Watch out, they spit!

I was on my way home last night from the train station and was just thinking, "I caught this train just in time" as the U6 barrelled into the Friedrichstr. station when the doors opened and HOCH! and big reddish brown loogie exited the ubahn door. It landed centimeters from my New Balances. Some dude then casually followed his nasty deposit through the doors looking totally pleased with himself.

I looked around at my fellow travelers for their looks of disgust and outrage, yet no one seemed to notice... or care that he defiled the ground with his (scarily) off-colored flem. I've seen Germans get into yelling matches over whether a bike should be locked on this side of the bike rack or that side of it, so I braced myself for the yelling to follow.

Nothing happened.

As I rode home I realized that I see piles of spit everywhere in Berlin. Berliners must be spitters. It's on the sidewalks, in the Metro stations, even in my elevator in my building on occasion. When I first moved to Berlin, I missed all of the people smiling as we walked places. Berliners seemed to keep their heads down (shame from ancestors, oder?) but yesterday night I got it. Their heads are down to avoid the ground loogie. Or maybe the dog poo.

Thanks Janna!

Stolen from Janna's blog...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. It's way more fun getting to rip through the paper. Plus, I love making those sharp creases on the edges of boxes. It's when my CDO comes out.
2. Real tree or Artificial? I prefer real, but I have an artificial because I try to live green.
3. When do you put up the tree? After Dad's birthday
4. When do you take the tree down? Before school starts back up.
5. Do you like eggnog? Nope, gluehwein owns my heart.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? American Girl dolls
7. Hardest person to buy for? Dad (but I've got a good idea this year!)
8. Easiest person to buy for? Amanda
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, when I lived in KY I loved it so much I left it up all year.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail (P.S. I'm starting to send my own Christmas cards this year. I think that means I'm officially a grown-up
11. Worst gift you've ever received? Crystal urn and a stapler from a student. Actually, the stapler was lovely, but the urn sent mixed messages.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Love Actually or The Family Man
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? September
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yup.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cheesy potatoes and clove cookies
16. Lights on the tree? Lots of white ones, but my artificial tree is pre-lit
17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night, Baby, It's Cold Outside, and The Restroom Door Said Gentlemen
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? home- you come to me!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Obvi, I teach children.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? the tv ads
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? wooden ornaments
24. Favorite place for Christmas dinner? With family
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? To be home

And since I missed all of November...

1.) I'm 26 now.

2.) Spent Thanksgiving at Uncle Sam's, the American diner.

3.) Went to Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Saarbrucken and Zweibrucken for Fall Break.

4.) Lots of fun outings with friends.

5.) Going home for Christmas. Can't wait.

'Tis the Season

Living in Germany at Christmastime is magical. And, because of my job, the magic is multiplied by the 28 eyes of the kids in my class. This year, Morning Meetings in my room have been thrown to pieces by one simple statement, "The Christmas man isn't real." (In Germany, Der Weinachtsmann is Santa Claus because St. Nicholas is the man who comes to your house on December 6th and leaves candy and treats in good children's shoes. My shoes were empty this morning...) Well, as soon as the statement was made, immediately battle lines were crossed.

"It's true." "My nanny told me so." "Then who leaves the presents?" "I saw him last year in my house." Lips started to tremble, eyes started to water and that was just me. Eventually, the kids noticed that I wasn't participating in the discussion and pointedly asked what I thought. Now, I struggle to always tell the kids the truth. I want them to trust me without question, so I responded the only way I knew how.

"Just like religion, I don't try to tell people they must believe what I believe. I'm open-minded (haha! PYP word!) so I try to understand other peoples rights to believe what they want."

Then, I went on a search for The Polar Express and Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Laugh riot in room 3306

(Setting: Morning Meeting)

Girl 1: (Looking at Girl 2) Ew. It's so gross to chew on your hair.

Girl 2: (Takes her hair out of her mouth.)

Miss R.: (Looks at Girl 1 with the intent to discuss kind ways to use words to help people, not hurt them and sees that Girl 1's finger is digging for nose gold.) Girl 1, that is really unattractive too.

Vogue.

Jason and I decided to take some pictures while I was home. Prom was a long time ago!

Isn't my brother a cutie? Oh, and hands off ladies, his girlfriend is a dream, so don't even consider the idea of being my sister-in-law. (Not that it matters, he's one loyal guy!)

At the Olympic stadium for the Hertha game. Notice the sunshine- treasure it.

Kathryn, Ben and I enjoy a pils at the footie game. Hertha lost, yet we smile. Why? Beer.
Andrea and Sara (and their three offspring) examine a diaper in my favorite baby shower game!

I also have Spidey skillz.

Rotes Kreuz

Fear not, people in emergency situations, I am again certified as a "first aider." I spent Friday and Saturday getting trained to perform lifesaving techniques... in German. Now, truly, my German is getting better, but I just can't trust it too accurately help someone with sonnenschtreike (sunstroke, albeit misspelled- well, who knows, I added each and every letter I thought might fit into the word). Everyone except for the trainer spoke English and two people did quite a bit of translating... but honestly... they gave me a certificate... Perhaps my favorite moment happened while demonstrating my ability to perform CPR for 10 minutes. (This may not sound as exhausting as it felt.) The trainer told us time was up, and yet still I continued CPR because I was so focused... oh, yes, and because I couldn't verstande ihnen! Another beautiful moment happened when we were given silicone faces to place on the dummies with instruction in Deutsch. I leaned over to the nearest translator and asked what made the masks magic (zauber). She cracked up and told me that the masks were clean (sauber). I still can't hear the difference.

Thank goodness this is like my 8th training in as many years.