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.

Halle

Hi everyone, this is another short one, but going to throw a picture up when I can.

Halle was great, the weather is wonderful, and watching Germany win their first game in the world cup was very cool.

The picture is of the Halle Marketplace. Haale has 5 towers. 4 on the church (it used to be two separate churches and they turned it into one big one) and the red tower, which the people built for themselves as opposition to the church. They also have a Roland. Not sure if Handel is on the picture or not, but his statue is on the square, too, surrounded by red and white balloons.

Hope you are doing well, and that I hear from you soon.

WM-mania

Well, for those of you not living in the land that is hosting the World Cup and somehow missed it, today is indeed, the day that has been anticipated at least as long as I have been here, the opening day of the World Cup. It took less than 10 minutes for me to be reminded of it today. I turned on the radio and boom, the first words out of the announcers mouth (and repeated about every 7 minutes, not counting the commericals that reminded you too) were "today is the opening day of the world cup". bizarre. Have I mentioned what a big deal this is here? You can get just about anything in a Germany and/or a football version. There is football bread. There is football butter. There is football nutella. There are football sausages. Just about everyone is an official sponsor of the German national team, and has big flags on it (very very rare in Germany otherwise.) Tonight the game starts at 6 oclock and I imagine for the next 90 minutes plus some, absolutely nothing else will happen. ALthough apparently a lot of stores are staying open later than usualy during the world cup. Maybe it is because they lose all the business during game time, and to make it up, they are open later. What I didn't hear is if they are closing while the game is on. It seems like a distinct possiblity.

I am taking a trip to Halle on the Salle this weekend, and I am looking forward to it. We would have left tonight, but we couldn't leave early enough so that the husband in the couple I am travelling with could be in Halle in time to see the game. So we have to leave early tomorrow morning. At least this way I can spend the evening with my frinds here in Storkow, as they all watch too.

Alright, need to go, a class is coming into the computer classroom. Hope to hear from you soon!

Dresden

Hi everyone,

this has to be short because I need to go to a coffee date. But I was in Dresden yesterday, and it was lovely, and I can send you all a picture of it. Before we were in Dreseden we climbed through the Elbe Sandsteingebirge, and my legs are still tired. The night before that I went to the Komischer Oper in Berlin with my chorus director. We saw Prokoviev's The Love for the three Oranges, and it was amazing. Which is why I am attaching now a picture of the Opera house in Dresden (the Semperoper).

Hope you all are well and having a nice beginning of June! (One month left...)