I Come from a Land Down Under...

So here are a few more pictures of my apartment. This is my living room. It has a couch, some shelves and drawers, a desk, and coffee table. Today I also got a TV, so that's a new activity for me. I had asked my landlord about it yesterday, and he came down and rang my doorbell this evening. I have to go online and register it still, but it'll be really nice to have.

I've been meaning to post, but unfortunately blogspot and I have been fighting a lot. It doesn't like to always follow through when I post things. I noticed that the picture thing didn't totally work on my previous post, so I'm going to try and fix that.

This week has been going fairly well. On Tuesday I went to Darmstadt and met up with my friend Jessica again. It was really nice to get together. We just walked around, did a little shopping, and grabbed some dinner. Hopefully we will continue to get together regularily. She is also going to try and take a class at the University in Darmstadt.

Yesterday, I observed a 9th grade and a 10th grade English class. They were both taught by Herr Koettl. The 9th graders are reading about an African family that lived in Great Britain for a while and then returned to Africa. The 10th graders are reading the book, Holes. I really liked both of the classes and hope to have the chance to work with them again.

This morning I worked with the same half of the 9th grade Realschule class that I worked with last week. It went pretty well. They are somewhat unruly though. They tend to talk with their neighbors while someone is talking and don't always pay attention.

Tomorrow I will be doing three lessons (normally I will have Fridays off, but this week I said I would come in tomorrow). First I will be working with the 13th grade English class. They are working on Australia, and their teacher Frau Lorenz (Christina), asked me to bring in a modern Australian song. I was kind of lost, so I talked to my friend Scott from ND who studied in Australia. He suggested, along with some others, Down Under by Men at Work. I found some interesting information about the song, and it has some Australian slang in it, so hopefully the students will find it interesting. It is from 1982, but is still popular.

This weekend I am heading to Munich for Oktoberfest. I am really excited. I am meeting up with a number of people including Erin from ND, Emily (but she can't come until Saturday because she is in Cornwall with her school), and Liz (another friend from Waldsee - she is a teaching assistant in Vienna). Some of my other friends I met at orientation are going to be there too, so we are hoping to meet up. We had some trouble finding a place to stay, so it looks like we will be camping, which should be interesting!

Go Irish! Beat Boilermakers!

Tag der Zahngesundheit

Ok, so I've decided to put some pictures of my apartment up. The one on the right is my bedroom. It's very nice. The window looks out into the backyard, which is full of pretty flowers and plants. The one on my left is the kitchen. In the kitchen I have a sink, microwave, fridge, hot pot, small oven, and small stove.

So, for those of you confused about the title, today apparently is Tag der Zahngesundheit (Dental Health Day). It hasn't had much of an impact on my day, other than they have been talking about it on the radio.

Well today I just observed again. I also met with Monika today to discuss my schedule. It looks like I will be working 8-12 hours a week depending on the week and what teachers want me to come. I'm very excited because I will have Fridays off. Most of my other Fulbright friends have Fridays off too, so it should be good for traveling. I will be working with the 9th and 10th grade bilingual History classes, 12th grade English, 13th grade English, 9th grade Realschule English, and 6th grade English. In addition, I will be offering an afterschool activitity/club. In it I will do reading, creative writing, discussion, and watch some films with the students (all in English of course). It will be offered to the 9th and 10th graders.

This afternoon I went to 12th grade English for the first time. They meet every other Monday for 2 periods. They are working with the American Dream and The Challenge of the Individual, so I will be helping with these topics. Today they were reading Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech. It was very interesting to hear what they said about it. I guess, I kind of take for granted that people should understand the Civil Rights Movement, but it really cannot be compared to anything that has happened in another country's history. It is so tied to how the United States was founded and really starts with the first slaves brought over and continues on today. It is also very interesting to hear the words they sometimes use to describe things, since their teachers are not necessarily aware of the current, politically correct way to say things.

I am pretty excited about the classes I will be working with. I'm really ready to just fast forward to where I am settled into a routine, know the students, and know what I'm doing!

Oh the Weekend!

This weekend Emily came from Roedermark to hang out. Friday we took the bus to Darmstadt. There my roommate, Jessica, from orientation met us. Jessica is a teaching assistant at a Berufschule in Darmstad and living with a family in Griesheim, which is just outside of Darmstadt. The three of us got some ice cream and walked around. I really like Darmstadt. There is a lot going on and there are a lot of neat stores and restaurants. Jessica had to head back to Griesheim relatively early, because she was going out with her host family. Fortunately I think Jessica and I are going to get together for dinner sometime this week.

Emily and I decided to take the bus back a little earlier, so we could get to the grocery store before it closed. After running to the grocery store, we walked around town and looked for someplace to grab dinner. We ended up going to the Italian restaurant and both had great meals! Emily thought the restaurant was excellent, and she spent a year studying in Florence. After dinner we walked back to my apartment. We had a somewhat late dinner and were walking back around 10pm and there was no one out and basically no noise in town.

Saturday ran some errands around Gross-Bieberau. While we were at the post office, I ran into one of the 6th graders from Frau Oess's 6th grade class (one of the classes that I think I will be working with semi-regularly). It was exciting to see someone that I recognize and that recognized me as well. That afternoon we took the bus to Brensbach for Apfeltage (Apple Days). There had been a lot of advertisements in the newspapers, so we thought we'd check it out. Brensbach is a little, cute town. The festival was rather small, but was fun to see. There were some live musicians and lots of little booths set up. Emily and I each had some Apfelwein (apple wine) and Apfelkuchen (apple cake). The picture above is of a man making apple cider in Brensbach.

Saturday night was Kneipennacht (bar night) in Gross-Bieberau. We made some dinner for ourselves and then headed down to check it out. I thought it might be a good opportunity to meet some people in town. There were a few people walking around. We went to one bar and had a drink, but no one was really interacting with anyone other than those seated at their table. So we decided to come back to the apartment and watch a movie.

This morning we went to mass at Sankt Andreas here in town. After mass we made a nice breakfast and hung out. Then I road the bus with Emily to Reinheim where she caught a bus back to Roedermark. It was really nice to have her here for the weekend. In addition to having someone to spend time with, it was nice that someone got to see what my life is kind of like here.
This evening I bought my flights home for Christmas. I will be home from December 22 to January 13. I'm really excited. Emily and I were going to try to fly together, but it didn't work out.

Adventures in German Bureaucracy and Teaching

So yesterday I had the day off from going to school in order to take care of some things. First, I took the bus into Darmstadt to try and matriculate in the University there. I took the bus into Darmstadt and then walked to the University. After a long struggle to prove that I had health insurance, I discovered that I also need a copy of my degree and an official transcript. Unfortunately, I do not have either one of those items with me, so it looks like I will be waiting a while to matriculate!

After spending the morning in Darmstadt, I took the train to Dieburg. Emily met me in Dieburg, since it is about halfway between us. In Dieburg is the Landratsamt (the district office) where I had to go to get a residence permit. Although it took a while, and there was some confusion, I was able to get my residence permit.

Emily and I then spent the afternoon in Dieburg. Dieburg has a very nice Altstadt and some fun little shops. We got some gelato at the Eiscafe and just hung out. The picture above is of a fountain in Dieburg. Before leaving we grabbed some dinner, and a retired couple from Maine happened to sit down at the table next to us! It was very random, since Dieburg is relatively small and definitely not on the usual tourist routes. It was really fun to talk to them, but it didn't last long, because we had to head to the train station to catch our rides home.

Today I taught my first class. Last week and this week I went to a double period of 9th grade English. Today during the second period I took have of the class to work on a text. The class is about 35 students, so it is very helpful to be able to split them up. It went relatively well, but I think I'm really going to have to concentrate on speaking slowly and clearly with students. In addition I observed the 9th and 10th grade Spanish classes again.

Tomorrow Emily is going to come to Gross-Bieberau. I have to work in the morning, so she is going to come around noon. I think that tomorrow we are going to go shopping and hang out in Darmstadt. One of my roommates from orientation, Jessica is located in Darmstadt, so we may hang out with her. She also let me know that there is an event in Darmstadt tomorrow - Lange Nacht der Musen - and the museums are open until 3am, so we may check that out. Saturday I think we may go to Mannheim and then there is a Kneipennacht here in Gross-Bieberau that night.