Reunification Day

I know- you don't believe your eyes- Ashley has blogged again after such a long spell of ignoring blogspot. Well, believe it folks. Right now I'm sitting in the Shönefeld Flughaven waiting for my plane to leave for Munich. Here in Germany, land of timeliness, my plane has been delayed 2 hours. I'm especially bummed because I know Mom and Dad are already in the Munich Flughaven waiting for me. At least they gave me a seven Euro voucher for essen und trinken (eating and drinking.) Now that I've established the scene- I'm chilling in the flughaven in my green coat enjoying a free latte macchiato and shocolade muffin with a downtrodden look on my face- I can tell you about a new (to me) holiday.

Reunification Day was October 3rd. I thought this would be a frou-frou holiday like Arbor Day, but I was wrong. Reunification Day celebrates the day West and East Germans were reunited after the Wall "came down." It is an especially reflective day in Berlin, where many friends and families had been separated for such a long period of time.

After several hectic and draining days at school, I planned to use this day for relaxation, a manicure, and laundry. As late morning approached, though, I realized that this day was one of the reasons I chose to live in a foreign country. What kind of lame traveler would I be to miss this cultural experience. I texted my friends Bethany and Graham, and we made plans to meet at the Brandenburg Gate. What better place to observe festivities?

Apparently each frau, mann, kind und hund in Berlin had the same idea. As I disembarked (Anderson, are you reading this? If not, Junction people, make her!) the S-bahn at Unter den Linden I began to panic. I was trapped by a crowd of people all heading to the same destination. (As many of you know, I do not handle being trapped vary well. In fact, I am quite particular about which seat I choose in restaurants because of this fear of being trapped. ) Let me tell you, it was bad. I'll soon post a picture of what it looked like from the bottom of the staircase.

When I reached the top of the stairway I glanced around to see about 500 people milling about and at least 50 Polizei watching them. One particularly intimidating Polizei was shouting into a loudspeaker. (Was the shouting necessary? Nein, danke.) My German is improving, but it is still quite rudimentary. I was able to understand that he was giving us directions. I grabbed my notebook and tried to write down what he said. When he finished I read my notebook. It read somthing like this.
Right. Right. Bridge. Chicken. Park. Left. Right. Gate.

Except for the "huhnchen." I thought I understood pretty well. He was giving us directions to get to the gate. I followed the masses right and then right again when I was sidetracked by a postcard shop (they are my kryptonite) and Dunkin' Donuts. Bethany then texted to say she was in the same predicament (weird directions\big crowd.) So we changed our plans to meet at the Cafe Einstein near the American Embassy.

About 30 minutes later, Graham, Bethany and I were enjoying a lovely snack at Cafe Einstein watching huge crowds come and pay tribute to the Brandenburg Gate. After our snack (PS- the best hot chocolate ever.) We went to the festival. It was so packed we could not get in the entrance. We did, however, get to see a German Britney-type sing and dance to a crowd which stood solemnly watching. Oddment. There were also, of course, many currywurst and pretzel stands. I even saw some of those gross cookies from Oktoberfest. Blech. They remind me of the Great Absinthe\Night on the Russian Train Extravaganza of 2001. Clearly, that is one cookie I will not tackle again.

G, B, and I then took a 2 hour walk to nowhere. Those might be the best walks, because one stumbles upon places from the guidebook which were never interesting enough to plan a visit to, but are nice to see anyway.

Next year on Reunification Day I plan to arrive early to really see the festivities. Any takers?

The first six (+1) weeks of school

Family and Friends, let me first apologize for allowing my blogging skills to slip. Do not fret, I'm fine, healthy, happy, etc, but I won't deny the past six weeks have been a rollercoaster. Here is my much overdue update and a goal.

Life in Germany

I have begun to love many aspects of my host country. There are great bakeries and fruit stands. The word for bell in German is "klinger." (Say it outloud, you'll get it.) Public transport is easy to navigate. There are really fun clubs and pubs for dancing and watching rugby and football. Floh markts (flea martkets) are cheap and easy places to score some good stuff. Many restaurants bring the rechnung (check) with some free alcohol. IKEA is a 30 minute ride away. People in cafes are generally pleasant about using German slowly. I work with a(nother) great staff. They are becoming wonderful friends to me.

There are also aspects which make me totally crazy. While waiting for a bus, people mill about casually. As soon as the bus appears they act like this bus is the last helicopter out of Vietnam. I have been elbowed in the face by an elderly man and have bruises from peoples purses for not moving fast enough. (I prefer to be the last person on so I don't get trapped by the window with a stinky person on the outside edge.) Public transport goes on strike regularly. Language barriers make parent communication at school very difficult. I'm afraid to turn on my tv after 10 o'clock at night. Dryers are really expensive and don't dry the clothes properly anyway.

School

Now that I've been able to navigate the school it seems simple enough. I enjoy teaching Grade 2 which is a relief! There are totally moments when I wish I have my independent 5th graders again, but watching these children grow so quickly in their skills is astounding. I believe this also has something to do with the fact that all except one are not native English speakers and probably lost some of their skills over the summer. When I looked back at my notes, it is quite impressive to see the growth of my students.

My class is full of BIG personalities who love to share each and every thought that crosses their minds. I've been working with them about prioritizing which thoughts to share and which ones to keep private. We've also been learning about the importance of keeping shoes on. Some fun tidbits about life in 2B...

Things I've had to say...

Key- MR-Miss Reser DS-Darling student

MR: Keep your pants on. (In the literal sense)

In response to learning the joke 'What kind of dog has ticks? A watchdog.'

MR: It is funny because ticks are bugs, like the bugs on a dog and ticks are also the sound that a clock makes, like tick-tock, tick-tock.

DS: Oh, I get it now. It is funny because a dog wouldn't wear a watch. Hahahahahaha.

MR: Not exactly, but if you think it is funny, that will work.

MR: Just because it is the 10th tooth you have lost, does not make your lost tooth world news.

MR: (In response to a student who had been reminded to finish his art at least three times already.) Come on, DS name, wrap it up now. (DS looks up at me quizzically. I nod with a stern look on my face. He shrugs and begins rolling his paper up like a burrito.)

A short story about public transport

Once upon a time in Berlin when the weather was still warmish, Ashley was tired after a long day of teaching fact families and their houses, how art can tell stories, and the short a sound she wearily waited for the 285 bus to bring her home. While she waited a teenage German boy came swaggering up the sidewalk. His jeans were pulled down low, his cap was on sideways, and he had a touch of bling in the shape on a dollar sign hanging around his neck. Ashley looked around to check if she had been suddenly transported into one of Vanilla Ice's videos, but quickly noted the regular 1995 German wear on the surrounding people.

The teenage boy sauntered through the crowd pausing twice to hock a loogie. (Where did all of the flem come from?) He spit one loogie near the feet of a woman with a stroller, and one near Ashley. Ashley (being the sassy teacher that she is) took one step closer to him and gave him the "who are you again?" look. Just as a brawl was about to ensue, the bus arrived. Ashley and said teenager joined the teeming mass getting on the bus. Ashley was behind the teenager and lost sight of him.

Both people got on the bus and climbed to the second level. Ashley noted that this teen was sitting behind a pair of teenage girls. She chose to sit a few rows in front of them. Teenage boy said soemthing in a sassy voice in the German language. Just as A was about to respond in English, one of the teenage girls responded back. Teenage boy chose to engage in the verbal spar in German and again, Ashley wished she knew more German, but her ears peaked when he said his last two words "deine mutter."

Ashley exhaled a low whistle. He had just called out the girls mama. Luckily, teenage girl was no shrinking violet and responded with a sarcastic attitude and used the words "meine mutter." This went on for some time with both parties referring to the girl's mom repeatedly. Although language can be a struggle, tone is universal and it was clear that the girl won this "mama" match. Steglitz-1 Compton-0

Munich/Oktoberfest

As a good American girl living in Germany I made the trek to Oktoberfest with two friends. We actually were there for the opening weekend and it was SO MUCH FUN! I'm exhausted from reliving the last six weeks, so let's pretend that a picture really is worth 1000 words. Here is 5000 words about Oktoberfest...

Props to Katie for remembering her camera and allowing me to share her photos!


LOVE YOU ALL! Please email me if you see me slacking in the blogging department again. I have a strong desire to keep it up, but need you to keep me honest.

Note: Next week I will be traveling with MOM and DAD(!!!) We'll be back late on Saturday. I will try to update on Sunday about our travels.