Guten Tag!
Its now been a little over a month since I’ve touched down in Hamburg, Germany and its been so Wunderbar! The first two weeks were about getting settled in and doing some exploring! My two roommates and I are located in the Sankt Georg district and so close to the city centre. Our apartment is three bedrooms and has an amazing balcony, to which I use almost every single day with my morning coffee. Because we are so city-central, we are also located a few minutes away from the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, or main central station for the entire city! This means it is so easy to travel across Germany, as my roommates and I can get on train and travel anywhere very easily.
At the end of August, the three of us decided to go to Budapest for the weekend to explore Europe and we had a blast! From the delicious kürtőskalács (chimney cakes) to the lángos (deep-fried flatbread), the food in Hungary was incredible. Not to mention the many castles we visited! The picture below is of the Fishermans Bastion castle:
When we came home, We also decided to visit the city of Lübeck, which is just an hour outside of Hamburg! There, we got to see buildings of the “old town” and their famous marzipan bakery, which I tried but didn’t end up liking very much! Overall, we plan on travelling to Berlin at the beginning of October and I have a trip planned to Dresden at the end of September, so there are a lot of things happening while I am abroad. Here is a picture of the old town in Lübeck:
At the very end of August, I also had the pleasure to be able to observe at Hansa-Gymnasium Bergedorf as my teaching placement in Germany! The students are very nice and incredibly interested in what it’s like back home in Canada. One morning, I got to observe a fifth grade English class and the students got to interview me! They asked me questions about what it was like growing up, why I travelled to Hamburg, and all sorts of other neat stuff! They especially drew interest to my dog back home named Bear, which they thought was very funny. Over the last couple of weeks, teachers and staff have been so kind us, and I am so grateful to be able to connect and observe the fantastic school and community at Bergedorf.
When it comes to living in Germany, the language barrier is a little hard to grasp sometimes! I had been to Europe before, but not as integrated, and sometimes language miscommunications or inconsistencies happen. Although it can be hard, I feel as though this will prepare be better when I come home as a teacher, knowing that these situations are also likely to arise in classrooms! the University of Hamburg has also been such an amazing help, with our cultural events happening every Wednesday. Last Wednesday, we went on a hike just outside the city and stumbled upon a group of goats and sheep grazing around! The school mentors and liaison also took us on boat ride the week before, where we got to see the Hamburg port, all of the huge cargo ships, and a large chunk of the city! Below are two images, one of the sheep and goats we met on our hike, and one of the boat tour the University of Hamburg took us on:
Hamburg is an amazing placement, and I am so grateful to be here! There are ups and downs but I also think that is the amazing part of living abroad in this way, you learn to adapt and experience life to the fullest, thanks for reading!
Ciao!