Friday, September 28, 2007

Vacation

I have a two week vacation, starting today. It feels strange because there have only been 1.5 months of school so far. The time is flying.

I am starting vacation with a nasty cold picked up from the lovely children that I babysit/teach English to. I knew I was doomed when their mother told me she was sick, as were three of the four kids. Great. I have 50 euros to show for it, but I´m not sure if it's a fair trade off.

The weather in Germany is cold, wet, and windy. Fall has very much started. The other day Jan and I heaped all the blankets we could find onto our bed, so at least we aren´t cold at night.

I am going to suggest a trip to the baths, maybe on Tuesday or Wednesday. We could use some pampering!

It´s great to get comments! Thanks!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The Kids Were Good

I had a miraculous morning. The kids were actually good!!!!!!! For the whole class! And they were focussed and working and not throwing things, or being perverted or otherwise driving me crazy. I love it when the kids are good. Now how to keep them that way????

Scrunchies

Scrunchies are big in the trams of Basel. This morning I saw two. A baby blue one to match a baby blue sweater. A black, chic, scrunchie on an otherwise tres chic woman. (this one had fringe) Somebody needs to send out a public service announcement that the scrunchie went out in the mid 90s for good reasons! They seem so prepubescent...

Nuns

There are many nuns in Germany. I am not sure why, but I always feel vaguely uncomfortable around nuns. Maybe because I feel like my soul is not as white, and maybe because they won't leave me alone!!!!

Case 1. Sarah in train.

I was sitting at the train station, waiting for the train, minding my own business. A nun sits right next to me! Nevermind that every single other seat is open. She takes the seat next to me. Ok...being immersed in my book, I just continue reading. The train comes, I get in, get settled. I hear someone approaching. There the nun is, asking me a question. (So it wasn't, have you repented - she just wanted to know where the train was going.)

Case 2. Sarah in train take 2.

I am on the training, heading to Freiburg and this is in my slightly earlier days in Germany. Meaning my language skills are non existant. The nun sits next to me, says something to me...sounds like blah blah blah ch ch ch. I just smile and nod, keep reading. Then the nun talks more. I smile and nod. This continues the rest of the train trip.

Case 3. Walking done the street

I am usually in a hurry to get somewhere. Running late...so I jog and speed walk quite often. I was late for babysitting and who is in front of me, but a nun. This is a wide nun, walking very slowly, taking up the whole sidewalk. How do you get around a nun! Do you squeeze by, say excuse me please move over. Tough situation.

Case 4. Bike riding nun

So I didn't actually interact with this nun, but she was riding a bike, in her habit, going faster than me. Wow!

There must be a nun conspiracy to freak me out.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Small Spaces

In Europe things are a little bit smaller. Seats on the Strassenbahn (tram), houses, apartments, cars, food portions, drinks, etc. To go along with the smaller spaces, your personal bubble also gets smaller. People come closer, sit right next to you so that your thighs touch, push around you etc.

Usually the small spaces are ok. But not on the 7:18 train. This is a new development. The children of Baden Wurtenburg headed back to school last week. Much to my surprise, many of them commute on the 7:18 train that takes me to the main train station on my way to Basel. So many of them in fact, that we do not all fit in the train.

I stood one morning, half a sleep and slightly out of breath after my brisk walk / jog down to the train station (I'm always running late, or think I'm running late.) The train pulls up. The first strange thing I notice is that the windows are all fogged up. Completely opaque. Why? I look a little closer and notice that the entire train is jam packed with people. Some are sitting, many are standing in between the aisles, and in the little entrance section, they are packed. I rush over to a train door along with the Germans. How will we get in the train? Apparently by shoving and pushing and wedging our bodies in. But on no...only one person can manage to shove their body in at this entrance. So we sprint to another one. The outlook is not much better, but we are more determined and desperate, because if we miss this train, there's not another one for 30 minutes and we will be late for work. So I get into the train followed by several other people. At the point my feet are at awkward angles and I am leaning to the side due to the large backpack pushing into me. It is hot and early morning breath is not the most pleasant of odors. Luckily, I only have to stay on the train for about 6 minutes, but they are a very uncomfortable 6 minutes.

After two experiences with the dreaded 7:18, I am never taking it again. Sadly, that means I must take the 6:01, but an hour less of sleep is a small sacrifice for a comfortable morning.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Haus Frau at Sea

Here is an excerpt from my personal romance novel! Buy yours via the link from my blog today!!!!!!!!! If you do, I will earn a huge commission to add to the 51 cents my blog has earned thus far! This type of present would be wonderful as Christmas Eve reading material along with appropriate Medieval Princess / Damsel in Distress pyjamas.

Warning!!!!!!!! This is definitely PG13 material.

In Pirates of Desire, the promise of pirate lore kindles the dreams of our strong-willed heroine, Lady Haus Frau Maury's Cat, as she and her best friend Faith scheme for high seas adventure.

. . . Haus Frau slapped the coin from his outstretched hand, sending it flying into the shrubbery. “We don’t want your blood money!”
EDITED sighed, his eyes narrowing, then he suddenly reached out and grabbed Haus Frau by her bodice string that, unbeknownst to her, had become untied and hung loosely from her dress. The lace tightened immediately as he pulled her towards him like a dog on a tether. Haus Frau winced with surprise and embarrassment, her hazel eyes ablaze.
He leaned close to her, breathing softly in her ear, making Haus Frau almost lose her balance and certainly some sense. He paused just long enough to catch her off guard in anticipation, when he said, “You might want to keep the girls tied up,” and he tightened the lace and tied a knot.
Her face flushed and she slapped him hard on the cheek. Miso grabbed her by her light brown hair and planted a kiss on her lips, long and sensual. When he released his grip, she was reeling, wild eyed as a scurvy dog.
“Take them away!” he ordered with a wave of his hand.
The buccaneer escorts grabbed the women’s wrists and roughly pulled them towards the path. Haus Frau turned her head and caught the captain’s eye.
“Now I know why they call you Sea Wolf. I think you are despicable!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. She quickly looked to Faith, a look of terror in her eyes as they were dragged down the pathway.
Miso smiled, as he heard his crew laughing from afar; this was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. If circumstances were different, he would have asked her to join him. But he hadn’t even found out her name…

Note the eloquent turn of phrase and the use of simile...

Speaking German

Today I spent much of the day attempting to learn German with my new friend, an Au Pair from Brazil. Sehr gut! Now I must sleep before another incredibly busy week begins. I am forced to head to Basel tomorrow for a computer meeting which I will understand approximately 10% of - if I'm lucky. Woo hoo.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Violence in English Class

Another thing happened yesterday. I am shocked to find that not one, but two parents have complained about a short story we read in my English class. The short story, the Sniper, is about a sniper during the Irish Civil War who ends up killing another sniper, who just happens to be his brother. There is no gratuitous violence, and the story is largely about setting a mood and developing suspense, and or course the irony of killing your brother...

The ironic thing is, I chose the story largely to appeal to my class composed of many young males who have a fascination with all things war. (as evidenced by their very detailed explanation of exactly what a Sniper gun was) Now, perhaps it is best not to encourage this war loving mentality, however, with a choice between boring them with another short story, and getting them actually interested in reading, I go for creating interest.

Unfortunately, after reading the Sniper, I had them read another classic, The Lottery, which should be more disturbing to the sensitive parents. Hopefully they won't get it.

From now on, it's The Necklace all the way. I was planning on teaching them Night and Monster (about a young African American on trial for a killing at a convenience store that he did not directly participate in), which I believe I will still teach in part because I already ordered them but also because the themes of both are not violence, but about working against violence towards peace... I should have just gone with The Old Man and the Sea..nobody would complain about the violence towards the good old fish.

Interestingly, the message I got from the teacher I talked to, was not, try to limit the violence, but I just though you should know, and yes, these parents are very sensitive. The teacher actually said he thought it was an excellent piece of literature to teach, had a copy of the story with him, and asked if he could keep it, because he found it so interesting!

Ghetto Trains and Ramadan Begins

Well, I made it through another week. Running around has made me pretty exhausted, so much so, that I actually fell asleep in the train. It didn't last for long though, because I was suddenly awoken by a blast of air in my face and some guy saying something that must of been, do you mind if I open the window. I just nodded, although I do somewhat mind. Yesterday we had something of a heat wave with the temperature hitting 70 for the first time in a few weeks. When I go home in the midafternoon, I travel on trains that must have been made in the 60s complete with lime green interiors, windows that can be pushed down, and do it yourself, frightening doors. The trains also always have that certain stale odor, something like salami. Pretty gross. Of course, if I were to take the ICE and pay the extra 100 Euros, I would be buying into a perfectly temperature regulated, cleaned regularly, very comfortable seats and plenty of leg room commodity. As a coworker put it - 100 euros really isn't so much. I still haven't caved and will continue taking the cheap - o, endless train, but I am getting more and more tempted!

When I got home from work, I quickly passed out on the couch. It didn't last for long because after an hour I was off to German class where it took a while to shake off the last of my exhaustion and actually think. I also have to go through I language transition time to get my head around German again after interacting in German all day.

An interesting surprise is that my German class will change times due to Ramadan. Instead of running from 5:30 to 8:30, it will last from 5:15 to 7:30. This potentially could cause some problems with getting there on time because a train I often take back from Basel arrives at 5:20ish. The funny thing is there are only 3 Muslim students in my class of 13 so Berlitz is being very accommodating. I can't say the shorter time bothers me too much, but on the other hand I really do want to learn German and I haven't exactly been studying outside of class time.

My German is now conversational...I can carry on a very basic conversation full of mistakes. I had a friend from German class over for tea for a while last night and we managed, with a lot of help from young, to talk for several hours. I also managed to explain a problem to a work colleague auf deutsch.

Jan left for a weekend volleyball tournament this morning, so I am alone. Although it's pretty quiet around here, it's not too bad because I can catch up on sleep and cleaning our apartment.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Rock N Roll Pink Floyd

Today I am wearing my Pink Floyd T-Shirt which reminds me of Faith and my very memorable 'last night out.' We decided to hit Grendle's Den, which has the most delicious hard cider ever. Jane and I attempted the hard cider in Germany, but found that it tastes more like apple flavored vinegar than anything else. Anyway, after a few too many hard ciders, we decided that we must go dancing. Of course, we were not dressed for dancing, so we headed to Urban Outfitters to pick out some shirts. At this point I had blurry vision - I'm not sure what state Faith was in. But my blurry vision honed in on a Pink Floyd tshirt, just like the real concert t shirt I had had courtesy of Nichole C. and her brother. I had to have and bought it even though it was a size medium. Usually, I am fine with a medium, but not in tiny Urban Outfitters T-Shirts, so it is a bit tight. Not obscenely so. Where am I going with this...well, I was getting dressed to go baby sit/ English teach...so maybe I tight t shirt is not the best fashion choice...but I will wear a jacket so no big deal...


Ok, but then I noticed that I have an unusual amount of little red spots on my face. This is an unusual event for me so it sent me into make up mode. I searched for the cover up Jane left me and could not find it. But I did end up putting on the full range of Clinique make up that I recently acquired. And now, I REALLY do not look like I should be going out to babysit/teach. I'm not sure if the answer is to wash my face, or just forget about it.

Clearly these are the big issues in my life.

In other news Jan and I had a delicious dinner last night of grilled feta with vegetables. We have stolen the grill from our absentee neighbors (which reminds me I really need to water their flowers). It will be really tough to give it up in a few weeks when they return.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

A Long Week

I have been very busy this week - at least up until today. School resumed and I was back to my thrice weekly trip to Basel. The kids ranged from very difficult, to very good, depending on age and time of day. I think that we are starting to get used to each other. The language barrier and my lack of knowledge about the way the school functions definitely comes to play in dealing with these kids.

German class started on Monday. (Classes are 5:30-8:30 Mon, Weds, Fri.) At this point I have learned enough German to carry a basic conversation. The only problem is the teacher, Iris, who is anything but flower - like. Iris is quite aggressive and easily frustrated... she also is not a very good teacher. So much of class is spent with Iris asking questions, the questionee not getting it, and Iris getting irritated that the questionee has no idea what she is talking about because she did not explain it well in the first place. So the class moves very slowly. Fortunately, with 9 hours of class per week, it is impossible not to learn something.

The other students in the class are very nice and we can chat. There is one other English speaker from somewhere in Africa, which is nice. I can also communicate with the Romance language speakers who know Spanish, Italian and Portuguese in Italian. It's great to practice my Italian, but not so great when I try to switch back to German...one language at a time is about my capacity.

Jan and I also started Tae Kwon Do. This is great, because I need the exercise...walking was difficult for several days, but now I think my muscles are bouncing back. The ironic thing is the teacher is abandoning us in January to move back to his native Spain. His protégé will take over when he's gone. This is identical to Master Lee moving back to Korea and having his student take over. We'll see how it goes in January.

I started my job babysitting / English teaching for a family with four kids on Thursday. It was really nice...I just played with two kids (age 2 and 6) for an hour, then ate lunch with them. This is also a little tough due to the language barrier, but the kids do understand a lot of English.

On Friday, probably due to not getting enough sleep, and pushing my body a little harder than it was ready for, I became suddenly ill with an intense cold. After drugging myself with Sudafed, Niquil, and sleeping most of Saturday, I quickly recovered.

The weather has been chilly, rainy, and very fall-like. Although I wish today I was laying out getting a tan, it's nice for working and getting things done. Jan is lifeguarding this afternoon and I am supposed to be cleaning our apartment.