The Lost Weeks.

It's strange that it's taken me so long to write another post in here, when I've been up to loads! I was a bit overwhelmed with the last couple of weeks and even now I don't really know what to include. Let's just say that since my trip to Weimar, far too much of a certain mouthwash-flavoured alcoholic beverage has been consumed.

Two weekends ago I embarked on a night out in Halle with Sophie and Ruth, two of the awesome girls who live in Leipzig. My bag broke. There was Pfeffi. There was skipping. Needless to say, the next day wasn't looking to be too fabulous but we fixed that with a trip to my favourite cafe in Halle for some amaaaazing waffles! They're the best hangover cure I've found so far. At night I found myself heading to Leipzig as we decided to visit a flea market the next day and I hate early mornings to travel to such events. I didn't end up buying a single thing; even the furry hat that made my head feel so cosy was quickly tossed aside when the guy selling it appeared behind me with one hand on my hip and the other brandishing a mirror dangerously close to my face. Flea markets are definitely one of my favourite ways to spend a Sunday in Germany though - not that there are many other options!

Ruh-roh.

The week was just as busy with some other assistants visiting Leipzig from Thueringen (I was reunited with the Glaswegian accent, love you Emma 2!), an attempt to visit an Irish folk music session in Halle that ended up with us eating gigantic burgers in the pub instead, and a dinner/drinks session with Fanny, Jack and Paul that led to my introduction to a bar above an antiques shop! Sadly I wasn't feeling brave enough to join in poker night, but maybe next time. I did at least get to sing along to Loch Lomond in an Irish pub.

On Friday I met the lovely Lara for an East German style lunch then we proceeded to be very bad influences on each other and empty our purses in Monki. Emma appeared to stay at mine for a night as she couldn't bear to be without weekend plans, and as soon as we received a phone call including the word "debauchery" we were back on a train to Leipzig! Jack's brother was here for the weekend and we thought it only fit to introduce him to the wonders of Pfeffi. While I had a lot of fun in the pub and at karaoke, at some point on the way home the week, my many many emotions and the alcohol caught up with me somewhat and I ended up making a mess of my eye makeup, my phone screen (the little German Nokia thank god, not my iPhone) and my knee, which has now turned a lovely shade of black. Many thanks to Emma as always for being an absolute saint and putting me into my pyjamas.

Spot the twins...

Despite being in some state the next day we did manage to make it back to Leipzig for a football match! I had a pretty good time even if the atmosphere maybe wasn't what it could have been, what with the away team being Dortmund reserves. A Mexican dinner sorted me right out, but I was definitely glad of having the Sunday to relax before we headed out for a big Language Assistants Dinner.

French corner!

I dunno either.

This week has seen the arrival of the fabled Erasmus grant, which combined with another payday has left me with more money than I know what to do with! I think I'm putting it to good use, though, by travelling to Erfurt this weekend and Prague the next! I'm sure I'll have plenty to report, though I do plan to take my next post in a slightly different direction. Watch this space!

The Land of Goethe and Schiller

It's been an eventful week, dear readers. In the last seven (or maybe eight) days I've been called upon to face a lot of things I didn't really want to have to, including horrible homesickness, internet banking troubles and a haircut I wish I hadn't bothered with.

Luckily, I've also had lots of fun too, starting with the morning I checked my internet banking (at that point still accessible...) to see that I had been paid! I could have cried tears of joy but instead I responded by going for coffee with the other assistants in Halle, the lovely David, Fanny, Anastacia and our visitor Adam from Leipzig, which of course turned into beers. The next day I headed out onto Halle's shopping boulevard with images of myself tossing credit cards in every direction and strutting down the cobbled street laden with bags full of luxurious goods. In reality, though, Halle's shopping leaves much to be desired, and I came home with one sad bag from H&M. Looks like I have miles to go before I can get used to this Shopping In Germany thing!

Thursday night saw me putting on my war paint for the Erasmus students pub crawl. I met Franzi and her bike at the first pub then met Fanny, Charlotte and Jack at the station. When tequila got involved, things definitely escalated quickly. I don't remember too much from the "club" we ended up in, but I can't forget the Currywurst we inevitably ended the night with. Delicious.

After guiding my somewhat weary Leipziger friends to the station on Friday morning I went for lunch with Eliza and Helena, two other assistants working in the region, and then headed to Dresden! I was really excited to see where one of my best friends had ended up, and meet the flatmates I'd heard so much about. Emma, Ross Anne and I stuffed ourselves with Mexican food then headed to hear some blues music but decided on a fairly early night due to feeling sick. After blaming the food, we eventually realised the cause was actually the carbon monoxide leak in Emma's flat! Don't know if anything could have put a much bigger damper on the weekend. But Dresden is a really overwhelmingly beautiful city and it was great to see my girls, and I'd definitely love to go back and visit again properly when the dangerous gas has been eliminated.

After a lazy but stressful Monday, which involved waking up at midday (got to love school holidays!) to discover I had been locked out of my online banking, I woke up bright and early on Tuesday for a trip to Weimar! I didn't know much about this little city in Thuringia, but after about half an hour there I had already fallen in love with it. It's beautiful in a very different way to Dresden: while Dresden is all about grandeur and spectacle, Weimar is stunning in a much quieter, more modest way. It's wonderful to just walk around and take it all in, and I think we visited at the perfect time of year as the autumn leaves made it even more picturesque! We didn't visit the Goethe or Schiller museums, being terrible German students, so I can't report on those. But I would definitely recommend a day trip to Weimar if you're within easy reach, and if you can get one of Deutsche Bahn's ridiculously good value Laender-Tickets then even better, as we managed to get there and back for 7 euros each!

I also took some photos on my new/old SLR too, which I'll be posting when I get them developed! I'm off to the zoo here in Halle tomorrow with one of my flatmates, and tomorrow night I'll be partying with two awesome ladies, so I'll have plenty to report on next time!

Ich bin kein Berliner

Germans like punctuality. Normally I am also a big fan who starts to sweat at the thought of a delayed train, so this shouldn't be a problem. But this weekend left me so sleep deprived and worn out I just took an afternoon nap and slept in for my first ever Irish dancing class here, which is unfortunately miles away. Hopefully I will soon be such a confident cyclist that missing a tram isn't such a problem, but for now my hands are covered in minor bike-related injuries, so I won't be risking getting lost tonight. What better way to be productive, then, than to get a blog post hammered out!

(OK, maybe cleaning the bathroom would be a start. After dinner.)

I barely had a moment to myself last week, from Wednesday to Sunday I had something going on every day. Wednesday was the Lichtfest in Leipzig, commemorating the peaceful demonstrations there that contributed hugely to the collapse of the GDR. For a history student with a particular interest in those weird, distant years where Germany was two countries, being able to take part in such an event was so exciting. The Augustusplatz was full of people, all with candles in their hands, and the German President even came along. (Having read up on him since, it would seem he's a pretty cool guy.) Obviously some of the references in the play and speeches were a little lost on us non-natives, but the atmosphere was something really special, and I'm so glad I got to experience it. Naturally, in the spirit of dissent and freedom, we then headed to a lovely pub afterwards to rebel against having to work the next day.

Augustusplatz

I spent Thursday both very excited and very, very stressed, as it turned out I had booked my train to Berlin a little bit too early. I hadn't even packed, so it was all a little touch and go whether or not I would make it. But I huffed and puffed and power walked to the station, which is thankfully not too far from my flat, and stepped through the train doors with just seconds to spare. I should probably have apologised to my fellow travellers for my sweaty, stressed presence. Two hours or so later I was in Erin's flat in Friedrichshain, one of the coolest areas of Berlin and my personal favourite!

Berlin is one of my favourite cities in the world. There's always something going on in every corner of the city. The first night saw a birthday night out for one of Erin's friends, another language assistant called Chelsea, and after being knocked back from one club for being under 21 ("it's in the law"... I don't think it is, actually, I think you are in a bad mood, Mr Bouncer) we found ourselves stumbling into one that was only charging 2 euros entry to an indie/rock night - result!

On Friday we headed to Berlin Oktoberfest, so that me and Emma could experience a little taste of what we hadn't managed to get to Munich for. Stepping into the slightly empty tent I was a little doubtful, but after a massive beer I was feeling much happier, and the hall was getting busier all the time. Eventually we were dancing on the benches to German party classics (some of which have associated gestures and dances - think Agadoo) and smashing our beers together so enthusiastically we accidentally caused a glass shower. Erin's phone suffering a little from the ensuing beer droplets meant an early exit for us

Ein Prosit der Gemuetlichkeit!

Making such a premature exit turned out to be a good idea, as we were feeling fairly fresh the next day to go and meet Lydia and Rosie from uni for lunch! We ended up in a Korean restaurant, which would never have been my first choice, but I'm happy to say that my lunch was pretty delicious and I'm glad I tried something new, even if eating with chopsticks is definitely not my strong point. At night we headed out for another one of Erin's friends' birthdays, ending up in the Stadtbad, a club that used to be a public swimming pool. The main dancefloor was in the pool itself, which meant a very slopey floor and a very surreal feeling. Emma said she felt like she was in a scene from Blade. Unfortunately, I am definitely not a natural Berliner, and as the morning wore on I was craving sleep more and more. I need to try and develop the hardy German attitude to partying, as I am definitely still too much of a Brit! Sunday morning was a trip to the flea market at Mauerpark, where I got myself a replacement for my Praktica camera (which I left in Britain since it was adding about 3 kilos to the weight of my suitcase...) and some tasty bruschetta.

Tasty food and happy bargain hunters!

After such a fun but exhausting weekend I'm happy to be back in my flat in Halle, and being in Berlin made me realise that although I absolutely love the city, I'm actually sort of glad I wasn't placed in a school there. My commute is much shorter than it would be there, my rent is much cheaper, and I hear German absolutely everywhere I go, whereas in Berlin I did notice a lot of English being spoken. Totally normal for a European capital, but not what I want from this year. Here, if I speak with a bad accent or make grammar mistakes, hardly anyone will switch into English in response. I'd love to spend some time in Berlin at some point, but this year is for learning German, and I'm pretty happy to have been placed in a city where English is still fairly rare.

Apologies for the length of this post, but I hope I did Berlin justice. If that's possible. Since I've not been paid yet it looks like I'll be spending the near future in the Halle/Leipzig area but hopefully I'll still have plenty to report. Bis gleich!

A Weekend in Leipzig

I meant to write this post on Sunday, but I was too tired and said I'd do it on Monday. On Monday I was also very tired and not too well so I said I'd do it on Tuesday, when I'd stopped making my way through the flat's massive selection of herbal teas. And yesterday I met a friend for coffee and my flatmate invited me to the pub, so that was that. Now it's Wednesday and tomorrow I'm off to Berlin so this needs done. Two awesome cities would make for one excellent but ridiculously long post.

SO. Leipzig. It's half an hour away and full of excellent people who also happen to be working as language assistants. And in the spirit of German Unity that meant a four day weekend, we decided to embark on a mini pub crawl on Leipzig's Kneipemeile, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse. Strangely, we found the street pretty empty, but marched on regardless - this turned into stumbling later on. Two pubs and an unsuccessful attempt to fit seven of us in a photobooth later, we ended up in Flower Power. Thinking it was a club, we were surprised to find it was pretty small and had no dancefloor in sight. But this could not ruin our high spirits and we just continued to drink to music from ye olden days of the 1950s and 60s. We even met another group of Brits which led to free Jager bombs (or at least the German attempt at them) from a very generous lieutenant. Thanks Archie!

 

 Smiley Brits abroad! Jack, me, Sophie, Ruth and Paul. (Jack, here's your photo credit. Doesn't make you a professional but whatever keeps you smiling, pal.)

Friday morning saw headaches all round. When I woke up in Jack's spare room I wasn't entirely sure what was going on at first, just aware that the view from the window didn't belong to Halle. Neither of us had our best moments that morning and I think it would have been easy for me to go home and crawl into bed. But we decided to soldier on, seeking hangover food, and did a little tour of the sights, including the beautiful Nikolaikirche and the MDR Tower with panorama views over the city. Leipzig is lovely, I'm already a big fan. The little shopping passages were especially pretty - I wasn't expecting much, since the Neustadt Passage here in Halle is like something from a dystopia novel, but they were thankfully more like Glasgow's Argyle Arcade. 

Hi Leipzig!

After a lovely but tiring day I headed home for my second plate of pasta of the weekend (student life...) and got an early night because Saturday meant a visit to Leipzig Zoo! I hadn't been to a zoo since a disappointing trip to Edinburgh a good few years ago so I was especially excited for this part of the weekend, and even more so when it turned out to be a gorgeous day for wandering around outdoors! The zoo is massive, but worth every penny of the 14 euro entry fee. Seeing the big cats was my favourite part: I've never seen anything as beautiful in real life as a tiger or a snow leopard, and the big male lion playing with a pizza box like any domestic cat was brilliant. The chimps were also amazing and unbelievably close to us in their behaviour. One orangutan was sitting at the glass at the front of the enclosure, watching the two little girls who were watching him with a somewhat similar expression on his face. 

Beaaauuuutiful!

After a lovely Italian dinner at Vapiano I headed for my train, exhausted from the weekend. Needless to say, Sunday really was a day of rest for me. I feel so lucky to have this awesome group living so near me and I can't wait for more fun with them all!

Tonight I'm heading back to Leipzig for a quick trip to the Lichterfest, an annual event commemorating the Peaceful Revolution, then tomorrow after work I'm catching a train to Berlin for the weekend!!! I'm so excited to visit my favourite city in the world and see two of my favourite girls. Expect a lengthy blog post on my return!

Hallewood

When you think of Germany, one of the first things to come to mind is beer. I may not be visiting Oktoberfest in Munich this year, but I've been doing my best to make up for that here in Halle. This might be a small city but what I've seen of its bar and clubbing scene so far has been pretty great! I think the huge university here probably has something to do with it.

Last Friday my flatmate Sebastian took me to what he described as an "underground club". I have no idea what I was expecting, really, but where I ended up reminded me a lot of my trips to Berlin. A yard with a bonfire and a caravan selling food, and inside two rooms playing great electronic type music, a laid-back crowd, and equal amounts of beer and Club Mate* being drunk. We met a friendly Bavarian, Elias, so I did get a bit of an Oktoberfest experience - also thanks to the Bavarian dinner my mentor teacher and her husband made me that night!

*For the uninitiated, Club Mate is a fairly disgusting, highly caffeinated drink popular here. Ross Anne described it as "like if you use a cigarette as a teabag" and I think she was pretty spot on. The cola is ok though.

On the way to the Marktplatz

Another night I went to the Hallesches Brauhaus with my buddy from the uni, Franzi, and some of her friends. It was all very German, with waitresses in traditional clothing and local beer on the menu. I've also been to Cafe Nöö, a great little cafe/bar by the river that served delicious chicken wings, and La Bim, in an abandoned building and full of football tables. I think I might have disappointed everyone a little with my very poor performance - I am not even a table athlete, it would seem - but I was happy enough to just soak up the atmosphere with yet another kind of beer, this time Astra from Hamburg.

I've had a really busy weekend because three of my wonderful friends came to visit me! Lara was the first to arrive on Thursday, with Emma appearing at dinner time (cue terribly greasy takeaway food) and Ross Anne just after midnight. We had a little party in the flat for Emma's 20th, with GDR Sekt and beer flowing. My flatmates joined in too, as well as Lara's friend Cindy who studies here, and it was lovely to sit in the kitchen with everyone just chatting away! Emma, I hope we made your birthday as awesome as it could have been at home!

Happy birthday, Emma!

We went exploring on Friday, walking from my flat to the Marktplatz and then into the Kleine Ulrichstrasse, Halle's "Kneipemeile" or bar strip (not an ideal translation, as Kleine Ulli is definitely classier than that phrase would imply!). We had lunch at an Italian restaurant and discovered that eating outdoors in late September is not a fantastic idea. Wasps divebombing towards our faces did not make for a very relaxed meal, especially for me with my phobia. Then Cindy showed us a great little cafe where we got delicious waffles! I need to go back ASAP, it was a lovely little place and I can't think of a better way to get a sugar rush than with these waffles. At night we met David, a language assistant from the US also working here who it was great to get to know - you were so much fun, David! We went to a lovely cafe on Kleine Ulrichstrasse (natürlich!) and talked nonsense all night until the sassy waiter told us it was last orders.

Hi Lara!

Yesterday we tried to find somewhere to have lunch and once again ended up on Kleine Ulrichstrasse, in an Irish style pub. Then we hit Moritzburg castle where there was a flea market in the moat, with DJs, vegan cakes, and personalised canvas totes on sale. I bought one with a cat, obviously. In the much more commercialised Woolworths (it's not dead!) we found Ross Anne a dirndl - she is living in Bavaria, after all - which we had a lot of fun modelling back in the flat with our beers and taco kit! We narrowed down our clubbing options to three and ended up in Schorre, round the corner from my flat. Approaching the entrance, we quickly realised we were the youngest people there, and decided to cure our trepidation with spirits. It ended up being a pretty fun night, as we danced to all the choonz from 2007 or so as well as Das Geht Ab. Schorre isn't quite my scene but if I'm ever in the flat on a Saturday night drinking with someone and we want to go out dancing, I think we could make worse choices!

Emma and Ross Anne modelling for my fashunn blog.

I had a four hour nap today which sums up how I feel after such a busy, wonderful weekend. I could sleep forever. But alas, I have to plan a lesson on British schools and tomorrow I have to get up at six. It's only a three day week though, thanks to the Day of German Unity on Thursday, so I'll definitely be making some plans for the weekend to come! I also promise to take more photos with my camera rather than my phone from now on as I'm not loving the quality. Tschüssi!

Endlich da

My first two weeks in Germany have been pretty crazy. I feel like I've barely stopped for a second! There's been so much for me to do and see, and as I write this lying in bed contemplating making french toast, I'm delighted to finally be able to just relax for a bit.

I haven't had a proper chance to settle in in Halle yet, as last Sunday meant a train journey across Germany for training week near Cologne. Sitting on a train isn't my favourite way to spend five and a half hours, though I have a feeling it's something I'll be getting used to this year. When I finally got to stretch my legs I found Ross Anne and Emma in a coffee shop abusing the WiFi and we traipsed to our hotel for the night. Evening meant McDonalds (ouch), cocktails and Koelsch (yum) as well as talking absolute nonsense til the early hours with our bottles of beer. Needless to say it was a painful coach trip to Maria in der Aue the next day.

At Cologne Cathedral with Ross Anne.

Induction week was pretty intense, despite the constant food breaks. We were all paired up with roommates who were going to be working near us, and I found myself sharing with the fabulous Eliza who will be living just north of Halle. Our little working groups were also area-based and I have to say, us Sachsen-Anhalt ladies are pretty fabulous. I also got to meet a few people who will be based in Leipzig, which is pretty great as they're only half an hour away, and another girl from Glasgow, Emma, who is living in Jena! There was so much information to take on board it got a little overwhelming and tiring, despite the PAD's best efforts. We also had to prepare mock classes, with the others in the groups acting like the pupils, which was very nerve racking, especially when we realised a beautiful Bavarian would be assessing us. But we had fun making the others play charades and acting like primary school kids learning the colours in English!

Naturally we all found our way to the bar every night which made for some great fun, as well as some ill-advised hangovers. The last night was especially great, I found myself at a room party paired up with an Irish guy trying to teach the Gay Gordons to uninterested English people. The coach trip back to Cologne wasn't so much fun, but a traditional lunch in a brewery type restaurant helped a lot! I'm not sure what I made of Cologne. It was very modern, and I felt a little guilty complaining about how ugly it is when I realised that was the Brits' fault! I think if I visit again, I'll need someone who lives there to show me where and how to have fun.

Glasgow girls in the bar!

This week has been my first in the school, which has been interesting to say the least. I'm teaching in the Realschule classes and as English is a compulsory subject, naturally some of the kids aren't so interested. Can't blame them - I felt the same about maths! Hopefully I can do a Sister Act 2 and make them super enthusiastic by the end of the year! It's very strange being back in a school atmosphere, especially as it's one I don't feel particularly comfortable in. But I think I'll get used to it and it's nice being in the staffroom for a change, even if some of the teachers have mistaken me for one of their senior pupils!

I'll be back soon with another post about my recent "cultural" (read: alcoholic) experiences, as well as my ill-fated attempts at emulating the Germans and riding my bike. Bis dann! x

Finally!

I'm writing this from my new bedroom in Halle! I can't quite believe I'm actually here, though at the same time I already feel almost at home in the flat. I have my nice new bedding and my clothes are all in the wardrobe (though I need to pack soon for going to Cologne tomorrow!). I have my two books from Scotland on the shelf and my makeup in front of the mirror. I think I'll be pretty comfy here for the year.

I arrived in Halle four days ago after lots of panic and tears, feeling awkward lugging my huge suitcase everywhere in the station in Berlin, and a quick change of train at Wittenberg. I'm amazed I managed to get my suitcase packed in the first place - squeezing your life into a 20kg suitcase isn't easy! - and I only forgot my Kindle charger. My mentor teacher, Anka, met me at the train station and took me to spend the first few days at her house. She and her husband were absolutely lovely and so so helpful, making sure I was registered as a resident of the city, showing me around the lovely city centre and helping me set up a bank account. I've been well fed and there was plenty sekt and beer. Eventually though I was itching for my own space and I moved into my flat today!

Halle is smaller than what I'm used to in a city, having grown up in Glasgow. But the city centre is really pretty, tram construction works aside. Yesterday me and Anka had coffee in the inner courtyard of a castle - three euros for two. Much cheaper than I imagine it would cost in a Historic Scotland building! And in ten minutes we were back at the Marktplatz, Halle's main square. It also seems to be really easy to get around by tram. The shopping doesn't seem particularly great, but Leipzig is nearby and I can be in Berlin in less than two hours!

This afternoon I went to a mini street festival in my area with my flatmate Sebastian and his brother. There were fleamarket stalls, bands, food, beer, games for kids, and a lovely community atmosphere. I had a vegan döner, something I didn't even know was possible but that tasted really good, and a Club Mate cola, since I thought I should get into the slightly hipster vibe of the festival. My area (or "gegend" as everyone here seems to say) is gorgeous, the buildings are almost all old and renovated and the streets are lined with trees. I have two supermarkets round the corner and I can walk to the main station in 20 minutes! I can't believe how lucky I got with this flat. I'm really excited to spend the year here!

Tomorrow I'm off to Cologne for my training week. I'm meeting Emma and Ross Anne in the city then on Monday we head into the woods to the training hotel-type place. I've heard good things from my friends in other parts of Germany who have already done their training, so I'm pretty excited! And Cologne itself looks beautiful so it'll be good to catch a glimpse of it while passing through. I'll be telling you all about that when I get back! Bis dann!

Last week in Scotland...

I've not blogged in so long because year abroad preparations seemed to be very slow and a bit abstract, really. Besides the odd letter or email, there was very little to remind me I'm actually going. The last week has been a blur of goodbye drinks and staring at my suitcase willing it to pack itself, but even now I don't feel like I have to move abroad in a matter of days!

Packing is turning out to be a bit of a chore. I usually enjoy packing for a holiday or weekend away but this is a completely different matter. How do I fit a year's worth of life into a 20kg suitcase and a hand luggage bag? I'm not convinced it's possible despite my friends who have already landed in Germany (lucky ladies) reassuring me otherwise. What do I take to use as teaching materials? What do I wear teaching? What do I wear when I go out? How do I narrow my choices down to four pairs of shoes? Yes, there are shops in Germany. I know this. But how much can I buy over there, considering I have to bring it home?

Needless to say I am a stressed girl. But there are some essentials I have already put in my suitcase, ready to have clothes thrown on top:

1. Boots. Two pairs - ankle boots and knee highs. Ankle for autumn and everyday wear, knee high for snow and more formal wear. It's going to be cold over there, if everything I've read about Germany is true. So I want my feet to be well prepared come rain or shine. Mostly come rain though.

2. My diary. Because I have a feeling some of my worse moments should still be documented somewhere, as an inevitable part of the year abroad experience, but not necessarily on a public blog like this!

3. A camera. I couldn't forgive myself for not documenting the year in pictures as well as words, so both my film camera and a little digital one will be coming with me! Thankfully film seems to be fairly cheap in Germany so I should be able to snap away without the costs piling up too much.

4. A BahnCard. OK, I don't actually have one of these babies yet but I will definitely be purchasing one on arrival. I plan to visit all my friends around Germany while I'm there so getting 25% off my journeys will be pretty handy indeed!

I've been spending a lot of time recently saying goodbye to family and friends which has been a bit overwhelming but great fun too. Elsa came through on Thursday, Friday night I went for a burrito and cocktails with Beth (as she's off to Ayia Napa today!) and on Saturday night my family all came over with food and wine and some lovely presents for me. I've spent today detoxing a little from the huge amounts of food and alcohol I've been stuffing myself with! I'm going to miss everyone so much, I hope they all have skype so I can try and keep in touch a bit better than just facebook allows.

I wish I actually felt a bit more nervous and excited about leaving on Wednesday. I think I've just been waiting so long now it feels like it's never going to actually happen. But I'm sure once I have to say goodbye to my family at the airport it'll all come over me and I'll be crying my eyes out, and everything will feel far too real!

Six weeks to go!

Everything's starting to come together for me now in terms of preparation for the year abroad, both emotionally and in organisation. First of all, I officially have a flat! I'll be living in Halle's Südliche Innenstadt, which I've been assured by my mentor teacher is a nice and cheap area, with two other students. One studies primary teaching so I'm hoping she can give me some tips for work, and the other wrote me an adorable moving-in poem on facebook. For €221 a month, all bills included, I couldn't be happier - I can't wait to move in!

I've also got all my travel booked. Glasgow to Berlin, Berlin to Halle. Probably with many tears in my eyes. Then a few days later, Halle to Cologne to stay in a lovely hotel for the night with Emma before our induction week in the countryside! I can see these being the first of many adventures with Deutsche Bahn... time to buy a BahnCard, maybe!

I'm starting to feel totally ready to go now. I've been working a lot the past few weeks, and every time it gets me down, I remember that my last shift there is in just over a fortnight and my flight to Germany and a new life there is just over a month away! I've no doubt I'll be hiding in the toilets at Glasgow Airport the morning I leave, soggy faced and puffy eyed, terrified of stepping on the plane. And then when I do manage to compose myself, losing it again when the plane takes off. The amount of responsibility and independence I'll have over there is going to be very new to a girl who still lives with her parents. I can't quite believe they're going to let me teach kids. It's daunting. But it's incredibly exciting too.

I don't know anyone in Halle, besides people I've skyped on my flathunt who offered to take me out for drinks when I arrive (!) and my mentor teacher. I haven't met any of them face to face, so naturally I'm quite anxious that I'll arrive, nobody will like me, and it'll be a lonely year. But I've been better recently at telling myself I'm actually ok. I've been standing up for myself more, not wasting time on people who make me feel bad, and remembering how I felt about starting uni and making friends there. My friends are fabulous so I must be doing well, and there's no reason the same shouldn't happen in Germany! This might be a clean sheet, but I'll always be some version of Lauren. And maybe that'll work out just fine.

I'm ready for something new. I love Glasgow and I'll miss it, but I've lived here my whole life and I want to go exploring. I'm 20. There's nothing to keep me here for now. What could be more new than moving to a city I've never even visited before? And if I do get a bit lonely, my friends will only be a train ride away, going through the same stuff. I think we're all going to do great.

Hunting for a Home.

Sometimes I like to be organised. When I have little control over something, I want to throw myself into the things I can change and make sure I do a good job. When it comes to the year abroad, I can do little at the moment besides post forms away, book my flight and train journeys (done, oh my god), and search for a place to live. So in between working a lot in the shop and doing some work experience at a local paper, I've been consumed by finding the perfect Wohngemeinschaft ("living community", a German flatshare) to set myself up in for the year.

Everything I've read on my new favourite website Third Year Abroad and what I've heard from previous Year Abroad-ers at uni has pointed to WG-Gesucht as being the best place to find a flatshare. The university in Halle did send me a link to their residential services but I don't want to go into halls in Germany. I'm too scared of living with loads of other international students - probably a lot of fun, but not fantastic for my German skills as I think I'd be tempted to just speak English all the time. And I definitely don't want (and probably can't afford) a flat to myself. All of the WGs on WG-Gesucht seem to follow the same template: washing machine in the bathroom, and the flatmates like to cook together but also have time to themselves sometimes. Sounds ideal. I'm in.

I actually found the perfect flat very quickly, but it fell through! The room was huge and bright, the flatmates seemed awesome, there were two balconies... what more could I really want? I even started making a Pinterest board of how I was going to make it my own and looked up the best bus routes to Ikea Leipzig (though I hinted to my mentor teacher first, in case I could coerce her into taking me in the car). The flatmates chose me, I was over the moon, and I sent all my forms to the letting agency straight away like a good little slave to bureaucracy, only to receive an email over a week later saying that the owner doesn't want to let me the room. Oh. OK. My would-have-been flatmates were fantastic and tried to do all they could to help, but the new owner of the building won't play along. So it's back to WG-Gesucht and stressing out!

What I will say, though, is that I've found everyone really friendly so far! One girl who I replied to a little too late said that she would put me in touch with a friend of hers who needs a flatmate, and offered to meet up with me when I get to Halle! And a friend of my girl Lara has also passed along the details of someone she knows who has a furnished room to let. Maybe contacts are the way?

Hopefully I'll be back soon with better flat-related news! And despite my lack of success so far, I'm still really excited to move out of my parents' house for the first time. I might be terrified of the year ahead of me, but despite my general uselessness (can't cook, can't fix things, can't do much really) I couldn't feel more ready for this aspect.

Hallo, Halle!

While I was in Barcelona the email arrived that I'd been waiting for since finding out my Bundesland. Since finding out my application had been accepted. Since applying to go, even. I might have been shaking a bit when I opened it. What if I was going to a little village miles from proper (read: urban) civilisation? With two buses a day and no trains? Where everyone would know everything about everyone else because they all lived on the same street? This was the nightmare that had haunted me for months. But it was not to be! A letter from Saxony-Anhalt's education department revealed I'd actually been placed in a school in Halle an der Saale! To be honest, this was even better than I'd hoped for. I'd been gearing myself up for a medium-sized or small town. And instead I'm going to a university city, still small compared to Glasgow, but full of people my age and bars and shops. Perfect, as my Stevenson scholarship requires me to enrol at a German uni during my assistantship and Halle's Martin Luther University is huge.

I'm so excited to be going to Halle. It looks like a great city, small enough that I won't get lost but bursting with people to get to know. I've already begun looking for flats and they're all gorgeous and CHEAP. I can't believe the price difference between the flats there and what people pay for in the UK. I've had two skype 'dates' with potential flatmates, and I'm currently quite stressed but excited to finally fly the nest and hopefully land on my feet in a lovely flat. Preferably with a balcony, because that is the essence of the year abroad, is it not? Sitting in the sunset with a glass of wine, wondering how many people in Scotland can do the same. Though in my case, the glass will probably be replaced with a bottle of beer.

The school looks good. Quite normal, I suppose. It's a kooperative Gesamtschule, which from what I can figure out is pretty close to a British comprehensive school. It's in the Neustadt area of Halle, separated from the rest of the city by the river Saale, but by the looks of things still very reachable by tram or bus. From what I can figure out, HaNeu (amazing nickname, isn't it) looks a bit like Cumbernauld. Though, as my friend pointed out, perhaps Cumbernauld just looks like socialist East Germany. I'll be teaching kids from 10 to about 17 or 18, I think, and my lovely contact teacher Anka has informed me that the school is holding its first ever Highland Games this year. Interesting.

Is this an ex-Eastern Bloc country or a Scottish new town? You decide...

I'm doing work experience at a local newspaper this week and in every spare moment between jobs all I've been able to think about is Halle. Besides finding a flat, most of the worries I had are gone, and now I just can't wait to get on that plane and see what Germany's all about! I'm so happy for my friends too, as everyone's finally found out where they're going and everyone seems pretty happy! I can't wait to make Deutsche Bahn my best friend and travel around to see them all.

It's going to be a good one, I think!

Barcelona

This afternoon I got back from a long weekend in Barcelona with my friend Emma! An interesting holiday, to say the least. I'm not sure what we were expecting when we rolled up to Prestwick airport on Friday morning, but it certainly wasn't what we found over our four days in the city.

Barcelona is undoubtedly beautiful. The streets, parks and buildings we saw were gorgeous, especially in the sunshine. I especially loved the Antoni Gaudi works all over the city - it's no wonder his designs are so popular and have become a bit of a symbol for Barcelona! (Google tells me today is his birthday, so happy birthday, you genius!) Park Güell in particular blew me away with its mosaics and views over the city. Montjuïc park is also amazing, full of stuff to see and do, even if we thought our legs were going to fall off after our day there. The cable cars give glorious views, just don't go if you're scared of heights!

La Boqueria food market was a lovely surprise. It's right off La Rambla and was swarming with people when we visited on Saturday. Food paradise! Stalls were piled high with fruit, meat, nuts... I just had to buy a fruit salad and "tutti fruiti" juice (cherries, orange and pineapple), perfect healthy food for the hot weather! I could probably have spent much longer wandering around in there but we had to get back to our mission of finding a police station - more on that later - so we left before we got too distracted and started salivating. I think we could probably have splashed out more food-wise, we mostly ate at cheap cafés, but we did go to a lovely restaurant one night and found it wasn't expensive at all. Thanks to it being the night of Sant Joan, a huge deal in Barcelona, we got a three course meal with a beer for £16 euros each, and those portions were generous. I had a goat's cheese salad with walnuts and raisins, then cod in tomato and garlic sauce with beans and another fruit salad for dessert. All delicious, I want to try and copy the salad at home! Even in cafés we found some good food among the other more disappointing options, I had a great Mallorcan sausage sandwich (with crispy toasted bread, yum) for lunch one day, so I think as far as cafés go it's probably just your luck.

By chance, we found ourselves in Barcelona on the night of Sant Joan festivities. It's an old Christian festival celebrating John the Baptist, and it seems to have taken on a life of its own there. After our lovely dinner we wandered around the old town finding bars, including a rock bar in the Gothic Quarter that seems to have just been called Tequila and sold "mortal shots" named after musicians who died young... bit weird, but hey, they played The Clash for me! Then we grabbed a taxi to a beach club our hostel had got us free entry to. It was absolutely amazing. The only time I've experienced such a party atmosphere at home was on Hogmanay. The club was packed and we could walk out the back door straight onto a beach full of young happy drunk Catalans with bonfires. It was like nothing I've ever experienced. If you want to go to Barcelona, go on this night. Lots of things shut down the next day, but it's totally worth it for the night before.

As much as we enjoyed our holiday, it was definitely marred by two things, one of which we'd been warned about and one we did not see coming. On the first night, Emma's phone was stolen as we were eating. Almost everyone I'd told about Barcelona warned me about pickpocketing but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly! Spending our second afternoon in a police station wasn't the nicest holiday experience, even if the policeman writing the report was rather attractive. The second was harassment and catcalling on the streets. As young women we experienced constant obvious staring, as well as comments and gestures being thrown our way from men, mostly middle aged but a few younger ones too. These ranged from the annoying but ultimately harmless "hey sexy, wow, so white!" to men beckoning us to sit near them or in one case, on their knees. I did quite a bit of reading up on Barcelona before we went and never found anything about this, and now having googled it most of the websites I've found said that it was no worse than any other European city. But it was certainly worse than anything I've ever experienced, as a European who has travelled to a few major cities. We found ourselves very uncomfortable walking around at night. It was truly bizarre and a little frightening. I know if I was to return to Barcelona I'd want to travel with some guys because I really don't want to experience something like this again.

So all in all, I'm not sure what I thought of Barcelona. Beautiful and not at all hectic for a big city, it also didn't feel very safe for us at times. Perhaps that's to be expected everywhere as a tourist, but I definitely didn't feel so vulnerable in Berlin or even Paris. I'd go back, but as a young woman I'd want to go with male friends and I'd probably try and wear clothes that covered my legs at least (which I did, mostly, but Emma had only brought shorts and dresses and felt twice as uncomfortable as I did). I'm trying not to let our bad experiences ruin my opinion of such a cool city, though, and it was lovely to get some sunshine for a change!

I'll be posting again soon cause I've had some big news about my year abroad and I'm so excited to finally get more organised! So til then, hope you're all enjoying your summers!

Scottish summer: on the Glasgow tourist trail.

My friend Manon returns to France very soon, and before we all end up scattered around Germany she wanted to experience Glasgow like a proper tourist! When you're studying and living here, it can be surprisingly easy to let some of the city's attractions pass by unnoticed or unintentionally ignored, and the tour bus we decided to take even had some surprises in store for me! We set off on our bus tour a couple of weeks ago and though the sun hadn't heated up the city quite as much as it has this week, we were still lucky enough to find it shining happily all day long. I even got a little bit burnt!


My favourite parts of the tour were the two I'd never experienced before: the Necropolis and the People's Palace. Despite it looming over part of my daily bus route, I'd just never found the time or motivation to visit the Necropolis. I was surprised by the size of it - I didn't realise there was quite so much round the back! - and the views over the city were stunning. The People's Palace has never been on my beaten track, being in a part of the city I rarely have reason to visit, but I knew I'd enjoy a social history museum, and I certainly wasn't let down. Glasgow's social history is so important to the city's identity and the museum did justice to all of it, both the wonderful and the terrible parts. The exhibit on the Red Road Flats, currently being demolished, was especially poignant. We had fun trying to learn to dance old time Barrowlands style by following footprints on the floor; definitely not a success. We'd never have got a winch at the dancin' with these moves.


If you're in Glasgow and have never been to either the Necropolis or the People's Palace, go! Both are free (ahhh, lack of museum admission fees - another reason why I love my city) and definitely worth a visit. Plus, you can finish the day with a visit to West Beer and grab a pint of their gorgeous made-on-site German-style beer. Only a 10-15 minute walk from the city centre, so what are you waiting for? I really don't know why it took me so long to visit.

Scottish summer: Edinburgh adventures!

Although this is going to be a year abroad blog, I think the best way to get myself into the habit of blogging will be to document my summer! I've been doing my best to make it about more than just working and waiting for a letter to arrive telling me more about my placement. So far I'd say I've been doing ok, though I have spent a bit more money than I really should have considering my holiday is soon... oops.

At lunch the other day Colin pointed out that I've been back and forward to Edinburgh quite a lot in the past week and a bit, and I suppose he's right. First I went to see my friend Ross Anne on her birthday, which coincided with the Champions League final - and the result was definitely a great birthday present for such a huge Bayern Munich fan! Having put a little bit of money on Dortmund to win (not too much, don't worry) I was a little disappointed but watching Ross Anne and her German friend sing Bayern songs and being so happy cheered me up. Then it was back to the flat for cake, more drinking and a surprise reappearance by said friend at some silly time of the morning - thank you, 'Ernest', for indulging our love of German and giving us more of an excuse not to go to bed!


 Headed to Snax to pick up some breakfast delights, as we're so lazy and it's the best place in Edinburgh to grab a fry-up, then it was down to the station for me. Only halfway back to Glasgow I realised I'd managed to leave my purse in Edinburgh! So Tuesday saw me heading back - thank you, train pass - to collect it and enjoy a frappuccino before Ross Anne's gym session.

Last night I ended up on the Glasgow - Edinburgh train once again to see Camera Obscura with the lovely Elsa, who I hadn't seen in an inexcusably long time. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the gig itself, there seemed to be an energy missing that was definitely there when we saw them at the Barrowlands on their last tour. I suspect it had a lot to do with them playing so many new songs the audience hadn't had time to listen to yet, as their newest album was only released a couple of days ago, and there was definitely a better vibe when more familiar opening bars were played. Still not a bad gig by any means and we followed it up with a trip to Cabaret Voltaire, where I had a little too much fun waving my arms into the white mist from the smoke machine. I wasn't drunk, honest. There's something to be said for some dancey house type music. It's not something I'd ever listen to at home but on a night out it can make everything feel almost transcendental, like I'm dancing on another planet entirely. Or maybe it's just the alcohol; the last time I danced to this stuff involved free tequila shots. I will need to investigate further by trying out some of Glasgow's house hotspots sometime soon. If you see me, a free shot would go down a treat!

I'm going to update again soon with some of the stuff I've been up to closer to home, including a trip on the Glasgow city tour bus! I'm determined to make this a summer to remember.

Bundesland.

Last week I finally found out which part of Germany I’ll be working in from September! I’ve been placed in Saxony-Anhalt, an eastern but still quite central state. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed, as this was my third choice of Bundesland (Germany’s federal states), and as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I had my heart set on NRW in the west. But as the days have passed I’ve become much happier with things, as I’ve remembered some of the reasons I picked this Bundesland in the first place:

1. It’s not far from Berlin
   …Maybe not the best way to start this list. “It’s near another place” probably isn’t a very encouraging thing to say about the area I’ll be living in. Neither is the fact that in my oral exam, when I mentioned to my German tutor/examiner that I’d applied here, it’s the first thing she said about it. But this can only be a positive because I love Berlin, and 2 hours or so away by train is definitely an improvement on my current location in another country. (Also, one of my friends, Erin, has been placed in Berlin, and two hours on a train with a hangover is do-able, if not desirable…)
2. It’s cheap
   The rule in Germany seems to be the further east you go, the cheaper rents become (Berlin being an exception, though it’s still ridiculously cheap for the capital of a western European country). I’ve spent tonight browsing wg-gesucht.de and swooning over the prices of rooms in flatshares. 200 euros a month for a beautiful room, including bills? I’ll take that, thanks very much! For a comparison here, I know people in Glasgow paying £360 a month for a room near the uni, and this isn’t exactly known for being an expensive city.
3. It’s beautiful
   Saxony-Anhalt’s tourism seems to be largely based around the Harz region with its national park, and I’m not exactly a walking-in-the-countryside kind of girl. But for a while now I’ve been wanting to get fit and riding a bike round the beautiful German countryside sounds quite nice, really. Especially since Erin bought me bike stickers for my birthday!

Another great thing about being placed here (though I couldn’t have known it when I applied) is that two of my best friends have been placed nearby: the wonderful Lara is also going to be teaching in Saxony-Anhalt, and my girl Emma will be next door in Saxony proper! So if I’m feeling a bit lonely or homesick I can jump on a train and explore a new place with them and get a bit of Scotland back just by hearing them speak.

I have to say, I think everything’s going to work out just fine. Now I just need to hear from my school and get flat hunting. And learn to cook. Wish me luck!

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A Hello

Hiya! I suppose I should introduce myself here. If you’re reading this because I asked you to, feel free to stop reading round about now. You won’t learn anything new, but thanks for taking a peek! If you’ve somehow accidentally stumbled across my little corner of the internet, here’s the basics:

My name’s Lauren, I’m 19, and I’ve spent my whole life living on the outskirts of Glasgow. I’ve decided to start a blog primarily to record my year abroad as a British Council English Language Assistant, which I’ll be spending in Germany from September. But you’ll also find thoughts and rants of mine that I feel deserve a bit more consideration than being stuck between cat pictures on my tumblr.

I love to travel, if and when money allows, and last summer I spent holidays in Berlin, Paris and Strasbourg. This summer I’m heading to Barcelona, and obviously as of September I plan to take full advantage of Germany’s central position and my unbelievably short working hours by taking impromptu trips around Europe; I can’t wait!


Other hobbies of mine are messing about with my gorgeous Praktica LTL camera, slurping mojitos and dancing with the girls, and stuffing myself with pizza and episodes of Pointless. I’m also a big fan of flavoured tea and my PS2.

That’s about it, I think. Happy reading!
Lauren xx