I hope you now have the Quad City DJs stuck in your head! I am leaving Thursday for almost two weeks to go to Italy and Austria. I will be traveling by train the entire time. I am looking forward to it, but I'm a little nervous too because I am going by myself. Here's my itinerary so you can think about me on these days.
Thursday, June 28: Munich
Sunday, July 1: Milan
Monday, July 2: Florence (Since I'm only going to be there a day, please be praying that I can get into the two museums that I missed when I was there in October)
Tuesday, July 3: Rome
Friday, July 6: Venice
Sunday, July 8: Innsbruck, Austria
Monday July 9: Salzburg... I've booked the Sound of Music tour. I'm giddy with excitement.
The next day I'm going on the Eagle's Nest tour to where Hitler had a vacation retreat.
Wednesday, July 11: Back to Munich then home to Dresden
Please be praying for my safety as I will be alone, for clean, safe hostels, and for some traveling companions. I will try to post while I'm gone.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Summer?
Is it really summer if the high temperature is 65 degrees?
(Since I don't have AC, I'm not complaining!)
(Since I don't have AC, I'm not complaining!)
Friday, June 22, 2007
Last day of school
Today was the last day of school. It seems like the school year has flown by. Yesterday was the students' last day, and we had the end of school assembly for almost three hours. I was truly dreading the assembly because I have never been to an year end assembly that was not excruciatingly painful with an entire day of band and choir songs.
Yesterday was not like that all. There were awards given out to most improved students and to students who exemplify the IB Learner Profile. There was a video produced by the students in drama class about what we as teachers would have been like in high school. It was hilarious. One of the most touching things was that all the departing teachers and students were recognized. I had a hard time not crying at some of the speeches. It was really nice.
The last week of school has been so lovely. There was a teacher appreciation barbecue organized by the Grade 10 students. Only here would the students serve the teachers champagne, beer, and wine. Then, one of the board members had everyone on staff over to his house for dinner. The food was excellent, and the house was even nicer with a spa room that had a steam room and a massage table. I wouldn't mind house-sitting for them. Finally last night, a very large group of teachers went to a Biergarten to celebrate.
One difficult thing is that this is the second year in a row that I'm saying goodbye, but instead of leaving, I'm the one staying behind. It's hard to see all these wonderful teachers, who are also my good friends, leave. I wonder how the next school year will go. This year has been great-by far, my best year teaching- so I wonder if next year will be as nice.
On my walk home from school, I just reflected on how much the Lord has blessed me. I have a job that I love in a country that I am coming to love. I've made wonderful, caring friends here and still have beautiful friends and family back home. I've recently found a new church that is open and grace-filled. I get to travel and see the cool, diverse world that God has made. I'm just so thankful for His love and grace.
Yesterday was not like that all. There were awards given out to most improved students and to students who exemplify the IB Learner Profile. There was a video produced by the students in drama class about what we as teachers would have been like in high school. It was hilarious. One of the most touching things was that all the departing teachers and students were recognized. I had a hard time not crying at some of the speeches. It was really nice.
The last week of school has been so lovely. There was a teacher appreciation barbecue organized by the Grade 10 students. Only here would the students serve the teachers champagne, beer, and wine. Then, one of the board members had everyone on staff over to his house for dinner. The food was excellent, and the house was even nicer with a spa room that had a steam room and a massage table. I wouldn't mind house-sitting for them. Finally last night, a very large group of teachers went to a Biergarten to celebrate.
One difficult thing is that this is the second year in a row that I'm saying goodbye, but instead of leaving, I'm the one staying behind. It's hard to see all these wonderful teachers, who are also my good friends, leave. I wonder how the next school year will go. This year has been great-by far, my best year teaching- so I wonder if next year will be as nice.
On my walk home from school, I just reflected on how much the Lord has blessed me. I have a job that I love in a country that I am coming to love. I've made wonderful, caring friends here and still have beautiful friends and family back home. I've recently found a new church that is open and grace-filled. I get to travel and see the cool, diverse world that God has made. I'm just so thankful for His love and grace.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Neustadt Fest
The Neustadt area of Dresden is a really interesting place. A lot of people live there who definitely have alternative lifestyles. For example, there's a Goth second hand store. I don't know of many places that have Goth stores at all, much less a second hand Goth store. The Neustadt also has restaurants and bars. I like several restaurants in the area, but I don't really like going on the weekends. It's disconcerting to see my students out on the streets drinking (Sixteen is the legal drinking age).
The Neustadt had a big festival this weekend. I had heard about it for several months. Pretty much anything goes. People can pull their couches from their apartments into the streets and even sell things if they wish. I heard about some people who had set up a beer funnel from the second story apartment with a chute rigged to send money up to them. I bet they made a killing.
For a while, I had also heard that there would be violence. There's been some protesting in the Neustadt during the year, and the G8 conference was held in Germany a few weeks ago. I think people expected the protesters to come to the Neustadt festival. Anyway, I decided to go with some German friends. It was really crowded. I saw more dyed hair and piercings than I've ever seen, but it was pretty tame. Plus, there was a ton of police including some dresseed in what looked like riot gear. Some of them were pretty cute. It was really fun, and a fabulous place to people watch. I look forward to going next year. I'm going to break out my hippie clothes so I can fit in!
ZOE UPDATE: She is doing much better. Almost 100%. The lady who took care of her during my trips even took her swimming in the Elbe so I've bought a retractable leash for the summer. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!!
The Neustadt had a big festival this weekend. I had heard about it for several months. Pretty much anything goes. People can pull their couches from their apartments into the streets and even sell things if they wish. I heard about some people who had set up a beer funnel from the second story apartment with a chute rigged to send money up to them. I bet they made a killing.
For a while, I had also heard that there would be violence. There's been some protesting in the Neustadt during the year, and the G8 conference was held in Germany a few weeks ago. I think people expected the protesters to come to the Neustadt festival. Anyway, I decided to go with some German friends. It was really crowded. I saw more dyed hair and piercings than I've ever seen, but it was pretty tame. Plus, there was a ton of police including some dresseed in what looked like riot gear. Some of them were pretty cute. It was really fun, and a fabulous place to people watch. I look forward to going next year. I'm going to break out my hippie clothes so I can fit in!
ZOE UPDATE: She is doing much better. Almost 100%. The lady who took care of her during my trips even took her swimming in the Elbe so I've bought a retractable leash for the summer. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
On to Vienna
So I'm still playing catch-up. We arrived back in Dresden after our trip to Krakow at 7:15 pm. Guess when I left for Vienna? 5:15 the next morning! Yes, I am crazy.
After a LONG 8 hour bus ride (and being in 4 different countries in less than 24 hours), we made to our less than clean hostel. Five chaperones and 30 10th graders; let the fun begin!! Actually, our group was really well-behaved. They were on time and polite, especially compared with other school groups we saw.
We went to several art museums, including the gallery at the Belvedere Palace. Gustav Klimt's The Kiss is there. It is one of my favorites. The gold in the painting is luminous. I snuck a picture when a guard wasn't in the room. Another highlight of the trip was a visit to see the morning workout of the famous Spanish riding school in Vienna. We were able to see one of the horses work on jumping back. It was really cool. Several of our students ride and show horses so they were able to explain a lot about the different techniques. Here's a picture of their stables.
The absolute best part of our trip was going to the Schoenbrunn Palace to hear a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic. This was not part of our plans, but we saw advertisements decided that it would be fun. This was a really famous outdoor, free concert. There were over 80,000 people attending. Plus, Bill Clinton was there accepting a check for his AIDS charity. You can say what you will, but I like him a lot so I was super excited. Plus two older ladies got into a shoving match. So we had multiple forms of entertainment!
I ended up not going on the Model United Nations trip the next week because I wasn't feeling well on Sunday. I was a little disappointed, but I was able to get Zoe a week early and get some work done at school.
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