Thursday 17 January 2013

Ah, Germany.

This post in inspired by a couple of stress-inducing occasions, triggered by my feeble attempts to integrate further with German society.

German readers: apologies if you think I'm just whining here, I probably am but Britain really is much more laid back in certain ways, and also much more disorganised!

Basically, some of the best bits of German leisure time can also be the most confusing for foreigners. Most of that results from my own slowness and misunderstanding. Sometimes, to be honest, Germany has made an everyday process so complicated or efficient it actually gets a little bit terrifying (I refer you here to this post, about supermarkets)

The German Mensa

Whether it was in school or university I can't remember but at some point I clearly remember being sat in a German class, doodling away as usual, and having my ears prick up at the subject of the German university Mensas, and how amazing they are. The Mensa is the cafeteria, and I was promised that if I ever got the chance to go to one I should not pass it up, being lauded as a place to get seriously cheap and good food every day.

Having now lived in Germany, with a uni pass to boot, for over 4 months without having paid it a visit, I jumped at the invitation to meet a friend there last week. Cue utter confusion.

There are 3 (or is it 4?) different stations, with a couple of different options each. Huge queues tail back from each, and once you've made your decision, it's difficult to go back. Haughty German women behind the hatch stare at you with a careful mixture of disapproval and indifference as you try and choose between two. Drinks can only be bought in vending machines with pre-loaded cards at most stations.

As an indecisive Welsh girl, who can be a little fussy about food, and still hasn't quite adapted to German briskness, this was a little terrifying. Especially as there's even a specific order your dishes have to be stacked on the tray, with a moving conveyorbelt to add that extra dash of angst.

However, the food is nice (especially the chocolate pudding), it is a cheap as advertised all those years ago and all the German students seem to manage fine, so I think I'll put this one down as learning experience.

The Library
So for my Year Abroad Research Projekt (bleh, btw) I had to venture into Trier University library to find some decent books about Saarland. I was apprehensive about this, as I remember the hours spent wandering around Southampton Uni library in the first few months of my first year, hunting down books which turned out to be 3 floors above me.

This was made worse when Tylor informed me that you are not allowed to bring bags etc. into the library, and are expected to have a padlock ready for this purpose. Not having one, Tylor kindly offered to set up camp with a book and my stuff outside.

Anyway, I wandered in, looking as lost as an English guy in a welsh pub on St.David's day, and thankfully spotted someone I knew. She advised me to go speak to the guy at the desk to ask how the library works, which I duly did, and got an earful of ranting about "stupid, lazy students who need to learn to do things on their own" for my trouble, but amongst the beautifully declined adjectives I salvaged a word which sounded like WebCat, which is the name of Southampton's online library database. Turned out Trier has a similar system, so after a bit of searching I find a promising sounding book.

Cue 20 mins of attempting to look like I knew what I was doing (a skill you perfect on your year abroad) and repeating the location of the book over and over in my head. Eventually I found it, and made a bid for freedom with the book under my arm.

It may be a small book, and a small feat, but I still get proud when I achieve stuff like this on my own. Plus, I only got shouted at once, which in terms of German bureaucracy is about the best you can hope for.

The Swimming Pool

This wasn't too bad. Germans love their swimming pools. Probably something to do with only having a coast to the north. Anyway, I went with a couple of friends to the local pool, which was reallly nice! Big improvement on Pencoed swimming pool back home, where you feel cold and damp for days after, and get a verruca the moment you walk through the door, shoes and all.

After figuring out the system, which based around a waterproof chip you put around your wrist, I had to stifle a giggle upon getting in the pool. It was chaos. A boiling pot of swimmers going up and down, following no system at all, so every few metres you had to dodge out of the way of someone else, and occasionally got a kick in the hip/elbow in the face for your trouble.

Anyone know the German for "why don't we all swim in a clockwise direction?"

I'm just joking really. German pools are 100 x nicer than back home (along with most things). But  the lack of efficiency did tickle me.

Hope everyone is well!

I'm off to Strasbourg now, so next post will hopefully be less rambling from me and more beautiful pictures.
Bis bald!

Sunday 6 January 2013

Christmas in Trier!

Hullo everyone, I'm back in Trier and back on the blog posts. Happy New Year everyone!

In Germany, New Year's Eve is called Sylvester, and as well as wishing people happy new year you also wish them "ein guten Rutsch", which means a good slide. So, have a good slide into the new year. Cute, oder?

A few to catch up on now, and most importantly I would like to tell you about December in Trier, Germany. December in Germany means many things, the coolest of which is....Christmas Markets!

Trier has a particularly nice one. Not huge but big enough and undeniably pretty.

Trier by Day, looking at the Cathedral. Photo courtesy of Tylor.


Trier by Night, the Hauptmarkt.

During the day they're a little cold, but there's plenty of stuff to look at, and in the evening the place becomes full of people young and old, local and foreign drinking Glühwein from commemorative mugs and eating yummy yummy Bratwurst. During the month of December until I flew home on the 22nd I think I went to the markets about 17 times. So, most days.

The next fun activity myself and the other assistants decided to indulge in was ice skating! Not once, but twice sogar.
The relative skating ability of the assistants was directly related to where they'd grown up.
Tylor and Hilary, having grown up in Canada, a land where you eat ice for breakfast, were brilliant and put us all to shame.
Whitney won the bronze medal representing Alberquerque, USA.
Then the UK in its entirety were the runners up, shuffling around the ice with the occasional wobble, progressing to a half decent and reasonably fast but definitely not stylish parade around the ice.
Special mention to Gunjan, who was a champ on her first time, especially considering she grew up in India, where (according to the ever trusty Wikipedia) there are a grand total of 5 indoor ice rinks.


Trier Assistants on Ice, December 2012. Photo courtesy of Hilary.

What else? Oh yes, my mum came to visit! Bringing my aunt with her, we spent a few days exploring Trier, sliding around in the snow (this was the same week that I got caught in the snowstorm) and buying stuff at the markets. We also headed to some other markets, one at Saarlouis (disappointing) and Saarbrücken (better).

My final weeks involved drinking Glühwein with the Lintzstreet chicks, singing christmas songs (the best German one is called in the Christmas Bakery/In der Weihnachtsbäckerei) and teaching kids about Christmas back in Wales. All I managed to do was give the impression that we drink a lot, oops.

We also had a Christmas pot-luck dinner amongst us assistants, which resulted in lovely food, a great secret santa exchange and a group viewing of The Muppet's Christmas Carol. As we say in Wales, lush.



On December 22nd I flew home for Christmas and I was genuinely saddened to go. I love my life here in Germany, I have made amazing friends, enjoy my job and believe it or not my German is getting pretty good too. I realised I would be incredibly sad to leave in the first week of June but hey, that's still 5 months away so in the meantime I will make the most of it.

Bis gleich! xxx