The pace of life has certainly picked up in
the last week, and I am grateful for that.
After Christmas break my school schedule
changed slightly. While I used to assist in grades six to eight, my duties now
extend up to grade ten. Ah, to speak naturally! Speaking with young foreign
language students is not the same as
speaking to English speaking children. Their vocabulary and knowledge of verb
tenses is so limited that I often have to plan out exactly what I want to say
because it feels so unnatural. The topics in the higher grades are also more
interesting, and I feel more useful. Last week I helped explain the U.S. branches
of government to a 10th grade class and worked a bit with ninth
graders on writing formal letters.
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| My drawing for the Invitation |
Since there often isn’t enough time in class
for student driven discussions, I spoke with my mentor teaching about starting
an afterschool club (AG or Arbeitsgemeinschaft,
arbeiten= to work, Gemeinshaft=community). After talking
with the principal, they both agreed that I could start ‘English Conversation
for 10th Graders.’ My flyer is hanging up on the bulletin board and
the 10th grade English teachers and I are spreading the word. Our
first meeting is in a week, and I hope I’m not the only one there!
Mrs. Runst (6th grade) also asked
me to draw a picture for the cover of the Open House invitations. One Saturday
in February parents, grandparents, and prospective students will wander the
halls of various Gymnasiums and listen to presentations from different
departments in order to decide which school to attend. For example, some
students who live in Zwickau travel to Werdau and vise versa.
On Friday evening Kitty and David went for a
10-mile run in Zwickau in preparation for a full marathon in April. Afterwards
they came over for dinner and a half a game of Settlers of Catan. (Train
schedules can be inconvenient sometimes.) I’m so grateful when anyone will play
with me! Kitty was playing for the first time and had a great advantage since
David was bent on robbing me of all my wood no matter how far behind I was or
ahead Kitty was. Revenge will be mine!
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| Rachel, Chloe, and Zana |
Saturday I went with Chloe (Northern
Ireland), Zana (Wales), and Rachel (England) to explore Plauen. Plauen was a
much larger city than I expected and quite lovely, especially while hearing various
lovely accents from the U.K. We visited a museum about e.o.Plauen, the author
of the Vater und Sohn (Father and Son) comics, climbed a large
tower, and paused for tea and cake before parting ways.
While they left for Chloe’s, I walked towards
Cathy’s apartment for a taco night with a group of six Americans. The food was
delicious. As we were nearing the end of our meal we discovered the last tram
to the train station was leaving in a few minutes so four of us grabbed our
things and ran out the door. We managed to get the stop before the tram but not
print our tickets in time. Google maps located the train station and gave us an
arrival time one minute before our train was scheduled to depart. Challenge
accepted. We ran down every hill and walked up them as fast as our legs and
lungs would allow. Alex has asthma and knew to let us know if we needed to
stop. We slowly knocked off a seconds here and there, were blessed by a three
minutes delay (Thank you DeutscheBahn!) and stepped into the train station with
eight minutes to buy tickets and head up to the platform.
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| Plauen |
David and Alex were using a Sachsen ticket
for three from Cathy. When they handed it to the women checking our tickets she
pointed out that the date was a day old. It was no longer good. Panic. Riders
without tickets usually have to pay a 40 Euro fine each (if you have the cash
on you, it’s more if you don’t); however, the woman was very kind and simply
sold them a ticket to their respective destinations. Phew.
Before church on Sunday morning I helped Tine
go over her English presentation for Monday. Finals start this week at the
University so everyone has become increasingly stressed over the last two
weeks. I haven’t meet with my language partners in a while for this very
reason, but hopefully we’ll see each other again soon. On Sunday evening I went
out to dinner with Mrs. Runst at the local Priesterhaus. Afterwards we saw Das Erstuanlich Leben des Walter Mitty (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), which
we both enjoyed. Sundays are usually very quite days so it was nice to have so
much to do.
Today was my first Meet US visit. Meet US is
a voluntary program through the U.S. Embassy in Germany. They send Americans
already in the country into German schools to share about American life. Today
I went took the train from Zwickau to Rudolstadt where one of the teachers
picked me up and drove the 8 km or so to the Realschul Neulitz. A Realschul
starts at grade five and goes up to grade 10. Then students usually attend
another two-three years of training for a specific position such as a
salesperson.
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| A Foggy Overview of Rudolstadt |
I presented on teenage life in America, told
them a bit about where I lived, and answered their questions. Both were eight
grade classes. The students were happy to talk to one another but a little shy
once it was time to talk to me.
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| Sleds at the Castle |
I really couldn’t have asked for a more
lovely first experience with the Meet US program. The teachers were all very
kind, both classes gave me chocolate, and one of the teachers took my on a
short tour of Rudolstadt. Museums are always closed on Mondays, but I got to
see the local baroque castle with a lovely view of the city, the spot where
Schiller and Goethe meet for the first time, and see the quaint market square.
I would love to go back to visit the museums and go on hike nearby. The heavy
hog can’t disguise the beauty of this land. Thüringen is known as the ‘Green Heart of Germany,’ and the more I see of the
state, the more I understand the motto.
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| Where Schiller meet Goethe 200 years and 9 days before I was born. :) |
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