Seanai's journal, living and going to school in Germany
Heading into my seventh week here with the finish line in sight I think at this stage I have seen what I came here to see and did what I wanted to do, I've gotten so much out of this experience that was truly once in a lifetime! I've seen Berlin,Hamburg,Bremen and Hannover, made so many new friends and over time have become very accustomed to the German way of life. I realise that if you are reading this you too are considering coming here to Germany for a period of time, and I hope I can guide you to the best of my ability!
The two main agendas of your trip here to Germany will probably be to better your German and to get an insight into German culture and their way of life,and I think these two themes coincide,because the best way to learn a language is to live it!
To start of with schooling which is a very big part of your experience here, its your main activity while your here and it is where you will make good friends and learn a lot of German! Every day for me school begins at 7:40 (this means you will probably have to get up at 6:15 every morning, it might sound difficult but its not really and you will think nothing of it after your first week) take one average day for example. Tuesday,my first class in the morning is double Spanish and then a five minute break between the next class after this I have German class and then a planned free class after this I have biology,then a fifteen minute break and maths after this I have another planned free class and then English and politics class and then school is over. School is not over until 3:40 on Tuesday and so this is a relatively long day,three days a week Im finished at 3:40 and two days a week Im finished at 1 p.m.
As for the classes themselves some are quite enjoyable and interesting and some are slightly harder. I find the maths class particularly hard as it is through another language and from what I see harder than the Irish syllabus. The Spanish class is sometimes hard as it is double dutch, I follow along but dont concentrate to hard as I would fear I would become confused. But as for the German, chemistry, biology, geography,religion and politics class, they are very enjoyable and I participate as much as anybody else!. And then most days we have my favourite class, English, which I find funny and entertaining but with credit to the Germans they have very good English, and this is sometimes challenging because when they know you can speak English they will try to speak English to you, the best way to overcome this is to discipline yourself to only speak German.
In general school life is very different, no uniforms, you can bring and use your mobile during class and the teachers are very easy going, school should be a very enjoyable experience while your hear and one you will never forget!
The second most important theme while your here will probably be living with your host family ,to be honest I couldn't have asked for a better host family than the one I was given and I give every credit to E.I.L. that they have carefully selected a family that suits me.
Family life is not so different, and as I have said in my previous entries it is at home with the family where I learn my best German, and it is confidence building just speaking to them in the evening time, and talking about Ireland through German, and another useful tip I found is dont try to translate an English joke into German! it just doesnt work!!
All in all I would suggest that when your here be open minded, enjoy school and enjoy yourself, it is a once in a life time experience that will serve you well in the future!
I know that I will never forget my trip here to Germany, it has changed me alot for the better, I've learned loads of German, I have become more independent and have learned not to judge a book by its cover especially regarding Germany and its people!
I have another two weeks left here, two weeks for me to better my German even more and enjoy my final days here in Germany.
The great time I had here in Germany was without question because of the professionalism and attention to detail of E.I.L. which i would strongly recommend!