214 Euros

I have been waiting and waiting to blog about Mom and Dad's visit, but since they haven't sent me the blog email I'm skipping the Fall Break and you'll hear (read) about it later.


Story background- I bought a new bike this weekend to replace the one that was stolen. Berlin is very dark most of the evening and it is hard to see how to lock my bike. The rain is coming down very hard.

So, tonight I got home around 7:30 from a long, but pleasant day at school to find a large white notice on the door of the house addressed to me. In German, I recognize that it is (apparently) uncool to lock my bike to a pole outside of the house. The reasoning seems to be that if a car hit my bike, the pole would also fall, possibly causing the collapse of my entire building. Note: Wouldn't my bike actually serve as a cushioning system to the pole? Ever the tenacious landlords, I found an identical note on the door to my apartment.

"Sheesh, " I thought, as I deposited my backpack on the aztec reading chair. I'll move the bike. However, as a multi-tasker, I saw an opportunity to get a load of laundry started for my trip to Copenhagen this weekend. I gathered a load of dark clothes, detergent, fabric softener, Bounce sheets, and the keys to my bike lock and headed downstairs. When I arrived on the main floor I realized I forgot my cellar keys and trudged back up the rattan carpet where I found my apartment door had shut and automatically locked. Scheisse. There I was, laden with laundry tools, no phone, no keys, no cash, no coat. I did the only reasonable thing and knocked on my neightbor's door.

When she opened the door, I introduced myself since we had never officially met. Then I told her I locked myself out of the apartment and asked if she could call the landlord.

About ten minutes later, the landlord arrived and again berated me for the bike zoning rules of our "complex." On his third tirade of my idiocy, I asked if he could stop kicking me when I was down and kick the door open instead. (Okay, just in my head. Instead I kicked into teenager mode and rolled my eyes at him. Not my best moment, but I'm honest.)

We walked up the stairs where he worked for ten more minutes without accomplishing anything except whining about my bike. Finally, he asked my neighbor to call the locksmith. The locksmith said he would be here in 15 minutes. The landlord grumbled all of the way out the door and my neightbor invited me in for a cupof coffee. I felt I have caused enough of an interruption in her evening and borrowed her cellar key so I could do laundry.

Thirty minutes later the locksmith showed up and tinkered with the door in the same way the landlord did. Thankfully, the locksmith had skillz and effectively broke into my apartment in three minutes. Don't worry, that wasn't his only skill. He was also a master at writing up billz. A lightning fast thirty seconds later I was presented with a bill for 214 Euros.

Good-bye Copenhagen shopping and dinners out for the rest of November.

(But I am thinking about parking my bike against the pole again for sheer spite of the repeated lectures. Maybe I could lock it to his car...)

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.

Meine haus part 2 (Part one is below.)

After leaving the kitchen, one enters the lebensraum again. I think the lighting in the photo truly shows the elegance of my sofa/chair set. (Take that Bravo's Design Star!)
The picture in the frame is a little freaky. I've covered it with a variety of pictures and am thinking about using a picture from the Glamour "Man Issue" next. In the background you might note my flowered bedspread.






Now you can see my sweet bedroom. This is def. my favorite room. It feels like a cozy nook for reading, sleeping, and relaxing. The open door leads to the bathroom. I love the technicolor bathrobe from IKEA. It is a burst of happy in my morning!

The bathroom is classicly teensy, but adequate for one person. In my next flat I won't settle for anything without a bathtub, though.

Mein haus

I moved into my flat more than one month ago, and still have yet to show you my "keebler" house despite many a lengthy email request. I kept waiting for a day when I didn't have laundry drying all over the house, or thinking first I would get a new couch to replace the current Adobe sofa and chair set. However, after all is said and done, I ALWAYS have some laundry drying, and I've decided that I won't live in Steglitz after my 6 month lease is finished, so why bother getting a sofa I'll eventually have to move. (Sorry to my visitors who are coming before February, you'll get an air mattress. Although you should know that Graham and Hillary, on separate occasions, assured me that the floor is quite comfortable.)

I wish I could charge you 8 Euros to slip on some earphones and listen to my commentary about my place, but you'll have to simply read.

The first picture shows that you see when entering my apartment. I'm sure you, as I do, would feel instant calm when you notice the infamous couch and chair. (Go on, click on the image for a real close up!) Actually, I love the big windows and glass china cupboard.

If you would turn to your left and enter the kitchen you coul see the second picture. You may notice the curtain detail. It reminds me a tad of Dolores Umbridge. HP fans wil know why. Everyone else won't care. the next image shows my kitchen. I wish I could be standing at the sink for a reference pint, but let me tell you that I can stand directly in front of the sink and my head barely grazes the ceiling. (If you're reading this from KY, that was the "silling.") My stove and oven are gas and after a few incidents of difficulty and nearly pulling a Sylvia Plath, I've decided I like cooking with gas. My tea is ready in about 30 seconds!

The other side of the kitchen holds the refrigerator, cupboards and makeshift ironing station. This way I can iron my clothes each morning while waiting for my Vitamin C tablet to fizzle. This is also the trash sorting center. I spend much more time each day sorting my trash than my laundry. V. Green, no?

I felt that the food station deserved a large picture so you could notice the details of my life- like my new penchant for drinking milk out of a box. This picture was taken immediately after a major grocery store excursion, and it is clear that I'm gearing up for a week without being home when stores are open.

NOTE: If your only mode of transportation is an Oma bike, DO NOT get a grocery cart at your local ReWe. You WILL fill the cart like you had your old Eclipse sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot and only at checkout glance casually into your cart and wonder how one might get home with 65 Euro of groceries on a bike (including, but not limited to cleaning supplies, liters of Pfirsch Tea, and 2.5 kilos of potatoes.) It was amazing, but I made it the 6 blocks with only one minor spill- and I didn't want that jar of jam anyway.

Found them!

The missing blog entries following the pitiful epitaph have been found. (I heart my computer!)
Enjoy. (PS I'm picking up my apartment and doing laundry today in hopes of finally taking pictures of meine haus for you. Expect them soon.)

Saturday afternoon
Life is much easier when one decides to get a grip and get to work. Taking a deep breath and relaxing just allowed me to wallow, and although wallowing might taste good as you down a third glass of Nestle Quik, it doesn’t solve the problem at hand. Instead, I got off of my bum, dug in my heels, and got to work by shopping. Retail therapy really works for me and since Germany (as far as I can tell) only takes cash I didn’t do any permanent damage.
In fact, the only real impulse buys were a bathrobe (one worthy of Joseph… you know, technicolor) and a new lip balm. That is mighty impressive and, as everyone knows, one can never have too many lip balms. I think Germany is going to be a new testing ground for lip balm research and I am certainly the person for it.
All of the shopping here is individualized so I went to IKEA (hamper, bathrobe, bathmat, scrub brush, three trashcans-so I can sort my rubbish as the Deutsch do), 2000 Blume (flower pots so I can grow the seeds from Amanda and Adam’s wedding), Shlecker (laundry detergent, nail polish remover, cotton balls, conditioner, lip balm), Media Markt (blow dryer and straightening iron), and a bookstore whose name I can’t remember for some postcards, a map of Berlin, and a German/English dictionary. I’m enjoying choosing new things and putting together a flat. In fact, I like to set up reward systems for myself (I’m such a teacher!), and I’ve decided when I get my first paycheck I’m going to IKEA and splurging on a new comforter. The Germans use comforters which are not big enough to cover the whole bed, but I want a luxurious, fluffy, extra warm, bed covering- it is a good reward.
Now I’m off to meet some of the other new teachers for dinner. I’ll be careful with the menu tonight. I certainly don’t want to relive the Great Leber Catastrophe of 2007.
(Note:C ongratulations to Julia and Josh! I wish I could be there celebrating with you- wait, I’m am-ish.. Pictures will be posted at a later date.)

Tuesday
Things are going well. My German is slightly improving. In fact, yesterday I was walking down the sidewalk and heard a bike behind me (BTW. v. dangerous to walk down sidewalks in Berlin) I moved to the left to let it pass me by, and the rider must have had the same idea. We were caught in the move from one side to the other side dance and I laughed and said, “I’m sorry.” He said, “No problem.” As he passed by I felt like victory because I had a whole conversation in German… well, two sentences at least.

Wednesday
I think I’m regressing to my college self. When I first went to Centre I was so homesick, but felt better as I gained friends and had activities to keep me occupied. The same is true now I feel pretty bummed when alone, but as I go explore the town with my new teacherfriends, I feel happy. I know I should have more internal self-esteem, but too often I feel best when others want to spend time with me or praise my efforts. It is childlike, but I think this change has brought several insecurities to light.
Hillary, another new teacher, is saying with me right now until her apartment is vacated. It is nice to have the company for basic chat. Somehow life is just better with companionship. This is remarkably philosophical coming from someone who needs her alone time (like a baby needs her blanket. Fergie is SO inspiring, right?) And I really need my alone time.

Friday
The challenges of living in a foreign country persist. Today I thought about doing some baking, but since I’m still not sure about the gas oven or my measurement conversions, I though it would be best to buy a brownie mix. How badly could I mess it up? Apparently, pretty badly. I learned, however, that translating brownie mix directions (even with a great Deutsch/Englisch dictionary) can cause a person to create billows of smoke and a pan of something resembling burnt chocolate kisses. They tasted quite awful too…

Since...

Since that last quite pitiful blog entry, things have been looking up. I've met s many more people, been more places, and somewhat settled into my apartment. I still don't love it- it is "Keebler Elf" sized, and in a semi-suburb, but it will do for a bit of time.

Since I last blogged I've hung out on a beach (okay, the banks of the Spree), been to the Altes Nationalgallerie, watched people tango on a boat, seen a conspiracy theory movie about 9/11, organized the furniture in my classroom, purchased a bike, been to San Souci, shopped at KaDeWe and IKEA, made two batches of snickerdoodles (without cream of tarter,) and attended a birthday party picnic. It has all been wonderful. I feel like I'm finally settling into my new home.

Since school inservices start on Monday and grocery stores aren't open on Sunday, I better go get some food for next week.