January 21st
I once again didn't do too much. I made some no bake cookies for the history professors who are leaving on Friday, because we are having a good bye party for them. I have to admit that I am sad that they are leaving because they have been very nice to me, but I will still be seeing them on Fridays when we meet for our Stammtisch.
January 22
We actually had beautiful weather today. The sky was blue and it wasn't very cold. The weather has become a lot milder since about the second week of January. I prepared a lesson on the Simpsons for a year 13 class. My teacher had given me the episode copied onto DVD that she had acquired from her student. The episode was the first one of this year's season and was about the U.S. primary race and basically mocks the entire media and the idea of a forerunner being named after the New Hampshire Primary. There were a lot of puns and inuendos and I wasn't sure how many the class would catch, but they seemed to do a farely decent job. I had never taught this class before, but it turned out really well and they actively participated, which always makes things go more smoothly. I have a long day on Tuesdays and tutor a boy after I am done with classes, so I came home and fell asleep watching tv. Earlier that day, I was asked by my school director if I would be willing to tutor another student, a girl, and of course agreed to do so. Her mother called and wants to meet me next week, before I start the tutoring. I guess I can understand that she doesn't just want to hire anyone, so I am invited to her house for coffee in the afternoon on Wednesday of next week.
January 23
I was invited to go on a tour of a Marine bunker in Kiel by the two History teachers that I go on trips with from the school. The bunkers are/were apparently all over Kiel, but you don't know what they are until someone tells you (well at least I didn't). There were a total of 12 here in Kiel during WWII for the marines only. There were underground bunkers under where the train station currently is and where the market square is. Also, behind the city hall building was a large one. Civilians were not allowed to use them (with the exception of marine family members) until closer to the end of the war. Only a little over 2,000 people were killed in Kiel during WWII. This low number is due in part to the numerous bunkers. At the time of the war, Kiel housed one of the largest marine operating harbors in Germany, making it a target. It still has a small portion of the harbor that houses marine ships, but very few. In the 1890's, Bismarck turned Kiel into a marine hub and the population skyrocketed, increasing from a mere 2,500 to 250, 000 in around 20-30 years.
Mrs. Hamman, a survivor of WWII, lived in Kiel during the war and came to share some of her experiences and tell about how the past unfolded here, while we toured through the bunker. There was also a man from Berlin who came, but didn't have as much to tell. Mrs. Hamman talked about being sent to Austria, while the rest of her family remained here. Apparently they sent as many of the younger children there as possible. She told of how her father was sent to Russia and was killed on the front there and about how he was forced to join the NSDAP just to get a job. You would pretty much do anything in these times, I guess, if you wanted to support and keep your family alive. She remembers Kristallnacht and the synagogues burning and said that this was never explained to her at the time, but keep in mind she was only around five then, so her family probably didn't want to try to explain what was happening. After the war, her family relocated to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to live with her grandmother and when they came back to their house here in Kiel, it was still standing, but it was inhabited by another family. She explained how the two families lived together for about two years. They had to plan when meals would be cooked, when the bathroom was to be used by which family, etc. The man talked a bit about underground connections from one house to another in case one was to be hit, then the families could flee in this manner. One of the girls in the class asked about the Hitler youth and told us that her grandfather was in it and that he had talked some with her about it. I must admit, that this supprised me a bit, as I didn't think that most people who were a part of this would want to discuss it.
Kiel was 80 percent destroyed during the war and there were pictures in the bunker that showed the City hall building still standing, but everything else around it destroyed. The road I live on was also in the picture. My building that I live in actually survived the war at least to some extent, because it is referred to as an 'Altbau.' After the war, the Americans/Brits drilled into and bombed the bunkers so that they could not be further used. It is a shame because a lot of families could have lived there after the war, but we destroyed them out of fear so that they could not be used in the future.
They are now turning the bunker into a museum and Mrs. Hamman believes this is a great idea and has supported the cause by donating some of her own art and money to it. She said that it is important for generations who are out of touch with the idea of World War II to be informed and hear how it was from someone who lived through it, so that something that treacherous "never happens again." Mrs. Hamman looked me in the eyes and said that "Man creates war." "I think you agree with me, right?" Of course I agreed with her. I don't know how anyone could look a survivor of a war in the eyes and answer 'no' to this question. She said to me that she believes the war in Iraq is all about oil and we talked about American support for the war there.
All of the 10th graders were impressed with the tour and information and said that it is something that they can't imagine. I agree with Mrs. Hamman, in that the only way to imprint just how horrible war is to someone who hasn't experienced it first hand is to hear it from the mouths of others who have. This makes the connection and event real for the listener, when they know someone who has actually lived it. This is also dangerous, however, because once history becomes distant and the understanding of how terrible these things can be is lost (meaning those who have experienced it are gone), then there is a better chance of reoccurance. For me, this was a chilling expereince in more than one way. Not only was it freezing outside and in the bunker, but the stories and facts themselves were chilling.
January 24
I had a really easy day at school with not much to do and didn't do much after school because the weather was stormy, rainy, and really windy. I spent the day relaxing and reading.
January 25
We had breakfast with one of my classes since it was the end of term and grades were going to be handed out to the upper level students. This was nice and laidback and I got to put my German to use, which always makes me happy. I took "no bake" cookies to them that I had made a few days earlier. I explained that they were a very typical American food and that they should try them. It was interesting to see their response after eating them. They all found them very sweet, but most of the kids seemed to like them. I began working in a new class this week. Basically, I am working with three students who are preparing for the "Abitur" (German test required to go to the University) in English and my teacher requested that I work 1 on 3 with them so that they can practice their conversation skills an hour a week. The topic for this lesson was once again Primaries in the U.S. This has become such a major topic in the news here. My students informed me, that prior to this year's primaries, Germans never cared about them or had even heard of what they were. I think this shows, just how intense the race is this year and how up in the air it is. Usually parties have some idea at this point, as to who will win the nomination, however, this year there is no steady leader. Also, it shows how interested the rest of the world is in who will possibly be taking over the White House for the next few years. Other countries are just as eager to see change in U.S. politics and are therefore heavily following the race for the White House.
After fourth period, school was out for the day and the students recieved their grades. This allowed the faculty time for a Goodbye Party for a retiring faculty member and two of our so-called "student-teachers." In Germany, student-teaching (known as Referendar) lasts two years and is completed with a series of observation and exams that have to be passed. Unfortunately the two teachers who are leaving our school just happen to be the two history teachers that I get along with really well. It is sad to see them go because they always invited me along on field trips and have been very helpful in my adjustment to Kiel, but they have new positions at schools in the area and will be staying in Kiel. This means I will still be seeing them on occaisional weekends and therefore didn't really have to say goodbye. The party consisted of a huge table covered in food, to which I also contributed more "no bakes," and short speeches given by our school director Mr. Scholz. Of course what is a party without a little music...yes, that's right. My cell phone rang as Mr. Scholz was speaking...talk about embarassing!! Most of the time I never get phone calls, unless I am expecting them and I especially don't get them while at school! Of all of the moments that whoever it was that was calling me could have called, they just happened to do so while I was at school and during a speech that my school director was giving!! In a room of about fifty people, this can be quite uncomfortable when they are all staring at you. I felt horrible the rest of the afternoon, even though I realized that this could have happened to anyone. It was the fact that of course it had happened to me.
In the evening, I met Dee, Siobahn, Sabine (Dee's roommate) and some of Sabine's friends. We had planned to go to the movies all together to see "Keinohrhase" or No-ear Bunny. Unfortunately, the theater had changed the time that it was to play that day and we had already missed it. Instead we decided to go to a nearby restaurant where I just ordered a coffee. Following this, I met up with the two history teachers again for yet another Stammtisch Friday night at Wubbke, the Irish Pub/Restaurant.
January 26
I was Invited to one of my English teacher's that I work with for cake and tea. She wanted me to read an article out and record it for the department. I left here at 3 for her place which is about a ten minute walk down the street from mine. I didn't arrive back until 8 and could have stayed longer, but my family was supposed to be calling. In the five hours that I was there, we had tea and Darth Vader Cake (left over from her son's birthday party), recorded the reading of the article, played games with her two children (Mathilda 4, Aurthur 6), ate dinner, and conversed. It was a very nice day spent there. She even sent me home with lots of sweets, Darth Vader cake, muffins and fudge. I think they would like for me to babysit for them because they asked if I have any experiecne and because their kids really like me. Mathilda was begging me to stay the night and asked when I would be coming back. She also invited me to her birthday party. The evening I spent talking to family and friends from home. Nicholas left in the morning for Canada, so I once again have the apartment to myself and it is quite quiet, although it is quiet when my roommates are here, too.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Lessons, class trips and Abschied
January 14th
I retrieved my computer from the Repair place, where I had taken it. It ended up costing 160 Euro, which is by no means cheap, but now I don't care becuase I at least I have a working computer and don't have to worry about it anymore. Ryan came by to visit since he would be leaving in three days and I tried to figure out how to get my internet to work.
Not much happened on Tuesday, I got my internet to work (since the wireless wasn't working, I bought a cable) and then Ryan came over in the evening and we watched a movie.
January 16th
On Wednesday, I went on a class field trip with a Marcus, one of the History teachers and his 9th graders. He and the other history teacher, always invite me along on their trips to special musuems or historical sites in and around Kiel and the nice thing is I get to experience/learn about historical aspects of Germany, first-hand, that I would otherwise not have the chance to do. This time the field trip was to the Bismark Stiftung in Freidrichsruh, close to Hamburg. The Bismarck Stiftung is a privately-run organization with the help of some government funding and is free for classes in Schleswig-Holstein to visit. The Stiftung houses over 10 million (insured) dollars worth of papers, writings, pictures and other archived realia of Bismarck and his fellow politicians. The land, which the Stiftung occupies, was presented to Bismarck as a gift and the house that he lived in remains standing on this piece of land. Marcus informed me that his decendents continue to inhabit the house. Unfortunately we only got to see this from a distance, but it was still interesting. There is also an exhibition/museum recording Bismarck's life and time as a ruler at the Stiftung.
We had a guided tour of this and then were allowed to look around ourselves, so that we could actually read some of what was written. Out of all of the influential historical figures of Germany's history, I would dare to say that Bismarck is the greatest and most positively portrayed throughout Germany. This is evident through the overwhelming presence of statues, memorials, and monuments in his honor. In addition, almost every city in Germany has a Bismarck square, and when not, then at least one street that is named after him. After doing the guided tour, we were split into two groups and given a short tour of the archives. The man who did the tour showed us some original documents written by Bismarck. Some of them were in French, as this is the language that the political elites used when they met in Europe during Bismarck's era. I think this was the highlight of the tour, knowing that we were in a room full of worthless in actuality/priceless in terms of what they are, pieces of paper. You don't get to do this every day. I must admit though, I had to laugh when he took out his white archival gloves (who knew they were the same all over the world, haha) because it made me think of Bethany's archives and when I was working some the summer before last with Jeanne Cobb, our archivist in the library. For those of you who don't realize how much work goes into preserving these articles, then you should take the time to visit a local archive and appreciate it. The work is dilligent and has to be exactly marked/ordered/packaged/housed or else it can be of no further use.
After seeing the archives, we had the opportunity to try and transcribe a text from the old german writing style. For me, this was almost completely impossible. I could only identify a few words, even though we were given a key to help decipher it. This didn't halp much because the r and e looked exactly the same and so did the f, h, and many other letters. Even the students found it to be extremely difficult, although they were able to read quite a bit at the end. This was the final activity of our trip and then it was time to head back to catch our train. We were already running behind, as the tour of the archives lasted longer than we had planned and so we had to walk really fast to catch the train at the next town/station which was a little over 20 minutes away. We made it there just in time to jump on and take off. We arrived back in Kiel around 5:30. It had been quite a long day and exhausting, even though half of it was traveling there and back. We didn't lose any kids though, so that was good. When I got off the train in Kiel, I was thanking my teacher for inviting me to come along and when I looked over, I saw Ryan, Deirdre and Siobhan, the other teaching assistants sitting on a bench at the station. They were supposed to be in Preetz visiting another assistant and I went to see why they hadn't left yet. They said that they missed two trains and then asked me if I wanted to go get a ticket and take the next one with them and that the train was leaving in like 3 minutes. I went to get a ticket and couldn't get what I wanted to come up. After I finally got it right, the train they wanted to take had left, making this the 3rd one they had missed. We all had a good laugh and waited around for the next one. We got to Preetz about an hour later and Chris met us at the station. He gave us a really quick (Preetz is tiny) tour and then we went to a Restaurant for dinner and spent a nice evening together.
After we got back from Preetz around 10:30, I wanted to get in the shower and then plan my lesson for the next morning on Sports in Australia, however, I didn't get to shower because our boiler wasn't working. It was freezing in our apartment and there wasn't any warm water. I ended up boiling water and using it to wash my hair. Nicholaus, one of my roommates and the one in charge of the apartment said he would call to see if he could get it fixed the next day.
January 17th
After waking up freezing, I headed to school. My class on Australian sports didn't really go as planned, but I guess you can only learn through trial and error. If I could do it over again, I would do a few things differently. I also got mad at this class because they were laughing at one of the weaker students while he was reading. The student got angry and I yelled at them and said that their behavior was unacceptable and not appreciated. I'm not sure if they knew what to think after that. After school I met Deirdre and Siobhan. We had planned to have lunch with Ryan in the afternoon and then get dressed up and go out for cocktails in the evening before Ryan boarded his ship to leave for Sweden for the next semester. Since Dee, Ryan and I went to a Subway the first time we all met up, that is where we went for lunch. Ryan of course being the punctual man he is, showed up almost two hours later than we had planned. He did, however think it was a sweet idea. After lunch we went back to Dee's and finished a calendar we made for him with pictures of all of us on it (idea taken from my friends in Heidelberg; they gave me one when I left and I loved it). We gave this to him and he really appreciated it, he even almost cried, but keep in mind he is... well let's just say a bit crooked ; ) Then we changed and went out for cocktails at the Blue Angel. It is a jazz club as one can imagine from the name and we had been there a few times before. The atmosphere is quite nice there, it is located directly on the harbor, and sometimes they have swing nights with really good dancers performing. After we all had a cocktail, it was time for Ryan to leave to board the Stena Line, his cruise ship to Sweden. We stood from a parking lot along the harbor and waved goodbye with our tissues (no sarcasm here, we actually did this because we are silly like that) and Ryan popped a bottle of champagne from the back deck of the ship. He wanted us to try and catch the cork, but it didn't travel that far. It probably will wash up on the Ostsee shore...I was really sad to see him go because he was my closest friend here and we had a lot of fun together in the short time that he was here, but I hope that he has a great time in Sweden. Who knows, maybe I will even get a chance to go visit.
January 18th
I had prepared a lesson on the primaries in the U.S. and the potential candidates for the 2008 election. I printed out articles from NPR.org on each of the most popular ones and then split the class up into groups of 2 and gave each one a candidate. They had to read the info. and present the main political viewpoints of each. At the end of the class I had them vote for their favorite candidate. The teacher of this class, thought it was a great idea and I think the students enjoyed it, too. I find that they are really interested in political issues in the U.S. and take advantage of every opportunity to ask me about them. I wish that students in the U.S. were as interested in politics as they are here. We're lucky if students in the U.S. can even form an opinon of their own on an issue. Mostly their ideas are taken directly from the mouths of their parents because it is just easier to go along with someone else's viewpoint than to come up with their own! That involves thinking and thinking is too much work...woops did I write that? In one of my other classes, we were dealing with the civil war and then we decided to connect the lesson and talk about the War in Iraq. Keep in mind that these lessons are all in English and that the students are able to clearly express themselves and their thoughts! The kids hat lots of questions about this and wanted to know my stance and perspective on it. They asked questions, such as if I knew anyone who was/is in the war and why the Americans supported it and if they still do. After school, I met Siobhan for coffee and cake and later we met up again with Dee and Heather at the Rathaus. Here we saw a random woman walking around in a Bee costume having her picture taken by people who appeared to be her friends. Just as this was happening, one of my students walked by and asked if I knew what the girl was doing. I told him that I had no clue and that there is always something crazy/random happening in Kiel. In the evening, I had plans to meet up with the history teachers from my school and some of their friends at the irish pub down the street from here. It is really nice that they invite me because it is a good opportunity to practice my German skills. They are the ones that take me on their class trips. They are also leaving our school this coming Friday when the term is over. They are currently doing their "referendar" what we as Americans would refer to as Student teaching. They just finished their exams and now have recieved jobs at other schools (our school doesn't have any openings for them).
January 19th
I woke up late because I had decided to sleep in. I had been helping plan a trip to Karneval in Duesseldorf (originally we wanted to go to Cologne) with 4 other assistants. Cologne is supposed to be the best place for Karneval but we had to settle for the second best, which is ok with me since I haven't ever been to Duesseldorf and I am sure it will be just as good. We ended up booking a hotel and figuring out how we were going to get there the chapest way possible. I have been wanting to go to Karneval (Mardi Gras) since I have read about it in my German books in the 8th grade and will finally get to experience it. My guess is, there will be tons of people dressed up in crazy outfits. In the afternoon, I went over to Dee's. Siobhan and I had planned to have her cut our hair and then we wanted to cook dinner together in the evening. I found out that Siobahn has more talents than just juggling. Apparently, she can sing, plays the guitar and writes her own songs. They are really good. She showed me her book with all of them written in it and I read through some of them. She played a few for me and Dee and then Dee cut our hair. Dinner in the evening consisted of carrots, potatoes, corn and chicken and was quite delicious if I might say so myself.
January 20th
I had been wanting to see the movie "Das Leben der Anderen" (The Lives of the Others) for a long time and finally got to do so on Sunday. The film won an academy award in the U.S. for the best foreign language film and is about a German Stasi officer who is hired to observe and record the life of a playwright in the DDR. I went to a theater on my street to see it and my expectations were more than met. It was a great movie, one of my favorites now, and I would recommend it to anyone. Besides this, I didn't do a whole lot.
I retrieved my computer from the Repair place, where I had taken it. It ended up costing 160 Euro, which is by no means cheap, but now I don't care becuase I at least I have a working computer and don't have to worry about it anymore. Ryan came by to visit since he would be leaving in three days and I tried to figure out how to get my internet to work.
Not much happened on Tuesday, I got my internet to work (since the wireless wasn't working, I bought a cable) and then Ryan came over in the evening and we watched a movie.
January 16th
On Wednesday, I went on a class field trip with a Marcus, one of the History teachers and his 9th graders. He and the other history teacher, always invite me along on their trips to special musuems or historical sites in and around Kiel and the nice thing is I get to experience/learn about historical aspects of Germany, first-hand, that I would otherwise not have the chance to do. This time the field trip was to the Bismark Stiftung in Freidrichsruh, close to Hamburg. The Bismarck Stiftung is a privately-run organization with the help of some government funding and is free for classes in Schleswig-Holstein to visit. The Stiftung houses over 10 million (insured) dollars worth of papers, writings, pictures and other archived realia of Bismarck and his fellow politicians. The land, which the Stiftung occupies, was presented to Bismarck as a gift and the house that he lived in remains standing on this piece of land. Marcus informed me that his decendents continue to inhabit the house. Unfortunately we only got to see this from a distance, but it was still interesting. There is also an exhibition/museum recording Bismarck's life and time as a ruler at the Stiftung.
We had a guided tour of this and then were allowed to look around ourselves, so that we could actually read some of what was written. Out of all of the influential historical figures of Germany's history, I would dare to say that Bismarck is the greatest and most positively portrayed throughout Germany. This is evident through the overwhelming presence of statues, memorials, and monuments in his honor. In addition, almost every city in Germany has a Bismarck square, and when not, then at least one street that is named after him. After doing the guided tour, we were split into two groups and given a short tour of the archives. The man who did the tour showed us some original documents written by Bismarck. Some of them were in French, as this is the language that the political elites used when they met in Europe during Bismarck's era. I think this was the highlight of the tour, knowing that we were in a room full of worthless in actuality/priceless in terms of what they are, pieces of paper. You don't get to do this every day. I must admit though, I had to laugh when he took out his white archival gloves (who knew they were the same all over the world, haha) because it made me think of Bethany's archives and when I was working some the summer before last with Jeanne Cobb, our archivist in the library. For those of you who don't realize how much work goes into preserving these articles, then you should take the time to visit a local archive and appreciate it. The work is dilligent and has to be exactly marked/ordered/packaged/housed or else it can be of no further use.
After seeing the archives, we had the opportunity to try and transcribe a text from the old german writing style. For me, this was almost completely impossible. I could only identify a few words, even though we were given a key to help decipher it. This didn't halp much because the r and e looked exactly the same and so did the f, h, and many other letters. Even the students found it to be extremely difficult, although they were able to read quite a bit at the end. This was the final activity of our trip and then it was time to head back to catch our train. We were already running behind, as the tour of the archives lasted longer than we had planned and so we had to walk really fast to catch the train at the next town/station which was a little over 20 minutes away. We made it there just in time to jump on and take off. We arrived back in Kiel around 5:30. It had been quite a long day and exhausting, even though half of it was traveling there and back. We didn't lose any kids though, so that was good. When I got off the train in Kiel, I was thanking my teacher for inviting me to come along and when I looked over, I saw Ryan, Deirdre and Siobhan, the other teaching assistants sitting on a bench at the station. They were supposed to be in Preetz visiting another assistant and I went to see why they hadn't left yet. They said that they missed two trains and then asked me if I wanted to go get a ticket and take the next one with them and that the train was leaving in like 3 minutes. I went to get a ticket and couldn't get what I wanted to come up. After I finally got it right, the train they wanted to take had left, making this the 3rd one they had missed. We all had a good laugh and waited around for the next one. We got to Preetz about an hour later and Chris met us at the station. He gave us a really quick (Preetz is tiny) tour and then we went to a Restaurant for dinner and spent a nice evening together.
After we got back from Preetz around 10:30, I wanted to get in the shower and then plan my lesson for the next morning on Sports in Australia, however, I didn't get to shower because our boiler wasn't working. It was freezing in our apartment and there wasn't any warm water. I ended up boiling water and using it to wash my hair. Nicholaus, one of my roommates and the one in charge of the apartment said he would call to see if he could get it fixed the next day.
January 17th
After waking up freezing, I headed to school. My class on Australian sports didn't really go as planned, but I guess you can only learn through trial and error. If I could do it over again, I would do a few things differently. I also got mad at this class because they were laughing at one of the weaker students while he was reading. The student got angry and I yelled at them and said that their behavior was unacceptable and not appreciated. I'm not sure if they knew what to think after that. After school I met Deirdre and Siobhan. We had planned to have lunch with Ryan in the afternoon and then get dressed up and go out for cocktails in the evening before Ryan boarded his ship to leave for Sweden for the next semester. Since Dee, Ryan and I went to a Subway the first time we all met up, that is where we went for lunch. Ryan of course being the punctual man he is, showed up almost two hours later than we had planned. He did, however think it was a sweet idea. After lunch we went back to Dee's and finished a calendar we made for him with pictures of all of us on it (idea taken from my friends in Heidelberg; they gave me one when I left and I loved it). We gave this to him and he really appreciated it, he even almost cried, but keep in mind he is... well let's just say a bit crooked ; ) Then we changed and went out for cocktails at the Blue Angel. It is a jazz club as one can imagine from the name and we had been there a few times before. The atmosphere is quite nice there, it is located directly on the harbor, and sometimes they have swing nights with really good dancers performing. After we all had a cocktail, it was time for Ryan to leave to board the Stena Line, his cruise ship to Sweden. We stood from a parking lot along the harbor and waved goodbye with our tissues (no sarcasm here, we actually did this because we are silly like that) and Ryan popped a bottle of champagne from the back deck of the ship. He wanted us to try and catch the cork, but it didn't travel that far. It probably will wash up on the Ostsee shore...I was really sad to see him go because he was my closest friend here and we had a lot of fun together in the short time that he was here, but I hope that he has a great time in Sweden. Who knows, maybe I will even get a chance to go visit.
January 18th
I had prepared a lesson on the primaries in the U.S. and the potential candidates for the 2008 election. I printed out articles from NPR.org on each of the most popular ones and then split the class up into groups of 2 and gave each one a candidate. They had to read the info. and present the main political viewpoints of each. At the end of the class I had them vote for their favorite candidate. The teacher of this class, thought it was a great idea and I think the students enjoyed it, too. I find that they are really interested in political issues in the U.S. and take advantage of every opportunity to ask me about them. I wish that students in the U.S. were as interested in politics as they are here. We're lucky if students in the U.S. can even form an opinon of their own on an issue. Mostly their ideas are taken directly from the mouths of their parents because it is just easier to go along with someone else's viewpoint than to come up with their own! That involves thinking and thinking is too much work...woops did I write that? In one of my other classes, we were dealing with the civil war and then we decided to connect the lesson and talk about the War in Iraq. Keep in mind that these lessons are all in English and that the students are able to clearly express themselves and their thoughts! The kids hat lots of questions about this and wanted to know my stance and perspective on it. They asked questions, such as if I knew anyone who was/is in the war and why the Americans supported it and if they still do. After school, I met Siobhan for coffee and cake and later we met up again with Dee and Heather at the Rathaus. Here we saw a random woman walking around in a Bee costume having her picture taken by people who appeared to be her friends. Just as this was happening, one of my students walked by and asked if I knew what the girl was doing. I told him that I had no clue and that there is always something crazy/random happening in Kiel. In the evening, I had plans to meet up with the history teachers from my school and some of their friends at the irish pub down the street from here. It is really nice that they invite me because it is a good opportunity to practice my German skills. They are the ones that take me on their class trips. They are also leaving our school this coming Friday when the term is over. They are currently doing their "referendar" what we as Americans would refer to as Student teaching. They just finished their exams and now have recieved jobs at other schools (our school doesn't have any openings for them).
January 19th
I woke up late because I had decided to sleep in. I had been helping plan a trip to Karneval in Duesseldorf (originally we wanted to go to Cologne) with 4 other assistants. Cologne is supposed to be the best place for Karneval but we had to settle for the second best, which is ok with me since I haven't ever been to Duesseldorf and I am sure it will be just as good. We ended up booking a hotel and figuring out how we were going to get there the chapest way possible. I have been wanting to go to Karneval (Mardi Gras) since I have read about it in my German books in the 8th grade and will finally get to experience it. My guess is, there will be tons of people dressed up in crazy outfits. In the afternoon, I went over to Dee's. Siobhan and I had planned to have her cut our hair and then we wanted to cook dinner together in the evening. I found out that Siobahn has more talents than just juggling. Apparently, she can sing, plays the guitar and writes her own songs. They are really good. She showed me her book with all of them written in it and I read through some of them. She played a few for me and Dee and then Dee cut our hair. Dinner in the evening consisted of carrots, potatoes, corn and chicken and was quite delicious if I might say so myself.
January 20th
I had been wanting to see the movie "Das Leben der Anderen" (The Lives of the Others) for a long time and finally got to do so on Sunday. The film won an academy award in the U.S. for the best foreign language film and is about a German Stasi officer who is hired to observe and record the life of a playwright in the DDR. I went to a theater on my street to see it and my expectations were more than met. It was a great movie, one of my favorites now, and I would recommend it to anyone. Besides this, I didn't do a whole lot.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Burn's dinner and Sunday at the beach
January 12th
I met Ryan in the afternoon and we went shopping. He had planned a goodbye dinner for all of our friends (other assistants in Schleswig-Holstein), since he is doing a semester in Sweden. The meal was a traditional Burn's dinner (he's Scottish), served with, you guessed it, Haggis (sheep stomach filled with meat aka heart, liver, and lungs and with onions and flour mixed in), neeps (turnips), tatties (potatoes), and oat cakes. The name of the Burn's dinner originates from the poet Robert Burns and is a yearly festival that takes place in Scotland. It actually is supposed to be held on his birthday, the 25th of January. We had to move it up a few weeks since Ryan was leaving on the coming Thursday. The two of us walked around the huge market at Exerzierplatz, which is there every Wednesday and Saturday. They sell fresh and home grown veggies, fruits, flowers, and almost anything else that you can imagine. Afterwards, we had lunch at a nice bakery and then we split up. I went to an internet cafe and he went to meet some of our friends at the station. Later, I made brownies for the Burn's dinner for Ryan and helped him with the preparations and cooking. When the meal was ready, he even gave the "Address to the Haggis," while he brought it in to be served.
January 13th
Sundays are really quiet in Germany and mostly spent outdoors. The weather was really warm and the sky was blue so we decided to go for a day at the beach with. The sea is so relaxing and the air there is wonderful. Siobhan and Dee were juggling and I was doing flips in the sand. We were quite the act and I kept saying, that we should have set out a hat and made some money : ) Dee and Ryan decided it would be a great idea to put their feet in the water to test how cold it was. They stayed in for 60 seconds, which was a long time for the temperature of the water. After the sun disappeared we sat in a nice cafe with a view of the sea and had coffee and cake. Following that, we made our way back home.
I met Ryan in the afternoon and we went shopping. He had planned a goodbye dinner for all of our friends (other assistants in Schleswig-Holstein), since he is doing a semester in Sweden. The meal was a traditional Burn's dinner (he's Scottish), served with, you guessed it, Haggis (sheep stomach filled with meat aka heart, liver, and lungs and with onions and flour mixed in), neeps (turnips), tatties (potatoes), and oat cakes. The name of the Burn's dinner originates from the poet Robert Burns and is a yearly festival that takes place in Scotland. It actually is supposed to be held on his birthday, the 25th of January. We had to move it up a few weeks since Ryan was leaving on the coming Thursday. The two of us walked around the huge market at Exerzierplatz, which is there every Wednesday and Saturday. They sell fresh and home grown veggies, fruits, flowers, and almost anything else that you can imagine. Afterwards, we had lunch at a nice bakery and then we split up. I went to an internet cafe and he went to meet some of our friends at the station. Later, I made brownies for the Burn's dinner for Ryan and helped him with the preparations and cooking. When the meal was ready, he even gave the "Address to the Haggis," while he brought it in to be served.
January 13th
Sundays are really quiet in Germany and mostly spent outdoors. The weather was really warm and the sky was blue so we decided to go for a day at the beach with. The sea is so relaxing and the air there is wonderful. Siobhan and Dee were juggling and I was doing flips in the sand. We were quite the act and I kept saying, that we should have set out a hat and made some money : ) Dee and Ryan decided it would be a great idea to put their feet in the water to test how cold it was. They stayed in for 60 seconds, which was a long time for the temperature of the water. After the sun disappeared we sat in a nice cafe with a view of the sea and had coffee and cake. Following that, we made our way back home.
Back to school
January 3rd
We left Vreden for Cologne. Janina's dad and Petra took us to the station and we said goodbye. It was a lot of fun staying with them and I hope they enjoyed having us as much as we enjoyed staying there. They were great hosts and such kind people. In Cologne we had to store our luggage and then we could leave the station to go sightseeing. I had already been to Cologne once before, so I played the tour guide after we grabbed a map from the tourist info. shop.First, we went up to the Cathedral or Dome which is the most impressive one in Germany. After going inside there, we headed for the Chocolate Museum. The museum basically tells the history of the development of chocolate and how it is made, but also shows how it is made on conveyor belts, which is just as interesting. This took at least an hour and from here we walked back into the city and decided to sit at another cafe. Yes you are probably thinking this is all I do here. It is simply a part of the German culture and one I really like. Having coffee and cake in the afternoon is more like a conversation hour with the people you are with. Of course this can also be done at home (as one would do in the U.S.), but this is simply what you do if in a city in the afternoon and if it is cold!
After the cafe, we walked down the pedestrian zone where all the stores and shops are and went to the Kaethe Kollwitz Museum. The largest collection of her works is housed in Cologne. Janina and I had been to an exhibit of hers in Berlin and this is why we wanted to go this one (I hope Kim enjoyed it as much as I did). For those of you who haven't heard of her, Kaethe Kollwitz was an expressionist artist. A lot of her works reflect social issues (war, poverty, hunger, mothers and their children, etc.) and she used her art to express her feelings towards these issues, inspired by her husband who was a doctor, and the loss of a son in WWI. Her art was banned in the late 1930's as one can imagine because of her stance on these issues. Her message is quite universal and her works consist mainly of black and white prints and sculptures. Anyway, the exhibit was fabulous and this was a highlight of my day.
For dinner, we went to a Baltic Restaurant and the three of us order Cevapcici with sheep cheese...mmmm! It came with a salad, rice and fries, which was way too much. We could have split one meal amongst the three of us! After eating dinner, we decided to make our way back to the station and on the way there we passed the Dome. There were a lot of people running around in costumes holding banners and were lined up along the entrance to the Dome in a tunnel-like formation. The only thing that Janina and I could think of that they were doing, was kicking off Karneval in Cologne, hence the costumes and music. Karneval is the fest that leads up to Ash Wednesday and the biggest ones in Germany are in Cologne and Mainz. Little did we know, that this was just the beginnning of our excitement for the day...
When we got to the station, we retrieved our luggage and headed for the track, where we were to meet the assistants from the Deutsche Bahn who would help Janina get on the train. We were waiting and they didn't come so Janina went to find them. Of course, there was no elevator on the track that our train was supposed to leave from and the escalator option was out because it was also not functioning. I personally am not sure what other option this left us but the assistants SEEMED to know what they were doing. The one told Kim and I to meet him at the top of the stairs at the corner of the escalator. We were standing there for at least five minutes when I decided to start looking around. Finally the man found us and he proceeded by telling me that Kim and I had to go all the way to the other end of the train because that was where Janina would be. Kim and I took off running with our luggage for the other end of the train (we needed section E and were in A). We had to push our way through the crowd of people who had just gotten off of the trains and I was afraid that Kim wouldn't make it through the crowd. (In Germany, when you want to get from point A to point B, sometimes you have to just push your way through and not say excuse me or I'm sorry, most Germans will be offended by this, but they too do it on numerous occasions for example at the grocery store when the line is already clearly formed). Back to the story, so we made it to the other end of the train to get on, only to find that Janina was nowhere to be found. I started to panic, meanwhile Janina was too and I went to ask the conductor if he had seen her or knew if she was on the train. He told me that there wasn't anyone in a wheelchair on the train, or even registered for it! Now I was really freaking out, so I started running through the train trying to find her. When I got all the way to the other end she was sitting there trying to cal my cell phone to see where we were. This was a huge relief for the both of us. I went to gather my luggage and Kim and then we had a pretty quiet ride from there on out. We arrived in Frankfurt, said goodbye to Janina who headed back to Heidelberg, and Kim and I left for our hotel near the station. We were exhausted from all the traveling and basically just crashed.
January 4th-8th
Kim and I left the Frankfurt Hotel early the next morning to get Kim to the airport. We checked her in, sat around a bit, and then said our goodbyes. It was strange because I had jsut gotten used to her being here. I had a blast showing her around and I really hope she had a good time, even if she did say we were feeding her too much! (we wanted her to try everything foodwise, who knows when she will be back!?) After she went through security, I went to purchase my ticket to get back to Kiel. As I was doing this two American boys came up to me and asked me if I could help them buy a ticket. They saw me getting mine from the machine and I guess that they assumed I knew what I was doing. They were on their way to Bayern to visit a friend and so I helped them buy their tickets. I think they were quite relieved that someone helped them (they looked desperate) and they told me they wouldn't have figured it out on their own. I jumped on my train back to Kiel (which ended up being delayed by 20min.) I was so exhausted and still had a bit of a cold that I got while at Janina's dad's so I spent the next few days resting and cleaning my room and our apartment. I also went to the library and got some books on the Kentucky reading list for the German Master's program. Nothing like trying to get a head start. That Sunday, I went for a nice bike ride along the harbor. I realized how much I had missed being along the water, while I was traveling. When I'm in Kiel, I see it everyday. I was happy, though, to get to see some snow and to get to see the sun shine more than it does here. The sky is usually cloudy and grey here, but while I was in the South, we had some blue skies and longer hours of sun!
On Monday the 8th of January, I went to visit host family. I hadn't seen them for a little over a month and I thought I would drop by and surprise them. Normally, this is not something you would do in Germany, drop by unannounced, but it dpends on your relationship with the people. I was informed by my host family when I left, that I was more than welcome to stop by anytime, even unannounced. When I got to my host grandmother's (she lives beside my host family and it was the afternoon, so I knew my host mom and her were having tea) her and my host mom were really excited to see me and I was the same to see them. My host grandmoteher had a bad cold. She made me tea and placed a plate of cookies in front of me as was the norm, when I was there before. Not too much had changed in the meantime. Tiki, the 101 year old great grandma was still kicking (well not literally, I guess more appropriately just still breathing) and they didn't have too much news to tell. My host parents had been to Barcelona over New Year's and had a really great time there. We just shared stories about Christmas and our break and we talked about their daughter, who is still enjoying herself in Australia. I also told them that my sister is coming in March and they told me to stop by so that they can meet her. It was very nice to see them again and spend time with them.
January 9th
My Christmas break came to an end and school started back up. However, there was not much for me to do in those 3 days. Most of the teachers were stressed about giving out grades and were trying to catch up.January 10th
I went to school and after school I met Ryan for a walk along the harbor. We were heading towards the Kunsthalle, which we have passed on numerous occasions and this time we decided we had time to go in. Most of the exhibitions were from artists from the region, for example, Emil Nolde. It was mostly contemporary art, but there was also a sculpture exhibition at the entrance with a lot of statues from Athens and Rome. I found the art museum really nice. I had expected it to be smaller and not to have too much but it was definitely worth seeing. After that we continued walking and spent the late afternoon in a cafe.
January 11th
One of the girls in my 13th grade class ave a presentation on her semester in Capetown, South Africa to my 12th grade class. She did this with a powerpoint of photos that she had taken. Each photo looked as if it was professionally taken. She also gave the presentation without notecards and only made only a few verbal/grammatical errors! This shows how high the standards are at my school! The presentation was really impressive and made me think about Namibia. South Africa is really similar to Namibia, in that the whites have all the money and the blacks live in the projects. The girl, her name is Shoreh and I believe she is originally from Iran, lived with a black family in a house with no running water that was miles from the main city. Her living situation, the conditions at her school, and the experiences she had and things she saw while there were overwhelming. Keep in mind that she was only about 16 at the time that she did this semester abroad. Her presentation did not focus only on the positive aspects of such an experience, it also made clear the various dangers she was in while there, but I, myself think that it demonstrated just how quickly kids grow-up/mature here. They go abroad at a much younger age and usually don't have any problems doing so, even in difficult situations. I wish I could say the same for all of the people who leave Bethany or the U.S. in general and study abroad. Perhaps this has to do with Germans being able to travel easily to other countries with different cultures and therefore "different" is more common to them, but I also believe, that you can see how being independent is engrained into the German society a lot more than in the U.S. Kids learn from an earlier age to be dependent on themselves and are given a lot more freedom to make decisions on their own which eventually they will have to completely rely on in the future (making their own decisions that is), in comparison to the U.S. where children are spoon-fed "at least" until they finish college and until then and even sometimes after, the world revolves around their needs and things should be the way they want without much thought of their own and effort.
After school, I wanted to catch a movie with Ryan but there weren't any good ones playing, so we went to the Metro (a movie theater with a cafe) and had milkshakes instead.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
December 29th
We left Heidelberg for Janina's Dad's place which is in Vreden close to Borken. If the names appear funny to you, it is because her dad lives close to the Dutch border. Of course we had problems on the train on the way there. From my experience, Germans (not all) can be quite impolite when it comes to space and their possessions. They were all placing their luggage where Janina was supposed to get through with her wheelchair and we politely asked them not do this so that if Janina had to go to the restroom or when we had to get off the train that this wouldn't be a problem. Of course they got angry because this is just howw Germans react in a situation like this. Even when we were trying to get off the train everyone is in such a hurry, that they can't wait two minutes for the wheelchair lift to let Janina off the train. This time though the man helping us started yelling at the people trying to push through. Germans go crazy when it comes to getting on or off of something. This includes buses. A woman was also very rude with us in Heidelberg when we were trying to exit the bus. She had to get on before we got off because God knows the bus would have left without her. Although I have seen this happen before, it does not justify her behavior. When we finally arrived at the train station in borken, Janina's dad and his girlfriend Petra met us there. From the station we headly straight to Winterswijk, Holland. The plan was to get fresh fruits and veggies from the market there and then walk around a bit. It was very nice. There were of course cyclists everywhere as Holland is famous for, but it was almost like being in Germany. The architecture was a bit different and the language slightly varies from German (it is a combination of English and German, which makes it easy to read but hard to speak because you don't know which pronunciation words take, the German, English or a mixture of the two). We went into a very nice cafe to warm up after walking around the town. After we got back to Janina's dad's place, we had dinner and then went for a walking tour of Vreden and its Nightlife. Her dad took us to the Brauhaus (Brewery) where they make their own Beer in the Restaurant.
December 30th
We headed to Muenster which was about a 45 minute drive from Vreden. I had never been to Muenster, so I was excited to see what it would be like. I had heard that it was a beautiful city and it turned out to be true. They had the city decorated nicely for Christmas and the architecture and churches there were quite impressive. We spent an hour or two just walking around the city taking pictures and then went to a cafe for something warm. After that we went to get dinner at a Doener Restaurant (mentioned in my previous entry as a favorite fast food of the Germans). We had tickets for the theater at 8 p.m. so we left the restaurant and headed to the Theater. It was a dinner/theater but we didn't get tickets for dinner, just for the show. It turned out that the show we were watching was a variety show and half of it was in English, which was great for Kim, since she wouldn't have gotten to appreciate it as much had she not understood it. The performance was called Oben Drauf and was basically about who is at the top today, men or women. The answer that they came up with was women (of course! : ) ). The show consisted of comedy performances and dance and gymnastic/acrobat numbers. It was hillarious and completely amazing at the same time. This was a great end to a great day in Muenster.
December 31st
We decided to take it easy this day and just walked around Vreden taking pictures and went to rent a movie. Her father and Petra had guests in the afternoon for coffee and cake and we joined them. In the evening we went over to a friend of her dad and Petra's. The woman and her husband have four children, the youngest two were twins and one of the twins took quite a liking to me. He must have been about five years old and his mom was laughing becuase he didn't stop talking after I started paying attention to him. She said he likes to flirt. I enjoy playing with German children because I can practice my language skills and because they don't even realize that you aren't from Germany. They can most likely distinguish an accent but wouldn't ever ask you where you are from based on hearing it! We started dinner around 8 p.m. when we got back to her dad's house and their guests for the evening had arrived. We ate raclette, which is a traditional German dinner for New Year's. I had had this once before at my friend Kathrin's, when I spent New Year's 2005 with her in Deinstedt. Raclette is a variety of veggies laid out on the table and each person can choose what he or she wants to eat. Everyone gets a little pan to put the food in and then you cover it in cheese and put it in this little machine that resembles a George Foreman (closest thing that we have to it). On top of the machine you can fry meat, which cooks at the same time. The reason this is a tradition in Germany is because the meal can then last as long as you want it to. You prepare your own pan each time you are finished eating from it and the meal then continues until you are no longer hungry. Usually bread or potatoes are also served with raclette. After we were finished eating, we played games. This was an interestin experience for Kim and I, as the guests that her dad and Petra had were quite competetive. Kim and I just wanted to play to have fun. We played Uno and a game I had never played before, where you had to place a round card on a top and spin the top and then everyone had to guess what the picture was on the card before the top stopped. This was a lot of fun. We watched the clock countdown on tv just as in the U.S. and toasted champagne for the New Year. We didn't really celebrate any differently than in the U.S. and after this we stayed up chatting
and then went to bed because we were so worn out from all of the traveling and late nights.
January 1st 2008!
A new year has begun, which is a bit hard to believe. Everything is closed on New Year's day in Germany so we decided to sleep in and woke up around 10 or 11. We had plum cake and coffee in the afternoon and then watched the German movie Barfuss, while her father and Petra entertained guests. We had dinner with the guests and this was pretty much all we did that day.
January 2nd
We went to Enschede, Holland. You could immediately tell that it is a bigger city than the one we first went to. There were a lot of square housing complexes like in Germany (once again an issue of population and space) and there was a huge shopping square/center. We wandered around a bit, went to a cafe, and window shopped. You could tell there had been quite a New Year's bash there becuase there was still a lot of trash on the streets and confetti everywhere.
We left Heidelberg for Janina's Dad's place which is in Vreden close to Borken. If the names appear funny to you, it is because her dad lives close to the Dutch border. Of course we had problems on the train on the way there. From my experience, Germans (not all) can be quite impolite when it comes to space and their possessions. They were all placing their luggage where Janina was supposed to get through with her wheelchair and we politely asked them not do this so that if Janina had to go to the restroom or when we had to get off the train that this wouldn't be a problem. Of course they got angry because this is just howw Germans react in a situation like this. Even when we were trying to get off the train everyone is in such a hurry, that they can't wait two minutes for the wheelchair lift to let Janina off the train. This time though the man helping us started yelling at the people trying to push through. Germans go crazy when it comes to getting on or off of something. This includes buses. A woman was also very rude with us in Heidelberg when we were trying to exit the bus. She had to get on before we got off because God knows the bus would have left without her. Although I have seen this happen before, it does not justify her behavior. When we finally arrived at the train station in borken, Janina's dad and his girlfriend Petra met us there. From the station we headly straight to Winterswijk, Holland. The plan was to get fresh fruits and veggies from the market there and then walk around a bit. It was very nice. There were of course cyclists everywhere as Holland is famous for, but it was almost like being in Germany. The architecture was a bit different and the language slightly varies from German (it is a combination of English and German, which makes it easy to read but hard to speak because you don't know which pronunciation words take, the German, English or a mixture of the two). We went into a very nice cafe to warm up after walking around the town. After we got back to Janina's dad's place, we had dinner and then went for a walking tour of Vreden and its Nightlife. Her dad took us to the Brauhaus (Brewery) where they make their own Beer in the Restaurant.
December 30th
We headed to Muenster which was about a 45 minute drive from Vreden. I had never been to Muenster, so I was excited to see what it would be like. I had heard that it was a beautiful city and it turned out to be true. They had the city decorated nicely for Christmas and the architecture and churches there were quite impressive. We spent an hour or two just walking around the city taking pictures and then went to a cafe for something warm. After that we went to get dinner at a Doener Restaurant (mentioned in my previous entry as a favorite fast food of the Germans). We had tickets for the theater at 8 p.m. so we left the restaurant and headed to the Theater. It was a dinner/theater but we didn't get tickets for dinner, just for the show. It turned out that the show we were watching was a variety show and half of it was in English, which was great for Kim, since she wouldn't have gotten to appreciate it as much had she not understood it. The performance was called Oben Drauf and was basically about who is at the top today, men or women. The answer that they came up with was women (of course! : ) ). The show consisted of comedy performances and dance and gymnastic/acrobat numbers. It was hillarious and completely amazing at the same time. This was a great end to a great day in Muenster.
December 31st
We decided to take it easy this day and just walked around Vreden taking pictures and went to rent a movie. Her father and Petra had guests in the afternoon for coffee and cake and we joined them. In the evening we went over to a friend of her dad and Petra's. The woman and her husband have four children, the youngest two were twins and one of the twins took quite a liking to me. He must have been about five years old and his mom was laughing becuase he didn't stop talking after I started paying attention to him. She said he likes to flirt. I enjoy playing with German children because I can practice my language skills and because they don't even realize that you aren't from Germany. They can most likely distinguish an accent but wouldn't ever ask you where you are from based on hearing it! We started dinner around 8 p.m. when we got back to her dad's house and their guests for the evening had arrived. We ate raclette, which is a traditional German dinner for New Year's. I had had this once before at my friend Kathrin's, when I spent New Year's 2005 with her in Deinstedt. Raclette is a variety of veggies laid out on the table and each person can choose what he or she wants to eat. Everyone gets a little pan to put the food in and then you cover it in cheese and put it in this little machine that resembles a George Foreman (closest thing that we have to it). On top of the machine you can fry meat, which cooks at the same time. The reason this is a tradition in Germany is because the meal can then last as long as you want it to. You prepare your own pan each time you are finished eating from it and the meal then continues until you are no longer hungry. Usually bread or potatoes are also served with raclette. After we were finished eating, we played games. This was an interestin experience for Kim and I, as the guests that her dad and Petra had were quite competetive. Kim and I just wanted to play to have fun. We played Uno and a game I had never played before, where you had to place a round card on a top and spin the top and then everyone had to guess what the picture was on the card before the top stopped. This was a lot of fun. We watched the clock countdown on tv just as in the U.S. and toasted champagne for the New Year. We didn't really celebrate any differently than in the U.S. and after this we stayed up chatting
and then went to bed because we were so worn out from all of the traveling and late nights.
January 1st 2008!
A new year has begun, which is a bit hard to believe. Everything is closed on New Year's day in Germany so we decided to sleep in and woke up around 10 or 11. We had plum cake and coffee in the afternoon and then watched the German movie Barfuss, while her father and Petra entertained guests. We had dinner with the guests and this was pretty much all we did that day.
January 2nd
We went to Enschede, Holland. You could immediately tell that it is a bigger city than the one we first went to. There were a lot of square housing complexes like in Germany (once again an issue of population and space) and there was a huge shopping square/center. We wandered around a bit, went to a cafe, and window shopped. You could tell there had been quite a New Year's bash there becuase there was still a lot of trash on the streets and confetti everywhere.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Gulliver's travels
December 26th
It was wild picking Kim up from the airport. It is really wierd to see someone you know from the states and show them around Germany. I forget how different things are for other people because I am so used to the way things are here. After meeting Kim, the three of us, including Janina, headed back to Heidelberg where we would be spending the next three days with Janina's Uncle Richie, Aunt Beate, and Cousin Lena. The first thing we did after arriving, was head into the city center of Heidelberg to give Kim a first impression of Heidelberg. I think it worked! It was nice because we were pretty much the only tourists out since it was still the 2nd day of Christmas and everything was closed. This meant that most of the American and Japanese tourists that are normally crowding the streets were not to be seen...except for Kim and I. That evening, Janina's family had a dinner planned at a restaurant that they usually go to every year. We decided to come along and make the group even bigger. It was fun and the food was delicious, but the portions were overwhelming. We recieved a plate for of Schnitzel which lasts a normal person 3 whole meals!!
December 27th
Janina's Uncle Richie took Kim and I on a driving tour of Heidelberg. First we ent to the castle and did the tour there so that kim could get pictures and see the famous landmark. Then we went from there to the monasteries that are on the mountain opposite the castle. From there you can get a breathtaking view of the castle. After that we went to the Thingstätte, which was a place used by the Nazis for rallying and Propaganda in the 1930's. I had seen all of this before but it was fun to tell Kim everything I knew about the places and to get Richie's input. He said these things are the must sees of Heidelberg and I agreed. That night the three of us went out ti Vater Rhein a local Restaruant and pub that is quite cheap.
December 28th
After shopping in the Haupstrasse, we decided to head to Mannheim, so that Kim could see another city, since we had pretty much exhausted Heidelberg. We just walked around the city and then sat in a cafe. Later Janina came to join us and we had Döner for dinner. This is a turkish version of a gyro and is the most popular form of fast food available in Germany. There are Döner stands on every corner.
To be continued....
It was wild picking Kim up from the airport. It is really wierd to see someone you know from the states and show them around Germany. I forget how different things are for other people because I am so used to the way things are here. After meeting Kim, the three of us, including Janina, headed back to Heidelberg where we would be spending the next three days with Janina's Uncle Richie, Aunt Beate, and Cousin Lena. The first thing we did after arriving, was head into the city center of Heidelberg to give Kim a first impression of Heidelberg. I think it worked! It was nice because we were pretty much the only tourists out since it was still the 2nd day of Christmas and everything was closed. This meant that most of the American and Japanese tourists that are normally crowding the streets were not to be seen...except for Kim and I. That evening, Janina's family had a dinner planned at a restaurant that they usually go to every year. We decided to come along and make the group even bigger. It was fun and the food was delicious, but the portions were overwhelming. We recieved a plate for of Schnitzel which lasts a normal person 3 whole meals!!
December 27th
Janina's Uncle Richie took Kim and I on a driving tour of Heidelberg. First we ent to the castle and did the tour there so that kim could get pictures and see the famous landmark. Then we went from there to the monasteries that are on the mountain opposite the castle. From there you can get a breathtaking view of the castle. After that we went to the Thingstätte, which was a place used by the Nazis for rallying and Propaganda in the 1930's. I had seen all of this before but it was fun to tell Kim everything I knew about the places and to get Richie's input. He said these things are the must sees of Heidelberg and I agreed. That night the three of us went out ti Vater Rhein a local Restaruant and pub that is quite cheap.
December 28th
After shopping in the Haupstrasse, we decided to head to Mannheim, so that Kim could see another city, since we had pretty much exhausted Heidelberg. We just walked around the city and then sat in a cafe. Later Janina came to join us and we had Döner for dinner. This is a turkish version of a gyro and is the most popular form of fast food available in Germany. There are Döner stands on every corner.
To be continued....
Monday, January 7, 2008
Count down to Christmas
So I am still way behind on my posts and I have lots of fun and interesting stories to tell so pray that my computer gets fixed soon so that I can share them all with you! I am sitting at an internet cafe right now so I will not be writing it all!
The week before Christmas break at school was very relaxed and a lot of fun. On Tuesday, I was invited to go ice skating with my sixth graders. They are one of my favorite classes because they are always so excited to see me and they are the sweetest kids. We spent two hours skating and then we walked around the Christmas market for half an hour. That was their class for the day! Mine too! That evening I had a ticket to the concert which I got for free, even though I was supposed to pay (let's just say the secretary likes me ;) She told me not to tell anyone though so keep it hush hush, ok! ) The concert was amazing. It lasted around 2 hours and nicluded singing performances and orchestral performances from all levels at the school. This is a stark contrast between German and American schools, when one sees how much importance is placed on the arts here.
The yearbooks also came in that week and i was able to bargain with the secretary again who gave me a big discount on it. There is a really short article written about me with a picture next to it. Two of my students wrote the article and I almost cried laughing. It is very sweet though. On Wednesday, we had a Jule Exchange with my grade 13 class. Unfortunately, I didn't know about it and so my teacher brought a gift for my person and I just had to wrap it for her. I recieved a bottle of Champagne from my person. Class was spent discussing the 'Arbitur' and eating cookies. I know! Strenuous! : ) Thursday, I taught two classes and Friday we had two parties, one with my sixth graders who impressed me with their extraordinary musical talents and one with my tenth graders.
Christmas at the Menz's in Crailsheim was a blast, that is after I finally got there...! Of course things had to go wrong with the train ride! My long train was delayed by about 20 minutes which meant that I would miss the next train that I was supposed to get on and so I ended up having to wait around 45 minutes to catch that one. Once I arrived at the last stop where I had to change trains, there weren't any more trains leaving there to go to Crailsheim...so i had to call Svenni and tell her I was stuck in Lauda, basically the middle of nowhere, and she and her mom had to drive an hour to come and get me. This made my total travel time from Kiel to Crailsheim around ten hours!! You can imagine, that I just crashed when we got there from exhaustion.
Her family fed me tons of delicious food and sweets! Germans celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. This is the day that the gifts are given and then they have two additional days of Christmas, the 25th and the 26th. On Christmas Eve, the tradition is that you eat Bratwurst and Potato Salad and then the big meal is the next day. The big meal consists of a soup and then the main meal with desert at the end. We had Sauerbraten with a delicious sauce, Knödel, veggies, and a type of Spätzle....mmm, heavenly!
I recieved a lot of nice gifts from Svenni and her family. Among them, a book about why men never listen and women can't park. I am reading it right now and I must admit it is very interesting and quite funny. I would recommend it to anyone with relationship troubles...perhaps it will help you better understand each other!
Mostly everything is closed on the Christmas days but some restaurants and bars are open and even some movie theaters. Svenni and i went to the christmas circus in Crailsheim and got our picture taken on a camel. For those of you with Facebook, she has it as her profile picture. We went to the movies with her friends and watched 'Enchanted' another one of Disney's stupid attempts at a funny movie...don't get me wrong, it is probably great for families and younger children but the boys and us weren't too exstatic. On the 25th the women, consisting of Svenni, Heike, Martina and I, drove to Schwäbisch Hall. It is a very beautiful, medieval city with impressive architecture in the heart of Schwabenland. The roads we took to get there reminded me of going to Bethany...the curves were just as bad! In addition to seeing Schwäbisch Hall, we saw some castle ruins and drove through a small village that was also very nice called Satteldorf. I left early on the morning of the 26th to pick up Kim Kelly from the airport in Frankfurt. On the way, I met Janina in Mannheim and we traveled together.
I would love to post about what Kim and Janina and i did in the 10 days that we were together but that will have to come in my next post as there is way too much to write about! Besides, it gives you something to look forward to, ne?
The week before Christmas break at school was very relaxed and a lot of fun. On Tuesday, I was invited to go ice skating with my sixth graders. They are one of my favorite classes because they are always so excited to see me and they are the sweetest kids. We spent two hours skating and then we walked around the Christmas market for half an hour. That was their class for the day! Mine too! That evening I had a ticket to the concert which I got for free, even though I was supposed to pay (let's just say the secretary likes me ;) She told me not to tell anyone though so keep it hush hush, ok! ) The concert was amazing. It lasted around 2 hours and nicluded singing performances and orchestral performances from all levels at the school. This is a stark contrast between German and American schools, when one sees how much importance is placed on the arts here.
The yearbooks also came in that week and i was able to bargain with the secretary again who gave me a big discount on it. There is a really short article written about me with a picture next to it. Two of my students wrote the article and I almost cried laughing. It is very sweet though. On Wednesday, we had a Jule Exchange with my grade 13 class. Unfortunately, I didn't know about it and so my teacher brought a gift for my person and I just had to wrap it for her. I recieved a bottle of Champagne from my person. Class was spent discussing the 'Arbitur' and eating cookies. I know! Strenuous! : ) Thursday, I taught two classes and Friday we had two parties, one with my sixth graders who impressed me with their extraordinary musical talents and one with my tenth graders.
Christmas at the Menz's in Crailsheim was a blast, that is after I finally got there...! Of course things had to go wrong with the train ride! My long train was delayed by about 20 minutes which meant that I would miss the next train that I was supposed to get on and so I ended up having to wait around 45 minutes to catch that one. Once I arrived at the last stop where I had to change trains, there weren't any more trains leaving there to go to Crailsheim...so i had to call Svenni and tell her I was stuck in Lauda, basically the middle of nowhere, and she and her mom had to drive an hour to come and get me. This made my total travel time from Kiel to Crailsheim around ten hours!! You can imagine, that I just crashed when we got there from exhaustion.
Her family fed me tons of delicious food and sweets! Germans celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. This is the day that the gifts are given and then they have two additional days of Christmas, the 25th and the 26th. On Christmas Eve, the tradition is that you eat Bratwurst and Potato Salad and then the big meal is the next day. The big meal consists of a soup and then the main meal with desert at the end. We had Sauerbraten with a delicious sauce, Knödel, veggies, and a type of Spätzle....mmm, heavenly!
I recieved a lot of nice gifts from Svenni and her family. Among them, a book about why men never listen and women can't park. I am reading it right now and I must admit it is very interesting and quite funny. I would recommend it to anyone with relationship troubles...perhaps it will help you better understand each other!
Mostly everything is closed on the Christmas days but some restaurants and bars are open and even some movie theaters. Svenni and i went to the christmas circus in Crailsheim and got our picture taken on a camel. For those of you with Facebook, she has it as her profile picture. We went to the movies with her friends and watched 'Enchanted' another one of Disney's stupid attempts at a funny movie...don't get me wrong, it is probably great for families and younger children but the boys and us weren't too exstatic. On the 25th the women, consisting of Svenni, Heike, Martina and I, drove to Schwäbisch Hall. It is a very beautiful, medieval city with impressive architecture in the heart of Schwabenland. The roads we took to get there reminded me of going to Bethany...the curves were just as bad! In addition to seeing Schwäbisch Hall, we saw some castle ruins and drove through a small village that was also very nice called Satteldorf. I left early on the morning of the 26th to pick up Kim Kelly from the airport in Frankfurt. On the way, I met Janina in Mannheim and we traveled together.
I would love to post about what Kim and Janina and i did in the 10 days that we were together but that will have to come in my next post as there is way too much to write about! Besides, it gives you something to look forward to, ne?
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