I’m usually not the kind of person who asks a lot of questions. Sometimes I can’t think of any, or I figure I can just work through whatever it is myself, but living in a foreign country has completely changed the game; I’ve never had so many questions in my life.
Take grocery shopping, for example. Sounds quite mundane, right? But there are so many things we take for granted when we grow up somewhere. At first just walking into a grocery store was intimidating. Here is a snippet of my internal running dialogue: Is there special grocery store etiquette that I’m not privy to? Where are the carts? Oh no! Do I have a euro so I can get a cart? (Thankfully at the stores I frequent most often, you can just take a cart; once I even saw a man take his cart across the street to his house, unload his groceries and bring it back!) Does this store want you to pre-weigh and price your produce before checking out? (This is actually really neat...at the bigger stores, you put your produce on a scale and select the item type, and the scale prints out a price sticker for the item right then. I like knowing right away what something will cost me, especially since everything is in kilograms!) Oh great I'm here...now how will I recognize what I want? You never realize how much you count on packaging and labels to find the food you want until they're all different. Oy. One day I had to ask where the butter was and then where the sour cream was. But hey...just a few weeks here and I’m already starting to feel more at home.
Deine,
N*
P.S. You don't even want to hear about me learning to use a washing machine here...
The adventures of an English teaching assistant working and living in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
O.W.L.: Exceeds Expectations
11. September 2010
In case you’re wondering, the train trip was uneventful...I went alone, but returned with good company. It was a good thing that everything went smoothly since I was locked out of my phone for the return trip since my attempt to change my pin number malfunctioned, and I didn’t have the original with me to turn it back on...oops!
Köln was, in short, awesome. I was not expecting to have as much fun as I did, or that hearing about all the other teaching assistants’ similar experiences would be so reassuring. As I’ve already had quite a bit of teaching experience, the lesson part of the week was interesting and good practice, but didn’t really put me in a new situation. What was really helpful, though, was hearing my work group’s teacher speak about what she does in the classroom that she thinks is the most important and the implications of the differences she’s noticed between German and American schools. We also learned more about the bureaucracy we’ll be dealing with, so that was good too.
What surprised me the most was how much I enjoyed the social element of the week, which is not typical for me. We were separated by the areas we’ll be working in for our working groups to help us meet people we could potentially see frequently/plan lessons with/travel with, and I think that was really a good idea. There are only three FSAs (Fremdsprachenassistenten) in Saxony-Anhalt, but there are also many people in Leipzig, which is in Saxony, but isn’t so far away. Overall, the people seem nice and are also dedicated to our work here, and I’m so excited to continue building the relationships I started this week. For the first time, maybe ever, I felt like I was in a group of people who are like me, and being that I’m alone in Germany it was comforting.
Two people there were particularly easy for me to relate to: one of my roommates, a girl from Texas who will be working in Leipzig, and one of the others from the Saxony-Anhalt contingent, a guy from the D.C. area, who is actually the closest FSA to me location wise. I’m really looking forward to seeing them again soon, as well as the other girl who’s working in Saxony-Anhalt (I didn’t get to talk to her as much, but I think we could be good friends.).
In case you’re wondering, the train trip was uneventful...I went alone, but returned with good company. It was a good thing that everything went smoothly since I was locked out of my phone for the return trip since my attempt to change my pin number malfunctioned, and I didn’t have the original with me to turn it back on...oops!The orientation took place at the beautiful Haus Altenberg...here’s a picture.
Deine,
N*
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Flight of the...Bauhaus?
7. September, 2010Last week, the color fest was happening in the Dessau, and this year, the color was green. The first day I got here was the opening day of the fest, and this large installation “landed” in the main square. The combination of the mechanical with plant life is strangely beautiful to me, and it reminds me of Around the World in 80 Days for some reason. It was fun to visit on Saturday evening when H and I went back again with J, her husband, to see it again and to see the other parts of the festival.
There was in opera concert in front of the Anhaltisches Theater and then we followed the semi, on which the Jugend Big Band was playing, over the bridge, past the train station to the Bauhaus. There wasn’t a lot to see along the way as H told me there normally is, and at the Bauhaus, there were also only a few green lights. The main attraction was the installation that the Bauhaus was a part of. There was a countdown clock projected on the ceiling of two rooms that was visible from the outside to tell when the Bauhaus was going to “take off”. When it did, there were several neat visual effects projected on the side of the building and interesting sounds and music to go with it (see video!), but after awhile, it just kept doing the same thing, so we weren’t sure if there was something else we were supposed to be “getting”, and we ended up leaving because it was late and also a little cold. Maybe the newspaper* will explain something more, or maybe it wasn’t meant to be understood in a concrete way, which would be typical Bauhaus. Hmmm...I guess we’ll see.
Deine,
N*
*Nope, there was no explanation given, so it will remain a mystery.
First Day
3. September, 2010
Usually the first day of school is the day you find out how your classmates are doing, meet your new teachers and determine what you’ll need to do to be successful in the coming year. Today was the first time that the day was a little different. I still did all those things, but backwards. I met my new colleagues as well as many of my students. I even did exercises with many of the classes I was in. But right away I recognized that knowing exactly what I’d need to do to be successful was much less quantifiable than in previous years. I worked with different students on reading, pronunciation and grammar, but who knows if what I did made a difference. It was strange being at the front of the classroom even though I’ve taught a lot of times before. I think the first day is always a little disarming for me. Sitting on the other side of the equation was something I was incredibly good at, and I got the results to show it. Now I wasn't get that instant feedback, I had been puzzling over this conundrum throughout the afternoon, so you can imagine my relief when I checked my mail this evening and had a message from a teacher-turned-friend asking me how I was feeling about this exact issue. I still may not know the “right” way to proceed with each of my students, but knowing that I’m not alone in this perpetual (already) questioning of methods and ideas makes me feel a whole lot better. The best thing I can do is to try to be aware: aware of needs and sensitivities; aware of the things that make my students “tic”; aware of how I can make them open to me thus making myself accessible to them. All in all, ponderous undertones or not, it was a good day. Here are a couple of memorable moments before I close:
Seeing the eager faces and welcoming smiles of the fifth graders melted my insecurities. They’re new at the school too and fairly new to English on top of that. Most of them seemed thrilled to have someone to whom they could ask the few questions they’ve learned so far and were happy to be understood. They’re still at the age where they are a little more carefree with their emotions and because I could see that spark in them today, I already know they will bring light to my days here. In a way, they’re also a mirror to my situation. In our mutual first year, we’ll experience the largest noticeable amounts of growth in our respective roles. I’m sure each of my classes will be rewarding in its own way, but there is just something about being a part of students’ first experiences with a new challenge that is very special.
Memorable moment two is slightly snarkier. (Not on my part, haha.) In the 8th class we were working on the construction “used to” today. Each of the students was to write five sentences. The standout sentence was by a boy in the front row, we’ll call him Max, who wants to be cool. He contrived to achieve this reputation with the following remark: “When he was young, Phillip (that’s what we’ll call his friend) used to be a girl.” Of course, they both thought it was hilarious. What do you even say to that? Figuring the best way not to encourage it was to continue without being perturbed, H and I focused on the grammar mistake that occurred in the original sentence instead. Oh teenage boys. I’m sure I can look forward to many unexpected statements from students this year; it just comes with the territory.
Well, I’ve not had a lot of sleep since I’ve been here and the opportunity is presenting itself, so I’ll end this here where there’s (somewhat of) a stopping point.
Deine,
N*
Usually the first day of school is the day you find out how your classmates are doing, meet your new teachers and determine what you’ll need to do to be successful in the coming year. Today was the first time that the day was a little different. I still did all those things, but backwards. I met my new colleagues as well as many of my students. I even did exercises with many of the classes I was in. But right away I recognized that knowing exactly what I’d need to do to be successful was much less quantifiable than in previous years. I worked with different students on reading, pronunciation and grammar, but who knows if what I did made a difference. It was strange being at the front of the classroom even though I’ve taught a lot of times before. I think the first day is always a little disarming for me. Sitting on the other side of the equation was something I was incredibly good at, and I got the results to show it. Now I wasn't get that instant feedback, I had been puzzling over this conundrum throughout the afternoon, so you can imagine my relief when I checked my mail this evening and had a message from a teacher-turned-friend asking me how I was feeling about this exact issue. I still may not know the “right” way to proceed with each of my students, but knowing that I’m not alone in this perpetual (already) questioning of methods and ideas makes me feel a whole lot better. The best thing I can do is to try to be aware: aware of needs and sensitivities; aware of the things that make my students “tic”; aware of how I can make them open to me thus making myself accessible to them. All in all, ponderous undertones or not, it was a good day. Here are a couple of memorable moments before I close:
Seeing the eager faces and welcoming smiles of the fifth graders melted my insecurities. They’re new at the school too and fairly new to English on top of that. Most of them seemed thrilled to have someone to whom they could ask the few questions they’ve learned so far and were happy to be understood. They’re still at the age where they are a little more carefree with their emotions and because I could see that spark in them today, I already know they will bring light to my days here. In a way, they’re also a mirror to my situation. In our mutual first year, we’ll experience the largest noticeable amounts of growth in our respective roles. I’m sure each of my classes will be rewarding in its own way, but there is just something about being a part of students’ first experiences with a new challenge that is very special.
Memorable moment two is slightly snarkier. (Not on my part, haha.) In the 8th class we were working on the construction “used to” today. Each of the students was to write five sentences. The standout sentence was by a boy in the front row, we’ll call him Max, who wants to be cool. He contrived to achieve this reputation with the following remark: “When he was young, Phillip (that’s what we’ll call his friend) used to be a girl.” Of course, they both thought it was hilarious. What do you even say to that? Figuring the best way not to encourage it was to continue without being perturbed, H and I focused on the grammar mistake that occurred in the original sentence instead. Oh teenage boys. I’m sure I can look forward to many unexpected statements from students this year; it just comes with the territory.
Well, I’ve not had a lot of sleep since I’ve been here and the opportunity is presenting itself, so I’ll end this here where there’s (somewhat of) a stopping point.
Deine,
N*
Grüße aus Deutschland!
2. September, 2010
So, I’ve finally arrived in Germany! The flight was long, but it was fairly uneventful with the exception of the three hour delay on my international flight. I actually spent most of the flight sleeping since the movies weren’t working. (Sad day because they had old movies that would’ve been so much fun to watch in any of the various language options!) It’s probably for the best that I got some sleep, though, since I had a white night the night before and H wants me to come into school with her tomorrow. Before I start in on that, I have one final airplane note. So I flew from Denver to Newark for the first leg of my trip, and they gave us breakfast. I was so shocked! I was thinking, “They want to give us WHAT on a domestic flight?” Who would’ve thunk it.
Anyways, I’ve really just been hanging out with H since I got in. I’m staying at her house for a couple of days before orientation and then I’ll move into my apartment. We looked into cell phones and internet, which turned out to be more difficult than we originally thought it would be. The problem is that most plans require that you sign a two year contract and show evidence of permission to stay in Germany for that whole time. Since I’m only here for a year, that obviously won’t do. We think we found a couple of reasonable solutions, though, so crisis averted. Later, Heike and I cooked some dinner (a nice salad with zucchini and tomatoes in a tomato-based sauce with cheese on top and then baked in the oven). And now I’m going to go to bed because I’ve elected to go in to school tomorrow despite the jetlag, so I have to be up at 5:30 AM. Gar, jetlag.
Deine,
N*
So, I’ve finally arrived in Germany! The flight was long, but it was fairly uneventful with the exception of the three hour delay on my international flight. I actually spent most of the flight sleeping since the movies weren’t working. (Sad day because they had old movies that would’ve been so much fun to watch in any of the various language options!) It’s probably for the best that I got some sleep, though, since I had a white night the night before and H wants me to come into school with her tomorrow. Before I start in on that, I have one final airplane note. So I flew from Denver to Newark for the first leg of my trip, and they gave us breakfast. I was so shocked! I was thinking, “They want to give us WHAT on a domestic flight?” Who would’ve thunk it.
Anyways, I’ve really just been hanging out with H since I got in. I’m staying at her house for a couple of days before orientation and then I’ll move into my apartment. We looked into cell phones and internet, which turned out to be more difficult than we originally thought it would be. The problem is that most plans require that you sign a two year contract and show evidence of permission to stay in Germany for that whole time. Since I’m only here for a year, that obviously won’t do. We think we found a couple of reasonable solutions, though, so crisis averted. Later, Heike and I cooked some dinner (a nice salad with zucchini and tomatoes in a tomato-based sauce with cheese on top and then baked in the oven). And now I’m going to go to bed because I’ve elected to go in to school tomorrow despite the jetlag, so I have to be up at 5:30 AM. Gar, jetlag.
Deine,
N*
And Without Further Ado...
After an epic wait for internet in my apartment, it has arrived. I wrote several posts during my first weeks here, so I'll post those now, and then I'll try to start posting regularly hereafter! Thank you for your patience.
Deine,
N*
Deine,
N*
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Coming Soon...
Hi guys! I just wanted to let you know that I've arrived in Germany safely, and I'm having a wonderful time so far...but I don't have internet yet. The technology problem is turning out to be more difficult than previously anticipated, and I will also be at an orientation in Cologne all week, so I probably won't have internet until after I return. However, I have been writing posts, and I will put them up as soon as I have internet access on my own computer.
Some teasers about what is to come:
The trip (long and with a significant delay, but otherwise smooth).
My first day of school experience (it went smoothly...the kids are friendly and the teachers are welcoming).
My new apartment (Can I just say it's gorgeous!...and big! I moved most of my stuff in, but I'll wait to tell you about it until I have some pictures to accompany my description).
The Green Fest in Dessau (Complete with something landing in the town square and a virtual flight of the Bauhaus building).
Vegetarian cooking (We've cooked every night and it's so much fun!)
And of course, my experience at the orientation this week.
Ok, so that's about all I have time for at the moment, as I need to help prepare dinner for our guests tonight! I promise to update more regularly and in more detail soon.
Deine,
N*
Some teasers about what is to come:
The trip (long and with a significant delay, but otherwise smooth).
My first day of school experience (it went smoothly...the kids are friendly and the teachers are welcoming).
My new apartment (Can I just say it's gorgeous!...and big! I moved most of my stuff in, but I'll wait to tell you about it until I have some pictures to accompany my description).
The Green Fest in Dessau (Complete with something landing in the town square and a virtual flight of the Bauhaus building).
Vegetarian cooking (We've cooked every night and it's so much fun!)
And of course, my experience at the orientation this week.
Ok, so that's about all I have time for at the moment, as I need to help prepare dinner for our guests tonight! I promise to update more regularly and in more detail soon.
Deine,
N*
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