You Can Call Me El

Greetings friends! This will be my last post before Christmas probably, unless it isn't. It is my eighteenth post, which means I have written slightly more than one a week in the sixteen weeks I've been in Germany. I'm too excited to do a proper post, so I'll just note down a few important things. On Thursday I went to Leipzig and we went to the Christmas markets with Jack's two housemates called Micha and got surprisingly rapidly tipsy on mead, Gluehwein and a Feuerzangenbowle. What larks. Friday was spent recovering and doing nothing, and was therefore blissful. On Saturday I had my final concert of the year with the university choir. Despite some reservations about how much fun it would be, as the stress of finding new places and talking to almost-strangers potentially outweighs the joy of singing, it was actually great and I'm glad I went. At the end of the concert the conductor was presented with a bunch of flowers, which he gracefully received before...

For all you worried readers out there, I'd just like to clarify, firstly, that there is not that much potential for bankruptcy at the moment, despite my wild spending in the last few weeks. Choosing to be an ELA this year was the best decision I've ever made, not only because it has allowed me to afford the unbridled amount of food and drink I have consumed at the Christmas markets. However, as a generally careful person when it comes to money, this new sense of freedom to buy as much tacky Christmas merchandise and as many waffles as my heart desires is not only liberating, but also somewhat terrifying, hence my blog title. But enough of my unfounded fears. To the blog post! So this last week has been eventful in the extreme: Zoe came to stay, I finally saw Mockingjay, a teacher invited me to his house, it became really ferociously cold, I skipped two more classes at the Volkshochschule, there was a Chemnitz Christmas party, and we acquired a kettle. Zoe came to stay ...

I wanted to write this joyful post last night at about 10.00 last night when I was in an incredibly buoyant mood, but unfortunately I remembered that I had to prepare a lesson for first thing today, so sadly I allowed my responsibilities to come before recreation, hopefully for the last time ever. Anyway, let me tell you ALL ABOUT why everything is so great at the moment, with the help of what I like to call 'bullet points' because that's their name. Dresdner Striezelmarkt Dresden cathedral looking majestic Last Friday a group of ELAs from Chemnitz and Zwickau went to Dresden to visit the Christmas market which had just opened. Dresden is beautiful usually, but with the markets as well it is incredible; there was a wonderful Christmassy atmosphere and all the Glühwein you could ever wish for. I took several blurry pictures, but it's impossible to capture the true feel of it with a mere phone camera. However that will not stop me trying repeatedly every time I...

Hey friends! Festive greetings to you all! In the past I have been one of those cynical people who complains that late October/early November is too soon to think about Christmas and that it all just needs to  stop  and oh GOD it's so commercialised and annoying and I don't even like advent calendars that much.  However , in recent months I have come to accept that my outward cynicism and sarcasm is simply a thin protective layer, and in fact I am one of the most enthusiastic and excitable people I know. Especially about Christmas. In Chemnitz, the Christmas markets open on 28th November, and I am literally counting down the days on a little chart I've made. I also carefully planned when I needed to start my advent calendar (25th November) in order for the end of it to coincide with my going home for Christmas on the 18 th December. This year is the first that I have had a chocolate advent calendar that didn't cost less than £2; last year I bought myself a token choco...

Today is a bank holiday (although in German it's more excitingly named: Feiertag , ie. celebrate day!) so there are a number of things I am going to do - write this post, make a start on my Learning log thing, plan a few lessons - and there are a number of things I am not going to do - put on a bra, go outside for any reason. I've decided that I need a relaxing day after the incredibly hectic Monday and Tuesday of this week, which both involved getting up upsettingly early (5.40 and 6.40 respectively) and being constantly with people . I may have mentioned this on here before, but Germans are very tiring to be around. Anyway, enough rambling, and to the point of this post: friends and enemies! Friends In the last few weeks, there has been a lot more general contact between other language assistants in Saxony. First there was the Gluehwein fest that I mentioned last time, which was swiftly followed the next weekend by meeting with David and Verity in Leipzig. I'd gone t...

Germans have a reputation for being incredibly efficient. Everyone knows that, right? My German lecturer told us last year that 'German punctuality' means being there five minutes before the agreed time. Their transport system is fantastic. They are just so organised. OR ARE THEY?????!! I'll give you a clue: the answer is no, no they are not all like that. Perhaps I was misled by the amazing efficiency of a certain German lecturer in Manchester (hi Wiebke!!! Oh wait she'll never read this), but I really expected them all to live up to the stereotypes. Some are true of course, for example, they love their bureaucracy. I must have signed about fifty forms since coming here. However, sadly the efficiency thing is less true, and this is especially noticeable with transport. The trains are often delayed, as are the long-distance buses, and while this perhaps should be expected and is certainly no worse than the UK, it was still somewhat disappointing. The trams, on the oth...

Another week of school, another few days of feeling like I'm a fraud for actually being paid to do this. This week has been very easy because lots of English teachers were off school, and for some incomprehensible reason, this means that I don't have to go to their lessons. Although you might think it would make a lot of sense for me to go, so the students have some kind of continuity, and you might also think I could even cover the lessons so that other teachers don't have to, it seems that the school loves to give me no responsibility at all. I did go to a few extra lessons with my favourite teacher though, as she seems to really enjoy having me there and I feel as though I'm actually contributing to the class, so it wasn't too bad. It was in one of her classes today that I got the inspiration for this blog post title; we were doing adjectives, and the task was to list them as the 'root' word, the comparative and then the superlative. One unfortunate girl...

Hello again! Let me tell you all about my trip to Vienna! First of all, Vienna is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. In the centre at least, every single building looks like a palace, and it's very easy to imagine yourself wandering around a couple of centuries ago, complete with period costume. That's the dream, anyway. My dear friend Zeynep was kind enough to go to university in Vienna this year for her year abroad, meaning I could stay with her instead of having to find a hostel. She took me round the important tourist sites, a job with which she will no doubt soon get bored because everyone who comes to visit her this year will want to do exactly the same things. Fortunately, as I was one of the first visitors, she has not yet lost all interest in being a tourist.  On Friday we visited the Hofburg, which was really interesting and had some delightful historical musical instruments, including the tiniest French horn I've ever seen. There were also...