Remember me?

I’ve been meaning to write for weeks and weeks, but the opportunity to spend time with friends, old and new, kept arising and I opted to live instead of write. I have less than 80 days left to soak up Germany.

The amount of time I’ve spent tutoring or being tutored has certainly increased recently. I meet with 2 (and approaching 4) university students for a language exchange on a loose weekly basis. I’ve also started tutoring for two families at my church here. Before or after our formal tutoring sessions, I’ve enjoyed a bit of family life and playing with the children.

About a month ago, I had a bit of a slumber party with one family. We prepared and ate dinner together and then watch Disney’s Pocahontas in German! It was great. The next morning I made American pancakes and brought maple syrup along to complete the experience. We had to convince to girls to try the maple syrup. They were very skeptical of the foreign substance and preferred to stick to Nutella.

One of my favorite memories, took place over lunch that same day. The mother, who is a native of Brazil but has lived in German for the last 15 years, shared part of her church program for the children that afternoon. Her six-year-old daughter played the audience member. The mother slumped her shoulders, frowned, and began to whimper. 

     "What's the matter?" asked her youngest daughter. Her mother stopped crying and looking up with a  frown.

     "I'm new here. I'm lonely. I don't have any friends here, and I miss my old friends."

     "Oh!" her daughter brightly replied, "All you have to do is go talk to someone!" Her mother immediately broke looked up, shocked by her daughter's reply, and I burst out laughing. 

     "Said just like a German," I commented as all the adults began to laugh. We had to explain to the little girl what was so funny. Her mom (and I) expected her to say "Oh! I'll be your friend." But really, what she said couldn't have been more perfect or more German.

Berlin Conference

The Fulbright Berlin conference took place at the end of March. They wined and dined all of the European Fulbrighters between speeches and workshops and called it networking. It was interesting to compare notes about the experience of my fellow ETAs in Germany and other European countries. The researches and professors also took part in the same conference and a few shared about their work. There is something inspiring and intimidating about being around so many smart people.

Although it would have been easy to stay within the comfort of our Sachsen group, I occasionally took a deep breath and awkwardly introduced myself a few new people. And I do mean awkwardly. At one point in the conference my fellow Sachsens decided to do a little shopping while the coffee and cake was still being served. I stayed behind, and slowly wandered around trying to find a somewhat familiar face. With none to be found, I resolved to walk up to a table and introduce myself as I good German would do. The moment I stepped up to the table, I could no longer form coherent thoughts. All eyes were on me. They were waiting for me to say something. I tried to recall the sentence I’d rehearsed in my head just moments before. Eyebrows were raised and faint smiles could be seen on the faces around the table. I finally managed to clumsily ask to join their table and introduced myself. Of course, they were very nice, and we were soon engulfed in introductions and friendly chatter. My act of everyday bravery was rewarded. I made a few new friends over the course of the conference and may even see some of those faces again this summer as they pass through Oklahoma.

Free Schools

Last Friday I took my suitcase to school and joined one of my teachers on trip to Lower Saxony (Nieder Sachsen) to visit her son, his wife, and their two children (ages 5 and 1) for the weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed playing with the children and talking with their mom (and occasionally father) about Free Schools, or Unschooling. Free Schooling is an approach to education in which children are free to decide if, when, what, how, and with whom they are going to learn. Yes, if.

Their mom was passionate about this approach to education (and parenting). She completely trusts her children to discover who they are and want to become. She is untroubled by fears that they will lack basic skills and contends that their naturally curiosity will propel them to learn what they need to know to fully participate in the world around them. They will learn what is necessary in their own time and have the opportunity to find and invest in their passions.

Talking with her and from my further reading about the approach so far, I’ve also heard attacks on the public school system, which is often acquainted with a prison. Students are forced to go and constantly told what to do. Their individuality is erased. They aren’t even free to go to the bathroom or eat when they are hungry. Their natural curiosity and desire to learn is stamped out. With more schools eliminating recess and forbidding talking in the cafeteria, social skills are unlikely to be learned.

Bautzen from the Bus.

I certainly don’t agree with all of the attacks on the public school system. I have seen some wonderful schools in the last four years but share some of their concerns. I’ve renewed my commitment to helping my students develop and expand their own passions, and finding effective ways to empower my students in their own learning and lives. I’m also learning more about Montessori schools as a possible approach that would fit my philosophy.

On Monday before returning to Saxony, I observed the Free School she intends to send her children to. Since the older students were already on break, I was only able to see the 3-6 year-olds. The kindergarten wasn’t terribly different from what I’d want or expect to see in a kindergarten. However, I have serious doubts about a similar format of freedom through out school.

Class Trip to Bautzen

Don't worry. I escaped.

Last week I accompanied a sixth grade class on their class trip. Their class teacher is also one of the English teachers I work with. Although the weather did not always cooperate, we had a wonderful time.

Bautzen is a beautiful city with a long history. On our first day we took an interesting tour of the town. Hearing about the church impressed me the most. During the Reformation about half of the town suddenly became Lutheran. While the same change led to bloody war in the rest of Germany, the people of Bautzen respected each other and decided to split the Cathedral in half. To this day a wall separates the Lutherans from the Catholics, who both continue to worship in the same building.

Our second day we took a train to the Kulturinsel outside of Görlitz. The Kulturinsel is basically a giant playground full of tree houses, networks of underground tunnels, and a few secret passageways. Can you imagine? It was so much fun! Even the grey skies and occasional light showers couldn’t dampen the excitement.

The Saurier Park was our last adventure. I was very proud to complete the obstacle course without falling. While there were a few more places to climb around, this park was largely dedicated to life-sized reconstructions of dinosaurs.

During the class trip my nose started running. Although I traveled to Arnsdorf by Dresden for a delightful Saturday afternoon, I spent most of Sunday and Monday resting in order to fight off this cold. My immune system has certainly been getting a workout this year. I blame it on the schools. Schools are gyms for the immune system where the weights are thrown at you.

The Tree House Castle