Yesterday was my last day of German classes. I had to leave early because I’m getting ready to move to Ireland in the next 2 weeks. It’s been a great class, despite this June and July being the hottest month in Germany in 110 years (Nearly 3 weeks of over 100 F temperatures), and I’ve made many friends from around the world through my classmates.
On Thursday, after learning the Dative tense and prepositions galore, it seemed like we all were having a headache or not feeling so well in the very hot room. We had lots to drink, but despite it all, we were wiped out. Anke, our awesome teacher suggested that we take a day off and head over to a lake and go swimming as a class. She thought we were doing well enough for a day to relax, cool off, and practice German in the “real” world where we needed it most. We all promptly agreed that it was a great idea – and would rather do that than spend another day in a 122 F classroom trying to make our mind work when all we wanted to do was cool off.
So, we met in the front of the school on Friday, swimsuits on under our clothes, towels and picnic blankets in hand, and headed out.
(William from Cuba, Julian from South Africa, and Yanli from China on the train)
40 minutes later (and one unexpected slam on the breaks stop on the U-bahn that nearly knocked me over – thanks guys for catching me before I fell!) we arrived – still melting from the heat, but looking forward to the lake shore.
Mohammad from Egypt and Jair from Brazil
I was pleasantly surprised – the place was rather large. It had nice terraces for setting up the blankets under pine trees and built-in stairs toward the water. The entry to the water was restricted by bushes spaced out by 3 to 4 foot wide sandy areas, and there were the occasional oak tree dipping down toward the water as well. We looked about for 10 or 15 minutes – because in the heat, the place was quite full. Finally, we settled on a spot one terrace up from the water, one terrace down from the Soccer and Volleyball area. Katlyn and Julian quickly unpacked and settled in, as did the rest of us.
Once we were settled, some folks decided to head off and play volleyball for a bit, while others decided to play badminton.
Off to play Volleyball
(above and below) Anke (from Germany – our teacher) and Terry (from New Zealand – isn’t he supposed to be watching the birdee?) playing Badminton.
Still others decided to stay behind and chat. Finally, after the others returned – having worked up a sweat in the heat, we all decided to head down to the lake for a swim (or to put our feet in the nice refreshing water!).
Mohammad (Egypt) and Nabil #1 (Gaza strip, Palestine)
Nabil #2 (Lebanon/Ireland), Yanli (China), Jair (Brazil)
I joined in playing keep away, monkey in the middle, and bouncing the ball back and forth for a while. Finally, Jair decided to teach the guys how to dive into the water “Brazilian” style.
The thing with this conversation is that Jair speaks Portuguese and Spanish. Julian speaks English and Afrikaans (A creole of Dutch, German, English and African languages). They both have had 2 months of German. Thus, the explanation involved tons of hands and mixed languages….After a bit of concern, Jair finally talked the guys into heading to deeper water…
and showed them how to set up – while he took the first dive (a back flip off of Kai’s Shoulders):
Not very long after – Jair convinced Julian and then Kai to do the backflip (Julian at the start, and mid flip):
Kai (from China) :
After all that diving, the guys decided they were hungry, so we headed back to the shade and enjoyed chatting and some refreshment.
By 6pm, we were all tired, and decided to head home. It was a fun day, and a fond farewell from classmates who really made a great impression on me. Guys, when you read this, know you’re invited to Ireland – and have a place to stay. Oh, and Katlyn – I love the dirt drawing:
