meetings 6-10

 

Firstly, sorry for the lack of posts! Totally got swamped with exams and assignments, bah. So I’ll just run through the rest of out meetings 🙂

 

6/11/14    Don’t Mention the War!/6

So myself and Tom decided to go to a bar in Finlayson.  Turned out to do a variety of beers (a substance which both Scots and Germans enjoy, so it is educational! :P) so course we tried some.

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(apologies for them being on their side, no idea..)

Anyways, so I wanted to learn more about the history of Germany. Turns it it’s a rather new country (founded in 1871) but my partner didn’t really know the history. I Googled it, turns out there were a lot of civil wars which is very confusing to understand.

I told him about how Scotland was first a bunch of little tribes (each with different kilts) and they just merged together to form colonies.  Glasgow became a city because of the river Clyde that runs through it brought together people. When industrialisation came around it was used for steelworks and transporting them worldwide.

We, of course, ended up talking about the World Wars. Turns out Finland was with the Nazi’s and so was the Italians which I did not know about. We shared our knowledge over it. I don’t know why but I thought we’d have different knowledge over it, turns out we know really similar stuff.

We then ended up, don’t ask how, talking about school systems in Germany and Scotland. They turn out to be similar which I was not expecting at all. Even with colleges and universities.

It was a really insightful meeting, just how similar the cultures are.

 

 

12/11/14   Stores and Guns../7

So not really having a plan, we wandered up the main street naming the stores in English and German:

super market- supermarkt

department store- kaufhaus

shopping centre- einkaufszentrum

police station- polizeistation

town hall- rathaus

We ended up going to XXL Sport to see about sleeping bags and walking around we stumbled onto the guns, knives, bow and arrows and even crossbows!

I found this really strange because in the UK guns are illegal. Not sure about crossbows and bow and arrows but I’m pretty sure they’re banned as well.

Was eye opening and reminded myself that the rest of the EU isn’t like Britain. Was a great little hour 🙂

 

13/11/14 Festivities/8

So my partner decided it was time for me to try some German drinks which I must admit were fab! I don’t usually like gin but with cucumber, wow. Course I had to bring shortbread.

Since it’s the festive season we decided to talk about what we do in each country for Christmasnd new year.

I was incredibly surprised when Tom told me that in Germany they open their presents Christmas eve instead of Christmas day. And that the three days (eve, day and boxing day) they practically get together with family and eat/drink. Back in the UK it’s not uncommon but I don’t think I could stand my whole family for three days! I usually go see friends boxing day.

Merry Christmas- Frohe Weihnachten

I then explained to Tom that New years or Hogmanay is big in Scotland, not too sure why but we have a different word for it and we get to drink lots of whiskey and eat lots of shortbread and sing Robert Burns poems.

Happy New Year! – Prosit Neujahr!

New Year’s Day  –der Neujahrstag

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We also talked about birthdays and the only difference was really in Britain we celebrate peoples 21st. In history it was when people were given “the key to the door” and it’s just never died down even though a legal adult is 16 years old… Any excuse to party really…

Apparently wishing a German happy birthday before their birthday is bad luck, just a pointer 🙂

Best wishes on your birthday- Viel Glück zum Geburtstag!

 

14/11/14   Hockey Match/9

So myself and Tom decided to go see a hockey match (Ilves vs Sport) as I’m now turning into a big Ilves fan and we can talk about sports while watching grown men beat each other! Always great fun 🙂

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So Scotland and Germany are in the same boat when it comes to ice hockey, we have teams but it’s not as big a sport as football and so people usually forget we have teams.

Tom taught me some words in German as we were sitting in the break.

Goal- Tor

referee, umpire – Schiedsrichter

stadium(s)  –Stadion (die Stadien, plural.)

tackle   –fassen 

Icehockey- Eishockey

Ilves ended up winning that night so it was a really good meeting 🙂

 

 

29/11/14 Vapriikin Museum/10

So for one of our last meetings we ended up going to Vapriikin (really good museum! I totally recommend it for a wee day out)

So after getting lost and then finally finding the museum we went exploring.

I didn’t know post could be so interesting, but its possible!

Post Office- die Post / das Postamt

Parcel- das Paket

Stamp- die Briefmarke

I must admit it was a really fun way to learn words and phrases I will be able to use in Germany.

We moved on to wildlife, in the museum it was really cool to see all of Finland’s wildlife and it gave me and Tom the opportunity to talk about wildlife in our own countries.

For example:

squirrel- Eichhornchen

Deer- Reh/ Hirsch

Fox- Fuchs

bird- Vogel

Badger- Dachs

Butterfly- Falter

Beetle- Kafer

And many others!

There was also a 60/70’s fashion section were we just laughed at how ridiculous the fashion use to be. Seriously, if you can, go to this museum. It’s a great day out!

Really great way to learn a different language, fun and interactive.

 

 

 

5/12/14  Hot Wings and Goodbyes/11

So all things must come to an end. Least myself and Tom done it in style with some great hot wings and just so much chicken!

We just really talked over what we had learned together and if it helped in any way (between stuffing our faces with awesome food- Sticky Wings down the side of McDonalds, seriously go try them).

Turned out we both really benefited each other. This was a great starting point for learning German and I’ll hopefully carry it on when I get home and I was able to help Tom a little with English grammar and some English phrases, not that he needed much help!

But honestly it was a great opportunity and I’m really glad I partook in it 🙂

 

 

 

 

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