1979 School Magazine

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A SENIOR IIVlPRESSION OF GERfuXATT Five years of German; wow, what did we learn? As en- thusiastic Grade Bs, we thought we would be able to speak f luent German at the end of our first year. But little did we know we would still be living with this hope, now a faint glimmer, in Grade 12. Our first words in our brand new language were "lch heisse Maria. Wie heisse du bitte?" Next came the alphabet and then basic conversations which we proudly recited off by heart to the delight (or exasperation) of our parents. We were swamped by German culture in the form of never ending fairy tales and a certain Cerman film which we saw about fifteen times, unbeknownst to our German teacher. A French film even crept into our German studies somehow, but we watched it anyway. Lessons were heightened by German jokes, although we could not quite apprcciate German humour - but to sympathize with our teacher's hysterical outbursts, we laughed politely. Well, the years passed and our hope for German fluency continued to elude us. Although we are not yet able to fathom German jokes, we can happily say, that we can now use and appreciate (joke) the complexities of the German language. For the last two years we have been regularly dosed with Leopold's book and the inspirational force of-German poetry. Lessons are relieved somewhat by magazines, films and singing. Of course, we all look forward to the day when we are approached by a gorgeous German ski instructor and can proudly comprehend his implications. So, to all of you budding young German students, chin up and just remember, there is a definite purpose to all of th is. Grade '12 German Class GERMAN CIUIZ TEAM A good performance was given by the team when they competed against Toowoomba High and Kenmore State High in the semi finals. They were defeated by Kenmore in the very last question. This quiz is an annual event and is organized by the German Department of the University of Queensland. Twenty-seven High Schools compete in this school quiz.

THE GERMAN FOLKI.ORE GROUP The German Folklore Group has been very active in the first year of it's existence. Their first pbrformance was at the Queensland University, where they sang two Ger- man Folksongs as entertainment before the German Quiz started. The group danced at the Flower Show of St. Aidan's School, and at Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Day. Lately they have performed in the Old Assembly Hall on October 18th, for the three classes from Ken- more State School, who came to visit the German Display, and at the Oktoberfest in Thornlands for an au- dience of 4,000 high school students on October '19th. The group was ably trained by Miss Sandra McGeechau and many new dances will be Iearned in the future. The girls show great enthusiasm and are to be commended for the hard work they have put into it. GERMAhI EAMP On the 20th April, we set off for a German weekend at Camp Warrawee, with pupils f rom around Brisbane. The minute we arrived, we were issued with the order, "Speak German only - please". However, this remain- ed one of the great unfulfilled ambitions of the camp. Saturday morning, we woke early and were subjected to fifteen minutes of exercise before breakfast. The camp being entitled 'Ein Murchenhafles Wochenende", was organized around the rich and varied fairytales of the Grimm Brothers. Fach group was given a tale to practise and perform that evening. This, punctuated by f requent breaks to the dining room to obtain further "german food experience", filled the rest of the day. ln the evening, much to our trepidation and everyone's hysteria, the play was a success (just). We spent the rest of the night singing, dancing and eating traditional Bavarian cream cake. Sunday morning arrived and after devouring mountains of continental breadrolls, we assembled in the bush pulpit for a short service. The rest of the day passed quickly with many games, a treasure hunt and finally a quiz. Contrary to staff opinion, we did learn a lot about German culture, that is not available in the school cur- riculum. We also had a great time. J. Walker and J. Blackwood

GERMAhI VERSE SPEAK!t{G EOTUPETITION

This year's competition proved very successful for B.G.G.S. We were awarded 21 honoui'able mentioned ranging over years B, 9, 12, second prize lor year 12 and third prize for years 8 and 12. Credit must be given to the girls and the staff of the German Department, for the time spent during lunch hours in preparation for the com- petition. Over 900 students from the high schools par- ticipated in this competition organized by the German Department of the University of Queensland.

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