So, on with the story. The training was quite fun, if a bit pointless in places. It was good to get to know all the people in my area, and to meet some other language assistants around Germany, and share our experiences with other people going through the same thing at the same time.
However, as we've been here for a month, all the 'Introduction to the German school system' and 'What you need to do on arrival in Germany' talks were just a little bit pointless. They kept explaining that this wasn't the usual way of doing things, but they could have changed the talks a bit, rather than just apologising that it was probably going to be irrelevant, and then telling us anyway.
It was very nice to be with a load of native English speakers, but I'm beginning to be slightly distrustful of all those lessons we've ever had, telling us not to believe in stereotypes:
A vast majority of the English people there spent a lot of time complaining about tea. We even asked the catering staff specially, and they started providing pots of tea at breakfast (the German equivalent, but it was nice of them to try...).
The German tutor who was with us for our sessions was very direct. He was very judgemental, which isn't something I attribute to his Germanness, but then he went and told us his opinions of us, very clearly and directly to our faces. The other tutors, who gave feedback on our lesson plans, were equally direct. Luckily, the man giving feedback to our group admitted that he didn't really know how it works in primary schools on the other side of Germany, which meant we didn't get too much negative feedback.
They had planned to run a talent show on the last night, and were very surprised by the fact that none of us had volunteered and put our names down. The course organisers kept going on about when the Americans were at the training, and everyone had got up and performed, and it was just so 'Awesome!' but it just didnt happen like that with us. Luckily they changed plans last minute, and we had a pub quiz instead.
The final stereotype is that the Germans get up early. This is something I can confirm to still be very much true.
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