Skiing in Willingen

Skiing in Willingen!

Last week was the Year 5 residential to Willingen (a few hours drive from Duisburg).  We left on Wednesday morning and came back Friday afternoon, all exhausted, but having had a fantastic time.  We were worried leading up to the trip as there had been no snow.  Last year there wasn't any and they couldn't ski, but this year, the day before we left there was 30 cm of snow, and combined with the snow machines at the resort, there was enough for us to ski.

We arrived on Wednesday early afternoon, had a very quick lunch, threw our ski clothes on, and were straight out again to hit the slopes.  The resort was a 10 minute drive away through a lovely town that I would have loved to explore if I was there without all the kids!  Next time!

It took ages for us to hire ski boots, helmets and skis.  Ski boots are probably the most uncomfortable things I have ever worn.  They give you no movement at all (for safety reasons) in your ankles, so you walk like a complete idiot, and feel like your breaking your ankle each time you put them on and take them off.  They hug your calves so tightly too, which isn't pleasant.

The kids were split into two groups of beginners and pros (some of the kids are fantastic and have been skiing since they could walk), Within those groups we were split in half again, and then the 4 teachers in the beginners group were given our own instructor, Claus.  It was great, even though he didn't speak any English at all!  We just left the kids to it, and got on with having fun, which was nice, and a far cry from the Year 4 trip when we were constantly watching the kids.  The year age gap really makes a difference.

At first we were just walking sideways up the slope getting used to the skis, and learning to go and stop.  Then when we got better we could go on the travelator to half way up the slope.  In the photo above, there are houses on the left side.  The travelator took us from the bottom of the slope to just below the first house.  If you look very closely you can see a dark line under the houses, and that is the travelator.  Pictures of us on the travelator are below.  Its lots of fun because you sort of stick your skis to it and it takes you up nice and slowly, which meant we had time to watch the kids having lessons.

I'm in the pink trousers at the front in the below.  Behind me is one of the Year 5 teachers.

We went back to the hostel after 4 hours of skiing on the first afternoon.  Dinner was rolls and cheese, and the kids had a movie night.  Two of the teachers were off at A&E with a lad who had hurt his shoulder.  Luckily nothing was broken, but it meant he couldn't ski on Thursday, and so neither could one of the teachers (though i'm not sure the teacher was too upset about the lack of skiing). We were staying in two houses, with about 25 kids and 3 teachers in each. Our lot were asleep by 11.15pm on the first night, which I didn't think was too bad!  One of the teachers did have to get up at 5am to shout at them to shut up though!

We had lessons again in the morning with Claus, doing much of the same as the day before.  Emily, my fellow TA managed to persuade Claus to let us go down the entire slope with him before our lessons finished, and he agreed.  Only 3 of us were brave enough, though the picture below shows my true feelings about the prospect of the slope.  The ski lift was fun!  I could have gone round that a few times, just without the terrifying, steep, unstable slope at the end of it!

I did most of the big slope with Claus in front of me skiing backwards, holding my hands.  I made a fair few pathetic noises while I was at it, and landed on my bum just the once!  But I did it, and the kids clapped when we came down (most of the advanced ones had been wizzing down it since the first afternoon).  Right after we came to the bottom, Emily (above) crashed into a fence and broke it,  She never did learn how to stop very well.  It went very quiet (there were lots of people around) and all you could hear was me and one of the other teachers howling with laughter!

We had packed lunches, and then could go back on the slope in the afternoon to do our own thing, with us under strick instructions from Claus not to do the big slope on our own.  Some of the kids who had also only done the big slope once decided they were now experts and did it a few more times, until I caught them at it and shouted for a bit!

The kids slept much better on Thursday night after a full day skiing and quiz night.  I woke all of them up at 7 on Friday morning.

We went to an indoor play centre on our way home, and exhausted the kids a bit more for the 3 hour coach trip home.

The whole trip was a huge success, and we all had a brilliant time.  I would definitely go skiing again, and I think Matt would love it!

We had snow in Duisburg on Saturday, but I will save those pictures for next week I think!

Health Kick

There isn't much to show, photo-wise for this week.  Work has been busy as ever.  The year 5 teacher has been off again, so I have been teaching her class.  We definitely understand each other now, and they are very well behaved.  I had a meeting with the Director of the school to discuss the possibility of me doing my Teacher Training next year.  I felt like he was trying to put me off doing it, and felt quite negative when I came out of the meeting,  He said that he would find out the answers to some of the questions I had by the end of the week, yet I heard nothing - so i'm feeling a bit flat about it really.

This week has mostly been about us getting into a healthy routine.  We went to the gym twice after school, and have been eating very healthily.  Soup club started this week (4 of us take it in turns to make soup for each other once a week - mine was Pesto and vegetable this week), and has been very successful this week.

Next week I am off on the Year 5 residential trip to Willingen to ski, however there is no snow, and doesn't look like there will be.  Everyone who is going on the trip has been getting things ready for it, and anxiously checking the weather report about 10 times a day - it's been a bit tense.  We have had to book all the no-snow activities, which is really quite disappointing.

On Friday, we went bowling with some mates from school which was fun - Friday is a cheat day diet-wise.  Saturday we went over to a mate's house to watch football.  He cooked Schnitzel for us which was nice.  Other than that we have just been relaxing this weekend really.  After Brussels, we needed a restful couple of days.  And I know that the residential next week is going to be exhausting.  So this week has been one of getting back into our routine, and waiting for next week to happen!

Since I have no photos of what we have done this week, this is a photo of the display that I was asked to do for Lower School.  I have had many a compliment on it!

Brussels

We went to Brussels for the weekend on Friday!  We hired a very nice car (Audi A4 - HEATED SEATS!!!!!!) and sped off through the rain on the autobahn after work (After Matt had played football and I'd been to the pub for wine and chit chat).  The car was much larger than Matt is used to, plus the steering wheel was on the wrong side, and the car was on the wrong side of the road too.  It took a while for him to get used to the dimensions of the car, and I helped,but after a while we were fine.  We arrived at about 9,30pm on Friday and went out for a burger/pizza near the hotel.  We didn't realise how central we were to the city centre until Saturday morning when we went to explore and discovered the Grand Place (above) just a few minutes walk away.  The buildings are wonderfully ornate and covered in gold in the Grand Place, and we sat outside a waffle house there, with huge waffles for breakfast (chocolate, walnut and nutella).

Unfortunately, it rained quite a lot, so we had to spend a lot of time going into pubs and chocolate shops which was a real shame!

Brussels is home to the Tintin comics... 

Brussels is all about food and drink really - chocolates, belgian waffles, beer, mussels and chips are just some of the things that Belgium is known for.  The chocolate shops are fantastic, but so expensive.  These giant meringues caught my eye in one shop window... 

Above is a chocolate shop window display of chocolates shaped like the Mannequin Pis, a statue of a small boy urinating, which has become a symbol of Brussels.

More chocolate shaped like tools!

On Saturday afternoon, Matt's parents arrived by Eurostar.  They were there for Margaret's birthday and only Tony knew that we were meeting them in Brussels!  We went to their room in the same hotel, and called out 'room service!'  Margaret was VERY surprised to see us!

We had a lovely afternoon wandering around, and stopping in pubs to escape the constant rain.  We went out for dinner in the evening, and the next day had a bit more of a wander around.  It didn't rain on Sunday, but it was bitterly cold.  It was nice to wander about, buying chocolate and beer, and soaking up the atmosphere. 

This was a wonderful clock we discovered on our wanders. The bells at the bottom played silent night at 11.30 - it was really very nice.

We like our art, and Matt found these lovely painting in a pop up shop in the city.  They are only about 6 inches high - very cute.

The spoils....

Christmas Holidays

Here are a few photos of Matt getting snuggly with Lola.  I think they are both besotted!

Us on a beautiful sunny day in Hampshire, walking the pooch.

Then off to the Harris family for Christmas day...

We had a lovely Christmas day and New Years Eve with the Harris clan.  It was very different to my usual Christmas, but I enjoyed it very much.

Over the holidays we went to a 60th Birthday party that was Japanese themed.  It was a great night with 'The Chums'.

 Then off to Winchester to spend the night in the Mercure Wessex with Mum, Dad, Sam and Amy, plus the Rayner family.  The Cathedral is beautiful, and we had a nice time.

We got back to Germany on Sunday, after a long day travelling.  We had a wonderful 3 weeks off, but are happy to be back with our lovely friends.