Diverbo Fun

Hi Everyone--
I'm on a break - just after my radio interview (ABC Overnights with Trevor Chappell), this month we read The Moon's a Balloon.  Remember the David Niven biography that was a best seller in the 1970s?  No -- well, read it.  It's a good laugh, a bit pompous and lots of fun.  You'll finish it in a couple of days, I promise.

Anyway -- we had 1.5 days in Frankfurt.  The airport at Berlin (TXL) -- well that was strange.  I'll do a Berlin/Frankfurt catch up post in a couple of days.

Here we are volunteering.  The students are German and they're here to improve their conversational English.  They are not allowed to speak German and so the days are long and difficult for them.  But they say their English is really benefitting for them.  A lot of the "students" are trying to improve their job prospects and some are improving themselves so they can be more valuable to their companies.  We work with them one on one (some people seem to find this a vaguely sexual phrase--hmmmm).  And I think the pressure to constantly thing in another language would give me a migraine.

In return for our hours of "work", we are given free accommodation and free food.  It's a pretty good deal I think.  The food is great.  And the place where we are staying is very nice INDEED.  I think we will definitely do this again.  They have schools in Spain and Germany.  Some of the volunteers here have done it many, many times.

It snowed the other day! But only for a brief while.  I loved it and was then immediately disappointed when the snow disappeared.  But at least it rained.

Each day is filled with activities -- from 8am until 10pm.  We do have a break from about 2-4.  In my 1-1 with students, I walk (as many do) around the countryside.  There's a forest behind us and a farm across the road.  So plenty of space to stretch our legs while our poor students converse with us.

We are here until Friday.  The internet is much better than we'd been told and so I'm writing this during a break.  Dinner is in one hour.

Speaking of which - food is pretty fantastic (repeating myself).  German offerings -- schnitzels are amazing.  I am eating way too much and after lunch (salad, salmon pasta, ice cream) I felt a bit queasy,  so I usually grab a granny nap.

Anyway love to everyone and please take care we are thinking of you during the horrible fires...