Highlights of 2008

For about 5 years or so now I've always done some sort of "highlights of the last year" post where I list something for each month of the year as it comes to a close. I'm continuing the tradition, but for the first time ever, it will include some photos. :)

Click on any picture to see it full-size.

January - Ringing in the New Year with worship and prayer at the OneThing conference in Kansas City

February - Passion Conference in DC with Vineyard friends

March - New Orleans trip, helping at a site for Extreme Makeover Home Edition and meeting the family who received the new home



April - Seeing answers to prayer in the form of a Fulbright scholarship...
(later: to Berlin... to Kreuzberg...)

May - Graduation from Penn, with my family there, including a special visit from my godparents Ann and Jim (click here for full photo album)



June - Teen church camp (my 1st! - click here for photos), Wildwood (my 22nd!)



July - Returning to Berlin, KIBA



August - New friends like Simone and Ruth



September - Starting teaching at E. O. Plauen Elementary School



October - Trip to Dresden with Anna (click here for photo album)



November - "Project Week" at school



December - Christmas in Berlin with my family... (full album here or on Facebook)





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More updates coming soon...

For now - a picture of my homeroom class!!! (Click on it to see it bigger.)


Class 5b: Bilal, Ahmed, Abdulsamed, Safa, Cayan, Ebru, Hanife, Bujar, Berfin, Derya, Zeynep, Ibo, Hasan, Yavuz, Ayse, Nuray, Tim, Beyhan, Ümmügülsam (Ümmü), Dilara, Mihriban (Mimi).

Their "English names" (some don't have them): Bilal, Nick, Undertaker (like the wrestler!), Safa, Cool, Airy, Mandy (sometimes Mandy Mouse), Ben, Jasmine, Shakira, Liz, Ibo, Henry, Yavuz, Mary, Rose, Tim, Betty, Katrin, Delilah, Miriam.
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Holiday updates. (Click on any picture to view it full-size.)

Hello friends, here's a brief survey of recent happenings in my life here in Berlin...

Two weeks ago I got to teach my kids about Thanksgiving. It was quite fun to tell them about the Pilgrims and the Indians, to see their reaction to foods like cranberry sauce, stuffing and sweet potatoes, and to tell them how all the men watch football and there's a huge parade in New York with giant cartoon character balloons.

Gloria, one of our "KiBA Amis" - one of the women who worked at our VBS here this summer - came to Berlin for a week to check out job opportunities. (She wants to teach English here.) She stayed with me and Anna most of the time and we had some fun adventures together, including a visit to my school, a visit to Judith's preschool, a sneak-preview of our friend Yasha's new store (see below), my first Christmas-market visit of the season, and a craft night at church to make Advent wreathes. We also had some lovely snow while she was here.

I celebrated Thanksgiving last week with my friend Annie from Fulbright and a bunch of other random people (friends of friends of friends). We didn't have turkey unfortunately, but we did manage to have cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans, candied yams, some kind of casserole, and pumpkin pie, with chicken breasts replacing the turkey. It was a fun and interesting evening - I even met someone I actually already "knew" from Penn. We both graduated the same year and figured out that we visited the same class one time three years ago. Funny coincidence.

On Tuesday a new store opened here in Pankow, called "Obstmann" - Fruit-Man - because it is owned by Yasha, who until now has had an outdoor produce stand just outside our church building. We are all so excited for him that he has his own store now, and it's really neat - not just produce, but also basic grocieries, baked goods, coffee, and traditional Mediterranean spreads and salads. It was so exciting to go to the store on its opening day; tons of people came to congratulate Yasha, and he has a whole table full of flowers that people brought. It's cool to live in that kind of community.

On Thursday I got to go to a faculty meeting at school, which was pretty entertaining. First we got to watch a short film that was made about our school - VERY cool, if they get it in the right format to post online I will definitely post a link. The rest of the meeting was interesting too, since some things are very different from in the States. For example, the principal and vice principal are teachers too, and still teach even as principal and vice principal (though not very many hours). The previous vice principal left relatively recently, so they basically had to vote for a new vice principal from the teachers currently on the leadership board, which is also elected by the faculty. It was already pretty clear though who would be the best candidate, so they basically just voted to confirm her in the position. Toward the end, the teachers broke off into groups and were given slips of paper where they had to write down things that needed attention in the school. At the end all the groups came together to share. What became apparent to me at this point of the meeting is how big a help something like the PTA would be. (PTA = Parent Teacher Association, for my non-Ami friends) Our school has very little parent involvement, so the teachers have to take responsibility for things that would probably be done by the PTA at a school in my hometown. Another thing that sort of struck me at the meeting was that there really aren't many young teachers at my school. There are probably only 3 or 4 who are under 40. I knew this already to some extent, but it became more apparent when I saw all the teachers together in one room. I almost felt more like a student than a teacher at the meeting.

Tonight was another fun evening. Simone and I went to the Jewish Museum to visit the Hanukkah Market, then made a special trip to Starbucks - my first one in Germany. It's very expensive here, but Simone likes to treat herself to a Starbucks every once in awhile on special occasions, and we decided this was one. Ordering a decaf tall non-fat mocha in German was slightly awkward - "entcoffenierten tall Mocha mit Magermilch" just doesn't roll off the tongue the same way. And of course, if you're not having it to-go, you get your drink in a real mug. After a lovely time chatting at Starbucks we visited the Christmas Market in the Kulturbrauerei in Prenzlauer Berg. The highlight of our visit: a warm-up station, with big coats hanging over heaters with boards laid across them so you could sit on them and wrap up in the coats.

In the meantime, we're getting less and less sunlight every day. According to weather.com, the sun rose today at 8 am and set at 3:54 pm. Here's a picture of a pretty sunset at 3:30 pm:

Last piece of news:

Only 12 more days till my mom comes, and 18 till my dad and brother come!

I can't wait!
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I love what I do.

Last week at school we had a "project week," where the kids were with their homeroom teachers the first half of the day for a "project," instead of normal classes. This week it was all about "method training" for my 5th-graders - they did all kinds of exercises and activities to find out what type of learner they are, how to work in a group, how to give an oral presentation, etc. etc. On Friday, the parents were invited to come and here their kids give a presentation about what they had learned.


Friday was really really cool.


The kids were excited and nervous about their presentation. Almost all of them had a part (no one was forced to get up and talk), and they presented everything both in German and Turkish, since some of their parents don't speak much German. It was my first time to meet any of the parents, so I also introduced myself briefly - in German and in Turkish. The kids helped me figure out what to say and helped me practice, which was quite fun. Another teacher who is also Turkish helped me too during the break, and we spoke a little Turkish. (Hopefully this will continue in the future!) So I was a little excited and nervous too, like my kids.


Then the parents came. There were a few dads, but mostly it was moms. All with headscarves. I have to admit, it was a slightly intimidating moment when they all walked in the room. I had no idea what they thought of me and what kind of impression I would make on them. It is a strange feeling to find yourself in front of a group of people whose culture and beliefs are so different from yours, who would never dress like you're dressed, who probably assume the worst about you because of pop culture and the media...


And then it started, and I introduced myself in both languages... and the atmosphere softened a little. I didn't really take in their reaction to it, but Ulrike told me later that they suddenly seemed interested when I started speaking Turkish. I like to hope that somehow a door was opened that way.


Then the kids presented, and they did a great job. And inbetween one of my more difficult students occasionally looked over at his baby sister on his mother's lap and made silly faces with her, and I fell in love with them all. No matter how different we are - language, culture, dress, religion, everything - we all have something in common, we're all humans who laugh, cry, and love. I have loved these kids since my first day at E.-O.-Plauen, but in that moment, I fell in love with them more, and somewhere inside me a love for their families sparked too.


Afterward, as I was leaving the school, there was one place I had to go, even though I didn't know why. Around the corner from the school is this great little cafe owned by an incredibly friendly Turkish couple, and through my occasional visits I've gotten to know them a bit. I wasn't hungry and had already had too much coffee, but I had to go see them and share my joy for some reason. Taner, the husband, said, "You seem to really have fun doing what you do."

Yes! I absolutely do!


What a miracle it is to be exactly where I belong, exactly where my heart is calling me...
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Who reads my blog these days?

It's nice to know who's reading so I can decide what to write.

If you read my blog, will you please post a comment so I know who you are?

Thanks!

P.S. A great devo and a song that I stumbled upon "accidentally"... seem very relevant right now...

My Utmost for His Highest - Oswald Chambers - Nov. 1 - "You are not your own"
Cry in My Heart - Starfield (Psalm 3:3-4, ESV is my favorite translation)
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People.

Our new church intern, Milan, made a comment recently that from my blog and the pictures I've posted, one might think I'm a more thing-oriented person than a people-oriented person, which, though it sounds slightly better in German than it does in English, is really not true about my personality if you know me. He asked why I don't have many pictures of people up on my blog and not just pretty buildings and such.

I decided he's probably right, so here's a handful of pictures of some people I love here in Berlin.


L: Me and Sophie after the Erntedank service (similar toThanksgiving much more low-key)
R: Me and Emily! She's growing up soooooooo fast!


L: Manu
R: Ruth and Heidi


L: The Kiepers, my favorite kite-flying family! Judith and Jörn with their kids Sophie and Phili
R: The Kretschmers - Doreen and Stefan with their kids Lara and Jannes


My roommate Anna at our favorite restaurant in Dresden! (Yay for Multi-Kulti!)


Milan, me, and Tabea on a treasure hunt (long story!)


L: Katja + Katja's sub from Subway
R: Milan + Milans sub (Milan is learning to appreciate American cuisine and is slightly obsessed wtih Subway.)


This is just a pretty picture. But there are cool people in this one too - Katja, Timo and Simone, after a prayer meeting in the park!

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American Berliners, Dresden, and Obama. (That's an interesting combination....)

So it's been awhile since I've blogged... I had two weeks of fall vacation and was on the go for most of them. Now things are basically back to normal but of course we just had a pretty historic presidential election which the whole world has been caught up in, and I figured people might be interested in knowing what the German response has been like. I may even throw in a bonus of my *unique* perspective as a Christian American who has lived about a year and a half in Germany. (Don't know if it's really unique... but hey, this is my blog, and I do have some thoughts to share. :)

First week of vacation: I went with my roommate Anna on the Team Berlin retreat. Team Berlin is a team of American missionaries - mostly from Presbyterian missions organizations like Mission to the World - who are planting churches in East Berlin. They asked me if I'd come and babysit the kids while the adults had sessions so that it could really be a retreat for all of the team members. They paid my way and gave me a gracious gift at the end, and I really enjoyed it. The kids were super sweet, so it really wasn't much work, and it's always a blessing not to have to cook meals for a week and to be out of the city and a little more in touch with nature... But definitely the coolest thing was getting to talk to other Amis who God has called to Berlin. Hearing their stories was super encouraging.
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Second week of vacation: Anna and I went to Dresden. The weather was terrible, but the city is beautiful! We were also super blessed to get to stay in the apartment of a friend-of-a-friend, which made the trip much more relaxing. We mostly did a lot of walking, visiting lots of old churches and other important sights, and we had one "museum day," where we visited the Green Vault (Grünes Gewölbe) and the Art Gallery (Gemäldegallerie alter Meister), which features Raphael's Sistine Madonna. (Most people know that painting because of the two cherubs at the bottom that are on lots of cards, journals, tote bags, etc...) We also went to a cool organ and brass concert at one of the churches. We had a great time. What makes Dresden so fascinating is that the architecture is incredibly beautiful, and much of it has been restored or preserved in spite of the devastating fire-bombing at the end of World War II.

Click here to see my Dresden pictures.

And now, the hot topic of the week... Obama. I anticipated that people like my dad would be curious about the German response and how the German media has covered the election, so I have done a fair amount of reading, checking out various newspapers to see how they are portraying it.

Before we get into this, let me say briefly my own position, since no one is without bias: 1) I actually didn't vote. Before you call me a bad American, let me explain! My absentee ballot didn't get here until Monday. I'm not sure how they expected me to return it by the time the polls closed on Tuesday, but that's basically impossible. I didn't stress out too much about it though because I knew Tennessee would vote Republican and because 2) I would not have voted for Obama OR McCain. After considerable research I couldn't vote for either of them without conflict of conscience. I had hoped to find a 3rd-party candidate to vote for, since I personally believe we need to break out of the Republican-Democrat cycle of stagnancy (I'm tired of every issue being polarized), but unfortunately after researching them I couldn't vote for any of them either. I would've done a write-in, and never really decided who because I realized my ballot wouldn't get there in time anyway.

Now... the German reaction? It was, as expected, overwhelmingly positive. German papers devoted a LOT of space to writing about it, reporting on all the celebrations and speeches - including translated transcripts of them - and of course much editorial analysis. The general vibe is that times are finally changing, America is finally coming around and ready for change, re-inventing itself.

Examples of headlines (all in German, I've translated): "Change has come to America" (of course), "America suddenly looks very different," "America - rising up out of the ruins," "The resurrection of the American dream," "Obama's historic victory," "America votes for change."

They also really highlight the fact that Obama has made history by being the first elected Black President.

There have been a few, however, who are saying that things aren't going to get better overnight, and that people might have placed expectations on Obama that are way too high.

Examples: "It won't all be great," "Transatlantic relations aren't going to get simpler," "Good morning, Mr. President: High expectations from Obama."

They also wrote positively and respectfully about McCain's concession.

Europe - or at least Germany, as far as I have perceived - pretty much wants us to be like them. They want us to join the fight against climate change, get out of Iraq, nationalize health care, and of course fix our economy (since they feel the effects of it too!). One headline I saw suggested that Obama should follow FDR's example (New Deal, etc.). Pretty much across the board, Germany is happy that Obama won and has high hopes. Apparently German Chancellor Angela Merkel woke up pretty early yesterday to congratulate Obama. She said she looks forward to continuing the conversations they started this summer (when Obama visited Berlin) and believes that it is essential for Germany and America to work together.

My thoughts? I have never been one to question whether Obama is basically a "good guy." I know that a lot of people who vote Republican are super skeptical of him as a person but I find their arguments to be generally unsupported. I do believe that Obama has great potential to lead our country in a new direction. The question is whether it is the right direction, and if we will get there the right way. Europe is very open and supportive of Obama. I hope that he will use this favor to improve foreign relations without compromising the integrity of what differentiates America from Europe. I do not want America to become like Europe.

Especially since having lived in Europe, my biggest fear about Obama is that he will - even with the best intentions - place too much responsibility in the hands of the government and take it out of the hands of the people. In Germany, everyone has health insurance, college is very affordable, and there are relatively few homeless people. You can get money from the government for just about anything you need. But unemployment is high, colleges are not competitive and there aren't enough spots for everyone, people are extremely dependent on the government, and the concept of volunteer work is basically outdated. I don't want America to go in this direction. When Americans see problems in their country, I want them to join together to do something about it, not run to the government and tell them to do something about it.* I want Americans to continue working hard to strive for the best, for themselves and for others, rather than learning to be content with mediocrity for the sake of artificial "fairness." I hope that Obama will not lead Americans to be more dependent on the government, but rather to be more active, more open-minded, and more generous.

That's my two cents... I'm off the soapbox now. If I read or hear any more interesting discussions I will write more!

Please feel free to comment or even disagree with me, but please keep it civil. :)

Other than that I don't have much to report. I have a potential opportunity to do a few more hours of teaching each week at an elementary school in Prenzlauer Berg (close to where I live, where there aren't many Turkish kids.) It would be very cool to experience a more typical German elementary school to see the differences. It was good to be back at E.-O.-Plauen this week though. I'm still crazy about my kids. I just wish I had more time with them!

Good night everyone...

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(* By the way, this concept applies for both sides! I want Americans - especially Christians - to help pregnant teens raise their children or find opportunities for adoption instead of waiting for the government to overturn Roe v. Wade, which is highly unlikely. The fact that so many Christians vote solely based on the issue of abortion is extremely appalling to me.)
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Culture Shock.

I mentioned on Facebook a week or two ago that I was dealing with culture shock, and thought I should elaborate a bit on what kind of culture shock I'm experiencing. Yes, I lived in Berlin for a year already and there really shouldn't be any surprises, right? Well, there are some surprises, just different ones. Ones that have less to do with the country and more to do with... deeper stuff. (For the most part. ;) I'll start with the most superficial types of culture shock and work my way to the more serious ones.

1. If I hear one more German start talking about American food being fatty, I'm going to throw Nutella and sausage at him and dunk him in his own whole milk. (Just kidding.) Yes, we Americans eat some fatty things, like hamburgers and French fries and fried chicken. But for one thing, it's not like we eat that stuff every day. I certainly don't. Those are occasional splurges, not the norm. For another, America's problem of obesity has a lot to do with how much we eat, not just what we eat. And lastly... let's compare German food. Germans eat plenty of French fries themselves. Schnitzel? Not exactly good for your heart. Their meat (especially pork) is usually fattier. Skim milk is an oddity, and I don't think I've ever seen fat-free yoghurt. And if you compare the nutritional values of Nutella and peanut butter, you will find very close caloric values, but peanut butter, though it has more fat, has less sugar and a lot more protein. And finally... we Americans do not feel the need to butter EVERYTHING. When I buy a German sandwich, all I taste is the butter (they usually pre-make them so I have no choice except to peace out and go to Subway instead). At Abendbrot recently, I was teased for NOT putting butter on my bread before adding cream cheese. Can someone explain this to me? My cream cheese does not need butter! But enough about that for now... The bottom line is, after awhile, it gets a little old to keep hearing people questioning everything people from your country do (as if all Americans were the same). But I don't take it personally. I just have to vent once in awhile. :)

2. The German government will pay for everything. This doesn't really affect me too much at the moment, but as I consider the possibility of staying in Germany long-term, there is one thing that I prefer to avoid if at all possible: German taxes. I just can't imagine buying into a system of government like this, where the government makes so many decisions for you and pays for things I believe people ought to work for and earn. Won't go into any specifics because I don't want to offend German readers. But I have a serious problem with some of the things I've heard or read about.

3. Teachers at my school complain day-in, day-out, even though they have it SO easy compared to American teachers. The teacher I work with is at school from 8 till 1 or 2 at the latest, and having to teach 5 periods in a day is rough. My teachers back home were at school with their kids all day, from 8 to 3, then usually stayed an hour or so to prepare for the next day or grade homework. When I taught science camp, I was with my kids from 9 to 4 with an hour lunch break in the middle. With the rowdier classes, there's a lot of frustration if there's not an Erzieher (a sort of teacher-aide, hard to explain) with her in the room. I'm used to much rowdier kids all by myself. You can imagine how annoying the complaining gets! And even if I didn't have anything to compare it to, at the end of the day, complaining helps nothing. If there's a problem, let's talk about it and come up with a way to solve it. (On a similar note - at our school, teachers sort of give up at a certain point if their kids aren't learning things. Our 5th graders don't know their multiplication tables, and the teachers insist they can't force the kids to learn them, so they go on. I know it's harder with students with this kind of background, but there's got to be a way to put a little pressure on these kids to learn something that essential.)

4. Political (in)correctness. I hear things at school from teachers that an American would never say, certainly not in front of a classroom of students. It really kills me when I hear something like, "Now the problem is that our kids here don't know the German __ or the Turkish __," in front of the students. And even behind closed doors there is a lot that shocks me - the uproar over kids who were fasting during Ramadan (which happens every year, by the way!), or over kids who won't eat the cafeteria food (which frequently includes meat) because of religious reasons. The kids from my church all have vegetarian options at their schools every day, but this idea is considered absurd at my school. Is it really that hard to serve something without meat every day? Even if you disagree with a religion or a culture, is it really helpful for students to be constantly put into conflicts of conscience at school? Does it help the learning process for children to feel like they have to choose between doing what their parents want and doing what their teachers want?

In addition to these sort of German-American culture shock issues, I'm also experiencing culture shock in a less "national" way, much like I did when I returned to the States from my year studying in Berlin. These are times when I'm really aware of the different "culture" I've received through Christ.

One of them also has to do with school: I really love every single one of my students. Some kids are tougher than others; some classes are tougher than others; but I love them all and want to give all them everything I can. This is apparently pretty abnormal. Most people seem to want to give only where they are sure of seeing results, and only to those who have "earned" it. I get this vibe at school a lot. They give up because they don't see results, it doesn't seem worth it. Or they don't try with some who are particularly strong-willed against the teacher. When I worked at the science center I struggled with this and God did a great thing - He taught me how to love one of my most difficult kids. I don't ever want to lose that ability.

The other one is a toughy. It's a shock simply because I have no idea what to think or do (if anything). We've had some conflict in our church. I'm not involved and don't know any details, but it's been extremely heavy on my heart. It kills me to know that people I love have hurt each other. I'm sure it's (more or less) "normal," and as far as I know, much has been done to bring about reconciliation. But it still breaks my heart to think about it. Conflicts in other places have never bothered me the same way. It's so hard. I feel sort of sick about it, because the body of Christ is sick and needs healing. But I do believe we have a faithful Healer. (*Update 10/12: Since I originally wrote this post there have been even more improvements. God is faithful!)

Wow, that was a pretty heavy blog post. I really am doing very well here and I'm extremely happy to be where I am, no matter what! All of this is just stimulating lots of thoughts and questions about the future and what I'm really here for. I guess we'll find out in due time...
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Pankefest, Chagall Exhibit, etc... (more pictures)

Two weeks ago we had a big festival in Pankow, Pankefest. (I think the Panke is like a creek - not quite a river...) It's a pretty big deal, a pretty big portion of two streets gets blocked off for an entire weekend and filled with tents where people selling crafty things or food (or beer). One of the streets used for the festival happened to be the street our church is on, so we were able to have our own table at the festival without paying to set up a tent. We had games for kids and tried to just talk to people and invite them to our Chagall exhibit. And we were the super nice people who let people use their bathroom for free. :)

The Chagall exhibit opened right as I got back from Altenberg/Cologne. Our church did this last year too (when I wasn't there) - we were able to rent original lithographs of Marc Chagall's artwork from an organization for a few weeks and open an exhibit in our church building. Chagall's work portrays Biblical themes so it's a neat way to bring people into our church who might not otherwise think to come in, and through the exhibit they are (hopefully) able to learn something about God through the stories in the paintings. This year's exhibit is the Exodus cycle. The artwork really is amazing and so far we've had tons of visitors!

Click here for Pankefest/Chagall pictures (more to come)

Other than that, life has been pretty "normal" - but certainly not boring - here in Berlin! School is going great, I'm still totally in love with my students. My one struggle is with the teachers - a lot of them complain A LOT. And I'm a pretty positive person so that gets annoying pretty fast! I'll also probably have to do a post on political correctness in the near future because this is a concept that is no where close to being as important as it is in America, and sometimes I get a shock when I hear things that Americans would never say. But all in all, school is great and I'm excited to get to start doing more on my own and developing my own ideas. If anyone has any tips or suggestions for fun things to do with 3rd, 4th and 5th graders learning English, let me know!

As far as life in Pankow and stuff at church, there are two new developments: We have started Bible class for 11-13 year-olds, and I'm helping with that as sort of a co-leader with Timo. So far it's been great and I'm super excited about the curriculum and all the things they (and I!) will learn. Also, I'm going to start leading worship more regularly and really investing into it as a ministry. This is something I'm hugely passionate and excited about, but also a bit nervous! I'm definitely looking forward to all God has to teach me in this area.

<-- (Learning the books of the Bible with the help of Robert's Legos...)

Last piece of news: I got my first German hair cut! This was not only my first hair cut in a foreign country, but also my first hair cut by a new hair stylist since about six years. Tori has been cutting my hair since some time in high school and it was a little leap of faith to trust someone else with the scissors for the first time. Luckily, Jacqueline at Ha(a)rmonie (hair = Haar, isn't that the cutest name for a hair salon in Germany?) did a great job!

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That's the news from here! Much love to y'all!

Belated updates on travels

I have two things to report on, primarily through photos...

First, I went to Lutherstadt Wittenberg (Stadt=city) a few weeks ago with Anna and some people from her church (mostly Americans who came to help with the English camp they did a few weeks ago). Wittenberg isn't far from Berlin - maybe an hour and a half? - so we made a day trip. We were fortunate to have beautiful weather and we had a great time. Wittenberg is really just a little Dorf (=small town) with some historical landmarks - quite charming and peaceful. Luther really is the star of the town - everything there is Luther this or Luther that. Luther became an extremely important figure in German history, not just in church history, and was especially celebrated in the 19th century as Germany was forming a united national identity for the first time.

Wittenberg photos

Then last week I traveled to Cologne for the Fulbright/Pedagogical Exchange Service orientation/seminar. I arrived early and had a little bit of time to check out Cologne before meeting the bus to the orientation site, which was outside Cologne in a town called Altenberg. We stayed and had all our sessions at an old monastery which had been turned into a sort of hostel/retreat center. So I didn't get to see much of Cologne, but what I did see was nice, it didn't seem very tourist-friendly (although there were tons of tourists there). There were several things I tried to see/visit but either couldn't find or couldn't find entrances to or the opening hours were wrong, etc. But it's a nice city.

Cologne photos

The monastery in Altenberg really was beautiful. Orientation was interesting - we had a sort of crash-course in teaching English with a handful of wonderful German English teachers. The main teacher for my group actually did a teacher-exchange year in Philadelphia, so it was really interesting to hear her impressions! We had to do mock-lessons and when we weren't teaching a lesson we had to play student, which at times became quite amusing. Scattered inbetween these coaching sessions were a handful of very unhelpful information sessions about insurance, banking, etc. Mostly repetition of things we already knew from all the stuff they sent us over the summer, interspersed with some really stupid questions from some of the teaching assistants. And of course at night there was nothing to do except drink beer that the program directors were selling, so the evenings weren't so much fun either for the few of us who weren't interested in getting drunk at orientation. (Couldn't they at least wait until they got to their cities and could go to a real bar?) But in general, it was nice, and I met some cool people, including several who are also in Berlin.

Pictures of the monastery

This week I've been back at school and having a great time. Some of the classes have been a bit hyper but it's still fun and I love them all. Tomorrow I'm staying in the afternoon to see what sorts of things they do (since they have to stay at school until 4 but usually don't have class after 2) and if there are ways for me to volunteer.

Pictures and such for those who are curious!

Here are some pictures from my school - right now I only have pictures of the outside, hopefully I'll get a chance to take some inside too.











And in case anyone is curious what a typical week of school is like for a 5th-grader at E.-O.-Plauen, here is Ulrike's class's schedule:



The first break is basically recess - the second one is sometimes another recess, sometimes lunch. I can't really figure it out, and it's different depending on what the schedule is like for a certain day. Recess is different from what I remember from grade school - the teachers don't take their classes outside, the kids just go, and then a bell rings that tells them they have to go back to class. There are usually a couple teachers outside during the break but the kids are basically on their own during that time. The classes with a * are only for kids that are struggling and need extra help. AG stands for "Arbeitsgemeinschaft," I haven't figured out exactly what this means but I know there are different AGs for different things - for example, there is a soccer AG and a drum AG. I think they're sort of after-school clubs.

Also, you did indeed see Islam on the schedule. In Germany there is not a separation of church and state like we have in the U.S., and so kids have religion class at school. Usually they pick between Catholic and Protestant, and then they added a sort of non-religious alternative, Ethics. Some schools in certain areas now of course have almost exclusively Muslim students, so those schools now - although this is still highly controversial - offer Islam class. Religion classes aren't just taught by anybody - they of course have teacher certification but also have some sort of certification from the state churches, or in the case of Islam class, a mosque. Not sure how all that stuff technically works. But anyways, not all the kids go to Islam class, but I think most of them do. I'm not exactly sure what the other kids do instead.

Expect more updates to come! Tomorrow I'm not going to school because Ulrike doesn't have many English classes and I have to go to the dentist - the last appointment available this week is Friday at 11:30, and it would be a hassle to ride all the way down to school for an hour and then have to leave. (If you're curious, my tooth that has a crown has become very sensitive to hot and cold. I'm sure this can't be good news, so I figured I should see a dentist as soon as possible. I'm kind of nervous.) Next week is orientation in Cologne, so I'll try to report on that. And don't think that I've forgotten about the post on man capris and socks with sandals. The other day an acquaintance actually was wearing both - and not just any socks, but black socks. Yikes. I would've taken a picture but I had just met the guy and I thought he might be offended.
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