Thanksgiving in Germany
Hello!
I haven’t updated the blog since my bike accident (just scrapes on my hands and one knee, a rip in some jeans, and some hurt pride), and the email group since even earlier! So here goes:
The Germans have a holiday on October the 3rd to celebrate their Reunification. Every year it’s held in a different province, and this year it was in my province! So I took the train to Kiel, and saw part of the parade of bands from each province (the coolest was the one from Bremen – they had kites and people on stilts!) I met up with some English-assistant friends, and met some new ones too. There were lots of food stands, and info booths on each province. The only problem was, there was a giant crowd of people you had to battle your way through to see these booths. So after picking up a few pamphlets and maps, I gave up. But it was nice to be part of such a national event!
The next two days were less-than-encouraging, with scrapes and cancelled classes all over. But I survived them, had coffee with a friend Friday morning, and then Mom and Dad arrived on Friday! They stayed in my room, and I moved to the blue guest room ( I know- what a hard life I lead). I showed them my schools and the nearby villages, they got to know the Bensels, and we planned the end of their trip. When they drove off for Sweden on Sunday, I actually felt more home-sick! It’s lovely to see them, and they’ll be back today.
I moved on Monday after school – now I live with the Tiefenbakers. The mother, Anna, is a physiotherapist, but isn’t currently practicing, as she has her hands full with the three children. Max, at 8, is in 3rd grade, and starting to be quite independent. Sophie is 6, and loves attention, but is easily irritated by her siblings. Cecila is 4, and still tries to pull the baby card, crying ‘mama’ for all she’s worth, although she can also ride a bike on her own! They’re all sweet as can be, and well mannered, but still a lot of work. I find every night just after they go to bed (7 -8ish), I’m quite ready to crash too! It helps with the early mornings. (Every once and a while I just look around at the little crowd of blonde children and feel like I’m in Mary Poppins or Sound of Music! Just a tiny bit surreal)
The family has a computer connected to the internet, so I’m not at all in the stone age here, but I don’t like feeling like I’m hogging it, so I try not to use it too often.
The other events this week? Mostly at the elementary school. On Wednesday night there was a school conference, which means all the teachers and parents sit and chat. I had to introduce myself, which was intimidating, but hardly the focus of the evening. There’s this crazy conflict between the parents, who want English to be taught from grade 1-4, and the teachers, who just want to do what the ministry requires. I offered to do an after-school English class with the grade 2s, to help smooth things over. I’ll keep you posted on that!
Yesterday (Thursday) evening was Lantern-Evening. The music teacher prepared some songs with the children about fall, and they sang outside around 7:00. I had taught the eldest an English version of ‘The wheels on the bus’ with words about leaves instead. I ended up playing background music beforehand, and also playing piano throughout. That was a bit much, especially when the little curious kids would stand right beside-behind-before me, and stare. But the whole idea of the evening seems really great to me! After this music bit, everyone from the town all marched through the village (the kids had lanterns), with a flute band leading the way. At the end the fire department were selling drinks and wurst, and there were even fireworks! It felt much more social than Halloween.
I have to say, that I still miss Thankgiving. There’s something about turkey that fireworks and sausage can’t replace! But I have tons to be thankful for: wonderful hosts and schools here, and great friends and family back home!
Take care, everyone!
Russ
I haven’t updated the blog since my bike accident (just scrapes on my hands and one knee, a rip in some jeans, and some hurt pride), and the email group since even earlier! So here goes:
The Germans have a holiday on October the 3rd to celebrate their Reunification. Every year it’s held in a different province, and this year it was in my province! So I took the train to Kiel, and saw part of the parade of bands from each province (the coolest was the one from Bremen – they had kites and people on stilts!) I met up with some English-assistant friends, and met some new ones too. There were lots of food stands, and info booths on each province. The only problem was, there was a giant crowd of people you had to battle your way through to see these booths. So after picking up a few pamphlets and maps, I gave up. But it was nice to be part of such a national event!
The next two days were less-than-encouraging, with scrapes and cancelled classes all over. But I survived them, had coffee with a friend Friday morning, and then Mom and Dad arrived on Friday! They stayed in my room, and I moved to the blue guest room ( I know- what a hard life I lead). I showed them my schools and the nearby villages, they got to know the Bensels, and we planned the end of their trip. When they drove off for Sweden on Sunday, I actually felt more home-sick! It’s lovely to see them, and they’ll be back today.
I moved on Monday after school – now I live with the Tiefenbakers. The mother, Anna, is a physiotherapist, but isn’t currently practicing, as she has her hands full with the three children. Max, at 8, is in 3rd grade, and starting to be quite independent. Sophie is 6, and loves attention, but is easily irritated by her siblings. Cecila is 4, and still tries to pull the baby card, crying ‘mama’ for all she’s worth, although she can also ride a bike on her own! They’re all sweet as can be, and well mannered, but still a lot of work. I find every night just after they go to bed (7 -8ish), I’m quite ready to crash too! It helps with the early mornings. (Every once and a while I just look around at the little crowd of blonde children and feel like I’m in Mary Poppins or Sound of Music! Just a tiny bit surreal)
The family has a computer connected to the internet, so I’m not at all in the stone age here, but I don’t like feeling like I’m hogging it, so I try not to use it too often.
The other events this week? Mostly at the elementary school. On Wednesday night there was a school conference, which means all the teachers and parents sit and chat. I had to introduce myself, which was intimidating, but hardly the focus of the evening. There’s this crazy conflict between the parents, who want English to be taught from grade 1-4, and the teachers, who just want to do what the ministry requires. I offered to do an after-school English class with the grade 2s, to help smooth things over. I’ll keep you posted on that!
Yesterday (Thursday) evening was Lantern-Evening. The music teacher prepared some songs with the children about fall, and they sang outside around 7:00. I had taught the eldest an English version of ‘The wheels on the bus’ with words about leaves instead. I ended up playing background music beforehand, and also playing piano throughout. That was a bit much, especially when the little curious kids would stand right beside-behind-before me, and stare. But the whole idea of the evening seems really great to me! After this music bit, everyone from the town all marched through the village (the kids had lanterns), with a flute band leading the way. At the end the fire department were selling drinks and wurst, and there were even fireworks! It felt much more social than Halloween.
I have to say, that I still miss Thankgiving. There’s something about turkey that fireworks and sausage can’t replace! But I have tons to be thankful for: wonderful hosts and schools here, and great friends and family back home!
Take care, everyone!
Russ
posted by Russ at 10:52 AM
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