Goodbye

Goodbye is one of my least favorite words. I am a huge fan of the see you later. Leaving Germany I found myself trying to pull that phrase on people before I left. Goodbye just seems so harsh, so permanent.But I guess in a sense I wasn't really lying to the people I said see you later to, I really do intend on seeing them later in life.
Being in Garmisch has given me so many unexpected friendships, it really has been a blessing. Who knew that I would end up in Europe wanting to spend my weekends where I lived rather than travel just so I could spend time with friends or do things around town? I didn't see that coming. As much as I enjoyed traveling, it was always hard, it never really seemed like I got the easy way out, but it has made me so much stronger.
Back at home I feel like I belong. I have laughed so hard everyday, side aching laughs, being in Germany I missed that.
Germany was a blessing. Coming back to the states I feel like such a different person than I was five months ago leaving it. Woohoo for life altering events :]

Mediterranean Cruise (May 29- June 5)

So the best word I can use to explain my time on the cruise is RELAXING. Everything about it was relaxing, the boat, the water, the food, the entertainment and my plans for the trip. I went with 2 girls from college that also taught here in Germany at different schools.
We sailed out of Venice on a rainy day, but it was beautiful none the less.

The next day we spent all day at sea. I used it to read Redeeming Love, (I highly recommend it to everyone), lying out by the pool catching some much needed sun on my then pale body, and taking dance classes. :) So much fun, it was a good way to get to know the cruise staff. The salsa teacher was so cute, he had us dance to the Dirty Dancing song.

Monday we got to Dubrovnik, Croatia which ended up being my favorite port. I really liked being by the water and just enjoying the beauty of the walled city. Every alley brought a new feast of sights to our eyes. That night we had a nice sit down dinner and went to a show.

Tuesday we went to Athens, Greece, which ended up being my least favorite port. The town was very dirty, and aside from the Acropolis it didn't really seem like there was anything to see (well aside from the very attractive local men). But the Acropolis was fascinating. I also found some neat suvioners (finally).

Wednesday we went to Izmir, Turkey, my second favorite port. We went to the Great Bazaar and shopped in this large market. The other girls hated it, but I really liked it because I felt like I was actually seeing what life was like for people there. After being at the bazaar we ate kebabs at a little stand (the people there are so hospitable) and then walked along the water back to the boat.

Thursday we went to Naflion, Greece. It was a beautiful town that reminded me of San Diego. We hiked part way up to a castle before being chased down the mountain by a snake and we all confessed that we had no interest in seeing yet another castle. We found the beach and were in our swimsuits, so our time was well spent there in the crystal clear water :)

Friday was our last day at sea. It rained in the morning and was a bit cooler during the day. I went to a few dance classes spent a lot of time reading and waiting for the sun to come out, which it did finally. The rest of the night we went to the closing show, a fantastic dinner, and danced the night away.

It should be noted that every day we had wonderful food that was included with the cruise. Every night I had some sort of seafood and 3 course meal at a fancy sit down restraunt and it was all scrumptious. We also took advantage of all the cruise shows. Some were really fabulous and some were cheesy as expected. Every night also had some sort of reality game show that we were able to watch people make fools of themselves. Dancing until we were almost too tired to get ourselves to bed was a good way to end each night.

Saturday we got into port in Venice and got off the boat at about 9:30am. We took the long way to find our hostel, and got quite familiar with the water bus. After checking into the waterfront hostel we went to St. Mark's square and wandered around there.

Sunday we went to Lido Beach and were adorable beach bums for the day. When we got tired of that we went to Murano Island where they do the glass blowing and I got to watch a guy make a horse! So neat. Some of the shops we went into had such beautiful things that I was almost moved to tears. I bought myself a pair of earrings and a beautiful necklace. Venice was so stunningly beautiful, I enjoyed every minute of it, except maybe our food bills :(

Monday morning we headed out of Venice on the train and to Verona. We walked to our hotel and then set out to explore Verona. I was a little disappointed because it just felt like Venice without the water. Everything in town was SO expensive.

Tuesday we went to the Roman Theatre which was beautiful and had amazing views. We then walked a few miles to find some gardens, which ended up being just okay. We headed back into town to visit Juliet (as in Romeo and Juliet) and her house. We all wrote letters and left them on the walls with thousands of others.

Wednesday we woke up and went to the train station. I got on a few trains and ultimately ended up in Garmisch just in time for bible study :)

It was a wonderful trip, the perfect way to end a five month Europe tour.

Neuschwanstein Castle!

I finally went to the castle today :) We drove through Austria and it was gorgeous! The castle was stunning and the weather was finally beautiful. Woohoo :)Pictures are worth a thousand words so here they go....

some people's kids.

I never thought I would miss my kids. Really I didn't. I haven't even left yet, and I already miss them. There have been moments when I sit in class and watch them and I find myself tearing up out of pride for them and knowing that I am leaving them before they are leaving me. My kids have grown so much since I have been here. They are turning into little pre-teens, but not too much, they still gossip about their older siblings doing the unthinkable, making out! They informed me that they are definitely going to wait until they are old enough (16) to ever do anything that brash. And people wonder why I want to be a teacher. I don't, not today at least.

As my semester is coming to a close I am thinking about all the people here I would like to thank, and there are so many! I really have been blessed in my 4 1/2 months here. They say going overseas changes you, I guess I didn't believe them before, now I do. I feel like I have gone through several life changing experiences in college. It makes me wonder who I would be had I not gone to college. Yikes!

If you were in anyway a help or encouragement for me to go to Europe thank you. Thank you a million times. Once again I have found myself, found me and who I think I am growing up to be.

Weather Update: Still 40 degrees and rainy. Going on three weeks now.

Countdown: 10 more days of student teaching, 11 days until Mediterranean Cruise,21 more days until my Momma's 50th birthday, 27 more days before I go home and get some REAL hugs

Lesson learned this week: Never stop praying for someone. There is no such thing as a lost cause.

I miss the sun

I would like to put out a missing sun report. It's big, yellow, full of gas, and warm. My guess is that it is behind these layers of rain laden clouds, but I wouldn't know. Every once in a while the sky illuminates, but not with a yellow glow of comfort, more of a blanket of lustery white.

Germany is growing on me more and more as spring sneaks in and out. It is funny how I have had a love/hate relationship with it this entire time. I can't wait to go back to the states, this week my 5 close girlfriends are leaving, watching them go makes me want to leave more. I hate goodbyes, but I feel that they are easier when I am also on my way out. Watching everyone graduate from NAU and talk about leaving Flagstaff for good this time, breaks my heart, the other part of me rejoices that I do not have to be there for the extra tearful goodbyes.

I feel like I should give some sort of farewell tribute to Flagstaff and NAU, but I don't feel that I have the strength for that now, maybe in a few weeks.

For my last 3 weeks in Garmisch I hope the sun comes out, I hope to take a few more bike rides, I hope to go on a few more dates, I hope to go to the castle, but mostly I hope to truly enjoy it, not just partially, but fully.

My goal for this week is to book my cruise for June and have a good week with my fifth graders. This will be a week where I win them out with love. I am determined for us all to have a good week. It is going to happen. So long for now.

Spring in Bavaria!

My oh my! It is so beautiful here :) When I first moved here I was walking around town with someone who had been here a bit longer and he said, "Just wait, come spring you will really believe you are living in a fairytale." Haha... yeah right I thought, this town is frozen over and the people are mean. I was so wrong and he was so right.

Yesterday was May Day. I rode my bike to a neighboring village ("willage" as my Germans friends pronounce it in English) to take part in their May Day ceremonies. It is strange going to events like this, because I do not know the language, I feel that I don't really experience it, I watch it happen. I like it though, I like the having the opportunity to use what little German I know to get a brat with sauerkraut and find a rock to sit on and watch. I watched the kinders run around in their dirndl’s and lederhosen. Not only were the kinders in the traditional dress, but so are the Grandma's and Grandpa's, and well everyone in between. There was a little 5 piece band playing traditional music and everyone was walking around in good spirits. I can't think of a better place I could have spent my Saturday afternoon.

One of the fairytale like qualities of Garmisch is that it does not have to be a festival day for people to bust out the lederhosen and dirndls. Any day I go out walking I am sure to find someone in traditional dress going about their business. Yes, I do live in a fairytale land, even the houses all seem to possess potential for some sort of magic.

Spring is effortlessly coming alive here, it is fabulous. Every day I walk by the same trees as they fill out, fluffing their leaves and brightening the fairytale land. Going anywhere now takes twice as long with as many gorgeous tulips that are popping up. The colors are brighter than anything I ever imagined Germany could produce. Along with the vegetation sprucing up it's appearance I feel that the moods and disposition of the German people around me is doing the same. Yesterday more than 5 people smiled at me. That is definitely a record for here, I almost felt welcome.

Taking part in London's spring

After a fun and tiring adventure Friday on our way back to London from Ireland we met up with Kylie at the Generator. We got all dolled up for a party that was being put on in our hostel, definitely the place to be in London :) We met so so so many people on account of so many of them being stuck in London and being too broke to do anything else. Our favorite bunch we met was surprisingly a group of Germans. We danced the night away, or at least tried to with the Germans and Australians.

Saturday we found out that our flight was cancelled for the next morning so we began to look at plan B. That only took a moment though after finding out that a train ticket would be 300 pounds. We decided to wait out the volcano and enjoy our extra time in London. Kylie had gotten a walking tour route of things to see by a native Londonan so we headed out on the positively sunny Saturday morning with our hearts ready for adventure. We saw the city from a different point of view, we went to a very busy square with live music and soooooo many people in it. It was probably my favorite time in London. I bought some salads from a vendor and found a spot on a curb to enjoy my lunch and the guitar players sound and voice. We headed back to the hostel to figure out plans for the rest of the night. We decided to get all dressed up and go down to Piccadilly Square because we figured it would be the happening place to be, it sort of was, but we were so hungry and a little broke we ended up just going to McDonalds having dinner and people watching. Back at the hostel we met more new friends, these ones were from Australia.

After getting over our initial annoyance and disappointment of being stuck in London with pretty much no way to leave, we planned a fun Sunday. I found out about Camden Market. It was a part of London that had several discount stores and open air markets. We bought fun little things like jewelry and trinkets. Lunch was my favorite part of being at the market. There were so many different types of food from all different countries, made by people native to the country. With all that at hand picking what to have for lunch was the hardest decision of my trip! I went with a smoked salmon salad made by the cutest 20 something year old. He did everything himself, from smoking huge pieces of salmon to making his own dressing. Mmmmm... best meal I have had in so long. After lunch we split up in twos. Kylie and I continued exploring the market. We found the perfect tea parlor to have tea in and take pictures for Rebecca (she wanted me to have tea in a pretty dress, in a picture perfect place in England) it was so much fun and I happened to be wearing my dress. I had wild rose tea with real rose buds in it :) For dinner we went across the street to a grocery store and bought a bunch of very fresh fruit for super cheap and had a fruit feast together. Kylie and I then went and explored London for a few hours. We ended up in a Claire's and had a giggly good time.

Monday I woke up grumpy and wanting to be by myself and with a book. So I didn't buy an underground pass for the day. As a group we found a used book store called Skoobs! (brilliant, books spelled backwards). I found a brand new ESV bible for 20 pounds cheaper than any of the older bibles there and I promptly realized it as a gift and bought it. I then parted from the group and just hung out at the park and read. It was so lovely. I then went to bed early and woke up Tuesday a happy girl :)

I had really wanted to see Wicked since I was a freshman in college, so Kylie encouraged me to go see it in London. We went out in the morning in search of cheap tickets and ended up getting what we thought were going to be decent seats for 25 pounds each. We then split up and I went back to Camden Market with Jordyn to buy a few more little things and then we went to Kensington Gardens and just sat in the beauty of spring. When we got back we all helped each other get ready for the play. Everyone looked so beautiful. We got the theater and found out that we were as far back as you could get. We decided that we would move to empty seats at intermission, but as soon as the lights dimmed the audience from the balcony rushed the open seats. We refused to be left out of this London activity so we too grabbed our things and ran for the best open seats. The play was so beautiful, I cried through the opening scene all the way to the closing one. I believe it was a combination of my prior connection to the music, the fact that I was finally seeing it, the actors fabulous voices, and my heart missing a few girls who I really wished could have seen it with me. Overall it made my London trip.

Wednesday was our last day in London. Jordyn, Stephanie and I decided to spend the day in Kensington Gardens with our books and spring exploding all around us, definitely a perfect choice. We found the Peter Pan statue, so many beautiful flowers, and a beautiful pond. It was the perfect way to end an extra long vacation. We headed to the airport at 7:30pm to spend the night there before our flight was scheduled to fly out at 6:55am. Everything went well, we slept as well as expected in an airport and made our ways safely back to our own parts of Germany.

Our extra time there was a blessing, I was able to really see London. I cannot express what a world of good it did me to be around kind, English speaking people for 12 days. I shed a few tears on the way back to Garmisch hearing the harsh German and having my smiles returned by smug looks, but hey I was given a fabulous break :)

Lost my Heart to Ireland

We took 3 trains Monday night, the last to Holyhead definitely being the most interesting. We met some you severely drunk Welsh men who were warning us about the Nazi's in Germany and introducing us to a wide variety of Welsh songs. After that we met a friendly Irishman who was convinced that he now believes in love at first sight and he serenaded me. Sweet guy.

We got to the Dublin port at about 6:30am and hopped on a bus and headed into Dublin, we miraculously drove right by our hostel Paddy's Palace and then checked in and they let us shower and have breakfast. I met a new friend before leaving the hostel and we invited him on the rest of our day with us. We then took a self given Dublin tour. We walked through the 7 story Guinness factory. The sight from the top of the factory was worth the entire tour. For the rest of the day we explored Dublin with our trusty map. We found a fun thrift store and got a new outfits for our trip. When we got back to the hostel we booked tours for the next two days we were there so we could get in seeing the countryside.

Wednesday morning we woke up late and rushed to get ready for our tour that left at 8... we made it and our weather was beautiful!! We got on the Paddywaggon with our tour guide Michael Murphy and he lived up to his name, he was good looking, funny, and had a great Irish accent. He was super knowledgeable and enjoyed making us smile. We got him to sing to us so that was fun, he sang Galway Girl while we were driving through Galway and I think I fell a little bit in love. He took us all over Ireland with our final destination being the Cliffs of Mohr, which were absolutely beautiful! Once again we had perfectly blue skies and sunny weather. We also stopped at a monastery, burial grounds, and a castle. We drove home, entertained by more songs encouraged by our whoops and hollers. He was a good sport. I was shocked at how beautiful the countryside. I just wanted to walk around the roads and run into a cute Irishman who would sing to me. Our tour guide pointed us in the direction of a good Irish pub with live music. We took his advice and headed over there. The bartender was a little gruff. He came over and without a smile said, "If you ain't drinking, you ain't staying" I promptly ordered a beer. The music was so so so good :) We had our Norwegian friend with us that we had met in the hostel.

Thursday we woke up with news of a volcano erupting in Iceland, we brushed it off and thought it had nothing to do with us... ha. We got ready to go on our next tour, this one was the P.S. I love You tour, the tour guide took us to several movie sites which of course were beautiful and then to Kilkenny where we had about 2 1/2 to explore the cute little town and castle. We found another thrift store and I got an adorable blue dress. Our tour guide that day was not as fun. He treated it more as his job, but it was still enjoyable, although I feared for my life a few times while he was driving us around those super narrow roads in a coach bus while other cars whizzed by, oh my! But we got back to the hostel at about 6 safe and sound. We then walked a little more around went shopping, turns out that Dublin has fantastic shopping, go figure I go to Paris, Prague, London and then I go to Ireland and find the cutest stuff. Only downside was that I had only brought a backpack for the entire 8 day long trip. After our shopping we went out again to the same pub to listen to more music.

We got to our ferry at 8 am and the line was wrapped around the building! Everyone was trying to leave because there were no flights, thank goodness we had bought round trip tickets. They ferry was late so we missed our connecting train, but that ended up working out because we were able to have lunch in Holyhead, Wales. Woohoo :) Then our train was so full we got kicked off and they promised to send another train to pick us up, which they did. Overall it was a FANTASTIC time. I definitely want to go back soon. I love it!

London First :)

So Saturday morning (the 10th) I woke up way too early to catch the bus to catch the train to catch my flight. Thank God my travels went smoothly and I met up with my travel companions, Kylie (friend from all my education classes), Jordyn (friend who I went to college with, but got to know better in Germany) and a new friend Stephanie. We took our short one hour flight and got to London, but not without flirting with the English speaking male flight attendants :)

Once at the airport we found out that we were about an hour and 45 minutes away from London and pretty much out of luck on a place to stay. We finally found a place that cost an arm and a leg, we needed to sleep somewhere so we took it. No worries though, that night we found a hostel for our remaining nights in London named the Generator, it was a huge, busy hostel definitely marketed to a younger crowd :) Our first night in London we dressed our tired selves up and went out to a club down the street from our hostel. Much fun was had by all.

The next day (Sunday) we bought our key to the city, (an all day underground ticket and map) and gave ourselves the best "see it all touristy tour". We saw Parliament, Big Ben, St. Paul's Cathedral, Shakespeare's church (beautiful!!!), the Globe Theatre, Westminster Abbey and then ended our day with some wonderfully greasy fish and chips. My favorite was Big Ben, people had told me not to get excited about it, that it wasn't anything to gawk at, but I thought it was fantastic! It was bigger than I expected and as you can see from the pictures we had perfect weather. We were so tired by the time we got back to the Generator, but we still stayed up and planned our trip to Ireland. We bought round trip train and ferry tickets for just 60 pounds each.

Monday we went to Buckingham Palace (how cool does that sound!?) and we happen to walk up just as the changing of the guard ceremony was happening, it only happens once every 48 hours at 10:30am... we have impeccable timing :) It was fun using our cameras and taking pictures trying to capture some of what was going on in front of the mob that we were behind. We then went to Harrod's, the humongous department store. We all felt very underdressed and were shocked at the prices on, well everything. The only thing we could afford there was food, I had an amazing turkey sandwich, possibly the best I've ever had. We then just laid around in the park and relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon. Our train and ferry tickets were booked for that night, (so we could save money on a hostel and save ourselves a day). At about 7pm we headed to the train station to start our Ireland Adventure!

emotional moments

Today has been one of those days that I would classify as a "mom day", one of those days that everything makes you cry and you are just overly emotional. There is no apparent reason for me to feel or act this way today, but I do.

Last week I taught my students about the importance of goals and then also the importance of writing down your goals. As an assignment they had to write short term goals that they could achieve by the end of the school year (June 17)... here are some of the ones that got me (some tears and some laughter):

-Have a BFF
-Try and become more popular
-Breathe right
- Make friends
- Have a nice, good goodbye party
- Have/go to more sleepovers
-Be more nice
-Don't talk back to adults
- Don't draw on self
-Write a small book or play

Where is the point in life where we stop setting our goals at friends or a simple nice goodbye party? What would happen if we went back to that? I think I would like to see.

My students also finished their reports and presentations on diseases for health class. Also emotional. First reason being that when I came they could barely form a paragraph, and most of the papers I got back today were professional looking 5 paragraph minimum essays... from 5th graders. They are finally starting to get it :)Two of my students presented diseases that they themselves have. Watching their eyes as they presented and the fear and hope that they held was difficult to take in. The so badly wanted their peers to understand how their lives were, but the were also so afraid of rejection. The students following them stopped refering to people without the disease they were presenting as normal and began saying people without _______. It was amazing to watch them support and uplift eachother. Woohoo for maturing fifth graders :)

I am loving my class, but we are all very aware that spring break is a mere 3 days away :)

lost words

My heart feels full of love and gratitude, but my mind almost refuses to allow it (my heart) to express itself. I guess I'll make it try anyways.

This weekend I acted like an Army wife, well at least one without a hubby. I went to a Silpada Jewelry party, the semi- formal auction put on by the PTA (the place to be), walked around town, went swimming and spent quality time with my girlfriends. Oh! And I got my first piece of Polish pottery! A must for any Army wife, I can see why it is addicting...

Doing all that made me realize partly why I have not really been bitten by the travel bug as much as I thought I would be. I have so much to do right here in Garmisch, the Zugspitz's are absolutely beautiful, the weather has been the nicest it's been in years, and I am surrounded by people that love me. What more could I ask for? Ummm, well... maybe a class that listens :) I am hoping and praying that this week we have a good week, with spring break right around the corner, I can forsee a good week, behavior wise, being a little far fetched.

Speaking of spring break I am going to London and Ireland. I currently don't really have plans. Just a plane ticket, any advice would be appreciated :) I have also decided that on one of my two weeks travel after student teaching that I am going to take a cruise around Greece. Sounds like fun, huh?

Only one more week until fabulous Easter!!! We are having a sunrise service at 6:45 :) Woohoo, I cannot wait!

As with every weekend, and day for that matter that I am out here I am taught a lesson, Lesson learned this weekend: I should stay away from Italian waiters, maybe just Italian men in general...

Ten Things I learned at Stark Beer Fest

1. If someone tells you that it's a sneaky beer, that probably means you should not even finish your own, let alone help others finish theirs.

2. German men do not always ask if they can buy you a drink. They just do and it's huge.

3. Beer halls are HUGE and LOUD

4. If you have a dirndl you should definitely wear it to any sort of fest. Everyone does :) Guys look cute in lederhosen, it lets them get away with more.

5. Don't tell your friend that the beers they are drinking are equivilent to eating an entire loaf of bread or at least 16 slices for each beer. It might take some of the enjoyment out of the beer :)

6. Festivals here are more fun/accepting than the ones in the states. People don't really start fights here. If you fall on them they just smile and help you up.

7. It is okay to dance on tables, and the guys usually start it.

8. The German guy sitting across from me knew about 10 words: they included beautiful, cute, fine, really, very, girlfriend, wife and my baby. He used them all on me and told anyone who he saw that I was his girlfriend. Alicia and I think we should start up a business that makes pick up line books in all different languages.

9. When going to a beer fest make sure you go with friends who are stronger than the beer.

10. When all else fails, give someone your purse, hold their hand and follow directions without being a goober :)

Thank you Katherine, Jennifer, Nicholas, and Alicia for a fabulous beer fest experience. It was fabulously fun and German :)

for real.

Yesterday I actually expereinced Garmisch as someone who lives here would :)

I woke up and headed out on a fabulously, beautiful day dressed up in my snow and ski gear and waited for the bus, which was late. I met up with Rene and we walked about a mile to the Hausberg to ski. When we got up on the bunny hill it was beautiful!! We were the only two up there so I was able to walk her through the steps of skiing that I knew. By the end of our time there we had both gone on the bigger lift and survived the ride down.

We walked back into town ( I was still carrying all my stuff). Stopped and had luch at La Baita's and had pizza and pesto pasta. We then stopped at Norma's the German grocery store and bakery. I bought a poppy seed loaf and it is so yummy. I walked the rest of the mile back to base and took a bath and then a nap.

I decided I had not walked enough, so I headed downtown in hopes of finding something to do. When I got downtown there was a lot of music and even more people. I went into the main park, and it was ridiculously full of people, almost all German and Turkish, typically when I go out here, it ends up being a lot of Americans. It was fun watching them sing at the top of their lungs along to their German favorites accompanied by the fist pumping and jumping. Of course they played everyone's favorite, Bryan Adam's Summer of '69, I think I have heard that song more since I have been here than I ever have back in the states, they love it!

They kept talking about a DJ Bubu, I asked a bilingual German and they told me that he was a great DJ who held concerts and thing like that... interesting. He came out and reminded me of a Vegas show. He had backup dancers and lip syncers. He was not that great, it was kind of disappointing.

So it turns out that this entire town party was to give awards to the skiers from the World Cup. Lindsey Vonn won overall. Pretty cool.... Anywho, it just went to show Germans know how to party and celebrate :):)

World Cup Races :)

My class got to walk to the slopes today as a school field trip and watch the women's downhill skiing portion of the World Cup races that are being held in Garmisch. It was so much fun! We were all sporting our red, white, and blue and posters that we made in class yesterday. This has to be the most beautiful place to student teach. Watching the skiers fly down the hill made me wish I was up on the slopes rather than in the classroom :)It was amazing seeing how strong the skiers
were as they walked through the crowds and talked with the kids who were starstruck.

All the American women skiers were so kind to let the entire school population mob them and take pictures and autogaphs. Gold Medalist Lindsey Vonn was the prized autograph giver today, all my students proudly displayed her signature somewhere on themselves, mostly on ski jackets and gloves.

As a group I would say we had a fantastic time, the weather was freezing though... about 14 degrees. I thought I was going to be a popsicle by the time I got back to the classroom around one.

The student's got a lot of the skiers signatures and made some memories that I hope will last them a lifetime.

feel the love.

It is amazing seeing people who are so loving :)

This week Marilee was here in Garmisch with me, supervising me. I didn't expect her visit to help me as much as it did. She really is amazing at what she does. Having her coming so early in my student teaching I think really helped me get ready to make changes and go forward. She helped me see that my mess of classroom management is something that can be changed, something that there can be hope for. I had pretty much written that off... This week is going to be fun. My heart has always been in teaching, but it feels different now. If I want to get better where I am, I will need to be more proactive, but that is something that I can do and that I am ready to do. Woohoo!

Aside from just our mandatory teaching and observing we ate so much good food and had fun every moment we were together. Wednesday night we did American Idol night with traditional German food at Shanda's. Thursday night we had Bollywood, yummy Indian food with a lot of flavor. Friday night we went to Debbie's house and she made us Mexican food :) :) It was so so yummy! Saturday we went to Munich and ate at some pasta and pizza place.

So you would think that with all this food we woiuld be lethargic, no such chance. Marilee is the power-walking queen and I was honored to be in the court. We put quite a few mile on our sneakers and enjoyed good conversation, sights and smiles.

This week/end has been a breath of fresh air and for it I am thankful. Today I was able to relax and go to church. After church I was took a nap and finally caught up on sleep from my weekend in Prague. I'm finishing up my lesson planning for the week and seriously thinking about my classroom management expectations in each lesson. While writing lessons and channel surfing, I stumbled across a show called Sunday's Best... it's American Idol for gospel singers. Amazing. I also watched the end of an Extreme Home Makeover that made me bawl like a baby, some one gave 7 kids full ride scholarships. How can we report on so much bad when the world is full of so much good? I love letting people surprise me with their goodness. :)

I hope you are having a lovely weekend. Much love for you.

Prague happened :)

To start, let me just say Prague was fabulous :) I didn't really expect much from a less - than 48 hour trip, but I of course was pleasantly surprised.

Friday my travels went perfectly, I arrived in Prague at 10:30, Madonna was waiting at the train station for me (first time in a long time that some one who said they were going to meet me to pick me up was there when I got there). By the grace of God I found her right away on our first attempt to connect :)

We hopped on the subway and headed to meet up with Zennon, Madonna's friend. We hung out and watched curling at a pub... well I made fun of it and then we went out dancing. So much fun! The people in Prague have such a different way of dancing, not so much in how they move, but in the way they seem to feel about it. Their heart is in the dancing, it is not about a show to be noticed or a ploy to find someone to go home with, but a sincere expression of self.

Saturday morning started with Auntie Madonna and I taking a walk. She tried to help me slow down my pace to enjoy, well Prague. I tried... I think by the end of the trip I may have gotten better at just taking my time. We stopped at a cafe and had the most AMAZING croissants of my life. I don't think another one will ever measure up. Who would've thought? And I thought we were silly for waiting for the cafe to open. After our walk and my personal tour by and over-qualified tour guide we went back to Zennon's flat where he had made us a fabulous breakfast and laid it all out so nicely. His sincere hospitality made me feel like a princess.

Zennon then drove us to go see Foxy Lady, my Auntie's beloved horse, who is older than I am. Our day was perfect for anything outdoors, clear blue skies and a warm sun. Watching Madonna run to Lady may have been one of the highlights of my trip. I can't think of her without thinking of horses and vice versa. The love and emotion that was present the entire time we were at the stables was practically unexplainable. The moments I saw easily moved me to tears that I let shamelessly fall. I captured a few photos, but I don't think any really do the moment justice.

After riding Lady and enjoying the sun we headed to the castle! Which I found out means the grounds of the living quarters, the church, the garden and all that jazz. It was just beautiful! We spent a good amount of time just taking in the grand splendor of Prague. It was fun being there with some one who considered it home. We also walked on the St. Charles Bridge which had so much of a feel of history and hope.

We went out to dinner with Donna's friends and all had a nice time, I would like to think that some of them also became my friends that night too :) After dinner and plenty of after dinner conversation we went out the disco where we proceeded to dance until about 4am :) Now if I could just get my friends out here to go dancing until 4am...

Sunday morning I headed back to Garmisch with a full stomach, a camera bursting with pictures, a beautiful cashmere and silk scarf, and a heart overflowing with love and gratitude.

I scored.

Today was one of those days where I question if this (teaching) is really what I want to do with the rest of my life. My students sent me home at 3 with a headache while I hopefully sent them home with enough to study for their science test and a basic idea of what a healthy person looks like and how they can be that.

I was invited to PE with my students today... I agreed to go. We walked probably about 1/2 a mile to get to the gym on base and then proceeded to play an amazing game of mat ball. Seeing as I was in teaching clothes (slacks, heels, cardigan, and too many accessories) I figured I would be an observer. No such chance. They asked me to kick and was saying no even an option? Of course not. The fun thing about mat ball is that you have to get through the bases twice. And I did in heels, and my students thought it was cool... I did too a little bit.

Prague is a mere three days away. I have decided that for this excrusion I will be bringing only a backpack and that whatever I need will fit in there. I am excited. Traveling gets me excited and anxious all at the same time. It is my hope that as time goes on the excitment and adventure serverly overshadows the current nerves of it. I guess practice will make perfect right?

wonderful unexpected weekends.

This weekend my goal was to relax and catch up on things that get pushed to the side: sleep, reading, cooking, just staying put for a little. I succeeded to some extent, okay well not really, but I am quite okay with that.

Thursday night I went ice skating and then watched the Olympics in an Irish pub, it was fun watching the girl from Garmisch win the gold in one of the skiing races. The whole place was alive with pride.

Friday night I went to the American ski lodge and listened to an American band that was mediocre, being there I almost felt like I was back in the states roped into seeing some band that I really had no interest in seeing. I did make a new friend though who took me out today for a 2 1/2 hour walk which was so refreshing.

Saturday I learned to ski! I had the most wonderful, patient teacher Jim (my CT's husband). I was in Mittenval and the Bruno bunny hill... the 5 year olds were passing me, but I made progress :) I am so thankful I had someone that was willing to take their time with me and really try to get me at a point where I could go on my own. After skiing for a while I went to a restaurant with my teacher, her husband, and their 3 year old son. I had a German soup that had a subtle broth and a huge meatball that I am almost sure was made out of liver. It actually wasn't bad, I kinda enjoyed it. Dessert was amazing. It was raspberry cake wonderfulness. Desserts are definitely one of the perks of living in Germany. The food is often bland but the desserts more than make up for them. I got to babysit my teacher's 3 year old last night too! I just sat and read to him for about 2 hours and then played cars. It was so much fun to do something regular. I left there about 10:45 and then my neighbors convinced me to go out dancing... nothing to report on there.

I went to church this morning :) We had a Mexican potluck after the service and it was so yummy. I really look forward to the fellowship time every week. Our skies in Garmisch today were absolutely picture perfect! My new friend Joel and I went walking and it was just wonderful, the sun was actually warm, making our weather a warm 4 degrees Celsius. I am now back in the BOQ attempting to lesson plan for two weeks so I don't have to think about plans when I am in Prague next weekend.

All Trains Go to Paris!

I had SO MUCH FUN in Paris!!! Getting there was an adventure (you can read about it in the previous blog!) Everything about the trip surpassed my expectations… I think a list format will make this easiest:

1. The hostel- We stayed at Jules Ferry Hostel right by the Republica metro station. The hostel was clean, had good showers, cool people and wasn’t scary. There was also a breakfast every morning of baguettes , applesauce and orange juice. It was a great place to meet other people.

2. The Louvre Museum- It was huge!!! We went right after I got to the hostel Saturday morning. I explored with Kylie and we had fun looking at Napoleon’s Apartment, statues, the Mona Lisa, and several pictures that we both could have sworn we’d seen on missalettes. The exterior of the Louvre was almost as fun as the inside was. We took plenty of pictures by the pyramid.


3. Hotel de Ville- Ummm… it was an old building with an ice skating rink outside. We had dinner across the street though at a little French place. I had a salmon quiche which looked and tasted 5x better than everyone else’s stuff.

4. Notre Dame – Haha… well we got turned around looking for this and first walked around a building remarking on how much more impressive we expected the Notre Dame to be. We walked down the street a little and found the real deal and we were very impressed. As we toured the inside there was a mass going on. It felt awfully strange to be looking at the church while people were in mass. But nonetheless the church was very beautiful.


5. Night Life- Crepes are AMAZING! I had one from a side of the road stand that had bananas and nutella. I think that combination may be my new favorite thing. We made friends with some people in the hostel and then Kylie and I went down to the bastille area with them to go to pubs, where we met even more people. We rode the subway and got back somewhere around 1am.

6. Eiffel Tower- Valentine’s Day was positively wonderful! I went to the Eiffel Tower with the girls and we had perfectly blue skies. Everything about the tower was fabulous. I’ve wanted to see it since I was in third grade and I thought my expectations would be too high for it to measure up to, I couldn’t have been more wrong… I was literally jumping up and down and skipping when I saw it. Even thinking about it now has the same effect on me  Kylie and I bought Eiffel Towers that we had to carry around the whole rest of the day like true tourists…

7. Arc de Triomphe- Big! It was nice to look at, a little difficult to get to but worth it. It was just so impressive.

8. Palace of Versailles- We took the subway (or a few) to Versailles. The girls went in with their Paris passes and explored the inside while I stayed outside and explored the gardens and the grand splendor of the exterior of the palace.

9. Eiffel Tower at Night- A M A Z I N G!!! We got there and as soon as we walked up it started twinkling, absolutely breathtaking. I was speechless except for little woo’s of excitement that escaped.

10. Exploring ‘actual Paris’- I took some time Monday morning before I had to leave to explore the area around the Republica. I had some sort of hot drink in a little picturesque café and stopped at some shops around the area. I bought perfume from Paris, so now every morning I can think of Paris while I get ready.

Everything about Paris was great…

Getting There: Paris Edition

Friday I taught all day and threw a Valentine’s Day party for 15 fifth graders. I have never seen children eat so many sweets in one sitting! They were bouncing off the walls, I was so excited to get out of there.

Mary Anna drove me to the train station at 2:40 and I was on the train to Munich by 3pm. By the time I got to the airport I would have an hour to check in and find my terminal. When I got to the Munich train station after the hour and half train ride, I had ten minutes to get to the S Ban in the unfamiliar station. I was pointed in the wrong direction and ended up having to run all the way across the station. I jumped on the S Ban with two minutes to spare. Halfway to the airport the S Ban broke and there were no taxis. After about 20 minutes they got us to a spot where we could be picked up by taxis. I jumped in the taxi with 4 other people.

I got to the airport at 6:21 and my plane was leaving at 6:30. I had no idea where I was and I ran into the airport chasing an unknown terminal , for a flight that I was already late for. I found the terminal at 6:27 and the attendant said I was too late to check in and that I would have to buy another ticket if I planned on going to Paris. After a little pleading she changed her mind and agreed to make an exception because the plane was delayed. At about 6:36 she gave me a boarding pass and I flew threw security, not taking any of my liquids out, or my boots off and I ran to the gate. I got on the plane and turned off my phone. I decided to turn it back on to copy down my directions to get into Paris. When I turned it on, it asked for a code to turn it on… I didn’t have a code with me and my phone was my only was to get in contact with the girls I was supposed to meet up with.

Thank God I just happened to have written down one of their phone numbers and grabbed it on my way out.I got to the Paris airport at about 9pm and went to find a pay phone. The number didn’t work, I found the Germany country code, still didn’t work. So I looked for a computer, the only one I found was frozen.

A taxi driver offered to drive me to Paris and let me stay at his house, he said he loves Americans. Creepy, I’ve seen Taken! I high tailed it away from there… After getting away from him I ran into another guy who wanted to help me and tried to take me down to the airport work room for the baggage guys and sleep down there, also creepy. Finally an airport employee let me use his iphone so I could send a facebook message to the girls to let them at least know I was okay.

After that I logically thought about it, and I could ride the RER into Paris (it was now about 11) or I could stay at the airport until I thought of something better. I chose the latter and slept on the airport floor hanging on to all my belongings with a death-grip, terrified of Paris thieves. After tossing and turning much all night I woke up at 6:30 happy to still have all of my stuff. I headed to the bathroom to change my clothes and I had decided to try one more time to get a hold of the girls and then go to the Louvre Museum.

I stopped and asked a guy who was sitting by himself if he had a computer that I could use and he was more than willing to let me use it. When I explained my situation a little he offered me his phone… no one else would even think of letting me use theirs because the number was a German number. I called and the girls answered and gave me the name of the hostel and I jumped on the next RER and headed into Paris. I got off the subway a little lost. I stopped at a nice hotel and the woman gave me directions and I was at Jules Ferry within 30 minutes.

Oh… and I did all this while wearing my Valentine’s Day outfit, hot pink tights, little jean skirt, pink shirt, and of course snow boots. :)

before valentine's day

Today was a beautiful day. My alarm clock attempted to coax me out of bed at 6, I resisted until 6:30, the snow was lightly falling and my bed was just a little too comfortable :)

My students made their Valentine's Day boxes. They girls showed their feminine side with an abundance of hearts and sparkly paraphernalia. Most of the boys showed their growing defiance to all things delicate by putting "teeth" around the opening of their boxes. I made over 20 valentine's. Maybe someday I'll grow out of Valentine's Day being my favorite holiday, but for now it is going to stick.

This week was my first week teaching here in Garmisch and I am having a lot of fun with it. The students are still in the test the boundary stage, but they seem to adjusting well, and I believe I am passing their test.

I made my first step, okay maybe second step, to becoming a global traveler. I purchased a plane ticket to Paris, France for this weekend. I can't think of a better place to spend my Valentine's Day (well, other than at home with my Rebecca). Since 3rd grade I have wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. Now I get to! Just thinking about it gives me butterflies. Other than climbing the Eiffel Tower and going to the Louvre I have no plans. In a sense that makes me nervous, but the other side of me realizes it leaves a lot of room for adventure and unexpected joy.

Yesterday night I went to a new friend’s house for bible study off base. I had a wonderful home cooked meal, met new friends, and thoroughly enjoyed my time. Tonight I walked about a mile and half to one of the teacher's houses off base for an American Idol party and Cheap Chicken, which was so yummy! Tomorrow night I am supposed to participate in Fashing (some sort of Mardi Gras celebration) so I am sure there will be pictures and stories to accompany that.

I could not think of a better way to wind down my night... I finished writing in all my valentines, planned lessons for tomorrow and some for next week, listen to my new soul ballads cd (from my mom), took a long bath, and started to pack.

Hopeful future travel plans-
next weekend N-something Castle (the Cinderella castle)
the one after- Prague to see my Auntie

Lesson learned today- Try and buy a plane ticket more than 2 days before you plan on departing.

The first two weeks...

I still wake up in the morning just giddy that I am really here. As the sun peeks through my shades I am captivated and enticed to let the rays come through and greet the Bavarian Alps with joy.
Garmisch is so beautiful and so small. Earlier this week I ventured out into the snow filled streets to explore. I seem to find myself always getting turned around and going in circles. There are so many bakeries out here to eat at. So far I have not have had a full out German meal, I end up eating so many pasteries and breads that by the time I find a resturant I want to eat at I am full.
Hockey out here is so different... they are pretty much not allowed to fight, so their skill is impecable. The NHL could take a few pointers from them...
Living on base has it''s benefits and drawbacks. Everyone speaks English, whcih is nice, almost everyone is American which makes meeting "new" people difficult. I am surrounded by soliders almost all the time, even off base. Last night I made the mistake of going to the disco... there is a single soliders retreat this weekend on base that I did not know about. Seeing as the disco is one of the only things to do they were all there... Oh joy and they all wanted a girlfriend, my the lines they had.
My class is good, but I am finding real joy in eating lunch with the kindergardeners. They see the world so much differently than we do. I wonder what happened to us?
Next weekend I should be going to Paris, so stay tuned :)

The Start

I've had a few request to start a blog while I am in Germany student teaching and travling, so it is probably a good idea :) Here we go!! Stay tuned if you are interested :)