Long Weekend

Well, it's been a little bit since I have written, we'll see how much I can remember to put in here.

Last Thursday my Halloween party with the seventh graders went great. I was worried that they would be too cool to play along, but they were all scared by my monster story, and all bobbed for apples like champs. Then Friday I went into Berlin, which is always great, and had way more success shopping that I thought I could. Usually if I have a specific goal in mind, and a short deadline, I never find what I need. But I found dressy heels and a sweater to wear with my dress to the Sängerball with no trouble. Amazing. Saturday was of course the Sängerball. It mostly went well, except for the basses not starting the first song off, and for the choir director playing right through the important bit of dialogue in the other song. But the costumes were amazing, and everyone seemed to have a good time. We were in the newspaper, and I am getting copies of the pictures taken by the newspaper people. I got a round of applause from the choir on tuesday for having learned the words so quickly, which was a little embarassing, but sweet. They seem excited to have me here.

Sunday Frau Florschütz came over to invite me to lunch at 12:30 in half an hour, when it was only 11:00. But she hadn't set her clocks back, and that was quite the topic of discusssion at lunch. That and the opening of the Frauenkirche in Dreseden. I don't know if anyone heard about it at home, but the Frauenkirche has been rebuilt after being left as a ruin for 40 years as a war memorial. They have done some really amazing things with the reconstruction, and it was quite the news story here. The whole service was broadcast live sunday morning. But lunch was great. Frau Florschütz has been trying to serve a different kind of traditional German dish every time I come over, and has agreed to let me learn how to cook some of it from her. This time it was Rindkouladen (ground pork wrapped in beef) and Klöße(potato balls). We took our time with lunch and kept chatting, and then I spent the afternoon hanging out with Lars after his parents went to a birthday party. I always do better when I spend time with people, not alone at home. Then Monday was Reformation Sunday. We (Frau and Herr Florschütz, Lars, Ina Winter (Fr. Florschütz's best friend and my co-teacher) and I) went to Wittenberg, to see the church where Martin Luther nailed the Theses on the day it was done. They made a film about Luther in the last couple of years, only they couldn't film in Wittenberg, because the town is like one giant memorial to Luther, with his face and words everywhere. But it was definently cool singing "A mighty fortress is our God" in German in Wittenberg. I got a whole bunch of pamphlets from everywhere, including the local bulletin from the church. What also made it great was the company. Frau Florschütz and Ina together are too funny, and it's a good thing that Herr Florschütz is used to ignoring his wife's backseat driving. She never wanted to take any detours, and was often offering to get out and tell the trucks in front of us to pull over so we could pass them.

Of course Monday was also Halloween, and when we got back the trick-or-treaters were already out in full force. In Germany they take the trick part pretty seriously, and one of my teachers got a driveway full of toothpaste. We only had kids with shaving cream on our street. And although the older Florschütz son, Rayk, had said he wasn't going to have a big Halloween party, he decided to have a spontaneous one anyway, complete with Glühwein over the campfire (naturally). Tuesday I had to myself, to get my apartment back in shape after not spending much time there for a while. Today it was back in the routine of classes, and my four lessons went really well, I think. Tomorrow is the celebration of the 160th anniversary of the elementary school in the old part of the city. The kids are all presenting skits about the school over the years, and I have been invited to attend (this is the school where Frau Florschütz works). So that means that I may only have tutoring tomorrow, with one class cancelled since the teacher will be at this thing, too, and my other teacher saying that if the show runs long, I should see it to the end, rather than leave to get back for her class. We'll see.

Going to go now, time to cook dinner. It's 6:00 and has been dark for over an hour. Whee Fall! But really, the weather has been staying surprisingly nice here. A lot of the trees have leaves, although by this time normally they have been rained off. Hope this finds you all well, be in touch, I love to hear from you!