Once again, I have let time slip by without updating you on my antics here in Germany! I do apologise, but time really is flying. I keep meaning to do shorter, more regular posts, but this time, you will have to put up with yet another long, rambling one!
As I mentioned in my last post, I was invited to dinner with a family who want me to tutor their daughter in English. To say I was nervous was an understatement. Not wanting to be late, I overestimated the journey and ended up arriving really early! They made me feel at ease, though, and soon I was helping with the cooking and chattering away in German. I think that the father was really surprised, seeing as our conversation on the phone was very stilted. A bit later, a few other guests arrived (one was an English teacher) so the evening progressed into a delightful mix of Denglisch (Deutsch and Englisch) and... Hungarian. One of the guests was Hungarian, and as the evening progressed, (and wine was consumed) some of the Germans became increasingly confident in their ability to speak the language. Having said that, the wine had the same effect on my German! Overall, it was a really enjoyable evening and I think that I will have good fun teaching Rosie as we seemed to get on really well!
In other news, the Herbstferien (Autumn holiday) for schools in Rheinland-Pfalz started last week and we start school again next Monday. It has been a really nice opportunity to chill out and do a bit of exploring! On Monday, the weather was absolutely wunderschön, so I had a little wander down to the Mosel river. It was really relaxing just sitting on the river bank reading my book in the sunshine! After a while, I saw a tour boat coming in, so decided to seize the opportunity and go on it. It went down the river in the direction that I had never been before (I know the opposite direction pretty well as it is my route to work) which was really nice. I was being such a tourist and taking loads of photos! Afterwards I decided to have a look at the Cathedral, which I hadn't really seen close up since I'd been here. Again, the role of the tourist was assumed and there was more picture taking. It really is a beautiful building!
[The Mosel]
[Trier Cathedral]
On Friday, a few of the other Trier assistants (Emma, Hillary, Tylor, Whitney) and I went to a lovely little town called Cochem. It is a very quaint little town, overlooked by a castle on a hill. Before walking up to the castle, we decided to sample some of the local Federweißer (wine that has not fully fermented.) A couple of us (me included) hadn't had any breakfast and seeing as it was still before midday, it was decided that the wine had been our breakfast! Oh, how my Mother would disapprove... It was lovely, though. I would recommend trying it even if you don't like wine, as it is a lot sweeter and fruitier than normal wine. After walking through the town and going for lunch, we headed up to the castle. It is surrounded by vineyards and we decided that it was very Hogwarts-esque. We then went on a tour of the inside of the castle, which was really interesting and informative. After heading back to Trier, the day was rounded off by pancakes back at Hillary's flat. Yum!
[Whitney and I with a random man in a Toga with a massive glass of wine]
[The castle in Cochem]
[Me, Tylor, Emma, Whitney and Hillary in Cochem]
This weekend, Beth (one of the Saarland assistants who is living in Trier) had a couple of friends over and on Sunday a group of us made a day trip to Saarland. Our first stop was Saarburg, which was another very quaint German town. One of it's unique features is the canal that runs through it and then drops into a waterfall. There is also a castle on a hill there (as there seems to be in so many German towns!) After climbing to the top and admiring the wonderful view, we then headed to Saarbrücken which is the capital of Saarland. It is a nice town and has lots of good shops. It even has a Primark, which blew my mind! I will definitely be going there at some point in the future! In Saarbrücken, we met up with some of the assistants teaching there, which was really good fun. It was a great day, even though it got really chilly towards the end! Germany is so cold, brrrrr!
[Me at the top of the castle in Saarburg]
[The waterfall in Saarburg town centre]
[Beth, Helen, Me, Whitney and Tylor in Saarburg]
Tomorrow, I am heading down to Baden-Württemberg to meet up with Emma, Tylor and Whitney, who travelled down there today. We are going to be there until Friday and part of our travels will include a trip to the Volksfest in Stuttgart. I'm so excited! Hopefully I will have lots of stories to fill you in on when I get back.
Bis dann,
Thanks for reading,
Bel xxx
P.S. I finally have a bed after being here for over a month. No more sleeping on a mattress on the floor! Yay!
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