Books

I've read some really interesting books lately and wanted to share some of the good ones.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy: This is the story of fraternal twins. It is set in India, which is one of my very favorite settings for a novel. The best part is Roy's writing style, which is really inventive and different.

The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly: I picked this up in Dublin. It is about a female doctor around the turn of the century in London. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the East End, but I didn't think there was much depth to the book.

The White Mountains by John Christopher: I read this science fiction book to help one of my students write a book report. I liked it. It's about a boy who escapes from tripods that enslave humans.

A Painted House by John Grisham: I'm not really a John Grisham fan usually, but I really liked this book. It has no lawyers in it and is the story of a young boy growing up on a farm in Arkansas.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: I loved this book. It is enchanting.

Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey: He is my favoriite Christian author. In this book, he profiles people, especially writers who have influenced him. I have a whole new list of books to read from this book!

My next book is One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Easter (a little late)

This was the lovely view on Easter morning. I meant to post it on my blog, but I hadn't uploaded my pictures until recently.

Homeward Bound

Well, as many of you know, my father has been ill for quite some time. He has recently gotten worse. After much prayer, I have decided to move back after this school year to be closer to my parents. In many ways, I am torn by this decision. I am happy to be closer to friends and family and to be a country where I speak the language. I am also sad because I really enjoy working with my students here. I will miss my friends here and all the traveling I get to do. It's much easier to get to Italy when it's just a 3 hour flight away instead of a 10 hour one. It's also much cheaper. I feel totally at peace with my decision though despite the fact that I'll have to pay three times as much for good German chocolate.

I feel that it's important that I am Gadsden, but I also have to get a job. I already have some prospects in Birmingham. I really enjoyed living in Birmingham, and I definitely need a job, but is this best for my situation? I'm just not sure. I would really appreciate your prayers!

I also have to end all my contracts here, find someone to buy/take my furniture, move out, and fly back with Zoe. I am praying for another teacher to take over the apartment. That would be a blessing. I will keep you updated on what's happening.

Busy...

School has been crazy these past two weeks. Every day last week, I stayed after school for a meeting. Then we had a field trip for a Rainforest walk/run fundraiser on Friday. Today, we had personal project presentations. In the Middle Years Programme of the IBO, 10th graders do a year long personal project. We had to read through their essays, listen to presentations, and mark their work. Then we had an accreditation meeting afterwords. Tomorrow is the official grand opening ceremony, and on Thursday, the middle school kids go to an art exhibit of the grade 12 DP art students. Progress reports go out Friday and next week are teacher-parent conferences. I think there are some things I'm missing. Right now, I'm just praying for the grace to get through each day without forgetting something major!

Dublin

I just got back from Dublin. I chaperoned a group of five students who were involved in a Model United Nations conference there. Dublin was very cute but dirty compared to Germany. We left very early on Tuesday morning to go to Berlin for our flight. The next day, I went with other MUN advisors to tour the city. We went to the Guinness storehouse and brewery. It was pretty cool and had a great panaromic view of the city on the 7th floor. I didn't try any Guinness though. I opted for a Coke instead of the pint that is included with admission.

After that, I went to Trinity College and got to see the Book of Kells, which was SO COOL!!! That was probably one of the coolest things I've seen in Europe so far. For the rest of the time, I sat in committees and hung around the conference to be there with my students. The worst part of the trip was this morning. There was a dance last night for the students that ended at midnight. We had to leave for the airport at 3:15am. The students came back to my (very small) hotel room after the dance because they had been staying with host families. They all sacked out on the floor. It's funny how teenagers can sleep anywhere for any amount of time. I didn't sleep at all.

Dublin is pretty cool. It was great to be in an English speaking country, and most people were really friendly. It is crazy expensive though. A whopper value meal at Burger King (not supersized) was over $11!!

It's good to be back in Dresden, especially since this is our spring break. Happy Easter!

Grumpy

Lately I have noticed that I have been a grumpy gus. I have just been so annoyed by complete strangers recently. There was a couple at the grocery store on Friday, and the guy was licking the girl's neck! It was completely disgusting, and I wanted to ram them with my shopping cart. Then today, an old woman got on the tram and asked for my seat even though there were at least 5 empty seats in the area. Oh no, she wanted the exact seat where I sat. I was more than a little frustrated. I need to go to the beach and chill out or something.

Great Weather and Spring Trips

The past two days have been great here. It's been sunny, and yesterday's temp was in the 60s!! Also, since there's more daylight now, the winter seems to be fading away. This spring, I'll be going to Dublin, Ireland as a chaperone for Model United Nations. I'm going the week before Easter, so I'm hoping to attend some Holy Week services in English while there. (if there's any chance) Then, we have the European Destination trips in June. Since I speak Spanish and was the geography teacher last year, I'm getting to go with the Grade 11 geography students to Barcelona! Those are my only spring trips so far. I still don't have anything planned for Easter break yet. I might stay in Germany but go to Cologne or Hamburg. I've also thought about Budapest with a stop off in Bratislava. I might even stay in Dresden.