September wrap-up

Hello hello!

I've been settling into quite a nice pace here in Hamburg, gradually leading the classes more, and sitting around uselessly less. A week ago, I led a grade 8 class for their entire period, and it wasn't a disaster! I was very proud.

Since I emailed you last I watched a church children's musical entitled "Joseph and his brothers", which had an amazing number of children trooping on and off the stage. My two current host-siblings were the meanest brother, and a guard. I still prefer Joseph with a technicolour dreamcoat, but it was a nice local show.

I've taken books out of the high school library, and borrowed from my host-family too- I now have reading material to last until about January. If not longer.

Last weekend, I met up with some other english-assistants in Hamburg on our Friday off. We saw a nice park, looked through a temporary China-market (made me homesick for Vancouver a bit! lol), and had a few drinks. We also made big plans- we thought, "Let's go to Dresden for the long weekend!" (this weekend, Tuesday is off for German Unity Day, and schools are closed Monday as well)

As one of two people with internet at my place, I was suddenly in the main-organizer role. I asked people to tell me by Tuesday if they wanted to come. But come Tuesday, there weren't any hostels to be found with 9 beds free in Dresden. Luckily, Matt, the other one with internet, found a place in Leipzig. So we went there for two nights, and then to Erfuhrt, a provincial capital nearby. This sounds easy to do, but remember the 9 people part. There were a LOT of phone calls, texts, and emails involved, even before we met each other Thursday afternoon.

Luckily, all these people are worth the effort. We were pretty evenly split: 4 Canadians, 5 Brits, 4 guys, 5 girls.... and other than the hostel hassle, everyone took turns playing leader and follower.

Leipzig has a whole bunch of personality- some parts beautifully restored, and other parts very cheekily modern, like a building covered with cartoons of famous people: Handel next to Arnold Schwarzegger next to Jesus, next to Neil Young, next to Voltaire. God was the best- just his name, no picture. It still has some bits which look quite East-German-institutional, but that almost makes it more interesting.

It's also the city that lays a big claim on JS Bach, so I heard a motet concert at St Thomas Cathedal, where he worked back in the day. It was beautifully sung music (especially "3 Latin Motets" by Niels la Cour 1944-_____, music-types!) That same evening I managed to race across town and watch a Verdi opera I hadn't heard of before: Luisa Miller, based on a Schiller play. It was staged in a really interesting, but not-too-jarring way, with a giant revolving glass building in the middle of the stage.... it was a very typical opera type of story: two lovers torn apart by their families, who poison themselves to be together in heaven, and they sing the entire 3rd act staggering around, already poisoned. I loved it! (and it was good to get away from the others for an evening)

We found a really cool cafe with a yummy cheap breakfast cafe (picture)- it was decorated like the style of an artist/architect named Hundertwasser. He's this really cool artist, who liked bright colors and thought that we should live in houses that aren't so machine-square. He designed a building or two in Vienna which have curved floors and irregular walls and things - he thought it was more natural. SO cool!


Speaking of modern art- a few of us went into the art museum there (I'm getting addicted to all this culture), and the first room we entered was just POWERFUL! (The "over-16" and "enter at your own risk" signs should have warned us) Inside was this giant shack, with a few pictures of Nazis, and a bunch of painted word fragments and things- very obscure. Inside the shack was a sowly revolving building, and this droning organ music was playing. Everything was dirty, and dark. About 8 or 9 video screens were playing often very disturbing loops of Nazi footage... it was very disorienting. Somehow it still felt worth doing. I can't explain it! It made the old masters on the next floor feel a bit mundane, though.

Outside the museum was a Toyota exhibit, as part of a city festival. They were giving out free test rides. So Josh started asking about it, and it sounded like there wasn't a lot of actual pressure to buy the cars at all. He asked Anna and I if we wanted to do it, and we said yes. But suddenly things turned around, and as the non-Brit among the three of us, I was nominated to drive: The other two were used to driving on the wrong side of the road! So I suddenly driving around the town in a Rav 4, with a Toyota fellow in the back seat, giving quiet directions in German or English, as he saw fit. It was a tiny bit worrying, but we stayed on 50km/h roads, and I only had a few honking horns and exciting changing-4-lanes-really-fast moments.

The only other interesting moment came last night: I was catching the city train back to my current Hamburg home last night, and was still with one other girl, Helen. At her stop, the train announced that we should all get off, which was normal, because only every other train goes as far as my stop. We said goodbye, I waited for the next train, but then they were told the same thing! I listened more closely, and the announcement said something about, "next train station is being renovated" and "special bus". So I left the train area, and walked around the less-than cheery station with my bags, (one of those stations with groups of sullen older teens hanging out - really charming at 9pm), and asked one or two bus drivers for help, and they didn't know anything about this special bus. My cell phone wasn't working, my host family was out sailing anyhow, there were no taxis in sight... I just thought, "How is it that I lead 8 people around cities I don't know at all, but I'm stranded here two stops from my home?!" Luckily, the third stranger I asked finally knew something, and directed me to the special bus, which was on the other side of the station from the other busses, (of course). I don't remember being so happy to see a bus!

What's next, you ask? Well, this weekend coming up, my parents are coming to Europe! I'm going to show them around, then they're off to a Volvo plant in Sweden during the week while I go to school next week (and move to family #2, with younger children), and then during their 2nd weekend and week, I have fall holidays, so I'll play tourist with them! I'm very excited about all these changes, but I still need to prepare lots!

Take care, wonderful reader! I hope you're doing well, and settling into your new fall routines.

Russ