"a solid foundation"

ok, help me out, guys... did you guys have to say the pledge of allegiance every day in school when you were little??!?!??!?! you wouldn't believe the stuff i've learned about the US since i got here... whether it's true or not, it's in the textbooks! and i quote, "every morning before classes begin in america's schools, pupils stand together with their classmates, put their right hand over their heart and recite: i pledge allegiance to the flag..." they claim, of course, that the kids have no idea what it means, but the "symbolic act of standing up together, facing the stars and stripes and chanting in a prayer-like rhythm the same thing every day makes reverence for the flag an unquestioned absolute in their minds"... what!?!?!? i mean, sure, in first grade, once a week, usually monday mornings, but really... did you guys have to do this??!?!?! seriously, in half of the classes i've been to, this has been a topic of interest. they all want to know if we really have to say the pledge, and do you have to say it if you don't like america, etc. it's hilarious. so really. i'm dying to know!!

arachnophobia!

i have a confession. i really really really hate spiders. it's not that i'm afraid of them exactly, except that sometimes really, i am... but mostly, i just really don't like them. and my room is in what is essentially the basement here. and you all know about spiders and basements. they go together like love and marriage, like a horse and a carriage...you get the point. i can't even count them. i've seriously had to kill like 3 of them a day!! and those are just the ones that have actually frightened me! the rest i leave alone!!! there are even two, that live quite comfortably out of arms reach on the ceiling in my room. i feel so bad about killing the others--they're a part of nature, and it's not like it's their fault they have 8 scary long legs and are ugly and happen to live in or near my room!!

i was actually doing ok until the other night--i was lying on my bed, reading a book, minding my own business... then all of a sudden i see something out of the corner of my eye. something big and dark and scuttling across my floor! it was the hugest spider i'd seen here yet! maybe even the biggest spider i've ever seen inside of a building! you can't just let something like that go!! it could kill you!! the kind you have to kill right away, because if you stand there looking at it for too long, you lose your nerve, because it's so huge and freakish! so, of course, i had to do it. i had no choice. the thought of waking up with that thing on my face... i don't want to talk about it... but so far, the spiders are scarier than the students, so i can't really complain.

rain, rain, go away

it's raining again. not that i'm complaining. god forbid!! if there's one thing you're not allowed to do in germany, it's complain about the weather!! you'll be chastised with some banality about how the land needs the rain, or lectured about how it's just a part of life, and so deal. which is, of course, a valid point. and really, i have nothing against the rain... it's just, you know, prettier when the sun shines...

panik!! the first "real" day...

ok, the details of my secret life as a tourist are being postponed, because i'm having something of a moral dilemma. (and, at the moment, a linguistic one as well--how the hell do you spell dilemma?!?!)

so. i haven't really figured out who i'm supposed to relate to more here, the students or the teachers. agewise, i might be closer to a lot of the students, but as far as stage in life or whatever, i'm clearly not in student mode and identify more with the teachers. but...since i'm not really a teacher, sometimes i'm in this awkward position where the students say things to or around me about the teachers, right? so then i'm sitting there, going, OMG, but Frau X is my new best friend!! or but Herr Z is so nice!! can this be true?! what if he IS a terrible teacher?? can we still be friends?!?!? oh no, what if the students find out i actually LIKE these people?!?! or worse, what if they're right, and so and so is the worst teacher on the planet??!? what am i supposed to say???! OR even worse...what if I'M absolutely horrible and everyone hates ME?!!?!
gasp. shock. horror!!!!

really, how am i supposed to sleep at night????

Altweibersommer!

apologies to those of you who put up with my hysterics about the weather when i first got here. in actuality, winter has not yet set in here. in fact, the past few day, we've had something of an indian summer, or "Altweibersommer," in german. but whatever you want to call it, it's been great!

in other news, i met my first church-going german! the statistics will tell you that germany is 34% catholic, 34% protestant, 3% muslim, and the rest is "other"--read: not religious. (see, you learned something! who knew this was an educational blog...) but evidently, i had only been interacting with 29% of the population! that may not actually change, though, because i met--and, i think, offended--my first german christian all at once. she had mentioned her church group, casually, 40 or 50 times, so i asked if she'd grown up in the church. (i know, i know, i brought this on myself...) and i ended up explaining that i'd gone to a christian high school, and i think i caught her off guard, when i said it wasn't entirely a positive experience. but hopefully she's still speaking to me, because she's one of the nice, younger teachers at the school--not that there's a shortage of nice, young teachers, but it's still probably not a good idea to estrange people at this point in my career here =)

i'm only half serious, of course. like i've been saying since i got here, i cannot get over how freaking nice people are!!!! it worries me a little sometimes, because after working mornings at starbucks for a year and a half and dealing with grumpy people, who hadn't had their coffee yet, i'm not sure i remember how to interact with nice people! it's crazy. people i don't even know have offered to drive me places or to give me rides to school in the winter when i can't ride my bike, or invited me on hiking excursions or offered me books, candles, small kitchen appliances, and who knows what else. one of them even gave me a couple of houseplants, which, at the moment are my favorite things on the planet! they're sitting on my windowsill, looking all green and alive, and it just makes the room so much brigter and more pleasant!! (i'm thinking of naming them, any suggestions??)

as far as i can tell, though, most of the younger teachers are either married or in long-term relationships. not that i came all the way to germany to look for a husband or anything--i'm perfectly content to experience the country independently--but it does make one wonder about being the third wheel when hanging out. but what can you do? i mean, i could sit and home and be bored to death, but where's the fun in that?? besides, if there's one thing i learned from starbucks, it's Just Say Yes!! (don't you just love customer service training?!?) seeing as i have a hard time saying no to people anyway, this isn't terribly difficult for me, and so far, my own personal Just Say Yes policy has been quite successful. i've met some very cool people, seen some interesting cities--well, towns, really, only one actual city!--but you get the point...

ok, more on the tourist adventures later...

where the hell is künzelsau?!?

so, for those of you sitting at home thinking to yourselves, where the hell is Künzelsau anyways...here's a map! as you can see, it's in the middle of nowhere!! as far as climate goes, it's definitely not summer anymore! it's colder here than it usually is in the midwest at this time of year, but it doesn't really look like fall, though. the leaves haven't started to change yet, but i have a feeling that when they do, i might just decide to stay here forever, even if it is in the middle of nowhere!!

to the polls!

as probably about 3 of you know, elections were held in germany yesterday. obviously, i can't vote here, but i got to go along and watch everyone else vote!! it was a little different from how we do things in the states. we got to the courthouse, where you vote, and there was a little sign explaining that the voting room was on the second floor. ok. except that this is an old building with no elevator. meaning, of course, that unless you can climb 2 flights of stairs, you can't really vote. that was a little strange, coming from a world where handicap accessibility is required and not just a suggestion. but the voting process itself was similar, although a little less complicated and nervewracking than it is in the US. you just have this sheet with all the parties and candidates listed and circle next to each one, and you mark the circle next to the candidate or party you want to vote for, fold it in half, and drop it in the ballot box. nothing electronic, no chads, not even envelopes =) (always trying to be environmentally friendly, you know...) and after you drop your ballot in the box, they have a bowl of bon-bons on the table for everyone who voted. cute, huh? i mean, in the states, all you get is the little american flag sticker: i voted today!! =)

the other thing that was weird is how long it DIDN'T take to get the results!! i guess that's one advantage to voting in a country that only spans one time zone!! (imagine how long it would take to get results together in Russia with it's 11 times zones or however many it has now!!)

5 things i learned today

so really, the title should be "5 things i learned today about umbrellas," but i didn't want to give it ALL away right from the start =)

thing 1: what those little metal basket things at the entrances to restaurants, stores and cafes are for: umbrellas!

thing 2: umbrellas are cheap in germany

thing 3: there's a reason for that--everyone needs 8 or 9 of them, because...

thing 4: when it rains (and it rains every 5 seconds), it pours, and if you don't have one, you end up looking like a drowned rat--not that i'm speaking from experience or anything... or you could forget your umbrella in one of those little metal basket things, and it would be good if you had another 3 or 4 with you!

thing 5: i can't talk about Harry Potter with Germans without busting out a British accent. (what, you ask, does this have to do with umbrellas? i'm not entirely sure either, but aren't rain and umbrellas and those little umbrella basket things British?!?!)


now playing: "Katzen brauchen, Katzen brauchen, Katzen brauchen furchtbar viel Musik!!" (for the unitiniated, this is the german version of the everybody wants to be a cat song from the Aristocats
now reading: german travel guides =)

starting over

well, since my first few blog entries disappeared, i guess i'll just start over. in a way, this is quite fitting, since i just arrived yesterday in Künzelsau, and i feel like I'M starting over =) for one thing, it's just strange to be in a high school setting again. that's something i haven't really experienced in, what, 5-6 years?!? today was my first day at the school, so there was, of course, a lot going on. i met about 8 million people, shook 8 million hands--i'd forgotten how much people in germany like to shake hands!! i mean, yes, we do that in the states, too, but at my age, not so much... i guess it just feels really formal to me. but the real problem is that i met so many people, that i'm never going to be able to remember all of their names! (assuming i can pronounce them in the first place!!) people have done really well with my name, though, which i find impressive. normally, the "th" is mispronounced. but i've mostly met english teachers, so they've had lots of practice with that sound!

so far everyone i've met has been EXTREMELY nice, which is good, and i think i might even like it here, assuming i survive the first couple of weeks =) wish me luck!!

you may have seen this before...

hmm. my blog seems to have disappeared. i guess that's what i get for using internet cafes. but i happen to have this one in email form, so i'm posting it again. sorry if you've seen it already.


7. september
i was kind of in a hurry yesterday, because i was in a rather pricy internet cafe, so i left out a few important things: first, a huge thank you to mel for hosting me for all of last week and generally being the goddess of domesticity, not to mention introducing me to the chaos that is john's hostel. good times. second, i just wanted to let you all know that there are some good people here in deutschland--the kind who see a silly american girl with far more stuff than she can carry and offer to help, even to the point of locking up their bikes and walking across the street and back a block and half in the direction from whence they just came. so cheers to good people everywhere!!

in other news, i think if this whole germany thing doesn't work out, i'm going to move to switzerland. when i got back to the hostel last night, two of my roommates were there, one in the shower and the other on the phone. so i said hallo and went about my business. then i realized, hey, she sounds like she's from switzerland!! (thanks, simone!) so she gets off the phone, says hi, and i proceed to announce/ask if she's from switzerland, which, indeed she is. she and her friend are taking a mini-vacation in germany. then she proceeds to state that i'm from here, right? hell yes, she thinks i'm german!! score!!! (p.s. this never happens. usually, the second i open my mouth, people switch to english, even when my german is perfectly understandable, because it's THAT obvious that i'm american.) but really, all of the swiss people i've ever known--you know, all 3 of them =)--have been super nice.

of course, i can't actually afford to live in switzerland, so this isn't really an issue, but you know, if things go sour in künzelsau, and let's face it, i mean, the town is called künzelsau, you'll know where to look for me =) by the way, every german who finds out where i'm going, either makes a face and says, they've never heard of it, but what a funny name for a town, or they make the same disdainful face and say, yeah, they've heard of it... super. i mean, like i'm not nervous enough already!

now playing: sufjan stevens (thanks, mel!)
book of the moment: franny and zooey, by j.d. salinger