Last Day of School

Friday was the last day of school and you could barely call it school. It started normal time, so we had the usual ride to school, but when we got to school we went to the big hall instead of class. It was here that the junior years (5-6) and the older years (11-12) met for Christmas songs. Together we all sang songs, reading the lyrics from the projection of the front wall. There were English songs and German songs, and I was able to sing both. It was fun squished on the back row all singing together. A gemütlich end to the school year, and a good way to build Christmas spirit. After the 2 periods of Christmas singing, we had German. Of course we weren't going to have actual class, and the student convinced the teacher to play a fun game instead. The game we played was called 'Regierungsbank', government bank, and the aim was to have the 'bank' run by all girls, or all boys. Everyone had to sit in a circle with one chair empty, and our names were written on slips of paper and were handed out. The person to the left of the empty seat would call out a name to join them, and the person with the corresponding name on their paper would move, including those on the table. You then swap names, so to get the bank filled with your gender you had to remember who everyone's names. It was a fun game, and a good way for me to learn the names of those in my class. The guys and the girls both won once, which was nice. After that game we played a game of celebrity heads, 'Wer bin ich?', using teachers, which was hilarious because we got such questions as 'are they actually a cool teacher', or 'are they older than 50?' (we said yes, but apparently we were wrong and the Deutsch teacher looked scandalised). Next was Pause, and we ran around trying to get teachers to sign a note for Anja, saying it was okay for her to go on Wintercamp - leaving it to the last day, my speciality. After Pause we had a class party in geography class, with a bunch of the younger years as well. It was chaos- children eating lollies, making craft, Christmas songs on repeat. Annkathrin, Janina, Anja and I all squished into one corner and chatted among ourselves, waiting for the waffles to cook. Did I mention the waffles? Well there were waffles. There must have been 3 waffle makers going at once, all around the classroom, and one of them was set up next to our spot. After the waffle boy had made a couple of batches I thought it was an appropriate time to get my own, so the next batch I practically jumped on a waffle as soon as it was done, and after finding where the puderzukar was I sat down to enjoy the warm waffly goodness. The chocolate waffle mix was cracked open soon after that, and the girls ordered two from one of the waffle makers for us. When they arrived it was glorious - chocolate waffles are much better than normal even without icing sugar. The waffle boy next to us started making choc waffles as well so I managed to get a whole one for myself. Nom nom nomAfter the geography class school was over, but instead of going to the bikes and heading home, we went to the train station instead and caught a train into town - what's better than a student rally to finish the school day? We were a bit early for the rally though, so we decided to do some shopping, but had to ask directions first. Just our luck, the first 2 people that we asked couldn't actually speak German! What is with these tourists? But eventually we found our way to the mall where we went shopping for an hour, until it was time to go back to the rally. By the time we got back to the hauptbahnhof quite a crowd had gathered, and I got a taste of what it must have been like back in the day of student rallies against war and such - apparently there are still uni students walking around with dreadlocks and plaid. I haven't mentioned what we were all doing there yet - we were gathering to support refugees in Hamburg. On our march through the city we called out things such as 'refugees are welcome here' and 'Kein Mensch ist illegal – Bleiberecht überall!' which translates to 'no person is illegal, the right to stay anywhere'. It was really cool, seeing all of the people who care so much about those in need. We ended up at the Rathaus, where a bunch of refugees spoke about their troubles, and how much they want to have a life and education here in Germany and Hamburg, but can't. It was different from anything I have been in before, the feeling that I was part of something bigger and more important than myself. Eventually we had to separate ourselves from the rally though and go home, so when the mass passed a train station we slipped away and got on the next train.  

I've never seen so many people with dreadlocks in my life

In front of the Rathaus

I didn't have much time to rest though when we got back home, because we had to leave to go to a family friend's party. We walked there, seeing as though the house is only two streets away, and were greeted warmly. There wasn't enough place at the table for us all at dinner, so the kids stayed sitting on the couch, that is - me, Anja, the two daughters of the birthday woman, and the two cousins. After a while I had to go back home to skype home - it was Andrew's birthday and I had been meaning to get in contact with everybody for a while. After speaking to everyone (minus Mahalia because she got back from work late and was still asleep), I went back to the party, expecting it to be just as boring as it had been before. When I got back though, Anja and one of the girls were up in her room, so I joined them, and slowly the rest of the teens joined as well. I ended up having heaps of fun, playing Uno and various card games with snacks and the music turned up loud. I even ended up winning a couple of rounds, even though it was my first time playing one of the games. The cousins had to leave at one point, so we all went back down and found out it was late - almost 1 in the morning. The daughters, Anja, and I went back upstairs after the others had left and played another game, then it was our turn to leave. I'm glad the walk wasn't long, because I felt like I was going to fall asleep on the spot. It was a very long day, but a great end to the school year.