Monday 30 June 2014

A Well-Deserved Day Off

...is what I had today.
At least that (the well-deserved bit) is what I think after I have written my final exam last Friday. It was not easy, but not overly hard, either. I was well prepared, but you know what it's like; there is always a small portion of luck coming into it. We were tested on eight different subjects, and some of the questions were open to interpretation, as were some of the answers for the multiple choice parts. Most of my class mates seemed to be rather happy after the exams, but two of them admitted to have been completely blank with at least one question each. I wasn't blank in any topic, but I still find it nearly impossible to tell how well (or not) I've done. Ah well, I'll know more in six weeks time!

It was a week stuffed to the brim with classes and revising, but I still managed to get a walk in every evening after our lessons for the day ended and before sitting down in my hotel room to do more revising.

Maybe you remember that I "discovered" a piece of El Camino de Santiago, or St. James' Way, during my previous stay in Ulm. This post tells you more, and also shows pictures of a nearby village that I wanted to walk to during my next stay. That next stay was now, and I did indeed walk to the village. 





However, it was somewhat disappointing; when I arrived at the bottom of the hill and stood opposite the road leading into the village, I found it a lot less appealing than what it had looked like from afar. Therefore, instead of going into the village itself, I chose to walk along the road and back into the woods on a different path, where I had not been before.
 
I met a group of eight young bulls; they were only looking at first, but when I didn't just walk past but stood at their fence for a few minutes, they became more interested and came closer and closer to the fence until I walked away. What went on behind those handsome big brown eyes I have not the slightest idea.

On the Thursday evening, I was surprised at how nostalgic I felt at the thought of leaving it all behind tomorrow, and (most likely) never going back to this place. If you look at it on the calendar, it does not seem much - one week in March, one in May and one in June - but those three weeks were very intense weeks. Also, because we saw everything from snow (in March) to spring (in May) and summer (this time), it felt a lot more than just three weeks. I had been walking those same familiar paths so many times, it felt as if I'd lived there for a while and not just been there for a brief period.


So I went for a "good-bye-walk" along the fields where I'd walked the most, and took a few last pictures. How dry it was in some places, compared to the lush green freshness of May!



Back at the hotel, it was time to join my class mates downstairs in the lounge to watch the Football World Cup (it was the match Germany v. USA). I am usually not at all interested in watching any type of sports on telly, but it was fun watching a "big" match as a group, and I had bought bags of crisps and some sweets for the lot. The match itself was rather boring, but it was our last evening there, and the last occasion to spend time with my class mates. 

Good job the match started at 6.00 pm already! It meant we could all have an early night and get enough sleep to be fit for the next day, or (as some of them did) even put in some more hours over their books and ledgers.

I slept very well that night (as I usually do), but I still need to remind myself every now and then that what started in March with this post has now come to an end. Even if I have failed one or more of the subjects, I will only have to go back to write the exam in that particular subject and not for a whole week - but I hope it won't come to that.

19 comments:

  1. Hello Meike,

    There is certainly something of the nostalgic about this post. Whatever, you have reached a crossroads of sort and your future path is, at present, unsure. This always brings with it a degree of excitement but, also, a trepidation of what the next steps may be.

    No matter, these weeks have brought memories which will last well into the future and, we trust, that there will be happiness and joy when the results are known.

    Is there anything happening in Brazil that we should know about?!

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    1. Hello Jane and Lance,
      oh, my future path is still the same - even if I failed the exam(s), my job would still be the same; our current customers do not require me to have the academy's certificate. But I'd feel rather bad about myself if I didn't get through.
      The good-bye walk really helped, it was a good way to end my time in Ulm and I am not as nostalgic about the whole thing anymore.

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  2. How good you walked a short part of the Camino; that walk captures my heart. My husband and I highly recommend the movie The Way with Martin Sheen walking the Way in Spain. A fiction plot but the walking is real. I like the photo of your shadow.

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    1. Thank you for the recommendation, I'd not heard about the movie before.

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  3. Sounds like a place you might come back to, even without the lure of exams!

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    1. Can't see it now, except for something work-related (since my boss & boyfriend will probably do some work for the academy in the future, and maybe I'll accompany him on some occasions), and then there would not be the possibility to go for walks.

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  4. Good luck wih those exam results, Meike. Lovely photos!

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    1. Thank you, Frances! I don't think I've ever had so many pictures in one single post. Except for maybe "The Longest Walk".

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  5. So nice to hear from you again...I've been away too, but with no internet possibilities....I am wishing your great success with your exams. You should be proud of yourself for accomplishing this project.

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    1. Thank you, Kristi! It was a feat for me to do so much revising and studying - not used to it :-)

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  6. I meant to add that some of your photos made me nostalgic for Germany.

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    1. It hasn't changed that much since you were here, then, I assume; still recognizably Germany!

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  7. It's so nice you might want to plan a short holiday there someday.

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    1. Probably not, but never say never, right :-)

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  8. Despite the hard work, it sounds as if your time at Ulm has been fulfilling and good. I have put £50 on you at the local betting shop - to pass the exams! By the way you said that you had no idea what "went on behind those handsome big brown eyes" of the young bulls. There'd have been two things "Grass is delicious" and "If she comes in our field let's trample her!"

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    1. You are right about how I feel about my Ulm-time, and you are probably also right about the bulls' thinking. They did not seem at all aggressive, just curious, but I am sure that could have changed quickly had I been foolish enough to cross the barbed wire into their field.

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  9. Gosh Meike, you've almost made me feel nostalgic.

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    1. No. I got lost in a mental world of walking through fields and forests and suddenly wanted to do it again. One day I shall.

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