If these people are our future, God help us! (Part 5)

In one of the evening classes that I teach, I have a student who has a friend who is a primary school teacher.

My student says that, unlike most German primary schools, the pupils stay for five years, not four. The teacher has to test them at the end of the five years. (I think the pupils stay with the same teacher for all this time, rather than moving from room to room and teacher to teacher as I did in my primary school in Wales.)

At the end of five years, the teacher has to test the pupils. And every five years, the teacher takes out the last test she set, looks at it, realises that the current intake of pupils would never be able to pass it, and makes the exam easier.

The teacher does this every five years.

What does this say about the quality of the people you will be working with in the future?

If these people are our future, God help us (Part 4)

 Shortly after I had pointed out to a group of five 20-to-30-year-olds that it was rude to block my path, I entered the graveyard (which looks more like a beautiful park). 

As I entered, four people walked out - with three dogs. I pointed to the sign next to the entrance and read off the fact that dogs were not allowed in the graveyard (and neither are bikes). 

"Can't you read?" I asked.

"Yes, I can," said the middle-aged man.

Did he care? Was he the slightest bit ashamed? Not at all.

I don't know what I said to that. I was so enraged. Two incidences within 10 minutes of each other showing me that people these days just don't care. They don't care that their behaviour affects other people. They don't care that they do not do what they are asked to do. 

What goes through people's minds? Anything? Do such people believe that they are so special, the rules simply don't apply to them?

Oh, if I were only dictator of the world. I'd go around shooting such people. After all, there are more than seven thousand five hundred million people in the world. If we got rid of these heartless, thoughtless, selfish bastards, I don't think the world would come to an end. And the rest of us would be better off. I'm still shaking after what happened in the park yesterday. With all the other incidences over the last 18 months or more, it's becoming a nightmarish place for me. And it's rare for me to see any pensioner there. They seem to have abandoned the park, too. Too full of idiots, it seems.

If these people are our future, God help us! (Part 3)

Yesterday, after studying from 9 to 2.30, I decided to walk around the park and back through the graveyard, just to get a bit of fresh air and stretch my legs.

Unfortunately, right at the end of the park, I have to leave the road that runs alongside it to cross the park, so I have to enter it. There is a motorway that runs alongside the short end and you can't walk there. 

As I was crossing the short end of the park, a group of people in their late 20s and early 30s came towards me. Five people in a row - taking up the entire width of the pathway. 

I thought, "Well, I'm 15 to 20 metres away and it's 3 p.m. They must be able to see me." They didn't look stupid. Nicely dressed and no bad behaviour (e.g. pushing, shoving, jeering).

As I walked closer towards them, I went right to the edge of the path - without actually walking on the grass. I thought, "Dammit, I have a right to walk on the pathway and not divert onto the grass."

Do you think they got out of my way? No. When they passed me, the shoulder of the man nearest me bumped into me.

I turned round and asked why they couldn't get out of my way? Did they think that if one of them walked behind another they were a 'loser'? "Oh, oh, I am behind someone... I must be a lesser person?" 

Oh, it's a shame I get so het up (or worked up) about things like this that all the words jam in my mouth. (This is why I prefer to write my arguments down rather than speak.)

The man aske me why I was getting so worked up? I said that it was impolite to block the pathway. And do you know what happened?: They laughed. Laughed! What is funny about being told that you are rude? 

"But it's a Sunday," the man said. What has that got to do with anything? Does the pandemic pause on a Sunday so you don't have to keep your distance from people? Do you not have to think of other people on Sunday? Is it okay to bump into people and not even say sorry on a Sunday?

What logic goes through people's heads?

Imagine car drivers - four cars side by side driving down a road that is meant to be used in both directions. And no-one gets out of the way for a car coming in the opposite direction.

If people like they were - seemingly educated - can be so stupid and unthinking towards others... God help us. It's no wonder the pandemic is raging.

If these people are our future, God help us! (Part 2)

I have one private student and we have an English conversation lesson once a week via Skype.

I mentioned what had happened in the tutorial - that I was the only person of 4 willing to speak using a microphone and everyone else wanted to type. The person, an editor of a Sunday newspaper, was perplexed. They reacted with the same incomprehension as I had.

Then they told me that they sometimes had interns (Praktikanten) at the newspaper. They carry out research by typing a list of questions and sending them via e-mail. And then often they get no response. 

"What should I do?" they wail. 

"Ring them up," is what they are told. 

"How do I do that?" 

"Well, you dial the number here and then you talk to them."

As I say...if these people are our future, God help us.

If these people are our future, God help us! (Part 1)

I'm doing an Open University law course for two reasons. Firstly, it gives me something to do when so little is available - and it's safe from infection. Secondly, I get legal texts from time to time and I hope to get the vocabulary right and understand the texts better by learning about the law in English with the OU.

Two Thursdays ago, I stopped work in the afternoon to do a tutorial. I signed in first and eventually the tutor joined me and we chatted over the headsets. Sadly, the OU doesn't use webcams, so we couldn't see each other (which often makes it hard to know when someone has finished talking and you can start).

A little later on, we were joined by three other women. At one point, we had to discuss something and write on a board on Adobe Connect. Did the other three bother talking? No. They only typed. When you type in the chat box on the right-hand side of Adobe Connect, you can see who has typed. On the board to the left - no idea. I don't know if there was just one other person besides me contributing or not.

The tutor said, "I can't hear any discussion." I told her in writing that no-one else had a microphone so we were all typing.

Later on, the tutor said that she would put us in a break-out room for half an hour so we could discuss and solve a problem together. At the thought of that, I felt horror, made my excuses and left.

Basically, the whole experience horrified me. Here we are in the 21st century and we're going back to the chatrooms of 20 years ago. It's hard enough not seeing people - and lockdowns and sheltering have made this worse - but not to hear people either. That's hard. And I was really upset.

I wrote my feelings in the tutor group forum the following Monday and said that I had felt shunned. No-one wanted to talk. I said I had found the atmosphere to be aggressive, unfriendly and the opposite of inclusive. I was told by another student that the only one being aggressive was me. The fact that I was upset didn't seem to concern her. In my post, I had also said that if one didn't take part by making mistakes and asking questions then the teacher couldn't tell what we knew or not. The teacher couldn't then explain what we needed to understand. 

A couple of days later I made my feelings clear again. That I was still upset and shaken by what happened. The tutor in the UK rang me up and made it clear that I was being intolerant and that there were lots of reasons why people didn't want to or couldn't talk. "They could be shy," she said. I pointed out that they weren't going to learn how to cope with shyness (as I have had to) by not trying to do things even if it scared them. "They might have small children. They might not be in a safe place." And so on and so forth.

The Open University has been going since 1971. When I started in Germany in the mid-90s, everything was done by post. We had to travel to the International School in Bonn for tutorials. When I lived in London, we had tutorials in all sorts of colleges at the weekend. We also had online contact through Yahoo Groups (I'm still getting messages from one years later.) And for two courses, we has summer school - a whole week at Reading University (for the Science Foundation Course) and Norwich University (for Third World Development). When I did some sociology and psychology courses, back in Germany in the early 2010s, we met up in Cologne. And we Skyped. Yes, in 2010, we Skyped with our tutor. 

Now it's 2021 and we are back to not seeing or hearing each other and yet we are online. Even all the course materials are online - no books. I have to print everything off. We are going backwards. 

My tutor said that if I wanted to meet people, I should check out the OU Law Society, so I did. I joined up. Then I looked at the forums. One person had written in August, the person before in February. There were old posts there, and you could see that up to 26 people had read a post - but no-one had replied. And the case is similar in other forums elsewhere on the OU website.

And then young people complain and say they are lonely. Apparently, younger people complain of loneliness. You can check this out here: https://www.google.com/search?q=younger+people+loneliner+than+older+poeple&rlz=1C1WZPI_enDE457DE684&oq=younger+people+loneliner+than+older+poeple&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i10l5j0i512j0i10l3.7296j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Well, folks, it's no wonder they are lonely. All these wonderful ways to communicate....and they don't bother. 

Yes, meeting people - whether in the flesh or online - can be a bit scary. I get scared at the thought of each new class in my evening classes. As I say to my students, "I'm nervous, because there's only one of me and up to 12 of you and I don't know what you are all like." 

But would it help me to not do these classes? No. Would it be better for my students if I didn't bother? Definitely not. By confessing my nervousness, they are more likely to be kind to me and to make allowances for my nerves. And that is what people do. Hiding away and not even trying won't solve a thing. 

The Open University has been going since 1971 and I cannot believe that the students of the past did not have the same problems as the students of today. Only in the past, they had to make time to travel outside their home to get to a tutorial. In the wind and the rain and the dark sometimes (if they had a long journey back). And there were compulsory summer schools - if they had children, they had to find a solution. And now... in the 21st century, where you don't have to travel and can sit in the comfort of your own home (or someone else's, or in your office, or even in a quiet space (or even room) of a library), now...all of a sudden... it's hard for people to talk? Sorry, but I can't believe that. 

I used to think that the term 'snowflake' to describe the modern generation was harsh, nasty and unwarranted. I think I might have been been wrong there.

At least it seems that I am not alone, however. Whenever I have told anyone here in Germany of what happened, they are as puzzled as I am. "Why sign up to a tutorial if they are not going to take part?" is one reaction. When I mention the reasons that my tutor mentioned, this is met with eye-rolling. 

I keep musing on would have happened if, in my tutorial group with Dr Lawrence Foulger at Manchester University all those years ago, the four of us had refused to say a word, instead just passing the occasional scribbled note to him, which he then had to read out. 

Personally, I can't understand this attitude. If they don't want to contribute and speak, then they can just watch a recording of some tutorial. There are up to 10 appointments and some are recorded. All I can say is that if I am in the unfriendly situation of being the only person willing to speak and make mistakes, then I shall make my excuses and leave again. I will not tolerate such unfriendly behaviour.

German 'scharf' is not the same as English 'hot'

On my last trip to Bad Orb, which was this October, I had the first decent meal I've ever had there. I've not tried many places there. I have to avoid anything with gluten and German cooking is heavy on schnitzel and dumplings, the Italian restaurants offer pasta and pizza, and bakeries...well... the problem is obvious. If I play safe and order a salad, it's like travelling back to the UK in the 1970s, when salads mainly consisted of iceberg lettuce leaves, shredded and drowned in pink salad cream. There's also the problem that if they do open for lunch time, they open later than when I want to eat lunch and when I've long been back in my room after 3 or 4 hours of non-stop walking.

Anyway, this time, the walk had taken 4 hours and I was cold and a bit damp (very misty) and tired. I happily found myself in front of the Curry House in Bad Orb at two minutes to one - and they had just opened their doors. I walked in and sat down.

There was a couple on the next table. I can't remember what he ordered but she ordered what I wanted, too: chicken tikka masala. Only she ordered 'mild' (it's the same word in both German and English) and I ordered 'scharf' (which is related to the English word 'sharp'). 'Scharf' is what the Germans say when they mean 'spicy' or what we just call 'hot' in the UK.

Well, the dish was delicious, but when she asked if everything was okay, I said, "I think you may have mixed up our dishes. I ordered 'scharf' and this is 'mild'." The young Indian girl looked at me very surprised and assured me that I had got the 'spicy' chicken tikka masala.

A couple of days later, I went back for a vegetarian dish. This time, the mother greeted me and I told her, "Look. I'm from the UK. We're used to eating curry there. Even children eat curry. Your 'scharf' is very mild."

And the Indian woman looked across at some Germans sitting in the restaurant and said with a sigh: "They're just not used to it."

This time round, the food was even better. Curry is not curry if you can't feel it warming your mouth for a couple of hours afterwards. And curry is extremely beneficial for one's health. It's all down to turmeric and other spices. Sadly, though, of all the fast foods available, it's also the most calorific, but when you've been stomping through the hilly countryside around Bad Orb for three or four  hours - where you always have to walk up hill first to get to the interesting paths - and it's a bit cool, then a good hot curry is just what you need.

The next time I visit Bad Orb and go to the Curry House, I'll have to tell them "charf, scharf". Maybe then they'll get the message loud and clear.

Here's the menu:

http://curryhouse-badorb.de/menu/

Older? Definitely. Wiser? Hell, no!

In October, I spent 10 days in Bad Orb. Whenever I am there, the main attraction is the densely wooded countryside in which I like to walk every day. I generally leave the B&B at 9.15 a.m. and spend hours walking non-stop until about noon or 1 p.m.

One day, I was coming to the end of a round walk. It was already about 12.30 p.m. and I had already covered 12.9 km. Rain was forecast and I was keen to get back to my room. A middle-aged couple came walking towards me and I greeted them. They asked if they were on the right track and took out a small map of Bad Orb.

"Oh," I said. "But that's just a small map of the town. What you need is the walking map. You can get it at the Tourist Information Office." They said they had the map

"But they told us that all we had to do is follow this sign," they said, pointing to a symbol on the small map showing Bad Orb. The sign was the one for the Spessartbogen walking route. This section led up the Haseltal valley. It's a very specific symbol in green, blue and yellow:

The route basically leads from Bad Orb in the west along the Haseltal valley to the east. The path we were on ran from the north of Bad Orb to the south of it. 

I pointed out their mistake. (I teach - I can't help being pedantic.) And I showed them where we were on my big walking map, which I had in my hand. "Look, I said, "you're going in the wrong direction." They said that they would just do my route, only the other way round. I mentally blanched at this, thinking how they would probably get lost in the mountains since they had no decent map with them - and rain was forecast.

"Look, what I would do," I said, "is to carry on and then take route 8 and then route 9 to the spring of the Orb river, cross the road and continue on route 9 back into town. There's a really good café on the way back." I recommended this because there is a road in the middle of the valley and they could not possibly get lost so long as they could hear the traffic on the road.

However, they insisted they would carry on and go round the hill, the same way I had gone - 12.9 km. "Well, take some photos of my map," I urged them.

"Oh, we've got the map." And I realised that they must have had the map with them. Only they made no move to take it out and actually look at it. I looked down at their shoes. Nope, they were sensible; they weren't idiots.

And yet, they seemed to be very big idiots. They had been told to follow some signs and yet they had gone 2 km without seeing that unmistakable sign and seeing others instead without once consulting the walking map. 

What is more, it had never occurred to them that the valley they wanted to walk along should have been to the left of them and the hill to their right. Yet they were walking along a path where the valley was to the left of them and the hill to their left. Map-reading is a skill that should be taught in school. I shall be forever thankful to my Geography teacher, Mr Butler, for doing so.

When you are young, you think that wisdom comes with age. That doesn't seem to be the case - not with this couple anyway. How disappointing.