Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest

So, it has been WAY too long since I have written on my blog.  I apologize! A lot has happened.  I asked to be transferred from my teacher…it’s a long story…and so I was transferred out and now am with a new teacher.  Then my supervisor came to observe and grade us. So the last two weeks have been hectic with moving and trying to prepare for my teacher.

  Well, let me just say Oktoberfest is the most insane fest I have been to yet in Germany.  First, we left Friday evening after teaching. I was hesitating to go because I was so tired from the week but thank goodness I decided to go…best decision I made. Then we took a train to Munich and it was a 4 hour ride.  We got off and were immediately confronted with lederhosen men and women in girdles. We obviously did not get the memo that we needed to dress up.  The next step was to find our hostel.  My good friend Meghan made the booking for the hostel and she somehow chosen a hostel outside of the city.  Needless to say it took us two hours to find this room.  And when we did we were drenched, tired and cold.  But we found it!  Then we slowly open the door anxious to get some sleep and to our lovely surprise the room was made for only one person.  So imagine 8 people trying to sleep in a single room.  One of us slept under a table, another slept in the bathroom, two in the bed, and the rest sardine on the hardwood floor. 

Needless to say no one got any sleep but it was ok because we needed to be up at 6 am to get a table for the Fest.  I did not realize how huge Oktoberfest was and my friends were determine to get a table.  We were in line at 7:30am to enter the tent.  We rushed in and ran to a table!  Thousands of people poured into the tent and it was packed by 8:30am.  And then you start drinking by 9 am….I kept reminding myself this is just like a cougar football game.  I was well prepared for this thanks to WSU Saturdays. By ten am we were all dancing and singing on the tables, with people from New Zealand, Holland, and Italy.  It was one of my favorite days in Germany.  We all were just drinking, singing and eating pretzels amongst thousands. I met some amazing people from all over the world. This couple from Germany became my best friends and we three hung out all day.  Then they decided to become my match maker for me and they kept bringing Italians to me saying, “he is a nice guy you should hang out” but I did not think this way so I kept saying No thank you!  I can’t even describe the chaos of having thousands of people drinking all day and dancing on tables.  In the end it was a wonderful time and I am so glad I went.  Next time though I will wear a girdle so I do not stand out!

  Then by 7pm my roommates and I decided we did not want to become sardines tonight in our small hostel so we jumped on the train and made it home by 12 am and slept in our own beds!  Oktoberfest was a success!

Wine Fest 2010

Wine Fest 2010

Well, hello friends and family.  It has been too long since I have written on my blog. I have been really busy with the classroom and preparing lessons every day. I am gaining more responsibilities for teaching and it has been wonderful to get to know my students.  Not to brag or anything but I have a smart bunch of 4^th grade kiddos.  They are all so wonderful and they have such a variety of personalities!  One of the student has autism and he is probably one of my favorites (Even though I  am not suppose to have favorites….I do) He is on the high spectrum ….basically he is a genius…..and one day we had to do a writing piece  where the students had to write in a different perspective…so he wrote his perspective as an alien and he decided to describe all the anatomy parts of a human  and let’s just say he went into great detail……Well what did I do when he began to discuss his writing piece?  I just started to laugh.  Overall I have a great class and I enjoy teaching.

Wine Fest is an Oktoberfest for the winos.  It was last Saturday. Six of the student teachers  and I left early Saturday morning and took the train to Bad Durkheim which is about 30 minutes from where I live.  Right when we got there we ran into some Americans who persuaded us to take shots of plum vodka with them.  They were a rowdy bunch of Americans who showed us around the festival I felt like a kid in a candy store.  First they had crazy carnival rides that would flip, dip and spin you all over the place. (not a good idea to try them out when you had too much wine) Then the food….they had chocolate covered hotdogs to the normal bananas and strawberries.  And the Schnitzels!  My new found guilty pleasure.  Fried delight, of pork that has been flattened then drenched with a rich creamy white sauce with mushroom and cheese.  Oh my gosh I could just live off that and at the wine fest they had an endless supplies of Schnitzels.

   But the best part of the whole fest was the Wine!  At the festival they have tents strewed all along the carnival rides. And when you enter the tent there are lines of tables.  So the girls and I took our spot at a table and started having wine.  By six pm we were all dancing on the tables.  Then we had German boys come and join us and then older couples came and join us and before you know it the whole tent is standing on tables dancing.  We danced for hours singing German songs ( well kind of mumbling German songs) and had a wonderful time.  After the drinking and the dancing we needed fresh air so we went on Jupiter.  The Ferris wheel.  IT was a great way to end the night.  Last weekend was a great time and I am so glad to be here!

This weekend I have the chance to go to Oktoberfest.  And for teaching I a will have the whole class to myself!  Yippee!  Well love you all and miss you all.

Kelsey

This picture does not do justice of how many people are in the tent....by the end of the night thousands of people are dancing and singing on the tables

Weekend in Heidelberg

Last weekend I stayed in Heidelberg.  My goal was to do some massive homework and get some lesson plans done and did I?  Nope.  Instead I just traveled around the small town and tried to hang out with some Europeans. Unfortunately, I am having a hard time making friends on the economy. So mom don’t worry I won’t find a German boyfriend.  I think the language barrier is really slowing my game down over here!  However, Sundays has been the day I meet people and drink. 
This Sunday we walked around Heidelberg and enjoyed the 75 degree weather. Ate some gelato and enjoyed the beautiful day.  Right when I and another student teacher decided to head home, a sweet Italian couple asked if we would like to join them for drink a beer. We did some major charades to communicate with one another.  They were fantastic and love Harley Davison. The husband had all Harley Davison gear on and rode across the west coast this summer…..kinda reminded me of my dad! Well needless to say a beer lead to several and then us going to an Irish pub to watch the Steelers football game where we met two German men who were around the age of 50.  They could speak English. So we then drank some more and they taught us some German so it was a win-win situation.  Then we were debating if we should stay and watch the Hawks play but it was 10:30 and us being the responsible teachers went home to get ready to teach the next morning.  It was a beautiful weekend sunny and hot and we did a lot of exploring around the old city and even walked around the castle.  I love it here!   Miss you all and love you all

Amber and I

Amsterdam Recap

So Amsterdam was my first weekend to travel around Europe. I thought why not test out my traveling skills on the most controversial/liberal place in Europe. So the first step was easy booking the train and tickets. Everyone spoke English and it was immensely easy to get around. The second part was shaking off my old conceptions about Amsterdam.
Prior to this trip I had these preconceived judgments of what it would be like,... that I would be mugged or conned into something RiSkY. However, I was contradicted. Amsterdam is so beautiful. The canals wrapped around like a snake against the stone houses. The weather was sunny with a light breeze which made it comfortable to walk around for hours. Getting lost in between the canals and streets was an exciting part about the trip because we discovered interesting people and shops. This is where we found great restaurants, shops and of course a H & M.
Also, the culture and the art were breathtaking and moving. I went to the oldest church in Amsterdam built in 1401, and stood on graves of people who were of royalty. I went to the Ann Frank house and stood where Ann once wrote in her journal. One could not be moved by such an experience. It overwhelmed me and made me realize how important life is and how much the human spirit could endure. I believe that this tour was my favorite. We also saw a mediaeval torture show...which was quite fascinating yet grotesque. I learned how they used rip tongues out and intestines very educational! I also visited the Van Gough museum and it was so beautiful and breathtaking. I saw some pictures from Monet as well and I just could not fathom that I was standing in front of some the greatest artist's work. Its a experience that is hard to describe/
Of course I checked out the red light district and a comedian show as well. I mean Amsterdam is known for these things and I wanted to see it all. The redlight district was depressing to me...all these woman just hanggggiing out....but needless to say I went down there and checked it out. The comedian show was great and was a good way to end my trip. Lets just say there are 100’s and 100’s of restaurants for “hungry” people….I never seen so much fast food in my life!!!
In conclusion to my misconceptions the only thing people need to worry about is the cyclists, trams and mopeds because they rule the world in Amsterdam. If you get in there way just know you might get injured. Other than that Amsterdam is a amazing place and I would love to go back. It is rich with history and very progressive at the same time. It is like two worlds living in one. So that is my trip to Amsterdam....I had to go back to the real world and start teaching again this week..but I have some great trips plan for the future. Love you all and miss you All!!

Amsterdam...

Well I made it back safe.  I love it there....but I am too tired to write about thet trip right now,  I need some sleep so I can have energy for the kids.  Write more soon.

First Week of School

I know I havent written is awhile. This blog thing is hard to keep up! Anywho, I have been busy with setting up the classroom and getting ready for the first day. It was long and hard work.  I did not realize how much planning, organizing, and designing it took to get the year ready!  The first week has been an overall success, only two kids cried. And they have cried everyday since....Amongst the crying kids we have 22 students (the largest class in the school) In general they are amazing.  Many are very smart and since it is a military school most of them can speak more than one langauge.   My teacher is pretty unorthadox.  His classroom is like a stage and he is the crazy actor who is always putting a show on for the kids.   He wants the kids to keep moving around.  We sing/dance/read/write/ and most of important thing we do is creating a hands on science muesum with the kids. They are the most excited about that because they get to plan how make it and what goes in it

Last Saturday I traveled around Heidelberg.  It is such a beautiful town.  The center of the town is called Bismark Plaza and it is a road that stretches for miles that has shops, resturaunts, and more shops.  Im in heaven because they have H&M! I will try not to spend all my money there!  We did the tourist thing and visited some very old churches and checked out the Heidelberg Castle.  All amazing.  Im learning the transit system slowely....needless to say I missed the stop for our home and had to walk a quarter mile in farmland/highway.  Well I must go and get some rest!

Heidelberg Castle

The Plaza

Blowing it and missing the bus stop...

My Classroom

Tomorrow will be the first day! Wish me luck!

This is for Julia. Found this in Iceland!

First day!

So my first day was today and it was very long.  It started off at 4 am.  I woke up and I couldnt fall back to sleep due to the time difference so instead I made a bowl of cereal while trying to figure out our german dish washer.  Then I waited until 7 to catch the bus to start the first day.  As I entered the bus I hit my head on the bar of the bus and everybody laughed.  Then when I reached  my school my teacher put me to work.  He first asked if I liked spiders, hamsters, and creepy crawlers.....and I hesitantlty said no but now I am a pet keeper for my class....then next thing I knew I was thrown into being the house keeper of his classroom.  Due to the school closing down at the end of the year we have to do a deep cleaning.  One closet in his room took me an hour and half to clean and he has six!!!  I found beano in one..I know I shouldnt share that but it both made us laugh.  In all honesty though it will be an exhausting 4 months he excpects a lot from me. I will be doing a lot of teaching and I feel totally unprepared.  It will take me a few days to get back in the swing of things.  But I love being here and feel very fortunate to be apart of this expereince. 

For this weekend my roomies and I are exploring the town.  Well the librarian is kicking us out.  So I must go. Love and miss you all!

Kelsey

Arrival to Iceland

Well Amber, Anabel and I landed safetly in Iceland....we rushed through security because we only had 20 minutes to catch our connecting flight....and when we arrived to our gate it was luckily delayed and hour so now we are eating pringles and drinking soda because it is midnight at home!  Love you all and miss everyone

Last Day

Tomorrow is my last day of work.  I am truly going to miss my kids in my class. Everyone has such a different personality and such different gifts that you cant help but grow to appreciate and care about them more each day.The summer flew by way to fast!

 As exhausting and time consuming it is to work at a preschool during  the summer it is so worth while.  It is like I am constantly watching that t.v show hosted by Cosby...Kids Say the Darnest Things....if I could record the outrageous and most imagative responses from what I hear daily....I could be the new host for that show. I also have learn some valuable skills and increase my slang/ vocabulary...which I seem to use on my friends such as hey I'm going "potty"  ....or I begin to count down to my friends when we need to go..."ok if you arent ready to go out in 10 seconds I am leaving and then I proceed to count down....It is qutie absurd how my two lives of teaching and trying to be an adult are now bluring. I could be losing friends by my actions.

 Another great thing about teaching is it keeps you in with the in.  I have learned what is cool and wht is not so cool.  Like Justin Beiber...not cool anymore (so last fall).....but B.O.B so cool.  Also, when my 8 year olds know more slang then me such as .... IKR..." I know right" or ADL "All Day Long "  it is impressive but also quite disturbing. Honestly sometimes I think they are speaking another language. I think we have confirmed that we become the most efficient but perhaps the most laziest people in society because of all the abbreviations we have created.

But besides the interesting things I have learned from being around kids it is also the most rewarding job.  I am grateful to work with these kids this summer and hope to take some of the things I have learned from my school and preschool apply that to my student teaching.  On that note TTYL

Kelsey

Four days left

Well I have four days until I leave and start my job of becoming a real life teacher...It has only taken me five years of college and a good amount of loans to accomplish my degree in Education. And let me tell you it was a journey in a half. Writing lesson plans after lesson plans and memorizing my states requirements of meeting the standards took a lot of time and dedication!  Now, I wont get into the politics, the institution of education system, or how much work teachers put in ....that is for another blog...I am just here to write to keep my friends and family informed about my experience of student teaching and becoming a certified teacher while I am abroad.

 Ever since I went to Japan I have had the bug to continue my  travels of experiencing the world.  So I have decided to do my student teaching in Germany on an Army base.  I am teaching fourth grade and I am so excited to work with this age group. You would think a future teacher of America would be organized. Well, I haven't packed and literally have only 48 hours to get my life together.  I have been so busy working at my preschool and trying to fit in any free time to family and friends  that I havent thought about my journey to Europe. I have put my trip to Germany on the back burner.  Now, I know that might sound crazy to some but when you work with five year olds everyday for nine hours the last thing you want to think about is preparing for student teaching. Instead I grab a glass of wine or a super dirty martini and de-stress myself from thinking about the kids ;) So here I  am starting my blog about my experience ...I hope to learn how to become a stronger teacher, I aslo hope to explore as much as possible the new culture and most of all I hope I take away from this experience, is a new understanding about myself .

Learning how to teach art....this is what I spent the big bucks on!

Kels

Student teaching is basically a half a year