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!