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 :)