Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it is two days early, but I am sad that I will not be at home for Thanksgiving. I am also sad that I have to work on that day. It just doesn't seem right. My boss is having a dinner at her house, and there will be loads of turkey and great food, but it is just not the same. I will miss crawling up on the floor, watching the football game, and falling into a turkey enduced coma. I hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey Day and know that I miss you all. I will be home for Chistmas December 20th, so mark your calendars. Hope to see you all then.

Video time - Brazil

This one is for you Mom :) See, I didn't get myself killed.



This is a video of the marmosets being fed outside the window of our hostel.

India Pictures

Here are some pictures I have from India.

Finally back in Berlin

So I have actually been back in Berlin for almost a week, but I have been so busy with getting back into the classroom, I have barely had time or energy to write. Let's just say Brazil was amazing. I think it is my new favorite place.

I spent the first 5 days of the trip in Rio and had a blast. There is so much to do their. We took a tour of the major sites in the city. Rio has an amazing forest in the middle of the city. It has great waterfalls and awesome views.

I went scuba diving off the coast north of Rio. There was lots of cool sea life. I saw two huge sea turtles. They reminded me of the ones in Finding Nemo. I also so lots of creatures I had never experienced before. It was a really great dive.

The day before we left for Salvador we went hang gliding off a mountain in Rio. That was such a great experience. I wasn't scared to jump, but when it was time to land, I got a little nervous. The wind comes at you so strong as you get closer to the ground. I have never felt that way before, it was wonderful. I can't wait to do something like that again. Maybe next time jump out of a plane. Who knows.

My next 4 days were spent in Salvador. This was not quite as thrilling as Rio because I was there for a conference. The conference was put on by Microsoft, and if you have ever been to one of their conferences, you know, they are intense. We were in conference like activities until 9pm most nights. Then we would go out to dinner and out on the town. I barely got any sleep.

The last night we were there, they put on a Gala dinner for all the participants. It was very fancy. We were asked to wear white, because that is a symbol of peace. They definitely did not skimp on anything. My drink was never empty. I drank champagne most of the night.

When we got back to the hotel around 1am, most of the people were still in the lobby having a few drinks. Someone suggested we go to the beach near by and I thought that was a great idea. We sat on the beach and drank a little more and talked for a while. That ended up being a really late night, but the most fun in Salvador.

My favorite thing about the conference is that I got to meet so many people from all over the world. It was so nice to be there and I came back very motivated to make a difference. Just ask my mother we had a great discussion on the phone about it.

Below you will find the pictures I have from Brazil. I hope to get the scuba diving pictures soon, so I will make another slide show of that. And also look for a post of my pictures in India as well.

Brazil

So I arrived in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. So far I like this place. We took a huge plane from Paris to get here, it had two stories. It was the first time I had ever taken such a big plane. My monitor and light did not work so they gave me a gift certificate for 60 euro towards a flight. I will definitely be using that.

When we got to Rio, we needed to do a little shopping. During the conference I am attending in Salvador, we have to wear something white for a Gala we are attending. And since we have nothing white, we both had to find something while in Rio. Mission accomplished!

Then we walked around on the beach. It is quite beautiful here. There are hills surrounding us.

For dinner we went to a really good sea food restaurant. It was delicious.

Today we are going on an all day tour of Rio. This includes the large Christ and Sugar Loaf. I am pretty excited about it. Then tomorrow I am going scuba diving! I hope to have wonderful pics.

South America here I come

Just killing time before I have to leave to catch a plain to South America. I have mentioned this in other posts, but I still can't believe that I am going.

My school was accepted in the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum. This is a program that brings school from all around the world together. We were the only school this year to be accepted from Germany. As part of this group, they have a conference once a year, somewhere in the world. This year it happens to be in Salvador, Brazil, and for some reason, my school chose me as one of the people to attend this conference.

The best part is, that I have this week off school as well, and so my co-worker and I are leaving early and spending 5 days in Rio de Janeiro. Should be quite an interesting experience, and I am pretty excited.

I did just get back from India on Monday, so traveling again is a little stressful, but I am not going to complain. When I get back from Brazil, I will post pictures form the two places. I already started uploading my India pictures, I just haven't had time to do them all. So look for that.

I hope everyone is doing great, and I can't wait to see people around Christmas. I will be home December 20th, so mark your calendars.

India Continued

So I am down to my final days in India, and I have been around and did a lot of things. I wish that I would have traveled more from the city, but things have been good.

On Thursday, I took a tour to Mysore and other places just outside of Bangalore. Mysore is a beautiful place, that has a wonderful palace. It was wonderful. At the palace I also saw some monkeys, an elephant and a camel. I got to take pictures with the elephant. I kind of wanted to go for a ride but we did not have too much time. While on this tour I also, met a girl from Seattle. She was really nice, and we hung out all day. She is a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines and was giving me some pointers on how to get on their good side.

Yesterday, I met up with a person I met in the airport and he showed me around the city. We went to a place called the 13th floor. Here we were able to sit outside and had an amazing view of the city. It was really nice to get out and see a different part of Bangalore. I am really starting to like the things India has to offer: food, cheapness, friendly people. Maybe I will come back to visit someday.

India Days 2 & 3 - Eating

Wow... the food is really something here. Since I am staying with an Indian family and I have visited there extended family, I am getting to try lots of Indian food. I never really thought I would like it, and it is very different then anything I have ever tried before, but it is delicious. The only thing is that everyone expects you to eat a lot. They are always asking you if you want more, and then wonder why you are not eating a lot. I like the food, I just can't eat a lot of it.

I went to a restaurant today with the women I am staying with, and again, there was a huge amount of food. It was really delicious, and they kept bringing by more. The best part about it, was that it was so cheap. I couldn't believe it.

So far I am enjoying my stay here. I could never see myself living here, but I am so happy I have had this experience in my life.

Oh Thursday, I go to Mysore. Here there are temples and a palace. It is an all day tour so it should be very interesting, and probably tiring.

India Day 1

So, I finally made it to India this morning. It was a long trip and I didn't make it in until 5:30. I flew through Mumbai. The minute we got out the plane there was smell. I was warned that it would be like this. Bangalore is different in this way. It doesn't have that same smell. I rested most of the morning.

Today is the second day of an Indian Festival called Diwali. When flying into Mumbai last night, I saw a lot of the fireworks. This evening I went with the family I am staying with, to celebrate the second day. We went to the grandmothers house. They had a shrine set up for the prayer part. It was quite interesting. I even wore an Indian dress. It was quite fun and definitely a new experience.

My impression of India so far is that it is very underdeveloped and there is so much construction going on. There are many people around and I even saw cows on the streets. Bangalore is the IT capital of India, so there are definitely some "nicer" areas here. I put this in quotes, because nicer here is not what we would call nicer. I haven't seen many slum areas yet, although I have seen a few that looked like it. I have eaten a little bit of Indian food, and wow it is hot. I don't know how much of it I can handle. I have a pretty weak tongue. I am very interested to see what the rest of the city has to offer.

So far, very interesting, and a little bit of a culture shock, but not too bad.

Oktoberfest 09

So, naturally, since I live in Deutschland, I must take part in there finest cultural experiences. So this weekend a few of my friends and I went to an Oktoberfest in a small town outside of Berlin. It was so much fun. People here really get into it. We got there really early and were able to get a table. The we started on our liters of beer. They were huge and quite delicious. We took part in all the madness that is Oktoberfest. Here the people get on the tables and dance and sing the songs. The people were also so friendly as well. I had a wonderful time. Here are some pictures from the day.

Random thoughts

Hello everyone. I am still here. I know that it has been a long time, but I have just had no motivation to write. I am really looking forward to this month. There is a lot that will happen.

This weekend I am traveling to Cologne to cheer for a friend who is running in a marathon there. I am excited to go there, because I feel I have not traveled a lot through Germany. I hear the people in that area are more friendly then the people in Berlin. We shall see.

On October 17th, I will travel to India for a week to visit a family that I taught last year. When they knew they were moving to India they invited me to come visit them. I was very excited about this opportunity, and so of course I looked to see when the best time would be. I really want to do Italy in April and ski in Austria in February, so I figured October break was the perfect time.

Two days after I get back from India, it looks like my work is sending me to Brazil for a conference. I was shocked when they asked me if I wanted to go, considering I am leaving after this year. But it will be so much fun. Technically the conference is not until November 3rd, but me and a coworker are going a few days early to travel and see some of the thing Brazil has to offer. I think we will spend most of our time in Rio, then go to Salvador for the conference. The only part I have to pay for is lodging and food before the conference. I never really thought I would travel to South America during this time, but I am open to the opportunity.

With all this traveling, I hope to have some good posts. I will definitely upload some pics and tell you about my adventures.

Miss you all and look for me at Christmas time. I purchased my ticket home today! I'll be home December 20th - January 2nd.

First Day of Second Grade

Today was the first day of Second Grade for my students. I went back and looked at my old posts from the last first day of school. There was no post for that day and I am not really surprised. I remember last year at this time. I was pulling my hair out. Man is this year way different. I have the same students as I did last year, and that is such a good thing. They already know me and my rules. They were so good today, of course it may be the honeymoon period. But at least there is one this time.

I remember last year the first time I met my students was at this Saturday ceremony for first graders. They were presented on the stage, then I walked them back to school. Here I was to have them in my class for 45minutes. The students had a snack and got their pictures taken. Then I wanted to read First Day Jitters to them. Well that is were it all went to hell. They couldn't understand English very well and got very impatient. One girl ran over to the window, looked out and saw all the parents outside in the courtyard. She then told the whole class this and everyone ran over to the window. At that time they started chanting... Let us out... Let us out. It was horrifying.

So on a positive note, they were wonderful today and I had such a great day with them. I am in huge favor of looping and I am excited to see where this year will lead us.

P.S. if this is a honeymoon period, I will take it, because last year my honeymoon period lasted 30 minutes.

Greece aka My favorite place in Europe so far

So while my sister was visiting me we spent a week in Greece.

First we flew into Athens and spent a day there. Athens is not one of my favorite places. There were a few cool things to see there, but it was really dirty and very hot. We only spent a day there, which I was fine with.

We went to two different islands in Greece. The first one was Paros. Paros is know for the beaches, and that is pretty much all you will do there. We spent two days on the beach. The first day we went to a beach that was surrounded by rocks. We had to wade through the water to get the one of the beaches. I actually slipped on the rocks and fell in. The water was so clear in Paros. This is also were I spent my birthday. Jennie and I went out for a few drinks that night to celebrate. On the last day we were in Paros we visited this cool church and did some shopping.

The next island we went to was Santorini, and this is my favorite place in Europe. There is so much to do and see on this island, I feel like I need to go back. The first night we got there I had a delicious seafood dinner and then we went out. Jennie wanted to be home by 2pm, but we didn't make it back to our place till 4pm. While out we met a few Americans and many other foreign people. We had a great time. We took the bus back to our hotel and luckily it was only 2 euro, because that is all we had left on us.

It was such a fun night, but we were hurting the next day. I really wanted to go on the volcano and to the hot springs, but I was not quite up to it. So, we spent the day by the pool. We stayed in a really nice hotel, so the pool was really cool. That night we had another delicious dinner and walked around the boardwalk.

The next morning I was up early to go scuba diving. I did two different dives. One was a wall dive off of White Island and the other was more of a cave dive. They both were really cool, but I saw a seal at the second dive. That was really great. I tried to get a picture of it, but I don't know if it turned out. As soon as I develop the film, I will let you know.

That evening we went into the town of Oia where we had dinner on top of a building and watched the beautiful sunset. This town is so cool. It has buildings off the side of a cliff with an amazing view of the volcano. I suggest going to Santorini if ever in Greece, or even close to Greece.

The final day was a travel day. We were supposed to catch a ferry from Santorini all the way to Athens. Well after waiting an hour for our ferry I decided to ask someone about it and I was told they canceled the trip. I panicked a little considering we were suppose to catch a flight out of Athens back to Berlin. But after waiting in a long line, I was pleasantly surprised they booked us on a flight out of Santorini to Athens. All we had to do was hang out in Santorini for the day, which was fine by me.

All in all the trip was great. Below are some pictures, most of them are on facebook too.

Catch up - Time at home

I really don't have any good excuses for the lack of blogging. It is summertime and I have been on the move for the last month.

Right after school was out I went the the US for 12 days. This was such a good time. I had to cram all my favorite summer time activities I do in Missouri in such a short time. I am sure there were things that I missed, like eating at Gates.

The day after I got home we did a big tailgate party at the Royals game. That was so much fun. We had a couple grills, a keg, and jello shots, thanks to my friend Steve. It went so well and I got to see a lot of people. The only problem was that I spent so much time socializing that I hardly watched the game. It's ok though, because they blew it in the 8th.

My friend Shanda came in town as well. She is getting married next summer so I got to go look at dresses with her and venues for the wedding. It was so nice to be a part of this, I was afraid I would miss out on some of that stuff being in Europe. She looked freaking hot in her dress, Jimmy is a lucky man.

Later that week I went to the Lake of the Ozarks with my family and my friend Becky and her daughter. This was another one of those summer favorites I had to get in. We went during the week, so it was so relaxing. It was nice to just lay out on the dock and read or listen to my ipod. We went out on the boat one day and that was so fun too. Gracie, Becky's daughter, even got in the water from the boat. She did so well. Everyone went home early and I stayed an extra night with my dad. I really enjoy this time with him. We don't always get alone time and it was nice to go on a night boat ride then stop at the local bar for a drink.

Soon after getting back from the lake I went to another Royals game with my friend Tedra and her family. Her son Logan is so adorable. He loved the game too.

I even went to my friend's wedding while I was home. Lets just say I was really busy.

I also saw the funniest movie of the summer... The Hangover, with my friend Shannon. It was great. If you have not seen it I suggest you do so. And of course I shopped! A must do in the USA. Clothes are so much cheaper in the US and since I make Euros it was a win-win situation. My mom and I went shopping with is always nice to spend that time with her.

Towards the end of my trip I was getting sad to leave, but I knew my sister was coming back to Berlin with me, so that made it better. I do miss home and it was so nice to see as many of you as I could.

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

Wow, it has been a long time since I have posted last. I guess that means I have been busy. I had 3 friends come visit me this last weekend, and I had a great time. We did loads of stuff together, including a 4th of July BBQ in the rain. One thing we did, touristy of course, that I hadn't done yet was visit a Concentration Camp.

This camp is about an hour outside of Berlin and was one of the first camps built. It was a work camp so people did not go here to die, however many people did end up dying here. It was extremely interesting and very sad at the same time. I can't believe what the people were put through at this camp. I will always remember this experience.

Below is a slide show of some of the things we saw. I would suggest going on this tour if you are in the area, it is very informative.

Staffellauf 09

Yesterday I ran my first race, in pretty much my entire life. I have never really been a very big runner, but my friend convinced me to join her and 3 others to run in a relay race, or staffellauf. The race was 25km all together, so each person ran 5km. For those of you km challenged, that is a little over 3 miles. I have trained for a couple weeks now, but wasn't really sure how I would do. I ended up running the 5k in 25 minutes. I was proud of that time. We dressed in silly outfits and had a lot of fun with the race.
Here are some pictures taken at the race.
This is me and my friend Amy before the race started.
Me after running, I think I look damn good :)
My friend Sarah, in the final seconds of the race. She looks so serious.

I am starting to appreciate running, we will see if I continue to do so in the future. Also you can find more pictures on Facebook. We took most of the pictures with my friend Sarah's camera.

I just finished watching the entire Sex and the City series on DVD. This took me a few weeks, but today I finished the last episode. For those of you who have seen the series will understand what this blog is about.

In the last two episodes Carrie goes to Paris to be with her Russian artist boyfriend. She gets there and somehow feels out of place. She doesn't understand the language well, and she seems a little lost. She misses her home and her friends. The last two episodes of the series are two of my favorite, but they always make me cry. (and if you know me well, I don't usually cry)

This time watching it, I had a completely different feeling then the other times. I could relate more with her character. I feel that way being here in Germany. I like being here, but this is not my home, and somehow it just doesn't fit with me. It is hard to relate with the German people, I still have problems speaking the language, and I miss having close friends around.

Please don't think that being in Germany is an unpleasant thing for me, it is wonderful. I get to experience so many things that I would never have the chance to and I love that I am learning about other cultures. But it is not my home. I plan to come home in July 2010 and I think that 2 years is a good amount of time here.

So with that said, if you want a free place to stay in Berlin, and of course, see your truly, you don't have much time left. :)

Brits Convention aka Malaga

So I just got back from Malaga, Spain today. It was definitely an interesting place, that I now know is known for its Brits. I mean they were everywhere. And not just any Brits, but the, for the lack of better words, fat Brits. Next time someone tells me Americans are know for being obese, I will mention this experience. And in this small coastal area, there were, what felt like, a thousand English and Irish Pubs. I mean, don't these people like to get out and experience other cultures. It was amazing.

Ok enough about them... the first night we got there, was a pretty relaxing night. We found our way to the hotel, which took two cab rides, because the first cab driver took us to the wrong hotel. Then we went and had some dinner, I believe at a British Restaurant. They were playing British shows on the teli (if thats how you spell it), for christs sakes. Then we took a walk down to the beach and hung out for a while. Then on our way back up to the hotel I noticed a man across the street. At first I thought he was adjusting himself, but then I realized that it was out... I know what you're thinking... What was out? To quote a famous US show:

"He took it out."- Elaine

"Maybe it needed some air. You know, sometimes they need air. They can't breathe in there. It's inhuman."- Kramer

It was definitely an interesting experience. I just couldn't believe it. And that's all I have to say about that.

The next day we spent the majority of it on the beach. We got out there pretty early. It wasn't busy, but I was unsure if all the chairs would be taken. We made sandwiches and brought them to the beach. Then around three we filled our cooler with beer and drank them on the beach. It was fun. After a nap and clean up, we went out for Tapas (Spanish Appitizers). They were ok, I have had better. Then we headed to the marina to have a night out.

On Saturday, it was cloudy in the morning, so we headed into the center city of Malaga, and did some exploring. Back in the early 11th Century, the Moores had control over this area. Here they built a fortruous. We decided to walk around in there. It was very pretty and had some very old qualities about it. it was also placed higher in the city, so you got a cool view of the things around you. That afternoon we went back to our hotel and layed out a little more by the pool. That evening we went out to one of the restaurants right on the beach front. Here we had fish, and the head was still attached, you could even see the teeth. It was quite interesting. Later that evening we decided to hit up, what the locals call, 24 hour square. But when we got there, all the promoters were standing outsided trying to hassle us into going to there bar, it was too much, so we decided to go somewhere else instead. We ended up heading back to the marina. We didn't get home till after 3am, so I would say we had a fairly good time.

All in all the trip was pretty good. The ocean was nice, but the town was a little too British touristy for my taste. Next stop, Greece (Hopefully). That will be in August when my sister comes to visit!!!

I have some pictures from Malaga, I will try and post them in the next couple of days.

Jinx

So I am starting to think that I am a Jinx. I talked about how nice the weather was then the next week it got cool and rainy. Oh well I am still keeping super busy. This week, in fact, was one of the busiest weeks I have had in long time. I started German class twice a week. So on Mondays and Wednesdays I don't get home until almost 9pm. Also this week I had Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences, and that was intense. One conference lasted almost 2 hours. There is just a lot of drama between the parents in my classroom right now.

Then because the weather changed, or the pressure dropped, or something, my students were not behaving well. It was like they knew I had a stressful week and took advantage of that. They will do that.

The good thing is this week is new and hopefully a good one. I am looking forward to some time to get things done.

I miss all of you and I hope you are doing well. Keep me updated.

9 sunny and 1 partly sunny

That is the type of weather my students graphed this month.

Yes, I know what you are thinking... Only 10 days, your kids are not very good at graphing. As that is how it may seem that is not true. We actually had 2 weeks off this month. The singifigance of the weather report, is that it has been wonderful weather here in Berlin. It has made the last 3 weeks amazing. I never knew how weather could affect my life.

I now ride my bike everywhere. Which has been wonderful. I lay in the park regularly just to relax, and I take more walks. I really appreciate being outside so much right now. Last weekend I even had a picnic in the park with a friend.

I hope this weather lasts.

The only thing that has been rough, is, with this weather change, my students have been a little more hyper. It's like they can't wait to get outside, and are constantly distracted. Which I can't blame them. I am as well. But for some reason it has really gotten on my nerves this week. We have Friday off work, so hopefully I will come back refreshed.

Lots of fun with my parents

You will notice I have posted 4 different slide shows from when my parents were here last week. Starting with the top one here is where they were taken:

top: Interlaken, Switzerland - We went to a cave in the side of the mountain, then we went to glacial falls (all the pictures of waterfalls), and they worked our way up to the top of the Swiss Alps. The weather was perfect the entire time. I did enjoy Switzerland, but I doubt it is a place that I will return to. It has wonderful mountains, and is beautiful, but it is very expensive. And other then the Alps, which I have seen now, it is nothing great. I can definitely check that off my list of things to do in Europe. Oh that is the other thing, I found people in Switzerland not very friendly.

Next: Fussen, Germany - This place was awesome. It is a small town in southern Germany. We got to our hotel, which was kind of outside the city, and it was wonderful. The view was amazing and the people were so friendly. Neuschwanstein was an awesome castle. It was so big. it was truly a fantasy castle. In Fussen we also ate some wonderful Germany food as well. I would suggest this little trip to anyone. But you really don't need to stay long.

Next: Potsdam, Germany - This is a small town outside of Berlin. It was the place where the royalty of Berlin would go to vacation in the summer. They have an amazing garden area with loads of palaces and large buildings. When we were there, none of the trees or flowers had bloomed. I can't wait to go back this summer when it is even more beautiful. If you are coming to Berlin, I suggest you go to Potsdam.

Final: Berlin, Germany - We took a tour of Berlin, which was wonderful. I learned so much about Berlin on this tour. We saw lots of things, many I had already seen, but it was nice to experience it with my parents. My parents said if they come back they would just like to stay in Berlin. They felt like there was so much to do here, which is true.

Overall it was a great time and I am so happy they enjoyed themselves.

Travels

On Monday morning we started our train ride to Fussen, which is located in the southern part of Germany. We arrived that evening. We made our way to our hotel and found that it was set on a beautiful lake. It was a little out of town, but it turned out to be a wonderful place to stay. The view was amazing. From the balcony you could see the lake and the mountains behind it.

We soon got hungry so we walked to this small German resturaunt close to our hotel. There we indulged in German beer and schnitzel. It was very delicious. We ended up taking a few beers back to the room with us and just hanging out.

The next morning we got up in time to catch the bus to the two castles we would see on our trip. As we were on the bus, you could see Neuschwanstein, the “Disney” castle, in the distance. It was exciting. All the tourist in our bus were pointing at the building. We arrived in the small town and went immediately to the ticket line. It was not very long. Then we started our journey up to the first castle. It was the smaller of the two. We toured this castle. This was a summer home for the royal family that lived in Munich, back in the late 1700s, early 1800’s. It was very nice but much smaller than the other castle located in the city.

When we were finished seeing the first place, we decided to take the bus to the next place. As you looked at the castle from far, it looked like a huge distance away. But once we got to the top it wasn’t that far. When we go to Neuschwanstein we looked up and it was so big. I couldn’t believe it. Then we went through the castle, and everything was so elaborate. It was definitely a cool site to see. After this we walked down from the castle. (my calves hurt today) It was a good day of site seeing.

Today we saw the town of Fussen and then traveled by train to Switzerland. That is where we are now. We arrived after 10pm so all we could see was the shadows of the mountains. Should be a wonderful site in the morning.

Snow and Lightening, Who Da Thunk

I am sitting here in our staff room working on the computer and looking at the snow falling outside. Then all of the sudden I hear thunder. What the heck? I can´t believe it. I love thunderstorms but I have never seen it with snow. It is the craziest thing.

For all of you in Missouri, I know the weather is nicer, and you probably are not getting snow. But I know your jealous of the snow/thunder combo.

Die Eisbaren!!!

Last night was so much fun. I went to my first hockey game. The team is die Eisbaren, or the Polar Bears. They are the Berlin ice hockey team. Originally when Berlin was split into two different cities, there were two ice hockey teams, just like there was two of everything. The Eisbaren were the Eastern team. Now they continue to be the team for Berlin. With that said, there were so many different kinds of uniforms the fans were wearing last night. Some were wearing the traditional eastern colors and others were wearing the newer colors. It was very interesting.

It was the Quarterfinals game for their division and Berlin was playing Hamburg. Most of the fans there were Berlin fans, but there was this small section of Hamburg fans. Fans brought drums and flags into the stadium. And when we got to our seats, there was a stiff paper waiting for us. You would fold this paper like a fan and it made your clapping even louder. I thought what a great, cheap way to get more noise into a stadium.

I went to the game with two of my girlfriends from school. When we got their we all bought the same shirts. It was great.

After the second period my friends and I were sitting around waiting for the action, when the guy in front of us starting pointing at us. My friend was like, WHAT!! and then he pointed to the Jumbo Screen in the middle of the stadium. We were on it. All three of us stood up and started screaming and dancing around. It was so much fun. I have only been on a Jumbo Screen once before in my life and so I was really excited.

The Eisbaren did win the game, which was nice. The final score was 5-3. After the game we went to a really good fondue place and ate the heck out of some cheese and bread. I even spoke to the waiter in German, I was so proud.

Also there was one other thing that happened at this game that I have never seen before in all of my history of going to sporting events: A women asked a man to marry her on the jumbo screen. I couldn't believe it, but it was true.

Below are some pictures I took of the evening, for those of you on Facebook, there will be more posted there.

Nothing Much

I don't really have any inspiring topic today. I just haven't posted in a really long time and I don't want anyone getting worried. I'm still out there doing my thing.

I'm getting pretty excited because my parents are coming to visit in less then a month now. I have been trying to plan for that that last week. We are going down to Southern Germany for a couple of days then to Switzerland. Two places I have never been before, so that is exciting. It will be nice to see some other things. I now have to plan what we should do while they are in Berlin. I know there are some touristy things I will talk them to do. I know this trip will not be a boring one for them.

School is going as usual. This week was our 100 day of school. For those of you teaching in the US, I know what your thinking. But you have to remember we are in school until July. Which is going to feel so long. Oh well. It was also Math Week at our school, and we went on a field trip. It was quite a busy week.

In my personal life I am trying to branch out and make new friends and learn some German. My roommate gave me a hard time a while back about not knowing enough Germans and not have any German friends. Of course what she doesn't realize is that it is hard to meet Germans here. You have to get into the right circle, or crowd. So I put out a post on the TU website that I was interested in meeting some people for Tandem. Which is when you talk back and forth, sometimes in German and sometimes in English. This allow the German speaker to practice their English and the English speaker to practice their German. I have met with two people so far, both of which were very nice. We talked mostly in English, as my German is "nicht so gut" but it was good.

The weather is starting to change here. I know that most of you in Kansas City have already started to have, and probably still do, good weather. Trust me I am jealous. I wish that I could be there for that. But here in Berlin, you can tell it is starting to feel more springy. It actually got up to 57 degrees this week. I just hope that it is nice when my parents come to visit. I want them to experience a little nicer weather then what it has been like here all summer.

So to recap, life is good. I miss everyone at home, and I hope all is well. Keep me updated!!!

Susie Homemaker

So tonight I did something I have never done before... I baked a cake from scratch. Yes, you heard me correctly I baked a cake from scratch. I know it's hard for you to believe but I did it. Now, I didn't do it alone. My friend Sarah helped me, but she was a very good teacher and made me do it all. She was just there in case something went wrong, and to take the pictures. She thought it was great that I was baking and kept taking pictures of me. We almost messed up the cake a couple of times for that reason.

Now this news probably sparked a few questions. Such as why did you decide to bake a cake from scratch? My class is having an Animal Celebration tomorrow that they planned themselves and the food committee decided they wanted to have a bear cake. Well I told them it would be too hard for me to make a bear shaped cake, but that I could make a cake with a bear on it. This turned into I made a cake with a bear head on it. No laughing when you see the picture. I think it was a great effort by your truly.

Another question you might be asking yourself is why bake a cake from scratch, why not just use the box? Well my friend said that the box cakes are just not that good here, they aren't like the ones in the US. So she convinced me to bake a cake. I also make my own icing as well, which reminded me of when I was younger and my grandmother used to make her icing. It was a good memory.

Just so you guys believe that I actually baked a cake, I have pictures as proof.

Finally posting about Madrid

Ok, so I know I got back from Spain on Sunday, but I have just been too lazy to write anything about it, and I am sorry. I did get the pictures up and I hope everyone enjoys them. I believe in my last post I told you I was staying with these girls from the US. That turned out to be wonderful. They were so nice, and we spent some of the trip together. It made me feel better, that I had traveled alone. One of the days we took a free walking tour through the city. I learned so much about Spain and Madrid. Like did you know that Spain was under rule of a dictatorship until the 70's. I had no idea. It was a good tour, but our guide did get a little long winded. I think he just really liked hearing the sound of his voice, because he kept going on and on. By the end I was zoning out a lot. But I am still very thankful he was knowledgeable on Spain.

That evening all the girls in my room and I decided to take one of the Pub Crawls they do through the city. You pay 10 Euro and you have a tour guide (who was quite a cute Spanish guy) take you to 3 different bars and you end up at a club. You also got a shot at each bar and discounted drinks. It turned out to be a really fun time. Since my camera had been stolen in London when I was out, I decided to leave it in my room. So I didn't really get any pics from this evening, sorry.

On Friday, after staying in bed a little late, I got up and did some more site seeing of Madrid. On the walking tour we only saw the outside of places, so I decided to go see some of these places on the inside. I went into the Cathedral and the Palace in Madrid. The Cathedral was huge and really nice. I have seen quite a few churches since being in Europe and the unique part of the ones I saw in Spain, are that they have lots of gold inside. Which, considering their history with Central and South America, it is quite understandable. The Palace on the other hand wasn't worth the money. It was boring and I barely got to see anything.

That evening I went with the ladies from Delaware to meet up with a family friend, that was living in Madrid, to have Tapas. These are basically appetizers, don't worry I had no idea what they were before going to Spain. They were delicious. Then we met up with some of her friends, who were mostly teachers from the US teaching English in Spain, at a Karaoke Bar. It was a lot of fun and I met some really great people.

At this point of my trip I had felt like I saw as much as I wanted to of Spain and decided to take a day trip to Toledo. It is a small town outside of Madrid, that actually used to be the capital of Spain. Here I got to see many old buildings, a castle, and I walked, a lot. I loved this town because it was very quaint and not commercialized. There were many little shops and restaurants, and it was easy to get lost in the small windy roads. I thought it was so cute and had some great things to see. I would suggest seeing it if you are in the area.

I can't wait to go back to Spain, I think there is so much more to see. I hear Barcelona is amazing. Jennie: that is where I think we should go when you come!!!!

I made it back with my camera this time!!!

In Madrid

I made it to Madrid yesterday and it is a beautiful city. There is a lot to see here. I am staying in a hostel very close to the center of the city, and at night the working girls stand in front. But it really isn´t bad, they don´t bother you.

I am in a 4 bedroom room and staying with 3 other American girls. This is nice because we have been able to do some stuff together. Two of the girls have come to Europe for a 5 week tour around. The other girl has come to study in Madrid for the semester and is now in search of an apartment to live in. I understand this considering I had to do the same thing when I arrived.

Yesterday I just walked around the city a little and found this huge park. It had lots of statues and fountains and was very nice, I bet in the spring it is even nicer. I got caught in a downpore there and ended up walking back to the hostel. Napped for a bit, got cleaned up, and went to dinner with a couple of the girls from my room. I knew once I got here, I would meet some nice people, so mom you can stop worrying now.

Last night after dinner we just came down to the bar in the hostel and had some sangria. It was ok, a little too much juice.

Today we are going on a walking tour around the city. I hope the rain kind of holds off while we are out.

Leavin on a Jet Plane

Ok so my mom pointed out that my last post was kind of complainy, if that is a word, so I figured I need to post again soon. I should be in bed right now, because in about 5 hours I need to get up to go to the airport. I am heading to Madrid tomorrow and am very excited to see some of Spain. I looked up day trips today and I think I would like to see Toledo. I guess there are some cool things there, and my mom said it was awesome. So I guess it has to be great.

It has been nice to have a couple days off work and catch up on some sleep. I did watch the Super Bowl here, but it didn't start until after midnight. So that means I didn't get home until almost 5am. Which means I didn't get out of bed until almost 2pm the next day. Which I have to admit was so nice. I loved sleeping in that late. The cats however did not. They wanted me up earlier to feed them.

Like I said before, I really need to get going to bed. I will try and post from Madrid, but if I don't I will definitely do it when I get home. Hopefully with lots of great pics.

A little bit of this and that

So I know I haven't posted in a while, but to be honest there really isn't too much going on that is post worthy. It is cold here and so I am really not doing much outside of work and the house. I am a little angry at myself for not going to the gym in the last couple of weeks, but I have been exhausted. So here are a few things that only deserve a few lines about my life right now:

1. I am handing out the first report cards of the year on Friday. They act like this is the biggest day in their lives. Teachers are freaking out about them and they only have to do them 2 times a year. I can't stand all the complaining.

2. To keep on the same subject of school and complaining, our staff is turning into the worst I have ever seen. I think it has to do with our common working space. For those of you who are teachers understand that when you get together at lunch or near the copy machine you start to talk about students, work load, other teachers, etc. This happens what once or twice a day for a few minutes at a time. Imagine if you did most of your planning in the same room with the rest of the staff. It is non-stop and it is making me resent people at work. We do not have computers or internet in our classrooms, so the we do all our computing in one room, the same room. This needs to change.

3. Completely changing the subject to my apartment. I still love my apartment and my roommate is cool. She actually left for Vienna two Fridays ago and I think will return this weekend. So it has been nice having the place by myself. However last Wednesday, so a week ago, I went to make a pizza and when I opened the oven there was a 1/4 of a chicken sitting in there. At some point before that Friday, my roommate had cooked a chicken, ate part of it and stuck it back in the oven, for me to find later. Now I know she didn't do this on purpose, but come on. It was quite gross. It had been sitting there for at least 5 days. Now I know what your saying to yourself, you didn't use the oven in 5 days, and this is true. For those of you that know me best, know I am not much of a cook and so it is understandable the oven wasn't used for 5 days.

4. Cat hair: I bought dark sheets for my bed this fall and really think they look nice. But only the 5 minutes after I put them on my bed. Because at that time the fat cat in my house comes and lies all over them. He is white and orange and so his fur really sticks out like a sore thumb. It looks gross, and I don't like it. It is just frustrating.

5. I have spent a lot of time this week researching places I want to see in Madrid. I leave in a week and I am spending 4 days there. I have looked on countless websites and watched a number of videos on things that I think would be cool to see. I am pretty excited to get out of Berlin and see more stuff.

6. I would just like to say that my trip to the states was wonderful, and I really miss everyone a lot. I hope that everything is going well in Kansas City, or where ever you may be, and I can't wait to see everyone again. You know there is always a place in Berlin, if anyone wants to come visit.

Thats all I've got right now. Hopefully I will have some good things to share after Madrid.

Disappointments

So I was planning on going skiing in the Austrian Alps this February for my break, we had the hotel booked and everything, then everyone went and canceled on me. Luckily the hotel was not in my name, but I am still quite disappointed about not being able to go. When I found this out, I immediately starting looking for cheap flights to other places I would like to travel in Europe, and happen to find a decent deal to Madrid. So it looks like I am heading off to Spain for 4 days. I am very glad I am only going for 4 days because that will give me a chance to do some stuff around Berlin and relax a bit.

I am a little nervous about this trip because it is the first one I am taking by myself, but I knew the time would come eventually. I am excited to be in a little bit warmer weather and excited to see the city. I now need to start researching some of the things I want to see. I also am interested in seeing if there is anything outside the city I might want to take a day trip to see. I think it will be good for me to go on this little vacation on my own. Give me a chance to clear my mind and have some "me" time. I got a new camera for Christmas so I will take lots of pictures of the city.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful January, I know mine has been super busy. Miss you all.

I made it back to Berlin

So I made it back to Berlin just in time for snow. Sorry I didn't post earlier, I was really busy and extremely tired. The jet lag coming back is the worst.





I got back on Sunday and had to start work on Monday. Lets just say I did not sleep well the night before. I woke up multiple times until around 2 am where I then couldn't fall back to sleep until 5 which was a huge mistake, because by that point it was almost time for me to get up for work. And that was a very hard task.





When I woke up at 2 I noticed that it was an orange color outside, and so I had to go see what was going on. It had snowed and the street lights were bouncing of it and making the area look orange. It was so beautiful I had to take a picture. The first picture in the slide show above is of what I saw out my window that first night at 2am. The next picture is of my street the next morning covered in snow. And the last picture was one I took on the plane when we were leaving Milan. These were the mountains I saw and I just thought they were amazing.

Enjoy!

P.S I have tried to write this excert for 4 days now, but I can never get the pictures to work out.

Happy New Year

So the new year is here and I have been thinking about where I was last year at the same time. I had no idea this time last year that I would be living in Berlin, teaching first grade. When I think about the next year, I wonder where I will be. I can't help but wonder how my life might be different. I would like to think I would have seen more of the world by this time next year. I also hope that I am more fluent in the German language. But most of all I hope that I am happy and that my family is happy.

I leave for Berlin on Saturday and I will not return until next Christmas. I am sad that I will not see my friends and family for that long, and I wish everyone a great year. Also if you are ever in Europe and want to stop by Berlin, I have a couch. I will miss everyone. Please keep in touch and keep me posted on what is going on.