hello all,
just thought i would write quick and mention that i won't be on for a few days-this weekend is Christi Himmelfahrt (Ascension) and we have a long 4 day weekend! So tonight, I am leaving with my host family for Hannover, to deliver a couch to their daughter who lives there. We will leave Hannover in the morning, and drive to Wismar, which is way north in Germany on the sea. I guess they have family there, so we will stay there for the night. I am really excited, as this is a new adventure-i have never been farther north than Berlin in Germany.
As for school, it was a little chaotic today! The kids had play practise, and as it is near the end of the year, and the day before a long weekend, they were quite antsy! But the play is looking really good and i am excited to see it in its completion next week before i leave. I got to teach the clarinets yesterday, and it went better than the day before- that was encouraging! After school yesterday i took a long walk along the East Side Gallery with Tanya and Ellen, and we sat down for some beer afterwards. It was a relaxing evening, despite being rainy and a little cold.
Anyways, I hope summer is going well for everyone :)
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
The Nazar eye, Soda Club, Fusion food, and other things
When I woke up this morning, I wasn't feeling the greatest mentally. Nothing was blatantly wrong, but it was just one of those mornings. However, I went to school, and was immediatly put into a class with second graders. I got to play some games with them, and then go outside and play more games. Its pretty hard to feel gloomy around them!
Next was the 6th graders, who i have been with the most. I don't know if i mentioned it, but they are working very hard to prepare for their upcoming play about King Midas. I sat and watched, and during the breaks, I started talking to some of the girls. Even though my German is pretty good, i still struggle sometimes, and feel pretty self conscious. But i was able to carry on a decent conversation, and learn what they did over the weekend and what not. One girl showed me her new bracelets, which i told her were very pretty. The next thing i new, she had taken one off and put it around my wrist. She called it the "turkish eye", which of course i knew nothing about. So i wikipedia-ed it when i got home to find out that it is actually a sort of talismen to defend against the evil eye, which in many cultures is taken seriously. Giving someone the evil eye is like wishing bad luck or injury on them, but when you have this so called "Nazar stone" (another word for the turkish eye), it supposedly draws the attention of the evil eye to the stone, and not the person. I thought it was really cool, and I was touched that she gave it to me, as i don't know her very well at all.
Anyways, my big challenge of the day was when my host teacher (who is the band teacher) gave me the four clarinet players and told me to work with them on their music. This was really challenging for me, especially with the language barrier problem. I literally mixed in English words, because i had no idea how to say some of the terms in German! But the kids were really nice about it, and I think they improved a bit. I really do enjoy trying to teach them music, as it is something I really love as well, especially clarinet. I was kind of frustrated with one girl, because she had no idea how to play the majority of the notes, and she has been playing for 3 years. But then, there was a boy who plays very well, so i guess it sort of ballenced out. One of the things i have learned (on a musical note, no pun intended), is that in Germany, what we in the States call "B natural" is actually called "H" here. Our version of "B flat" is what they call "B natural". I actually ended up teaching some of the 4th grade saxophonists the wrong thing last week because of this (oops!) but i was kindly corrected by my host teacher/mom.
That has been my day so far, and tonight, we are apparently eating white asparagus and schnitzel for dinner (very German!) and then going to Rouen to the village choir for singing (yey!). It really is fun, and i am looking forward to it.
I guess i never talked about my weekend either-it was great!! I went with the other fellows on a walking tour of Prenzlauerberg, a somewhat artsy, ecclectic area of Berlin. We learned a lot of interesting history of the area, such as where one of the first "gay houses" was, where one of the lead singers of Rammstein lived, and the location of one the first and most famous currywurst stand was (Konnopke). After the tour, i went with some of the girls to this fusion resteraunt, and it was fabulous. We ate for about 10 euros each, and were full by the end. It was a lot of coconut milk, spices, noodles, fish, and fruit mixed in with a variety of meats. That night, I ended up going to a club in Prenzlauerberg with Tanya and Ellen called "Soda Club", and that was a lot of fun. In some ways, it was suprisingly similar to clubbing back home, but here, people seem to be a lot more respectful of space, which was refreshing. All in all, it was a good night, and I think we all had a lot of fun.
Thats about it for now, hope everyone is doing well :)
Next was the 6th graders, who i have been with the most. I don't know if i mentioned it, but they are working very hard to prepare for their upcoming play about King Midas. I sat and watched, and during the breaks, I started talking to some of the girls. Even though my German is pretty good, i still struggle sometimes, and feel pretty self conscious. But i was able to carry on a decent conversation, and learn what they did over the weekend and what not. One girl showed me her new bracelets, which i told her were very pretty. The next thing i new, she had taken one off and put it around my wrist. She called it the "turkish eye", which of course i knew nothing about. So i wikipedia-ed it when i got home to find out that it is actually a sort of talismen to defend against the evil eye, which in many cultures is taken seriously. Giving someone the evil eye is like wishing bad luck or injury on them, but when you have this so called "Nazar stone" (another word for the turkish eye), it supposedly draws the attention of the evil eye to the stone, and not the person. I thought it was really cool, and I was touched that she gave it to me, as i don't know her very well at all.
Anyways, my big challenge of the day was when my host teacher (who is the band teacher) gave me the four clarinet players and told me to work with them on their music. This was really challenging for me, especially with the language barrier problem. I literally mixed in English words, because i had no idea how to say some of the terms in German! But the kids were really nice about it, and I think they improved a bit. I really do enjoy trying to teach them music, as it is something I really love as well, especially clarinet. I was kind of frustrated with one girl, because she had no idea how to play the majority of the notes, and she has been playing for 3 years. But then, there was a boy who plays very well, so i guess it sort of ballenced out. One of the things i have learned (on a musical note, no pun intended), is that in Germany, what we in the States call "B natural" is actually called "H" here. Our version of "B flat" is what they call "B natural". I actually ended up teaching some of the 4th grade saxophonists the wrong thing last week because of this (oops!) but i was kindly corrected by my host teacher/mom.
That has been my day so far, and tonight, we are apparently eating white asparagus and schnitzel for dinner (very German!) and then going to Rouen to the village choir for singing (yey!). It really is fun, and i am looking forward to it.
I guess i never talked about my weekend either-it was great!! I went with the other fellows on a walking tour of Prenzlauerberg, a somewhat artsy, ecclectic area of Berlin. We learned a lot of interesting history of the area, such as where one of the first "gay houses" was, where one of the lead singers of Rammstein lived, and the location of one the first and most famous currywurst stand was (Konnopke). After the tour, i went with some of the girls to this fusion resteraunt, and it was fabulous. We ate for about 10 euros each, and were full by the end. It was a lot of coconut milk, spices, noodles, fish, and fruit mixed in with a variety of meats. That night, I ended up going to a club in Prenzlauerberg with Tanya and Ellen called "Soda Club", and that was a lot of fun. In some ways, it was suprisingly similar to clubbing back home, but here, people seem to be a lot more respectful of space, which was refreshing. All in all, it was a good night, and I think we all had a lot of fun.
Thats about it for now, hope everyone is doing well :)
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Catch up day
I realize that i have been a little behind on blogging, so i am going to take this opportunity to catch up a bit. I think working backwards might be the best approach.
Yesterday, I spent the first part of the morning at Radijojo, this international kids radio type thing with the rest of the people on my program. Its a pretty cool concept actually, of connecting kids all around the world using the internet and media. Later that evening, I went back to Kreuzberg with Tanya and Caroline to this really great middle eastern/Turkish restaurant called "Knofi". The thing i love about eastern food is how much flavor it has! I don't know what i had...hummus and some other things, but it was SO good. I walked home from the Ubahn station last night which was admittedly not a good idea. I ended up getting home ok but i think next time i am just going to get a cab. Its about a half an hour walk, which is no problem in the day, but a little sketchy after the sun goes down.
The day before (Thursday) was a particularly interesting day...no school, so i got to sleep in a little big! I took a train all the way west to the Freie Universität to meet my tandem partner, Lubina. She was really nice and showed me all around the university. Its really big, and quite modern, really different from the Albert Ludwigs Univerität that i studied at last spring in Freiburg. The library is called the brain, because it is in the shape of a brain, which was kind of cool. We talked in a mixture of English and German which was fun, too. It was really interesting also to talk to her and her friend, who joined us for lunch. We talked about normal stuff (like studies) and i also asked them about political stuff, like how they viewed the whole killing of Bin Laden a few weeks ago. I always like trying to gain some perspective on how other cultures view current events, so we had some great conversations about it. After eating lunch and talking with Lubina and Marina, i went to meet the rest of the people on my program at a modern art museum at the Hamburger Bahnhof, which used to be an old train station. I really do have a hard time appreciating modern art, and this was no exception...i think what stuck out most were these huge chunks of animal fat done by the famous German artist, Josef Beuys. After that, we wondered over to the Charite museum, which is on medical history. It seemed kind of medieval, with brains, livers, and fetuses floating about in little jars of fermadahyde or whatever it is that they use. But some really facinating stuff. After this, we did some gallery hopping, which is something i have never done before, so it was a great new experience. Basically, there are different single exhibits or sculptures in these different buildings all over this one area (by Oranienburgerstr.) in Berlin. You can go in, look, and than leave, kind of like a museum, but only one sculpture or one exhibit. We saw a dinner table full of dishware, done by a Turkish woman named Gülsün Karamustafa ("Etiquette) as well as a piece done by the missing Chinese artist, Ai WeiWei. For those of you who don't know, Ai WeiWei is a very controversial artist in China, and now, no one really knows where he is, as he was taken prisoner by the Chinese government. We went to a resteraunt after all the galleries, and enjoyed some delicious Hefe Weizen (beer) and Käsespaetzl (kind of like mac and cheese). It was a fun evening and i really enjoyed it.
Thats about it for right now, but i will try and be a little better about blogging, as its hard to remember everything if i don't do it often! Hope everyone is having a great summer :)
Yesterday, I spent the first part of the morning at Radijojo, this international kids radio type thing with the rest of the people on my program. Its a pretty cool concept actually, of connecting kids all around the world using the internet and media. Later that evening, I went back to Kreuzberg with Tanya and Caroline to this really great middle eastern/Turkish restaurant called "Knofi". The thing i love about eastern food is how much flavor it has! I don't know what i had...hummus and some other things, but it was SO good. I walked home from the Ubahn station last night which was admittedly not a good idea. I ended up getting home ok but i think next time i am just going to get a cab. Its about a half an hour walk, which is no problem in the day, but a little sketchy after the sun goes down.
The day before (Thursday) was a particularly interesting day...no school, so i got to sleep in a little big! I took a train all the way west to the Freie Universität to meet my tandem partner, Lubina. She was really nice and showed me all around the university. Its really big, and quite modern, really different from the Albert Ludwigs Univerität that i studied at last spring in Freiburg. The library is called the brain, because it is in the shape of a brain, which was kind of cool. We talked in a mixture of English and German which was fun, too. It was really interesting also to talk to her and her friend, who joined us for lunch. We talked about normal stuff (like studies) and i also asked them about political stuff, like how they viewed the whole killing of Bin Laden a few weeks ago. I always like trying to gain some perspective on how other cultures view current events, so we had some great conversations about it. After eating lunch and talking with Lubina and Marina, i went to meet the rest of the people on my program at a modern art museum at the Hamburger Bahnhof, which used to be an old train station. I really do have a hard time appreciating modern art, and this was no exception...i think what stuck out most were these huge chunks of animal fat done by the famous German artist, Josef Beuys. After that, we wondered over to the Charite museum, which is on medical history. It seemed kind of medieval, with brains, livers, and fetuses floating about in little jars of fermadahyde or whatever it is that they use. But some really facinating stuff. After this, we did some gallery hopping, which is something i have never done before, so it was a great new experience. Basically, there are different single exhibits or sculptures in these different buildings all over this one area (by Oranienburgerstr.) in Berlin. You can go in, look, and than leave, kind of like a museum, but only one sculpture or one exhibit. We saw a dinner table full of dishware, done by a Turkish woman named Gülsün Karamustafa ("Etiquette) as well as a piece done by the missing Chinese artist, Ai WeiWei. For those of you who don't know, Ai WeiWei is a very controversial artist in China, and now, no one really knows where he is, as he was taken prisoner by the Chinese government. We went to a resteraunt after all the galleries, and enjoyed some delicious Hefe Weizen (beer) and Käsespaetzl (kind of like mac and cheese). It was a fun evening and i really enjoyed it.
Thats about it for right now, but i will try and be a little better about blogging, as its hard to remember everything if i don't do it often! Hope everyone is having a great summer :)
Monday, May 23, 2011
great day!
Today was wirklich fabulous:) i woke up this morning and went to school, feeling a little bit uncertain of myself, which let me tell you, sucks when you have to teach little kids! The first class was a little difficult, but for the second, i got to sit in/help out with a 3rd grade english class...what a riot! Those kids are just so excited to learn, and we got to do some "head shoulders knees and toes", bingo, alphabet song, etc...super toll! After this, i got to do what we would call "sectionals" for band class. Again, it was a little bit hard at first, because i was pretty much put in a room with 4 eager 4th graders learning to play clarinet, with almost no instructions! Nevertheless, i managed to ask them enough questions and find out exactly what they were doing in their lessons, to at least lead a "Probe". So after this, i was ready for a tenor sax sectional with 2 4th grade girls, and an alto sax sectional with 4 6th grade girls. It was really fun once i got the hang of directing (haha, it is kind of hard, actually!)
I was done at about 2pm, and headed to Karl Marx Straße to do some shopping with my host sisters...again, super fun! This street is somewhat unliked because you see almost no Germans there, and it is almost entirely Turkish/Arabic people. But I was happy to hear my host sister say that she really loves the street, and goes there often for the really good shopping (and its pretty cheap, too!). No Ausländerfeindlichkeit (fear of foreigners) with them! Also...i am 2 for 2 as far as Döner consumption goes for this week :P
Tonight, I went to a small village about 60 km away with my host parents and one of my host sisters. They are part of a village choir in Rouen and they invited me to go with. It was so much fun! I have never sang in a choir before, nevermind a German one, but music reading skills came in handy, and i was able to follow and sing along. Again, it was really quite something to be able to be singing in some village in Germany with a bunch of old German people who can't speak English. I greatly enjoyed it, and it is great to be around and interacting with music again. Anyways, that was pretty much my day, and it really was a great one :)
I was done at about 2pm, and headed to Karl Marx Straße to do some shopping with my host sisters...again, super fun! This street is somewhat unliked because you see almost no Germans there, and it is almost entirely Turkish/Arabic people. But I was happy to hear my host sister say that she really loves the street, and goes there often for the really good shopping (and its pretty cheap, too!). No Ausländerfeindlichkeit (fear of foreigners) with them! Also...i am 2 for 2 as far as Döner consumption goes for this week :P
Tonight, I went to a small village about 60 km away with my host parents and one of my host sisters. They are part of a village choir in Rouen and they invited me to go with. It was so much fun! I have never sang in a choir before, nevermind a German one, but music reading skills came in handy, and i was able to follow and sing along. Again, it was really quite something to be able to be singing in some village in Germany with a bunch of old German people who can't speak English. I greatly enjoyed it, and it is great to be around and interacting with music again. Anyways, that was pretty much my day, and it really was a great one :)
Sunday, May 22, 2011
After my first week in Berlin :)
So, its been a busy past few days, so i am going to try and catch up today! Lets see, so on Thursday, we had a sort of "free day". Each Thursday, we meet up and do some cultural activity with a lady at the DAAD center. This time, it was just an introduction type thing, and didn't last too long. It was also the first time i took the public transit system!! For me to get there, it involved a walk, a bus, and three train switches! A little bit stressful,but after riding the Ubahn all weekend, and getting lost, having to take a cab, and having to be picked up, I am feeling pretty confident now! BUt anyways, after the meeting, I walked around for a while with Tanya, Ellen and Essie, and we went to an area of Berlin called Kreuzberg. Its a lot like uptown in the way it "feels". It was a really chill time, we ate, drank, walked around, ate, and drank for about 5 hours, before finally going home! It was really relaxing and good to get to know them better.
On friday, i got to sleep in an extra hour (yey) before getting up and going to school. I watched the 6th graders do their music rehersal as well as their math class. Its pretty chaotic to say the least: 40 sixth graders running around a room, playing their instruments, etc! But it was good to get to know the kids a little better. I found out that many of them HATE english class (as for many, it is already their 3rd or 4th language), but they had no problems talking to me in German. I am so glad i can sort of speak enough to understand and get to know them all a little. School on Fridays is shorter here, so it was kind of nice to get home early and relax before going out for the night. I met up with a few of the girls on my program on Orangienbergerstr, kind of in the Jewish quarter of Berlin. We went to a few places, where i ate "Kartofellpuffers mit Apfelmus", probably one of my favorite foods! Ellen informed me that it is actually a very Jewish thing to eat, potato pancakes with apple sauce. Its crazy here, bars and what not, don't close, at least not until very late! I was out well past what bar time would be in minneapolis, and they were still hopping. I managed also to get home on the transit, which was a huge accomplishment for me.
Saturday, as i got home really late (or early, haha!), i slept in quite a bit. I then woke up and went to the movies with my host father, host sister, and her friend. We saw "Fluch der Karibik" (Pirates of the Carribean 4) in 3D. It was really fun, i have always enjoyed watching films in German. Films are really expensive here though, like 13 dollars! When we got home, we all played some games (Rummy, Uno, for example) and then had a barbeque. Oh. My. Gosh. It was so delicious!!!! We had a variety of meats (Wurst, Chicken wings, etc), German potato salad (with meat, eggs, and pickles), the really delicious vegatable dish (called Tajin, i think), garlic bread and of course, beer. It was nice weather too, so we got to sit outside on the patio. It really did make for a fantastic evening. After that, i took the bus and a couple of the SBahns to an area called Köpenick to spend a relaxing evening with Tanya.
Today, it took me about 2 hours to get home, as the trains don't run as frequently, and i decided to walk from the train station back home, instead of taking the bus. It was a nice day though, so good exercise. I kept thinking about how great it is to be here, and how much i am enjoying it. Anyways, so thats about it, i am just home right now, relaxing and getting ready for the upcoming week :)
On friday, i got to sleep in an extra hour (yey) before getting up and going to school. I watched the 6th graders do their music rehersal as well as their math class. Its pretty chaotic to say the least: 40 sixth graders running around a room, playing their instruments, etc! But it was good to get to know the kids a little better. I found out that many of them HATE english class (as for many, it is already their 3rd or 4th language), but they had no problems talking to me in German. I am so glad i can sort of speak enough to understand and get to know them all a little. School on Fridays is shorter here, so it was kind of nice to get home early and relax before going out for the night. I met up with a few of the girls on my program on Orangienbergerstr, kind of in the Jewish quarter of Berlin. We went to a few places, where i ate "Kartofellpuffers mit Apfelmus", probably one of my favorite foods! Ellen informed me that it is actually a very Jewish thing to eat, potato pancakes with apple sauce. Its crazy here, bars and what not, don't close, at least not until very late! I was out well past what bar time would be in minneapolis, and they were still hopping. I managed also to get home on the transit, which was a huge accomplishment for me.
Saturday, as i got home really late (or early, haha!), i slept in quite a bit. I then woke up and went to the movies with my host father, host sister, and her friend. We saw "Fluch der Karibik" (Pirates of the Carribean 4) in 3D. It was really fun, i have always enjoyed watching films in German. Films are really expensive here though, like 13 dollars! When we got home, we all played some games (Rummy, Uno, for example) and then had a barbeque. Oh. My. Gosh. It was so delicious!!!! We had a variety of meats (Wurst, Chicken wings, etc), German potato salad (with meat, eggs, and pickles), the really delicious vegatable dish (called Tajin, i think), garlic bread and of course, beer. It was nice weather too, so we got to sit outside on the patio. It really did make for a fantastic evening. After that, i took the bus and a couple of the SBahns to an area called Köpenick to spend a relaxing evening with Tanya.
Today, it took me about 2 hours to get home, as the trains don't run as frequently, and i decided to walk from the train station back home, instead of taking the bus. It was a nice day though, so good exercise. I kept thinking about how great it is to be here, and how much i am enjoying it. Anyways, so thats about it, i am just home right now, relaxing and getting ready for the upcoming week :)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Day 2
So yeah, i was really tired and busy last night, so i will try and write some now, when i have the time! I have been having a really great experience here so far!!
I started at the Neumark Grundschule yesterday, and I went today too. A little background...so in Germany, especially in Berlin, there are a lot of Turkish and Arabic immigrants. There are different areas in Berlin which are known to have more foreigners than natives, and I live and teach in such an area. The school is in a place called Schöneberg, and the school is 98% students of Arabic or Turkish background! This has been a really facinating for me, as it was totally not what i had expected, but in a good way. The kids are really interesting and sweet, and I am trying to get to know all their names, which has proved to be a little challenging. They have mostly Arabic or Turkish names that are really hard to pronounce!
Today, I started in a 6th grade English class. The teacher decided to have the kids write out and ask me questions in English, so that they could improve on their English skills, asking questions, specifically. Some of the questions were pretty normal (Do you like Berlin? What is your favorite movie? What is your favorite animal?). But much to my amusement, other questions included "Do you have a baby?" and "Do you smoke?" Another girl asked how old i was, and when i said 21, her response was "oh, my mom is just a few years older than you!" Keep in mind, this girl is 11. I also sat in a history class, where one of the boys asked if Obama was a dictator...again, i was pretty amused! As I said, i have met some really interesting and really adorable kids. I have also discovered that in some ways, kids are universal: no matter how difficult your day starts out, its hard to be grumpy when you get to work with children!
Later, i was in a band/theater class. They are preparing a play about King Midas, and it was really fun to be there for it! The kids are so enthusiastic, and a little off the walls, but i really did enjoy it. So far, everything has been great, soooooo glad to be here!!
I started at the Neumark Grundschule yesterday, and I went today too. A little background...so in Germany, especially in Berlin, there are a lot of Turkish and Arabic immigrants. There are different areas in Berlin which are known to have more foreigners than natives, and I live and teach in such an area. The school is in a place called Schöneberg, and the school is 98% students of Arabic or Turkish background! This has been a really facinating for me, as it was totally not what i had expected, but in a good way. The kids are really interesting and sweet, and I am trying to get to know all their names, which has proved to be a little challenging. They have mostly Arabic or Turkish names that are really hard to pronounce!
Today, I started in a 6th grade English class. The teacher decided to have the kids write out and ask me questions in English, so that they could improve on their English skills, asking questions, specifically. Some of the questions were pretty normal (Do you like Berlin? What is your favorite movie? What is your favorite animal?). But much to my amusement, other questions included "Do you have a baby?" and "Do you smoke?" Another girl asked how old i was, and when i said 21, her response was "oh, my mom is just a few years older than you!" Keep in mind, this girl is 11. I also sat in a history class, where one of the boys asked if Obama was a dictator...again, i was pretty amused! As I said, i have met some really interesting and really adorable kids. I have also discovered that in some ways, kids are universal: no matter how difficult your day starts out, its hard to be grumpy when you get to work with children!
Later, i was in a band/theater class. They are preparing a play about King Midas, and it was really fun to be there for it! The kids are so enthusiastic, and a little off the walls, but i really did enjoy it. So far, everything has been great, soooooo glad to be here!!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Here :)
Hallo Leute :)
So i am here now, after a long and sleepless flight! My host family picked me up at the airport, complete with a colorful sign which is now sitting in my room...they really are lovely people. I was overwhelmed at first, as we only speak German, but after a day, I am feeling more comfortable and its all coming back to me, thank goodness! I am in an area called "Neukölln", which is on the south east side of Berlin. So far, I haven't ventured out to the city, but i plan to this week. The well known parts of the city ("Mitte", for example), are a good 45 minutes away by the public transportation system. The weather has been really rainy, and I have been too tired for any grand adventures :P I start at the school tomorrow, and I am pretty excited for that! The vast majority of the students are of Arabic/Turkish background, as there are many "Ausländers" here in Berlin, especially from the east. But anyways, bis dann!
So i am here now, after a long and sleepless flight! My host family picked me up at the airport, complete with a colorful sign which is now sitting in my room...they really are lovely people. I was overwhelmed at first, as we only speak German, but after a day, I am feeling more comfortable and its all coming back to me, thank goodness! I am in an area called "Neukölln", which is on the south east side of Berlin. So far, I haven't ventured out to the city, but i plan to this week. The well known parts of the city ("Mitte", for example), are a good 45 minutes away by the public transportation system. The weather has been really rainy, and I have been too tired for any grand adventures :P I start at the school tomorrow, and I am pretty excited for that! The vast majority of the students are of Arabic/Turkish background, as there are many "Ausländers" here in Berlin, especially from the east. But anyways, bis dann!
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