Jena

Last week I finally got to go to Germany! Not only that, but I also got to study German at a German university! What an exciting experience!

At the beginning of June, I was scrolling through the uni forums when I saw the final call for sign-ups to go to somewhere called Jena for a 6-day-long summer course studying German at the city university. I remembered that when I was at the German day school in March, someone told my mum about the trip, so it was already on the family radar. I felt it would not be unreasonable to ask my mum if we could go. Mum agreed, so I emailed the tutor in charge of the trip and explained my needs.  After consulting with her colleagues in Jena, it was decided that I could go, but I had to be in the beginner’s class because the level I had applied for was full. I decided that being in the bottom class in Jena was better than not being in Jena at all, so I accepted the compromise because it would be an excellent opportunity to practice my German teaching skills.

My mum does not speak German, so I had to take the lead on everything. When I am with my mum in Scotland, I tend to let her take the lead in most social situations, such as ordering food at a restaurant. In German, however, I was the strongest communicator, so I had to deal with every situation thrown my way, and as a result, I did many things for the first time. Not only did I order in many restaurants, but I also had to talk to our incredibly fast-speaking hotel receptionist about a complicated situation concerning an issue with our room. I was always able to get exactly what we needed! This series of “łittle wins” gave me a good sense of independence and pride in myself.

The class was from 9 am to 3 pm, from Sunday to the fridày, and there was a lunch break in the middle. On the first day, I stayed in the class the whole time and helped anyone who seemed stuck.  Although I was ok with thìs and people were very grateful for my help, I didn’t feel like I was being challenged enough, so it was agreed that I would be in the class in the morning and after lunch, I would have 1-1 conversation sessions with the woman from my university so that I could really get pushed in my German. These sessions were beneficial because I could not only practice and get feedback on my German from a native speaker but also got to prevìew the websites for both of my future German modules, which were very exciting!

After class, all the students on the course had dinner together on most nights, which was always outside. Eating outside in Germany is something that you have to do at your own risk, as I learned the hard way – the country has a hell of a lot of wasps who are not shy about bugging you if you have something delicious! I am petrified of wasps, so unfortunately, dinners always featured me flinching and jumping around to avoid them!

I think the best moment of the trip has to be what was said to me on the walk to the final dinner. In my class, there was this lovely Geordie mother I had been helping throughout the week because she was less confident in her German than the rest. About halfway through the walk, she came and found me and said she would not have managed the week without me! A sense of success and joy filled my heart at that moment!

In conclusion, although I did experience some minor accessibility issues, I had the time of my life. I’m definitely doing it again, but next time, I will apply at the right time so that more stuff is accessible. My next German adventure, however, will probably be to the Köln Christmas market!

Eilidh Elizabeth Molly McGrath