Tuesday, 16th October 2012 marked 22 years since I was born. I'm fairly sure that neither of my parents, should they have been asked 22 years ago, would have thought that I would be spending it on my own, in another country. The chances of either of them saying that I would spend the majority of the day down an iron ore mine in Baden Württemberg, is also pretty much zero!
But this was what my 22nd birthday had in store for me as I woke up to a frosty Tuesday morning, here in Esslingen. I was the last minute replacement on a school trip for the teacher who I'm staying with. She is unfortunately suffering with a trapped nerve in her back (obviously the last place you want to be under those circumstances, is in a mine!) I should of course point out that it is no longer a working mine, I did not spend my birthday personally mining for iron ore!
The major difference I have found between English and German schools is the 'lack' of discipline shown by teachers here in Germany. Perhaps this is because German kids aren't as much of a pain in the arse as the English ones, who knows? Anyway, the infamous German organisation and precision in the 5 minute walk to the train station had definitely disappeared! This continued on the train, with basic checks to make sure all of the children were on the train and the decision to leave a bunch of 10-11 year olds in a carriage, without an adult (perhaps our kids are wrapped up in too much cotton wool!) An hour later after some half-hearted Latin revision and an explanation of local cuisine (the kids were joined by the ticket inspector and my colleague this time) we arrived in Wasseralfingen and began a 15 minute walk up to the 'Tiefer Stollen' iron ore mine.
Once we had arrived and paid, all pupils and teachers were provided with the necessary attire for entering the mine. We were supplied with fetching hard hats and what I can only describe as the cape from a toddler's superman outfit! Apparently this would be sufficient to stop anything from covering me. Surprisingly enough the only places where water dripped on me, were not covered by my miniature cape! But our lovely outfits were vastly improved when the train arrived and happily trundled along, transporting us into the mine.
Now, I am not a very tall person, nor am I short, but had it not been for some last minute warnings, I could possibly have lost my lovely white hard hat forever! The ceiling along the route that the train took was so low that I seriously considered using the 'brace' position. Once we had arrived, our tour began. This was very interesting for the adults, however less so for the children who either did not listen, did not understand or found the funny shaped rock on the other side of the chamber far too interesting! Our poor guide tried her utmost, but without a child-specific tour, she stood no chance!
When we had finally resurfaced, the group began a longer walk to the nearby town of Aalen, where we would get the train back to Stuttgart. Us three teachers enjoyed our walk in the sunshine, crisp air and brilliant blue sky, but it was undoubtedly a low point for the kids - and I thought the Germans invented 'Wanderlust'!
The return journey was rather uneventful, except for once again a distinct lack of German efficiency with the trains at Bad Canstatt in Stuttgart (it was apparently so poor that one teacher felt the need to apologise to me on behalf of the country!) Back in Esslingen I counted all 29 members of class 6B and (with a loud sigh) was free once again.
My birthday continued like almost any other day, except for Skype calls back to the UK, which were slightly different, including some present opening via the world wide web! The big surprise for me was being given two presents and some homemade 'biscotti' from my 'German' family. These presents turned out to be a book of famous German paintings and photographs and a box of 'fancy' jaffa cakes.
Unsurprisingly neither the jaffa cakes, nor the biscotti lasted very long!
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