Mit Herz, Ohne Tasche

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!

Farewell gifts from Bad Kötzting secondary school.

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

Mit Herz, ohne Tasche  - With a heart, without a bag. (As quoted from a newspaper report in Germany on my time in the town.)

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!