GERMAN B2, DONE!
Finally completed my course after 6 months!
Class today went well, despite what happened yesterday.
Last night, I emailed my teacher* and told him that I had public speaking anxiety, specifically when I'm being judged on my performance, which was why I had been sniffling in class.
*He wrote back that he thought I had a cold, and as long as I memorize the structure for the speaking exams, I shouldn't have stage fright. ʕʕ•͡-•ʔʔ
I ended up lying on the couch for hours with my head under a blanket again. I didn't want to think. My brain was exhausted.
The last day
This morning I woke up in a pretty good mood. I quickly did my homework and reviewed the helping phrases for today's mock exam. Since it was the final day, I decided to buy a bunch of snacks for my classmates, including a package of crackers for my teacher. I wanted to end things on a good note.
Our lesson began with the teacher explaining that he has also taken many tests in his life, probably as a way to connect with us and ease our worries? He then went on to lecture about what the potential prompts could be, and again emphasized about memorizing the structures for these exams.
That took up the first half of the course. I had a feeling he probably didn't want to start us on the test first thing in the morning again. It was clear that some classmates were still shaken. It wasn't just me.
I announced that I brought snacks for everyone which we could enjoy during the break. Instead, others went out to buy snacks as well, and everyone gifted the teacher with a little snack of their own.
It was just me and him in the classroom at one point. "Which test are you taking?" he asked me.
"The SDS," I replied.
"So you don't even need to do this exercise," he mused. "Maybe, we'll just skip it altogether and go straight to snacking."
When the break was over, he went over one more test example. Initially he had said we were going to listen to a mock dialog, but then said we could all do this at home in our own time. So he finished the lesson and we shared snacks, jokes, and stories.
It was nice to end the last day of our course this way. I guess he knew that yesterday was too much. After class, everyone shook hands and wished each other well.
B2, done
I don't have another course lined up because my unemployment ends in April, so it's not enough time to invest in a new level. Plus, most people call it quits after B2 because it's enough. I would like to continue onto C1, but I need a break.
It's confirmed that my B2 exam is on March 6. On March 7, my (now former) classmate from the B2 course is having a DnB gig at a local venue. I told him I'm going, and he looked really happy. That feels like a nice way to celebrate, regardless of how I do on the test.
And that's that.
I'm going to focus on job applications for the remainder of the week and resume German studying next week. I'm relieved that the class ended positively. Now I can really relax. (And bake those damn earl grey cookies that I've been wanting to do for weeks.)