10:16am Monday 23rd March 2009
When the time comes up for school students to start thinking about their placement for work experience, everyone thinks about places that are in the town, not to far away. However for Jasper Heineking and Philipp Postulka, they were extrememly fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to a completely different country.
I met up with them and asked them a few questions about being over here.
M: Whereabouts in Germany do you live?
P: In Northern Germany, near Hamberg Bremen.
M: So Why are you over in Darlington?
J: we are doing our work experience here, so the whole class has come to Darlington to be in work placements for 2 weeks.
M: Whereabouts are you doing it?
J: We are doing it at the town hall M: Have you enjoyed your time here so far?
P: of course, it’s really nice. We had the first week now, and the next part we will be going back to Germany. Darlington is a really nice place it’s our first time here. I’ve been to Durham but not Darlington.
M: What’s the best thing that you’ve done so far?
P: They’ve had some very exciting things for us to do, like one, The Northern Echo, it was very interesting.
J: We got to watch the centre of the CCTV, with all these monitors and cameras. We don’t have that sort of thing in Germany, because it is against our constitution.
M: Have you got anything exciting planned for the next few days?
P: In the next week it’s very, very exciting. We have a meeting with the Lib Dem party, The Mayor J: We also hope to meet the MP next Friday and tomorrow we will visit York for the day.
M: How does England compare to Germany?
P: There are some big and interesting differences. But it is very, very nice J: I think the weather is quite the same. It’s not that good, but it’s ok, it’s not horrible. Also, in schools, the technical support is much better than in Germany. They’ve got white boards, computers in every class room. We’ve only got chalkboards, and maybe 1 or 2 computers. It’s different.
P: Another interesting point, you don’t see it directly, but there are more upper class, and very little middle class. It’s very interesting. I look for the “normal” class, but it’s not easy to find.
M: Is there anything about Darlington/England that you will miss when you leave?
P: When we leave and we are back in Germany, of course I think the Town Hall is interesting, the schedule, the timetable, and the meetings with important people. In Bremen, the population is 900,000 so the important people are there, and we are here. So of course the politics are totally different. You have a better chance of working in a political way in Britain than in Germany.
J: It sounds weird, but I think I will miss talking English all the time. I mean I can talk German all the time, it’s not a problem, but it’s really interesting to speak English all the time, and express. It’s not easy but it improves the English a lot I think.
M: is there anything that you won’t miss when you go back home.
P: Maybe the security. In Germany it’s safer. I think it’s totally crazy when i see a police officer without a weapon or a gun. It’s so crazy.
J: Also we are just seen as “The German”. It’s nothing about your character.
M: You were saying earlier about talking English all the time, have you picked up new things from here?
P: We learn English at school. Yes we are bilingual, but its school English so we have the queens English, totally clear without any slang. And you come here, it’s not a hard slang but you here the differences. The phrases are very interesting; we don’t know any phrases in English. But it’s interesting because nearly all of them you have in German too.
M: Are there any words that you don’t understand when you are listening to a conversation?
J: Of course! I think it’s not the problem to get the sense. Some words we simply don’t use because we do not use them or hear them, but phrases everyone uses them. Like the words before the sentence. Like “actually”. It’s not in the books that people say this, but on the streets, everyone says “actually” this, or that.
M: Some random Questions now. Who is your favourite Superhero?
J: I think Spiderman. Because Spiderman is cool!
P: I don’t think about this much. But...hmm...I’ll think about it. And when I have one I will tell you M: if you could be any fruit, which would you be and why?
J: I think, i would be, an orange. Because I really like the taste and it looks healthy.
P: A banana, tastes good.
M: last question, but then I’ll come back to you (Philipp) about your superhero Question. Who is your favourite historical figure?
P: Oh...another hard question, it’s like the superhero one.
J: I think, maybe Martin Luther King, because of the movement, although as I’m white and blonde, I didn’t have a problem with the racism, but apart from I’m a German in England, it was a really great thing, this movement.
P: I think I would say 2 people. First J.F. Kennedy and second a German Keiser, Friedrich Willhelm. Oh I don’t know, Friedrich Willhelm or Friedrich Willhelm the second. I don’t know, you can choose the better one, have a look.
J: If there is a second, I think Leonardo Di Vinci. He did that many things. He did art, architecture, construction, mason. He was a real talented person.
M: Right and now, finally to come back to the superhero question.
P: Can I just say a normal person?
M: Ok, shall we just say a hero?
P: A hero for me? Ok! It’s in the German Opposition Party, Guido Westerwelle.
(Jasper Sighs) P: he’s a good man! He’s gay, and he’s Lib Dem, so he’s liberal. And he’s the only person in the German politics, that would go up the cameras and say that “it’s all F*****g S**t” and “you have to change this”.
J: I think I’ll just stay with Spiderman.
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