Skype

I'm kinda a big fan of Skype. it's a free computer to computer calling system, that uses the internet to transmit calls. It's like a vocal MSN.

Anyway, my point is, you should definately sign up for it. Cause, hey, who isn't looking to save a few bucks calling their favorite expat Canadian friend??? Anyway- the site: skype.org (if it comes up in German, there is a drop-down menu at the very bottom of the page that allows you to change the language).

All you've gotta do is download it, set up an account, add contacts and be online at the same time as your contacts. Easy. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

*let me know when you've got it, i'll give you my contact info :)

Extreme Tourism

So today i walked into Sinzig. It's only about 2.5 km and what better way to spend a sunny sunday afternoon then checking out the local history?

Apparently, the only "better" way i could spend the day was to walk into Sinzig and get hosed by the biggest tourist trap ever. Maybe it's cause i'm still suffering from my down-home on the farm naivete, but i thought i would be kinda fun to go check out the Middle Ages Market. My first sign of things being "trap-y" definately should have been that i had to pay 5 Euro to get into the damn thing. hmmm.

My next clue that the fair was only for the most tourist-y of tourists should have been that EVERYONE was dressed up in "authentic" middle ages attire, conveniently purchasable right at the fair. hmmmm indeed. i have never seen so many capes, swords, and Middle Ages Hippies in my entire life. *shudder*





However, the day was not a total wash for everyone:

Clarification

I know right now everyone is a little confused- asking where the hell do you actually live/work? It's actually a little complicated.

You see, I live in Bad Bodendorf, but despite not physically being part of Sinzig, Bad Bodendorf is considered a suburb of Sinzig (which is why i have a Sinzig address). I work in Bad Neuenahr which is part of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler (the by-product of the same sort of amalgamation that hit Sinzig). So i can see how one easily gets confused :)

Hopefully that clears it up a bit.

Ahhh...The Magic of the Weekend

For your viewing pleasure...


The Ahr River.


A church in Sinzig.


Random steps behind the church.

Problems?!?

Today in the 8^th grade:

Me: So Canada has a really small population for such a large country. There are only about 32-33 million Canadians. It’s strange because Canada is one of the world’s largest countries.

Concerned Student: Why are there so few people?

Me: I think it’s mostly because Canada is still a very young country with a difficult climate.

Concerned Student: So Canadians have a lot of sexual problems?

Me: I’m sorry. What?

Student: Canada has so few people because it’s too cold for them to have sex?

Ummmm. Seriously. What do you even say to that?

Finally, Maybe, Kinda, Sorta Done

Wow, I may actually have gotten all my paperwork done on time- with the potential to even have it done right! Nice. I was pretty damn impressed with myself when I managed to open a free bank account for myself yesterday. Now I just need to figure out how exactly the phone #’s work here. It’s a bit frustrating. I would like to call home. I even bought phone cards so I could. But I can’t for the life of me figure out how to make these stupid ones work. I think the bastard at the internet café where I bought them totally hosed me. Argh. If things could even be just a bit more simple, I would feel way less inclined to physically injure the next idiot who pisses me off. Seriously. WTF??

I Like to Ride My Bicycle, I like to Ride My Bike

Ouch. That is all I have to say about the current state of my backside. Yet again another cultural difference. The bicycle. The Germans use it almost everyday. Each person’s bike is practically a member of the family. They take it to school, the park, church… They use their bikes so much that they forget that Canadians can’t really bike everywhere. And because they forget that our bikes are like ATVs/toys, they don’t think about us not being in shape for the 7 km ride to school. Yep, it’s so long I couldn’t lie about the distance if I tried. Plus, actually going into the main part of the city is another 2 or 3. So yesterday, being the first time I needed to go to school when the family couldn’t drop me off, I got up at 6.30. Then I left at 7.15 to cycle my lazy butt to school. Followed by a trip into the city and back, and then I went to the main part of the town I actually live in (Bad Bodendorf is a suburb of Sinzig) which was another 3 km away. This again was followed by the trip home (with a stop at a really weird tasting spring).

Let’s do the math, eh? 6+6+2+2+3+3= 22 km. I didn’t even realize how far my host brother and I had gone until I got off the bike and couldn’t feel anything below my waist. That is, until I tried to sit down at supper. Then I felt it. Now I need to do it all over again today, because I couldn’t fill out the paperwork I needed while I was in Sinzig. Gack.

Just wait people. I am going to be so buff when I get back that the Governator will bow down to my quads. Hoo yeah.

I Wish It Were Drinking Thinking

Drinking thinking indeed. The evenings suck. The day is so busy and on the go, but around 5 or 6 the world practically stops. I would like to say that I pass the time with a good beer but I really can’t because I don’t know where the nearest liquor store is, let alone the cheapest one. So I eat with the family- then I wander up to my room and watch movies. And surprise, surprise, the moody, gloomy posts that you get from me are pretty much exclusively written in the evenings, when I’m bored, and wishing I had something to do. So, to any doubting Thomas in the crowd- no, I do not spend my evenings drinking (with the family or alone)*, I spend them in (get this :D ) solitude and contemplation.

Yeah, I know it sounds totally lame- but it’s not that bad. Because, despite the fact that I am usually an overbearing, rude, jackass, I actually like spending time with the me I am when I am alone. The only person I talk to is the voice in my head and since it’s me it doesn’t care if I am not such a nice person. It doesn’t care if I didn’t brush my teeth after supper or even if I am not wearing clothes (I am, but that’s not the point- focus here people!) I may be alone for most of the evening, but I am rarely lonely. I mean- it’s pretty sweet that I am a best friend to myself. I just wish that the things that make Germany different from Canada weren’t always so big. Besides, as much as I love believing home is actually a phone call away- it isn’t really. Plus, I can’t even use my cell phone here, so home is just that much farther away… and I’m hungry. Oh well, at least I have fabulous breads, meats and cheeses for my bunwich here :) love it.

*No- I really haven’t been drinking. No, I am not lying about not drinking. So stop nagging.

Git 'Er Done Indeed

Let’s play a fun game. Ready? Ok- it’s called ye olde “Drop your new foreign language teaching assistants off in the middle of nowhere Germany and watch them struggle to figure it out”. It’s fun. Plus, good old PAD (the program I’m on) decided to throw in a side salad of “Get your visa, your bank account, your handy (a cell), and your shit together by the 12^th or you don’t get paid for an extra month”. I like being here, I like my host family, and I like my school. But I could really use some hand holding here. If someone could just babysit my lame ass through the transition, I would feel so much better. And way less stressed. And if I could eventually find a calling card and a phone line to use it on- I could even call my mom. For the first time in over a week :( So- in summation: Germany- good; Stupid, stressful PAD paperwork deadlines- not so good. I’m keeping’ on keeping on simply because after this week I am assuming that it’ll be all downhill. And it better be, because I’m lazy and easy is how I like things :)

In Over My Head

Help- I’m drowning and I feel a serious need to apologize for being a rather large jackass for the past 16 years of my life. Do you have any idea exactly how friggen hard it is to put together a lesson plan? Not just on anything random either. Stuff about where you come from, what your traditions are, even about your family. Jeeze. It’s friggen hard. Plus, these kids are actually supposed to learn stuff from what I give them, not just come away from it feeling potentially informed. Argh. I was all excited on Friday to teach, but now with Monday morning fast approaching, I feel a rather large sense of dread coming over me. Gross. So, to apologize now- To every teacher who came to class with a less than stellar approach to what we needed to learn, I’m sorry. But don’t worry teacher- payback’s a bitch and I already have more than one of the student that I was.

*sigh*

Rainy Evenings

Here it is, my first weekend in Germany. I’ve been so busy since I got here that tonight is my first night really alone. And wow, am I alone. I hadn’t realized exactly how much I miss my family and being home where people actually understand exactly what I mean and why I do things the way I do. Is it culture shock? No. Speaking relatively decent German and having been here twice before nullified that aspect of the suck. This is 100%, Grade A homesick. I miss my mom and siblings, my puppy, my friends…knowing which store I can find the things I need. Sometimes life here is so ridiculously difficult and I‘ve been here a week- only 8 months, 4 weeks left- oh yeah, the countdown has officially started, check my facecrack).

And tonight, as I sit here at my laptop, finally catching up on my posts, all I can hear is the rain outside, battering at the windows in a full fledged effort to break in and drown me in nature’s tears. Frick, I am lonely. I could go and sit with my host family and listen to them chatter about inconsequential trivialities in that special slow and precise German they reserve for use only with me, or I could stay here alone with my thoughts and not have to be social because all I want is my mommy and to be home.

Or because this is a serious case of “suck it up princess”, I could just suck it the hell up. I think I just need to go do something, like laundry or making supper. And get over it. Because we all know the mommy I miss so much right now would seriously kick my ass for even thinking about coming home before my contract is over. So that said, I feel much better and I’ll try not to talk about my damn feelings so friggen much.

Love you mom. Miss you.

Yeah- I drank there too :)

After school today all my new “colleagues” went on a faculty trip to the local vineyard. The Ahr valley is apparently known for its red wine and vineyards, which happen to be situated on the sides of the mountains that make up the Ahr valley.

There in the Ahr, it struck me once again that the Germans are incredibly different than Canadians. To a Canadian, light walking means maybe 10 or 15 minutes to reach a destination. To a German, light walking almost always means hiking- in this case an hour of strenuously hiking up and down the side of a friggenly picturesque mountain that really rapidly lost all of its appeal. All so we could end up exactly where we started, to go to the actual winery and drink some local vintages.

Yum. I’m not really into wine but these were so good. Part of the tour was a wine tasting and lunch, but I couldn’t decide between the red and the white. The red being the winery’s specialty, but the white being my more preferred variety. So, my friend/colleague, Evelyn (I met her in Altenburg- she was actually the teacher for my course) was trying to help me decide and the bartender was a like, here- I’ll give you some of both. So, I looked like the ultimate wine-o in front of all my brand-new colleagues, coming to the table with a glass of each. They were both pretty good. I got the sweetest ones that the winery offered. I found out today, through experience, that the sweeter wines are the ones that are way less offensive to my palate. I also got to keep the cups that I drank out of. They had a cute little poem on the back:

Wenn Du das Ahrtal ganz willst sehn,

Musst Du durch den Mayschosser Weinkeller gehn.

Basically it just means if you want to see all of the Ahr Valley, you need to go through the Mayschosser Winery. Their vineyards are the ones that grow up the slopes of the mountains that surround the tiny little village on the valley floor.

It was a pretty good afternoon :)

First Day

The program (PAD) had said in Altenburg that I had been earning money from them since September 1^st and that we all needed to start working at our schools immediately upon our arrival. As I didn’t get to Bad Neuenahr before school let out on Thursday (Are-Gymnasium being a typical German high school has classes that are finished at a bit after lunch), I went today. I need to be up by 6.30 to shower and get ready to go on time L But when I showed up at Are Gymnasium today my supervisor, Claudia, said that they hadn’t been expecting me until Monday. She actually almost sent me home. W.T.F. After all PAD’s talk, Are didn’t want me yet. So I was all like, well…seeing as I am already here… Jeeze, seriously- I couldn’t believe it. So then I went and taught 4 classes. On my first day. Without any prep. Yikes. So mostly for 4 periods of 45 minutes, I talked about myself and Canada. Except for the last of the 4 I was just speaking to let them hear English- I ended up teaching a class in bilingual geography. Again- WTF. It was so random. But, I got to hang out with a seriously HOTT (and prolly with his attentions engaged elsewhere *sigh*) teacher for one of the classes, so that definitely made things better. I think things went well.

In Altenburg, when we did our practice teaching, the Prof told me that I had done an exceptional job, with a real instinct for the classes’ needs and the ability to be enthusiastic and yet maintain control. So either I just have a really inflated and undeserved pride in my teaching skills or I might actually have teaching skills…. I’m hoping it’s that I’ve actually got the skills to pay the bills happening here. Otherwise I am totally boned. I had a great first day, meeting some kids, being taken on a sightseeing tour of the town, and being invited on a school ski trip to the Italian Alps.

Yes, the Italian Alps. How friggen cool is that?!?!?!?! I am stoked for it already and it isn’t even til sometime in January J (oh- mom, if you’re reading this- and I hope you are, it’s one of the main reasons I’m writing it- could you send me the winter clothes I was so excited about NOT bringing? I know, the irony is killing me too…) Plus, it’ll only cost about 400 Euro- everything included. STOKED. All of a sudden, I am really excited for winter to get here.

Herzlichen Willkommen nach Deutschland

So, I finally made it to Germany after 10 hours of flying. It was all good until I needed to take the train. Since this was going to be the first time that I had ever taken the train by myself (Canada having nothing on this scale) I made sure that I got to the train station with an hour and a half to spare. Then actually making sure I was on the right platform at the right time, I discovered that I was not at the right station. Yikes. So I ran around trying to find someone who could, in English, tell my seriously stressing self where exactly I was supposed to be to get on the right damn train. I was so ridiculously frustrated. On top of that I was definitely carrying a year’s worth of junk around. Anyway- turns out I had originally been in the right place- I just was a few stops ahead of where my train ticket said that I needed to be. Do you have any idea how frustrated Germans can be when faced with an idiot with two huge bags and a backpack, wandering around seemingly without purpose??? It was the suck indeed.

Anyway- once I actually got on the train it was ok- no changes or anything to worrying about on the way to Cologne. The Foreign Teacher Assistant conference was actually held in Altenburg. It was 3 days of hardcore learning about how to teach, how the German school system works, and friend-making. And of course, as they say in Dumb and Dumber, the beer flowed like wine J. It was pretty great. Out of the 140 some assistants there, only about 10 were Canadian with about 5 New Zealanders to round things out. The rest were all from the UK. I actually already knew most of the Canadians on the program. Also, I learned that the Welsh are seriously awesome! It was a bit weird to be treated by another English speaker as someone with an accent, but my status as a novelty gave me the opportunity to make a lot of friends, many of which live quite near.

On Thursday, I left Altenburg for Bad Bodendorf, which by bike is about 30 minutes away from Bad Neuenahr where I am teaching. My host family is pretty great. The son is in grade 12 and actually one of my students, which I find totally hilarious. The family is friendly but not insanely so. I also have a bedroom furnished entirely by IKEA. It is so big that it more than makes up for the crap room I had the last time I was in Germany:

I'm Sorry

There are new posts coming. i just need to figure out how to get them off my computer onto the one that actually has interenet. i have been writing them. they just aren't posted. no worries. i thought i had solved the problem, but apparently not. give me a bit of time- i'll fix the "technical difficulties" that News From Away is currently experiencing.