My School

Part of my school: Klostergebau

Part of my contract with the Kulturministerkonferenz Deutschlands prevents me from writing about the goings-on in my school without permission, but I will say that I enjoy my school quite a bit. I'm at a Gymnasium, which is a sort-of academically-oriented secondary school in theory. In practice however it's all the regular students lumped in together instead of the übermenschen that the German state expects to enroll in Gymnasium, because no one wants the social stigma of having been to a Realschule or a Berufsschule (schools with a more vocational-oriented curriculum).

My Gymnasium has students from the 5th Year until the 13th Year, with English being pretty standard as a taught language, usually the first - if only we could do the same thing in Canada with French, or with more regionally specific languages. English-teaching here is at such a level that 6th or 7th Year students here are speaking at the same level that I was in French in grade 11 after learning the language for five or six years, and by the 11th and 12th classes the students are discussing sociology and Shakespeare at levels that our grade 12s could only dream. Pretty remarkable, at least in my opinion.

I have a variety of tasks in different classes: in some I take on entire lessons, while in others I take out small groups of students for discussions and debates, and in some I take on the honoured position of living-dictionary. Actually teaching is one of my favourite parts, especially when I can get the students interacting. Usually the younger ones are more fun to teach as they haven't had their creativity and their will to answer and ask questions beaten out of them by the education system (not that we're blameless - we do the same thing). They also can't say my name, so it's always "Taylor! Taylor!" especially when they see me in the street - they run over to give me knucks or handshakes.

I've gotta say though, I'm getting a bit tired of answering the question, "Is it dangerous in Canada because of the bears?"

View of the Dom from the Neubau, the other campus of my school

Trierer Weihnachtsmarkt

Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas Markets) are pretty common throughout Germany, but it seems to me that they're even more popular in southernly areas (that is to say, Catholic regions).

Trier's Weihnachtsmarkt is particularly famous and large for a city of Trier's size and location, and it draws in so many tourists that - to borrow a metaphor once used by a friend to describe Paris - they are like pigeons: they coo unintelligently, bump into everyone, and poop everywhere.

Well, maybe not poop everywhere.


It's pretty annoying during the day since I have to walk through the Markt on my way to school, and there're so many tourists bumbling around. At night the place is usually even more crowded, with everyone huddling up together under the awnings or umbrellas if it's raining, and there's a general haze rising up from the crowd (a combination of breath, cigarette smoke, and Glühwein fumes).

Glühwein is a pretty standard part of the Weihnachtsmarkt, over all in Germany. Usually it's a mulled red wine with a mixture of herbs and fruit thrown in, though you can also find white wine varieties with a nice hint of clove, etc. You also get the wine in a little mug with an imprint of Trier's skyline, that says "Trierer Weihnachtsmarkt". If you want you can keep the mug, but you pay €2 Pfand (deposit) for it.


Meanwhile, the Dom rises up, noble and majestic as always, above the turbid masses below. I really wish I could adequatly describe the might of the Dom as it looms there, but I'm afraid I - and my photos - fail to do that justice.

The Dom is also stuffed with tourists at this point, including screeching children running around and using the pews as a Kinderspielplatz. Not appropriate.

One of the most important Weihnachtsmarkt traditions:
Bratwurst made by surly Polish immigrants
(And yes, I need a haircut, but I'm
waiting until I go to England again -
I don't trust German haircutters)

A Day Trip to Saarbrücken

22 November
Saturday
Saarbrücken

"Was so lazy yesterday around the WG that I resolved to actually go somewhere today. Unfortunately due to Trier's distance from absolutely anything of interest and the short notice with which I commited to a day's travel, I was stuck with only two real options: Koblenz and Saarbrücken. Having already been in Koblenz twice, I opted for Saarbrücken. Emailed one of the assistants who lives in Saarbrücken, but she didn't get back to me in time so I'm exploring the city alone."

Saarbrücken, capital of the Bundesländ Saarland, is a pretty lack luster place, as it ain't got nothing going for it. A hour long train ride from Trier, Saarbrücken is one of the last bastions of Germany before you stumble into France, and because of that (and partly because of France's possession of the economically important Saarland following WW1) there are supposedly many French influences in the city and state. I didn't particularly notice these, but then I'm not a German, and many of these influences probably apply in western Rheinland-Pfalz as well.

Altrathaus (Old Town Hall)

I doubt it would have been that much more exciting if I had a tourguide.

"This city reminds me a bit of Victoria, though there is no happiness, no driving life-force here (as hippy-ish as that sounds).
I've been searching around and around for Saarbruecken postcards, but so far with no success - why should it be so hard? Is Saarbruecken really that unused to tourists? I've already gone to investigate the Schloss (manor-castle) that overlooks the Saar River and the older part of the town, but it was fairly uninteresting, and the actual Manor itself was taken over today for a blood drive. Signs keep telling me that you can do tours of the crypts beneath the city, but the starting point is nowhere to be found."

The Saar River

"The Canadian Identity, it seems, is truly elusive only at home. Beyond the borders Canadians know exactly who they are, within they see themselves as part of a family, a street, a neighbourhood, a community, a province , a region, and on special occasions like Canada Day and Grey Cup weekend and, of course, during the Winter Olympics, a country called Canada.

Beyond the borders, they pine; within the borders, they more often whine."

-Roy MacGregor in his book Canadians, as paraphrased by Kate Beaton.

Trier Photodump 1

Simeonstraße en route to the Porta Nigra

Kornmarkt and Deutschepost Building

Grumpy preußische Musiker

Lovely Luthier-shop that I walk by and drool.

Endlich in Trier

19 Sept
Trier

"Finally in Trier, safe and sound. Arrived back on the 17th after taking the 'milk run' Regionalbahn instead of the slightly faster Regionalexpress from Koblenz. The RB stops at every little village along the way, making for a very slow trip. Had a good conversation with a little old German lady on the train - they make for the best conversation partners on long train rides, when they're not too afraid to talk to a foreigner. Also helped a weeping girl find a train connection in Koblenz to Metz, as she spoke no German at all. Dangerous, to travel in a country where you know nothing of the language - and English wasn't even her first language, I figure."

Trier's Hauptmarkt with St Gangolf's Church in the background.

"Trier is very picturesque, a small/medium sized city nestled away in the extreme west of Rheinland-Pfalz, bundled up against a bend in the Mosel River. There is a large pedestrian zone which contains the majority of the shops, anything that you need really. Luckily this pedestrian zone is only a 5 minute walk from my apartment! My mentor-teacher showed me around on my first day, pointing out all the little grocery stores where I could buy food &c. No roommates around yet: they'll start arriving next week."

After a few days I went on a big walk in the City to see sights, as it were. This included the Kaiserthermin, the remains of a massive Roman bathhouse. Trier is well-known for having the most Roman ruins north of the Alps, and it was even Emperor Konstatin's seat of government for a few years.





In the second photo you see the remains of the main building of the baths, with the old hypocaust tunnels visible. Hypocausts were the backbone of the Roman bath: fires would be lit on the periphery of the tunnel system, and then the warm air would go through the tunnels, heating the basins of water above. These systems could be so complicated and complex that different basins of water would be different temperatures, and you would even have steam rooms. Bathing was very important in Roman culture - your average middle-class or upper-class Roman spent on average 2 or so hours in bathhouses! You can wander down into these tunnels, which I wouldn't recommend for anoyone who is claustraphobic. The entire underground system smells of dank old earth, and is quite eerie.





I also visited the Basilika, which is the former audience-hall of one Konstantin the Great. You might have heard of him. Kinda a big deal, bringing Christianity to the Roman Empire and all.



The actual Basilika is the big brick building in the background. Today a church, the Basilika was heavily damaged in WWII bombing but was quickly rebuilt - it's not that complicated of a structure anyway, just a big empty room inside (albeit a massive empty room). Once again, no photos allowed of the inside of the Basilika. The silly building tacked unforunately onto the front of the Basilika is the former palace of the Duke or Count or whatever it was of Trier. Maybe a prince's palace? I don't know. I like Roman stuff more.

The Basilika, viewed on its own. Imagine the whole thing empty inside like a giant ballroom.

Köln und Altenberg

First visited Köln on the morning of 14 September after leaving Soest. Was initially unimpressed by the place from my short tour of walking around in the brutal rain. Köln was largely destroyed in WWII, so there are few "old" buildings left, besides the Dom. The Dom itself is quite impressive as you can see, strangely reminiscient of the Black Gates of Mordor. German catholics know how to build cathedrals: even as a non-Catholic, I was hit by a strong sense of piety and grandeur inside the Dom. No pictures of the interior, as they ask you not to. There were neophytes or whatever they were in their red robes, telling people to take off hats and nto to take photos.

I was in Köln to meet up with the rest of the Rheinland-Pfalz/Hamburg/Hessen/Nieder-Sachsen language assistants for our orientation (Einführungstagung) in Altenberg, outside of Köln. The idea was that we would all meet up in the Hauptbahnhof on the 14th, then board coach buses for the monastery at Altenberg where we would be staying.



Altenberg was an interesting experience, and I managed to get to know a few of the other language assistants. We were put into dorm-style rooms with people from the same cities/regions that we were moving to, in order to faciliate better friendships &c &c. I was put in a three'er room with Jack and Neil, both of whom are in Trier with me.



Today a hostel, Altenberg was a monastery founded sometime back between the 1100s and 1400s (I can't remember which). Not going to lie, the whole orientation-experience rang eerily of Hogwarts: we were in an old sort of castle/church/monastery tucked away into the woods in the middle of nowhere, with a meal-hall, wooden staircases to dormitories, and we were forever running to and fro to classes with bundles of papers and books under our arms. Yet another surreal experience.


Courtyard at Altenberg, church on the right, meal hall on the left, dormitories in second and third floors forward.



Mostly Brits at the orientation, with only a few Canadians, and even fewer Aussies, Kiwis and Irish. I was the only British Columbian, and it wasn't until the last day that I met a girl from Alberta. The rest of the Canadians were from back East, primarily Ontario and a couple from the Maritimes. Was very odd being surrounded by so many English-speaking people after spending so long among Germans and Dutchmen, and the weirdness was compounded by the fact that these English speakers had different accents. Bizarre.


Waiting for my train in the Koeln Hauptbahnhof. Next stop: Koblenz, then Trier!