3-metre high XXL red chair, in the town hall in the morning |
25 teams were divided into five cities competing against each other, each team being assigned one of five initial career paths, gaining points for completing training and education at primary, secondary or university level. We were assigned ‚cook,‘ and our first task was cooking a dish I’ve never come across before: grated potatoes, chopped-up onion and flour, fried in oil and topped with sugar. After completing primary school we were able to move to the level above, cooking (and eating) the same dish but decorated with whipped cream, smarties, chocolate sauce, etc, (and it tasted quite good). But we also trained to be waiters (carrying a tray of filled glasses around an assault course), barbers (removing shaving foam from balloons using rasors without them popping), nurses (drawing blood – pink squash – from the arms of a puppet) and fitness trainers (wearing ourselves out on a kind of bungee bouncy castle where you attach yourself to a big elastic cord and try to run as far as possible before being whipped backwards to the ground by the cord). We also completed the exams for primary school and secondary school, and enjoyed the fantastic XXL-burgers for lunch. And had to complete cultural tasks to receive special culture points to get a theater. At the end we had to rush back to the central HQ (in the town hall, which was where the event started) to make sure our latest points counted – particularly tiring for those that had worn themselves out on the fitness trainer.
We then made our way to a ‚community house‘ belonging to the evangelical (big, state) church, where the rest of the programme took place – first in the street, with the Double Dutch group NoLimit giving us a chance to skip with two ropes.
 |
| Me, about to have a go and fail at Double Dutch skipping with two ropes |
Then Ronny took to the stage in the hall inside, with a few Christian songs, appearance of a hand-held puppet, a magic trick, and a story based on one of Jesus‘ stories about a man finding a treasure in a field, and selling everything he had to buy the field in order to get the treasure.
 |
| Kicking off the afternoon programme with the kids |
He then talked about Jesus Christ being the treasure he found in life, and invited the children to accept him into their lives, and pray together afterwards, which a handful did, including one girl from my group.
That evening there was a party in the CVJM youth house for all the volunteers/helpers who made the day possible, during which I taught Ronny the word ‚thingamijig,‘ which he found hilarious.
The following morning Ronny appeared again in a church service, this time at the Baptist (evangelical free church) church here in Frankfurt (Oder), which I attend most regularly. He made some rather outrageous jokes, including one insider about a ‚thingamijig,‘ and preached using his sketch and tell method again, about Jesus giving us freedom, love, and eternal life.
NoLimit then hosted a Double Dutch competition, seeing who could achieve the most skips with two ropes, in which I came second with 238 – the record being 304, made by an 11-year old. Then, people started to go their separate ways, with NoLimit taking the train home, Ronny and Adina heading off home in their big ‚Time for Jesus‘ bus, back into everyday life, which I greeted by enjoying a relaxing afternoon and a bike ride in Poland.
Yes! I’m glad this week was.
Here, Ronny and Adina Kropf's website (Google translated into English).
Monday, 4 April 2011
Here comes the sun...week 32
I was amazed to experience 25°C or thereabouts yesterday, and wore shorts and sandals outside for the first time this year...I'm not sure I've ever done anything like that at the start of April in the UK. It was sunny but refreshingly breezy, simply lovely.
And then today it rained (though this doesn't happen often here), which felt like England again...rain straight after the nice weather. :)
And then today it rained (though this doesn't happen often here), which felt like England again...rain straight after the nice weather. :)
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Saturday, 19 March 2011
UNIVERSITY
Having previously posted this under the 'hidden' name 'ytisrevinU', I now can post it under what it should be called. Here's the original message and some updates at the bottom...!
Though I almost hesitate to mention y t i s r e v i n U stuff in public, as ‚they‘ have eyes everywhere in the internet I’ve heard, and technically aren’t supposed to know who else I’ve a p p l i e d for...I know, I’ll be cunning and try and make it hard for them to search for themselves here...
I’ve a p p l i e d for R u s s i a n at U C L in L o n d o n and at B r i s t o l, and for R u s s i a n with a little bit of T h e o l o g y at S t. A n d r e w s, E x e t e r, and D u r h a m – and have so far received...dunno how to call it, a negative response/rejection, from the last of those. But I trust life will be just right nonetheless... :)
The order of things:
Durham rejected me
Exeter accepted me :)
UCL and St Andrews accepted me on the same day :) :)
3 weeks later, Bristol accepted me :)
So it's decision time now! And I'm glad I can start so soon. I have until the 31st May to decide, but I'd like to be organised and do the opposite of leaving it to the last minute...
And I also wanted to look at the options of studying in France and Germany, and would consider other countries too perhaps.
But I'm SOOO GLAD to have four out of five offers, I can hardly believe it! Especially in a day and age where more and more people are applying to University. Yippeeeeeeeeeeeee! :) :) :)
Though I almost hesitate to mention y t i s r e v i n U stuff in public, as ‚they‘ have eyes everywhere in the internet I’ve heard, and technically aren’t supposed to know who else I’ve a p p l i e d for...I know, I’ll be cunning and try and make it hard for them to search for themselves here...
I’ve a p p l i e d for R u s s i a n at U C L in L o n d o n and at B r i s t o l, and for R u s s i a n with a little bit of T h e o l o g y at S t. A n d r e w s, E x e t e r, and D u r h a m – and have so far received...dunno how to call it, a negative response/rejection, from the last of those. But I trust life will be just right nonetheless... :)
The order of things:
Durham rejected me
Exeter accepted me :)
UCL and St Andrews accepted me on the same day :) :)
3 weeks later, Bristol accepted me :)
So it's decision time now! And I'm glad I can start so soon. I have until the 31st May to decide, but I'd like to be organised and do the opposite of leaving it to the last minute...
And I also wanted to look at the options of studying in France and Germany, and would consider other countries too perhaps.
But I'm SOOO GLAD to have four out of five offers, I can hardly believe it! Especially in a day and age where more and more people are applying to University. Yippeeeeeeeeeeeee! :) :) :)
Berlin Seminar – weeks 28 & 29
Volunteers with the YMCA like me get to enjoy 4 seminars every year (with the same group of about 25 other volunteers), totalling 25 days. I may have mentioned a seminar in October – I’ve since had another in January (both 5 days) and just recently our 10-day seminar took place in Berlin, with a relatively large amount of things to say about it, and Berlin. (More will follow this post I expect!)
Our group of 25 volunteers (from all over Germany) was joined by two others, one from a region in western Germany, the other made up mostly of volunteers in Berlin.
We all take the train to get to our seminars, usually 4/5 hours for me, so it was nice to only have to travel just over an hour to get to the one in Berlin. We stayed in a hotel-like youth hostel belonging to the Berlin City Mission, who give a warm evening meal, clothes, hygiene products, medical care, and a mattress for the night to those that need. (I assume they are partly funded by the hotel.) At one point during the seminar, we visited the basement where these guests come and food is served, and the rooms in part of the hotel/hostel where they can sleep.
After arriving on Monday 7th March, we played a few games to get to know each other. The following day, we were taken on tours of Berlin in groups by the leaders of the seminar. On the Wednesday, we visited an old section of the Berlin wall, which divided the city during the last decades of the GDR (German Democratic Republic/East Germany), and a museum about the Berlin Wall. We also attended a devotion at the ‚Versöhnungskapelle‘ – reconciliation chapel – which included remembering one of the victims of the socialist regime who died on the 9th March years ago, Herbert Mende.
There was a morning devotion at 8:00 every morning, a Bible study time after breakfast, and a devotion again at the end of the day. Mainly the participants did the devotions, which always included some singing.
We had the rest of the day on Wednesday free to do what we want – I lingered about the museum a bit longer, looking at a few things I’d missed, and then headed back to the ho(s)tel where I think I wrote a postcard home, and relaxed. Some people were out ‚on the town‘ til 2am every morning, but I preferred to rest and relax quite a lot, and save my strength for being back in Frankfurt (Oder).
On Thursday 10th, I was part of a group that visited a Stasi (the secret police of the GDR) museum, on the site of the old Stasi headquarters in Berlin – another group visited an old Stasi prison. The main focuses of the museum visit were Erich Mielke, head of the Stasi for decades, Stasi gadgets used for collecting information (cameras, microphones, hidden in everyday objects, such as satchels and watering cans) and the end of the Stasi, including the HQ being stormed. There was also a talk about education in the GDR, showing how children were taught to think that the evil ‚West‘ wanted to invade peace-loving East Germany, which was quite shocking. But I also found it quite surprising how/how much the Germans (including those who had lived through the GDR) laughed about the story books children had to read, for instance, as part of a state which aimed to ‚know everything‘ about its citizens and keep them doing exactly what the state wanted. I wondered whether they laugh as a way of distracting themselves from the reality of it all, or something like that...?
On Friday 11th, we visited the (most visited government building in the world,) the Reichstag, near the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg gate), for which we needed to be security checked before going. We heard a very good talk about the proceedings of the German parliament/government, and then went onto the roof, where there were very good views of most of Berlin’s attractions and sights.
On Saturday 12th, we played a virtual game (but in the real world) to help us to better understand how politics works, or the difficulties there can be. The game took place in a pretend town with a high proportion of immigrants, with a proposal of introducing books in the language of the immigrants to the library in vast quantity. We chose roles as members of the political parties (following their policies as closely as possible), or as members of certain commitees that were for or against the proposal, and common citizens. I felt I could’ve made more of an effort to try and convince people during the game, but didn’t (and I also found the language of persuasion in German a bit difficult at times, I haven’t argued something in German in a long time!). At the end, there was a meeting of all citizens in the town hall, with speeches and counterarguments, and a vote at the end, which was slightly more in favour of the books, but there were lots of varying proposals from different groups with their particular interests.
Many people found it quite hard coming back out of the role they had been in during the game, and being their ‚normal self‘ again, which made us think what everyday life must be like for people that really work in politics. We also found a particular person with a particular character can have a lot of influence on how the game develops.
On Sunday 13th, we had the day free, with instructions to visit one of many possible church services in Berlin. Along with quite a few others, I went to a church service in a cinema (the seats couldn’t have been better), which was quite normal, apart from pieces of piano music being played at the start and end of the service, and part-way through, which I certainly wasn’t used to, but it didn’t especially bother me.
On Monday 14th, we prepared for talks with politicians or their staff, which took place that evening and the whole of Tuesday. They were really quite interactive, with lots of opportunities for individuals to ask questions and discuss things. And they were all very good, I found. The six I attended were: Data protection/saving for security reasons, Child poverty in Germany, and then on the Tuesday Islamism in Germany, Criminal Law for young offenders, Christians and(/in) politics, and finally Germany’s involvement in Afghanistan. I very much enjoyed translating for a girl from Swaziland who struggles with such fast German – though I’ve noticed my English is not as good as my German in these cases, some words I have to think about a lot to retrieve.
For part of the day on Tuesday (15th), we prepared ‚acts‘ which we then presented in the evening, as a kind of evaluation of the seminar – our group looked at the accomodation and food, and did a sort of circus-like act with several parts; mine was juggling, but it went quite wrong as it was quite dark on the stage, and I couldn’t see the balls properly. There were lots of other (more) entertaining acts, such as a musical, as an overview of the whole seminar, songs, drama, a picture story, video in the form of an interview with the leaders, which twisted their words, also a do-it-yourself game where everyone together illustrated trying to escape from inside a wall (a human chain), which was fun, reviewing what we’d learnt about the GDR.
Needless to say, despite some problems, food and accomodation were excellent, with yoghurt and fruit cocktail on offer alongside the usual bread, jam, cheese and sandwich meat, and for lunch and dinner many foodstuffs to mix and match from, and lots of salad on the side.
On Wednesday 16th, the tenth day, there was a service followed by lunch, and then it was off back to Frankfurt (Oder), and a restful afternoon before continuing with work the following day.
Berlin, Socialism, GDR, Stasi, Reichstag, German culture, Language,
Our group of 25 volunteers (from all over Germany) was joined by two others, one from a region in western Germany, the other made up mostly of volunteers in Berlin.
We all take the train to get to our seminars, usually 4/5 hours for me, so it was nice to only have to travel just over an hour to get to the one in Berlin. We stayed in a hotel-like youth hostel belonging to the Berlin City Mission, who give a warm evening meal, clothes, hygiene products, medical care, and a mattress for the night to those that need. (I assume they are partly funded by the hotel.) At one point during the seminar, we visited the basement where these guests come and food is served, and the rooms in part of the hotel/hostel where they can sleep.
After arriving on Monday 7th March, we played a few games to get to know each other. The following day, we were taken on tours of Berlin in groups by the leaders of the seminar. On the Wednesday, we visited an old section of the Berlin wall, which divided the city during the last decades of the GDR (German Democratic Republic/East Germany), and a museum about the Berlin Wall. We also attended a devotion at the ‚Versöhnungskapelle‘ – reconciliation chapel – which included remembering one of the victims of the socialist regime who died on the 9th March years ago, Herbert Mende.
There was a morning devotion at 8:00 every morning, a Bible study time after breakfast, and a devotion again at the end of the day. Mainly the participants did the devotions, which always included some singing.
We had the rest of the day on Wednesday free to do what we want – I lingered about the museum a bit longer, looking at a few things I’d missed, and then headed back to the ho(s)tel where I think I wrote a postcard home, and relaxed. Some people were out ‚on the town‘ til 2am every morning, but I preferred to rest and relax quite a lot, and save my strength for being back in Frankfurt (Oder).
On Thursday 10th, I was part of a group that visited a Stasi (the secret police of the GDR) museum, on the site of the old Stasi headquarters in Berlin – another group visited an old Stasi prison. The main focuses of the museum visit were Erich Mielke, head of the Stasi for decades, Stasi gadgets used for collecting information (cameras, microphones, hidden in everyday objects, such as satchels and watering cans) and the end of the Stasi, including the HQ being stormed. There was also a talk about education in the GDR, showing how children were taught to think that the evil ‚West‘ wanted to invade peace-loving East Germany, which was quite shocking. But I also found it quite surprising how/how much the Germans (including those who had lived through the GDR) laughed about the story books children had to read, for instance, as part of a state which aimed to ‚know everything‘ about its citizens and keep them doing exactly what the state wanted. I wondered whether they laugh as a way of distracting themselves from the reality of it all, or something like that...?
On Friday 11th, we visited the (most visited government building in the world,) the Reichstag, near the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg gate), for which we needed to be security checked before going. We heard a very good talk about the proceedings of the German parliament/government, and then went onto the roof, where there were very good views of most of Berlin’s attractions and sights.
On Saturday 12th, we played a virtual game (but in the real world) to help us to better understand how politics works, or the difficulties there can be. The game took place in a pretend town with a high proportion of immigrants, with a proposal of introducing books in the language of the immigrants to the library in vast quantity. We chose roles as members of the political parties (following their policies as closely as possible), or as members of certain commitees that were for or against the proposal, and common citizens. I felt I could’ve made more of an effort to try and convince people during the game, but didn’t (and I also found the language of persuasion in German a bit difficult at times, I haven’t argued something in German in a long time!). At the end, there was a meeting of all citizens in the town hall, with speeches and counterarguments, and a vote at the end, which was slightly more in favour of the books, but there were lots of varying proposals from different groups with their particular interests.
Many people found it quite hard coming back out of the role they had been in during the game, and being their ‚normal self‘ again, which made us think what everyday life must be like for people that really work in politics. We also found a particular person with a particular character can have a lot of influence on how the game develops.
On Sunday 13th, we had the day free, with instructions to visit one of many possible church services in Berlin. Along with quite a few others, I went to a church service in a cinema (the seats couldn’t have been better), which was quite normal, apart from pieces of piano music being played at the start and end of the service, and part-way through, which I certainly wasn’t used to, but it didn’t especially bother me.
On Monday 14th, we prepared for talks with politicians or their staff, which took place that evening and the whole of Tuesday. They were really quite interactive, with lots of opportunities for individuals to ask questions and discuss things. And they were all very good, I found. The six I attended were: Data protection/saving for security reasons, Child poverty in Germany, and then on the Tuesday Islamism in Germany, Criminal Law for young offenders, Christians and(/in) politics, and finally Germany’s involvement in Afghanistan. I very much enjoyed translating for a girl from Swaziland who struggles with such fast German – though I’ve noticed my English is not as good as my German in these cases, some words I have to think about a lot to retrieve.
For part of the day on Tuesday (15th), we prepared ‚acts‘ which we then presented in the evening, as a kind of evaluation of the seminar – our group looked at the accomodation and food, and did a sort of circus-like act with several parts; mine was juggling, but it went quite wrong as it was quite dark on the stage, and I couldn’t see the balls properly. There were lots of other (more) entertaining acts, such as a musical, as an overview of the whole seminar, songs, drama, a picture story, video in the form of an interview with the leaders, which twisted their words, also a do-it-yourself game where everyone together illustrated trying to escape from inside a wall (a human chain), which was fun, reviewing what we’d learnt about the GDR.
Needless to say, despite some problems, food and accomodation were excellent, with yoghurt and fruit cocktail on offer alongside the usual bread, jam, cheese and sandwich meat, and for lunch and dinner many foodstuffs to mix and match from, and lots of salad on the side.
On Wednesday 16th, the tenth day, there was a service followed by lunch, and then it was off back to Frankfurt (Oder), and a restful afternoon before continuing with work the following day.
Berlin, Socialism, GDR, Stasi, Reichstag, German culture, Language,
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Going HOME! Weeks 25 and 26
From the 14th to the 27th February, I visited my family back home in England. Everyone (I eventually realised, after Seb, Will and Jeremy remained hidden at first) came to the airport to collect me, even at 11pm or around there, at Bristol (handy, there’s an Easyjet flight between Berlin and Bristol).
I received Valentine’s cards from my two sisters, daffodils from Mum, and was very glad to be back.
On Tuesday 15th, I enjoyed lunch and a good chat with Mum at the refurbished Kings Arms pub turned posh restaurant. then with a good friend from church in Cirencester the following day, and then a walk and picnic in the surrounding countryside with Dad on the Thursday.
On Thursday, our Chinese lodger’s family returned back home, meaning there was room on Friday for our French grandmother to come, with a usual spattering of presents.
On Friday, me and Jeremy walked in on one of Seb’s and one of Will’s lessons in school, for a laugh. AND I received two offers from U n i v e r s i t i e s , wohoo!
On Saturday, Seb cut my hair very short and not all that evenly; it was his first time though, and I'm happy with the job he did anyway.
I went to church on Sunday, where it was good to see everyone again, though I hadn’t had time to prepare a small something to say about my time in Germany so far.
On Monday 21st, we all went out in the car to see snowdrops – and, whilst playing football, my brother Seb tore his knee open more impressively than I’ve ever seen before, skidding about a meter along a road after tripping over Will’s foot...
On Tuesday, me and Emily spent a long time cooking a delicious meal with stuffed chicken and roast potatoes.
On Wednesday, a hospital appointment in Swindon sadly kept me away from my family for a few hours.
On Thursday, I seem to have spent most of my time filming video clips with my siblings, which can now be found here – (or at the very bottom of the blog) and I think more are to come. (I swear it can be addictive, making videos like this. And very time-consuming.) Well done Seb for the editing, Will, Jeremy and Elise for their impressive (and partly dangerous!) acting, and me, for eating all the cookies.
On Friday, I was able to watch Will at Malmesbury Abbey Skate (where he, Elise and Jeremy had been already on the few days it was running that week), doing very well. (I also saw some good friends again there.) He also took part in a competition that evening, against two younger boys from skater families (!) who made him look not all that impressive, but he’d really improved a lot – good job Will!
And then, on Friday evening, Dad was kind enough to take me and Will to Riff’s bar, where we enjoyed very loud music from local band Dirt Royal, and from The Supernovas, of North London, and very cheesy chips. We dared sit at the front for a while, and after half a song or so, my hearing was going fuzzy and numb it seemed, so we soon went further back. And then we even said a few words to their singer at the end – and Will dared put on a high-pitched voice, I could hardly believe it.
Great fun anyhow, and the ringing in my ears had died down by the following morning.
On Saturday I went for a picnic with Sebastian in Malmesbury’s Nature Reserve – for once it was sunny, which was nice. I’d forgotten until I came home that the weather can be overcast or rainy most of the time – it’s a lot more sunny (though colder) in Frankfurt (Oder), with clear blue skies.
And on Sunday, I went to church again, (still hadn't had time to prepare anything to tell about Germany!) seeing a few more people who hadn’t been there the previous week. Then we had a very nice Sunday lunch, and I was given a set of Chinese Opera masks amongst other gifts, by our Chinese lodger.
And then, in the afternoon, according to the sense of German organisation which has taken possession of me, it was time to be off...
We left an hour and a half later, and thankfully Bristol is much easier/quicker to get to, and a very small airport, compared to Berlin Schönefeld, for which my need to be organised would've been more appropriate. I still got a bit of a scare with boarding the flight and had to run a bit...
...and got home, safe and sound, at half 12 early Monday morning, after talking to some very nice people on the plane.
This all reminds me of the story of the very hungry caterpillar, in which he eats an apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, etc. We read it in the English club I run the first week I’ve been back. (I’ve been able to bring all sorts of materials – books and games – and edibles back with me, they’re a real help.)
Looking back on the two weeks, it was a really good time for our relationships (especially being away and realising how important they are to me), great fun, perhaps not that relaxing at all, and made me see how blessed we are as a family, which I don’t think I properly realised before. Amazing! Two weeks does go fast though...
I look forward very much to the whole family visiting me in April, up to and including Easter. Woohoo!
On with the second half of the year now...
I received Valentine’s cards from my two sisters, daffodils from Mum, and was very glad to be back.
On Tuesday 15th, I enjoyed lunch and a good chat with Mum at the refurbished Kings Arms pub turned posh restaurant. then with a good friend from church in Cirencester the following day, and then a walk and picnic in the surrounding countryside with Dad on the Thursday.
On Thursday, our Chinese lodger’s family returned back home, meaning there was room on Friday for our French grandmother to come, with a usual spattering of presents.
On Friday, me and Jeremy walked in on one of Seb’s and one of Will’s lessons in school, for a laugh. AND I received two offers from U n i v e r s i t i e s , wohoo!
On Saturday, Seb cut my hair very short and not all that evenly; it was his first time though, and I'm happy with the job he did anyway.
I went to church on Sunday, where it was good to see everyone again, though I hadn’t had time to prepare a small something to say about my time in Germany so far.
On Monday 21st, we all went out in the car to see snowdrops – and, whilst playing football, my brother Seb tore his knee open more impressively than I’ve ever seen before, skidding about a meter along a road after tripping over Will’s foot...
On Tuesday, me and Emily spent a long time cooking a delicious meal with stuffed chicken and roast potatoes.
On Wednesday, a hospital appointment in Swindon sadly kept me away from my family for a few hours.
On Thursday, I seem to have spent most of my time filming video clips with my siblings, which can now be found here – (or at the very bottom of the blog) and I think more are to come. (I swear it can be addictive, making videos like this. And very time-consuming.) Well done Seb for the editing, Will, Jeremy and Elise for their impressive (and partly dangerous!) acting, and me, for eating all the cookies.
On Friday, I was able to watch Will at Malmesbury Abbey Skate (where he, Elise and Jeremy had been already on the few days it was running that week), doing very well. (I also saw some good friends again there.) He also took part in a competition that evening, against two younger boys from skater families (!) who made him look not all that impressive, but he’d really improved a lot – good job Will!
And then, on Friday evening, Dad was kind enough to take me and Will to Riff’s bar, where we enjoyed very loud music from local band Dirt Royal, and from The Supernovas, of North London, and very cheesy chips. We dared sit at the front for a while, and after half a song or so, my hearing was going fuzzy and numb it seemed, so we soon went further back. And then we even said a few words to their singer at the end – and Will dared put on a high-pitched voice, I could hardly believe it.
Great fun anyhow, and the ringing in my ears had died down by the following morning.
On Saturday I went for a picnic with Sebastian in Malmesbury’s Nature Reserve – for once it was sunny, which was nice. I’d forgotten until I came home that the weather can be overcast or rainy most of the time – it’s a lot more sunny (though colder) in Frankfurt (Oder), with clear blue skies.
And on Sunday, I went to church again, (still hadn't had time to prepare anything to tell about Germany!) seeing a few more people who hadn’t been there the previous week. Then we had a very nice Sunday lunch, and I was given a set of Chinese Opera masks amongst other gifts, by our Chinese lodger.
And then, in the afternoon, according to the sense of German organisation which has taken possession of me, it was time to be off...
We left an hour and a half later, and thankfully Bristol is much easier/quicker to get to, and a very small airport, compared to Berlin Schönefeld, for which my need to be organised would've been more appropriate. I still got a bit of a scare with boarding the flight and had to run a bit...
...and got home, safe and sound, at half 12 early Monday morning, after talking to some very nice people on the plane.
This all reminds me of the story of the very hungry caterpillar, in which he eats an apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, etc. We read it in the English club I run the first week I’ve been back. (I’ve been able to bring all sorts of materials – books and games – and edibles back with me, they’re a real help.)
Looking back on the two weeks, it was a really good time for our relationships (especially being away and realising how important they are to me), great fun, perhaps not that relaxing at all, and made me see how blessed we are as a family, which I don’t think I properly realised before. Amazing! Two weeks does go fast though...
I look forward very much to the whole family visiting me in April, up to and including Easter. Woohoo!
On with the second half of the year now...
Monday, 28 February 2011
Frankfurt (Oder) photos (quite frosty)
 |
| das Rathaus - the town hall (the current one is just next door, to the right). On the left said, a small greeny-bluey bit indicates the entrace to a very good restaurant in the basement. And I think there's steam of some kind coming out of the 6 (/12) dark vents above the three front doors...curious heating system if it really is. |
 |
| A part of the Marienkirche (St Mary's church), now only used for community events. |
 |
| The Kleist Museum - Heinrich von Kleist was a famous German writer who lived in Frankfurt (Oder), whose 200th anniversary will be celebrated in 2011. (Not sure whether of birth or death.) The arches housing windows in the roof are typical of traditional architechture in this area - the CVJM house has them too. |
 |
| A random building I like the look of. |
 |
| The steeple of the Marienkirche, and, behind it, the 25-storey Oderturm, housing offices, a restaurant giving view of the city, and a shopping 'mall' (for want of a better word) at or above ground level. Standing at just under 89m high, the Oderturm is the tallest building in Brandenburg. It was built from 1968 to 1976, renovated in the 90s, and now (or 'since then' at least) houses 41000m² of office space, providing 1400 jobs. And the name lights up blue at the top at night. |
 |
| Die Friedensbrücke - peace bridge, with Poland in the background. |
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| The famous (or in Germany anyway) European Viadrina University, where I think Bach or some other great artist studied...and the Marienkirche in the background. |
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
73 things I’ve learnt since I’ve been here...
It’s l o n g (and not just stuff I’ve learnt, in hindsight), so I’d advise finding sub-headings that interest you. These are, in this order:
What I’m like
Live-ability
Interests, Free time
The cold here
German language (and keyboards)
Culture (clash)
Money
Driving and other Germany bits and bobs
Just for fun
Other very important stuff
It has to be said, I’ve changed somewhat.
What I’m like
1. My family is SOOOO important to me.
2. I have had, am having, and will have a good life.
3. After spending years trying to keep in ‚touch‘ with half the world (whatever that’s worth...?), I’m pretty much all about quality not quantity in my relationships. I can’t and therefore won’t try keeping in touch with everyone, nor expect the same 'in return'. No pressure.
4. I’m keen on honesty in relationships, including about how important a relationship is.
5. If you don’t have time for me, you can just tell me so, I probably won’t be offended.
6. (In my opinion) talking face2face is kilometres better than communicating through pixels (phoning/skype being a convenient middle ground). Seeing smiles, and not smilies, is good for communication!
7. I’d much rather be asked, in future, what presents I would like, if someone wants to give me a present. It being a surprise is not as important to me, I don’t think, as enjoying receiving something very useful or longed-after.
8. I don’t think much of presents at Christmas: What’s a present if you feel you had to give it? (A present, I hear you say...indeed...but I think it would be more appreciated if there weren’t an expectation/pressure to give one in the first place.)
9. I have high standards, but am not a perfectionist – or if I was, that ship is sailing.
10. I like doing things all in one go, particularly big things, and dislike interrupting something before the end.
11. If there’s something more that could be said, I tend to want to say it.
12. I’m not exactly talented at interrupting and/or saying goodbye to people. This is perhaps not that appropriate for the German culture, where interruption seems to me to be more acceptable and widespread.
13. Self-deprecation no longer floats or sinks my boat.
14. I’m a happy kind of guy, optimistic.
15. I now laugh out loud sometimes, particularly at that thing with William and the milk...
16. I don’t think I’d be unhappy working as a cleaner, or postman, or whatever – a job where I have my mind free to think stuff over, pray, do what I like.
17. I don’t understand why Christian songs have minor chords.
18. I like singing songs I spontaneously put my own words to.
19. I don’t dislike simple food.
20. I prefer savoury to sweet food, and don’t really like eating sweet things that much (perhaps a result of eating too many sweets as a child).
21. If I don’t plan to be on the early side of ‚on time,‘ I will be late.
22. That being said, German punctuality is catching.
23. Given my time management (bad) habits (much more than just punctuality), it could’ve been a disaster if I’d gone straight to University after Sixth Form.
24. I have been much too busy in life, and need to learn to rest properly
Live-ability
25. One day my life will be OVER (I’ve not learnt this particularly, but realised a bit more).
26. A lot can happen in a day, but a year is not a long time (in my opinion). Perhaps in ten years I’ll say a decade is not a long time either.
27. Doing your best is not doing the most (especially at the cost of the best and most important). I can’t do everything.
28. One can organise things on a to do list into four boxes: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, neither nor. I found it helps.
29. The tactic of doing less important and/or urgent things first, as I know I’ll have to do the important and urgent things afterwards anyway, is not so great.
30. Don’t just say you’ll do something, do it; don’t do something you said you wouldn’t; think before you say you will or won’t. I’m not great with integrity.
31. Saying no is ok, a lot of the time.
32. Sometimes, you’ve just got to let it go. But sometimes, you’ve just got to stick with it, and be grateful, enjoy it, and feel fulfilled.
33. Self-discipline (this one’s out of a book, had to be) is doing what I can do today, in order to achieve tomorrow, what I couldn’t today.
34. I’m responsible for everything I do; it’s my choice, which advice I follow, and which I ignore.
35. Fear of making mistakes can be a big mistake. AND we’re human!
36. A nap, or even just lying down for 25 minutes after lunch, can do you a lot of good when youfeel tired.
Interests, Free time...
37. I love singing, especially with Tensing! (see post about my weekly routine for more about Tensing)
38. Aged 19 my voice seems to have ‚unbroken‘ – I can hit much higher notes than a year ago, though that may be something to do with having bad singing technique. I enjoy it anyhow...
39. I love playing football, and feel stupid for pretty much stopping in year 7 at Bishop Luffa.
40. I enjoy playing volleyball; thankfully, so do the Germans (more so than the British).
41. I love running, especially not in a straight line, and all the more especially through woods, well good fun.
42. I’m not so passionate about photography/taking photos as I thought (small number of photos on this blog bear witness to the fact).
43. TV can eat up your time like you’re in slow motion (and, er...often you are, or in no motion). I’m glad I was raised without broadcast TV programs at home (I’m having to learn to be disciplined aged 19).
The cold here
44. Heating stays on most of the day here (in the CVJM youth house anyway).
45. When you get ‚used to‘ (or as used to as one can) -20°C for a while, anything around or above 0°C feels warm (perhaps a bit potentially dangerous...)
46. In –20°C, girls‘ hair starts to freeze and go white. Crazy.
German language (and keyboards)
47. <German keyboards have the ° sign on them (perhaps as temperature can be more critical to them). They are qwertz keyboards, with ü, ö and ä, and, to my confusion at times, no pound sign. As the apostrophe is a lot less common in German, you have to use shift to type it, otherwise you can#t make yourself understood.
48. German Inverted commas work „like this,“ if you hadn’t already guessed.
49. In the German language, one says „four-and-twenty“, not „twenty-four“. Although I never experienced this at school, I still have problems with this now I’m in Germany, and have to watch out I don’t misorder numbers and understand 24 as 42.
50. My handwriting has got worse – my r’s and v’s are very similar, and (typical of your average, perhaps somewhat traditional German handwriting too actually) my n’s and u’s are resembling one another more and more.
51. German language has drawn so much influence from English that they now say downloaden („to...download“) and updaten (you’ve guessed it, you’re a language genius!).
Culture (clash)
52. British humour is, as far as I can tell, quite similar to German humour (with sarcasm particularly). French humour, however, is rather different to both – I can now spot French humour when I ‚use‘ it, but not describe exactly what it is. The main difference I found between French and German humour is that I find French humour funnier...which doesn’t help much.
53. The Germans have lots of fancy dress parties, with themes (e.g. for my joint Birthday party, ‚come dressed as twins,‘ or TV shows/Films, and plus the usual dressing up ideas).
54. As a foreigner, it feels like there’s a barrier to feeling perfectly comfortable in understanding what is said in some social situations; as for going to the bank for the first time, or worse still, the pharmacy, you soon realise you would do well to learn all relevant vocab, plus a bit extra, in your own time beforehand.
55. In the German culture, people tend to speak very directly to one another; I sometimes don’t.
56. After 4 or 5 months, the novelty of living somewhere, in a new culture, new wears off, and it doesn’t strike me at all that everyday is not ‚normal‘ (in my opinion, it’s never normal, just we think it is cos we’re used to it!)
57. In the German culture, you’re ‚allowed‘ to be (what in the British culture would be considered almost aggressive and really) critical of how things are done (particularly if there’s a feedback session at some event, also quite a German thing I think). I quite like that. Constructive, like.
58. Germany is coool. I might live here later. (This is no reference to the cold.)
Money
59. Not properly keeping track of how much money you’re spending where is a bad thing.
60. Ebay might just save less money than one can earn in the time spent looking through items, comparing the environmental impact of shipping from Hong Kong or the USA*, watching, bidding, bidding again, and again, and again, on items, paying, and leaving feedback. And that’s the fifth attempt, the first at which you weren’t outbid – simply because the auction ends at 3:46 am. Perfect. (* - I was joking, it’s just I sometimes give shipping's environmental effects a thought.)
61. I have in the past been somewhat alarmingly influenced by a drive to save money, even in very small amounts.
62. This feels (perhaps unnecessarily) rather controversial, but nonetheless: I’m not as Fairtrade as I used to be.
Driving and other Germany bits and bobs
63. It’s legal to drive around without a left wing-mirror in Germany (after perhaps smashing the one off the CVJM minibus whilst reversing out of the (fairly narrow) gate).
64. Should a volunteer smash the left wing-mirror to bits on the gate driving the minibus out, one doesn’t have to pay, thankfully (250€, madness!).
65. Should you be done for speeding in Germany (not deliberately, I just didn’t see the 60 (km/h!) sign, only the 80 beforehand) you pay 10, 15 or 20 € fine, nice and small, compared to the UK. :)
66. One has to pay small library fees in Germany; it’s worth it though, as you get the due date of borrowed items AND total value printed on a receipt you’re given, which makes you pretty grateful you had to pay so little (total value of my last set of loans: 203€). And library loans last 4 weeks.
Just for fun (but ‚truthful‘, I’m afraid)
67. Going five months without a haircut (from very short hair I’ll admit) is fine.
68. Going five months without a comb, also from very short hair, is just about ok.
69. Childhood habits die hard, such as tearing your nails...but I’ll get there one day, nails, you’ll see!
70. It’s great fun jumping from the tall ladder to your bed onto the floor when wearing a green top hat, and you feel it rise up a bit off your head, and then land back in place a split second after you land.
71. German joke: „Mum, what’s for dinner?“ „Mashed potatoes, sprouts and pooh, dear.“ „Eurgh, yuk, SPROUTS!“
Other very important stuff
72. My sister Emily makes awesome cards and calendars and has a creative gift in this area, in my opinion.
73. I may well have a lot to learn, still.
What I’m like
Live-ability
Interests, Free time
The cold here
German language (and keyboards)
Culture (clash)
Money
Driving and other Germany bits and bobs
Just for fun
Other very important stuff
It has to be said, I’ve changed somewhat.
What I’m like
1. My family is SOOOO important to me.
2. I have had, am having, and will have a good life.
3. After spending years trying to keep in ‚touch‘ with half the world (whatever that’s worth...?), I’m pretty much all about quality not quantity in my relationships. I can’t and therefore won’t try keeping in touch with everyone, nor expect the same 'in return'. No pressure.
4. I’m keen on honesty in relationships, including about how important a relationship is.
5. If you don’t have time for me, you can just tell me so, I probably won’t be offended.
6. (In my opinion) talking face2face is kilometres better than communicating through pixels (phoning/skype being a convenient middle ground). Seeing smiles, and not smilies, is good for communication!
7. I’d much rather be asked, in future, what presents I would like, if someone wants to give me a present. It being a surprise is not as important to me, I don’t think, as enjoying receiving something very useful or longed-after.
8. I don’t think much of presents at Christmas: What’s a present if you feel you had to give it? (A present, I hear you say...indeed...but I think it would be more appreciated if there weren’t an expectation/pressure to give one in the first place.)
9. I have high standards, but am not a perfectionist – or if I was, that ship is sailing.
10. I like doing things all in one go, particularly big things, and dislike interrupting something before the end.
11. If there’s something more that could be said, I tend to want to say it.
12. I’m not exactly talented at interrupting and/or saying goodbye to people. This is perhaps not that appropriate for the German culture, where interruption seems to me to be more acceptable and widespread.
13. Self-deprecation no longer floats or sinks my boat.
14. I’m a happy kind of guy, optimistic.
15. I now laugh out loud sometimes, particularly at that thing with William and the milk...
16. I don’t think I’d be unhappy working as a cleaner, or postman, or whatever – a job where I have my mind free to think stuff over, pray, do what I like.
17. I don’t understand why Christian songs have minor chords.
18. I like singing songs I spontaneously put my own words to.
19. I don’t dislike simple food.
20. I prefer savoury to sweet food, and don’t really like eating sweet things that much (perhaps a result of eating too many sweets as a child).
21. If I don’t plan to be on the early side of ‚on time,‘ I will be late.
22. That being said, German punctuality is catching.
23. Given my time management (bad) habits (much more than just punctuality), it could’ve been a disaster if I’d gone straight to University after Sixth Form.
24. I have been much too busy in life, and need to learn to rest properly
Live-ability
25. One day my life will be OVER (I’ve not learnt this particularly, but realised a bit more).
26. A lot can happen in a day, but a year is not a long time (in my opinion). Perhaps in ten years I’ll say a decade is not a long time either.
27. Doing your best is not doing the most (especially at the cost of the best and most important). I can’t do everything.
28. One can organise things on a to do list into four boxes: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, neither nor. I found it helps.
29. The tactic of doing less important and/or urgent things first, as I know I’ll have to do the important and urgent things afterwards anyway, is not so great.
30. Don’t just say you’ll do something, do it; don’t do something you said you wouldn’t; think before you say you will or won’t. I’m not great with integrity.
31. Saying no is ok, a lot of the time.
32. Sometimes, you’ve just got to let it go. But sometimes, you’ve just got to stick with it, and be grateful, enjoy it, and feel fulfilled.
33. Self-discipline (this one’s out of a book, had to be) is doing what I can do today, in order to achieve tomorrow, what I couldn’t today.
34. I’m responsible for everything I do; it’s my choice, which advice I follow, and which I ignore.
35. Fear of making mistakes can be a big mistake. AND we’re human!
36. A nap, or even just lying down for 25 minutes after lunch, can do you a lot of good when youfeel tired.
Interests, Free time...
37. I love singing, especially with Tensing! (see post about my weekly routine for more about Tensing)
38. Aged 19 my voice seems to have ‚unbroken‘ – I can hit much higher notes than a year ago, though that may be something to do with having bad singing technique. I enjoy it anyhow...
39. I love playing football, and feel stupid for pretty much stopping in year 7 at Bishop Luffa.
40. I enjoy playing volleyball; thankfully, so do the Germans (more so than the British).
41. I love running, especially not in a straight line, and all the more especially through woods, well good fun.
42. I’m not so passionate about photography/taking photos as I thought (small number of photos on this blog bear witness to the fact).
43. TV can eat up your time like you’re in slow motion (and, er...often you are, or in no motion). I’m glad I was raised without broadcast TV programs at home (I’m having to learn to be disciplined aged 19).
The cold here
44. Heating stays on most of the day here (in the CVJM youth house anyway).
45. When you get ‚used to‘ (or as used to as one can) -20°C for a while, anything around or above 0°C feels warm (perhaps a bit potentially dangerous...)
46. In –20°C, girls‘ hair starts to freeze and go white. Crazy.
German language (and keyboards)
47. <German keyboards have the ° sign on them (perhaps as temperature can be more critical to them). They are qwertz keyboards, with ü, ö and ä, and, to my confusion at times, no pound sign. As the apostrophe is a lot less common in German, you have to use shift to type it, otherwise you can#t make yourself understood.
48. German Inverted commas work „like this,“ if you hadn’t already guessed.
49. In the German language, one says „four-and-twenty“, not „twenty-four“. Although I never experienced this at school, I still have problems with this now I’m in Germany, and have to watch out I don’t misorder numbers and understand 24 as 42.
50. My handwriting has got worse – my r’s and v’s are very similar, and (typical of your average, perhaps somewhat traditional German handwriting too actually) my n’s and u’s are resembling one another more and more.
51. German language has drawn so much influence from English that they now say downloaden („to...download“) and updaten (you’ve guessed it, you’re a language genius!).
Culture (clash)
52. British humour is, as far as I can tell, quite similar to German humour (with sarcasm particularly). French humour, however, is rather different to both – I can now spot French humour when I ‚use‘ it, but not describe exactly what it is. The main difference I found between French and German humour is that I find French humour funnier...which doesn’t help much.
53. The Germans have lots of fancy dress parties, with themes (e.g. for my joint Birthday party, ‚come dressed as twins,‘ or TV shows/Films, and plus the usual dressing up ideas).
54. As a foreigner, it feels like there’s a barrier to feeling perfectly comfortable in understanding what is said in some social situations; as for going to the bank for the first time, or worse still, the pharmacy, you soon realise you would do well to learn all relevant vocab, plus a bit extra, in your own time beforehand.
55. In the German culture, people tend to speak very directly to one another; I sometimes don’t.
56. After 4 or 5 months, the novelty of living somewhere, in a new culture, new wears off, and it doesn’t strike me at all that everyday is not ‚normal‘ (in my opinion, it’s never normal, just we think it is cos we’re used to it!)
57. In the German culture, you’re ‚allowed‘ to be (what in the British culture would be considered almost aggressive and really) critical of how things are done (particularly if there’s a feedback session at some event, also quite a German thing I think). I quite like that. Constructive, like.
58. Germany is coool. I might live here later. (This is no reference to the cold.)
Money
59. Not properly keeping track of how much money you’re spending where is a bad thing.
60. Ebay might just save less money than one can earn in the time spent looking through items, comparing the environmental impact of shipping from Hong Kong or the USA*, watching, bidding, bidding again, and again, and again, on items, paying, and leaving feedback. And that’s the fifth attempt, the first at which you weren’t outbid – simply because the auction ends at 3:46 am. Perfect. (* - I was joking, it’s just I sometimes give shipping's environmental effects a thought.)
61. I have in the past been somewhat alarmingly influenced by a drive to save money, even in very small amounts.
62. This feels (perhaps unnecessarily) rather controversial, but nonetheless: I’m not as Fairtrade as I used to be.
Driving and other Germany bits and bobs
63. It’s legal to drive around without a left wing-mirror in Germany (after perhaps smashing the one off the CVJM minibus whilst reversing out of the (fairly narrow) gate).
64. Should a volunteer smash the left wing-mirror to bits on the gate driving the minibus out, one doesn’t have to pay, thankfully (250€, madness!).
65. Should you be done for speeding in Germany (not deliberately, I just didn’t see the 60 (km/h!) sign, only the 80 beforehand) you pay 10, 15 or 20 € fine, nice and small, compared to the UK. :)
66. One has to pay small library fees in Germany; it’s worth it though, as you get the due date of borrowed items AND total value printed on a receipt you’re given, which makes you pretty grateful you had to pay so little (total value of my last set of loans: 203€). And library loans last 4 weeks.
Just for fun (but ‚truthful‘, I’m afraid)
67. Going five months without a haircut (from very short hair I’ll admit) is fine.
68. Going five months without a comb, also from very short hair, is just about ok.
69. Childhood habits die hard, such as tearing your nails...but I’ll get there one day, nails, you’ll see!
70. It’s great fun jumping from the tall ladder to your bed onto the floor when wearing a green top hat, and you feel it rise up a bit off your head, and then land back in place a split second after you land.
71. German joke: „Mum, what’s for dinner?“ „Mashed potatoes, sprouts and pooh, dear.“ „Eurgh, yuk, SPROUTS!“
Other very important stuff
72. My sister Emily makes awesome cards and calendars and has a creative gift in this area, in my opinion.
73. I may well have a lot to learn, still.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
5 things I've not yet done - Week 23
1. Played the Organ in a church here.
2. Travelled with the bus or tramway here in Frankfurt (Oder) (I have elsewhere).
3. Had something to complain about.
4. Eaten pizza in Słubice, in Poland (cheaper and tastier than in Germany, I’m told).
5. Nothing for a day.
I still intend to do all of these at some point, apart from no. 3.
2. Travelled with the bus or tramway here in Frankfurt (Oder) (I have elsewhere).
3. Had something to complain about.
4. Eaten pizza in Słubice, in Poland (cheaper and tastier than in Germany, I’m told).
5. Nothing for a day.
I still intend to do all of these at some point, apart from no. 3.
My room - a few photos
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| My room - sofa, desk, coffee table, cupboard, radio. Currently much less tidy. |
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| Under my bed, wardrobe far right. |
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| My bed, 2.5m off the ground, complete with TV set. And ladder. And there is a good foot of wood between my mattress and the drop, which can't really be seen here. |
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| One of my favourite pictures, on my door - thank you Jeremy! |
I also have my own small kitchen with fridge, microwave and sink, and bathroom with shower, but they look...sort of like any bathroom and small kitchen. Not postworthy, I thought.
A visual tour of the CVJM Frankfurt (Oder)
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| View from the front of the house |
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| The band room, in the basement - odd place to start, but you'll see where I got the idea from if you watch the ETS (European Tensing Festival) trailer, which was made HERE in Frankfurt (Oder) (and is in English): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMFV1PkULX4. The festival, taking place this summer, will be attended by around 3000 Tensingers from all over Europe, and even from Brasil. |
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| Band room again, and some water heating implement within. |
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| Party room in the basement, rented out for allsorts. |
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| Speaks for itself. |
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| The largest room, called 'Tensing' room, which looks bigger in real life, it's just my camera doesn't take very wide angle shots at all! |
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| The cork floor room. I'd never seen anything like it... |
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| The courtyard - spot the canoes... |
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| Climbing wall and a quarter of the minibus. |
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| The cockerel is Frankfurt (Oder)'s city 'mascot' in a sense - it appears on the city crest. There are several models like this around town, and the CVJM have their own. |
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| Kitchen and conference room, with cooker/oven which I can use. |
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| The office where I work part of the time, looking rather untidy, as can happen. My desk is at the back on the right-hand side. |
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| View from my desk - very good to rest my eyes after staring at the screen, peering right down that street all the way to the Lennépassagen, or up at the Oderturm, hundreds of metres away. |
Snow, ice and frost (Photos)
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| What I was never taught to deal with when learning to drive in the UK. Last winter here, this sort of snow thawed and froze again, until people couldn't get into their cars for the layer of ice around them. |
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| At first, when I saw all these railings on the rooves here, I thought the Germans were overcautious about tiles falling off the roof. I know understand this is to stop snow (or, worse, snow thawed and refrozen into ice sheets) falling onto people from 4 storeys high, for example. Ouch. When walking through the city, watch the pavements before you for smashed ice, then look up, and be weary. A few places don't have these railing things. |
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| These have to be knocked down... |
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| This is someone shovelling snow off their shed so that it doesn't cave in... |
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| The biggest icicle(s) I've ever seen. Not much shorter than the shop window below is tall. |
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| Frost now - notice how one side... |
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| ...is not as white as the other. |
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| I've never seen anything like it... |
A typical East German house (Photos)
I stayed in this building, belonging to a church, with the Youth group of the Baptist church in Frankfurt (Oder), on their Autumn retreat. I was told the design is typical of the DDR era.
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| Interesting place for a skirting board... |
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| Notice the bell below the stairs, used to call everyone together for mealtimes. |
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