8 things I learnt on my year abroad
This article first appeared in Edinburgh's DELC newsletter in April 2014.
Hilary
Bell has just completed a 6-month language assistantship with the British
Council. Teaching English in Bad Kötzting and Roding, two small towns in
Bavaria, here she reveals her most enlightening experiences.
1. Everyone is your friend
Everyone did not want to be my friend, of course. I quickly
realised that if I was going to make any friends, I would have to find them
myself. One Friday evening, I braved choir practice, where I was immediately
enveloped in the conversation of cheery German mothers. Not the age range I was
used to, but this led to a flurry of invitations to other social gatherings: a
family trip to Passau to visit grandparents, volleyball training, the sports
club ball. During an interview for the town newspaper on my departure, my
mentor teacher remarked that it was unbelievable how many people I managed to
meet. Despite this, I still had a constant fear of pestering people too much at
the beginning – I learnt that you can never be too annoying!
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Farewell
gifts from Bad Kötzting secondary school.
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2. The world is your oyster
Apart from an excellent opportunity to travel Europe, these
six months have given me so many friends from different countries. It makes you
realise just how small the world is. The people I met made me see how easy it
is to travel this earth, as my friendship circle included another language
assistant from Italy, an American, and a girl from Brazil who had married a
German and settled in Bad Kötzting. I started to think that if something so
complex such as navigating the entire planet could be so easy, then surely my
everyday problems could be solved this easily, too. It really put things into
perspective.
3. Prejudices are interesting
A common prejudice against Germans is that they can be rude or
unaccommodating. On the contrary – some people just seemed to enjoy helping the
garbling English girl! Housed in a holiday flat with no washing machine,
someone quickly volunteered to cater for my laundry needs while my landlord
seemed to be always phoning various banks/ television companies/ bike shops for
me. As soon as people realised I needed help, it was astonishing how quickly
they offered.
4. Maybe I speak too much
Ask your average Bavarian how the meal is that you cooked for
them, and most will reply with, ‘It will do.’ So many German school children
said they do not understand why the British need to use so many words. Indeed,
on my recent return to England, I experienced this too, struggling for the
first time with the constant small talk of British life. I just wanted to get
to the point of things!
5. Culture shock is a real thing
The German day is upside-down. Get up ridiculously early, come
home from school at 1pm to a gigantic lunch, and then spend the afternoon
napping (other activities are available). I attempted to flaunt these unwritten
German life rules, but it only left me very tired and very full from my 6pm
dinner, especially during evenings of hard-core
volleyball training.
6. Everyone has to go to a German sauna at least
once
My attempt to sneak in fully-clothed was foiled, and even a
swimming costume was shunned. Unfortunately, I was alone, and so my typically
reserved self had no one with whom to giggle. However, once I threw away the
Great British prude inside me, the naked sauna experience was quite liberating
- I just had to make sure I avoided eye contact with the other teacher from my
school who was loitering on a nearby sun lounger.
7. The Germans aren’t afraid to talk about the
Third Reich
For me, this was surprising and refreshing in a world that is
so concerned with being politically correct. I was involved in many interesting
conversations discussing the time of the Nazis and the best way to remember
these events, all of which were started by other people.
8. Disaster may strike
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Mit
Herz, ohne Tasche - With a heart,
without a bag. (As quoted from a newspaper report in Germany on my time in the
town.)
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There have been plenty of setbacks in the past six months: my
bag and passport were stolen in Munich; yobs punctured both of my bike tyres
(my only mode of transport in the Bavarian Forest); I was first given a flat
which was so remote it had neither internet nor phone signal; the schools did
not really expect me to come; the schools did not really expect me to stay;
German bureaucracy once got the better of me and rendered me weeping in the
staff room. Nevertheless, it was an even bigger achievement when all of these issues
were solved, especially in a different language. After everything, I began to
stop feeling surprised when the words to come out of my mouth were
automatically German – such a feeling of achievement!
