Exam Update #17 or THE FINAL ONE

YYYYYYIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPYYYYYYY


I made it, I really made it! Oh I cannot tell you how happy I am!!!!!

Oh my goodness, what am I going to do with all the free time? 5 weeks without any duties, any books to be read, any facts to be learned off by heart, any exams to sit, any time at my desk at all? I have been studying for nearly a year, denying me everything, always having a really "bad" conscious whenever I did not spend time studying for my exams.

First of all, I will spend some time with my family, especially with Natalie, whose 6-months birthday it was today. I want to spend some time with my friends, most of them I have not seen for months.

I will go on holidays on Saturday - to good old England of course. A few days in Torquay and then 4 days in London. Nothing spectacular, but time to relax. Time to recharge my batteries for the start of the school year which will start on the 17th of September.

By the way, I received a letter last week which told me that I am allowed to stay in Bamberg, so I do not have to move to Munich. This finally seems to be MY week. My new school is actually my old school, as I spent one of my internships there and it is within walking distance from my flat (5 minutes), so good for me.

My last exam on Monday was English and American Literature again, but this time 1 hour oral exam. This was not as easy as the Literature exam for my teaching degree. Even though some of the topics and books on my reading list were the same, but the questions were tougher, they were harder to answer and needed a lot of interpretation and profound knowledge of the primary texts. However, the atmosphere was relaxed - but I am sure because of lack of sleep (went to bed at 3am and woke up at 7am) my command of the English language was not as good as it normally is and my interpretations were sometimes a bit feeble. My professor is not very fond of Shakespeare, but in this exam he really asked tough questions on Macbeth and Midsummer Night's Dream.

The result was more than satisfying: 1,0
However, I was told that my written exam was not as good as the oral one. Both grades are added and then divided by 2 to get the final grade for Literature. I knew, that I was not that good, but by his phrase "not so good" he meant something around 1,7 - which is still fantastic! Therefore if the grades remain as they are, the final grade for my second degree should be between 1,3 and 1,4 - GREAT!

I still cannot believe it, it is over - but a new step forward...

• my time at university has come to an end
• my time in Bamberg nearly came to an end
• never ever again I will have another written exam - only oral ones during my 2 practical years in school
• I will never have that many holidays again - what a pitty
• I will never be able to quit things, just because I cannot be bothered to go, e.g. to a lecture
• last time to go on holidays when nobody else does - unfortunately I will always have to travel when everybody else does and when it is most expensive
  
• for the first time since my time at RMS six years ago I will earn enough money to live without the support of my parents
• I finally arrived at the "other" side in school, I am a fully qualified teacher - okay, I have to pass another exam to complete my degree in two years
• my Phd is still possible as I stay in Bamberg - so my dream can still come true
• New Zealand is also still an option - I am on the reserved list, as the schools do not decide till October how many assistants are needed for the new school year

Oh well, a lot will be going on, all starting on the 17th of September. And since yesterday also my flatmate Katrin is allowed to stay in Bamberg, as her school is only a 15min train ride away. So we can go on sharing our flat and save a lot of money. We are a good team and I am so glad that she is going to stay in Bamberg as well.

Rollercoaster

The last two days have been an absolute emotional rollercoaster ride. As I already said, I got the news that my new school would be in Munich. I was absolutely crushed, I did/do not want to go to Munich. Yes, it is a great city, but not with a very low income, I am not very fond of sleeping under a bridge.

Anyway, I am not giving up.

Thursday I phoned the school in Munich, but they are not able to help me find accomodation. I also wrote a mail to one of the professors who had offered me a Phd telling him about my "catastrophe". Well, I got a mail back the same evening telling me not to worry too much. He promised to phone the ministry of education first thing the next morning, trying to find out if there is any chance of getting a teaching position in Bamberg - without giving away my name of course. So he did and told me at 10 the next morning that 4 candidates are not taking up their offered postions in Bamberg and that there is a slight chance that I get one of these posts instead of the one in Munich. He told me to write the guy at the ministry a mail confirming my request. However, this mail backfired - well, it was undeliverable, so I guessed wronge e-mail address. So two hours later I phoned the guy. He was really unfriendly, absolutely rude to be honest. Apparently he had received my mail (no idea how) and was now angry that I blocked the lines and the "contribution process" by calling again. He had told the professor that a mail is enough. I apologized and he said, that my request will be considered and that I will get an answer in a few days time.

So at least now there is some hope that I can stay in Bamberg. Two of my friends did get their first choice schools and if I get the post in Bamberg, I will be at the same school as they are. That would be fantastic and the grade of my exam did not play any role in the distribution of "first choice" towns, as I was a lot better than one of them. Well, it doesn't matter, if I get the job in Bamberg.

KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED!

I celebrated my birthday and my exams last night with a few friends - or at least I tried, because there is still the Sword of Damocles hanging over me called Munich! I will blog some pictures of the party as soon as I get them off the camera.

Exam Update #16 (or Master, the THIRD)

Yesterday was the day of my written exam in English and American Literature. I had one question for which I had 4 hours to answer it.

Discuss the functions of Re-writing history in the New Britsh Drama after 1956 with special emphasis on the "Socialist Theatre".

The question was more ore less expected, but still I found it hard to answer, as I had four plays to discuss:

• Edward Bond: Early Morning (1968)
• Caryl Churchill: Light Shining in Buckinhamshire (1976)
• Edward Bond: Summer (1982)
• David Edgar: Pentecost (1994)

In the end I ran out of time, because I had spent too much time on the terminology of what history is, how the genre of History Plays can be defined and what the "socialist theatre" is and on the first 2 plays, so I had about an hour left for Summer and Pentecost and a conclusion. Even though I am not quite sure what the conclusion of my analysis war, as I found only one real function. Anyway, this should be a pass and this is all I need, as the grade is made up of both oral and written exam and I am sure that I know my stuff for the oral one.

The real shock, however, awaited me at home: the letter with the name of my school from September onwards!

I had chosen Bamberg, Kronach and Würzburg and guess where I ended up: MUNICH!

Now I have to find a flat in 3 weeks time as school is starting on the 17th of September which means I need a flat from the 1st of September.

Great.

Don't mention that Munich is the most expensive city in Germany, don't mention that it is more than difficult to find an affordable flat in that area at all (20 qm² for 500€ +), don't mention that I have only a 800€ salary, don't mention that I will then live more than 400km from my family, friends, choir and the like, don't mention that I wanted to go on holidays which I can cancel, if I do not find a flat next week....