In which there is a catastrophic journey, a large amount of beer, the Commonwealth and a Sarai.

So I apologise for my terrible irregularity in blogging, I must get better.

So where to start! At the beginning probably xD so about 2 weeks ago Sarai came to Germany for a week, the majority of which she spent in Heidelberg with Chloe, though on the Saturday we (Mark and I) trooped into Stuttgart, to meet up with them both. They all got on like a house on fire which pleased me immensely, though it did end in extensive mental trauma for myself but then what meet up in which Mark is involved doesn't?! He had a very slapped head by the end of it.
We did various things including the Fernsehturm (Stuttgart is pretty at night) and even discovered the freshly opened Christmas Market where we consumed warming amounts of Gluhwein. Christmas markets in November. Whatever next?!

On the Tuesday Sarai arrived in Tübingen. Where it transpired she was about to be a celebrity at school. Our textbook for the 5 & 6 Kl is set in Bristol. She not only comes from Bristol, this little fact had overexcited the English department far too much, but she had attended the school in the book and was friends with the various stars of our textbook. You have never seen more excited teachers or yr 10s so eager to ask questions!

I should probably here explain the German system in relation to the English.
The Germans start secondary school, whether it be Berufschule, Realschule, or Gymnasium aged 10. This is their 5. Klasse and is equivalent to the British Yr. 6 (Justus is endlessly disgusted when I tell him he'd still be at primary school in England). So then our yr 7 is their 6. Kl. and continue until they hit 18 when they get their Abitur, (A-levels) in the 12.Kl.

Because of Sarai's visit I've been able to work with some of the 5. Kl. earlier than expected. These kids are so cute but are unhealthily obsessed with titles for their work and as to which colour they should write their work in. "Beth! They've used red and green in the textbook should I do the same and which book should I do it in!?" I couldn't careless as to which colour you do it in just do it and as regards to which book? I would probably suggest your English book? What do mean you have 3 English exercise books?! Well I don't know, apply common sense!" Despite this they are so sweet, I came to my second lesson with them to discover they'd covered the blackboard, (did i mention that educationally this country still hasn't left the 90's?), with "we <3 Beth"  surrounded by various cute doodles. N'awwww.
Anyway Sarai's being here was awesome and brought me to the conclusion she and Mark should never be brought together in the presence of naive and innocent individuals like myself.

Chloe, Sarai and Marky Mark in Stuttgart.

But to bring this long over due ramble back on course I come to last Thursday.

The day the Commonwealth hit Munich.

We arrived late Thursday and after spending evening getting to know some of our room-mates (we were hostelling it up) a bit better, one of whom was hysterically drunk, genuinely hysterically funny.  We went to bed looking forward to the next days explorations. 

The next day we went on a walking tour which was really useful for orientating ourselves, plus we learnt a lot of really cool stuff about the crazy kings and electors of Bavaria.

In the afternoon we visited the Munich Residenz which is the 2nd biggest palace in Europe. Anyone who knows the largest may reward themselves with chocolate. This was before we hit the shops and the shops hit my wallet. but not as heavily as we'd expected. I still ended up with a new dress for the opera though :)

During Shopping we met up with the lovely Serena and went for dinner at the Hofbräuhaus :)

We spent pretty much the entire evening there soaking up some very Bavarian Culture, which everyone mistakes as being representative of Germany as a whole. It really isn't - the rest of Germany regards Bavaria as somewhat "special".  (Hint: the quotes strongly imply negativity).

Anyway, the next day Hannah's insatiable appetite for castles took us to the rather impressive Nymphembuger Schloß:

It was very impressive and set in really pretty grounds but very little of it is actually open to the public which was quite disappointing. Especially as we paid €5 to get in, grrr.

We then set off to explore the student quarter, which is really unfriendly to students in terms of shopping!! Undeterred Anna was determined to find Dirndls – traditional womens dress in Bayern.  We found a shop that sold them second hand which made them somewhat more affordable, (however I was feeling far too skint and knackered by this point to start squeezing in and out of boned corsets), however the excitement and joy of Hannah and Anna made it awesome fun, to the point where I tried a couple on, at this point however, it was getting late and I went back to change for the opera as they had decided to wear whichever Dirndls they bought. Hannah bought 2. She was so excited. She also attempted to change in the opera foyer under her coat. I have never laughed so hard. Eventually they had to go outside find a dark corner and hide whilst Hannah finished changing, all because before you have tickets you’re not allowed into the loos.  And as students we had to wait for the cheap seats. Of which there weren't any L, too many rich people taking too many children to the opera!

BAH! so we trundled away sad. And wound up going for dinner in the HB for the second night running xD

Hannah and Anna sporting their Dirndls!

Where we shared a table with a bunch of mad Austrians who kept buying us drinks and renamed us, Blumen, rose and Amy,  heaven only knows why, but it likely had a lot to do with the beer they were knocking back at a rate to put any proud alcoholic to shame! 

Sunday.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Sunday. In one day I lost and found my purse (in the middle of Munich) was involved in an accident and was stuck in traffic by a not so accidental accident.

To start the day: Topping up my phone I managed to leave my purse in the bank. Cos I'm a twerp. Only found out after travelling to the other side of town. Travelled back. Wasn't there of course. Went to tourist info to ask for directions to the police station. Followed directions. Which turned out to be utter rubbish. had minor breakdown and rang mum. Mum understandably bemused. "And I can do what for you precisely?" Rang Mark, flipped out a 2nd time. Found a Starbucks asked nice barista. Found police station. "Ah yes its been handed in. To another police station." More confusing directions. Ask more policemen as to where on earth guy in the Präsidium had been on about. Find Police station. On the other side of the same building as the Präsidum. (the mind boggles). Regain purse, WITH EVERYTHING STILL IN IT!!! :D Dance with utter joy.

We then found lunch and headed off to the Deutsches Museum for an afternoon of looking at impressive shiny objects.

Oh and I also tried sushi. I still don't get it.

Then after coffee, crepes and collecting our bags from the hostel we headed for the Bus.

Anyone who was on Facebook on Sunday night has a notion of what happened.

All was going well until just after Augsburg.

Then the traffic got heavier and heavier and heavier and then stop.

2 & half hours later we are moving freely again.

The accident site consists of one car. surrounded by Police cars and various Rettungswagen.

We are all rather befuddled.

We later found out that the cause of this was one not uncommon in Germany. Someone had driven on to the Autobahn, floored the accelerator and driven straight into the central reservation and committed suicide.
This is why we have speed limits.
This is why I will never support unlimited motorway speed.

Its also inconsiderate and damn annoying for everybody else. I may or may not have ranted at length yesterday to Dieter in the staffroom about this. Germans seem to find my passion for ranting hysterical.

Anyway back to the road, we reached the outer limits of Stuttgart and were nearly at the airport. When a taxi driver rounded the corner at speed with no right of way and drove straight into us taking of his wing mirror and doing the side of his car some serious damage. He then had the gall to blame us for it and we had to wait for half an hour for the police to come and assign blame and deal with insurance.

Finally at just gone midnight we achieved Tübingen Busbahnhof. 2 hours late and with no hope of a bus.

Thankfully Hannah's lovely landlady drove us home.

And thus ended one of the craziest days of my life.

Today I got paid. I totally did not go shopping...

Till I can be trust with a debit card,
Bethxx

The ramblings of Beth...

It’s weird how lonely you can feel surrounded by people. Sometimes living with a family is arguably worse than living on your own. At least on your own you don’t have a constant reminder of what you’re missing back home. Hugs are few and far between and there are times you just need a big hug.  I knew half term would be difficult which is why I’ve spent most of it travelling about. Unfortunately as Mark discovered yesterday when he got off the same train as me, (neither of us had any idea we were on the same train) and kidnapped me for coffee, travelling drains me of any life force and leaves me fit only for the knackers yard. Plus it was probably greatly exacerbated by a social on Monday, which served only to remind me that this 21 yr old revels in being bed or at least home by 1 where it is warm and familiar. I was born middle aged.

So yeah, the travelling. I started over a week ago when I ran off to Zwickau to see Lydia, a friend from Altenberg who looks suspiciously like Alyson. To the extent I accidently call her Alyson upon occasion; thankfully she’s an excellent sport who laughs my incompetence with names off, before thinking up ingenious ways of getting revenge on housemates who make too much inappropriate noise. Damn that was awkward, trying to not to act like we’d heard everything and behave like normal human beings was indeed very difficult. At one point Lyds was convinced they were off again so played Bob the Builder very loudly out side they’re room so as to ward off any further potential awkwardness. I haven’t laughed so hard in a very long time. We then settled down to watch some Mock the Week when both housemate and Gf walked in “Ahhh its mock the Week! We heard Bob the  Builder and were like what the flip?!” (Language Moderated :P) Cue more hysterical laughing.

The next morning still sniggering we jumped on a train to Bayreuth. About half way through this journey I said “Lydi, am I going mad or is it snowing?” I wasn’t mad it was genuinely snowing. Now I realise it snowed in the UK too but I’d like to point out that the amount of snow that fell here would’ve brought the UK to a standstill. There was so much  it was pulling trees down under the weight of the snow! However at this point it snowed for a meagre 10 mins before raining for the rest of the day. Which made all our sightseeing/Shopping slightly soggy. We in Bayreuth to visit Lauren, a friend of Lydia’s who is absolutely lovely J. We had many entertaining encounters Lyds and Lauren even made a new friend.

(That thing is actually a head. A sharks head cushion, they have stags, unicorns and other wacky things too)

It continued to rainb and as such we all decided against the Stammtisch we could go to and instead ate Chocolate, strawberry laces and drank wine watching films and comedy because lets face it, there is nothing better! If only Lidl sold Ben and Jerrys…

Then back home in the snow. Went to bed… still snowing and so I woke up to this:

 I stayed inside as well I don’t need a cold thanks very much.

Monday I went to the bank to enquire as to the whereabouts of my bank card, and internet banking details. To be told… “Hmm it seems we haven’t ordered them…” To which Mark and I simultaneously responded  “What do you mean not ordered? Are they not ordered automatically when the account is opened?” The woman with false eyelashes and too much eyeliner simply stared at us as if we’d grown another head each and simply said “Nein.” And thus was the final nail put into the coffin of German efficiency.

After that Kerfuffle Mark annouced there was nothing for it but Coffee and Cake:

I went home showered ate dinner packed, put washing on – nothing to actually pack- and went out to Social with other teachers, rolled home at 2.30 wondering if getting a train in the morning had really been the wisest plan.

The next morning I promptly fell asleep on the train to Stuttgart where I nearly didn’t get off, I think a nice guy tapped my shoulder to wake me up, but I can’t be sure, from there to Heidelberg to atch up with Anne and Chloe, we had a pretty awesome time, and I’ve discovered I cannot German upon waking up. My brain can’t function in English in the morning. Let alone in German!

But if I’m honest, part of the reason for so much travelling is to run away from my feelings. If I’m busy I can’t dwell on my emotions, missing people, homesickness in general. Sadly it doesn’t exactly work like that and wherever you go you will find something that will serve only to remind you of how far from home you are.

If there’s one thing the year abroad has taught me it’s this: You will never be as prepared as you think you are, or you will leave unresolved issues behind and they will haunt you, and it will make coping with the rest of the emotional overload completely and utterly impossible. So my advice is to leave nothing important unsaid, I was given this same advice and ignored it because the thought of actually saying it was too scared, now every time all I can hear is Hannah saying: “If you don’t… you’ll just be left wondering and you’ll beat yourself up and regret it.”

I’m not the only one who has been in this positions I spoke with a former Year abroader who went through a similar thing, and we both agree, it’s even worse in a foreign country.  It doesn’t decrease the need for a hug, it doesn’t make the feeling of being ignored less painful, it just gets worse and worse and you end up crying to one of best friends on skype because you feel like a total idiot.  You’ll end up crying on skype either way because homesickness +tiredness x not having seen them in ages = emotional meltdown; and the slightest thing can trigger a bad day, from excess waspage in the bakery, (and them not giving a flying monkeys) to getting lost on the bus or even just that you really, really, really, really want a hug and quite frankly sometimes teddy don’t cut it.

It’s the last time I break my own rules. Not that I intended to this time. Never underestimate the importance of a simple reply. Talking is key; and I should have done more of it earlier. 

Now however I’m gonna go hug teddy and make hot chocolate because that’s what I’ve got oh and attempt to communicate in a language in which I have the linguistic competency of a 4 year old. If that.