epic fail...

So apparently American culture really is taking over the world. I have gotten used to seeing mcdonalds and burger kings and subways all over the place. I have gotten used to the Yankees hats that everyone thinks just means NYC. I have laughed at English words that have become part of the German vocabulary: “hast du das online gefunden?” It’s become old hat now. I was not prepared, however, today, in my 9th grade class, when, while working in a group project, one of my students, in the midst of a convo in German, dropped the epic fail. Really. As in: “hast dud as gesehen? Was er gemacht hat war ne total epic fail.” My jaw actually dropped before I cracked up mid-class. I had to ask the kid where he had heard that, and whether people here said that now. Apparently so. I cannot WAIT to here the epic fail bomb dropped in other conversations with my friends. I will make fun of them mercilessly.
In other news, happy almost Halloween!! (how has October flown by so quickly?!?!?! AAAHH!! Aidan is here, doing well, and still apt hunting. I’m back at school this week, and I’ll start my new schedule next week. Yay!
Hope you’re all doin good!

-seany

Hamburg Foodfest!

So, on my second day of fall break, today, I headed up to Hamburg with a few friends to go to the northern Germany organic food expo. Ooh yes… woke up this morning at 545, after a few minutes of sleep, and headed up to the lovely city-state of Hamburg, where, shock of all shocks, the sun was SHINING!! It NEVER shines in Hamburg! It was pretty cool… we went into the convention center, got our pretty nametags and swagbags, and headed in! it was pretty much heaven. Except for the vegan stuff. Let me just say: ew. I normally avoid vegan things like the plague, probably because I believe that vegans carry the plague, and that they also can’t taste anything, which is why they choose to be vegan. (sorry, readers who are vegan, no offense intended, but I happen to think that that is a poor life choice. Also, don’t be offended if I put on rubber gloves before I shake your hand… I do that to some other people as well.) I ran away from the vegan foodhawkers, but was tricked once! They cheated, and actually looked like they had eaten real food! So, I tried a vegan blueberry muffin for the first (and last) time ever. Lets just say, (and, oh god am I gonna get shit for this) that there was no bluffin with this muffin… I took a single bite, and lets just say my face didn’t know whether it wanted to shrivel up in disgust, or explode with vomit. Needless to say, I thanked the vegan decepticon nicely, and spit my mouthful into the nearest available receptacle. I will never, ever, ever give up meat and meat products. ever. Other than that, the food was amazing… got to try lots of different organic chocolates, cheeses, coffees, wines,(!) fruits, veggies, and various and sundry other lovely things… On the way there, I got my fill of foodie conversation, and on the way back, I got to talk abt international politics and econ, which was lovely.. all in all, a fantastic day. Now, back to the rest of my fall break :D
-seany

lions and tigers and germ(an)s, oh my!

So, it’s my third week at the new school, and I’m starting to get the feel of the place/the students. Although this school/the students are very different from last year, they’re both beginning to warm to me. At first all the kids were nervous and quiet, (some still are) but I took the opportunity of teaching most of them by myself in order to show them a little bit more about me, my sense of humor, and other crazy things about me. Today I brought some fun youtube videos to class, in order to show political satire, so I showed some Colbert Report and some SNL from the election last year. While it was above most of the kids heads, some of them got it right off the bat (YAY!) and then I explained it to the rest of them. They’re slowly starting to realize that I’m more than just another boring teacher standing in front of the class and lecturing! W00t!
This week will actually be the first week I will have had all my classes, so we’ll see how meeting the new kids goes tomorrow! I’ve been plugging my extra-curricular stuff to the teachers and the older students a lot, so hopefully, once that starts, we’ll have lots of participation. In other news, the other ETA will be arriving at some point this week, to work at my old school… hopefully we can work on some of the community stuff together, and expand on what Karen and I did last year…
Not so much news about me personally… been pretty good, plodding along, apu. I’ve so far avoided the swine flu, even though I’m surrounded by teacup humans filled with germs. Hand sanitizer is a wonderful thing! There have been a lot of kids sick already, and I’m trying to avoid touching them at all. :X
Anyways, have a great week, everyone!!
-seany:o)

ps, you've got to admit, that's the best post title EVER!

auf deutsch!!

Today I had my first choir rehearsal at OHG, my old school. It was really nice to go back and see some old faces, and be welcomed back. After an entire year of listening to Germans sing songs in English, (just imagine bohemian rhapsody or Michael Jackson with a German accent!) we’re finally singing songs in German!! Only 2 of them, but still, it’s awesome… One of my old students leaned over to me and goes “you should sing this song with the worst American accent you possibly can, just so we know what you go through on a weekly basis!” I was sorely tempted, but it’s hard enough singing in German without intentionally sounding crap, so I stuck with my natural accent. Maybe for the performance next month the strong Ami accent will come out :D happy almost weekend, everyone!!
-s

case of the mondays on a tuesday.

So, I just started my second actual week of teaching, and in true German fashion, half of my classes for the week have been canceled. It’s "klassenfahrt" week, which means that lots of the classes and the teachers are away on school trips, so I’m either teaching alone, or classes have just been canceled. Now, normally, my schedule isn’t that intense: I work 5 hours on Tuesday, 4 hours on weds, and 3 on Friday. This week: 5 today, none tomorrow, and 1 on Friday. Out of a total of 12 hours that I normally work, I’m now working 6. Lots of free time is great, but there’s NOBODY HERE. I’ve been reading a lot, and playing by (not with!) myself outside. So far, I’m really enjoying the new school, and most of the kids and teachers are enthusiastic, but it’s again difficult to break into an already established micro-society, so I’m still very much an outsider… at least my German is much better than last year’s, so at least now I can converse with anyone who chooses to say hi! Nothing else really new to report, except that I made some bomb-ass pasta last night involving lots of veggies and home-made pesto sauce…

oh germany, i love you...

you come up with such interesting activities:

back in germany!

So, I’ve been in Göttingen a week! For those of you unfamiliar with the situation, the short and sweet story is that I suddenly was supposed to be at my school, unbeknownst to me, and so I had to rush the end of my summer, pack hurriedly, and get on a plane over here! I’m at a new Gymnasium now, the Hainberg gymnasium, which is just west of the city center, and a really pretty building. It is only the upper levels of school, so it starts at 9th grade (YAY!!) which means I’m only teaching older kids, which is just fine by me! The English teachers have been really welcoming and nice, and so now I’m juggling attempting to iron out my schedule for the semester. Other than that, I’ve been busy settling back into my apartment, organizing my life, and getting stuff done that needs to get done like: make my bike functional, get my visa(s), get school supplies, etc… It’s been beautiful weather here though, which has really helped/hindered my progress, as all I really want to do is go play in the sun and warmth! Tomorrow it’s supposed to be 91 degrees, so I’m not particularly excited about that, but it is also my second day off this week, so maybe I’ll go for a bike ride to somewhere cooler… we’ll see!
Hope everyone ELSE is having a great summer
-seany