So this is probably going to be my last blog for the next few weeks, as I head home for Christmas on Wednesday - wahoo! I cannot wait to be back at home, I'm so ready for it :) But here is a little run down of what I've been up to this week...it's been a busy one, as December tends to be!
I began the research for my year abroad research project this week, which meant that I was getting most of my classes to fill in a questionnaire during lesson time. They were all really helpful in filling it in, and happy to do it - the only thing is I now have a lot of data to analyse! After the questionnaire part of the lesson, I've been talking to my students about Christmas in the UK, and that's been quite fun. They cannot get their heads around crackers - they just do not see the fascination. They also get very confused about why there is no meat in mince pies, and why on earth we eat fruit cake, when we could have chocolate cake instead. My favourite part of the lesson, though, has been getting them to listen to 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' and try and write down the gifts they hear - my favourite suggestion was 'a jingle bell tree' instead of 'a partridge in a pear tree'! But they were good sports and played along :)
On Monday I did my first lesson at the local primary school. They have asked me to do some private lessons with a group of 6 and 7 year olds, about 20 of them. And oh my goodness were they adorable. I was teaching them some Christmas themed words, and so had made flashcards for 'Santa Claus', 'Reindeer', 'Present' etc and they were shouting the right answers out whenever I showed them the picture. I also taught them to sing 'Silent Night' as they sing the same song in German, and I was amazed at how quickly some of the youngest ones memorised the whole verse in English! At the end of the lesson, one of the girls came up to me and said (in German) "Laura, guess what? I have English on my t-shirt!" - it said 'I love you to the stars and back', so adorable! And then as I was leaving the building, they all shook my hand, thanked me for the lesson and wished me a good Christmas! Austria is seriously doing something right!
This week I also had a lovely girly sleepover with Carissa. I went to stay with her in Kirchdorf, and we watched a few films, made brownies (and ate them), and we made apple strudel (the first time I'd made it!)...and of course, we ate that too ;)
As this was the last full week of term, both of my schools had their Christmas parties as well. One of my schools is in the grounds of a monastery, and the party itself was in a part of the monastery which is not open to the public, so it was very exciting. The general format of the Christmas parties was that a group of teachers get together and form a choir, and they are very good, and then there are some texts read out, and once this part is over, you eat, and drink quite a lot of Punsch and Glühwein (mulled wine). I had a great time at both of the parties, it was nice to chat to the teachers out of the normal school environment.
On Friday, I hosted a film afternoon at my main school. I've been organising it for a while, and the idea stemmed from the fact that no one over here has really seen 'The Sound of Music', but they will always be asked about it if they go to an English-speaking country. So they bought tickets for €1 and in return I brought along snacks and drinks. At first I was a little disappointed with how many people came in comparison to how many said they would be interested, but the ones that did came really made the most of the opportunity, and although it's an old-fashioned, cheesy film, they sat and watched it, and many stayed to watch the entire 2.5 hours! People only left early because they had to get buses. And the sweetest part of it, was that as each person left, they personally came up and thanked me for organising it, and wished me a happy Christmas, so that made it all worth while.
On Saturday, Emma Cate and I took an old-fashioned bus to a little village just outside Steyr where they have the official North Pole post office. Unfortunately the post office was closed when we got there, but we had the excitement of travelling on the bright yellow bus with the very loud horn, and exploring the village which had a beautiful Church.
Once back in Steyr, it was time for the Krampuslauf. This is a tradition in Austria, and the idea is that on the 5th and 6th of December, St Nicholas comes if you have been good and gives you little gifts like sweets etc, but if you have been bad, Krampus comes. The Krampuslauf is basically where people dress up in 'Krampus' costumes, and run through the streets scaring people...it was interesting to see, and you have to give them credit for the effort they put in to the costumes, but it was terrifying. There was a railing between us and the Krampuses, however at times they would climb onto or even over the railing - poor Conor ended up with Emma Cate and I cowering behind him!
Fairytales in Austria are darker than England, for example they tell the Brothers Grimm stories. The idea is to scare the children into behaving, because children over here are given a lot more responsibility than back home. The 6 and 7 year olds I taught got the bus home by themselves after school!
Austria doesn't have the Santa Claus figure. They do have St Nicholas who comes at the start of December, but they also have the Christkind (Christ child) who comes on the evening of 24th December. It is an angel figure who comes and brings presents, as well as the Christmas tree and decorations. The children have to leave the room while the Christkind is there, and know to come back in when a bell is rung. It has been really interesting finding out about the different traditions over here, even if some of them are terrifying!
So all that remains is to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and thank you for reading! Until 2016...!
Laura :)
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