This is what I'm thinking:

(subject line a very obscure reference to a columnist in the Buffalo News)

• Random bullet points today, folks. Sorry, but my thoughts just happen to be this short and random; it's what you get from working with 6-year-olds.
• I was unable to vote today. Kind of pissed off about this. I had no form or combination of IDs that was acceptable. Note for future reference: Moving just before Election Day screws you over.
• Kids were craaaaaazy today. I may or may not have grabbed one by the shoulders and physically made him sit down. (he's the one who's always hitting people, though, so maybe that makes it okay)
• I got roped into helping kids prepare for this play they're doing on Friday and thus lost 20 minutes out of the normal half-hour we get for lunch. As if eating lunch with shouting children isn't bad enough, I had to eat in 10 minutes or less.
• Parent-teacher conferences tomorrow and Thursday = I've left my TA in charge of the class for 2 days. Is it mean that I'm secretly thinking, 'Now you can do some REAL work for once in the past 3 months?'
• Not as nervous about conferences as I was last year. I'm sort of feeling like: 'Well, this is your kid. [insert complimentary phrases here] His/Her biggest challenges are: [insert how kid is a royal pain here]. I'm looking forward to working with him/her over the rest of the year!' Wait, that's basically what I wrote on all the report cards...
• Also, not as prepared as last year. Oh well. I feel like I've known these kids forever.
• I have to go to the DMV tomorrow because their hours are 8-3.45 on weekdays and tomorrow morning will be my first time off since the beginning of September.
• I do not like driving. I am also a bad driver and stupidly hit the corner of the garage. I've had the car for 2 freaking weeks and already have a dent in the bumper. Goddamn it.
• Mental note: Must work on balancing my blood sugar so I don't get this cranky. Sorry, Internet.
• On the plus side: Thanksgiving is in 2 weeks! Start fishing for bass! (obscure inside joke)

Food snob

I've had a sneaking suspicion for some time now that I'm a bit of a food snob, thanks in part to growing up with Wegman's. At college and in Germany, Wegman's was probably the one thing I missed from home (apart from family and friends, obviously). I still miss this store; words cannot describe how absolutely amazing it is. Yes, I did just call a supermarket 'absolutely amazing'. (I love you, Wegman's!!!1!one!)

Anyway. I guess I also have my parents to thank, since they always, always cooked dinner. We very rarely went out to eat, not even for birthdays. Instead, the birthday person got to choose his/her birthday dinner. Mine was usually salmon. In fact, one of my (many) embarrassing moments from elementary school was when we discussed our favorite foods; in a sea of kids calling 'pizza' and 'spaghetti', I said 'salmon.' Weird looks ensued. At any rate, I was lucky enough to have parents who forced me to try new things and weren't afraid to try cooking new things themselves.

So I went grocery shopping today, since I had practically no food in the new house. After scrounging around for lunches for a week, I guess I went a little overboard at the supermarket, as evidenced by some of the items on the receipt:

• dried cranberries
• dried apricots
• couscous (3 types)
• dirty rice mix
• mix for chicken and rice
• tuna - the kind that comes in a pouch and that you don't have to drain
• apricot jam...from France
• sugar snap peas
• cheddar cheese with cranberries in it
• horseradish
• Norwegian salmon (some things never change)

The cashier was like, 'Is this all for you?' Heh heh...yeah. I guess it makes up for those two years shopping at Aldi in Germany and buying the same things (salami, yogurt, juice, cheese, Spätzle, pesto, pasta, pasta sauce, soup and chocolate) every week.

Apparently I do not exist

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Happy 101st post!

Guess I missed noticing the 100th one. Oops. Here's to 101 more frivolous blog entries to amuse myself and clutter up the Internet!

So... I moved this weekend. And seriously, every time I move, I forget what a gigantic pain it is. Packing, organizing stuff, schlepping it, cleaning the old place, rifling through your stuff so you have a semi-matching outfit to wear to school the next day... not fun. This will be the eighth consecutive year that I have moved to a new place. That's nearly a third of my life. Pretty sad, eh? On the plus side:

• low rent and utilities
• a wide-screen TV and cable
• a DISHWASHER -- if you know me, you know what a big deal this is
• Internet at home!!!!

Time to go unpack my stuff. And by 'my stuff', I mean 'one suitcase', because I am freaking exhausted and will no doubt collapse on the bed once I've cleared it off.

Baby, you can drive my car

That's right, I did it! I have broken down and bought a vehicle with more than two wheels! From now on, I can go to Target without spending 1 1/2 hours in transit! I can go to Irish dance without worrying how I'll get there! I can go to and leave school as early or as late as I want! I am very excited, as shown by the abundance of exclamation points, but still kind of leery... now that I've gone ahead and bought the car, I'm afraid that something is going to break off or that I'll somehow mess it up. But I think that's just me being a perfectionist and anal-retentive.

Check it out!

Note the wheel of the bicycle (my former mode of transportation) in the corner.

Spoiler! Not that I need a spoiler (in fact, I think they're kind of ridiculous) but there is a spoiler!

Other things that you can't see from the pictures: Cruise control, a CD player and a sunroof! I am the coolest marginally nerdy first-grade teacher ever.

You knew I looked familiar

I just ran my school photo (ha!) through this face recognition site, and I apparently look like the following people, in this order:
1. Angelina Jolie
2. Ann Kok
3. Brittany Murphy
4. Woranuch Wongsawan
5. Lee Hyori
6. John Cusack
7. Hugh Grant
8. Ueto Aya
9. Maggie Cheung
10. Q'Orianka Kilcher

This begs two questions. One, who are most of these people? Two, why do I look Asian? And like men? In comparison, Müs is most similar to David Beckham. Further proof that he got the good genes.

(Weekend) Update

Did I just reference SNL? Ha ha ha ha ha ha... that is so lame.

To keep everyone posted:
1. Still looking for a car. Finding a member of the male gender to take me to a car dealership is harder than I thought.
2. Still moving at the end of the month. Still have not begun packing.
3. The school is no longer moving. Instead, it will be paying exorbitant amounts of money to the current landlords next year.
3a. The possibility of closing the school next year has reared its ugly, sharp-toothed head.
3b. On the plus side, this gives me new incentive for the grad school thing.
4. The wedding went well. I should be getting paid soon. (!)
5. The application to Cambridge is coming together. I just have to get my ass in gear and get those essays done.
6. I've been invited to a Halloween party! Any costume ideas? I was thinking of fastening bags to a sweatsuit or something and going as a 'bag lady' but that seems kind of dumb. I know you all are crafty, help me out.
7. Still feeling guilty about asking DB for a reference on really short notice. He was obviously not happy. What can I do to make this up?
8. The music at this cafe is the theme to the 'Batman' TV show from the 60's!! Müs, this one's for you!
9. It is 76 degrees and sunny today.
9a. It is supposed to snow on Thursday.

Consider yourselves updated.

STRESSED OUT.

aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH WHAT WAS I THINKING?

This application is kicking my ass. It has grown legs and arms and is beating me to death. The worst part is the guilt I feel for springing reference requests on my three references. ('Uh, hi...do you remember me? Super! Would you write me a reference? Great! How about for next week?') Though I do things at the last minute, I hate it.

Stressing out majorly at this point.

On the plus side:
1. Müs caught the BNL reference.
2. I made shrimp scampi for dinner. I am awesome.
3. New running shoes are also awesome. No wonder Americans wear these all the time.
4. The wedding yesterday went well. Hopefully I will be getting paid soon.

Life, in a nutshell

What is happening with me, you ask? Some recent developments:

1. I am looking for a car.
2. I am moving at the end of October.
3. The school might be moving in December/January.
4. I am playing in a wedding tonight.
4a. I don't have the music yet.
5. I am applying to the University of Cambridge for next year.
5a. The deadline is October 15.
6. I will be applying to other grad school programs, whose deadlines are hopefully later than October 15.

There is some stress going on. Back to work.

PS- But how cool would it be to study in Cambridge?!

Back after extended period of laziness

So I recently realized I haven't posted to this blog in nearly a month....er, whoops. I actually have had some interesting thoughts (!) that may have been worthy of sharing (!!), but I haven't had the access. Oh well. Today, you're stuck with caramel-macchiato-fueled, slightly-congested me, Internet world. Brace yourselves.

First on the agenda, as always, is school. And let me just tell you that beginning the year at an established school as a SECOND-year teacher is about 2371893659287437 times easier than the hell that was last year. No kidding. The kids are one year more mature, have attention spans larger than that of a fruit fly's, and understand what I'm saying. That little last bit has made the hugest difference: I tell them to clean up, they clean up! I tell them nice job, they smile! I tell them to quit shrieking while playing with the dinosaurs, they do...sometimes. The best of all, though, is that there's no longer the permanent question of 'are they acting up because they don't understand what they're supposed to do, or are they just obnoxious little children'. Because the answer now is the latter.

Seriously, though, I have heard from various sources that my class is the quietest, most well-behaved class in the school. And I've got the crazed ADHD kid in my class. Granted, this compliment is only comparative, but still. I rock.

However, I'm not getting too complacent in my job, because we all remember what happened last year when I thought I was going fairly well. So I've still got grad schools in the back of my mind, which I'm going to start contacting once I get this project for the Wittenberg program done. That's right, the project that I supposedly 'started in July' and 'have been working on all summer'. In reality, it hasn't really been started yet and most definitely hasn't been worked on since that day when we had to present the projects. It has to be turned in by Wednesday. Guess what's on the schedule for today and tomorrow. My work ethic has certainly changed since college, though, because I feel that at least one person in the program is going to be doing a half-assed job, and why should I put in all this effort and make an awesome project when they clearly are going to be BSing it the night before? That's bad, I know...but I figure my version of 'zero effort' is actually more like '85% effort' and I'm trying not to drive myself crazy. Conceited, what?

In other news, I am in the process of buying a car (still looking around) and will be moving at the end of next month! Tough decision, this one; I really like where I am now but will be paying less than half my rent by doing this housesitting gig. You just can't beat that. Until then, I am enjoying my current location as much as I can: walking to the movies, going to Izzy's, etc. Both of those things will be much harder to do once I move.

I think that's about it for right now. Consider yourself caught up. (and then go see 'Little Miss Sunshine,' one of the few movies that actually made me laugh out loud, no kidding!)

Quotes!

Go to this page, pick the first five quotes that ring true and describe you, post them. Here goes:

Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down. - Charles F. Kettering (1876 - 1958)

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. - Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967)

Consult your friend on all things, especially on those which respect yourself. His counsel may then be useful where your own self-love might impair your judgment. - Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)

The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism. - Sir William Osler (1849 - 1919)

Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at the moment. - Robert Benchley (1889 - 1945)

Thanks to Jess and Heather for the idea!

(Sorry about the lack of posting; if I'd post anything at the moment, it would be chock-full of negativity because I don't want to go back to work! So let's avoid that for the moment; content yourself with the quotes listed above.)

The Virtual Album meme...yet again, shamelessly stolen

This meme is your chance to become the next big singer-songwriter without setting up your own overhyped MySpace site. Here is a list of song titles to complete. The idea is NOT to fill in the gaps with the original lyrics – it is to provide your OWN answers in order to personalize the songs and create your own virtual album that is personal, emotional and relevant to the world today. (Or entirely and gratuitously stupid, self-indulgent and/or obscene, it's entirely up to you.) Now, enough of this yakking. Let's ROCK!

1. You can call me long-distance.
2. Summer's here and the time is right for getting some Guinness ice cream at Izzy’s.
3. I can't get no grammar lessons. I done love me some double negatives.
4. If I ruled the world, there’d be chocolate eclairs for everybody. Wait, that’d only happen if I were the King of Spain.
5. I've been to Paradise but I've never been to Disneyworld.
6. The only thing that looks good on me is not in my wardrobe.
7. I would do anything for love, but I won't do the dishes.
8. Oh my god, I can't believe it, I've never seen ‘Back to the Future’ in its entirety!
9. All you need is coffee.
10. The answer, my friend, is pi over 2.

'Cat, go AWAY!'

Title of this post brought to you by the one sentence I have repeated most often today. I am cat-sitting once again, which is basically an excuse for me to use someone else's free internet and eat their food. Oh yeah, and I do actually take care of the cat. The single thing about the cat that annoys me the most, though, is his tendency to jump up onto the table while I'm eating. I am totally grossed out by this. And as I was trying to read the newspaper this morning (since I don't do it very often), the cat jumped up onto the table literally 20 times. After each time, I picked it up and dropped it onto the bench. Apparently it does not know how to take a hint. Now, thankfully, he is sleeping on the floor and not shedding cat hair or sneezing all over my computer.

Side note: If you have never had dried apricots, you are missing out. I bought some yesterday and can't stop eating them; they'll probably be gone by the time I finish writing this post. They remind me of Greece. Seriously, go get some dried apricots.

Crisis of the moment: I have a workshop to go to this week, starting tomorrow. Said workshop is out in a suburb, about 20 minutes west of here by car. I was planning on going with a co-worker, so carpooling was no problem, and we had figured this all out back in June. However... it appears she was scheduled for a different session than I am, and she's already done her training. This means that I now have no way to get out there...I've emailed and called the place, and they were like, 'Well, if you can get here on Monday, the participants usually figure out carpools for the rest of the week.' I was like, that is not helpful. I haven't heard from people whom I've asked for rides, and the buses are such that I would have to leave here before 6am and end up walking between 2 and 3 miles to get to the school. So now I have to throw myself at the mercy of one of my colleagues, who obviously has better things to do than drive 40 minutes out of her way, but I do not see an alternative. Good lord, is this a pain in the ass.

Also about school, I didn't mention last time that last week's workshop (apart from the buzzwords) was remarkably helpful. There was some theory but some actual, practical tips were included, and I couldn't help but think: This would have been incredibly useful last year. Oh well, with experience comes cynicism, or something like that.

Anyway, I felt very prepared and excited to start the new school year with all of these ideas, and then we all met up at school one night to move in furniture. I don't know what it is, but upon entering the building, I just felt like I was not good enough all over again. The new kindergarten teacher's room (i.e., my old room) is set up completely differently, and it looks fantastic: full of great stuff but organized, and all so much more prepared than I ever was (...and am?). Just being back in the school building seems to remind me of all the times I felt utterly beaten down: when the kids made me cry, when parents verbally attacked me, when I was nearly fired because I wasn't working hard enough and appeared 'inept', when I was categorized as a weakness to the school because I was inexperienced. I know, take your past experiences and learn from them, etc., etc., but it's very difficult to get the past year out of my head.

Just thought I'd share that. Mmm, dried apricots.

Education-related buzzwords heard about 13874653286 times each during the past 5 days

• Proactive
• Scaffold(ing)
• Socio-cultural __________
• Administrative buoyancy
• Context
• Best practice
• Content-based instruction
• Challenges
• Standards
• Effective
• Authentic
• Prior knowledge
• Objectives

None of the above are made up. One workshop down, one more to go!

Aaaaaand we're back

Not much to report today; I got back from Ohio on Monday and have been doing all sorts of nothing over the past few days. I did make it into school today, though, to measure my classroom and furniture so I can figure out where to put everything. I'm basically trying to soak up the lethargy as much as possible, since I start a workshop on Monday and have pretty much no vacation after that.

To backtrack: The wedding was lovely, Pamela was beautiful, and the reception was lacking of alcohol. (just teasing, Pamela, it's okay!) It was fantastic to see everyone again, especially Heather and Jamie. With some people, you can just pick up your friendship right where you left off. Again, I was not particularly wanting to come back...assisted by Jamie in this matter, as we almost got lost and I almost missed my flight! (Un)Fortunately, I ended up catching it and made it back home with no further issues.

So since my mind is not currently occupied with school-related things, I've had time to think about other things, such as where I want to live for next year and whether or not to buy a car. I think I've decided for the car; being constantly dependant on people is obnoxious and maybe I'd get out more if I had the means. The other question is whether (and if so, where) to move. I like my apartment, especially the location, but it is a bit expensive. However, less expensive one-bedrooms are not to be had. Other options: (a.) moving in with a roommate, or (b.) housesitting for one of my students' families as they live in Germany for one year. Advantages to each of those: (a.) meeting new people, saving money; (b.) living rent-free (!) for a year. Disadvantages: (a.) having to get used to living with someone again, possibility of annoying roommate; (b.) living way the heck far away from everything that I'm involved with in this city, not feeling independent.

These topics are now open for voting! What do you think? Should I stay where I am, check out craig's list for a roommate, or housesit?

*EDIT: Just found an ad on craig's list for roommate wanted...right down the street from where I am now!

*EDIT #2: I am meeting with the housesitting family at the end of next month and have sent an email to the craig's list girl. Guess we'll see what happens!

Quiz

As Ginny, you are friendly but quiet and timid. You have a thing for men with glasses.

Apparently, it figures out which HP character you are most like, and it also sorts you into a house. The character and the house don't have to match. I guess that would be rather unfair, since nearly all the characters are from the same house.

Back in the US...A

Nothing like a thinly veiled Beatles reference as a subject line. Did anyone else get that or is the connection just in my head? I'll explain it if you want, but then it won't seem quite as witty.

Anyway: I'm back! And as much as I wasn't entirely looking forward to returning to my wreck of an apartment and lack of food, it's nice to be back. I got in on Tuesday and was jetlagged as hell, due to going to bed at 1.30, leaving the house again at 4.30AM to get to the airport, and then about 12 hours in planes and airports. Wednesday was also rather shot, but today has been much better, largely due to my having coffee in the house this morning. Life is good when you don't have to go to work.

So tomorrow is Friday already, and that means getting on another plane to fly to Ohio for Pamela's wedding! Amazing that it's in two days already; where has the time gone? I am very, very excited to see Pamela and meet Andrew, and to see Heather and meet Kevin. (sense a pattern there?) It should be an excellent weekend, rounded out by a Toledo Mudhens game on Sunday. (Müs - if you want a Mudhens baseball cap I will totally get you one.)

So... yeah, nothing else to report at the moment. I'll end with an awesome South Park image of me, made by Müs:


...and now for the description: 'I naturally assumed you have a Ramstein tee shirt, a frazzled expression in a classroom of children, and ice cream in one hand (izzy scoop? what?) and a knife to cut anyone who gets too close to it in another.' Thanks, bro!

Happy Fourth of July!

I was going to be all patriotic and write this in fancy red and blue, but (a.) that is too much work and (b.) it would be too hard to read. Nevertheless, Happy Independence Day, enjoy the fireworks and grilling! Oddly enough, this makes the third consecutive year that I'll have missed the Fourth...also oddly, I'm not too upset about that. Oh well.

We just got back last night from spending three days in Berlin and Potsdam, which were great. Berlin is one of my favorite cities; every time I go there, there is always so much to do and to see. I always go with a list of things to visit or do and leave with at least a third of them not accomplished. This time, I checked off the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie (disappointing), the new Jewish Memorial (very moving), and the New Synagogue (as part of a three-hour walking tour -- interesting and informative). Two days in Berlin is not nearly enough; I'm thinking of going back after the program is finished to do some shopping... with my extensive funds, you know.

However, one of the best parts of the weekend was going to visit a friend of mine in Schöneberg, which is a neighborhood in Berlin. She has been studying there for the past year and I hadn't seen her since summer 2004, when we worked in a random teeny village in Sachsen-Anhalt. It was excellent; not only did we get to catch up (a lot), but we also watched some of the soccer match at ......

TIM'S CANADIAN CAFE!!!

Hopefully Müs will find that as amusing as I did; I took pictures of the place and of the menu. The Germans as well as Fiona thought I was crazy. I was too busy laughing and being nostalgic to notice.

Double-double?

PS - Deutschland vor! Deutschland vor! Cheer for them today, it's the quarter final!

Gedicht des Tages

Seit ich ihn gesehen,
Glaub ich blind zu sein;
Wo ich hin nur blicke,
Seh ich ihn allein;
Wie im wachen Traume
Schwebt sein Bild mir vor,
Taucht aus tiefstem Dunkel
Heller nur empor.
-- Adelbert von Chamisso (1781-1838)

Sorry, non-German speakers, but I just can't translate it and make it sound as nice as that.

On an unrelated note (I swear! Totally unrelated!): We had an awesome class today, about poems and how to interpret them, and how to use them in class. Not quite related to working with 6-year-olds, but what a great seminar. It also helped that the man leading it was very attractive... however, he's married and has two small kids. Damn.

Requisite story about trains and almost missing them

Group dynamics are much better, though a little strange; I think the traveling this weekend helped 'group bonding' a little bit. Although I guess that wouldn't be considered group bonding, as there were a few smaller groups. At least I got to know some people a little better... nothing like being ridiculous and overtired on trains to help friendships along.

The train story: I went to Dresden on Saturday with a group of 4, and was returning with Pam (not to be confused with Pamela) that same evening. After getting up at 6.15, three hours on a train, and a day of fighting crowds of elderly tourists and 90° heat, we were rather exhausted. We had to change trains two times on the way back, once in Elsterwelde-Biehlau and once in Falkenberg (Elster), both of which coincidentally have really long names and are in the middle of freaking nowhere, in Brandenburg. (not to equate 'nowhere' with 'Brandenburg', but if you know anything about Brandenburg, it makes the story better) Anyway, I heard the woman get on the PA system on the train, announcing the connections for the town at which we were arriving, and I heard her say 'Elsterwelde', so Pam and I got off. As we got out, I was like, 'Wow, that was early; the Deutsche Bahn is never early.'

Lo and behold, we got off in Elsterwelde, which is not Elsterwerde-Biehlau. And we had 5 minutes between connections, so we had about 8 minutes to make it to the real station and get to our next train before we were stuck in this rinky-dink town in Brandenburg. We get to the ticket counter in the station; there's no one there. We get to the front of the train station; lo and behold, there is one lonely taxi. I'm like, 'Pam, get in the cab!' She's like, 'Maybe we should first make sure we're at the wrong station...' I'm like, 'Get in the cab!' We get in, tell the driver to step on it, he convinces us that we'll make it while I'm cursing under my breath. Four minutes, three minutes, two minutes left. The driver says, 'Why don't you get the money ready.' Finally, we pull up to the station, I hand him a five Euro bill, and we jump out of the cab. There's no train there...it's 8.25, when the connection was supposed to be. Did we miss it? The taxi driver is hanging around just in case we are stuck in this teeny Dorf with probably no place to stay. Suddenly the PA system sounds, and an announcement: The train is coming! Gott sei Dank! We say goodbye to the taxi driver (who probably then went home and told his wife about the two crazy Americans whom he drove to the next train station over) and get on the train.

And then I got hit on by the ticket-taker for the Deutsche Bahn. But that's a story for another time.

wtf?

Being in Germany and in WB again is fabulous, but to be honest, I am a little disappointed in the program this week. It has included a 3-hour long speed-walk through Wörlitz (a park; you wouldn't think you'd need to speed-walk if you had 3 hours, but the park is huge) and a lecture that was not helpful at all. However, our teacher is excellent and so nice; she has invited us over for coffee during the last week of the course.

The key weirdness here is the lack of group camraderie. I miss the hanging out with friends, inside jokes and generally being ridiculous; here, it's sort of clique-y, and I don't fit in with any of them. Who knew you could have cliques in a group of 11! It all feels very superficial, which I suppose is a typical American trait, but seriously. Can someone please be my friend?

Who knew you could feel lonely when you're constantly with a group, in a town where you know 1/3 of the population.

Rückkehr nach Wittenberg!

Here I am, once again typing away in the computer lab at the Leucorea in WB. Apparently, not much has changed in four years, except now the computers are (slightly) better and DB is probably not going to suddenly appear beside me in a bright orange shirt. Though you never know.

To back up a little, the school year is OVER!!! I survived! I will never be a first-year teacher again! The last two weeks were rather rough, what with summer craziness, report cards, end-of-the-year inventory, and people generally giving me tasks and saying, 'Now, you have to get this done before you leave.' Thank god it's done; time to enjoy being in Germany a little bit.

Coming back has reminded me of all the things I missed about Germany: the fabulous bakeries (a piece of cake for 60 cents!), walking to places, biking, public transportation, German breakfast...I'll surely think of more. However, there's already one thing on the list of things I didn't like about Germany: people talking to me like I'm stupid. I know the freaking numbers; you don't have to show me the number of fingers. Thanks, waitress at the Kartoffelhaus. Anyway, I'm having a great time so far and I'm especially looking forward to the 3-day Berlin/Potsdam trip in two weeks!

Returning to Wittenberg has been strange in some ways. In one sense, it hasn't changed much and so it feels like I never left. On the other hand, I get stared at on the street (ah, the German stare!) and realize that I'm once again the outsider, one of those tourists or students who comes in for a few weeks and then leaves. Also, all the places in town remind me of something that I did there; the Schlosskirche is no longer where Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses, but where I stood squashed in the balcony while watching Reformation services. This is the Blumengeschäft where I always bought flowers for people. There is the Kino where I saw Star Wars: Episode II (and sort of understood), Ich kann mal anders (and sort of understood and laughed a lot), Spiderman ('Die Wahrheit ist...ich liebe dich), Luther (and pretty much understood), Fluch der Karibik (and was proud that I understood), and Mona Lisas Lächeln (and understood but thought it was dumb). This is the Haus der Geschichte, where they have a stuffed cat. The list continues; suffice it to say it's rather a nostalgia trip.

Anyway, just wanted to say I made it and so far, so good. It's time to get out of the computer lab and go have some Eis!

Four more days!

...by which I mean three more days, plus the last day (during which kdg will be a madhouse), plus a 'culture week'. But really, the kids have lots of specials tomorrow so it's like two more real days. Can you tell I am ready to be done?

But right now, I am actually out of the apartment (!) at a coffee place, so I thought I would regale all 4 of my loyal readers with tales of my scintillating social life. Because this weekend was actually fabulous. It was in the 80s and sunny, so my TA and I biked down to the state capitol and took a tour and some pictures. (more fun than it sounds) Then we biked all the way back and were picked up by a mutual friend, who drove us to Uptown, where we hung out at a lake with a beach. I got good and sunburned, then we came back to our respective houses, made ourselves look respectable again, and went out to a few different bars. This was actually not especially great, since they were all really packed, but a good time nonetheless. And then we went back to this friend's apartment, where we hung out and learned some salsa dancing until 4.30 in the morning. What a social butterfly I am! (ha)

Sunday was comparatively low-key; my TA and I hung out at a local street festival for about an hour, until we got bored of navigating our way around people and watching drunk people. The award for the Stupid Comment Of The Day goes to a street vendor who saw me pushing my (bright yellow) bike through the crowd: 'Yeah, I'll give you a ride.' Yeah, you can kiss my ass, buddy.

Anyway, we are down to the LAST real WEEK, and I should mention that all kindergarteners are coming on Friday for the whole day. AM and PM kindergarteners converging; it's like the perfect storm. I need to come up with all sorts of stuff for them to do, so they don't tear the school down. But who cares, because not only is it the last day of school, it's my birthday, so there will be much celebration! Some friends and I are going out for Indian food on Friday night... Indian food! And I have friends! Doesn't this sound like the best plan ever? Perhaps my good mood is caused by the impending end of the year, or the good weather, or the fact that I'm going to Germany shortly, but I cannot be moved to care about schoolwork anymore. What, the classroom hasn't been vacuumed in a week and there are crushed Goldfish and grapes smashed into the carpet? And my table/desk is covered in papers 10 sheets high? I don't freaking care!

Bring on the vacation! And the end-of-school/birthday celebration! (Sidenote: Good god, I will be 25. What am I doing with my life?)

To prove I have not, in fact, thrown myself out of a window

Yes, I am alive. Sorry about that. Zero internet access + scheduled weekends + end-of-the-school-year-craziness = no blog post. Never fear, I am still around and doing okay. However, it is nice to know that people care.

First, a school update: I will be teaching first grade next year. This is the consensus, though I have yet to sign a contract. (are they waiting for me to prove something?) It's not really what I want to do, but it's better than no job at all. Plus, I get to team with the current first grade teacher; he'll know the curriculum, and I'll know the kids. Not too bad. Until then, it's the final countdoooowwwwn! (do do do doooo, do do do do doooo!) Three weeks left with kindergarten... amazing. In those three weeks, I have to prove that they meet all the standards, prepare them for first grade, write report cards, and set up the end of the year program. Actually, I have to do that in only two weeks. Oh sh!t.

Anyway. then it will be off to Germany!! I emailed the Leucorea and tried to live with Jess, and they said no problem, but then I got shot down by the directors of the program here. I was like, the Germans said it was okay, for god's sake! How can you be more anal than the Germans? Oh well, it should be a good time. Despite the fact that the trip is not supposed to be a vacation, and I'm supposed to build a partnership with a school over there, I am so looking forward to getting out of here.

Other update-y news: Müs was just here last weekend, and we had a fabulous time. I was sad to see him go on Monday. Highlights of the weekend:

• Guinness ice cream...twice!
• Dragging him along to school and his acquiring a fan club of 6-year-olds
• (Frozen) Cheez-its
• Walking along the Mississippi
• Sushi!
• Uptown Minneapolis
• Getting stuff 75% off at Borders
• Making him illustrate the kindergarteners' weekly book
• 'The DaVinci Code'
• Ridiculing his ridiculously long hair
• 'Wayne's World'...even though I fell asleep

Excellent. Doesn't it just make you want to come visit?

As I am in school (surprise), I should go get some work done before Irish dancing. Only 3 more weeks!

Just to vent

I've been trying to buy plane tickets to get to Pamela's wedding pretty much all day now. I looked at prices yesterday and suddenly, it appeared this afternoon: a flight for only $170! (compared to the other ones I found starting at $240) Brilliant! And then... travelocity won't 'process my request'. Neither will expedia. Many, many times. And this fare doesn't seem to exist on the airline's website, or on other cheap fare websites. GrrrrRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr. I'll just keep stalking travelocity and/or expedia until they have to give me the cheap fare.

If I end up having to pay like $300 because these websites are stupid, I will be pissed.

On the positive side, I bought plane tickets home, went for a walk, had coffee and wrote two letters to folks in Germany today. Not bad for a Saturday.

Adventures at The Mall

Today is the last day of spring break (apart from the weekend, which doesn't generally feel like vacation, as it instead feels like a weekend), and I celebrated by going to The Mall. Only the second time I've been since I moved out here, and I was looking forward to it; I'm not a huge shopping person, but I do get in the mood to spend some money now and again. So it was kind of a bummer when one of my favorite stores, for which I had TWO (!) coupons, had nothing good. Apparently it's that weird in-between-seasons time, and everyone is trying to clear out their winter stuff before moving in their summer merchandise. And the winter stuff is pretty well picked over. In the entire 3 hours at the mall, I ended up getting a skirt from H&M; not quite wedding-appropriate, but I can wear it for teaching.

Interesting phenomenon at The Mall: Even with an insane number of stores, I still ended up going to the same 7 or 8. Maybe I need to expand my boundaries a little.

Dreading going to school on Monday, as well as not having Internet at home. Oh yeah, my next-door neighbor (the really nice one with the wireless hookup) moved out. Sucks...looks like I'll have to go through the whole Internet provider crap after all. Until then, I'm enjoying updating my blog while housesitting and having the cat crawl across my lap every 5 minutes.

Seriously, is my life really this boring? This is sad.

Fighting for truth, justice and the American way

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 70% Spider-Man 70% Robin 55% Batman 50% Hulk 45% Green Lantern 45% Iron Man 45% Supergirl 41% The Flash 40% Wonder Woman 31% Catwoman 25%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

http://www.seabreezecomputers.com/superhero

And the verdict is...

...I passed, I think. The computer gave me the scores at the end of the test, but I have no reference values. So I got a 185 on reading and 190 on math, but I've not a clue what they're out of. If it's out of 200, then yay! If it's out of 2,000, then that sucks. But I think I did okay, at least on the multiple choice questions.

The interesting part came in the form of the timed essay. Timed essays are crap, because who can put together a coherent, thought-provoking essay on a given topic in 30 minutes? I write very methodically; it takes me forever to get words down on paper. My essay had some complex sentence structure and advanced vocabulary...however, I'm not sure if the point got across. I even made some parallel between the Good Samaritan parable and the Eightfold Path (Buddhism); here's hoping that that's actually a valid point. I'm not entirely sure whether the Eightfold Path has anything to do with how to treat other people, let alone whether it belongs to Buddhism or even if it is eight-(not ten-, seven- or pi-)fold. Hopefully my essay grader isn't Buddhist.

Now I am off to this store, to get all crafty. Wish me luck!

This post brought to you by: Poor judgment!

So I have to leave the house tomorrow at 7AM to take a freaking four-hour long series of computerized tests to make sure that my reading, writing and math skills are appropriately becoming a kindergarten teacher. I have to go to bed, but I'm not tired. I also have not really studied for this test. Hey, if I got over a 1400 on the GRE with about 2 hours of cramming the night before, I should be okay, right?

This is all going to bite me in the ass tomorrow, I can just feel it.

Forcing myself into bed now.

Vaaacaaation!

It's really been a while; I feel like I've been going through Internet withdrawal. Round #1 of catsitting went fine, though I discovered that I'm not really a cat person - or at least not a person who enjoys getting woken up at all hours by a stupid cat who likes to walk on sleeping people's heads. So now I'm catsitting again, for someone else, and thus far today I've had to not only clean out the litter box, but also clean up cat vomit. Off of carpet. Mmmm, lovely. At least I'm getting paid for sitting around someone else's house, eating their food, and going out for coffee once in a while.

In other news: MüS IS COMING TO VISIT!!! I'm just a little bit excited. We're going to tour around, and eat ice cream, and share awful stories about our schools! Doesn't that sound like fun? Don't you just want to get on a plane and come on over? Seriously, I cannot wait until May.

I'm planning on taking one of my eight sick/personal days (that's right, a grand total of eight) on one of the days when he's here...however, those eight days are now down from four to two, thanks to a persistent virus last week. And while I was lying lifeless on the couch, croaking that no, I don't think I'll make it in tomorrow either so you should call around for a sub, my director (who had subbed for me) felt it was necessary to tell me what was wrong with my classroom. Uh huh, okay, I'll carefully consider how to more effectively challenge each student at his or her academic level and how to check their work, just as soon as this pesky fever breaks. Feel the love from my coworkers.

More news (perhaps) tomorrow, because I am now on spring break and have all the time in the world to do things like update my blog.

TAREIBF

I don't feel like expending the energy to put together a nice, cohesive blog post, so once again: Thoughts About Recent Events In Bullet Form (TAREIBF)!

• müs is looking at plane tickets to come out here! That would seriously make my year. Someone to show around, someone to agree with me on how cute/frickin' annoying the kids are, someone to derisively tell me how barren my apartment is...brilliant. You better make it out here, müs; my expectations are now set far too high. If you don't come, I will break your kneecaps.
• Teacher work days = fantastic. I got all my report cards done today, without having to kill myself over the weekend. Now it's time to brace myself for conferences on Wednesday and Thursday...12-hour days! Woo!
• St. Patrick's Day for me turned out to be a series of poor choices. Not terribly awful, just rather disappointing. It involved: (a) hanging out with my TA and some of her friends from a local university... (b)...at a frat house. The Sigma Chi house. (Disclaimer: I had not agreed to this in advance.) It was ridiculous; frat boys are amazingly stupid and I am far too old to be doing stuff like this. Anyway, on with the list: (c) going to two very, very crowded bars with (d) drunk people wearing all kinds of tacky green 'Irish' stuff. And (e) cheap, gross beer because Guinness was $7 a pint, and (f) some of said beer getting spilled on my coat. And last, (g) an hour walk home in 15-degree weather because there were no cabs to be had. So yeah, it rather sucked. I stayed in the rest of the weekend.
• You know that feeling when you're kind of getting sick but you do everything possible to stop it? I'm kind of at that phase. (perhaps due to the hour walk in 15-degree weather...) For the last three days, I've been downing tea like a Brit. However, thanks to this teacher work day and not having to stay up ungodly late doing report cards, I might be able to shake it off. Let's hope!
• I recently bought the newest GBS CD as well as this CD from Nickel Creek. Both excellent, if you like my taste in music, but I don't think any of you does. Except maybe müs, for whom I'll be making a copy of the GBS CD anyway. I've been listening to the GBS CD pretty much non-stop since I got it on Saturday, except for in school today, where I had to turn it off because I was singing along and not getting any work done. Just to share: Track #4 from that one is just about the funniest song I have ever heard. I had to listen to it twice just to make sure I heard it right the first time...a bit raunchy but so amusing. (Why yes, I do have the maturity level of a teenage boy.)
• I will be cat- and house-sitting from tomorrow until next Tuesday, so no updates from me. And then I'll be cat-/house-sitting again over spring break. (however, they have wireless internet, so I'll probably update) It's my new little cottage industry.

Happy vernal equinox! Wouldn't 'vernal equinox' be a great name for a band?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Slainte!

The two most beautiful words in the English language:

snow day!

Waking up to a phone call at 6am: Confusing

Calling other people at 6.15am: A bit embarrassing

Going back to sleep and not getting up until 10am: Priceless

Excellent timing on the snow day, too; I was definitely not looking forward to going in to work this week. Now I can get stuff done, like registering for the Praxis (woo! $200 down the drain!) and reading something for fun!

Self-esteem booster of the week (a.k.a., selfish bragging): I actually got a number of compliments this weekend. Granted, two were from 5-year olds ('I've never seen eyes like yours!' - I'm assuming that's a compliment) and most were from intoxicated guys at a dance club, but still. I'll take them where I can get them.

50 Things About Me

...because I couldn't come up with 100. Maybe I'll post another 50 at some point; until then, welcome to my dark and twisted psyche.

50 Things About Me

1. I am ridiculous.
2. I have been known to howl with my dog.
3. Every night before I go to bed, I make my lunch for the next day.
4. Small children think I am a riot.
5. I once took the Myers-Briggs personality test at the career center at college. The woman who went over the results with me said she had never seen anyone more solidly introverted.
6. I get really crabby when I’m hungry.
7. #6 can happen very suddenly. I’ll be fine, and then literally ten minutes later, I’ll be ready to snap at someone for no reason. (sorry, Jamie!)
8. I am very fond of Canada.
9. I don’t dry any of my pants in the dryer, for fear they will shrink and be too short. This probably stems from a childhood of almost never having pants (or sleeves, for that matter) that were quite long enough.
10. I generally only buy pants from this store, because then they will actually fit.
11. I am a very bad liar.
12. Natalie Portman and I share the exact same date of birth.
13. I was voted ‘Most Intelligent’ in my high school class.
14. I get very competitive at trivia games. Sometimes, scarily so.
15. I would give one of my appendages for a dishwasher.
16. I can be very stubborn.
17. The surest way to get me to do something is to tell me that I’m not capable of doing it.
18. In middle school, I was the skinniest and most geeky, awkward, braces- and glasses-wearing, frizzy-haired, picked-on kid you can imagine.
19. Only now, at age 24, am I coming to terms with how I look.
20. I put an extreme amount of pressure on myself to do everything well.
21. I have this irrational fear of driving. I think it’s because I’m a bad driver and I hate not doing things right (see # 20).
22. Name a movie that is a standard of the 80’s, and I probably will not have seen it.
23. I tend to be thrifty. Okay, maybe just cheap.
24. I despise Vivaldi.
25. For the life of me, I cannot keep papers/documents organized.
26. I spent about 10 days in England last year. For about 3 months after that, and without realizing it, I was still talking with a British inflection.
27. I constantly have purple rings under my eyes.
28. I have a weakness for musicians.
29. I have only ever been really drunk once or twice. Both times, I could walk a straight line and carry on a reasonable conversation.
30. I have never met the majority of my relatives, and I don’t know most of their names.
31. I am the procrastination queen.
32. I don’t own a pair of plain white socks.
33. Once I get about halfway through a book, I’ll sometimes flip to the end and read parts of the last chapters. Then I go back and continue reading from where I left off.
34. I love Cryptoquip puzzles: the ones where letters are represented by other letters and you have to figure out the quote.
35. I harbor a secret ambition to get an MA in Linguistics from Cambridge.
36. I also think that working for the NSA would be an excellent job.
37. I know embarrassingly little about popular music.
38. I could eat chocolate chip cookies every day for the rest of my life.
39. I haven’t been on a real vacation (in which you travel someplace else in order to relax, not a traveling, see-everything-you-can-see-in-this-city trip) since I was a junior in high school.
40. If I had the option, I would wear a fleece and jeans every day.
41. I have a tendency to read emails and not answer them, until they either all pile up and I have to spend forever writing people back, or I forget about them.
42. I am incapable of doing anything only half-way.
43. I think dark chocolate is far superior to milk chocolate.
44. I own far too many shoes.
45. I think my eyes are my best feature (apart from the dark circles).
46. I was born over 2 months early. They weren’t sure I was going to make it.
47. I love to cook, but I end up eating pasta all the time because I’m too tired to make something halfway decent.
48. Annoyingly, and for no obvious reason, I get extremely nervous talking to guys.
49. In Germany, I became addicted to coffee. Since then, my tolerance for caffeine has only improved.
50. I appear much more put-together than I really am.

Why learn a foreign language?

Because!

Randomness

As it is Monday evening, and it's my only relatively free night of the week, I thought I'd update quickly to say that I'm still alive. Nothing exciting is going on; school consumes my life and report cards are coming up. (Again! Didn't we just have them?) Outside the job, a few (mildly) noteworthy events and/or comments:

• I went out on Saturday night with my TA, her host mom (art teacher at school) and host mom's friend. A band that the host mom knew was playing at some club, and it was a good time! But rather weird, since there were two of us in our mid-20s and host mom and friend who were 50 and just under 50. Can anyone picture their moms bar-hopping at 2am? For that matter, can you picture yourself bar-hopping in 30 years, while your kids are sleeping at home?
• Sunday, March 12th: My long-awaited return to the Irish dancing stage! There is some big Day Of Irish Dance celebrating St. Pat's Day, and I'll be doing 3 dances with my new school. The costume is quite excellent (though $50 to rent for one day!); I'll have to post a picture of it if I remember to take one.
• One of these days, I'll also get around to posting a 100 Things About Me on this blog. Though I'm afraid I won't be able to think of 100 mildly interesting or amusing aspects of my personality.
• I have to stop going to the grocery store when I'm hungry. Seriously, I've bought so many cookies in the past two weeks, it's rather sad. However, buying sushi for dinner was an excellent idea.
• Clearly, I need a roommate or something if I'm telling you all about my grocery-buying habits.

Time to go finish the laundry!

Improved! Now with more sleep!

Apparently all of my problems are caused by lack of sleep. After having a rather horrific week and a half, I came home from school early(-ish) yesterday and took a nearly 2-hour nap. Then I proceeded to make dinner, watch Monty Python, and go to bed at a decent hour. I'm feeling much better now. (not 100% better, but not in a weeping-and-gnashing-of-teeth mood)

For example: It's Thursday. One would hope that I would be hanging out with certain other people tonight, a certain person in particular. However, it looks like that's not going to happen. So that's kind of a downer, but there will be no dramatics, just mild disappointment.

And now, to amuse myself and the Internet at large: the Four Things Meme, stolen from Heather and Jess and pretty much every single blog that exists.

Four jobs I’ve had:
(1) Lifeguard
(2) Summer camp counselor
(3) Wal-Mart cashier - still scarred for life by this one
(4) Kindergarten teacher

Four movies I can watch over and over:
(1) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(2)Ferris Bueller's Day Off
(3) Mostly Martha
(4) Center Stage - somewhat predictable and cheesy, but entertaining!

Four Places I’ve Lived:
(1) [suburb of] Buffalo, NY
(2) Springfield, OH
(3) Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany
(4) Kaiserslautern, Germany

Four TV shows I love:
(1) The Office - the only show that I absolutely have to watch every week...so hilarious!
(2) Scrubs
(3) Whose Line Is It Anyway? - too bad it's not on the air anymore
(4) CSI: - unfortunately, it loses out to 'The Office' so I haven't seen it lately

Four places I’ve vacationed:
(1) Ocean City, MD
(2) Vienna, Austria
(3) Italy - Rome and Venice
(4) Ireland - Dublin, Cork, Galway, Derry (N. Ireland)

Four of my favorite dishes:
(1) Steak (medium-rare) and baked potato
(2) Chicken marsala
(3) Chicken pot pie
(4) Salmon - especially this dish that my mom has made with really thin pieces of salmon in a butter and cream sauce, with capers... müs, know what I'm talking about? I'm drooling now.

Four sites I visit daily:
(1) (No more) Adventures in Deutschland - *cough*stalker*cough*
(2) Dooce
(3) Google
(4) Yahoo! Mail

Four places I would rather be right now:
(1) With friends
(2) On a beach - with sand, not one of those rocky beaches
(3) Sprawled on the grass under a tree (with leaves on it), reading a book
(4) Anywhere in Ireland

There you have it, Internet. Not at all witty or entertaining, but further proof of my unoriginality. Whoo!

Today has been brought to you by...

...these three words: day from hell. I'm not even going to get into it, it'll make me too depressed. In summary: (1) I have zero control over my class and (2) The kids are learning absolutely nothing.

Jamie, I might have overestimated when I said that I can handle another year of kindergarten.

Bright spot of the day: My grandparents sent me a Christmas present: a huge fleece blanket! So when I'm wallowing in self-pity because I suck at teaching and am lonely, at least I'll be warm.

*yanks self out of self-pitying pit*

Time to go do some schoolwork. Surprise, surprise.

You know you're old and/or a big dork when...

...you turn down a Fasching party in favor of a night at home, a movie and an early bedtime.

B stands for Big Loser.

Reality check

There are moments in which I think my job is great: kids are learning and being nice to each other, everyone's listening, and their progress is amazing. (Case in point: One of the kids helping the new student ask a question in German.)

And then there are weeks when I want to quit, lock myself in my apartment and live off of chocolate alone. Weeks like this one. Though it only has four days, verily, it bites the big one. Chalk it up to the parents who blame everything on that lousy kindergarten teacher instead of their kid not paying a damn bit of attention in class, the people who want us to now prove we are not just meeting standards but exceeding them, the people who've been asking why some kids can't read (they're freaking 5 YEARS OLD, it's KINDERGARTEN for god's sake), and some other totally unrealistic expectations which I am expected to meet. And I was just starting to not think about school every waking minute.

Also, bizarre dreams this past week. What is going on in my life?

Forget it. Bring on the chocolate.

Thank you, George and Abe

...for giving us this long weekend. Without the two of you, February would be a long, cold month. Oh yeah, and thanks also for helping win the Revolutionary War and signing the Emancipation Proclamation.

In honor of President's (or Presidents'?) Day: Name Your Favorite President! Come on, you know you have one. I'll go first: Woodrow Wilson. Brilliant man, had the idea for the UN before anyone else did, got the country through WWI, and alliterative name. Rock on, Woody.

And happy birthday, Hetta! You now have the same age as the title of a television show! Have a great day and eat lots of cake. (by the way, that dinner invitation didn't work out...because I should have called 15 minutes earlier!)

Not a whole lot more to say, except that it's back to school tomorrow. Without another break until March...right before parent-teacher conferences. So I am going to continue slacking off today for as long as humanly possible until I really have to write some lesson plans. Join me in becoming one with the slack.

In which I sound like a squealy 14-year-old girl

*Warning*: This entry to be filled with ridiculousness, since I am currently on a four-day weekend, have had enough sleep, and haven't done a thing all day. Therefore, I'm in a great mood. (bipolar, what?)

I've been listening to this radio station all day, and it's like a constant nostalgia trip. Half the time, it's songs like REM's 'It's The End Of The World' and Blues Traveler's 'Run-Around' which remind me of high school yearbook (i.e., skipping class, racing wheely chairs, vandalizing furniture, fighting over Bruce the couch) and then it's 'Everyday' by Dave Matthews bringing back memories of college. Makes me feel old. I wonder if any songs will make me nostalgic for my first year of teaching. Doubtful; although it has its moments, it's not the most pleasant experience in the world.

So I went out last night with two co-workers and a friend of one of them... it might turn into a Thursday night routine, since we were out last Thursday as well, and we're going ice skating next week. They are a riot, seriously. It is fabulous to be able to (1) talk to people over the age of 6, and (2) be sarcastic and somewhat witty. Of course, that's before I have a few drinks, because then I start talking too much and say stupid things. (at least I realize it and shut up) BUT...

**edited because I've clearly jinxed it already, so really, what's the point**

So...yeah. No concrete evidence, clearly, but I enjoy replaying moments in my head and blowing things entirely out of proportion. Because this is what I do. Suffice it to say I'm looking forward to next Thursday.

What I have realized while house- and dogsitting

• Having an entire house to yourself can be kind of creepy.
• TiVo is fantastic!
• ...as are dishwashers!
• Small dogs are cute when they crawl up onto your bed.
• However, not so cute when they get you up at 6.30 AM on a Sunday.
• Not having your closet to choose your clothes from is a bit irritating. (sounds snotty and materialistic, but try it sometime...it's true)
• Cafe lattes are fabulous.
• It's hard to make dinner when you don't know what food you have or where everything is.
• When you read the newspaper, you actually learn what is going on. (i.e., Mark O'Connor and Leahy are both here this week! Too bad I don't know anyone who'd be interested in going...)

Right, lesson plans.

Warning: Don't read this entry unless you want to listen to me complain.

A lot.

So it's 9.20, the dishes are finally done, my apartment smells like a combination of fish and drying laundry, and I'm apparently a bit sleep-deprived, since I'm feeling rather snappish. (snappish, adj.: ready to snap at small, trivial things) And this blog is going to be full of griping, so WATCH OUT.

First off, if I hear that freaking 'A Hundred Years to Live' song or whatever the hell it's titled ONE MORE TIME, I will seriously flip out. That's not a threat, it will happen.

**remainder of post edited because I like my job and would like to keep it**

Happy St. Bridget's Day!

Ha ha...and happy 21st birthday, Müs!! God, that makes me feel old. Now my age has absolutely no advantages over yours. Damn.

And I got the fellowship; I'm going back to Wittenberg this summer! Time to pull some strings and see if I can live with someone I know...think they'll let me live with an American (i.e., Jess)? That is, if she'll have me? Was that request smooth or what?

In response to the State of the Union address

O Canada, how I miss thee and thy television stations. And Tim's. (double-double?)

Reasons why I would not make it on 'The Bachelor'

• I don't get catty. Bitchy, sure, but not catty.
• I think it's obnoxious to have people prying into my motivations every single step of the way.
• I can't toss my hair.
• It would require far too much effort, appearance-wise.
• You cannot get to know me in 15 minutes or less.
• I can't walk in high heels.
• I don't get all squealy.
• I can't play dumb. I can be rather dense, but that's not nearly as attractive, apparently.
• I can't be two-faced. If I'm lying, you can tell pretty quickly.
• The whole premise turns me off. Twenty-five women fighting for one guy? Seriously.

I'm just watching for the scenery from Paris, the French Riviera, etc. ;)

Oh snap!

Inspiration for today's post: 'Oh snap!' actually heard on TV. Moose, you've started a trend; better find a new catch phrase.

Today was the best day ever. Only seven kids this morning, and three adults in the room! And nine in the afternoon, again with three adults! It was amazing, everyone had some one-on-one time, and it was just so calm. Yay for watching kids at work and learning.

Incidentally, we've started on a Karneval theme, so if anyone has any brilliant ideas on learning center-type actvities that have to do with Karneval and/or Mardi Gras and/or Germany, send them along.

Here is a glowing article written about the school, a.k.a. 'free advertising'.

Randomly, I'm having a semi-career crisis. (or would that be a career semi-crisis?) Is it a bad thing that I have no 5-year goals I can verbalize, besides getting a master's? I've gotten asked this question twice in the past three days, and I'm getting the feeling that I'm not doing the right thing, that I could/should be doing grander things than this. What those grander things might be, I have no idea. I seem to be having a hard enough time getting through each week, let alone thinking about what I should be doing five years from now. And I'm still getting pressure from my parents: 'Okay, so you're going to stay another year, that's fine. It'll help you decide what you want to do next.' Two points come to mind: (1) ...Like what?? (2) ...Because those two years in Germany were so helpful in deciding what I wanted to do with my life.

Never mind. I'll just work on surviving Karneval, I suppose.

Admit it, you knew there was something wrong with me all this time

Personality Disorder Test Results Paranoid 46% Schizoid 74% Schizotypal 42% Antisocial 30% Borderline 42% Histrionic 18% Narcissistic 22% Avoidant 30% Dependent 30% Obsessive-Compulsive 62%

Take Free Personality Disorder Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Question of the day:

Why am I socially inept? More specifically, why can't I work up the nerve to say what I want to say? Lots of head-smacking going on this evening...

Also, I finished up my application to the summer program in Wittenberg! We'll see if they'll accept me, but it looks promising; they've already extended the deadline for me. =) Clear the guest room, Jess, I might be coming over!

Lastly, this is the best hot chocolate mix EVER. So good. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to the powdered stuff.

Must...stop...procrastinating...

No way! Way!

So this is the day's highlight in my exciting life: Spinach lasagna. The highlight is that I actually made it myself (got out of school today at 4, so I had time to cook!), without a recipe, and it tastes pretty good! Hooray for small victories. It's only one small step from here to filet mignon.

In other news: The new classroom assistant started today in kindergarten, and it was so nice not to have to run after certain kids all of the time! And to eat lunch with someone! And to bounce ideas off of another person! Clearly, as demonstrated by the overabundance of exclamation points, I've been alone in that class for far too long. But I think the learning center system is finally starting to work; the kids have the routine down and basically know what is expected of them. I have to work a little harder to come up with more interesting activities, so there's the next goal. Right after writing the play, somehow getting the kids to memorize it, and pulling it off...in less than three weeks. Woo!

But now it's 7.20 and I have some FREE TIME (sure sign of the apocalypse), so it's time to watch some TV and perhaps 'Wayne's World.' Again. Excellent!

Small world alert

I was driving in to school with one of the school directors this morning, like we do every morning, because I lack a car. She turned to me and said that she needed to reassure me about the school having a future, i.e., it will be around next year. Apparently the other director had a meeting with the curriculum committee last night, and one member of the committee said that I was worried about the continued existence of the school. I drew a major blank, and then it hit me: One of the people on the committee is the person who came in to sub for me on Friday, and as I was writing up and giving her the plans on Thursday after school, I made a passing comment about how I hope the school will still be around next year because I'll have finally gotten used to everything. (I was not feeling well and apparently not thinking straight. And unable to censor my comments. Option #2: I've been in Germany for too long and can't do the diplomatic American habit of saying one thing with a smile and thinking something else.)

So apparently the word got out to the committee which then traveled to one school director which then got around to the other school director. Who knows how much farther this will go. And it's not that I'm losing sleep over the fate of the school; I think about it occasionally, but I generally just keep my head down and do the best that I can with the kids that I have.

Moral of the story: Say nothing that you aren't prepared to have repeated to everyone else.

Two short notes

I have got to go finish preparing stuff for tomorrow (just got home), but I just wanted to share two observations with the world at large:

(1) Report cards suck. 20 minutes per kid X 22 kids = WAY TOO FREAKING LONG.

(2) Ritalin is a wonder drug. Seriously.

That is all.

If you don't like cookies, you're a communist

...and other topics discussed during a 45-minute conversation with moose:

• Googling "witch + Timmy"
• spinoff of a popular Fox drama with brooding teenagers set in Canada: "The BC"
• *gobbling turkeys*
• stalkeresque = nailing a dead woodchuck to someone's door
• would a cross between a gerbil and a hamster be called a gerbster or a germster?
• is Canada a joke?
• pirates
• scurvy
• children's television programming
• there's a new frat on campus: Phi Beta Omicron = Piss Brendan Off
• *Michael Jackson imitations*
• laughtracks

The real challenge is to figure out who brought up which subjects. Cookies to anyone who wants to try...unless, of course, you're a communist.

Small children: one day, you love them; the next day, they'll give you the plague

**edited due to random company spam -- that's right, this blog merits spam comments from a company. I've really hit the big time now. **

Perhaps 'the plague' is a slight exaggeration, but it sure doesn't feel like one. I've got the sore throat from hell and half a voice. So deep, in fact, that when someone called earlier, she asked if she could speak to me. I thought about making some crack about a secret boyfriend/male secretary but couldn't think fast enough.

So after teaching for the entire day today (because both directors were going to be gone and what kind of sub am I supposed to get), I have finally got tomorrow off. And for those of you who are somewhat familiar with my work ethic (damn Puritans), you know it's got to be pretty bad if I'm taking off work.

But first: sleep. Lots and lots of tea and sleep. Good night.

Jamie and Heather are now amused

You scored as English. You should be an English major! Your passion lies in writing and expressing yourself creatively, and you hate it when you are inhibited from doing so. Pursue that interest of yours! Dance 75% English 75% Engineering 58% Journalism 58% Psychology 58% Sociology 58% Philosophy 50% Linguistics 50% Mathematics 50% Theater 42% Chemistry 25% Biology 25% Anthropology 17% Art 17% What is your Perfect Major? created with QuizFarm.com

Not sure I agree with that (Linguistics = only 50%??), but interesting nonetheless. Take that, Finucane.

Future movie stars/writers/producers/directors

Craziness in kindergarten today. It's funny how you can spend ages and ages trying to beat an idea into their heads (i.e., how to walk in the hallways), but something innocent can just balloon into this gigantic activity.

Case in point: I've been introducing costumes, one by one, to both classes. They love them and are always so excited to see the next one. Today's costumes were two knight helmets (Ritter; R is the letter of the week) and three princess dresses. Gender-biased, I know, but the parents brought them in; I better use them. Anyway, the kids think these are the coolest things ever, and then someone wants to put on a play with them. Suddenly all eleven kids want to put on a play; one is 'practicing' in costume, three are rehearsing for a battle among knights, two are making a list (with a little prompting from the teacher) of stuff they want to bring from home, one is drawing the costumes, two are pretending to be seamstresses, and two are discussing what kind of background to have on stage. One of the kids gets the idea in his head that we're going to do this on a weekend and all the parents are going to come, and it'll be great.

And then I think: The school is putting on a Karneval on February, and we said there'd be student performances... So I run this by the kids, and they're all for it. We now have four weeks, and a plot and characters to hack out, scripts to write and learn (in German, of course), a backdrop to make, and costumes and props to figure out.

But the best part is that this is all student-generated. Zero of it is my idea. Pretty amazing.

As for PM kindergarten: They were great during a tour of prospective parents that came by; they were engaged and on-task and everything! Who knew that this Werkstatt system could actually work?

Irish dancing is a contact sport

...with the floor. I've got to finalize some lesson plans but have to share quickly about my triumphant return to Irish dance! I had my first class today in about 6 years and it was a bit frightening to see how much I've degenerated. (endurance = nil) However, it was also encouraging to see I haven't lost it all.

Anyway, story: We do some warm-ups and then start working on the actual steps. The teacher wants me to show her what/how much I can do, so I cross my fingers, hope I can remember what I learned ages ago, and start off...to end up 10 seconds later on the floor. That's right, I wipe out less than four bars into the reel.

What an auspicious start to my revived Irish dancing career.

Just FYI

Never ever wear the same contacts for over 4 months.

Because now (ow ow OW) my left eyeball is approximately the color of a tomato and about to fall out of my head.

Just thought I'd let you know. Please return to your scheduled Internet surfing.

PS- But apparently some people like my glasses. :)

Sudden paranoia

So another teacher at school was giving me a ride home today after the staff meeting, and somehow in the midst of talking about problem kids (because this is what teachers do) we landed on the topic of the fragility of the school. We've been and still are under pressure to up the enrollment for next year; in effect, if we don't fill all the classes we need to fill, the school is done.

Other Teacher: 'So, what will you do if the school goes under?'

Me: 'Uh, good question.'

OT: 'Would you stay here or go back to New York?'

M: 'I have no idea. That would really suck.'

And it would. I'll have had one year of experience in a situation that's not exactly marketable (honestly, how many schools of this type are there?), six months left on a lease, unending student loan payments, and quite possibly a car. Not to mention all the effort it takes me to get out of my shell and get to know people. As well as the fact that I like it here, more than I ever thought I would.

So the pressure's on to enroll 30 more kindergarteners and 20 more first-graders for next year, by March 1st. I don't generally go in for putting up posters and advertising all over town, but hi, I need a job for next year. Looks like I'll be asking various businesses if they have bulletin boards.

On a related note, I found out today that one of my kids may not be back for the second semester. This would make my life so much easier in so many ways, but this makes the fourth kindergartener who'd have dropped out. Four out of 27...that's a fairly large percent. No one from first grade has left. I realize that each one of these four kids has his/her own personal, compelling reasons which are all very valid...but I can't shake the feeling that I can't hang onto the students. What am I doing or not doing?

Christmas=love=bacon

The above pearl of wisdom is brought to you by moose (who else?). The kid needs to write a book...or create a t-shirt design company, I'm not sure which.

And now: Things I Have (Not) Brought Back From Home!

I've returned with:

• an iDog
• fleece
• a sweater
• a tool kit
• Italian shoes! (originally $200, marked down to $30! completely impractical, but who could turn them down?)
• The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
• boots and snow pants for playing with the kiddies... I mean, taking them on educational outdoor field trips
• a George Foreman grill
• stubs from 'King Kong'
• sponge candy
• Christmas cookies
• frozen hors d'oevres in a lunchbox + Party In A Box = instant New Year's Eve party!
• maple sugar
• a newfound knowledge of knitting
• scrapbooking supplies
• a haircut
• ant traps for my ant-infested kitchen
• frustration with a certain airline, which will remain nameless

I do not/no longer have:

• Christmas cards
• gifts for people
• an account at Key
• the new GBS CD -- blast you, Borders
• purple circles under my eyes
• lesson plans

I heart vacations.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go

'Cause I'm leeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaviiiiiiing on a jet plane...

I'm taking off for the airport in about an hour, and may or may not post anything next week. It all depends on how exciting life at home is. So have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Festivus (don't forget that aluminum pole!), or whatever it is that you celebrate.

Und einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr...because that sounds much better than simply 'Happy New Year'. :) See you in 2006!

Map of European Countries I Have Visited (And Not Just Driven Through)

Because I miss traveling...



create your personalized map of europe

Randomly, I'm going out tonight with a classroom assistant (and recent college grad) and his friends. I feel like I should somehow be too old for this, but we'll see how it goes.

PS- I'm on vacation!!

Back after (forced) hiatus!

Guess what? I now have Internet at home! Wireless! Here's the story: I finally got around to sending a note to other people in the building, semi-introducing myself but more asking if anyone had wifi they'd be willing to share. Of course, I offered to pay half the monthly fee and mentioned that it would be very useful for lesson planning for this overworked, underpaid first-year teacher. I got a note today under my door, including the following: "Because you are a teacher, you can jump on my wireless network. ... PS- No charge!" That's right, my wonderful neighbor is letting me use his wireless Internet access for free! Minnesotans rock, seriously.

In other news: Tomorrow is the last day of school for the semester...and I don't have anything to plan! It's like Christmas has come early this year!

And I'm flying home in 3 days. Life is good.

More frequent updates in the future, now that I have wireless Internet. :)

To quote Heather:

Shoot me in the face. Seriously. I am going to snap at those kids one day and scar them all for life.

By the way, in case I haven't mentioned this before, the morning and afternoon kids have now switched places in my esteem: Afternoon is generally great and morning is rough. But today, they were both a bunch of winners. At the end of AM kindergarten, we sat there for literally 8 minutes waiting for the kids to shut up. I usually just wait for them and other kids will tell the ones who are talking to be quiet or else we can't go home. But seriously, eight minutes. Doesn't sound terribly long, but when you are waiting for them to STOP THE HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER AND SHUT THE HELL UP, it's rather a long time. And they would have gone on longer, except that it was then really time to go, so we had to rush out of there. I yelled at them in English, gave them the whole 'I am very disappointed in you and I hope this never happens again' speech. I literally was like, go home, I can't deal with you guys anymore today. Argh.

And then came Round Two. Including the three Kids Who Don't Listen To A Word I Say. They get 'breaks' (or 'time-outs' or whatever you want to call it) and they continue to talk. And hide under the table. And get up and just walk out of the classroom. And then there were kids who just wanted to take a break just for fun. At one point, there were only three or four kids doing what they were supposed to. Seriously, I am going to just start sending kids down to the office after one warning. There are very few things that really tick me off, but not listening (when I know for a fact that they understand) is one of them. (two of the others are intolerance and people who need to search through their entire car for change at the toll booth)

And then we hear at the staff meeting that some parents are complaining that their little darlings aren't making it out of the building as soon as the clock hits 3.45. Well, maybe they can come in next time and help, since there's only one of me and thirteen 5-year-olds putting their papers, lunchboxes and water bottles in their backpacks, changing into snow boots, and putting on snow pants, jackets, oh wait where's my [fill in the blank] I forgot it upstairs, gloves and hats, and zip this (no please) I can't do it with mittens on, and I swear I didn't come to school with a coat today even though it's ten degrees outside.

Thank God tomorrow's Friday. And next week has only two days! Yaaaaay Turkey Day!

PS- Mad props (ha!) go to moose, who performed four solo cello pieces at his concert on Tuesday. And he had a matching hat for each piece. You rock, o my brother.

What have I gotten myself into?

Weather forecast courtesy local news station:

'Forecast for today Wednesday November 16, 2005: ** WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL NOON for blowing snow and cold temperatures...Highs today will be in the low to mid 20s but the strong Northwest winds at 14 to 28 mph will keep wind-chills in the 5 to 10 degree range all day. Winds will decrease this evening ...and skies will be clear with a full moon - lows will drop to near +9 degrees by sunrise Thursday with wind-chills from 0 to -5 below.'

This whole walking-to-school thing is getting old real quick.

In which there are an inordinate amount of links

Amazing how the weekend flies by, isn't it? Here it is, Sunday again, and here I am, procrastinating again. Some things never change. Although, I guess I am being sort of productive: My laundry's going at the moment. (ha...I'll take whatever excuse I can get)

Anyway. After two weeks of madness, report cards, parent conferences, and rehearsing for our Grand Opening, it's back to normal for a while. And let me just say that 'normal' feels so relaxed and low-key compared to what had been going on. The biggest event coming up in the near future is Moving Day, next weekend, and then Thanksgiving after that. Then, of course, everyone will either be (a) in a good mood due to the holidays or (b) completely stressed out due to the holidays. Hopefully, I'll be in the former category. Actually, I'll probably be in a good mood, looking forward to going home. The only downside is that I'll have to find a way to go Christmas shopping before going home, since I don't get in until the evening of the 24th. Oh well... they don't make a light-rail line to the Mall of America for nothing. (hellooo, Harry and David!)

So about this weekend: Friday was Martinstag (or link here for German speakers), and we had the big opening ceremony at school, complete with German consul and all sorts of speeches...none of which I heard, since I was too busy corralling 5-year-olds. No big loss there, though; I'm not all about speechifying. The kids had made lanterns in honor of Martinstag, and they had a couple of songs prepared, all of which went off much better than expected. Nothing like a little stage fright to get everyone doing what they're supposed to! The kids were all so cute, and we had a little parade around the neighborhood with our lanterns after everything was over. It was excellent, and I'm sure the music teacher is especially relieved.

Last night, I went to an exhibition opening at the Walker Art Center, during which I felt very cultured. Nothing like hors d'oevres and Andy Warhol. (seriously, do i sound like a snob yet?) No really, it was fun; my favorite pieces were two involving electric chairs. Now what does that say about my subconscious?

Off to either plan some lessons or read some more of my book. Let's see which happens first.

(incidentally to lj users: i can't seem to comment on anyone's lj. it blocks me each time i try. so it's nothing personal, i have been trying, and i do check up on you. just FYI.)

Hello, my name is Bridget and I am intimidated by quotation marks

You are a hyphen!


You scored 46% Sociability and 58% Sophistication.

You are comfortable around others. While you don't have to go out every night, yet you take pride in being easy to get along with. This should not, however, be misconstrued as believing (as many do) that you are without subtlety. In fact, you have the power to inform the anal retentive that, indeed, they are discussing an anal-retentive issue. Who else can do that? Quotation marks intimidate you a little bit.





Link: The Which Punctuation Mark Are You Test written by Gazda on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Err...okay? Frankly, I thought I was less social (and more anal-retentive) than that; maybe kindergarten is softening me up a bit?

Lesson plans? What lesson plans?

Your Birthdate: June 9

You are a born idealist, with more pet causes than you can count.You prefer be around others, both when working and while relaxing.Generous and giving, you believe you can change the world one person at a time.You're open minded and tolerant. People feel like they can tell you anything. Your strength: Your go-with-the-flow flexibility Your weakness: Your flair for the over dramatic Your power color: Pine green Your power symbol: Circle Your power month: September

href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatdoesyourbirthdatemeanquiz/">What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Heard on the radio this weekend:

• 'Winter Wonderland'
• 'Home for the Holidays'
• 'Have a Holly Jolly Christmas'
• 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' (thanks Dr. Clare's 7th grade music for helping me recognize that one)

What the....?! It's the first weekend in November.

Speaking of the most wonderful time of the year, I bought plane tickets for Christmas break! Only I'd better have all my shopping done ahead of time, since I'm flying in at 6pm on the 24th. Looks like someone's going to be making a trip to the Mall of America.

Just over 2 weeks until Thanksgiving!

A reason why I teach

Since yesterday was Halloween, we made a big deal out of everything dealing with monsters, costumes, and candy. One of our activities was talking about and making a class graph of our favorite candy. Of course, to introduce some of this new vocab, I had to demonstrate it and exaggerate a lot (e.g.: Meine Lieblingssuessigkeit ist Kit-Kat. Ich liebe Kit-Kats!) But they understood pretty well, even though paying attention was difficult. Standard lesson; it went fine.

Fast forward to this morning: One of the kids came in with a little Halloween treat bag and handed it to me. I was pleasantly surprised and said thank you, and then I opened it: There was a Kit-Kat inside! I said something like, 'Kit-Kat! That's my favorite Halloween candy!'

Then this huge grin spreads over this little boy's face and he says, 'I know.'