Leipzig and French Beaurocracy
Well in the end the lesson on Monday went quite well, certainly better than all other odd weeks we've had, even if not as good as weeks 2 and 4, but I'd still say we've managed to buck the trend I mentioned in my last post! School on Tuesday was ok, nothing extra special, supervising one lesson, while kids did project work, and taught in the other lesson, into which I even managed to slip in an easter quiz, which is always good.
Once I had finished school for the day Tuesday afternoon, I then get the bus to Dresden, to get the train to Leipzig, to go the French honorary consulate to do some paperwork. (Jeez how many tos in a sentence!). Just managed to get the 14:55 train, despite the fact there was a queue at the ticket office, and the machines had people who were taking absolutely ages (no doubt to piss me off on purpose, because they could see I was in an exasperated rush!). But no matter, I got on the train without a ticket after checking I could buy one on the train. I had to get to the consulate in Leipzig before it shut at 5pm, and I had to do it on Tuesday because that was the day when they had special people down from Berlin who could do what I needed to be done. What was needed to be done was filling-in a form so my mum can vote for me in the French presidential elections.
I arrived in Leipzig just after 4, and proceeded to find tramline number 9 (I had sensibly found out beforehand the address of the consulate, and also which tram was required to get there!), found it no problem, although I just missed a tram, and then had to wait 10 minutes. Tram arrived and I was on my merry way, two stops later, I got off, and started working around the Thomaskirchhof (Thomas church yard, loosely translated) looking for the consulate. After about 10 minutes I started to think it was going to be one of those occasions where I didn't find something that was straight in front of me, or worse I would find it after closing time. In the event I did find it, and I had walked past it minutes before and not seen it, but with only twenty minutes til closing and French beurocracy notoriously long and slow (I once waited three hours to be seen to for a passport!), I fully expected to be turned away because of lack of time. In the event I had to wait five minutes, the form-filling took another five, and I was done a whole 10 minutes before closing, not bad for French beaurocracy, must be that efficient German influence ;-).
Being done quicker than I expected meant that I had time to enjoy the sun and the city. It was my first time In Leipzig and it wasn't bad at all. I got some chips, and then an ice-cream, and just general bummed around some of the streets. I'd been told that Leipzig was bigger and my mentor teacher had said it was more modern than Dresden. It is bigger in population this is true, though not by loads, and yes the city was more modern if you will. It felt more like a city than Dresden, in the sense that everything is packed closer together, the buildings are taller and the streets narrower. There were also fewer things growing. Now granted I was only there for a grand total of two hours, but Leipzig certainly felt like other German (or even European cities) I've already visited. Dresden on the otherhand, does not have as many high-rise buildings, has wider streets, more open spaces and generally just feels less busy and more relaxed. This is not to say I didn't like Leipzig, I did (well what little I saw), I just Dresden is, as we say in German etwas besonderes (something special). Well I think so anyway.
And so after my analytical walk through the city centre I mosied back the the train station and got the regional train back to Dresden. On the way in I'd got the Inter-City-Express, but at a cost of 15 euros single I decided as I was not in a rush I would take the regional train. The regional takes longer, but it is a couple of euros cheaper, and I only had to pay half the distance, because my wonderful semester ticket was then valid on it, once we reached the Upper-Elbe ticketing region. So in the end I only paid 5 euros 30, yay me! The 1 hour and 40 minute train journey, as opposed to 1 hour and 10 allowed me time to think, and get bored. Think so much that I decided to randomly change my essay topic for my German Year Abroad Essay. But that's another story for another post. In the end I got home safe and sound, after having, in the end, I rather enjoyable afternoon!
Once I had finished school for the day Tuesday afternoon, I then get the bus to Dresden, to get the train to Leipzig, to go the French honorary consulate to do some paperwork. (Jeez how many tos in a sentence!). Just managed to get the 14:55 train, despite the fact there was a queue at the ticket office, and the machines had people who were taking absolutely ages (no doubt to piss me off on purpose, because they could see I was in an exasperated rush!). But no matter, I got on the train without a ticket after checking I could buy one on the train. I had to get to the consulate in Leipzig before it shut at 5pm, and I had to do it on Tuesday because that was the day when they had special people down from Berlin who could do what I needed to be done. What was needed to be done was filling-in a form so my mum can vote for me in the French presidential elections.
I arrived in Leipzig just after 4, and proceeded to find tramline number 9 (I had sensibly found out beforehand the address of the consulate, and also which tram was required to get there!), found it no problem, although I just missed a tram, and then had to wait 10 minutes. Tram arrived and I was on my merry way, two stops later, I got off, and started working around the Thomaskirchhof (Thomas church yard, loosely translated) looking for the consulate. After about 10 minutes I started to think it was going to be one of those occasions where I didn't find something that was straight in front of me, or worse I would find it after closing time. In the event I did find it, and I had walked past it minutes before and not seen it, but with only twenty minutes til closing and French beurocracy notoriously long and slow (I once waited three hours to be seen to for a passport!), I fully expected to be turned away because of lack of time. In the event I had to wait five minutes, the form-filling took another five, and I was done a whole 10 minutes before closing, not bad for French beaurocracy, must be that efficient German influence ;-).
Being done quicker than I expected meant that I had time to enjoy the sun and the city. It was my first time In Leipzig and it wasn't bad at all. I got some chips, and then an ice-cream, and just general bummed around some of the streets. I'd been told that Leipzig was bigger and my mentor teacher had said it was more modern than Dresden. It is bigger in population this is true, though not by loads, and yes the city was more modern if you will. It felt more like a city than Dresden, in the sense that everything is packed closer together, the buildings are taller and the streets narrower. There were also fewer things growing. Now granted I was only there for a grand total of two hours, but Leipzig certainly felt like other German (or even European cities) I've already visited. Dresden on the otherhand, does not have as many high-rise buildings, has wider streets, more open spaces and generally just feels less busy and more relaxed. This is not to say I didn't like Leipzig, I did (well what little I saw), I just Dresden is, as we say in German etwas besonderes (something special). Well I think so anyway.
And so after my analytical walk through the city centre I mosied back the the train station and got the regional train back to Dresden. On the way in I'd got the Inter-City-Express, but at a cost of 15 euros single I decided as I was not in a rush I would take the regional train. The regional takes longer, but it is a couple of euros cheaper, and I only had to pay half the distance, because my wonderful semester ticket was then valid on it, once we reached the Upper-Elbe ticketing region. So in the end I only paid 5 euros 30, yay me! The 1 hour and 40 minute train journey, as opposed to 1 hour and 10 allowed me time to think, and get bored. Think so much that I decided to randomly change my essay topic for my German Year Abroad Essay. But that's another story for another post. In the end I got home safe and sound, after having, in the end, I rather enjoyable afternoon!
posted by Julien at 20:39
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