This weekend saw the advent of another excursion out of Deutschland and into the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague. Here, therefore, are my thoughts on this city.
Most of all I got the impression that it was incredibly hard to orientate myself in. Perhaps because I spent most of the weekend being taken or lead to places and not looking at a map, but even when I did I still found it hard to mentally picture where I was in relation to everything else. This is a negative aspect of the city but it is quickly made up for when you realise how small the city actually is, so you’re never really far from where you need to be.
There is also an incredibly simple metro system (only three lines!) and regular trams, the former of which we wrestled with before we’d even got to the meeting point because we got off the train a stop too early. At this point I was grateful for knowing a small amount of Russian because it made reading Czech a heck of a lot easier. I actually discovered that the languages really are incredibly similar and I look forward to maybe returning to Prague after my time in Russia and getting on better with the language. I did actually, in a restaurant, successfully manage to ask where the toilets were in Russian and garner a response (in either Czech or Russian, I’m not sure) but then ruined it by thanking him in German. Oh well, I’m still learning.
Speaking of restaurants, we ended up in a small place on the first night and you’d think that the entire food culture of the Czech Republic was based on garlic if you’d seen what we were eating. A strange, green, starchy, potato-cake type thing (that I forget the name of) was heavy on the garlic, as were the cabbage burgers and the pasta dish that a friend ordered contained copious amounts (as in several sliced cloves) of the stuff. It did at least taste good and the following morning I was able to find some delicious quark-filled pastry things (called Formalnovy something) containing no garlic at all, for breakfast.
We also discovered that once again food is cheaper in Eastern Europe, but I don’t think it was as cheap as Hungary was. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with different currencies. The Czech Koruna doesn’t really work out to much. 25 of them is about one Euro and will maybe buy you a couple of rolls or about two and a half of the pastry things I had for breakfast. The irritating thing is having large notes, for example I went to the cash machine when we arrived and took out the equivalent of 80 euro in one note. Once broken it’s fine though and not too bad to cope with as long as you remember that a 100 Koruna note is worth four euro.
Prague also has fascinating buildings and a very interesting history, part of which was told to us by our tour guide Tijo (from Amsterdam) who was part of a group offering free tours of the city. This is what I mean when I said I was mostly taken to different places this weekend, rather than wandering by myself. We managed to see the main sights over the weekend though: the Charles Bridge, the Astronomical Clock and the Castle. Even though we did only see the castle in the dark, after wandering over a bridge and up a hill in the very snowy and sleety weather, getting lost and then hitching a tram back to find it. We still saw the view from the hill and I can confirm that Prague is indeed very beautiful; a city that I’d love to spend more time in.
On the whole an excellent weekend and many thanks to the organiser; I think that might have been my first independent (i.e. not school) holiday/trip with such a large group as well. Anyway, I reckon I’ve now procrastinated enough with my ramble about Prague and should definitely finish the essay that I’ve had half finished for ages but not yet completed. Until next time!
Monday, 23 January 2012
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Magic and Fairytales
I want to blog about a couple of interesting things that happened, before I forget about them.
First of all, last week I went to a magic show, at a restaurant that I've been to about three times now. I think we saw a flyer for the magic show the first time we were there but kept getting confused with the dates, and to be honest when it's only on on the second Sunday of every month it's easy to lose track. However we eventually managed to pin one down and we went along, having no idea what to expect other than maybe a few card tricks over dinner.
It turned out to be a great evening in the end. You got given a free drink when you arrived and could then order food while the magician chatted to you (there were nine of us there in total) before starting the show proper. He ended up briefly hypnotising me while we waited for our food which was not what I expected. I guess I shouldn't have told him that things like that have always fascinated me. I wasn't 'fully under' or anything, just incredibly, incredibly relaxed. I could hear everything that he was saying to me and everything that he was telling me to do and I could have gone against it I guess but I was far too relaxed to want to. I suppose that's how trances work then.
The proper show was also very impressive, especially when he opened his wallet and fire came out and he produced a drink from seemingly nowhere. I suppose all the tricks were fairly standard: card tricks, rope tricks, 'mind reading' etc. He got me up to help hide a nail under a cup and then he played Russian Roulette with my friend to find the nail. I think my reaction gave it away too much (which was obviously what he was looking for, but I probably overreacted and spoiled it a bit) but other than that it was fun. He also didn't speak a word of English which was wonderful, I think one of the other audience members did because he wouldn't stop staring at us if we spoke English. I now have a lot more sympathy for people speaking their native language in a foreign country. I'll admit sometimes I stare too if the other language particularly fascinates me but I'll certainly remember that it's not fun to be stared at in future.
My secomd interesting thing was (as mentioned in the last blog) being on stage in 'Rumplestiltskin'. It was very strange to switch from one school to another in the course of one day (normally it's one day in one school, three in the other and fridays back in the first school). I think I was also very fortunate that this Friday turned out to be one of the best days I've ever had in one of my schools, in terms of student input and response. Whoever said Friday the 13th was unlucky? It seems that as soon as I told whichever pair I was working with, that they had to describe and discuss the picture they had in front of them but "make it more of a conversation between the two of them", they suddenly had loads to say. It nearly completely cut out the awkward silences where I normally try to think of a question and they look uncomfortable. I also had a long German discussion with two students about what would be helpful for them in English lessons and now feel more useful than I did before.
Anyway, that was all before even getting to the right school for rehearsals. I only just made it from one to the other in time so didn't manage to eat lunch until 3pm but things went well. We managed to get the room set up (there wasn't a real stage, just a decked out classroom) and even got the music sorted, then our last rehearsal mostly ironed out the scene change difficulties we'd been having. It turns out that turning straw into gold and then back again so that more straw can be magically conjured is difficult! Thankfully we had an old sack that we could throw over a pile of 'gold' along with some straw and then whisk the sack away so it looked like it had been transformed. I'm hoping the effect was good. We also had a large bag of chocolate coins which the King liberally threw at the small children after he had been proclaimed 'the richest man in the world' by the Narrator. All in all it was good fun, especially because we were performing it for the 5th graders, most of whom have seen me in their lessons at least once. The small seemingly-excited cry of "Da ist Emma!" when I came on 'stage' made me smile and one even came and said hello afterwards.
So yes, that was a good Friday, all told. Next week I may be working with the younger ones more as one of the teachers in one school said it would be good as I've not really met them yet. Their enthusiasm and excitement to have a new and strange person in the class is also really sweet. Next weekend also sees the adventure of a trip to Prague and the further excitement of having a vist from the PAD (Paedagogische Austausch Dienst) to see how I've been getting on as a language assistant. Here's hoping I remember to blog.
First of all, last week I went to a magic show, at a restaurant that I've been to about three times now. I think we saw a flyer for the magic show the first time we were there but kept getting confused with the dates, and to be honest when it's only on on the second Sunday of every month it's easy to lose track. However we eventually managed to pin one down and we went along, having no idea what to expect other than maybe a few card tricks over dinner.
It turned out to be a great evening in the end. You got given a free drink when you arrived and could then order food while the magician chatted to you (there were nine of us there in total) before starting the show proper. He ended up briefly hypnotising me while we waited for our food which was not what I expected. I guess I shouldn't have told him that things like that have always fascinated me. I wasn't 'fully under' or anything, just incredibly, incredibly relaxed. I could hear everything that he was saying to me and everything that he was telling me to do and I could have gone against it I guess but I was far too relaxed to want to. I suppose that's how trances work then.
The proper show was also very impressive, especially when he opened his wallet and fire came out and he produced a drink from seemingly nowhere. I suppose all the tricks were fairly standard: card tricks, rope tricks, 'mind reading' etc. He got me up to help hide a nail under a cup and then he played Russian Roulette with my friend to find the nail. I think my reaction gave it away too much (which was obviously what he was looking for, but I probably overreacted and spoiled it a bit) but other than that it was fun. He also didn't speak a word of English which was wonderful, I think one of the other audience members did because he wouldn't stop staring at us if we spoke English. I now have a lot more sympathy for people speaking their native language in a foreign country. I'll admit sometimes I stare too if the other language particularly fascinates me but I'll certainly remember that it's not fun to be stared at in future.
My secomd interesting thing was (as mentioned in the last blog) being on stage in 'Rumplestiltskin'. It was very strange to switch from one school to another in the course of one day (normally it's one day in one school, three in the other and fridays back in the first school). I think I was also very fortunate that this Friday turned out to be one of the best days I've ever had in one of my schools, in terms of student input and response. Whoever said Friday the 13th was unlucky? It seems that as soon as I told whichever pair I was working with, that they had to describe and discuss the picture they had in front of them but "make it more of a conversation between the two of them", they suddenly had loads to say. It nearly completely cut out the awkward silences where I normally try to think of a question and they look uncomfortable. I also had a long German discussion with two students about what would be helpful for them in English lessons and now feel more useful than I did before.
Anyway, that was all before even getting to the right school for rehearsals. I only just made it from one to the other in time so didn't manage to eat lunch until 3pm but things went well. We managed to get the room set up (there wasn't a real stage, just a decked out classroom) and even got the music sorted, then our last rehearsal mostly ironed out the scene change difficulties we'd been having. It turns out that turning straw into gold and then back again so that more straw can be magically conjured is difficult! Thankfully we had an old sack that we could throw over a pile of 'gold' along with some straw and then whisk the sack away so it looked like it had been transformed. I'm hoping the effect was good. We also had a large bag of chocolate coins which the King liberally threw at the small children after he had been proclaimed 'the richest man in the world' by the Narrator. All in all it was good fun, especially because we were performing it for the 5th graders, most of whom have seen me in their lessons at least once. The small seemingly-excited cry of "Da ist Emma!" when I came on 'stage' made me smile and one even came and said hello afterwards.
So yes, that was a good Friday, all told. Next week I may be working with the younger ones more as one of the teachers in one school said it would be good as I've not really met them yet. Their enthusiasm and excitement to have a new and strange person in the class is also really sweet. Next weekend also sees the adventure of a trip to Prague and the further excitement of having a vist from the PAD (Paedagogische Austausch Dienst) to see how I've been getting on as a language assistant. Here's hoping I remember to blog.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Feeling Multicultural
I am now safely back in Germany after a very pleasant Christmas and New Year in England. Coming back to Germany was a lot easier than I thought it would be to be honest and it’s made me wonder if I’m now truly multicultural.
I realised how much England fails at this when I landed back at Stansted before Christmas and saw that nearly all the signs were only in English. It infuriated me a little after having been in a country where on trains the safety messages and signs by the door are in German, French and English and in airports there is an English translation for nearly everything. It’s not like I don’t understand English, far from it of course, but I know what it’s like to land in a foreign country for the first time and not understand things. (I think it’s something I’ll feel all the more keenly when I go to Russia but we’ll have to see how multicultural they feel in a few months time.)It’s not exactly pleasant and I think it just made me a little bit sad to realise that this country seems to be isolating itself despite what you hear about celebrating multiculturalism. I think if we truly were celebrating it all our airports would have better signs and so would our trains.
Anyway, slight complaints out of the way, I really am pleased to have very simply slotted myself back into life here. I only got back yesterday but it could have been a week ago. I simply got in unpacked, checked in online, went to bed and then got up and went straight back in to work at the schools. I’ve even been successfully food shopping. Also to add an extra culture to my current multicultural feeling, I now have Russian character stickers on my keyboard so that I can type in Cyrillic properly when I want to. It’s a good feeling.
It seems I’ve actually managed to give an on time update as well, excellent. Next post will probably be when something exciting happens. Perhaps when we have Fairytale night at the EvaSchulze and I have to play the Miller’s daughter/Queen in the 11th Grade production of Rumpelstiltskin. Yes, it looks like I’m going to be on stage, oh dear...
I realised how much England fails at this when I landed back at Stansted before Christmas and saw that nearly all the signs were only in English. It infuriated me a little after having been in a country where on trains the safety messages and signs by the door are in German, French and English and in airports there is an English translation for nearly everything. It’s not like I don’t understand English, far from it of course, but I know what it’s like to land in a foreign country for the first time and not understand things. (I think it’s something I’ll feel all the more keenly when I go to Russia but we’ll have to see how multicultural they feel in a few months time.)It’s not exactly pleasant and I think it just made me a little bit sad to realise that this country seems to be isolating itself despite what you hear about celebrating multiculturalism. I think if we truly were celebrating it all our airports would have better signs and so would our trains.
Anyway, slight complaints out of the way, I really am pleased to have very simply slotted myself back into life here. I only got back yesterday but it could have been a week ago. I simply got in unpacked, checked in online, went to bed and then got up and went straight back in to work at the schools. I’ve even been successfully food shopping. Also to add an extra culture to my current multicultural feeling, I now have Russian character stickers on my keyboard so that I can type in Cyrillic properly when I want to. It’s a good feeling.
It seems I’ve actually managed to give an on time update as well, excellent. Next post will probably be when something exciting happens. Perhaps when we have Fairytale night at the EvaSchulze and I have to play the Miller’s daughter/Queen in the 11th Grade production of Rumpelstiltskin. Yes, it looks like I’m going to be on stage, oh dear...
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