Limburg an der Lahn

This weekend Emily, Jessica, and I decided to take a day trip to Limburg an der Lahn. It's a small town northwest of Wiesbaden that is included on our Semesterticket
(therefore we could get there for free). It's a neat, little town. It
has a a lovely Cathedral and the town is located on the banks of theLahn River. In the picture you can see Jessica waddling with the ducks along the Lahn. We spent the day seeing the Altstadt and visiting various little stores. I bought some LImbrger Fruechtekorb Tea which I'm looking forward to trying.

It looks like I will be pretty busy teaching this week. I'm starting a new Unit with the 11th graders called "Moving Out". I'll also be teaching about the social conditions of the Industrial Revolution for 9th grade History. Tomorrow I'm doing a lesson on the State of the Union Address for the 12th graders, which I'm pretty excited about.

I started running at the beginning of the year, but stopped when it got
cold. I've started up again and am hoping to stick with it. There
aren't a lot of options of where to run around here, but I'm hoping to
maybe discover some different routes.

Lahdee, Lahdaa, Frau Hoodecheck ist da...

So, this is the song that some of the 6th graders sang when I came in today. They're so fun. They love singing and doing activities. They are currently learning about accidents and along with that about body parts, so today they sang "Dry Bones". They were all wonderfully enthusiastic.

This week has been pretty quiet. I didn't have too much to do - lots of observing. The most exciting thing that happened this weeks is that winter arrived in Germany. Monday morning I woke up to find it about 20 degrees colder than it's been the entire time of been here. Now compared to Minnesota, it's not really that cold, around 30 degrees, but I've become accustomed to the mild winter we'd been having. Also, winter is far less fun for those (such as myself) who are reliant on public transportation (in particular a bus that likes to run 20 minutes late).

Next weekend my sister Amy is coming to Europe with my brother-in-law John. I'm extremely excited! Amy and I chatted last night and made plans. I will meet them at the Munich airport when they arrive on Friday morning. We will spend Friday night in Munich, Saturday night in Salzburg, and Sunday night in Innsbruck (I've arranged with my school to have Monday off). It should be a wonderful weekend. From Innsbruck I will head back here while Amy and John will travel onto Venice, Florence, and Rome.

Stormy Day

Normally on Thursdays I have my after school AG, but today school is cancelled after 6th period due to stormy weather. The weather is crazy - super windy (over 30mph), stragely warm (over 50 degrees, but it's been like that a lot), cloudy and rainy. There are thunderstomr warnings, but I'm not exactly sure what the concern is to end school early. Regardless, I'm taking it as a sign that I should spend the rest of the day hanging out at my apartment. I was going to go to the bank, post office and library, but those errands will have to wait.

In other news, school went relatively well yesterday. I had a great time with the 12th graders. We played a translation game and then "Apples to Apples". It was great! I'm hopefully going to play with the 13th graders next week. I had some problems with the 9th graders - I think they were trying to take advantage of me, but it worked out. I also really liked the 11th graders. There are a few boys who were somewhat unruly that I had to speak sternly to, but most of them were great. Also, the exchange student from the states is in that class, so I talked to her some more.

(The picture is from at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Erbach at the beginning of December. I thought Rebecca might like it espcially, plus pictures make my blog more fun!)

A few pictures...

I thought I would just put up some pictures from Christmas break and before I left. I still haven't really figured out how to control where the pictures go in relation to the text and what not on here, but I'm trying. The first picture is Katie, Molly and I celebrating New Year's Eve in Milwaukee. The next two are from Christmas - Rebecca, Kayla (age 5) and I and Ryan (almost 2). The last two are from before I went home - the first is of me, Lisa, Thomas (Lisa's mentor for the University in Frankfurt) and Emily at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Nuremburg and the second is of my AG that teach on Thursdays on the last day before break (they are all 9th and 10th graders).

Alright time for the Industrial Revolution with the 9th graders!

Readjusting

I arrived back in Gross-Bieberau on Sunday. Being at home was wonderful - I loved constantly being around people I loved and who really knew me. Over break I was able to see a lot of my family - 3 of my 4 sisters and their families, my parents, and Aunt Mary and Uncle George. In addition, I got to see 3 of my best friends from high school, 2 of my roommates from college and one of my best friends from study abroad. I had some quality time in Winona as well as visiting Milwaukee, Fairmont and the Twin Cities.

This week is proving to be difficult. Jet lag and I are not friends (My long afternoon naps are most likely not helping). In addition, I had forgotten how much I really dislike living alone. It's just lonely. Fortunately, last night I got together for dinner with Emily, Jessica and Lisa, which was great - I'm so lucky to have them nearby.

Monday and Tuesday were pretty quiet at school, but today Monika wasn't there, so I'm teaching 5 hours for her (4 are done!) This morning I taught double periods of 12th and 11th grade English. It went pretty well. We did some cool games including "Apples to Apples" which went over really well! Also, there is a new American exchange student at my school. She was at a different school and with a different family up until now. She is 18 and graduated from high school last year. I think we will end up hanging out some, which should be good for both of us.

I found out that I may have some new readers since my Dad included my blog address in the family Christmas letter this year - Hopefully this will inspire me to update more often!

Also, I am planning to more pictures on here, but I'm trying to upload all my pictures to snapfish. If you would like to see them, just let me know, and I will invite you to see the albums!