Well, I made it. Ten months have come and gone, and I am back where I started, in Atlanta. Everything worked out great my last week in Storkow. Got to see everyone and say goodbye. The send off was wonderful, and I received amazing pictures and mementos from my many friends, none of which broke on the trip home.
It is good to be home. I really feel like I achieved everything I set out to do during the last year. I did a lot of good work at the school. I got out into the community with the chorus, and I made a lot of friends that I hope I can stay in touch with. Storkow is going to be a comfortable, familiar place that I can always come back to on any other trips I take to Germany. I am very sad to have to say goodbye, but I know that for at least some of my friends it really is just a see you later.
And to all of you here, I can't wait to see you and hear from you! Thanks for all the emails and the greetings while I was away, and I am really looking forward to getting the chance to spend the next bit of time with you. I have the same cell phone number I had last summer, if that means something to any of you, and will be sure and be in touch soon.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Rainbow weather
Hi everyone!
well, I am staying late in the school building alone, and I hope that isn't something I am not allowed to do, but it is the best time to use the fancy computer in the media classroom. But to keep it not so creepy, I wanted to listen to music, and so am subject to the bizarre bad music that is saved on this computer. I keep almost turning it off, then deciding no, it is better than silence... but not a lot better.
Things are pretty hectic as it all wraps up here. I am having a hard time keeping straight what day it is. But that is important because after today, I have some sort of engagement for every other evening in Storkow. Tomorrow, Abi ball, which is sort of relatzed to prom only the families come, too, and it is in the gym. Saturday morning I have a coffee date, and Saturday night I am riding my bike with some friends to Dorffest (that's right, village festival) in Philadelphia. it is only a handful of kilometers away, and it's not in pennsylvania. Ok. Sunday is lunch with the Florschützes, then going to the sauna with a friend from chorus. We have to go for at least 4 hours, is what she said. alright... Monday evening there is a sort of farewell dinner with the teachers. tuesday is the last chorus practice, and since last week it was cancelled, I have to go to this one to exchange addresses and the like. Wednesday I am going to the opera in Berlin, and Thursday night I will be on a night train to Trier. I will be in Trier for the weekend, come back on Sunday, and fly home Monday morning really early. Oh, did I mention I am giving lessons all next week like normal, too? Of course I am. I need to plan in when I am going to pack, otherwise it is not going to happen, I think.
Anyway, despite how hectic that all sounds, I am taking time to enjoy my last week in Storkow. And one thing that is sometimes enjoyable is the weather. Yesterday and today have been full of sun and very short showers. At one point walking to school I needed an umbrella and sunglasses at the same time. The nice part is that the little bit of rain has been enough to cool everything off and keep the sand from flying around as much as it does when it is really hot and dry. My neighbors water the dirt street when it doesn't rain enough so that the house doesn't get dusty. And then there is the lady on our street who I have seen twice watering the yard by holding the sprinkler in her hands and spraying it back and forth across the yard. I guess she missed the part about them doing that automatically.
Anyway the really neyt thing about the weather that I really wanted to mention is that yesterday evening there was an amazing rainbow, it was so great. And it reminded me that the last time I was in Germany there was a rainbow right before I left, too. Somehow it made me feel a lot more ready to come home.
I am also excited about the fact there are air conditioners at home! Here it has been pretty warm, especially inside the classrooms where you can't leave the windows open at night. And there is no AC, and not even fans. That is the part that confused me, in the summer if you don't have airconditioning you at least have a fan somewhere. Not in Germany. Because in germany, constant air blowing past the back of your neck causes problems. Either a stiff neck... a cold... kidney infection, no idea really what, but so far I have heard lots of different motherly ladies reprimand someone for not making sure they are out of the breeze. And then these people freak out in the summer because they don't know how to make anything cooler. Sigh.
Alright, need to get going and not keep leaving the school open. Hope you are all well, and am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
well, I am staying late in the school building alone, and I hope that isn't something I am not allowed to do, but it is the best time to use the fancy computer in the media classroom. But to keep it not so creepy, I wanted to listen to music, and so am subject to the bizarre bad music that is saved on this computer. I keep almost turning it off, then deciding no, it is better than silence... but not a lot better.
Things are pretty hectic as it all wraps up here. I am having a hard time keeping straight what day it is. But that is important because after today, I have some sort of engagement for every other evening in Storkow. Tomorrow, Abi ball, which is sort of relatzed to prom only the families come, too, and it is in the gym. Saturday morning I have a coffee date, and Saturday night I am riding my bike with some friends to Dorffest (that's right, village festival) in Philadelphia. it is only a handful of kilometers away, and it's not in pennsylvania. Ok. Sunday is lunch with the Florschützes, then going to the sauna with a friend from chorus. We have to go for at least 4 hours, is what she said. alright... Monday evening there is a sort of farewell dinner with the teachers. tuesday is the last chorus practice, and since last week it was cancelled, I have to go to this one to exchange addresses and the like. Wednesday I am going to the opera in Berlin, and Thursday night I will be on a night train to Trier. I will be in Trier for the weekend, come back on Sunday, and fly home Monday morning really early. Oh, did I mention I am giving lessons all next week like normal, too? Of course I am. I need to plan in when I am going to pack, otherwise it is not going to happen, I think.
Anyway, despite how hectic that all sounds, I am taking time to enjoy my last week in Storkow. And one thing that is sometimes enjoyable is the weather. Yesterday and today have been full of sun and very short showers. At one point walking to school I needed an umbrella and sunglasses at the same time. The nice part is that the little bit of rain has been enough to cool everything off and keep the sand from flying around as much as it does when it is really hot and dry. My neighbors water the dirt street when it doesn't rain enough so that the house doesn't get dusty. And then there is the lady on our street who I have seen twice watering the yard by holding the sprinkler in her hands and spraying it back and forth across the yard. I guess she missed the part about them doing that automatically.
Anyway the really neyt thing about the weather that I really wanted to mention is that yesterday evening there was an amazing rainbow, it was so great. And it reminded me that the last time I was in Germany there was a rainbow right before I left, too. Somehow it made me feel a lot more ready to come home.
I am also excited about the fact there are air conditioners at home! Here it has been pretty warm, especially inside the classrooms where you can't leave the windows open at night. And there is no AC, and not even fans. That is the part that confused me, in the summer if you don't have airconditioning you at least have a fan somewhere. Not in Germany. Because in germany, constant air blowing past the back of your neck causes problems. Either a stiff neck... a cold... kidney infection, no idea really what, but so far I have heard lots of different motherly ladies reprimand someone for not making sure they are out of the breeze. And then these people freak out in the summer because they don't know how to make anything cooler. Sigh.
Alright, need to get going and not keep leaving the school open. Hope you are all well, and am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
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