13:15 - Year 9 Conversation Class. The five girls were stood waiting for me, ready for 45 minutes of speaking English. We spent the time looking at a map of Europe, talking about places we'd lived, places we'd been and places we'd like to visit some day, while eating chocolate. With a fitting sense of pathetic fallacy, the weather outside changed from moderately sunny to undeniably rainy as the lesson drew to a close. At the snap of my camera (the five girls now immortalised on my hard-drive) it was over. We wished each other well for the future, they left, and I locked that door for the last time.
It's odd, this long, protracted farewell. Legally I don't leave until Monday 31st... but by midday on Thursday, my job here will be all but done. Sitting in the staffroom today I let life pass me by for ten minutes as the realisation of leaving hit me for the first time. I expected to feel sadder than I do... instead I have sadness mixed with satisfaction. I know I've made the best of this year that I could have. I know I've been a good English Language Assistant.
And so, "The Year Abroad". A compulsory part of my studies. An exciting learning opportunity. And the best year of my life to date. It didn't have to be an assistantship - though I was set on it for reasons I'll explain another day - it could have been any job, or even a university study programme. It is billed as a way of improving language skills, however I would argue that although my German has got better, that is only the tip of a very large iceberg. It has been a journey of incredible self-discovery.
In August 2009 I left England with rather little life experience behind me - two years at university and a few weeks of work here and there hadn't pushed me far beyond my comfort zone. And suddenly I had to register as a foreign citizen and open a bank account in German and start work. When you've coped in a foreign language, it makes doing anything in English seem easier, and I know just from that that I will return a much more confident person.
I have had the time, too, to discover myself - as cheesey as that sounds. The chance to reinvent oneself is always refreshing. I've done it twice now, and will doubtless do so again, keeping the aspects of myself that I like, and working to change the others. This year was a challenge to myself to become more confident, more relaxed and more loving... starting from the inside! And I've succeeded. Hooray!
I can't imagine how my life would have been had I not had this opportunity. For the sake of the student population, I think a year out should be a compulsory part of every degree! Not because everyone ought to practise a foreign language (although that in itself is an interesting topic) nor yet because everyone needs to find themselves, but because it is simply something else. It's not just another year at uni. It's meeting new people, having crazy experiences, doing things you would never normally do, travelling, working, living.
But now, time for a cup of tea.
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