You Can Call Me El

A short post today, just to say that I've done it, otherwise if I miss one I'll get used to it and then never post again and my fans will be devastated. Last weekend I went to Munich for the annual staff-visit! Two lecturers from Manchester come to Germany in January each year, one to Munich and the other to Berlin, to see how all the year-abroaders are getting on, take some notes, and generally report back to the rest of the German department. This year, the Munich visit proved so much more popular than the Berlin one that the lecturer intending to go to Berlin actually didn't go in the end - not one single person wanted to visit the country's fine capital city. This was not down to the lecturer's being hated; on the contrary, most of us have no opinion of him as we have never met him, or even heard of him. I have met Stephen once, and that was in my oral exam at the end of second year. He seemed lovely and friendly, but I couldn't choose Berlin only on those...

Good evening and welcome to this week's installment of Eleanor Continues To Do Things In Germany! This week on the blog we will be covering topics such as Fraught Encounters With Restaurants , Nervous German , and Both Hating And Loving Working At A School . Firstly though, as I'm sure you're all wondering, the answer is yes - I have continued to be somewhat productive this week, meaning my New Year's resolution has lasted three weeks into January so far! Perhaps not that impressive, actually, now I see it written down. But it's felt like quite a big step, and certainly a significant change from the end of last term, when all I seemed to do was eat, drink, be merry, and ignore responsibilities. In the last week I seem to have spent an inordinately large amount of time thinking about, co-ordinating, and meeting tandem partners. In reality it may not be as much as I think, but allow me to explain. Last Thursday I met Marlene for a coffee in Cafe Brühlaffe, a...

Hello again, and welcome to this post, which I am writing from my sick bed. Yep that's right, I am STILL ILL and seemingly only getting progressively more snotty as the days go by, rather than regaining health, as I'd hoped would be the case. Fortunately, a small amount of quite justified emotional manipulation allowed me to not be in school until 12.00 today (Message: "dear headteacher, I'd very happy to come to your lesson at 8am but if you don't need me I'd love to stay at home because I'm still a bit unwell"; Instantaneous reply: "Stay at home!!! Get well soon!!"). So that was a huge help. A surprising amount happened in the week since last I posted, which may lead to the conclusion that all these resolutions to do more  have had some sort of effect. On Friday evening we went to the opera, on Beth's excellent suggestion and, in fact, organisation. It turns out that Beth may be the catalyst for my new productivity, and by cataly...

Happy New Year everyone! 2015 already! Good lord and deary me, etc. And also, greetings from Chemnitz! Yes I am back in this sunny(ish) town, after a frankly delightful holiday involving mainly spending time with my family, the ridiculous tiny dog, and as many friends as would see me. I returned to Germany on Sunday, bringing with me humous, pitta breads, cheddar, and four types of tea which amounted to only several hundred teabags. Other than that, there's nothing much to update you on, so as a break from routine, I've decided to treat you to an inventory of my New Year's resolutions. I am one of those infuriating people who loves New Year because of the fresh start and all the new possibilities that this brings. I love making resolutions, and I don't get too upset when they're immediately broken, because normally, who even cares? This year is no different, and I've made a long list of resolutions, aims, and goals for 2015, which I will now share with you. ...