Thankful! (The missing blog post - found! But no pictures...)

Hello again, dear friends and family!  It's been far too long since my last post, but I have been very busy with school and extracurricular activities.  So... let me see if I can catch you up on my adventures.  One of my professors from the HU105 program, Susie Bollinger visited her son Zach for Thanksgiving here in Germany.  Not ONLY did I get to visit with her, which was wonderful, but she brought me presents in the form of books to help me nurture academic growth in my students, and her family invited me to join them for a lovely and delicious Thanksgiving feast!  Since our International school has quite a few American students, we were able to enjoy a long weekend, as well as an international pre-Thanksgiving dinner for the staff the weekend before.  I brought Israel, and he was able to finally meet many of the people from my stories about school.

After Thanksgiving weekend, which was a nice little fall break, we headed full throttle into the Christmas Season!  I have had the opportunity to visit several Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas Markets in English.  These are wonderful open air markets that serve traditional German winter foods, including the ever popular Gluhwein (a hot spiced wine), wurst, crepes, and flammkuchen (a thin crust pizza).  Nearly every market is beautifully decorated with lights, has a nativity, and large beautiful Weihnachtspyramide, large wooden carousel structures with propellers that rotate, causing the scene within to spin.  The Market vendors sell locally made as well as more exotic wares.  I did purchase myself a pair of finger-less furry gloves that I adore!  Tomorrow the entire school will be visiting Mannheim's Weihnachtsmarkt - it should be a lot of fun!

I broke down and purchased a new pair of ice skates.  Our school is next door to an ice arena, and during the first three weeks of December I get to take my 2nd graders ice skating every Wednesday morning!  There is an ammateur hockey league that plays, and after expressing my interest to join at the local pro-shop, I was given a great deal on my new Eastons.  I'm breaking them in, but it feels SOOOO good to be back on the ice! Now I just need to acquire some gently used hockey gear, and I'll be set!

Three more exciting things happened:  I received an early Christmas gift: a FABULOUS bike.  A beautiful silvery blue, complete with front lights, back lights, and a bell (all required by German law), and bonus LED lights on the wheels and a WORD lock.  How cool is that?!?  Thank-you, Israel! Next: I FINALLY have a cell phone to use while in Germany!  I will work on linking a US number to my German number so you can easily and inexpensively reach me.  In the meantime, if you would like my German number simply message me.  I also use Viber, Skype, and WhatsAp!  And finally - it started snowing!  Briefly, and it didn't stick, but it made me happy none-the-less!

I will continue to post, and hopefully more frequently.  I love and miss you!  Tschuss!!!

Where, Oh Where, Has My Last Post Gone? November ReCap and December in Deutschland

Dearest friends and family, it would seem that my last post never actually posted!  You may have been wondering why I have been so quit, as much too much time has passed since I have written.  So, here is a quick recap of what you would have read, had the post not vanished:

November was wonderful!  I attended a pre-Thanksgiving dinner at the beautiful home of our school directors in Heidelberg.  It was delicious, and Israel was able to meet most of my colleagues and their loved ones, as well as two of my loved ones: Kyle & Angela. 

I was very fortunate to see one of my professors here in Germany, as she was visiting her son and daughter-in-law for Thanksgiving.  Not only did Susie Bollinger give me presents (excellent texts I can use in my teaching over here), but her family invited me to Thanksgiving Dinner which was so yummy! 

To wrap up the month I received an early Christmas present – a beautiful new bike (thanks, mein Liebling)!

 December was full of activity! Germany is famous for it’s Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas Markets.  They are fun and festive, with lots of opportunities to buy classic or unique gifts for you loved ones as well as enjoy traditional fare such as Glühwein (hot mulled wine), Lebkuchen (gingerbread), and Bratwurst.  The first one I experienced was in Kaiserslautern with Israel.  It was small and crowded, but we enjoyed the Glühwein, nativity, and bonfire.  We had embarked with the intention of purchasing Christmas gifts, but were a wee bit disappointed in the selection.  However, it was the first week of December, and perhaps not all the venders were ready with their wares.  I visited the Landstuhl Weihnachtsmarkt the next night solo.  I was relieved to find many more booths and handmade craft items!  Then I visited the two in Viernheim, one with my friend and colleague Alicia and the other on my own.  I visited the three Mannheim Weihnachtsmarkts with my students – it is an annual tradition for the school!  Mainz & Trier I experienced with Israel while also visiting UNESCO sites, then strolled through the Heidelberg market with my friends Suzanne, Greg, and their two sweet children.  My final Weihnachtsmarkt adventure was in Essen with Kyle and Angela.  I now feel an overwhelming urge to drink hot wine and eat currywurst whenever I think of these holiday markets!

Mannheim

Heidelberg

Kaiserslautern

Mainz

Trier - look closely, it a symbol from Carcasonne!

UNESCO Site in Trier

Another memorable December activity was ice skating with my 2^nd graders.  For three Wednesdays in December we went skating, I in my new Easton ice skates.  It was so fun, and oh how I miss playing hockey.  Let’s see if the new year finds me again in pads, shooting the puck with my hockey stick!  It’s entirely possible, as the local EisSportHalle is next door to my school, less than a 10minute walk away!!! 

I spent Christmas with my cousin Kyle, his beautiful Angela, and her loving family in Essen, Germany.  I learned to make tamales, which were fabulous, and saw an enormous cathedral in Köln, explored the outskirts of Essen and discovered a hidden well café, where I ate my first German cupcake!  Of course, being the gamer that I am, I may have spread my love of board games around with Christmas gifts of Munchkin & the Settlers of Catan (both in German) to Angela’s two brothers, but they seem to enjoy playing, so I am very content!  I also played Dixit for the first time – quite an interesting and fun little game.  It’s like Balderdash, only with art instead of words.

One more thing I need to mention – I went dancing twice with colleagues at Zapattos, a salsa club in the Mannheim train station!  I look forward to getting my groove on there again, as it was tremendously fun!  I am very blessed to have the wonderful friends, colleagues, and family that support me on my adventures.  Thank-you to you all, I am happier because you are in my life.  Good luck in the New Year! (I will be welcoming it in Amsterdam!)  Tschuss!!!

Clever Students Stick Together & Other Adventures!

Wow, it's been nearly 3 weeks since I've last posted - and what a busy 3 weeks they were!  Our school had it's first two week holiday, but every teacher gets to teach a 'camp' for one week during holiday, and the last week of October was mine!  I had planned to teach a duct tape camp with my good friend and colleague Suzanne, but she was moved to another camp, so my flat mate Amos assisted me.  What creative and interesting campers we had!  They crafted so many things from duct tape: wallets, purses, hats, masks, even bats, dragons and models of famous structures!  I was very impressed.  A special thank-you to Israel, who brought us reserve duct tape in our hour of need (the students went through it much faster than I had anticipated) and even organized a game of kick ball with the campers!

  
I was lucky enough to see TWO double rainbows!  Both days were very lucky for me!

We also visited the beautiful and historic city of Nuremberg.  We walked around the Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle), shopped in the old town, ate some of the famous Nuremburg sausages, visited the Speilzugmuseum (toy museum), the Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelande (Documentation Cetnre Party Rally Grounds) and St. Sebalds, a reconstructed cathedral.  It was an amazing trip, full of interesting sights and good company!

  

Finally, I participated in my very first St Martin's Day lantern parade.  I had my own lantern with a lit candle!  We marched around school and then enjoyed bread men and warm punch!  It is a fun winter tradition.

Oktober Continues!

Hello friends and family!  It's been nearly two weeks since I've posted, and the coolest thing to happen in that time is the Halloween party at school.  I helped my friend and former flat mate Suzanne, our school's Spanish teacher, with the Dia de Los Muertos celebration.  We made pan de muerto and bright paper flowers.  She painted us both as sugar skulls, and as my friend said, very calavera (referring to artistic representation of skulls).  The students all dressed up, as did the teachers.  It was very fun!  Then we have been on break for the past week.

Dress rehearsal - Suzanne is SO Talented!

2nd Grade All dressed up for Halloween

Preperamos pan de muerto.

Serious about bread making!

The Skeletons of 2nd Grade!

Unfortunately, due to limited funds and large quantities of planning, I have not gone on any adventures, other than a trip to Ikea and a night on the town in Mannheim!  Next week I will be conducting a 'Duct Tape Construction Camp' at school.  That should prove interesting!  I will keep you posted!

Oktoberfest and Other Awesome Adventures!

Well, loved ones, I made it to Oktoberfest.  I didn't think I would this year...  I wasn't sure if I would have the time or the funds, but the opportunity presented itself and I went.  It was wicked fun!  We didn't have reservations, as it was sort of a last minute decision, but thanks to my charm we still managed to participate.

 We were allowed to sit on the porch of a 'beer tent', but were told it was impossible for us to sit inside without reservations, as it was the last week of the year.  So we sat at the wooden bench and table, ordered beer and chicken, and watched the craziness around us.  The chicken, kraut, and potato dumplings were delicious, and the beer was epic. I do not believe I have EVER consumed a beer quite as large as this one, but my goal was to finish it, and I succeeded.  It was as big as my face!

While we were enjoying our food and beverage, a couple sat down at our table.  We started speaking in German, but quickly realized we were all from the USA, and quickly switched to English!  The husband had recently retired from the army and was teaching at a military school near Stuttgart.  They had lived in Germany for several years and gave us many great suggestions of places to go and things to do!  By the time I finally finished my beer, I decided to visit the toiltte, so I wandered nonchalantly into the beer garden.  When I came back out, Israel had gone in to do the same, so when he returned, we just decided to join the party inside!

I may have consumed another beer while inside the tent...  And made quite a few friends!  Since we didn't have reservations, we did not have seats at tables. However, lots of people mill about, and we just wandered up to a table at a corner near the music.  Me, being the outgoing person that I am, introduced myself and met a group that were there for a work function - how cool is that?! They were all IT types, so much of what they did was difficult for me to understand, but we all enjoyed singing 'Sweet Caroline' at the top of our lungs, and the language barrier was only a minor inconvenience!

But Oktoberfest hasn't been my only adventure this month!  Last weekend I traveled with my flat-mates Suzanne & Greg, along with their two children to Speyer, where our colleague Catherine lives.  She plays professional basketball and is one of the star players for the Speyer Towers.  She was fantastic!  She made a three point shot in the last 13 seconds of the game to make the score 100 to 58!  Before her game, she 

showed us around her town and took us to a super cool museum of automotive history and technology! There were submarines, motorcycles, a space shuttle, helicopters, and jets - even a nifty lego StarWars model. Several of the airplanes were suspended in the air with giant tubes to slide down.  So fun!

Oh and a park, where the jungle gym was a spider, so children can climb up and wander through, learning about what happens on the inside - so neat!!!  The buildings in the town were beautiful, too!  I am excited to visit Speyer again!  Well, I need to get back to lesson planning.  Stay in touch - I miss you!

Welcome Oktober!

Hello Friends & Family!  Herbst (Autumn) has arrived in Germany!  The days are getting shorter, gusty and occasionally rainy weather, and the need for lots of layers, scarves, and a desire to wear bold colors (as well as caramel apple ciders & pumpkiny baked goods)!  Yesterday we celebrated our first German holiday Tag der Deutschen Einheit, or The Day of German Unity, commemorating the anniversary of German's reunification in 1990.  On Wednesday my house, recently dubbed 'The Hacienda', hosted a BBQ to which we invited our colleagues.  We ate, we imbibed, we talked, we danced.  It was wonderful! Then I went with Israel to visit Heidelberg.  It was beautiful!  We went on a tour of the castle and saw the Apothecary museum which was fascinating.  Next time we visit Heidelberg I hope to catch up with my cousins, but they were at a birthday party this time around.

Beautiful facades inside the castle.

The biggest wine barrel in the world!

Overlooking Old Heidelberg from the castle.

Looking out on the old bridge in Heidelberg.

   

One reason I have fallen in love with teaching in Germany is I am finally popular for my singing!  Believe it or not, I was actually asked to do a solo in front of the whole school!!! True story - here's how it came about: Our school has a very strong foundation in music, as one of the school's founders, Bernhardt Bentgens is a musician.  I was walking down the stairs when he was working with the Gynasium (or middle school/high school) students on three part harmony with the song 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' in our school's foyer.  I stopped to watch, and when he asked for the 4th part, or the solo, no one volunteered.  Well, you know me - I volunteer for EVERYTHING, and this was no exception!  Besides, I felt that if the students saw me put it out there, they might not be so nervous. So, when the time for the 4th part came, I belted it out.  It was awesome!  Not my singing, just getting to sing a solo!  The kids LOVED it.  I received so many compliments, and when someone suggested the Gynasium students sing the song for the whole school, I was invited to do the solo part again.  Not only that, but I got to sing the Eye of the Tiger while leading my 2nd graders in the dance.  I learned quite quickly, however, that it is very challenging to sing the song AND dance to it.  But we still had fun! Well, that's all the news I have for now.  Stay tuned!

One Month!

Hello family and friends!  I have officially been here for one month and, although I have been less than punctual with my posts, I HAVE been having a great time!  I am finally feeling like I have a handle on my curriculum, I'm working out a way to facilitate two different grades of math & science at one time in a single classroom.  My students are pretty special.  In 2nd grade, we are currently working on plants, and exercising our grammar skills as well as learning a rad dance to 'Eye of the Tiger' (thanks, Wii dance) that we'll preform for the whole school on Thursday!  We are also embarking on our first field trip this Friday 'Into the Wild'! My 5th & 6th graders are reviewing place value and gearing up for problem solving and algebra; we just finished practicing scientific enquiry (British spelling), Lab Procedures, Record Keeping, & Conversions.  We'll work more on conversions later, but for now we're moving onto life sciences - we're exploring organs next week.  I have big plans!  So, although I still have a LOT of work ahead of me, I have a lot to look forward to, as well!

With the heavy load of learning and incorporating two different curriculum, as well as the policies and procedures of a new school in a foreign country, I have definitely felt some stress since my arrival.  I have high standards and expectations for myself, and I want to help our students excel!  I have managed to avoid burnout, though, as I am not allowing myself to work on Saturdays. Instead I have been venturing out and about in Kaiserslaughtern!  I've explored a bazaar, a museum and the Japanese Garden, as well as shopped for some back to school and winter essentials!

I am enjoying my experience in Germany so far, and I feel exceptionally blessed to be here.  My co-workers and flat mates are pretty great and I have some amazing friends here as well (not to mention my awesome cousins - I am so lucky)!  I'm looking forward to more adventures, including dancing at a 'local' country bar, attending the legendary Oktoberfest, hiking in the local forest, and exploring some of the nearby historical sites!  I will keep you posted.  Maybe not EVERY week, but regularly!  As always, I miss you.  Please come visit.  Tschuss!