Crazy to think that my last week of student teaching is already over...doesn't seem like I've been in the school for that long at all! This last week though was quite fun. This is the last week of school for the 13th years so they have had a different theme for each day of the week. Monday they all dressed up as construction workers, wearing the blue jumpsuits and construction hard hats. They also put caution tape all over the school and locked up the teacher's entrance to the school we we all had to walk in the student entrance. During the breaks, they would all sit outside the staff room as if they were some union on strike...so in order to get in or out of the teachers' room, you had to climb over all of these studets. Every now and then they would also all stand up and chant something in German. It was pretty funny. On Tuesday, they all dressed up in a different sports outfit and would play different sports in the hallway. On Wednesday, they all dressed up like a different character of some sort, comic book, superhero, etc. Thursday, they all dressed up like nerds...and one student was the Easter Bunny. They also filled up a bunch of little plastic cups with water and placed them in front of the entrance to the school so to get into the building you had to walk all over these water-filled cups. Also on Thursday there was a program which the 13th graders put on. It was an Oscar-themed program where the 13th graders had nominated and voted on their teachers for awards like: most artistic, best in their subject, best transportation to school, etc... For some the students voted, and for other categoried the nominated teachers had to get on stage and complete some sort of task and the audience voted. It was really interesting. Friday, it was a calm day for the older students.
Wednesday was my last class with my 5th graders. The students had to fill out a worksheet dealing with vocabulary where there was a German sentence on one side and and the English translation on the other side, and the students had to fill in the missing English vocab word. I was going to go over the answers with the students and my cooperating teacher said that the students would really love it if I tried to pronounce the German sentences while I was going over the homework. So I did. The kids found it really funny, although after I read one sentence one little boy clapped for me so I think I said that one really well. But it was fun and the kids enjoyed it.
Thursday was my last class with my 6th graders. I was really sad to have to leave this class because this is the only class which I have been at every single one of their lessons since I got here in January. To start this class, we handed the students back their reports from the oral exam which they took on Tuesday...we had 9 students start crying. It sucked. Not just like a tear or two here and there, like full on sobbing...and a couple of them were boys which you don't tend to see very often. After the kids settled down from their test scores, we played a vocabulary game the rest of the class period and the students all signed a card for me with their picture in it...which is awesome! I will definitely miss this class. I also had the 7th graders Thursday and I took small groups of them into a separate room to practice their speaking. Their task was to give an oral biography of their favorite celebrity...here are some of the celebrities the students said (note the randomness): Mark Wahlberg, Bruno Mars, Homer Simpson, Johnny Depp, Kobe Bryant, and of course Spongebob Squarepants. I found this quite amusing.
Friday was my last day in general and the only classes I had were 9th grade and 7th grade. I did the 9th grade lesson completely on my own and then broke the news to them that I was going back to America and I received a round of applause from them...which was nice. The 7th graders were just watching a movie but some of them had made cake, muffins, and cupcakes and they said some farewell things to me which was really nice.
The fact that I have completed my student teaching is crazy to me in the first place, but then I also think about how I am basically done with my undergraduate degree and that is even crazier. I have a few school things to take care of when I get back, but I am done with college and it is weird!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Salzburg
A couple weekends ago, Sophie and I went to Salzburg, Austria for the sole purpose of going on the Sound of Music tour. However, we both ended up LOVING Salzburg.
We arrived at our hostel in Salzburg before 9am on that Saturday, we weren't able to check in yet so we put our stuff in the luggage room, stole some of the free breakfast and planned out our day.
We decided to first walk around the city a little and see the Mozart statue and the Mozart chocolate shops. You wouldn't believe how much chocolate they have dedicated to Mozart...it is kind of strange, but delicious. We then proceeded to find Mozart's house. That was pretty interesting to walk through, minus the fact that there was an annoying school group taking over the entire thing. The kids kept giving Sophie and me strange looks for some reason.
After we walked through Mozart's house, we found a place to eat lunch. We both ordered some traditional Austrain Schnitzel and just sat and ate for a couple of hours. The Schnitzel was delicious by the way.
We had already booked our tickets for the Sound of Music Tour for 2pm so we decided to start walking in the direction of where we would get picked up for the tour. We were a little early so we walked around the shops some and sat in the park across the street because it was an absolutely wonderful day out!
The tour was actually quite nice! We were able to get off of the bus frequently to see the sites and the tour actually took us a little bit out of Salzburg and all around Salzburg so we were able to see a lot of the countryside and it was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!! Check out my pictures on facebook if you don't believe me. At one of the stops a little outside of Salzburg we had about an hour to kind of wander around the small town, so Sophie and I had some Strudel, which of course was also delicious.
Once we got back to Salzburg, we checked into the hostel and went to the Augustiner Brewery for dinner. This brewery was really cool...we sat outside in the Beer Garden, which was huge! There were no servers here, you went up to get your own beer by paying for the size of the beer, grabbing your own stein, washing it yourself, and then handing it to someone to fill up for you. For food, there were different stands all over the restaraunt where you just walked up and ordered your food and paid for it right then. We each ate the best half of a chicken either of us have ever tasted...SO GOOD!
Here is where my trip takes a turn for the worse...we get back the dorm and my intention is to stay up for the UK Final Four game, so Sophie and I play around on the computer for about an hour or two. We then realize it is 2am and we both fell asleep on the couch, so we decided to go to bed. I set my ipod alarm for 2:45 since the game started at 3am Salzburg time. Since I would be waking up in the middle of the night, I didn't want to set my phone alarm because that would be loud and annoying and wake everyone up. So I had my ipod alarm set and ready, and my headphones in my ears. Next thing I knew, I woke up and it was 6 freaking 30 in the morning...COMPLETELY MISSED THE GAME! My alarm did not make noise when it went off for some reason, which completely defeats the purpose of an alarm. I immediately grabbed my computer and ran upstairs to see the outcome of the game...disappointing that we lost. Although, if we had won the game and I had missed it I would have been pissed!
I went back to bed after the terrible way I was woken up. We only really had time for breakfast on Sunday before we had to catch the bus back to the airport. It was a really fun trip, we were able to fit a lot into basically just one day of Salzburg. I would love to go back and even live there, it was just so pretty. No matter where you were in the city you could see the surrounding mountains and it was just perfect!
We arrived at our hostel in Salzburg before 9am on that Saturday, we weren't able to check in yet so we put our stuff in the luggage room, stole some of the free breakfast and planned out our day.
We decided to first walk around the city a little and see the Mozart statue and the Mozart chocolate shops. You wouldn't believe how much chocolate they have dedicated to Mozart...it is kind of strange, but delicious. We then proceeded to find Mozart's house. That was pretty interesting to walk through, minus the fact that there was an annoying school group taking over the entire thing. The kids kept giving Sophie and me strange looks for some reason.
After we walked through Mozart's house, we found a place to eat lunch. We both ordered some traditional Austrain Schnitzel and just sat and ate for a couple of hours. The Schnitzel was delicious by the way.
We had already booked our tickets for the Sound of Music Tour for 2pm so we decided to start walking in the direction of where we would get picked up for the tour. We were a little early so we walked around the shops some and sat in the park across the street because it was an absolutely wonderful day out!
The tour was actually quite nice! We were able to get off of the bus frequently to see the sites and the tour actually took us a little bit out of Salzburg and all around Salzburg so we were able to see a lot of the countryside and it was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!! Check out my pictures on facebook if you don't believe me. At one of the stops a little outside of Salzburg we had about an hour to kind of wander around the small town, so Sophie and I had some Strudel, which of course was also delicious.
Once we got back to Salzburg, we checked into the hostel and went to the Augustiner Brewery for dinner. This brewery was really cool...we sat outside in the Beer Garden, which was huge! There were no servers here, you went up to get your own beer by paying for the size of the beer, grabbing your own stein, washing it yourself, and then handing it to someone to fill up for you. For food, there were different stands all over the restaraunt where you just walked up and ordered your food and paid for it right then. We each ate the best half of a chicken either of us have ever tasted...SO GOOD!
Here is where my trip takes a turn for the worse...we get back the dorm and my intention is to stay up for the UK Final Four game, so Sophie and I play around on the computer for about an hour or two. We then realize it is 2am and we both fell asleep on the couch, so we decided to go to bed. I set my ipod alarm for 2:45 since the game started at 3am Salzburg time. Since I would be waking up in the middle of the night, I didn't want to set my phone alarm because that would be loud and annoying and wake everyone up. So I had my ipod alarm set and ready, and my headphones in my ears. Next thing I knew, I woke up and it was 6 freaking 30 in the morning...COMPLETELY MISSED THE GAME! My alarm did not make noise when it went off for some reason, which completely defeats the purpose of an alarm. I immediately grabbed my computer and ran upstairs to see the outcome of the game...disappointing that we lost. Although, if we had won the game and I had missed it I would have been pissed!
I went back to bed after the terrible way I was woken up. We only really had time for breakfast on Sunday before we had to catch the bus back to the airport. It was a really fun trip, we were able to fit a lot into basically just one day of Salzburg. I would love to go back and even live there, it was just so pretty. No matter where you were in the city you could see the surrounding mountains and it was just perfect!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
IRELAND!
Finally made my trip to Ireland a couple weeks ago! LOVE IT! I arrived in Dublin right before 11 pm and took the bus to the hostel. I was immediately grateful to be in an English speaking country...I didn't have to convert to a different language and I could understand what people were saying around me...it was glorious.
I met up with Chris Lee and his friend from FSU at the hostel...then Chris and I went in search of a place to watch the UK and FSU sweet 16 games. Sadly, no place would be open long enough to watch the entire game so once I ate some Subway we just made our way back to the hostel. Luckily, the one computer that the hostel had was open that late at night for our use...so we watched the two games side by side on Espn.com. When UK one Chris and I were screaming and jumping up and down and were yelled at by the hostel dude...whoops. FSU sadly lost, but honestly I was just excited about UK.
The next morning we we started the day off just walking around Dublin. We went to some book stores, walked through some historic neighborhoods and open-air markets abd saw Christ's Church. After walking around for awhile we made our way towards the Guinness Factory...which was awesome. When you first walked in you were standing in a giant pint class that was like 7 stories high and would hold 14.3 million pints. The you walked around the museum to see how Guinness was made, then the history of Gunniess and the different packaging and ads it has gone through since it was first established. There was a bar at the top of the factory that overlooked Dublin, which is where you could claim your free Guinness! Once we got our free drink, we went back downstairs a couple of floors to the restaurant to eat lunch, which was delicious.
After the Guinness Factory we went to the Leprachaun Mueseum. How can you go to Ireland and not go to a museum of leprachauns? Our tour guide had the most Irish name ever: Shamus O'Rielly. He was great. The museum was really cool...we went through a bunch of differnet rooms with different themes. There was a room where everything was sized so you felt as tall as a leprachaun, a rainbow room, a pot of gold, a wishing well, and stuff like that. It was actually pretty fun and interesting.
After we went back to the hostel to drop our souvenirs from the day off, we found an Irish Pub to have dinner in. I had fish and chips for dinner and they were delicious. Towards the end of the meal, these three girls got on stage at the pub and started doing some Irish dancing which was really cool to see in person.
That night we walked around the city with some girls that we met in the hostel that were from Connecticut. We went to a couple places before we ended up somewhere in the Temple Bar district that had a live band. Lindsey and I worked our way up to right in front of the stage and stayed there and listened to this band, who was really good, for the rest of the night. The lead guy was pretty cute too...which didn't hurt anything.
Sunday, we walked around Trinity College and had a tour of that. It was gorgeous! We also went inside library and looked at the Book of Kells (the oldest book in history, the four gospels). The book and the library were very impressive!
After our trip to Trinity, we took the train out to Howth, which is a small, seaside village right outside Dublin. This was the quintessential little Irish town. It was right on the Irish Sea and had BEAUTIFUL views of the sea and coast. First we just walked around the town a little and tried to find somewhere to eat lunch. We walked along the harbor to find somewhere to eat and passed a couple of seals right near the edge. We found a little seafood place to eat that was really nice. After we ate, we walked through the town some more and then headed the cliff path. This was gorgeous! We walked along the path for a couple of hours and were able to see the sea views and country views and cliff views and island views and I absolutely loved it! When I go back to Ireland, I want to go to a smaller town like that instead of Dublin, while Dublin is great...it is just like another big city and I think you lose some of the key characteristics of a country in their largest cities.
Once we got back to Dublin, we did not have a lot of time to waste before the UK v. UNC game. We went to a sports bar that was showing the game on one tv to watch it. There were 4 other people watching the game, and one was also a Kentucky fan! We were watching the entire game and then with about 4 minutes left the people told us we had to leave, but the 2 Irish people that were watching the game talked them into letting us watch the rest of the game since it was almost over and there were 7 of us watching it. Apparently with a minute and a half left in the game they decided that we had to go...so Chris and I literally sprinted back to the hostel and got on espn.com right as the game was over and FREAKED OUT in the hostel because we were FINALLY in the Final Four! I then proceeded to depress myself by looking at how crazy Lexington was wished I was there!
Chris and Lindsey left really early the next morning so I was on my own for the day. I walked around the city some and went shopping! I bought the shoes I am wearing for Julia's wedding...they are really cute! Then I went and bought my Ireland souvenirs...I went a little crazy but I've been dying to go to Ireland for over 2 years now, so I think thats okay! I stopped and had a real Shepard's Pie for lunch before I headed back to the airport to head back to Cologne. This Shepard's Pie was MUCH better than the one we serve at Cheddar's...which I guess would be expected.
I loved Ireland and I cannot wait to go back! I have to afterall since I didn't find my husband during this trip!
I met up with Chris Lee and his friend from FSU at the hostel...then Chris and I went in search of a place to watch the UK and FSU sweet 16 games. Sadly, no place would be open long enough to watch the entire game so once I ate some Subway we just made our way back to the hostel. Luckily, the one computer that the hostel had was open that late at night for our use...so we watched the two games side by side on Espn.com. When UK one Chris and I were screaming and jumping up and down and were yelled at by the hostel dude...whoops. FSU sadly lost, but honestly I was just excited about UK.
The next morning we we started the day off just walking around Dublin. We went to some book stores, walked through some historic neighborhoods and open-air markets abd saw Christ's Church. After walking around for awhile we made our way towards the Guinness Factory...which was awesome. When you first walked in you were standing in a giant pint class that was like 7 stories high and would hold 14.3 million pints. The you walked around the museum to see how Guinness was made, then the history of Gunniess and the different packaging and ads it has gone through since it was first established. There was a bar at the top of the factory that overlooked Dublin, which is where you could claim your free Guinness! Once we got our free drink, we went back downstairs a couple of floors to the restaurant to eat lunch, which was delicious.
After the Guinness Factory we went to the Leprachaun Mueseum. How can you go to Ireland and not go to a museum of leprachauns? Our tour guide had the most Irish name ever: Shamus O'Rielly. He was great. The museum was really cool...we went through a bunch of differnet rooms with different themes. There was a room where everything was sized so you felt as tall as a leprachaun, a rainbow room, a pot of gold, a wishing well, and stuff like that. It was actually pretty fun and interesting.
After we went back to the hostel to drop our souvenirs from the day off, we found an Irish Pub to have dinner in. I had fish and chips for dinner and they were delicious. Towards the end of the meal, these three girls got on stage at the pub and started doing some Irish dancing which was really cool to see in person.
That night we walked around the city with some girls that we met in the hostel that were from Connecticut. We went to a couple places before we ended up somewhere in the Temple Bar district that had a live band. Lindsey and I worked our way up to right in front of the stage and stayed there and listened to this band, who was really good, for the rest of the night. The lead guy was pretty cute too...which didn't hurt anything.
Sunday, we walked around Trinity College and had a tour of that. It was gorgeous! We also went inside library and looked at the Book of Kells (the oldest book in history, the four gospels). The book and the library were very impressive!
After our trip to Trinity, we took the train out to Howth, which is a small, seaside village right outside Dublin. This was the quintessential little Irish town. It was right on the Irish Sea and had BEAUTIFUL views of the sea and coast. First we just walked around the town a little and tried to find somewhere to eat lunch. We walked along the harbor to find somewhere to eat and passed a couple of seals right near the edge. We found a little seafood place to eat that was really nice. After we ate, we walked through the town some more and then headed the cliff path. This was gorgeous! We walked along the path for a couple of hours and were able to see the sea views and country views and cliff views and island views and I absolutely loved it! When I go back to Ireland, I want to go to a smaller town like that instead of Dublin, while Dublin is great...it is just like another big city and I think you lose some of the key characteristics of a country in their largest cities.
Once we got back to Dublin, we did not have a lot of time to waste before the UK v. UNC game. We went to a sports bar that was showing the game on one tv to watch it. There were 4 other people watching the game, and one was also a Kentucky fan! We were watching the entire game and then with about 4 minutes left the people told us we had to leave, but the 2 Irish people that were watching the game talked them into letting us watch the rest of the game since it was almost over and there were 7 of us watching it. Apparently with a minute and a half left in the game they decided that we had to go...so Chris and I literally sprinted back to the hostel and got on espn.com right as the game was over and FREAKED OUT in the hostel because we were FINALLY in the Final Four! I then proceeded to depress myself by looking at how crazy Lexington was wished I was there!
Chris and Lindsey left really early the next morning so I was on my own for the day. I walked around the city some and went shopping! I bought the shoes I am wearing for Julia's wedding...they are really cute! Then I went and bought my Ireland souvenirs...I went a little crazy but I've been dying to go to Ireland for over 2 years now, so I think thats okay! I stopped and had a real Shepard's Pie for lunch before I headed back to the airport to head back to Cologne. This Shepard's Pie was MUCH better than the one we serve at Cheddar's...which I guess would be expected.
I loved Ireland and I cannot wait to go back! I have to afterall since I didn't find my husband during this trip!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Brussels
This is a long over-due post but I figured it was about time to share with the world (or just the people that read my blog) my day trip to Brussels. Tori, Sophie, Branwen, Emilie, and I got like a 7:30 am train to Brussels a couple of Saturdays ago...the trip took mayabe an hour and a half (I don't quite remember actually).
When we got there we just kind of walked around and took in the sites...and it was beautiful! There were chocolate shops with the most delicious looking chocolate EVERYWHERE! The first thing we set off to find were waffles...it was the morning, we were in Belgium...no brainer! We found a waffle place and these waffles were like a work of art...with fruit and whipped cream and chocolate and caramel. It was the best waffle I ever had...delicious!
We realized that we were right beside the Mannequin Pis (the famous little peeing boy fountain). None of us really knew why this little peeing boy was so famous, but he is for some reason.
After we annihilated our waffles, we just walked around Brussels some more. The city was really pretty and it had a lot of character. Emilie noticed that outside of the train station, we didn't see one McDonald's or Starbucks or any big chains, which was kind of nice.
I think every city in Europe has an impressive cathedral that has been there forever, so we found the one in Brussels and had a stroll around that one. Afterwards we just kept walking around and found ourselves in a very interesting part of town. It was very similar to a Chinatown, yet it was all Indian....so it was an Indiatown. It was off of our map so we decided that we should probably find our way back to the city and find a place to eat.
We found a little restaraunt for lunch and I had a Stella to drink, since it is from Belgium. The we just walked around some more and eventually made our way back to the train station to go back to Cologne. It was a fun day just wandering around Brussels and it was a really pretty city.
The next day, Branwen invited us over to her flat for a traditional British Sunday Roast. It was delicious! We had chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies, sweet potatoes, and yorkshire pudding. My first Sunday Roast experience was a success!
When we got there we just kind of walked around and took in the sites...and it was beautiful! There were chocolate shops with the most delicious looking chocolate EVERYWHERE! The first thing we set off to find were waffles...it was the morning, we were in Belgium...no brainer! We found a waffle place and these waffles were like a work of art...with fruit and whipped cream and chocolate and caramel. It was the best waffle I ever had...delicious!
We realized that we were right beside the Mannequin Pis (the famous little peeing boy fountain). None of us really knew why this little peeing boy was so famous, but he is for some reason.
After we annihilated our waffles, we just walked around Brussels some more. The city was really pretty and it had a lot of character. Emilie noticed that outside of the train station, we didn't see one McDonald's or Starbucks or any big chains, which was kind of nice.
I think every city in Europe has an impressive cathedral that has been there forever, so we found the one in Brussels and had a stroll around that one. Afterwards we just kept walking around and found ourselves in a very interesting part of town. It was very similar to a Chinatown, yet it was all Indian....so it was an Indiatown. It was off of our map so we decided that we should probably find our way back to the city and find a place to eat.
We found a little restaraunt for lunch and I had a Stella to drink, since it is from Belgium. The we just walked around some more and eventually made our way back to the train station to go back to Cologne. It was a fun day just wandering around Brussels and it was a really pretty city.
The next day, Branwen invited us over to her flat for a traditional British Sunday Roast. It was delicious! We had chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies, sweet potatoes, and yorkshire pudding. My first Sunday Roast experience was a success!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Amsterdam
The Tuesday that my parents were here we got a super early train to take us to Amsterdam! My sister made up the most annoying song about this place that now I automatically think of when I say or type the word Amsterdam...great. Anyway once we got to Amsterdam we bought tickets to have an all day pass on another hop-on hop-off boat tour like we had in Paris. The first stop of the day was Anne Frank's house.
The line actually was not that bad when we got there since we were fairly early. But, Kim had led us to believe that it was going to be nice and sunny and not freezing. She lied. The wind was horrendous and it was all gray and cloudy out, and it was freaking freezing. So we were more than excited to finally get into the house and out of the weather. The house was super interesting...this was the house that she stayed in while she was in hiding. We got to walk throughout the house and see the secret annex where she and others hid. All the information was given in German and English which made it super helpful. Again, its just a crazy feeling to me standing in Anne Frank's room with the same posters she hung up on the wall still there...sometimes things like that just make me stand in awe. After we walked through the museum I bought the book because I don't actually think I have read it. I know the story clearly, but I don't think I have ever read it. After being in the house I think it would be super interesting to read because I have been to those places. So I plan to start that soon.
We had lunch after the house and did our Amsterdam shopping before we got back on the boat that was going to take us to our next location! Since we were only in Amsterdam a day, we had to split up and decide what we really wanted to do. Kim and Emmy went to the Van Gogh museum, while Ron and I opted for the "Heineken Experience."
The Heineken Experience was really cool actually. First of all they spoke English everywhere inside and all the information was only in English, so that was just a nice change of pace. The museum was really high-tech. It was the first Heineken brewery, but its not brewed there anymore. It started off by informing you of the history of Heneiken and how it came to be. Then you got to see how it was brewed. Then there was a little ride that you went on where you were "brewed." That was really cool, after the ride they took you into a room where they gave you a free beer and taught you the proper way to taste a beer. Then there was all this stuff about the promotion of the beer. There were individual lounge chairs with personal tvs where you could just sit and watch all of the Heineken commercials throughout the years, there was a place with a bunch of foosball tables, then you reached the bar where you got 2 free Heneikens. It was really cool and it would have been nice to have had more time in there but we had to rush a little to catch the boat bus back to the train station.
We had a little time once we got off the boat before the train, so we tried to find the Red Light District. Apparently it was right next to the train station, and I think that we eventually found it and were walking around in it but it was still light out so nothing was really happening. Although a guy at school said that they have recently made the Red Light District only two streets...so who knows.
We caught our train and came home. I definitely would have loved to spend more time in Amsterdam, eventually the sun did come out and it was nicer. There is just so much to do there that one day doesn't do the city justice.
The line actually was not that bad when we got there since we were fairly early. But, Kim had led us to believe that it was going to be nice and sunny and not freezing. She lied. The wind was horrendous and it was all gray and cloudy out, and it was freaking freezing. So we were more than excited to finally get into the house and out of the weather. The house was super interesting...this was the house that she stayed in while she was in hiding. We got to walk throughout the house and see the secret annex where she and others hid. All the information was given in German and English which made it super helpful. Again, its just a crazy feeling to me standing in Anne Frank's room with the same posters she hung up on the wall still there...sometimes things like that just make me stand in awe. After we walked through the museum I bought the book because I don't actually think I have read it. I know the story clearly, but I don't think I have ever read it. After being in the house I think it would be super interesting to read because I have been to those places. So I plan to start that soon.
We had lunch after the house and did our Amsterdam shopping before we got back on the boat that was going to take us to our next location! Since we were only in Amsterdam a day, we had to split up and decide what we really wanted to do. Kim and Emmy went to the Van Gogh museum, while Ron and I opted for the "Heineken Experience."
The Heineken Experience was really cool actually. First of all they spoke English everywhere inside and all the information was only in English, so that was just a nice change of pace. The museum was really high-tech. It was the first Heineken brewery, but its not brewed there anymore. It started off by informing you of the history of Heneiken and how it came to be. Then you got to see how it was brewed. Then there was a little ride that you went on where you were "brewed." That was really cool, after the ride they took you into a room where they gave you a free beer and taught you the proper way to taste a beer. Then there was all this stuff about the promotion of the beer. There were individual lounge chairs with personal tvs where you could just sit and watch all of the Heineken commercials throughout the years, there was a place with a bunch of foosball tables, then you reached the bar where you got 2 free Heneikens. It was really cool and it would have been nice to have had more time in there but we had to rush a little to catch the boat bus back to the train station.
We had a little time once we got off the boat before the train, so we tried to find the Red Light District. Apparently it was right next to the train station, and I think that we eventually found it and were walking around in it but it was still light out so nothing was really happening. Although a guy at school said that they have recently made the Red Light District only two streets...so who knows.
We caught our train and came home. I definitely would have loved to spend more time in Amsterdam, eventually the sun did come out and it was nicer. There is just so much to do there that one day doesn't do the city justice.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Paris
So like I said, we took a break from all the Karneval madness and went to Paris for the weekend. Our train left on Saturday morning and it took about 3 hours to reach Paris. The train was actually really nice...comfortable seats...free food. What more could you ask for? Definitely think America should invest in the same public transit systems, they are so easy and much nicer than driving for that long of a time.
Anyway, when we got to Paris we got a cab to take us to our hotel. The hotel was in a pretty nice location...surrounded by street markets and some really nice cafes. On the drive to the hotel I was just taking in Paris and it is really beautiful. All of the buildings have that traditional French style that you always think of and the city just seemed to have a lot of character. Once we put our stuff in the hotel, we wanted to go hit up some museums before they closed. Ron thought he was really cool downloading this new thing for his GPS, yet it did not work well at all. So once we looked at a regular map instead of the GPS we started walking towards the Louvre. It was a really pretty day out which was nice since it was pretty cold. The Louvre is freaking huge and we hit up the most famous pieces like the Mona Lisa, and Venus de Milo. We took a break after walking through the Ancient Egyptian area to go have some wine at the cafe there. The whole point of taking the wine break was to figure out where to go next...but that didn't happen. So after a while of just sitting and drinking as a family we decided to go to the Museum d'Orsay since the museums were closing in like an hour or two and we wanted to make sure we were able to make it to that museum. We saw Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, and all kinds of other famous artists' work in there...but those were the main guys.
We headed back to the hotel after that and went to the cafe right next door for dinner. I had a delicious omelet and mimosa. After dinner we went to go find the Eiffel Tower. It was really pretty because it was all lit up at night. Then we went in search of the Moulin Rouge...because lets face it, thats a fantastic movie. Again we found it and it was all lit up and kinda looked like it did in the movie! The line to get in was crazy long...we just took pictures then left.
The next morning we were walking around the markets by our hotel and found a little place to eat breakfast...where I had another omelet. Then we bought tickets for a boat bus thing where it would take you along the river to the different touristy sites and you could just hop on or hop off at any of the sites. The first stop we got off at was Notre Dame. That was a pretty impressive building I would have to say. Inside was really impressive...it is just crazy to see how some of these buildings are adorned...and knowing the historical significance of the place you're standing in. Then we went to the surrounding area to try and do some shopping but everything was closed since it was a Sunday.
We hopped back on the boat bus and got off at the Arc de Triomphe stop. There was like a flea market thing right when you got off the boat so we looked around there for a bit. I found a copy of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in French, which I thought was interestig. So I bought it for 2 euros. Then we walked down Champs de Elysee to get to the Arc. Luckily for us, these stores were open...so we were able to do a little shopping in Paris. Once we got to the Arc we walked up to the top, although Kim almost didn't make it up there. The view was really pretty but we were a little rushed because we had to get back to the hotel so we could get our stuff and head back to the train station.
On our way back to the hotel we got lost. Like really lost. Ron was relying on his GPS...big mistake. We had no idea where we were going and Ron would just walk in the middle of the road and cross the street when cars were coming and leave the rest of us behind. Eventually we tried to get a cab but we could not get one for the life of us. After a long, LONG time of aimlessly walking around Paris we started heading in the right direction. Ron completely left the rest of us so we couldn't even see him anymore...Kim was way in front of us...and Emmy and I were just walking slowly behind because we were pissed and our feet were hurting. Finally we made it back to the hotel and then tried to get another cab to take us to the train station, but that attempt failed as well. So luckily there was a really nice lady who spoke English that helped us figure out the metro to take.
We made it there in just the right amount of time...but it was hectic geeting there needless to say. It was a fun trip though and we got to see a lot...it would have been nice to have spent more than two days there.
Anyway, when we got to Paris we got a cab to take us to our hotel. The hotel was in a pretty nice location...surrounded by street markets and some really nice cafes. On the drive to the hotel I was just taking in Paris and it is really beautiful. All of the buildings have that traditional French style that you always think of and the city just seemed to have a lot of character. Once we put our stuff in the hotel, we wanted to go hit up some museums before they closed. Ron thought he was really cool downloading this new thing for his GPS, yet it did not work well at all. So once we looked at a regular map instead of the GPS we started walking towards the Louvre. It was a really pretty day out which was nice since it was pretty cold. The Louvre is freaking huge and we hit up the most famous pieces like the Mona Lisa, and Venus de Milo. We took a break after walking through the Ancient Egyptian area to go have some wine at the cafe there. The whole point of taking the wine break was to figure out where to go next...but that didn't happen. So after a while of just sitting and drinking as a family we decided to go to the Museum d'Orsay since the museums were closing in like an hour or two and we wanted to make sure we were able to make it to that museum. We saw Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, and all kinds of other famous artists' work in there...but those were the main guys.
We headed back to the hotel after that and went to the cafe right next door for dinner. I had a delicious omelet and mimosa. After dinner we went to go find the Eiffel Tower. It was really pretty because it was all lit up at night. Then we went in search of the Moulin Rouge...because lets face it, thats a fantastic movie. Again we found it and it was all lit up and kinda looked like it did in the movie! The line to get in was crazy long...we just took pictures then left.
The next morning we were walking around the markets by our hotel and found a little place to eat breakfast...where I had another omelet. Then we bought tickets for a boat bus thing where it would take you along the river to the different touristy sites and you could just hop on or hop off at any of the sites. The first stop we got off at was Notre Dame. That was a pretty impressive building I would have to say. Inside was really impressive...it is just crazy to see how some of these buildings are adorned...and knowing the historical significance of the place you're standing in. Then we went to the surrounding area to try and do some shopping but everything was closed since it was a Sunday.
We hopped back on the boat bus and got off at the Arc de Triomphe stop. There was like a flea market thing right when you got off the boat so we looked around there for a bit. I found a copy of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in French, which I thought was interestig. So I bought it for 2 euros. Then we walked down Champs de Elysee to get to the Arc. Luckily for us, these stores were open...so we were able to do a little shopping in Paris. Once we got to the Arc we walked up to the top, although Kim almost didn't make it up there. The view was really pretty but we were a little rushed because we had to get back to the hotel so we could get our stuff and head back to the train station.
On our way back to the hotel we got lost. Like really lost. Ron was relying on his GPS...big mistake. We had no idea where we were going and Ron would just walk in the middle of the road and cross the street when cars were coming and leave the rest of us behind. Eventually we tried to get a cab but we could not get one for the life of us. After a long, LONG time of aimlessly walking around Paris we started heading in the right direction. Ron completely left the rest of us so we couldn't even see him anymore...Kim was way in front of us...and Emmy and I were just walking slowly behind because we were pissed and our feet were hurting. Finally we made it back to the hotel and then tried to get another cab to take us to the train station, but that attempt failed as well. So luckily there was a really nice lady who spoke English that helped us figure out the metro to take.
We made it there in just the right amount of time...but it was hectic geeting there needless to say. It was a fun trip though and we got to see a lot...it would have been nice to have spent more than two days there.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Karneval
So yes..I am aware that it has been quite some time since I last blogged, but really nothing new or exciting was happening for a couple weeks and then my life turned crazy hectic so I'm just now catching everyone up...sorry for the delay!
Karneval = crazy madness all over Cologne, Germany where kids and adults and grandparents dress up in strange costumes for 5 days straight and participate in "heavy celebrations." Karneval started 2 weeks ago on Thursday, March 3rd. Everyone dressed up for school on that day, and school was actually cut short because of Karneval. Students only had their first 3 lessons Thursday, then a big Karneval party in the auditorium. The party was a little odd for me, Karneval is a very traditional German thing, but the party had a lot of American and British music. So, I think it just ended up being an excuse to have a party that didn't really pertain to Karneval.
Thursday night we all dressed as sailors and went to the Live Music Hall. It opened at 6 that night, so we left at like 4:30 to start waiting in line. It actually wasn't bad, we were near the front so we get in pretty quickly once they opened the doors. However, we were standing in line for over an hour and it was freezing. The Live Music Hall was fun as always. It was decorated all for Karneval and playing all German Karneval music, so it was very festive. Our group got there early enough to get a table for all 11 of us which was nice. So on Thursday night we just stayed there and had a lot of fun.
Friday my parents and sister came to visit me! Once they got here we got checked into the hotel, they were able to freshen up some since they just traveled for quite some time, then we went to eat dinner. I showed them around Cologne some after dinner, then we came back to the dorm and met up with my friends. They were all getting ready to go out again so we got to see all of them dressed and ready to go, but we decided to stay at the dorm Friday night since we were all so tired.
Saturday we decided to bail on Karneval all together and go to Paris! We were in Paris Saturday and Sunday...there will be a separate blog post dedicated to this trip...don't worry!
Monday was the big Karneval parade. It was the longest parade of my life! 5 and a half hours...of parade! We got there about 30-45 minutes before the parade started so that we could get a good spot because they throw candy! Now, they throw serious candy...like boxes of stuff and whole candy bars. It's kind of dangerous, I got hit in the head with a candy bar and it really hurt. But it was an interesting experience for sure. The floats were pretty impressive but after a while, it just got old. Not even halfway through the parade, although it had been going on for about 2.5 hours by this point in time, some of us decided to go back to the dorm for a break and then catch the end of the parade. My family had already bailed on the parade about an hour into it and they were headed back to their hotel for awhile. After the parade was over, some of my friends and I started walking around some and found a little fair in the middle of town, so of course we participated in that and rode rides. Once we were done with fair, we started the search for food...every place was packed with people dressed up in costumes. There was music playing the streets and random, open-air, dance parties everywhere. We eventually found a little pizza place down by the Rhine that we ate in and just hung out in for a few hours. Everyone was so tired from all the Karneval festivities that after dinner we all just went to the dorm to chill for the rest of the night. I went to my parents' hotel and hung there for the rest of the night.
Overall, Karneval was a very interesting experience. Something that we definitely don't have in the States, but I was very glad to be able to experience it here!
Karneval = crazy madness all over Cologne, Germany where kids and adults and grandparents dress up in strange costumes for 5 days straight and participate in "heavy celebrations." Karneval started 2 weeks ago on Thursday, March 3rd. Everyone dressed up for school on that day, and school was actually cut short because of Karneval. Students only had their first 3 lessons Thursday, then a big Karneval party in the auditorium. The party was a little odd for me, Karneval is a very traditional German thing, but the party had a lot of American and British music. So, I think it just ended up being an excuse to have a party that didn't really pertain to Karneval.
Thursday night we all dressed as sailors and went to the Live Music Hall. It opened at 6 that night, so we left at like 4:30 to start waiting in line. It actually wasn't bad, we were near the front so we get in pretty quickly once they opened the doors. However, we were standing in line for over an hour and it was freezing. The Live Music Hall was fun as always. It was decorated all for Karneval and playing all German Karneval music, so it was very festive. Our group got there early enough to get a table for all 11 of us which was nice. So on Thursday night we just stayed there and had a lot of fun.
Friday my parents and sister came to visit me! Once they got here we got checked into the hotel, they were able to freshen up some since they just traveled for quite some time, then we went to eat dinner. I showed them around Cologne some after dinner, then we came back to the dorm and met up with my friends. They were all getting ready to go out again so we got to see all of them dressed and ready to go, but we decided to stay at the dorm Friday night since we were all so tired.
Saturday we decided to bail on Karneval all together and go to Paris! We were in Paris Saturday and Sunday...there will be a separate blog post dedicated to this trip...don't worry!
Monday was the big Karneval parade. It was the longest parade of my life! 5 and a half hours...of parade! We got there about 30-45 minutes before the parade started so that we could get a good spot because they throw candy! Now, they throw serious candy...like boxes of stuff and whole candy bars. It's kind of dangerous, I got hit in the head with a candy bar and it really hurt. But it was an interesting experience for sure. The floats were pretty impressive but after a while, it just got old. Not even halfway through the parade, although it had been going on for about 2.5 hours by this point in time, some of us decided to go back to the dorm for a break and then catch the end of the parade. My family had already bailed on the parade about an hour into it and they were headed back to their hotel for awhile. After the parade was over, some of my friends and I started walking around some and found a little fair in the middle of town, so of course we participated in that and rode rides. Once we were done with fair, we started the search for food...every place was packed with people dressed up in costumes. There was music playing the streets and random, open-air, dance parties everywhere. We eventually found a little pizza place down by the Rhine that we ate in and just hung out in for a few hours. Everyone was so tired from all the Karneval festivities that after dinner we all just went to the dorm to chill for the rest of the night. I went to my parents' hotel and hung there for the rest of the night.
Overall, Karneval was a very interesting experience. Something that we definitely don't have in the States, but I was very glad to be able to experience it here!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Project Week
This week at school we did not have normal classes. We were out of school Monday and Tuesday, and the rest of the week was project week. Each class spent 3 days preparing different projects that they would share with their parents and the rest of the school today.
I was with my 5th grade class because their project was the only one in English. The students had 5 skits that they were going to act out for their parents. Each skit had 2 casts, and on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I took one of the skits to a different room to work on their line memorization and their pronounciation. As precious and cute as 5th graders are...I could NEVER teach them. It is too much like babysitting. The students were fighting over a stuffed monkey because that was a prop in our skit...and I mean literally fighting like pulling hair and screaming and all that. It was annoying...like I said, I could never teach them.
Today was when they performed their skits for their family and my kids did really well! They came in costume and remembered their lines for the most part and did a really good job, so I was really proud of them. Plus, it was fun to see all of the parents and see which kids belonged to which parents. The way it was set up was that 11 one cast from each skit performed, and then there was a break and at 1215 the other casts acted out the skits again. I sat through all of the skits at the 11 o'clock viewing, but after that I walked around some. The 7th grade had completed an alcohol-awareness campaign and my students had beer goggles and obstacles set up in their room, they had also completed some posters about the risks and dangers of binge drinking. I really enjoyed going into their room and seeing what they had done and hanging out with them some. Then I went into my 8th graders' room and they had done a little dance project where there were different styles of dance, I didn't stay in there very long because those students I don't know as well. I realized that my 6th graders' "stomp show" was going to clash with my other cast of 5th graders, but I had already seen my 5th graders a bunch so I decided to go watch the 6th graders. Those kids are precious too...and their show was interesting, they didn't speak in their scenes but made beats with pencils and their feet and newspapers and stuff. Luckily, my 5th graders skit was the last one in the line up so I was able to make it to see my other cast perform...and they did so good!
As annoying as it was to go to school on a Saturday, it was really interesting and fun and I'm glad I was able to go and see my students. Now, I have to write a bunch of lesson plans...fun.
I was with my 5th grade class because their project was the only one in English. The students had 5 skits that they were going to act out for their parents. Each skit had 2 casts, and on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I took one of the skits to a different room to work on their line memorization and their pronounciation. As precious and cute as 5th graders are...I could NEVER teach them. It is too much like babysitting. The students were fighting over a stuffed monkey because that was a prop in our skit...and I mean literally fighting like pulling hair and screaming and all that. It was annoying...like I said, I could never teach them.
Today was when they performed their skits for their family and my kids did really well! They came in costume and remembered their lines for the most part and did a really good job, so I was really proud of them. Plus, it was fun to see all of the parents and see which kids belonged to which parents. The way it was set up was that 11 one cast from each skit performed, and then there was a break and at 1215 the other casts acted out the skits again. I sat through all of the skits at the 11 o'clock viewing, but after that I walked around some. The 7th grade had completed an alcohol-awareness campaign and my students had beer goggles and obstacles set up in their room, they had also completed some posters about the risks and dangers of binge drinking. I really enjoyed going into their room and seeing what they had done and hanging out with them some. Then I went into my 8th graders' room and they had done a little dance project where there were different styles of dance, I didn't stay in there very long because those students I don't know as well. I realized that my 6th graders' "stomp show" was going to clash with my other cast of 5th graders, but I had already seen my 5th graders a bunch so I decided to go watch the 6th graders. Those kids are precious too...and their show was interesting, they didn't speak in their scenes but made beats with pencils and their feet and newspapers and stuff. Luckily, my 5th graders skit was the last one in the line up so I was able to make it to see my other cast perform...and they did so good!
As annoying as it was to go to school on a Saturday, it was really interesting and fun and I'm glad I was able to go and see my students. Now, I have to write a bunch of lesson plans...fun.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Greece!
I love Greece.
Kyle has a friend who is doing the same program we are in Thessolaniki, Greece...so since we had a long weekend we decided to take the opportunity to go visit! School got out early on Friday because students were given their grade reports, and school wasn't in session Monday or Tuesday, so we figured this was a perfect weekend to make the farther trip to Greece.
We flew out of Cologne about 5 pm on Friday, had a layover in Munich and got into Athens about 11 pm. The Athens airport isn't really close to anything, so we had to take a 45 minute train to get to the city. The good thing though, was that our hostel was right near a train stop. We got to the hostel, probably around 12 or 1230...it was weird because everyone in our room was already asleep, which we didn't expect since it was like 1230 on a Friday night. There was a little bar right next to the hostel so we went to just get a drink before going to bed. We were sitting outside of this bar, just taking in the fact that we were in Greece, and this big stray dog kept coming up to our table. At first he kept coming empty handed, then he started to come with like huge slabs of raw meat and would just devour the meat and bones right next to us like it was no big deal. He came back with meat like 3 times...we were really confused as to how this dog was getting the meat.
The next morning we took at 5 euro walking tour, that was about 3 hours long. We went and saw all of the historic sites of Athens (pictures on facebook). Our tour guide was from South Carolina, so we got to talk to him some about the states. And I got to talk to him a bit about Kiawah, so that was fun. People on our tour consisted of Americans, Argentinians, Brazilians, and Koreans...so that was kind of cool.
That Saturday was absolutely wonderful in Athens! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was in the mid-60's and super sunny. It was absolutely wonderful! The tour we went on was pretty amazing too...it is just crazy to stand at some of those sites and think about how many different people have stood there and imagine what it was like back in its prime. Especially coming from America, where our historical sites don't even compare with the time and history of these sites. Hearing about all the Ancient Greek Temples and being in Athens really did make me want to watch Hercules...just to compare since I've seen the sites now you know? Plus Hercules is a wonderful movie, I did learn though that Disney left out the part where Hercules kills his wife and kid in a drunken rage one night...bummer.
After the tour, we got our stuff together and were going to go to the National Archaeological Museum but once we got there, we realized it closed at like 3 that afternoon...so we went to a little cafe and witnessed a protest march. What is great about Greece is that they give you free tap water! Unlike Germany, everytime you go to a restaurant or order a drink they will give you free tap water. In Greece, they also bring you some time of snack food like chips or something when you order a drink, and a free dessert most places. I love Greece.
We took a 4.5 hour train to Thessolaniki that night, and met up with Kyle's friend Erin and some of her friends when we got there. It was really nice because we walked around Thessolaniki for awhile before we found a nice place to sit outside, and stayed there until about 5 in the morning. The next day, Erin took us around the city some more and walked up to the old city where we got a great view of Thessolaniki. We found a nice little place for dinner that night and were there for hours just talking and hanging out, which was nice. Plus the very attractive waiter was nice to look at, and he brought us a free liter of wine.
Erin had school the next day, so Kyle and I just walked around for a little while before she came home. We went to dinner again Monday night with Erin's friends and had some amazing food. The Thessolaniki trip was great because we were able to see more of Greek daily life instead of just touristy stuff. So that was a big contrast between our time in Athens and in Thessolaniki. We just hung out for a few hours Monday night at dinner then Kyle and I had to get a cab back to the train station to catch our night train back to Athens.
The place where we stayed in the train was TINY! But it ended up not being that bad of a trip...the beds were more comfortable than I gave them credit for (which is saying too much). I found it fairly easy to sleep on that train. It took about 6.5 hours to get back to Athens, and once we did we hung out in a cafe in the train station for a couple of hours since it was 6 am. We had seen that the Archaeological Museum was open at 8:30 so we decided that we would go there for a little bit before heading back to the airport. We picked a great day to come back to Athens because all of the public transit was on strike, so the traffic was crazy and we had to pay to get a cab everywhere. We got a cab to take us to the Museum and he was nice and said he would pick us back up at 10 to take us to the airport. What sucks is that it was like 60 euros to get to the airport since it was so far away...but oh well. Like I said, not a great day for us for public transit to be on strike.
The Museum was really interesting, again just being the presence of all that history is just crazy to me. The Museum also had an Egypt Exhibit, which I definitely found myself having a new appreciation for after studying that with my students last semester during practicum. I would have liked to have a little longer in the Museum, but our cab driver kept his word and picked us up at 10 to go to the airport.
All in all, it was a great trip and I am elated that I got to experience it. One of Erin's friends in Thessolaniki, Stephanie, lives there all the time and said that we should definitely come back during the summer and go to the islands...I am planning on following her directions. I would love to go to the islands and see the beaches and typical white buildings and blue roofs!
Kyle has a friend who is doing the same program we are in Thessolaniki, Greece...so since we had a long weekend we decided to take the opportunity to go visit! School got out early on Friday because students were given their grade reports, and school wasn't in session Monday or Tuesday, so we figured this was a perfect weekend to make the farther trip to Greece.
We flew out of Cologne about 5 pm on Friday, had a layover in Munich and got into Athens about 11 pm. The Athens airport isn't really close to anything, so we had to take a 45 minute train to get to the city. The good thing though, was that our hostel was right near a train stop. We got to the hostel, probably around 12 or 1230...it was weird because everyone in our room was already asleep, which we didn't expect since it was like 1230 on a Friday night. There was a little bar right next to the hostel so we went to just get a drink before going to bed. We were sitting outside of this bar, just taking in the fact that we were in Greece, and this big stray dog kept coming up to our table. At first he kept coming empty handed, then he started to come with like huge slabs of raw meat and would just devour the meat and bones right next to us like it was no big deal. He came back with meat like 3 times...we were really confused as to how this dog was getting the meat.
The next morning we took at 5 euro walking tour, that was about 3 hours long. We went and saw all of the historic sites of Athens (pictures on facebook). Our tour guide was from South Carolina, so we got to talk to him some about the states. And I got to talk to him a bit about Kiawah, so that was fun. People on our tour consisted of Americans, Argentinians, Brazilians, and Koreans...so that was kind of cool.
That Saturday was absolutely wonderful in Athens! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was in the mid-60's and super sunny. It was absolutely wonderful! The tour we went on was pretty amazing too...it is just crazy to stand at some of those sites and think about how many different people have stood there and imagine what it was like back in its prime. Especially coming from America, where our historical sites don't even compare with the time and history of these sites. Hearing about all the Ancient Greek Temples and being in Athens really did make me want to watch Hercules...just to compare since I've seen the sites now you know? Plus Hercules is a wonderful movie, I did learn though that Disney left out the part where Hercules kills his wife and kid in a drunken rage one night...bummer.
After the tour, we got our stuff together and were going to go to the National Archaeological Museum but once we got there, we realized it closed at like 3 that afternoon...so we went to a little cafe and witnessed a protest march. What is great about Greece is that they give you free tap water! Unlike Germany, everytime you go to a restaurant or order a drink they will give you free tap water. In Greece, they also bring you some time of snack food like chips or something when you order a drink, and a free dessert most places. I love Greece.
We took a 4.5 hour train to Thessolaniki that night, and met up with Kyle's friend Erin and some of her friends when we got there. It was really nice because we walked around Thessolaniki for awhile before we found a nice place to sit outside, and stayed there until about 5 in the morning. The next day, Erin took us around the city some more and walked up to the old city where we got a great view of Thessolaniki. We found a nice little place for dinner that night and were there for hours just talking and hanging out, which was nice. Plus the very attractive waiter was nice to look at, and he brought us a free liter of wine.
Erin had school the next day, so Kyle and I just walked around for a little while before she came home. We went to dinner again Monday night with Erin's friends and had some amazing food. The Thessolaniki trip was great because we were able to see more of Greek daily life instead of just touristy stuff. So that was a big contrast between our time in Athens and in Thessolaniki. We just hung out for a few hours Monday night at dinner then Kyle and I had to get a cab back to the train station to catch our night train back to Athens.
The place where we stayed in the train was TINY! But it ended up not being that bad of a trip...the beds were more comfortable than I gave them credit for (which is saying too much). I found it fairly easy to sleep on that train. It took about 6.5 hours to get back to Athens, and once we did we hung out in a cafe in the train station for a couple of hours since it was 6 am. We had seen that the Archaeological Museum was open at 8:30 so we decided that we would go there for a little bit before heading back to the airport. We picked a great day to come back to Athens because all of the public transit was on strike, so the traffic was crazy and we had to pay to get a cab everywhere. We got a cab to take us to the Museum and he was nice and said he would pick us back up at 10 to take us to the airport. What sucks is that it was like 60 euros to get to the airport since it was so far away...but oh well. Like I said, not a great day for us for public transit to be on strike.
The Museum was really interesting, again just being the presence of all that history is just crazy to me. The Museum also had an Egypt Exhibit, which I definitely found myself having a new appreciation for after studying that with my students last semester during practicum. I would have liked to have a little longer in the Museum, but our cab driver kept his word and picked us up at 10 to go to the airport.
All in all, it was a great trip and I am elated that I got to experience it. One of Erin's friends in Thessolaniki, Stephanie, lives there all the time and said that we should definitely come back during the summer and go to the islands...I am planning on following her directions. I would love to go to the islands and see the beaches and typical white buildings and blue roofs!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Exciting Week
Okay, so Monday we were didn't have school, I like to think that it was because they were giving people a day to rest after the superbowl, but I don't think that was actually the reason. We went to the American Bar for the superbowl Sunday night, my waiter friend there reserved a table for us at the last minute. So we ended up getting there about 9:45 pm (aka 3 hours before the game actually started) just to make sure we could get our table. We were there until after 4 in the morning, since that is when the game was over. Kyle is a huge Packers fan, so he was elated with the outcome of the game of course. It was funny trying to explain the game to all of our British friends that came too. I was surprised that they stayed the whole time, but they did and I think they enjoyed themselves. Vicky ended up getting really into the game, I think she started to understand it pretty well. The bar was absolutely packed with people watching the Superbowl...I was pretty surprised, so it's a good thing we got there so early and got a table. I saw people in so many different jerseys...even a Jets one! WHOO! The crowd seemed to be pretty split between Steelers and Packers fans...some guys were wearing Packers jerseys and even had the cheeseheads to go with it, Angharad got a picture with them before we left because she thought it was awesome. It was a really great time, and I'm very grateful that we didn't have school the next day since I didn't go to bed until after 6 am.
Monday, since we had the day off, we went to the Zoo! It was a perfect day to go too...it was sunny and not that cold. It was a lot of fun, it was just me, Emilie, Tori, and Kyle but we spent like the whole day there. It was much better than the last zoo I went to, which was the Knoxville Zoo. So that was a fun day, we didn't really get a chance to look around the Aquarium which is kind of a bummer because I haven't been to one in a very long time, but thats okay. Side note: today in class the students learned the word "bummer" for the first time and when the teacher asked what they thought it meant, one kid was like "oh shit!" 7th grade students these were, and the teacher was like yea...I don't think is is quite as harsh as that though. Then she asked me if it was an appropriate word to say or if it had a really bad connotation, and I was like no not at all...I use it all the time. Just thought that was kind of interesting.
After that, my week has been pretty normal. Emilie and I went out yesterday looking for costumes for Karnival. She bought a beer mug costume and is going as a full beer stein one night which is kind of hilarious. I found a little cowgirl/southern outfit that I thought about buying since it's only appropriate for the Kentucky girl to have that. Emilie really wants me to get it and talk in a really think Southern accent all day...we'll see. I would have to also get a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, so those cost money. There was also a Bavarian costume that was cheaper that I thought about getting, that is just the classic German outfit people think of. I saw a lot of girls wearing those dresses when I was in Munich, since Munich is the capital of Bavaria. Plus, that would be kind of a nice little thing to bring home to remind me of my German adventures...and I could wear it for Halloween! Karnival is 5 days long, and most people have a different outfit every day. I think I might just pick 2 and wear those, since I am going to Paris in the middle of Karnival anyway.
Today thought I got a lot of mail and it made my day! I had a Valentine's Day card from my parents, another letter, and a package! The other letter was in response to a Holiday card I had made last semester in Dr. Henry's class that was sent to the troops. One of them wrote me back! That is really exciting, and I think I might write him back again because that is really fun! The package was from my parents and the contents were: 2 sweatshirts (I forgot to pack any and it has really been sad living without any sweatshirts), Twizzlers, Chocolate, Candy Hearts, Gum, Kleenex (which is good because I ran out since I've been sick and stole a roll of toilet paper from the bathroom to use instead), Jillian Michaels DVD, and TWO CANS OF DIET COKE!! Clearly, I am most excited about the Diet Coke. They do not have Diet Coke here, and the Diet Coke in the English shop tastes different than the ones at home. I haven't had one yet because I don't want to waste their greatness! The package also included some mail that I had gotten at home...so it really made my afternoon!
Anyway, tonight Vicky's friends from home are in town so we are going to get some sushi and maybe go out for a drink after. And I go to Greece tomorrow!! WHOOP WHOOP!
Monday, since we had the day off, we went to the Zoo! It was a perfect day to go too...it was sunny and not that cold. It was a lot of fun, it was just me, Emilie, Tori, and Kyle but we spent like the whole day there. It was much better than the last zoo I went to, which was the Knoxville Zoo. So that was a fun day, we didn't really get a chance to look around the Aquarium which is kind of a bummer because I haven't been to one in a very long time, but thats okay. Side note: today in class the students learned the word "bummer" for the first time and when the teacher asked what they thought it meant, one kid was like "oh shit!" 7th grade students these were, and the teacher was like yea...I don't think is is quite as harsh as that though. Then she asked me if it was an appropriate word to say or if it had a really bad connotation, and I was like no not at all...I use it all the time. Just thought that was kind of interesting.
After that, my week has been pretty normal. Emilie and I went out yesterday looking for costumes for Karnival. She bought a beer mug costume and is going as a full beer stein one night which is kind of hilarious. I found a little cowgirl/southern outfit that I thought about buying since it's only appropriate for the Kentucky girl to have that. Emilie really wants me to get it and talk in a really think Southern accent all day...we'll see. I would have to also get a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, so those cost money. There was also a Bavarian costume that was cheaper that I thought about getting, that is just the classic German outfit people think of. I saw a lot of girls wearing those dresses when I was in Munich, since Munich is the capital of Bavaria. Plus, that would be kind of a nice little thing to bring home to remind me of my German adventures...and I could wear it for Halloween! Karnival is 5 days long, and most people have a different outfit every day. I think I might just pick 2 and wear those, since I am going to Paris in the middle of Karnival anyway.
Today thought I got a lot of mail and it made my day! I had a Valentine's Day card from my parents, another letter, and a package! The other letter was in response to a Holiday card I had made last semester in Dr. Henry's class that was sent to the troops. One of them wrote me back! That is really exciting, and I think I might write him back again because that is really fun! The package was from my parents and the contents were: 2 sweatshirts (I forgot to pack any and it has really been sad living without any sweatshirts), Twizzlers, Chocolate, Candy Hearts, Gum, Kleenex (which is good because I ran out since I've been sick and stole a roll of toilet paper from the bathroom to use instead), Jillian Michaels DVD, and TWO CANS OF DIET COKE!! Clearly, I am most excited about the Diet Coke. They do not have Diet Coke here, and the Diet Coke in the English shop tastes different than the ones at home. I haven't had one yet because I don't want to waste their greatness! The package also included some mail that I had gotten at home...so it really made my afternoon!
Anyway, tonight Vicky's friends from home are in town so we are going to get some sushi and maybe go out for a drink after. And I go to Greece tomorrow!! WHOOP WHOOP!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Munich!
Munich is wonderful.
We had to be at the Main Station at 4:40 Saturday morning to catch the train to the airport...that was really early. The flight was only about an hour long, and then we had to take a 40 minute train from the Munich airport to the city. The traveling wasn't that bad, I slept most of the way. Our hostel was super close to the train station which was great, it was a wonderful location. The hostel itself was awesome. The people working were really nice, and the place was clean and fun. We set our stuff down in the hostel, but since check-in wasn't until 2 we set it in the luggage room and went to try and make our plans for the day. We found out information about a Dachau tour and a Beer and Brewery Tour. We had some time before the Dachau tour, so we found some breakfast. This little bakery had all these wonderful looking donuts so it was hard to pick one...when I was paying I asked the lady working what was in the donut and she said alcohol. Interesting. So I ate the donut, and you could definitely taste the alcohol. It wasn't bad, but if given the choice, I probably wouldn't get that again.
Dachau was really interesting. It is really sobering being in that concentration camp, but it was soooo interesting. There were a couple of people on our tour that were annoying, but it wasn't that bad. Dachau was the first concentration camp and it was a work camp. There were no mass murders at Dachau like there were at Aushwitz. The camp started as a place for opposers, people who spoke out against the Third Reich. As Hitler started gaining more and more control, more people were forced into concentration camps and the camp started getting more and more crowded. I think our tour guide said the camp was meant for 2,000 people maybe, and at one point in time there were like 76,000...that could be a very wrong statistic, but it was something to that effect. So while there was a gas chamber, it is claimed to have never been used. I am glad I went, but it is definitely a depressing tour. We were instructed to go drink a beer after the tour.
Once we got back from the tour, we went to check into the hostel and put our stuff in our rooms. Then we had a little less than an hour to kill before the Beer and Brewery Tour so we went and ate Donners, which were delicious. This tour was very different than the Dachau one, clearly. We went to 3 different breweries in Munich. Schneider's and Sons was the first one and it was okay...the beer I had was a dark beer and I am not a big fan of dark beers. The second one we went to was Paulaner, and at this one we were actually taken through the factory to learn how beer is made and learned the history of beer...which was pretty interesting. The monks first discovered beer during lent, because they were fasting they needed something to sustain them...thus beer was born. Every year in Munich during lent is known as the Beer Season. We got to sample 3 different beers at this one too. The last place we went was th original Hofbrauhaus, which was an experience. Interestingly enough, that Hofbrauhaus was the birth place of the Third Reich, the first couple for meetings between Hitler and the Third Reich took place in that Hofbrauhaus. It was really fun, most everyone finished their drinks and then left but there were 5 of us that stayed and hung out for like an hour or so longer. It was me and Kyle, this 50 year old British lady who was awesome, and 2 guys in the U.S. Army that are stationed in Germany. One of those guys actually went to college in Kentucky so we talked about that. At one point in time we were arguing about Ale8 and everyone on our tour was looking at us because our southern accents were coming out really strong and people said that couldn't even understand what we were talking about...which is kinda funnny.
After the beer tour, we went back to the hostel and there were a bunch of people hanging out in the bar in the hostel so we went in there and met some really nice and interesting people there. The next day, check-out was at 10 so we had to get up and get moving. We decided that we were just going to walk around Munich since we didn't get a chance to on Saturday. Munich is absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect. We climbed up this clock tower thing to get an amazing view of the city. We didn't really do much except explore the city...but it was beautiful and I would love to go back there.
I kinda wish that my placement was there instead of Cologne because there is more to do in Munich, and more people speak English. But, it was nice that when we finally were done traveling and back in Munich that feeling of "home" was there. I knew exactly where I was going when I got back to Cologne, and I was relieved to be back here...so it was interesing the way that works.
We had to be at the Main Station at 4:40 Saturday morning to catch the train to the airport...that was really early. The flight was only about an hour long, and then we had to take a 40 minute train from the Munich airport to the city. The traveling wasn't that bad, I slept most of the way. Our hostel was super close to the train station which was great, it was a wonderful location. The hostel itself was awesome. The people working were really nice, and the place was clean and fun. We set our stuff down in the hostel, but since check-in wasn't until 2 we set it in the luggage room and went to try and make our plans for the day. We found out information about a Dachau tour and a Beer and Brewery Tour. We had some time before the Dachau tour, so we found some breakfast. This little bakery had all these wonderful looking donuts so it was hard to pick one...when I was paying I asked the lady working what was in the donut and she said alcohol. Interesting. So I ate the donut, and you could definitely taste the alcohol. It wasn't bad, but if given the choice, I probably wouldn't get that again.
Dachau was really interesting. It is really sobering being in that concentration camp, but it was soooo interesting. There were a couple of people on our tour that were annoying, but it wasn't that bad. Dachau was the first concentration camp and it was a work camp. There were no mass murders at Dachau like there were at Aushwitz. The camp started as a place for opposers, people who spoke out against the Third Reich. As Hitler started gaining more and more control, more people were forced into concentration camps and the camp started getting more and more crowded. I think our tour guide said the camp was meant for 2,000 people maybe, and at one point in time there were like 76,000...that could be a very wrong statistic, but it was something to that effect. So while there was a gas chamber, it is claimed to have never been used. I am glad I went, but it is definitely a depressing tour. We were instructed to go drink a beer after the tour.
Once we got back from the tour, we went to check into the hostel and put our stuff in our rooms. Then we had a little less than an hour to kill before the Beer and Brewery Tour so we went and ate Donners, which were delicious. This tour was very different than the Dachau one, clearly. We went to 3 different breweries in Munich. Schneider's and Sons was the first one and it was okay...the beer I had was a dark beer and I am not a big fan of dark beers. The second one we went to was Paulaner, and at this one we were actually taken through the factory to learn how beer is made and learned the history of beer...which was pretty interesting. The monks first discovered beer during lent, because they were fasting they needed something to sustain them...thus beer was born. Every year in Munich during lent is known as the Beer Season. We got to sample 3 different beers at this one too. The last place we went was th original Hofbrauhaus, which was an experience. Interestingly enough, that Hofbrauhaus was the birth place of the Third Reich, the first couple for meetings between Hitler and the Third Reich took place in that Hofbrauhaus. It was really fun, most everyone finished their drinks and then left but there were 5 of us that stayed and hung out for like an hour or so longer. It was me and Kyle, this 50 year old British lady who was awesome, and 2 guys in the U.S. Army that are stationed in Germany. One of those guys actually went to college in Kentucky so we talked about that. At one point in time we were arguing about Ale8 and everyone on our tour was looking at us because our southern accents were coming out really strong and people said that couldn't even understand what we were talking about...which is kinda funnny.
After the beer tour, we went back to the hostel and there were a bunch of people hanging out in the bar in the hostel so we went in there and met some really nice and interesting people there. The next day, check-out was at 10 so we had to get up and get moving. We decided that we were just going to walk around Munich since we didn't get a chance to on Saturday. Munich is absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect. We climbed up this clock tower thing to get an amazing view of the city. We didn't really do much except explore the city...but it was beautiful and I would love to go back there.
I kinda wish that my placement was there instead of Cologne because there is more to do in Munich, and more people speak English. But, it was nice that when we finally were done traveling and back in Munich that feeling of "home" was there. I knew exactly where I was going when I got back to Cologne, and I was relieved to be back here...so it was interesing the way that works.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Writing Mood
Okay, so I am not really in a writing mood, but I have been writing a lot since I've gotten back from class today. I wrote a lesson plan for my year 6 English class for Friday. It is harder than you would think trying to fit the content of this English class into a typical KTIP lesson plan format...but have no fear I did it! Now we'll just have to see what Evelin says about it tomorrow when we discuss it, we'll see how that goes. I also had to post that lesson plan on Blackboard for my class tonight and respond to someone's classroom management plan from the last class. So I have had a pretty productive day so far! I have another paper due for Dr. Wood this weekend, just information about the school I am in and the students and she wants me to include some pictures. So, it shouldn't be a difficult paper to write, just time consuming.
So not much has really happened this week so far...just gone to school and hung out really. I finished Dexter...great show but now I'm going to have to wait and watch it like normal people and that for sure sucks. I am also almost finished with my Nicholas Sparks book, and at this rate I am definitely going to have to buy a lot more books seeing as how I have almost finished two books and haven't even been here 3 weeks yet. I like reading though, and it is nice to have the time to do more of it.
Apparently, there was a lice outbreak in the school like right before I got here, and one of the girls in my year 5 class gave a presentation on lice and actually had lice in a baggy that she passed around. I was sitting next to her all class, and now I am super paranoid every time I scratch my head. Ew.
Really exciting thing happened yesterday: I booked my trip to GREECE!! Yay! We are leaving next Friday afternoon and flying to Athens, and staying in Athens for the night. Then we are site-seeing in Athens and taking a train Saturday night to Thessolaniki where we are staying with Kyle's friend in our program. Then we will head back to Athens on Monday night and fly out on Tuesday. So exciting! I hope it is hot there...I didn't bring a bathing suit but thats okay, I'm not really expecting it to be that hot.
Today I was teaching about the American school system to my year 8 class. I actually felt comfortable teaching that because I clearly am really familiar with how it works. The students seemed really interested in it too because it really is completely different than their system. I am continuing the same lesson for our next class on Tuesday, so that is fun.
I think I am skyping with some people from class before class starts tonight so that should be good. Other than that, I have to finish making a worksheet for class on Friday to show Evelin tomorrow. So once that is finished, I will probably read and watch some One Tree Hill (thats the show I have moved on to since I am done with Dexter and 2 seasons behind on OTH).
So not much has really happened this week so far...just gone to school and hung out really. I finished Dexter...great show but now I'm going to have to wait and watch it like normal people and that for sure sucks. I am also almost finished with my Nicholas Sparks book, and at this rate I am definitely going to have to buy a lot more books seeing as how I have almost finished two books and haven't even been here 3 weeks yet. I like reading though, and it is nice to have the time to do more of it.
Apparently, there was a lice outbreak in the school like right before I got here, and one of the girls in my year 5 class gave a presentation on lice and actually had lice in a baggy that she passed around. I was sitting next to her all class, and now I am super paranoid every time I scratch my head. Ew.
Really exciting thing happened yesterday: I booked my trip to GREECE!! Yay! We are leaving next Friday afternoon and flying to Athens, and staying in Athens for the night. Then we are site-seeing in Athens and taking a train Saturday night to Thessolaniki where we are staying with Kyle's friend in our program. Then we will head back to Athens on Monday night and fly out on Tuesday. So exciting! I hope it is hot there...I didn't bring a bathing suit but thats okay, I'm not really expecting it to be that hot.
Today I was teaching about the American school system to my year 8 class. I actually felt comfortable teaching that because I clearly am really familiar with how it works. The students seemed really interested in it too because it really is completely different than their system. I am continuing the same lesson for our next class on Tuesday, so that is fun.
I think I am skyping with some people from class before class starts tonight so that should be good. Other than that, I have to finish making a worksheet for class on Friday to show Evelin tomorrow. So once that is finished, I will probably read and watch some One Tree Hill (thats the show I have moved on to since I am done with Dexter and 2 seasons behind on OTH).
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Weekend!
So I know it has been a few days since I have sat down to write on here...so this may be a fairly long blog...sorry!
Okay so I finally got some laundry done on Thursday night! I only was able to do one load though because laundry costs 3.5 eurosnand takes 3 hours for one load to finish, and the clothes still come out a little damp. Plus, the washer and dryer are super tiny so you can't even fit a lot into a load. So that's just great. I just finished my second load today and still have another load to do, but I need some change because the machines won't take paper money, nor do they give change back.
Friday at school I worked on my own with some year 7 students. During class I would take 4 students at a time to a different room to practice speaking English. One of the questions I asked each group was what they were doing this weekend. I had two boys in the first or second group telling me they were going to a friend's house to play poker Friday night. Later, I had in a group the boy who was having the poker tournament. I just feel like 7th grade is kind of young to be having poker tournaments, but I guess they do start drinking earlier here so they might as well gamble earlier too. Anyway, I did that all class and then went to my year 6 class. For the second lesson in that class we had an assembly that we took them too, so it was a pretty easy day at school.
After class, I just came back to my room and hung out for like the rest of the afternoon before meeting up with some people to go to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. The food was pretty good, and not too expensive so that was nice. After dinner we went somewhere else to have a few drinks, so the night was pretty calm and really nice.
I woke up at like 11:30 this morning and went and got some currywurst, which is super popular and very German, with Sophie and that was actually really good. Once I got back from lunch, I just hung around the dorm for a couple of hours before heading out to the Reissdorf Kolsch Brewery for dinner with a couple of people. That place was really good, but they actually didn't have a big selection for food which was kind of surprising to me. After dinner we went to Vicky's house for a couple hours and then out in Cologne.
Sunday, Evelin and her husband invited Kyle and I over to their house for brunch. We left the dorm around 10:30 and got to their house around 11:15. They had made us a very German-style brunch which was really good. It was a beautiful day out yesterday so Evelin took all of us to this castle that was about 30-45 minutes away from Cologne. The castle was really cool (pictures are up on facebook). What was most fascinating about the castle was everything it was used for in history. It started out as a rich banker's home in 1883, he built it to show off his money. Throughout history it became a boy's school, a Catholic school, and Adolph Hitler school, a hippy hang out, and more. It was just fascinating. The inside was set up how it would have been when the banker had originally built it. The outside of it was beautiful and the view was AMAZING! We had to hike up this huge mountain/hill to get to the castle, and I am for sure feeling it in my legs today, but the view and everything else was definitely worth it.
I was so worn out yesterday, we didn't get back to the dorm until about 5:30 and then I went and got some dinner with Kyle and Sophie and just came back to my room for the night. I had class this morning from 8-9:35, then came home and took a nap because I didn't sleep very well last night. I think here shortly I might go to a cafe and read for a bit.
Okay so I finally got some laundry done on Thursday night! I only was able to do one load though because laundry costs 3.5 eurosnand takes 3 hours for one load to finish, and the clothes still come out a little damp. Plus, the washer and dryer are super tiny so you can't even fit a lot into a load. So that's just great. I just finished my second load today and still have another load to do, but I need some change because the machines won't take paper money, nor do they give change back.
Friday at school I worked on my own with some year 7 students. During class I would take 4 students at a time to a different room to practice speaking English. One of the questions I asked each group was what they were doing this weekend. I had two boys in the first or second group telling me they were going to a friend's house to play poker Friday night. Later, I had in a group the boy who was having the poker tournament. I just feel like 7th grade is kind of young to be having poker tournaments, but I guess they do start drinking earlier here so they might as well gamble earlier too. Anyway, I did that all class and then went to my year 6 class. For the second lesson in that class we had an assembly that we took them too, so it was a pretty easy day at school.
After class, I just came back to my room and hung out for like the rest of the afternoon before meeting up with some people to go to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. The food was pretty good, and not too expensive so that was nice. After dinner we went somewhere else to have a few drinks, so the night was pretty calm and really nice.
I woke up at like 11:30 this morning and went and got some currywurst, which is super popular and very German, with Sophie and that was actually really good. Once I got back from lunch, I just hung around the dorm for a couple of hours before heading out to the Reissdorf Kolsch Brewery for dinner with a couple of people. That place was really good, but they actually didn't have a big selection for food which was kind of surprising to me. After dinner we went to Vicky's house for a couple hours and then out in Cologne.
Sunday, Evelin and her husband invited Kyle and I over to their house for brunch. We left the dorm around 10:30 and got to their house around 11:15. They had made us a very German-style brunch which was really good. It was a beautiful day out yesterday so Evelin took all of us to this castle that was about 30-45 minutes away from Cologne. The castle was really cool (pictures are up on facebook). What was most fascinating about the castle was everything it was used for in history. It started out as a rich banker's home in 1883, he built it to show off his money. Throughout history it became a boy's school, a Catholic school, and Adolph Hitler school, a hippy hang out, and more. It was just fascinating. The inside was set up how it would have been when the banker had originally built it. The outside of it was beautiful and the view was AMAZING! We had to hike up this huge mountain/hill to get to the castle, and I am for sure feeling it in my legs today, but the view and everything else was definitely worth it.
I was so worn out yesterday, we didn't get back to the dorm until about 5:30 and then I went and got some dinner with Kyle and Sophie and just came back to my room for the night. I had class this morning from 8-9:35, then came home and took a nap because I didn't sleep very well last night. I think here shortly I might go to a cafe and read for a bit.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday and Thursday
So yesterday I was supposed to have class from 8-935 but they were just taking a test so my teacher told me I didn't need to come...so I didn't. Instead, I woke up about 10 and just kind of hung around in my room for a while, then I grabbed a book and headed to Starbucks to sit and read before I went in for my 225 class. I was at Starbucks for about 2 hours, and I started reading the newest Nicholas Sparks book, Safe Haven. I got about 100 pages in and it is pretty good so far, the main character's name is Katie so thats fun. My 225 class was pointless, it was 9th grade social studies and they were supposed to be presenting their business plans that they just finished up, but we coudn't get the projector to work so we just sat there for like 45 minutes doing nothing before the teacher finally just gave up and let us go.
Once I got back from class, Kyle and I booked our trip to Munich! We are leaving next Saturday morning at 645 am, which puts us in Munich by 8 am. Then we are going to go on the Dachau Concentration Camp tour, which I think will be really interesting. The tour takes like 5 hours so once we're done with that I think we're just going to roam around the city a bit before we go to the original Hofbrauhaus Saturday night. We booked a pretty nice hostel for Saturday night and then Sunday we are going to do some more tourism stuff in the city and then our flight leaves to come back to Cologne at like 530 Sunday afternoon. That time works perfect because that will give us some time to get home and unpack and rest and stuff before we head to Joe Champs (the American bar) to watch the Superbowl! There is a group of like 8 of us going to watch the game which should be fun, it starts at midnight here but we don't have school that Monday so that's perfect!
Last night I was supposed to go see Black Swan with some people but I wasn't able to get a ticket because it was sold out, Emilie assured me this morning though that I probably wouldn't have liked it so it's okay. Instead I just came back and graded some papers and just hung out in my room.
This morning I didn't have class until 1145, so I was able to sleep in until 1030. I had year 7 English double lesson today and for the first lesson the teacher handed them back their class tests they took last class. One little boy started to cry and it was the sadest thing...he was just so pitiful! Some of the other boys were like giving him a hug and stuff and being really sweet which was kind of touching, but that was just super sad for me to watch! For the second lesson, I took 4 girls into a different classroom to practice the speaking aspect of English so I was just basically having a conversation with them and asking them questions and stuff.
I finally made it to the store after class and restocked my food supply...yay! I also bought laundry detergent and softener so I might have Emilie teach me how to do laundry tonight. Although I had a hell of a time trying to find the detergent because it was right in there with the dish soap and softener so I had no idea which was actually detergent and I asked like 3 people before this nice man heard me asking and helped me out. O well...I got some now and can start laundry hopefully tonight!
I think thats about all I have planned so far for the day...maybe read some more.
Once I got back from class, Kyle and I booked our trip to Munich! We are leaving next Saturday morning at 645 am, which puts us in Munich by 8 am. Then we are going to go on the Dachau Concentration Camp tour, which I think will be really interesting. The tour takes like 5 hours so once we're done with that I think we're just going to roam around the city a bit before we go to the original Hofbrauhaus Saturday night. We booked a pretty nice hostel for Saturday night and then Sunday we are going to do some more tourism stuff in the city and then our flight leaves to come back to Cologne at like 530 Sunday afternoon. That time works perfect because that will give us some time to get home and unpack and rest and stuff before we head to Joe Champs (the American bar) to watch the Superbowl! There is a group of like 8 of us going to watch the game which should be fun, it starts at midnight here but we don't have school that Monday so that's perfect!
Last night I was supposed to go see Black Swan with some people but I wasn't able to get a ticket because it was sold out, Emilie assured me this morning though that I probably wouldn't have liked it so it's okay. Instead I just came back and graded some papers and just hung out in my room.
This morning I didn't have class until 1145, so I was able to sleep in until 1030. I had year 7 English double lesson today and for the first lesson the teacher handed them back their class tests they took last class. One little boy started to cry and it was the sadest thing...he was just so pitiful! Some of the other boys were like giving him a hug and stuff and being really sweet which was kind of touching, but that was just super sad for me to watch! For the second lesson, I took 4 girls into a different classroom to practice the speaking aspect of English so I was just basically having a conversation with them and asking them questions and stuff.
I finally made it to the store after class and restocked my food supply...yay! I also bought laundry detergent and softener so I might have Emilie teach me how to do laundry tonight. Although I had a hell of a time trying to find the detergent because it was right in there with the dish soap and softener so I had no idea which was actually detergent and I asked like 3 people before this nice man heard me asking and helped me out. O well...I got some now and can start laundry hopefully tonight!
I think thats about all I have planned so far for the day...maybe read some more.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Eventful Day
So today was the longest day I have had a school yet. I started the day with a 9th grade social studies class, with the focus being on business...great; then I went to an 8th grade English class and had about a 2 hour break then ended the day with a 5th grade English class. In the 5th grade class today they were listening to another dialogue from the book and it was an email exchange between someone in England and someone in New York. When the email from the dude in New York was being read, it took all that I had in me to not bust out laughing becuase it was a TERRIBLE American accent. It was clearly a British dude trying to sound like an American and it was comical, no one else seemed to notice though, which I guess is understandable. I actually don't have class tomorrow until 2:25 which is nice, because I am supposed to have 8th English from 8-935, but they are just taking a test so the teacher told me I didn't have to come. I'll take it.
After class today, I just came back and hung out in the dorm for a little while before Emilie, Kyle, and I went to the Cathedral. It has been pretty cloudy here recently but today was actually really nice so we decided to get our workout in by going to the very top of the Cathedral, where we could see all of Cologne. It was 509 steps...my legs were already sore from Yoga last night and I had run out of water early today...needless to say, I was dying. It was definitely a workout getting to the top but the view was awesome so it was worth it. The walk down wasn't nearly as bad, except that is is one lone spiral staircase so we were pretty dizzy when we got to the bottom. The first thing I did was buy a liter still water and chug it...never was as refreshing as it was today.
We had a couple hours just to do whatever when we got back, before we went to the Opera. The school had gotten tickets to "Aida" tonight so we went. I did not understand a majority of what happened...the opera was in Italian but it had German subtitles...neither of which helped me to understand what was going on. It was interesting though and I got the main jist of it.
I think tomorrow night I am going to see Black Swan, so that should be interesting. And I REALLY need to go to the grocery...maybe that will happen too.
After class today, I just came back and hung out in the dorm for a little while before Emilie, Kyle, and I went to the Cathedral. It has been pretty cloudy here recently but today was actually really nice so we decided to get our workout in by going to the very top of the Cathedral, where we could see all of Cologne. It was 509 steps...my legs were already sore from Yoga last night and I had run out of water early today...needless to say, I was dying. It was definitely a workout getting to the top but the view was awesome so it was worth it. The walk down wasn't nearly as bad, except that is is one lone spiral staircase so we were pretty dizzy when we got to the bottom. The first thing I did was buy a liter still water and chug it...never was as refreshing as it was today.
We had a couple hours just to do whatever when we got back, before we went to the Opera. The school had gotten tickets to "Aida" tonight so we went. I did not understand a majority of what happened...the opera was in Italian but it had German subtitles...neither of which helped me to understand what was going on. It was interesting though and I got the main jist of it.
I think tomorrow night I am going to see Black Swan, so that should be interesting. And I REALLY need to go to the grocery...maybe that will happen too.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Yoga
Okay, so about an hour ago I got back from my first yoga class ever. It was an interesting experience. I definitely feel more relaxed after, so I will probably keep going with Emilie. Now the issue with this class is the language barrier...I don't speak German. Everyone else does. I really liked the instructor but I could never really fully relax when we were supposed to because she would talk while we were relaxing and I had to keep an eye out to make sure she wasn't telling us to do something else. A couple times she had to come over and help me with my positioning and I could see Emilie out of the corner of my eye laughing because this lady just kept telling me all this stuff and I had NO IDEA what she was wanting me to do. O well...she seemed nice all the same. Anyway, it was just really relaxing and then I came home and drank some water and graded some papers...pretty good night.
Long Day
So yesterday I had another day where I slept until noon, and it was of course great. Once I got ready, Kyle and I met Vicky and Tori for some coffee. They kept talking about this really nice cafe so we just went along with it, turns out they were talking about McCafe, which we thought was weird. I mean their caffe latte and free cupcake were delicious but it was weird that it was considered really nice here. Although, the inside of the McDonalds did look really nice, not like the crappy ones we have at home. We were there for a couple of hours before coming home.
When I got back to the dorm I did some school stuff for today. I graded some papers and worked on a lesson, so that was fairly productive. We were only in the dorm for a couple of hours before we headed down to the American Bar for the Packers v. Bears game. Emilie came with us and stayed for a little while. Kyle is a huge Packers fan so we were there for all of his game. The Jets game didn't start until midnight thirty here, so we stayed at the bar and watched the first quarter and a half. The Jets did not look good at all and it was like 1:45 am, so we left then. I was able to find an online station that was playing the Jets game, and watch the progessions on cbs.com. It was not worth it, we lost. Even better, after the game was over I was wide awake...so I just stayed up until class. I kept myself busy on facebook and by watching a couple Dexter episodes...but I was out of it in class this morning. All I wanted to do when I got back to the dorm was take a nap, but I was scared about it throwing off my sleep schedule and getting back on home time. I thought that if I just laid down and rested it would help...so I settled in bed and just started another Dexter but then fell asleep. So I had a nice little nap from 1030 until about 330 today. Hopefully I won't have any trouble falling asleep again tonight. I think I am going to go with Emilie to yoga later tonight, so hopefully that will help. I could honestly go to sleep right now and probably sleep the whole night through until class in the morning. But I'm not going to do that.
When I got back to the dorm I did some school stuff for today. I graded some papers and worked on a lesson, so that was fairly productive. We were only in the dorm for a couple of hours before we headed down to the American Bar for the Packers v. Bears game. Emilie came with us and stayed for a little while. Kyle is a huge Packers fan so we were there for all of his game. The Jets game didn't start until midnight thirty here, so we stayed at the bar and watched the first quarter and a half. The Jets did not look good at all and it was like 1:45 am, so we left then. I was able to find an online station that was playing the Jets game, and watch the progessions on cbs.com. It was not worth it, we lost. Even better, after the game was over I was wide awake...so I just stayed up until class. I kept myself busy on facebook and by watching a couple Dexter episodes...but I was out of it in class this morning. All I wanted to do when I got back to the dorm was take a nap, but I was scared about it throwing off my sleep schedule and getting back on home time. I thought that if I just laid down and rested it would help...so I settled in bed and just started another Dexter but then fell asleep. So I had a nice little nap from 1030 until about 330 today. Hopefully I won't have any trouble falling asleep again tonight. I think I am going to go with Emilie to yoga later tonight, so hopefully that will help. I could honestly go to sleep right now and probably sleep the whole night through until class in the morning. But I'm not going to do that.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Lazy and good Saturday
So today I didn't wake up until noon...which was great. We had not set any exact plans Friday night, so I wasn't sure what we were going to do today. I decided to just lay in bed and watch another episode of Dexter, which was great. Around 3 we decided that we were going to go to the Chocolate Museum here in Cologne. That was really cool actually. We got to see them make Lindt chocolate right there in the museum, and got a couple of free samples which were delicious. In the museum they also have a cafe, so once we were done walking around we got a hot chocolate that was absolutely amazing! I downed mine so stinking fast...it was wonderful. Then we made our way to the gift shop that was just all chocolate. I debated on what to get for awhile, I had a Lindt caramel filled chocolate bar in my hand and a bourbon vanilla chocolate bar in had, just because it was bourbon and I figured since I'm from Kentukcy I should get that. But I decided that I could really get those anywhere, what I can't get anywhere is chocolate beer and chocolate liqour. I ended up getting those two things, I haven't tried them yet just because they scare me...but you can't get that anywhere else so I feel like I had to get them; plus their bottles are pretty cool. Once I actually try these I will let you know my verdict. (All these pictures are already posted on facebook if you wanted to look at them).
After the chocolate museum, I came back to my dorm for about an hour before heading out to find some dinner. We walked a ways to try and find an authentic German place to eat. We ended up finding this pretty sweet little place that may have been more Greek than German, but still delicious. The had the Reissdorf Kolsch, which is my favorite of the kolschs. Kolsch is a certain beer unique to Cologne because in order to be called a kolsch, the beer has to be brewed somewhere where you can see the Cologne Cathedral, so every place here has a differnet kind of kolsch on their menu. This is the kolsch that I had at Marikka's at home before I left for Germany. So I had the kolsch, and Gyros...which I think is lamb. It was delicious though, plus our waiter was pretty cute and fun, so that was nice. I took a picture of my meal so you can see it but I haven't posted it on facebook yet. Now I am back in my dorm because I am already pretty tired.
Tomorrow my plan is to wake up and grade some papers, look through one of the textbooks and see which lessons I want to teach, go to the grocery store, meet some people for coffee, and then go watch the Packers v. Bears game at the American bar, then try and stream the Jets v. Steelers game in my dorm. So I should probably get to bed early tonight since my game doesn't even start until midnight thirty here tomorrow night. Was also just now informed that UK plays South Carolina tonight in basketball starting at midnight here...so we'll see how early I get to bed.
After the chocolate museum, I came back to my dorm for about an hour before heading out to find some dinner. We walked a ways to try and find an authentic German place to eat. We ended up finding this pretty sweet little place that may have been more Greek than German, but still delicious. The had the Reissdorf Kolsch, which is my favorite of the kolschs. Kolsch is a certain beer unique to Cologne because in order to be called a kolsch, the beer has to be brewed somewhere where you can see the Cologne Cathedral, so every place here has a differnet kind of kolsch on their menu. This is the kolsch that I had at Marikka's at home before I left for Germany. So I had the kolsch, and Gyros...which I think is lamb. It was delicious though, plus our waiter was pretty cute and fun, so that was nice. I took a picture of my meal so you can see it but I haven't posted it on facebook yet. Now I am back in my dorm because I am already pretty tired.
Tomorrow my plan is to wake up and grade some papers, look through one of the textbooks and see which lessons I want to teach, go to the grocery store, meet some people for coffee, and then go watch the Packers v. Bears game at the American bar, then try and stream the Jets v. Steelers game in my dorm. So I should probably get to bed early tonight since my game doesn't even start until midnight thirty here tomorrow night. Was also just now informed that UK plays South Carolina tonight in basketball starting at midnight here...so we'll see how early I get to bed.
Friday, January 21, 2011
One Week!
So it has officially been one week since I have arrived here in Cologne, although it feels like much much longer. Today in class I took over the last part and reviewed parts of the body with the year 6 students. Evelin wanted me to review the parts of the body with them and then attach verbs to what each part of the body could do. When we got to the leg, one student said that when you smoke a lot you can get smoking leg and have it cut off. Hilarious. This is why I love middle-schoolers. Class went well though, the students have a tendency to talk constantly, which is not uncommon for this age. However, in the short time I have been here, I have also noticed that teachers do not discourage talking as much. When I was teaching, there was no way I was going to stand for the students turning around and talking to their friends while I was up there. I was a little harsh on the students about this point because it just isn't respectful, and even if their teacher doesn't crack down on them for that, I am going to because it is my personal philosophy that students shouldn't be talking to each other when the teacher is trying to teach them something...I'm just saying.
Anyway, after class I came back to my dorm and fixed some lunch and watched some tv. Then Kyle and I met with Evelin back at the school to go over our schedules and the grading scale they use there. We found out that we have a 4 day weekend in February, so I am definitely going to plan some kind of trip for then, not sure what yet though.
After we met with Evelin, I came back to my dorm and took a nap. For some reason, I did not sleep very well last night so that nap was nice. Kyle and I met two of our British friends for dinner and then went to an Irish Pub for drinks. I just got back to my dorm but the night was really fun. We met up with Vicky and Tori at like 6:30 and we didn't know them that well so that was really nice.
Not sure what tomorrow holds, but I'll keep you posted.
Anyway, after class I came back to my dorm and fixed some lunch and watched some tv. Then Kyle and I met with Evelin back at the school to go over our schedules and the grading scale they use there. We found out that we have a 4 day weekend in February, so I am definitely going to plan some kind of trip for then, not sure what yet though.
After we met with Evelin, I came back to my dorm and took a nap. For some reason, I did not sleep very well last night so that nap was nice. Kyle and I met two of our British friends for dinner and then went to an Irish Pub for drinks. I just got back to my dorm but the night was really fun. We met up with Vicky and Tori at like 6:30 and we didn't know them that well so that was really nice.
Not sure what tomorrow holds, but I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Almost one week
Well, today I met a new class of students: 7th grade English. The kids were great and the teacher was really nice, but today the class was so boring; they were literally just going through a textbook and workbook, and I didn't even have one to follow along with so I was just bored, and tired. I don't have to go to that class tomorrow though because they are just having a test so the teacher told me not to come. These kids asked me a fair amount of questions and I would catch them just turning around during class and staring at me. During their break I had three girls come up and say: "isn't Lee a Chinese name?" I thought really?...I always get the Asain thing! I just said it was spelled differently.
Nothing really interesting has happened though since yesterday. It gets kind of boring and lonely during the week just because there isn't a whole lot to do, without spending money. I'm sure once I am more active in the classroom I will have more to do, but right now I am just observing so there isn't really much to do for that. I wrote a paper last night for my student teaching class back at UK, so that was productive, other than that I caught up on a bunch of shows online last night. I also went shopping, but I think I already talked about that. I was done at class at 935 yesterday so even when I got back from shopping it was only like 2 in the afternoon. I watched: Brothers and Sisters, Modern Family, Jersey Shore, and 3 episodes from Dexter season 4. Quite a boring night, although I was really excited to Skype Elizabeth before the first student teaching seminar last night and got to see a lot of my school friends. That was super exciting, made my night for sure!
Today I didn't have class until 1145, so it was nice to be able to sleep in a little later. In an effort to not just sit in my dorm alone all night, once I got back from school I grabbed my book and went to Starbucks. I just now got back, I was there for about 3 hours just reading in my book. I finished the book and it was very good! It is called The Pact, by Jodi Picoult...I would definitely reccomend this book. I brought two other books with me, but at this rate I think I am going to need a lot more to keep me busy!
Supposedly, tonight at 7 there is supposed to be a pizza party thing on the fifth floor, so that is something to do later tonight which is nice. So I just have a little time to kill now before that happens. I haven't met anyone on the floor, so hopefully I will be able to make some new friends there tonight.
Kyle and I were talking last night about it being kind of boring during the week, so I think we are going to start doing more ike tourism things once we are done with classes next week so we have something to do. I think I remember Evelin or Emilie saying that Thursdays were free museum days for either students or teachers, either category works in our favor so that is something we are going to take advantage of because there are a lot of great museums here, and I think we are going to take some tours...so that will be good. I really enjoyed going to Starbucks today though and reading, I really like reading and haven't been able to just sit down and get lost in a book for awhile so I like that I will be able to do that more often while I am here.
Anyway, that is about all I have to say for now. I'll keep you posted! O and the weather has definitely turned into typical Cologne January weather....dropped a noticeable amount since I have arrived...but no snow!
Nothing really interesting has happened though since yesterday. It gets kind of boring and lonely during the week just because there isn't a whole lot to do, without spending money. I'm sure once I am more active in the classroom I will have more to do, but right now I am just observing so there isn't really much to do for that. I wrote a paper last night for my student teaching class back at UK, so that was productive, other than that I caught up on a bunch of shows online last night. I also went shopping, but I think I already talked about that. I was done at class at 935 yesterday so even when I got back from shopping it was only like 2 in the afternoon. I watched: Brothers and Sisters, Modern Family, Jersey Shore, and 3 episodes from Dexter season 4. Quite a boring night, although I was really excited to Skype Elizabeth before the first student teaching seminar last night and got to see a lot of my school friends. That was super exciting, made my night for sure!
Today I didn't have class until 1145, so it was nice to be able to sleep in a little later. In an effort to not just sit in my dorm alone all night, once I got back from school I grabbed my book and went to Starbucks. I just now got back, I was there for about 3 hours just reading in my book. I finished the book and it was very good! It is called The Pact, by Jodi Picoult...I would definitely reccomend this book. I brought two other books with me, but at this rate I think I am going to need a lot more to keep me busy!
Supposedly, tonight at 7 there is supposed to be a pizza party thing on the fifth floor, so that is something to do later tonight which is nice. So I just have a little time to kill now before that happens. I haven't met anyone on the floor, so hopefully I will be able to make some new friends there tonight.
Kyle and I were talking last night about it being kind of boring during the week, so I think we are going to start doing more ike tourism things once we are done with classes next week so we have something to do. I think I remember Evelin or Emilie saying that Thursdays were free museum days for either students or teachers, either category works in our favor so that is something we are going to take advantage of because there are a lot of great museums here, and I think we are going to take some tours...so that will be good. I really enjoyed going to Starbucks today though and reading, I really like reading and haven't been able to just sit down and get lost in a book for awhile so I like that I will be able to do that more often while I am here.
Anyway, that is about all I have to say for now. I'll keep you posted! O and the weather has definitely turned into typical Cologne January weather....dropped a noticeable amount since I have arrived...but no snow!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
IKEA Day
Yesterday I went to two different classes, and 8th grade English class from 850-935 and then a 5th grade English class from 1145-120. This 8th grade class is definitely the most difficult class so far, I had that class again this morning for a double lesson and the teacher and I were talking about them and he was telling me how it is his most frustrating class because they are so disobedient and disinterested in class. There are a few good students in the class, but it is definitely going to be a challenging semester with this class. The teacher wants me to take a small group of students each class into a different room and have discussion topics to start conversations so they can practice speaking English more. They have a test next Wednesday so I am assuming I would start that after the test. My 5th grade class yesterday though was awesome. They were really interested in me and throughout the class I would see kids just turn around and stare at me. The teacher let them ask me questions at the beginning of class, but since this is thier first year taking English I got questions like "What's your favorite color?", "What's your favorite movie?", etc. During the class they were working on a dialogue activity where they listened to a tape read a portion of text while they followed along in the book so they can learn how to pronounce the words. After they listened to the tape, the teacher had me read the passage for the students. The man on the tape is British, and clearly I am American so our accents were differnet. She asked the students to point out the differences in how the man on the tape and I pronounced words differently. The biggest difference and most obvious difference to them was the way I pronounced "daughter." Apparently it was very different than the tape and then they all tried to pronounce it like me, but they failed at it because I definitely do not say it the way they were saying it. Probably doesn't help that on some words I have more of a southern accent. Speaking of which, when I went out with my British friends the other night we were all trying to do different accents and I said the only one I could do was a southern one, just because that is what I am around, so I did it for them and they were amazed. They loved the southern accent and like wanted to meet someone with like a real thick one, so I just told them to come to Kentucky!
After I was finished with class for the day, Sophie and I went to IKEA. It only took like a 20 minute subway ride, and the stop was right in front of the store so it was pretty sweet. We went through IKEA and got stuff for our rooms, and we ate in the cafe before returing home. I bought: silverware, a candle, a pan, a placemat, a towel, 2 rugs, and 2 pillows and I think it really makes a difference in my room. I will post pictures on facebook so you can see the updates.
Once we got back from IKEA, I put everything up in my room, then went to go see Morning Glory at an English theater. The movie was much better than I thought it was going to be, I actually really liked it. Emilie, Angharad, and I met some other people at Taco Loco for a drink after the movie before we came back to the dorm.
I was thinking about it last night, and I think I am going to come home with a British accent, since I hang around with British people all the time. I think that would be awesome, so I am going to try and make it happen!
After I was finished with class for the day, Sophie and I went to IKEA. It only took like a 20 minute subway ride, and the stop was right in front of the store so it was pretty sweet. We went through IKEA and got stuff for our rooms, and we ate in the cafe before returing home. I bought: silverware, a candle, a pan, a placemat, a towel, 2 rugs, and 2 pillows and I think it really makes a difference in my room. I will post pictures on facebook so you can see the updates.
Once we got back from IKEA, I put everything up in my room, then went to go see Morning Glory at an English theater. The movie was much better than I thought it was going to be, I actually really liked it. Emilie, Angharad, and I met some other people at Taco Loco for a drink after the movie before we came back to the dorm.
I was thinking about it last night, and I think I am going to come home with a British accent, since I hang around with British people all the time. I think that would be awesome, so I am going to try and make it happen!
Monday, January 17, 2011
I have internet!!!!
I FINALLY HAVE INTERNET IN THE DORM!! It is a fantastic feeling. I didn't want to keep sounding like a tech-savvy American who HAS to be connected to the internet 24/7; however, being in a foreign country for 3-4 days without any connection home kinda sucks. But no fear, problem solved!
So yesterday after I had my tease of internet at Starbucks, Kyle and I walked around the city for a long time. We walked to the Cathedral and across the Rhine and on our way back to the dorm we found a really cute and authentic, traditional German part of town. When we were walking it was dusk so I got some really pretty pictures of the city of Cologne and of the Cologne Cathedral from the other side of the bridge. (Those are all on facebook, it takes forever for the pictures to upload to the blog in the dorm).
After we explored the city some more, we met Emilie and went to a German restaurant where I ordered a Bratwurst and it was freaking delicious. We then went in search of a place that was planning on showing the Superbowl. We went into an Irish bar that looked really fun (and the bartender was legit Irish, so that's awesome) but they weren't showing the game. He pointed us in the direction of an American bar that would most likely be showing it. We found it and sure enough, it was decked out in American football apparel and had the Bears v. Seahawks game playing on huge tvs everywhere. We decided to stay and watch the beginning of the Jets game, but for some reason the satelite started to freeze every other minute during the game so we left, plus we had to be at school at 8 this morning and the Jets game didn't even start until after 10:30 pm here. Don't worry though, JETS WON!
So today was the first day that we went to the school. The school is literally a 2 minute walk from my dorm. One morning I will video tape my walk just so you can see the closeness of the school. The school is also really different because I am only there for a couple of hours a day. For instance, today I was only there from 8-935. The students don't have the same classes everyday and they all have different times since the school houses grades 5-12. My schedule is kind of confusing but I like it because I am not at school from 8-4 everyday like all of my other student teaching friends and I am exposed to 5 different teachers and their teaching styles; and I get exposure in grades 5-9 which is really nice. The school is also different in that the teachers don't have their own classrooms. The students stay in the same rooms and the teachers rotate rooms, but most teachers aren't even there all day long because once they are done with their classes for the day, or they have a long break, they leave school and take care of personal stuff. Their desk consists of sharing a table with like 5 or so other teachers in the teacher's lounge. The teacher's lounge is just made up of a bunch of rows of tables with teacher's things on them. This is a pretty cool idea because it seems to create more of a community between the teachers.
After school, Emilie took Kyle and I to get our Temporary Resident Passes but by the time they called our number they were about to close, so I think I am just going to go by myself on my break tomorrow from 935-1145. After that we went and got some school supplies and some more things to decorate my room with. I also finally put the pictures I brought up so that is a nice new thing. I am going to Ikea tomorrow with Sophie, one of the girls in my dorm, to get some more things to make my room feel more like home. As soon as I am satisfied to the comfort level of my room I will definitely post pictures for you guys to see.
Once we got back we finally got out internet codes so we can be connected to home in our rooms now. I also paid my first month's rent which they knocked down to half price since I am only living here half of the month of January. Emilie and I then went out again to go get some more groceries. I got some more dinner type food so I don't have to go out to dinner ever night, because I really can't afford that.
Anyway, everyting is going good! It is nice to start to settle into a routine and to start to have my room feel more like home.
So yesterday after I had my tease of internet at Starbucks, Kyle and I walked around the city for a long time. We walked to the Cathedral and across the Rhine and on our way back to the dorm we found a really cute and authentic, traditional German part of town. When we were walking it was dusk so I got some really pretty pictures of the city of Cologne and of the Cologne Cathedral from the other side of the bridge. (Those are all on facebook, it takes forever for the pictures to upload to the blog in the dorm).
After we explored the city some more, we met Emilie and went to a German restaurant where I ordered a Bratwurst and it was freaking delicious. We then went in search of a place that was planning on showing the Superbowl. We went into an Irish bar that looked really fun (and the bartender was legit Irish, so that's awesome) but they weren't showing the game. He pointed us in the direction of an American bar that would most likely be showing it. We found it and sure enough, it was decked out in American football apparel and had the Bears v. Seahawks game playing on huge tvs everywhere. We decided to stay and watch the beginning of the Jets game, but for some reason the satelite started to freeze every other minute during the game so we left, plus we had to be at school at 8 this morning and the Jets game didn't even start until after 10:30 pm here. Don't worry though, JETS WON!
So today was the first day that we went to the school. The school is literally a 2 minute walk from my dorm. One morning I will video tape my walk just so you can see the closeness of the school. The school is also really different because I am only there for a couple of hours a day. For instance, today I was only there from 8-935. The students don't have the same classes everyday and they all have different times since the school houses grades 5-12. My schedule is kind of confusing but I like it because I am not at school from 8-4 everyday like all of my other student teaching friends and I am exposed to 5 different teachers and their teaching styles; and I get exposure in grades 5-9 which is really nice. The school is also different in that the teachers don't have their own classrooms. The students stay in the same rooms and the teachers rotate rooms, but most teachers aren't even there all day long because once they are done with their classes for the day, or they have a long break, they leave school and take care of personal stuff. Their desk consists of sharing a table with like 5 or so other teachers in the teacher's lounge. The teacher's lounge is just made up of a bunch of rows of tables with teacher's things on them. This is a pretty cool idea because it seems to create more of a community between the teachers.
After school, Emilie took Kyle and I to get our Temporary Resident Passes but by the time they called our number they were about to close, so I think I am just going to go by myself on my break tomorrow from 935-1145. After that we went and got some school supplies and some more things to decorate my room with. I also finally put the pictures I brought up so that is a nice new thing. I am going to Ikea tomorrow with Sophie, one of the girls in my dorm, to get some more things to make my room feel more like home. As soon as I am satisfied to the comfort level of my room I will definitely post pictures for you guys to see.
Once we got back we finally got out internet codes so we can be connected to home in our rooms now. I also paid my first month's rent which they knocked down to half price since I am only living here half of the month of January. Emilie and I then went out again to go get some more groceries. I got some more dinner type food so I don't have to go out to dinner ever night, because I really can't afford that.
Anyway, everyting is going good! It is nice to start to settle into a routine and to start to have my room feel more like home.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
First Couple of Days
I made it alive...with all of my luggage! Sorry I am just now posting again but we won't be given the internet code for the dorm until tomorrow, so I am sitting in Starbucks. It is harder than you think being in a different country and not having the internet for 3 days to keep in touch with friends from home. What also sucks about not having internet in the dorm until tomorrow is that I will miss the Jets game tonight. Bu Some of my British friends that I have made said that some Irish bars here will show the Superbowl and they want to go watch it with us...so that's fun.
Okay so lets start with my flight from Charlotte to Munich, it was long. There were screaming chilren. I barely slept on the 8 hour flight. I watched an episode of Glee, and episode of Modern Family, Dispicable Me, and Sleepless in Seattle. All were great viewing choices. I had a three hour layover in Munich which wasn't too bad, just read in my book. The flight from Munich to Cologne was only about an hour so that wasn't bad at all. I was met at the airport by one of the teachers in the school where I will be student teaching. She was really nice and took me to the dorm where I met my overseas supervisor and the other student who is particpating in the same program as me. We also met another girl from France who is here for the entire school year working in our school. Evelin, my supervisor, took Kyle, Emilie, and me on a tour of Cologne. We walked all around the city for about three hours. The city is awesome but I was so tired and jetlagged that everything pretty much went into one ear and out the other. Later that night, Evelin and her husband took us all out to a classic Cologne beer hall. We ordered Kolsch, which is a beer that is only brewed in Cologne. I also ordered a Cologne specialty for my meal which was blood sausage. It is banned in the states I learned but it was really good still.
After dinner Emilie introduced us to some of her British friends and we ended up going out with them that night. We went to a German club that was a subway ride and quite a walk away, and ended up standing in line forever in the pouring rain before we could get in. It was strange inside because they were playing lots of music that we would hear at home like Lady Gaga, Nelly, and they even played Empire State of Mind, which was weird singing about New York in Germany.
Yesterday, when I woke up I walked around by myself a little to get more of a feel for the city and went to Butlers, which is a home goods store, and bought some things for my room to make it look less like a prison cell. Once I got back and finally unpacked, Kyle and I walked around some more and found a grocery store to buy some essential food for our dorms. I am planning on going to an Ikea on Tuesday with one of the British girls so I can make my room feel a little more home-like, then I will post some more updated pictures.
Once I get internet in my dorm I will update my blog more regularly and post more pictures on here. I have posted pictures on facebook but hopefully I will have internet tomorrow so I can talk with people a little more frequently.
Okay so lets start with my flight from Charlotte to Munich, it was long. There were screaming chilren. I barely slept on the 8 hour flight. I watched an episode of Glee, and episode of Modern Family, Dispicable Me, and Sleepless in Seattle. All were great viewing choices. I had a three hour layover in Munich which wasn't too bad, just read in my book. The flight from Munich to Cologne was only about an hour so that wasn't bad at all. I was met at the airport by one of the teachers in the school where I will be student teaching. She was really nice and took me to the dorm where I met my overseas supervisor and the other student who is particpating in the same program as me. We also met another girl from France who is here for the entire school year working in our school. Evelin, my supervisor, took Kyle, Emilie, and me on a tour of Cologne. We walked all around the city for about three hours. The city is awesome but I was so tired and jetlagged that everything pretty much went into one ear and out the other. Later that night, Evelin and her husband took us all out to a classic Cologne beer hall. We ordered Kolsch, which is a beer that is only brewed in Cologne. I also ordered a Cologne specialty for my meal which was blood sausage. It is banned in the states I learned but it was really good still.
After dinner Emilie introduced us to some of her British friends and we ended up going out with them that night. We went to a German club that was a subway ride and quite a walk away, and ended up standing in line forever in the pouring rain before we could get in. It was strange inside because they were playing lots of music that we would hear at home like Lady Gaga, Nelly, and they even played Empire State of Mind, which was weird singing about New York in Germany.
Yesterday, when I woke up I walked around by myself a little to get more of a feel for the city and went to Butlers, which is a home goods store, and bought some things for my room to make it look less like a prison cell. Once I got back and finally unpacked, Kyle and I walked around some more and found a grocery store to buy some essential food for our dorms. I am planning on going to an Ikea on Tuesday with one of the British girls so I can make my room feel a little more home-like, then I will post some more updated pictures.
Once I get internet in my dorm I will update my blog more regularly and post more pictures on here. I have posted pictures on facebook but hopefully I will have internet tomorrow so I can talk with people a little more frequently.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
On my Way
I am officially on my way to Germany! I flew out of Lexington around 1 this afternoon and landed in Charlotte around 2. I start boarding my plane to Munich in less than an hour. The day has already felt long, which I'm sure that feeling will only get worse seeing as how I'm about to board an 8-9 hour flight. There was an entire college cheerleading team on my flight to Charlotte... it was obnoxious, and they were dressed like they were about to go out to bar for the night. I was lucky enough to be the one person who sat in the back of the plane that was not on the cheerleading team...yay. I just read in my book though so it wasn't really that bad.
Once I got off the plane and found the gate for my next flight, I went in search of food. I found a place near my gate that was showing Sportcenter so I went there and ate a cheeseburger and drank a beer. It was nice. Now I am sitting in the airport and just waiting until 4:55 when they start boarding the plane. There seems to be more children than I would have expected on this flight, and a couple who keeps making out, and a dog. Should be interesting. I also spot a guy holding a Forever 21 bag...jealous.
I am super excited about the experience I have ahead of me, but I am also extremely nervous. I don't know what at all to expect when I get there, and I have no idea what my life or schedule or routine will be like for the next 3 months. It also doesn't calm my nerves any knowing that I am heading to a country where I don't know the language. My first day in the classroom is Monday, so that gives me a couple of days to get settled in and to start learning the lay of the land. It also gives me some time to get rid of my jet lag. I'm not so much thinking about that far in advance right now though, more just about this long flight I'm about to take and what I am going to do when I get into Munich and have to go through customs before flying to Cologne. I am just already ready to be there and not traveling anymore.
Once I got off the plane and found the gate for my next flight, I went in search of food. I found a place near my gate that was showing Sportcenter so I went there and ate a cheeseburger and drank a beer. It was nice. Now I am sitting in the airport and just waiting until 4:55 when they start boarding the plane. There seems to be more children than I would have expected on this flight, and a couple who keeps making out, and a dog. Should be interesting. I also spot a guy holding a Forever 21 bag...jealous.
I am super excited about the experience I have ahead of me, but I am also extremely nervous. I don't know what at all to expect when I get there, and I have no idea what my life or schedule or routine will be like for the next 3 months. It also doesn't calm my nerves any knowing that I am heading to a country where I don't know the language. My first day in the classroom is Monday, so that gives me a couple of days to get settled in and to start learning the lay of the land. It also gives me some time to get rid of my jet lag. I'm not so much thinking about that far in advance right now though, more just about this long flight I'm about to take and what I am going to do when I get into Munich and have to go through customs before flying to Cologne. I am just already ready to be there and not traveling anymore.
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