'Tis the Season Part II

As I write this, I have been back in Germany for sixteen days, but I probably would have believed you if you said it had been six months.  The time has gone by so fast, and with so much we have yet to do around the new apartment and me applying for as many jobs as possible, I don't see things slowing down anytime soon.

My last entry I posted some pictures from getting ready for Christmas at home before I left, but in actuality I spent Christmas in Germany.  I have celebrated three previous holiday seasons abroad before, but only one of those was with a German family.  This time, knowing much better what I would be in for, I was able to really enjoy the five days spent in west Germany with my boyfriend and his very welcoming and wonderful family.  

We got up at 3:45am on the 22nd in order to make it to the airport in Berlin for our 7am flight.  That was a drag.  But we eventually made it to Düsseldorf, and took the train to Aachen, where our hosts were waiting to pick us up.  The rest of the day was spent socializing, eating and celebrating missed birthday from the previous couple months.  

The next day we had planned to attend the Aachen Christmas Market.  The weather the previous day and that morning had been verging on extremely stormy however, so we kept our fingers crossed that the rain and winds would hold off for a few hours.  We were lucky with the beginning of our visit, and it only misted while we enjoyed some Aachener Printer (a regional gingerbread speciality) and were able to order our Feuerzangenbowle (mulled wine with rum-soaked sugar cubes set on fire and melted into them) before the down pour really started. 

Keep a look out for my next post about German Heilige Abend (Christmas Eve) and a walk in the woods.  Hope everyone at home is warm, safe and enjoying the snow!

Until Next Time,

Chelsea

Hohenwestedt Tag & Nacht

Take 25 eleven year olds, stick them together all day, everyday and add just a dash of drama and what do you get? No, not the world's youngest production of Les Mis... RIDICULOUSNESS is the answer I was looking for.

Today I went for the second time to a 6th grade Regionalschule class.  Last week when I went they were extremely interested (albeit fidgety) and asked me tons of questions about myself.  This week however, as soon as the teacher and I walked into the room fighting broke out (or more likely continued) among the students and two girls burst into tears.  I sat myself down at the teacher's desk in the corner while the real teacher took over in German to try to solve the problem.  As I sat there, slack-jawed and squinty-eyed, trying to concentrate and follow the discussion of what had happened, the voices just kept rising and more tears started flowing. 

It was just like watching a reality drama show! But it was real! And it was 6th graders! That made it not so great.  Once I finally figured out what they had been fighting about, I almost stood up and yelled at them in English, "Are you guys really THAT ridiculous??"  From the sounds of it, one girl had been looking weirdly at another girl and the other girl got mad and familial insults flew, then one girl shoved another but the other told everyone she punched her... and that's where I got lost.  By that point in the lesson most of the class was giving their input against one girl and the one who's side everyone was on was sobbing on her friend's shoulder while intermittedly yelling things that, if translated to English, could have sounded like something from Jerry Springer.  It was in German though, so the interaction was more like this:

Thankfully there was half a room between the girls, or else it might have ended the same way. The teacher I was with did a wonderful job of being fair and settling everyone down as much as possible, and we were able to finish the last third or so of the lesson as planned.  Or so I thought.  While the students were supposed to be writing down "celebration words" in groups, I walked around and noticed one group had only written down "borrring".  I told them to write more and they flat out refused.  While we were going over the words the groups had written down I noticed two boys in the front eating glue sticks.  What the hell?  On top of that, hardly anyone was paying attention at all and the poor teacher had to continually stop to get everyone to listen again. 

The whole lesson was so weird and so not what I'm used to, but I suppose that might be what all the teachers refer to as the difference between the Gymnasium students and the Regionalshule students.  It could also be an example of "Pubertät" that the teachers are constantly complaining about.  The other 6th grade class I have loves answering questions, is always engaged, (for the most part) listens intently, and I usually teach a half of the class without the teacher there at all.  The class today sort of scared me.  One of the more vocal and rough looking girls was much bigger than me too, which wasn't a good feeling.  

It was only after class that I remembered why most of the kids looked familiar.  In the first weeks at the school I had to do a substitution lesson for a gym class.  Their gym class... and it basically had gone the same way, but with more flustered-ness from me and even more crying on the girls' parts.  One girl had even run away from the gym building and we couldn't find her! Super! They scarred me in my first month, but I am determined to over come them.  I will gain their respect and they will end up listening to me, if its the last thing I do.

Long Time No See!

As you might have noticed (but probably not), I haven't written a blog post in over a month.  A whole 46 days to be precise! "What a slacker," you're probably muttering to yourself.  But the truth is, I was being a slacker with this, but not in any other area of my life.  I've been totes busy, yo!

So what have I been doing for the past month? The answer: lots of things.  Let's start from the beginning.  When I last wrote I had just come from Turkey and was flush with post-vacation enthusiasim for life, which quickly subsided my second week of the fall break, when all I did was watch movies in bed and occasionaly venture out to squint into the sunshine beyond my four walls.

When I got back to school the following week, I had a pretty set schedule and I began actually teaching most of my classes.  It is nice to feel like I am actually contributing something now, though I am still trying to get a hang of what I am doing.  My favorite things to do with the students involve speaking exercises (aka, games) and activities where I get to work with them in smaller groups.  Most of my students are really  sweet and seem genuinely interested in speaking English, even if it isn't always easy for them.  I know that some are still shy speaking English, especially around me, so during the class breaks I usually try to speak some German with them so they can see I'm not perfect either!  I think its really helped a few kids open up to me more.

As time goes on, I am enjoying my work more and more, even if some days can be a little frustrating.  I have definitely learned to always have a back up plan!

So obviously I haven't been working all the time, especially as I only work 12 hours a week, so what else have I been up to?  Well at the end of October my American friends and I celebrated Halloween by carving pumpkins and going out dressed in costumes.  We were excited because Halloween is a really popular holiday at home, but here it was not so enthusiastically embraced.  We still made the most of it though!

Bethany, Erika and Ariel carving pumpkins.

Our German friend, Shishi, even got in on the action!

Beautiful pumpkins.

Animal themed outing, obviously.

The following weekend was spent in Hamburg.  We had a surprise birthday party for our friend Jessica and it was super fun!  We had a party, went to a club and then visited the infamous Hamburg Fish Market.  By that point it is usually around 6am and people go to the Fish Market to eat some food, check out some crafts, and possibly drink more beer.  We skipped the extra beers, but got breakfast and listened to a band that was playing.  I'm glad I got that one checked off my "Living in Northern Germany Bucketlist".  Not that I actually had one or anything.

Birthday girl!

Foggy Hamburg

Harry at the Fish Market

So back in Kiel, the weather turned cold immediately after we stepped off the train from Hamburg.  No lie, I think it had dropped like 15 degrees over the one night we were there.  It also quickly turned extremely dark and foggy.  The fog, which is almost always encompassing and drifting through the city, is so thick it is sometimes hard to see in front of you.  I tried to get into the wrong apartment building one day. I'm not even joking.  I did set myself up with some nice candles in my room though, so at least the darkness isn't so bad when I'm at home.

On the 11th of November (11/11/11 anyone!?), Erika and I went to a music festival called Rolling Stone Weekender.  I had originally rented a SmartCar online with the plan of me driving us to the festival, which was located at a pretty remote beach resort about 45 minutes from Kiel.  When I got to the car rental place, however, I noticed the paperwork said I would be getting a Citron.  "Oh no, no, no," I said to the woman behind the desk, "You see, I had ordered the SmartCar online." "Well," she responded," We don't have one at the moment, so you are getting an upgrade!" Looking into her wildly grining face, I knew I had a problem.  "The only thing is that I had specifically rented the SmartCar because I can only drive automatic," I mumbled sheepishly.  From the onset I knew it was going to be difficult finding an automatic because everyone here only drives manual.  Being the lazy American that I am however, I didn't take my stick-shift driving lessons all that seriously (sorry Miles!) and for a split second had visions of the two of us hitchhiking to the festival.  After checking for a moment on her computer, the woman responded with, "Alright, no problem! We will give you another upgrade!"  Know what that means?!

I got to drive a Mercedes!  Don't get me wrong, it was no CEO-mobile or anything, but it sure did drive like a dream.  The best part is, since it was an upgrade and a mistake on their part we still only had to pay the price of a SmartCar.  Sweet!

GPS & S-H

So moving on, we drove through the pretty Schleswig-Holstein countryside until we came to the Weissenhäuser Strand beach resort.  Don't be fooled by the name though, I still have seen no beach since I've been here.  When we arrived we parked, got our bracelets, bought some beer and walked around the complex.  The place was super cool and I can see how it would be really popular during the summer months.  The bitter cold and whiping wind would probably dissuade me from staying there now, but I'm sure warm weather would suit it well.  We made our way to the main pavillion and saw some of the first band's performance.

After they were finished, we quickly rushed to the front of the stage thinking people would make a mad dash to get a good spot before Death Cab for Cutie played.  Not so.  We were two of maybe 15 people who waited there in between bands.  I still find that hard to believe, because I think at home people would knock down doors to see them.  Well the good part of it was we were FRONT ROW, CENTER!

It is hard to tell from that picture, but I was basically about to puke from excited-ness.  For real.  Right before the concert started a lot more people came in, but no one was really freaking out like I had expected.  I guess its just as well though, since my attention was already focused on one thing.

I like Death Cab for Cutie. And so do photographers.

The band was awesome and played for a whole hour and a half.  During "We Looked Like Giants" a 2nd drum kit was set up on stage and Ben Gibbard, the lead singer, did a killer drum solo.  The only thing I could have asked for would have been for the band to play "I Will Follow You Into the Dark."  Everyone agreed that it was an understandable leave out though, considering Ben Gibbard just broke up with his wife a couple weeks ago.  Oh well... next time!

The second band that played was equally amazing and sounded just as good as the first (the sound quality of the concert was outstanding!)  Fleet Foxes is a band that I have been into for a while, but hadn't really paid a whole lot of attention to.  They had always been pleasent background music that every once in a while I would catch myself thinking, "Hmmm this song is awesome." But the concert really changed my mind.  They're now in my top 5 bands, hands down.

Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes

Overall, I think both Erika and I would give the festival two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

The next day I went with Barbara to Lübeck to visit some of her friends there.  The city is gorgeous and I can't wait to go back again now that the Christmas market is open! We have a field trip with one of my classes planned for the 14th, so not only do I get to miss work, I get to have a history centered guided tour of the city (my favorite!) and check out the Christmas market!

Lübeck

The middle part of November is kind of a blur to me, but that might just be because of all the fog we had. I mentioned it before, but it was seriously so bad at points, I actually had a hard time riding my bike and seeing where I was going.  Thankfully we really haven't had any of the infamous Kiel rain that I've heard so much about, and in my opinion the fog is actually rather pretty.  

Fog at the Baltic Sea dock

More fog... this time at the Kiel "palace"

First day in a while that the sun was actually visible.

To round off this long overdue post, I think it would be fitting to write about the amazing Thanksgiving dinner we celebrated here.  On the day of actual Thanksgiving I had to work and then I had my German class, but I was still able to celebrate with my mom's family over Skype, which I was really pleased about.  It was nice to just sit back in my computer world and watch them over the webcam as they bustled around getting things ready and occasionally coming over to chat at a computer screen.  

The Saturday after Thanksgiving the other American teaching assistants in the area and I were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner held by Barbara's mentor teacher's mom.  Our wonderful hosts really went all out and even had the turkey (not a common dish here), potatoes, veggies and cabbage catered for us!  The six Americans of course did our part and brought dishes to pass as well.  I'm actually quite proud of how my banana bread and apple pie turned out!  The night was spent in great company with excellent food and after we said goodbye to our German friends, the Amis went back to Barbaras apartment and chatted and joked long into the night.  A perfect way to end a great night, in my opinion. :)

Turkey locker

Turkey and potatoes! 

Heidi, our hostess, setting everything up.

Ready to feast!

Desserts

Bethany's cookies and my apple pie :)

She's a natural

So now here I find myself on the second day of December and I can't believe how quickly the time has been passing already.  The weeks leading up to Christmas will surely prove to be a whirlwind of activity, especially as I already have almost each weekend and most nights of the weeks booked with exciting things to do!  I'll end this post with a picture from the opening night of the Christmas Market here in Kiel, and the hope that you're enjoying the Weihnachtsstimmung (Christmas spirit) as much as I am!

Please ignore the chub-ness of my face, or at least chalk it up to me being "jolly".

Until Next Time,

Chelsea

Well, it's been a couple weeks since I last wrote and even though not a whole lot has changed since then, I have done a few cool things.  Last Sunday, September 25, I went with my roommate and my American friend to a game of the German American Football League.  It was actually the semi-finals and our local team, the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, were playing against the Düsseldorf Panthers.  The Hurricanes, or "Canes" as those in the know call them, have been the league champions the past two years.  I'm going to spoil the ending of my story right here by saying the Hurricanes won.  Next week they will be in the championship game against... wait for it... the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns... Unicorns.  We got this.

As some of you at home might know, I am by no means a football fan.  In fact usually quite the opposite- I avoid football at home like the plague, unless of course if I have a really good reason to watch, like if my brother is playing or there will be really good food at the accompanying party.  I know virtually no rules of the game and mostly can only enjoy the spectacle of the event as a whole.  The game last weekend wasn't a whole lot different, except that for once I wasn't the least knowledgeable person in the group.  My extreme lack of football smarts made it pretty hard to tell my German roommate what was going on, but I wasn't completely clueless, and thankfully Bethany (who actually is a football fan) was there to clear things up.

I wasn't disappointed by the spectacle of it though, as they really did put on a good show, as can be seen in this video I took during the pre-show introductions.

As one can imagine (and see in the video and forthcoming pictures), American football isn't too popular in Germany.  The way I found out about the game in the first place, was a few days before I was at the bakery and there were players from the team handing out free tickets to passersby.  I kid you not, they were just giving out free tickets to their professional football game.  I was actually surprised by the number of people in attendance, but after remembering this is the semi-finals of the national professional football league I had to laugh a little.  It was less populated than most high school football games back home.  But hey, Germany I still commend your effort!

The stadium is actually used for Kiel's soccer team, but you can bet that its wayyy more full on their game days. 

See those cute high school cheerleader looking girls in green? Those are the Hurricane cheerleaders.  See the go-go boot wearing stripper-esque ladies in white? Those are the Düsseldorf Panthers cheerleaders.  Yikes.

So for the past week or so the weather has been exceptionally nice here in the northern-most German state.  I had been forewarned that this was one of the coldest, wettest summers in most Germans' memories, but the past few weeks would have definitely indicated differently.  So naturally wanting to take advantage of the sunny, warm (mid 70s!) weather that I am fearful won't last much longer, I have been riding my bike every day and usually find myself somewhere along the harbor. There is always something happening there and last weekend there was even a sailing regatta for old ships.  I am still getting acclimated to living so close to water and every time I see a boat (which is extremely often) I tend to get a little giddy inside.  For that reason, I have a lot of pictures of the harbor to share with you.  Enjoy...

Oh yeah, Kiel's also the headquarters of the Germany Navy.  That's also why about 80% of the city was bombed to nothing in WWII.

Did I mention I love my bike?

The quay where the Swedish cruise ship docks... its hard to see, but there is a biiiig long glass enclosed gangway visible above the parking lot and under those big blue things on the left.

Most of this past weekend was spent with my Fulbright friends, as we partied, talked, biked and in general just hung out.  The girls who live about 20 minutes away in Neumünster visited Thursday and Friday.  It's nice to have some more fun people just a short train ride away, though it'd be even better if they lived in Kiel with us.  Erika is one of the ETAs living here in Kiel and on Friday one of her friends from college (who also happens to be a Fulbrighter in Munich) came to visit for the weekend.  Sunday we all went to a big flea market a little bit outside the city.  Though I had some problems first finding the flea market, and then had further troubles when the chain fell off my bike gears, I eventually was able to meet up with them.  I also had a big boost of confidence when, after 25 minutes of struggling, I was finally able to fix my bike myself.  Later in the day Erika, Lisa (her visiting friend) and I went to a cute beer garden in a park for some food and drinks,  after which we biked around the Förde (fjord, harbor) a bit before heading home.

A speciality beer called a "Berliner Weisser"... basically beer with flavored syrup in it.  Kind of tastes like a  freeze-pop with beer.  Better than it sounds.

Lisa and Erika on our bike tour.

Pit stop at the aquarium to see the outside seal tanks.

In Gaarden, on the opposite side of the Förde. 

The "administration building" I suppose in the Südfriedhof (South Cemetery) that is near Erika's apartment. 

Today was the Day of German Unity ("Tag der deutschen Einheit" in German), which is Germany's big reunification holiday.  Erika and I thought it might be fun to take a ferry a bit farther out of the harbor and visit an area called Laboe.  There is a beach there and a military memorial and even a real WWII submarine on the shore... Unfortunately because of the holiday we couldn't use our student transportation tickets to take the ferry for free.  We didn't want to pay the ticket price, so we had to think of something else to do.  When there is a holiday in Germany things totally shut down, but we were pleased to find that Starbucks was in fact open, and even though they didn't have the pumpkin lattes and muffins we were craving, we still were able to enjoy some coffee.  

Tomorrow I have to head back to work, and even though my days are short, as is my week, I will be dreaming of Sunday when I will finally be leaving for ISTANBUL! :)  Friday starts my two week autumn break from work and on Sunday I and 6 other Fulbrighters will be traveling to Istanbul... mad amounts of pictures to follow!!

Until next time,

Chelsea