DannGehdochnachDrüben!

On Sunday, the 22th my boss Anna invited me to a talent show, where local singers had the opportunity to present themselves and their skills. We went there with Alisa, another friend of Anna, who has a further friend, Chatuna Tschejschwili, who took part in the show. After we found the restaurant “Kartan”, where the show was held, we found ourselves in a luxurious foyer, and with a small awkward feeling I handed over my unfitting everyday-jacket to the man, who took care of the wardrobe.
We went up the stairs and were led to a table by a waitor, it is still uncommon to me that waitors are addressed here with their first names. The show started and 10 local talents performed a wide variety of songs, reaching from Georgian ballades over Russian love songs to interpretations of modern pop artists. The musical entertainment was completed by the performances of a beat box artist, two break dancers, a comedian and the moderation. After the show the audience had to deliver a judgment, what was not a simple task for me, for I heard more then just one extraordinary voice that evening.
All in all, it was one very nice evening.
The following week I looked after the apartment of a German friend here in Donetsk, who had a seminar in the Western Ukraine. Because it was in a different rajon of the city, I had to orientate again, just after I had settled in, but I managed it more or less.
During the night the first frost arrived here and reassured me with a small cold that winter will come quick in this continental climate.
But the last week provided more changes then just a slight drop in temperature. The German Speaking Club is now an official project of Alternative-V and I became Elenas “right hand”. During the meeting this Saturday we wanted to talk about the election of the German parliament “, the Bundestag. The first part of the gathering was filled with a discussion about the choice that was made by the Germans, but after we somehow changed to talk about other choices we have to do in our lifes, beside the political system. That was okay, because instead of controlling Elena and I only moderate the discussion so the group can talk about what is interesting for them, the only condition is that it is hold in German.
The question came up which traits our partners should have, and not even we as the organizers could avoid to answer. It was fun as always and a good opportunity to get known to the participants.

On Saturday the 14th of September I was invited to the German Speaking Club. It takes place in the German Reading Room of the Donetsk National Technical University. This is a meeting point for Ukrainians, who learn German for different reasons. Indeed the biggest part of the group is formed by students, but a doctor and senior citizen, who wants to learn the language of his German son-in-law, take part.
The Speaking Club is not organized like school tuition, but a room where people can speak about various topics in German and improve their skills in spoken language. It was first organized by Elena Fomenko in 2012 and it is split up in two groups, one for already more advanced speakers and one for people who recently began the study of the German language. I visited the first group.
My task was to introduce the German volunteer program “Weltwärts”, my Ukrainian host organisation All-Ukrainian Association for Youth Cooperation “Alternative-V” and my hometown. While I prepared the last presentations, my boss said: “You are going to speak to young people, include places where you party, where you have fun.”. This was a serious problem. In Westphalia, where I am from, party mood is not a common character trait. We have plenty of places for seriousness like churches or monasteries, but night clubs? Nil report. Instead of this I included a small introduction of distinctions in Western German mentalities, where an invisible border divides the Rhenish joie de vivre and the Westphalian crabbiness.
The meeting started at 12 o'clock, and my presentation was followed by a talk where the members of the group gave a small introduction of themselves, their motivation to learn German and their already made experiences with the German language like school exchanges or semesters abroad.
Luckily the group was so kind to allow me to come again the following week, so probably this was not the last time you read about this club.

If you are interested in the German Speaking you can contact the organizer Elena Fomenko: Lenchik_fom@mail.ru
The meetings are held on Saturdays, one group starts at 12:00 o'clock, the second at 14:00 o'clock.

Diesen Samstag durfte ich meine Organisation das erste Mal in der Öffentlichkeit präsentieren, da ich als „Überraschungsgast“ bei einem Sprachklub des Deutschen Lesesaals an der Universität hier eingeladen war. Dort treffen sich regelmäßig Ukrainer, die aus verschiedensten Gründen Deutsch lernen um sich auf Deutsch zu unterhalten. Zwar besteht die Gruppe größtenteils aus Studenten, doch auch eine Ärztin und ein Rentner, der so die Sprache seines deutschen Schwiegersohns erlernt, sind unter den Teilnehmern. Die Gruppe wurde 2012 von der Studentin Elena Fomenko ins Leben gerufen.
Hier sollte ich das „Weltwärts“-Programm, meine ukrainische Arbeit bei der Ukrainian Association for Youth Cooperation "Alternative-V", und meine Heimatstadt Werl vorstellen. Auf Deutsch, zu meinem Glück, da sich meine Russischkentnisse noch etwa auf dem Niveau eines unbegabten Dreijährigen befinden.
Bei der letzten Präsentation stand ich allerdings vor einem Problem. Nach dem ich die Präsentation erstellt hatte, sagte mir meine Chefin: „Soweit ganz gut, aber dass sind alles junge Leute, schreib doch noch rein wo ihr Spaß habt, wo kann man feiern, was für Clubs habt ihr?“. Naja, Feiern, Spaß und Klubs in Werl? Statt dessen habe ich eine kurze Einführung über westfälische Mentalität vorbereitet, in der Spaß nicht die höchste Priorität ist. Auch ein Schützenfest hat zu viele scharfe Waffen, um tatsächlich als vollkommen unseriös durchzugehen.
Als ich am Samstagmittag dann vor der Gruppe stand, war froh über die freundliche, offene Atmosphäre die dort herrschte. Es wurde gelacht und viele Fragen gestellt, auch wenn meine Erklärung, was genau Möpkenbrot sei, die Ukrainer hier vielleicht nich besonders für die deutsche Küche begeistert hat.
Anschließend erzählten die Gruppenmitglieder noch etwas von sich (natürlich auf Deutsch) und wir schauten den Kurzfilm „Joshua“ von Dani Levy, der auch für mich als Muttersprachler nicht so ganz einfach zu verstehen war. Zum Abschluss ging es dann in ein Lemberger Café, wo neben hervorragendem Wiener Kaffee auch extrem leckere Pralinen und Schokoladenkuchen im Angebot waren.