Monday, November 06, 2006
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
High on lesson planning . . .
Or is it the permanent markers?
No, I'm here having a great time planning my lessons. I'm on my 6th or 7th hour here at the desk/computer and I think I've really hit my stride. We'll see if I actually enjoy being in the classroom with the pubescent monsters tomorrow, but I just might. I'm finally getting the hang of what these little buggers need: the perfect mix of games, very structured worksheets and grammar activities, activities that remind them that they don't actually know how to use what they think they know, and discipline. Yes, it's true, I often try to remind them that they don't know things. I know it sounds horrible, but it is one of the only ways to make them listen. Their propensity to cockiness is unbelievable, due mainly to the fact that they are good at worksheets and structured situations. What they are not yet so good at is actually using what they have learned. So we go back and forth between speaking and writing practice, and the rules and worksheets.
In other news, my palm needs a new pot; it looks really squished.
No, I'm here having a great time planning my lessons. I'm on my 6th or 7th hour here at the desk/computer and I think I've really hit my stride. We'll see if I actually enjoy being in the classroom with the pubescent monsters tomorrow, but I just might. I'm finally getting the hang of what these little buggers need: the perfect mix of games, very structured worksheets and grammar activities, activities that remind them that they don't actually know how to use what they think they know, and discipline. Yes, it's true, I often try to remind them that they don't know things. I know it sounds horrible, but it is one of the only ways to make them listen. Their propensity to cockiness is unbelievable, due mainly to the fact that they are good at worksheets and structured situations. What they are not yet so good at is actually using what they have learned. So we go back and forth between speaking and writing practice, and the rules and worksheets.
In other news, my palm needs a new pot; it looks really squished.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
8 heart-warming comments!
Cheers to all of you fantastic commenters out there! You guys really are swell and I hope that you keep it up. And to those of you who have not yet commented, it's not too late. You'll have new opportunities every week to, in the words of the Germans, give you mustard. That's just a nice Deutschie way of saying "to give your opinion about a certain topic". So keep the mustard coming everyone!
As for me, I've made it through two days of the 7th and 8th graders. The first day was rough, the second a considerable improvement, yet I still have no plans of persuing any kind of career involving pre-teens ever. Ever ever ever. I was terribly worried about teaching this class, although I always had this hope in the back of my mind that they wouldn't be as horrible as I thought, that they would secretly be well adjusted and lamb-like. No cigar. They confirmed all of my stereotypes about that age group. However, it should be taken into account that they are paying for me to spend New Year's in Spain with Maria and thus I can't really complain.
Well, it's about time for me to fall into bed and pass out after two of the hardest days I've had in a long time.
As for me, I've made it through two days of the 7th and 8th graders. The first day was rough, the second a considerable improvement, yet I still have no plans of persuing any kind of career involving pre-teens ever. Ever ever ever. I was terribly worried about teaching this class, although I always had this hope in the back of my mind that they wouldn't be as horrible as I thought, that they would secretly be well adjusted and lamb-like. No cigar. They confirmed all of my stereotypes about that age group. However, it should be taken into account that they are paying for me to spend New Year's in Spain with Maria and thus I can't really complain.
Well, it's about time for me to fall into bed and pass out after two of the hardest days I've had in a long time.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
A request to all family members and pals
Please leave comments! I live for your comments!
Ok, so that might be a bit of an exageration, but I really do enjoy comments and it lets me know that someone other than myself is looking at my blog from time to time. A very big thank you to those of you who do comment.
At any rate, not much is new here. I'm in the midst of planning a class that I'll be teaching next week for 7th and 8th graders in their fall vacation. We'll be covering a variety of topics, including Halloween, Harry Potter, celebrities, flirting and possible some American Civil Rights history. Wish me luck!
Other than that I'm just chuggin' along.
Ok, so that might be a bit of an exageration, but I really do enjoy comments and it lets me know that someone other than myself is looking at my blog from time to time. A very big thank you to those of you who do comment.
At any rate, not much is new here. I'm in the midst of planning a class that I'll be teaching next week for 7th and 8th graders in their fall vacation. We'll be covering a variety of topics, including Halloween, Harry Potter, celebrities, flirting and possible some American Civil Rights history. Wish me luck!
Other than that I'm just chuggin' along.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Konsider the Kohl
On our roadtrip, Sarah and I were confronted with controversial question: Is cabbage a decorative plant? The city of Boston has taken to using a variety of cabbage in many of its planters. While I thought the cabbage was rather novel, Sarah was not so sure. I'm guessing that because the German diet is so cabbage-heavy, that seeing it used in a planter seemed absurd.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
I found my twin!!!
I had never really met anyone who looked like me. Other people said I looked like friends of theirs, but I never saw these friends and I was sceptical. Until I met birdiesaur. Birdiesaur is a dinosaur toothbrush cover that is kind of bird-like and who happens to look a whole lot like me. The photo says it all. I don't have a toothbrush for a body--it's more of a facial likeness.Strangely enough, while we were in a bar in Boston one evening, a gentleman who worked in the bar came over to us and said, in a very thick Boston accent, that I looked exactly like his step daughter, gave me her e-mail address, and told me to get in contact with this person who he claimed had a striking resemblance to me. I never found her, but I did find birdiesaur.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Germany takes Facebook to the next level
The topic today: online friend networks. I was reluctant to join them, now I'm in many of them and I still know why I was reluctant to join them: they are superficial and mainly for the purpose of procrastinating and seeing what people from your past look like now. Yet, I like them. I like procrastinating and I like seeing what people from my past look like now.
The truth is, I'm a member of Facebook and MySpace and StudiVerzeichnis, the German version of Facebook. While I rarely ever look at Facebook because it is the lamest of the three, StudiVerzeichnis has one hilarious function: letting you see who has looked at your profile. This turns StudiVerzeichnis to the silliest courting game I have witnessed in some time. One's online stalking is exposed and I think that everyone gets quite a thrill from it. You log on and on your start page see that four new people have viewed your profile. If you're me, then there is a good chance that you already looked at their profile in the hope that they would look at your profile. This new fandangled German thing-a-ma-bobber also shows you how your are networked with people over different people. It shows you how many degrees of separation are between you and exactly what they are. I'm highly amused.
I joined yesterday.
The truth is, I'm a member of Facebook and MySpace and StudiVerzeichnis, the German version of Facebook. While I rarely ever look at Facebook because it is the lamest of the three, StudiVerzeichnis has one hilarious function: letting you see who has looked at your profile. This turns StudiVerzeichnis to the silliest courting game I have witnessed in some time. One's online stalking is exposed and I think that everyone gets quite a thrill from it. You log on and on your start page see that four new people have viewed your profile. If you're me, then there is a good chance that you already looked at their profile in the hope that they would look at your profile. This new fandangled German thing-a-ma-bobber also shows you how your are networked with people over different people. It shows you how many degrees of separation are between you and exactly what they are. I'm highly amused.
I joined yesterday.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Two visions of Marie
Last week I made the obligatory journey to my stylist's salon and home for our yearly day of dress-up. This time, I had the pleasure of wearing many wigs (as many as four at once) and having white make up caked on my face. But indeed, the results were worth it and I got him to wash my hair afterwards, which is always awesome. In the first picture I am my stylist's vision of Marie Antoinette, in the second I am the photographer's vision of Marie Antoinette. One somewhat more Hollywood, one perhaps more historical.
Back home?
It seems that over the past year, I've become rather confused about the word 'home'. Confused about where that place is for me. I've caught myself referring to both Milwaukee and Tübingen as 'home' on a regular basis. I guess I'll just make it easy for myself and say that I person can have more than one home. Granted that means that I just left home and got home all at once (well, there were about 10 hours of travel time in between).
So here I am, in Tübingen. It's strange to be back--it seems that I was gone for so very long and things feel a bit different than when I left. For one, getting used to life sans partner is more difficult than I had expected. Have no fear, my dear readers, I'm sure things will improve in the coming days and that I will be back in my third home, the land of optimism, very shortly.
So here I am, in Tübingen. It's strange to be back--it seems that I was gone for so very long and things feel a bit different than when I left. For one, getting used to life sans partner is more difficult than I had expected. Have no fear, my dear readers, I'm sure things will improve in the coming days and that I will be back in my third home, the land of optimism, very shortly.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Back in MKE and ready to go!
Sarah and I have returned from our road trip and believe it or not, it is almost time to return to Germany. We had a fantastic 10-day trip out East, which started at the end of September. We headed out at "8am", which was of course not really 8 am, but rather 9:30 or so. We sailed through Chicago and headed through the boredom that is Indiana. Then we veered South to our first stop, Kenyon College and the home of my dear friend, Abe Shriner. Abe was a great host, taking us to his friend Fritz's birthday party and giving us a warm, dry place to sleep on a cold and rainy fall night.
Here we are at Fritz's birthday party, drinking really large beers, although you can't really tell how large they were. We gave Fritz some fake hillbilly teeth for his birthday. We didn't get the impression that he was very excited about them, but others at the party seemed to enjoy them, so that was gratifying.
We departed early the next morning and had a day full of rain, rain, and more rain. In the evening the rain got so bad that we had to stop at a gas station. Lucky for us the gas station served salad, which provided an already needed break for our digestive systems, already growing weary of fast food and tons of car candy and chips. We then had a nap in our sweet bed on wheels (aka the futon in the back of our mini van) and kept on driving until about 20 miles outside of Boston, where we slept in the parking lot of a travel plaza (you know, where they have fast food, a crappy gift shop, and a gas station, all in one convenient location--at the side of the highway where there is nothing else in sight).
Now, I'm not sure how all of your are envisioning the back of our mini van, but I imagine it is with a bit of scepticism. Think again. The back of our mini van was pure comfort. A double futon, a fleece blanket, a king sized down comforter, a bunch a pillows--heaven. We also had our suitcases back there and a fully stocked cooler.
Here we see Sarah, waking up one morning after a particularly refreshing sleep in the car. It is a bit foggy because, actually, it was a bit cold in the car and the lense didn't like it.
Ok, wll, I've got some things to do now, like getting ready to return to Germany, so I"ll have to write about the rest of our trip later. In the meantime, if you'd like to have a look at the complete album, here there are at this new photo site that I am trying out. Let me know how it works. At this exact moment, not all of the photos are on there yet, but probably by the time you try to click on it, they will be. Enjoy!
Here we are at Fritz's birthday party, drinking really large beers, although you can't really tell how large they were. We gave Fritz some fake hillbilly teeth for his birthday. We didn't get the impression that he was very excited about them, but others at the party seemed to enjoy them, so that was gratifying.
We departed early the next morning and had a day full of rain, rain, and more rain. In the evening the rain got so bad that we had to stop at a gas station. Lucky for us the gas station served salad, which provided an already needed break for our digestive systems, already growing weary of fast food and tons of car candy and chips. We then had a nap in our sweet bed on wheels (aka the futon in the back of our mini van) and kept on driving until about 20 miles outside of Boston, where we slept in the parking lot of a travel plaza (you know, where they have fast food, a crappy gift shop, and a gas station, all in one convenient location--at the side of the highway where there is nothing else in sight).
Now, I'm not sure how all of your are envisioning the back of our mini van, but I imagine it is with a bit of scepticism. Think again. The back of our mini van was pure comfort. A double futon, a fleece blanket, a king sized down comforter, a bunch a pillows--heaven. We also had our suitcases back there and a fully stocked cooler.
Here we see Sarah, waking up one morning after a particularly refreshing sleep in the car. It is a bit foggy because, actually, it was a bit cold in the car and the lense didn't like it.
Ok, wll, I've got some things to do now, like getting ready to return to Germany, so I"ll have to write about the rest of our trip later. In the meantime, if you'd like to have a look at the complete album, here there are at this new photo site that I am trying out. Let me know how it works. At this exact moment, not all of the photos are on there yet, but probably by the time you try to click on it, they will be. Enjoy!
Road Trip Out East
PS just a note on my last post and the comments that ensued: we were doing grammar in the attic, rather than German. And yes, grammar has to stay in tha attic.
Monday, September 25, 2006
"I'm smelling my notebook" "I'm smelling this empty cup of coffee"
Sarah and Claire here, bringing you the latest news from the attic. We are learning grammar and it smells like poop--not the grammar, but the attic. As the title says, Sarah is sniffing her notebook and I am smelling and empty cup of coffee. It's not a good situation. Does anyone want to talk to us about the differences between past perfect and past perfect progressive and present progressive and present perfect progressive and present perfect and simple past and . . . uhhh . . . did we forget any? Our heads are spinning and neither of us can remember ever wanting to express things so specifically in time as these tenses allow, but maybe we will when we are back in smart land, I mean the university. Maybe sniffing notebook and coffee will help us.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
So many Sara(h)s that rock my world
Yes, it's true, there are so many Sara(h)s that rock my world.
Sara Selena, my long lost childhood friend, who I reconnected with this past weekend and who I am very please to add to my list of phenomenal women friends.
Dr. Sarah, showing the UW Madison Med School how it's done and how to have great hair while doing it.
German Sarah, who is currently learning to speak like an American right here in Milwaukee and who has been cracking me up with references to suicide plants and all sorts of psychology jargon.
How many of you know three breathtakingly beautiful, highly intellectual and funny women with the same name? Yup, I knew it, none. Yet another reason why my life is great.
Sara Selena, my long lost childhood friend, who I reconnected with this past weekend and who I am very please to add to my list of phenomenal women friends.
Dr. Sarah, showing the UW Madison Med School how it's done and how to have great hair while doing it.
German Sarah, who is currently learning to speak like an American right here in Milwaukee and who has been cracking me up with references to suicide plants and all sorts of psychology jargon.
How many of you know three breathtakingly beautiful, highly intellectual and funny women with the same name? Yup, I knew it, none. Yet another reason why my life is great.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Recap of the summer
Here it is, my friends, a photographic summary of the summer. It was nice to go through these photos again to remember what an eventful and wonderful summer it was. Photos of Jack and Alisha's wedding and move are still to come.
The BEST picture of the summer
There is no doubt in my mind, that this picture sums up everything that was wonderful about this summer: wonderful guests, The World Cup, the German-colored duster and the tickling of strangers that occured with it. This may also go down in the books as one of Zosia's most brilliant ideas ever.
The parents at the best dinner of the summer
Alisha, Jack, my parents and I went out for an amazing meal at Sanford's before Jack and Alisha moved away. The food was fantastic and the company was even better. We were by far the loudest people in the restaraunt and it was clear to all of us that no one could possibly be enjoying themselves as much as we were.
My favorite mannequin in Tübingen
This mannequin is put out by the clock maker every so often in different off-beat costumes to tell some story about clock making in the city.
Kristen, Claire and Alex celebrate Germany's (last?) victory
I think this was after the last game that Germany won in the World Cup. As we did after most games, we walked with everyone else in the city to the downtown area and danced and cheered and celebrated for a long time. You know you can legally drink on the street in Germany.
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