Making Up Mileage Part 1 My School

I've been really lagging behind in the blogging this last month, but now that I'm on Herbstferien (autumn break), I am hoping to catch up.  

Life at Albert-Einstein Schule has taken some getting used to, because it is nothing like the American system I know.  The schedule is completely crazy. In general, the day is broken up into 9 lessons (class periods), which are coupled together like this: 1&2, 3&4, 5&6 and 8&9 with 7^th period free for lunch.  Each period is 45 minutes long and the double periods are separated by 5 minute breaks. Between the double periods there are “big pauses,” which are 20 minutes long. Students do not have 8&9 periods every day. It depends on their class subjects and extra-curricular interests. I rarely see young children around the school after 7^th period (though a few do participate in an after-hours homework program). 

Depending on the class and ability, a subject can be scheduled for 3-5 lessons a week. These lessons are not set at a regular time during the week. For example, one of my Q3 classes meets for double lessons 1^st and 2^nd period on Wednesday, 5^th &6^th on Thursday and 8^th and 9^th period every other Tuesday.  This averages out to 5 lessons a week.  Other classes might do single lessons every day.  One class has just 1 double lesson during the week with an added double lesson every other week. Teacher do not have assigned classrooms like they do in the United States, and if a teacher is ill, he or she will simply go home and cancel all his/her classes for the day. There are tv screens all around the school, which post the days schedule, telling students where they are supposed to be (because sometimes, teachers have to swap rooms) and whether or not a lesson is cancelled. Sometimes, if another teacher's schedule is free, he can cover for the teacher, who is ill, but otherwise, substitute teaching is nonexistent at my school. 

Every teacher is required to teach at least 2 subjects at my school; and many teachers have to teach a variety of age levels and abilities.  In the English department, there are more than 20 teachers.  Right now, I am assisting 9-10- Freddi, Nikola, Stefan, Kimmi, Kris, Monika, Dagmar, Gabi, Joerg and sometimes Steffi.  I also assist in after-hours homework help.  At first, the amount of classes and teachers was overwhelming. But after a few weeks, things are much easier.  Getting to know the students have helped. I have taken mugshots of a lot of them in order to learn their names. And because some of my classes are bili (bilingual), I see some students in both bili and English classrooms. The teachers have been wonderful too, letting me take on more and more responsibility as I became more comfortable with the school system.  It has been especially interesting learning about the school from their perspectives and seeing the different teaching styles.  

I am really impressed with the school's emphasis on critical thinking skills and analyses. Some of the topics for the older classes have included: the Canadian Keystone project, the political relationship between Canada and the United States, racism vs multiculturalism in Great Britain and the U.S., gun control in the United States, national identity and Slaughterhouse Five. We've had some political discussions, which would never happen in the United States, and I can't help thinking how much more in-depth these discussions must be in regular German classes. 

Raindrops keep falling on my head

Coming from the dry climate of Idaho and Montana, I was actually thrilled to watch the big thunder and rain storms here in Germany.  Some days there is only a little drizzle of rain, but other days, there are huge curtains of water drumming incessantly on the pavement.  Thunder booms and lightening streaks. It is awesome, awe-inspiring. It makes me want to sit outside all the time and drink it all in like my brothers and sisters and I did when we were younger during the rare rainstorms we would get. We'd layer on my dad's clothes, grab some umbrellas and sit in our backyard.

 After a couple of weeks of cloudy skies and seemingly endless rain, the world has been rather grey. I mean, I am still happy about the weather. I love the rain; but the world has felt so monochrome, I am getting rather desperate for color.  Really bright colors. And I know I'm not the only one. I've gone on many walks here in town and around town and something I've noticed in many yards is the presence of sunflowers.  Other flowers are also thrown in here and there, but sunflowers are a consistent favorite in this region.  I've never been particularly fond of the color yellow.  I can't wear it and though it is useful as a primary color, I just never cared for it.  But seeing the patches of sunflowers on every street. There's just something really exquisite about the contrast between the two-- the dark greys and the bright little suns.

A day at a wine festival

A few days ago, Birgit, Werner and I went to a wine festival in the nearby town of Gross-Umstadt. We tried some wine and had lunch there. Ironically, I forgot to take photos of the wine booths, but I did get some other shots of things going on.

There were many little booths for garden decorations. 

 I thought the streets and buildings were cute.  The building below is the Rathaus or city building for Gross-Umstadt.

 The lady below was very friendly when I asked her if I could take a photo of her.  

 Making potato pancakes above. 

 The photo above is me and Birgit and the one below is Birgit and Werner. 

Quotes from the day

Day 2 at the school, I sat in on three classes: an advanced English course with 17 and 18 year old students, an English lesson with 11 year old students and a bilingual political science class with middle school students.

The advanced class debated gun control in the United States today.  Germans have strict gun control policies and it was hard for the students to understand why there was controversy in the United States.  The group representing the NRA had an especially difficult time; because they didn't agree with that stance.  Although they eventually arrived at some typical arguments, I really enjoyed some of their musings in their brainstorming stage.  My favorite was:
"Hunting is a good hobby and it is important for the stop of the overpopulation of animals. More than the animals butchered at the store, the animals are happy before they die." I had never thought of an argument like that for gun control. . .

In the younger class, I was asked things like: "How are you?" "What is your favorite color?" "How old are you?"  You know, the typical questions they learn at that age.  But right before I left, a few boys ran up and said, "I like to Harlem Shake! Do you like to Harlem Shake?!"  The question took me by surprise and I laughed and said "No."  The boys were disappointed with my answer, but they were pleased that they had thought of the question by themselves.  I heard a bunch of the kids asking, "Was haben sie ihr gefragt?"  What did you ask her?  It was a good day.

Koeln und dann wieder nach Gross-Bieberau

Last week, I went to an orientation in Wermelskirchen with the other American Fulbright ETAs.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with everyone and learn more about them and their previous experiences in Germany, as well as their future ambitions.  There was a talent show on the last night of our orientation, and I am glad I did not sign up. Some of the acts were downright amazing: singing, Irish dancing, juggling, Smeagel impressions and Alaska trivia.  It was all fantastic.

The orientation ended early Thursday morning, so I delayed my return trip back to Gross-Bieberau in order to do some sightseeing in Koeln.  I began my morning with a visit to the Koelner Dom.

I tried to walk around the inside, but I happened to arrive during a morning mass. Ushers blocked off the main area of the church so we wouldn't disrupt the service; however, I still managed to snap a few shots before heading up to the top of the towers.  

After I bought my ticket, I ended up walking behind another tourist (I think he was German?) and following him the entire way up (the spiraling staircase is a little narrow). He kept offering to stand aside so I could pass him, but honestly, my calves were unhappy and I predicted that if I passed him, he would have had to pass me and the I would have passed him and it would have been silly.  But the view at the top of the church was definitely worth the climb.    

After my climb, I walked to the Lindt Chocolate Museum. It smelled very nice in there. 

The chocolatier was enthusiastic about taking a photo with my spuddy buddy : )

After my visit to that museum, I had enough time to wander around by the river and the shops before getting back to the train station and catching my train back to Gross-Bieberau.  

Arrival in Gross-Bieberau

I am finally here! After a long delay in North Carolina (a hydraulic leak in the plane?) and a long flight, I arrived in Gross-Bieberau this morning at 6:45. My host mom, Birgit, and her daughter, Mareike, were waiting for me at the gate to drive me to my new home.

We chatted all the way on the drive, but I have to admit, I was probably absorbing only 70% of the conversation. Birgit doesn't speak English very well.  Mareike knows a little more than her mom; and my German took a little while to kick in.  Our talk was mostly German, a few English words or phrases and a lot of gestures.  It was pretty entertaining.  

The apartment I am living in is in Birgit's home.  It has its own entrance as well as a connecting door to the main house.  There are three rooms: a kitchen, bathroom and a bedroom.  Birgit has been so kind.  I have pretty much everything I need. She had linens and towels out for me. Yesterday, she stocked my fridge with water and juice and lunchmeat and gluten free bread; because today all the supermarkets were closed and I wouldn't have been able to get anything. She is really awesome.  Mareike doesn't live in the house anymore (I am living in her old apartment); but she doesn't live too far away.  Birgit has two other children, Andre and Fabian.  Andre lives in Koblenz, I believe.  And Fabian lives here with Birgit and her husband Werner.  I met Fabian and Werner briefly today. However, after an hour of unpacking, my body kind of gave out and I slept a good 6 or 7 hours.  Tonight, Werner and Birgit were out, so a teacher from the school I will be working at invited me to eat dinner with him and his girlfriend.  It was a really nice evening.  Joerg is a German and English teacher at the school.  He told me a little about the school and the other teachers I will probably work with, some of their methods and their expectations.  He and Sandra, his girlfriend, also talked with me about sightseeing and practical information.  They have two cats, who are pretty much their children.  I will try to get pictures of them later.  Luca (not sure about the spelling) is their lady cat.  She is definitely queen of the house.  The other cat was a boy. I can't remember his name, but he was so skittish and shy. He hid in the catbox for a little while.  

Tomorrow, I head to Koeln for the Fulbright orientation. And I guess by tomorrow, I mean today.  It is about 4:30 am. I slept a little tonight, but I think I slept so much when I arrived that my body doesn't need anymore.  Gotta love jetlag.