Days since last round up: 33
Miles from Munich: 920
Major achievements: surviving 24 weeks abroad (during a global pandemic)
Reading: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini
Weather: Snow! In Manchester!
Estimated percentage fluency: I tried to recall a German conversation the other day and let’s just say I was there for some time ... it’s very strange how immersion not just teaches you things over time, but makes you much more confident using your languages in your immediate surroundings. Talking German at (my English) home still doesn’t feel natural, and never will, but it does make assessing progress quite difficult. I definitely don’t feel like I’m magically ‘fluent’ but I know that if I went to Germany now I’d slip back into it easily and it would all come flooding back. We’ll have to see what happens when I go back next summer ...
It’s been a while since I wrote, and as you can probably tell from my little digression on linguistic progress, Germany has been quite far from my mind. In the final week especially I couldn’t stop thinking about home, and finally flying back really did bring a sense of relief. The final month in Germany, and especially those last two weeks, were difficult for me, not because of anything specific that happened, but more exactly because nothing happened! With lockdown measures tightened even further, and Christmas shopping finished, there really was very little to get up to, and so I didn’t feel like I was on my year abroad any more. I was still speaking plenty of German, and feeling blessed that I was still having that experience, but without all the exciting extras and cultural stuff to soak up, my little room in the apartment had started to feel far far away from home. A few weeks in England with family has given me some distance and perspective, so it’s just about the right time for a bit of reflection on my time in Germany more generally. So here’s what I liked, and didn’t like so much.
Quick round up of final two weeks:
December was generally very relaxed, with lockdown making things less busy, alongside a general sense of winding down for Christmas. It’s obviously a magical time for the children, especially as the younger girl’s birthday was two days before Nikolaustag, a German tradition on 6th December when children are visited by a Father-Christmas-like figure who leaves gifts in their boots overnight. Nikolous was still allowed to do house visits, so I got to watch the whole routine of finding out what they’ve done right and what they promise to do for next year. Quite interesting from an au pair’s perspective actually! Festive meals out weren’t really possible, but I got some amazing takeaway food from Cafe Flower in Maxvorstadt, and on my final weekend had a cake-date with some Oxford friends, featuring a Christmassy cake bundle from a vegan cafe in the centre, so some festivities continued despite looming COVID and Brext-related stress.
Quick-fire round up of the whole trip:
Specific highlights
Trip to Neuschwanstein castle
First beer at Andechs brewery
Midnightbazar flea market
Aperols on Gärtnerplatz at Sankt Anna’s in July
What went well
Exploring Munich and getting to know the city
All the trips beyond Munich and even outside of Bavaria, discovering pretty historical towns and sampling the Bavarian hiking culture
Lots of amazing food
No problems with mutual intelligibility with the kids (linguistically at least)
Huge confidence increase in everyday encounters in German
So many books read
Things I wish I’d done more of or didn’t get round to
More hikes, a bit further afield, maybe even the alps
Unexpected challenges
Compatability with the family
COVID
Getting parcels delivered
Unexpected positives
Friendships with other English students - being in a foreign city together brings you so much closer
Munich as a city (I didn’t choose family based on location, and was pleasantly surprised by how pretty Munich is and its vibes as a city)
Difficult parts of the au pair experience
The ups and downs of childcare
The unpredicatability of young children’s moods
Not living in my own space, never quite feeling like my room was quite my home
Living on someone else’s timetable, having to fit my life, needs and preferences into the family’s
Reasons I’m glad I au-paired
No accommodation stress
I was able to stay abroad for my planned 5 1/2 months because my work wasn’t impacted by 2nd lockdown
A helping hand with German bureaucracy
A varied experience e.g. holiday to Bodensee
Free time during day to read and explore
(Potentially) lasting connection with a German family
Exposure to everyday German and the opportunity to ask for help on bits of vocab
For those interested, current plans are to head to Paris in just less than a week, again staying with a family as an au pair, but this time in an independent studio. I’ll also be studying at the Sorbonne. There are a few logistical and bureaucratic challenges ahead, but watch this space for updates, and I’ll see you on the other side!