Things here have been busy, but great. I have been very busy helping my friend Mandy set up the new apartment that she is buying. Saturday, we went to look at bathrooms and went to a few Home Depot-type stores looking at various odds- and- ends needed for a new home. Tonight after work, we drove to a kitchen store to pick out her kitchen. So much fun!! Tomorrow, we are off to pick out tiles for her bathroom and kitchen. Aahh, at least I can live vicariously through friends :)
But the Roesner family good news is that we just booked our tickets for Christmas!!! Joern, Marcel, and I will be flying in on Dec. 20th, so I hope everyone is prepared for the jolly German three! I am so very excited!!!
Montag, 22. Oktober 2007
Dienstag, 2. Oktober 2007
Payday baby!!!
I am so very excited today! I was finally paid today! True, I have been working since the end of August, but due to the lovely German pay system, I only just received my first "paycheck." Here, you´re only paid once a month! Crazy weird, I know. Imagine though, how large a monthly payment seems, then imagine the knowledge that you have to stretch it out for the next month. Yikes! Then of course, is the huge chunk that magically disappears here without explanation (that would be taxes.) I do miss the good old American pay stub that explains where your money went. The only deduction listed separately was my health insurance. Everything else simply went into this magic disappearing pot! How wonderful :)
The good news? The great exchange rate for the Euro :) And of course, the fact that tomorrow is a holiday here, and I have lots of internet shopping to make up for!!!
The good news? The great exchange rate for the Euro :) And of course, the fact that tomorrow is a holiday here, and I have lots of internet shopping to make up for!!!
Montag, 1. Oktober 2007
Celebrate fall- auf Deutsch!
Happy memories of life in Connecticut always include fall. Aahh, that marvelous season. School begins, the air becomes crisp, the smell of fireplaces used for the first time, and the beautiful lush forests of gold, red, and orange. And of course, the wonderful harvest foods- pumpkin pies, apple crisp, delicious acorn squash- just to name a few. Such pleasant memories!
Fall in Southern Germany is just as magical to me, yet in slightly different ways. School begins just the same, the weather has turned wonderfully cool, people have turned on their fireplaces, and the leaves have started to turn. Sure, we can buy lots of apples and pumpkins, but why stop there? Joern purchased 10 kilos (yup, that´s over 20 lbs!) of cabbage last week. He worked hard all weekend to make 7 Kraut Kuchen (cabbage cake!)
Okay, so kraut kuchen is like a cabbage quiche. It is so delicious, although sadly, because they are a lot of work, have fallen out of style. They taste best with another German fall favorite- Neuer Wein (new wine.) Neuer wine is wine that is bottled directly instead of stored. It´s like hard grape juice- delicious!!
Three Kraut Kuchen, some Neuer Wein and pear cider.
Starting new traditions, especially around fall, makes me really happy!
Fall in Southern Germany is just as magical to me, yet in slightly different ways. School begins just the same, the weather has turned wonderfully cool, people have turned on their fireplaces, and the leaves have started to turn. Sure, we can buy lots of apples and pumpkins, but why stop there? Joern purchased 10 kilos (yup, that´s over 20 lbs!) of cabbage last week. He worked hard all weekend to make 7 Kraut Kuchen (cabbage cake!)
Okay, so kraut kuchen is like a cabbage quiche. It is so delicious, although sadly, because they are a lot of work, have fallen out of style. They taste best with another German fall favorite- Neuer Wein (new wine.) Neuer wine is wine that is bottled directly instead of stored. It´s like hard grape juice- delicious!!
Three Kraut Kuchen, some Neuer Wein and pear cider.
Starting new traditions, especially around fall, makes me really happy!
Sonntag, 30. September 2007
So busy, so busy
It has been forever since I have posted. Things have been really crazy here, and today is the first day in 3 weeks that I could take time to collect my thoughts and post.
I guess I´ll start with work. I love it!! The kids are adorable. I am enjoying learning how the 4 year old mind works, and having tons of fun with all our little ones. One boy is determined to teach me German, and another little girl is teaching me Japanese. The kids amaze me. One little girl can write in Japanese - she is 4. Another little German boy can speak Chinese because he lived in China for 3 years and attended a Chinese pre-school last year. They mostly all speak at least 2 languages. The little ones who don't speak any English truly inspire me with their bravery in facing such a scary world every day!
Unfortunately, I also had to take my first sick day last Tuesday. The fun of working with little ones! There was a stomach bug going around, and coupled with some stresses (like visitors,) my stomach couldn't take it anymore!
On Thursday the 20th, my mother and stepfather came in to visit us and to go to Rome for a few days. The visit was pleasant, although any visit can be stressful. We did some very nice things though. Last week Saturday, we went to the Maerklin Museum (model trains,) and to the Steiff Museum (the teddy bears.) Sunday, we went to Heidelberg, a very old and charming city about an hour from here. We rode on a funicular up a mountain to a restaurant at the top. The views were spectacular. On the way down, we stopped at the Heidelberg Castle. Because Heidelberg suffered little damage during wars, it still retains much Old-World architecture. We had a spectacular time!
My mom, Joern, and me standing high above Heidlberg
My mother and stepfather returned from Rome on Friday night, and we had a very pleasant, very large, dinner with friends and my mother-in-law. My mother's flight out was Saturday afternoon, so we spent a leisurely morning together before bringing them to the airport.
It was very nice to have my family here, and great to do things. Now, I am looking forward to getting back to our routine, and excited for Wednesday, my first German holiday!!
I guess I´ll start with work. I love it!! The kids are adorable. I am enjoying learning how the 4 year old mind works, and having tons of fun with all our little ones. One boy is determined to teach me German, and another little girl is teaching me Japanese. The kids amaze me. One little girl can write in Japanese - she is 4. Another little German boy can speak Chinese because he lived in China for 3 years and attended a Chinese pre-school last year. They mostly all speak at least 2 languages. The little ones who don't speak any English truly inspire me with their bravery in facing such a scary world every day!
Unfortunately, I also had to take my first sick day last Tuesday. The fun of working with little ones! There was a stomach bug going around, and coupled with some stresses (like visitors,) my stomach couldn't take it anymore!
On Thursday the 20th, my mother and stepfather came in to visit us and to go to Rome for a few days. The visit was pleasant, although any visit can be stressful. We did some very nice things though. Last week Saturday, we went to the Maerklin Museum (model trains,) and to the Steiff Museum (the teddy bears.) Sunday, we went to Heidelberg, a very old and charming city about an hour from here. We rode on a funicular up a mountain to a restaurant at the top. The views were spectacular. On the way down, we stopped at the Heidelberg Castle. Because Heidelberg suffered little damage during wars, it still retains much Old-World architecture. We had a spectacular time!
My mom, Joern, and me standing high above Heidlberg
My mother and stepfather returned from Rome on Friday night, and we had a very pleasant, very large, dinner with friends and my mother-in-law. My mother's flight out was Saturday afternoon, so we spent a leisurely morning together before bringing them to the airport.
It was very nice to have my family here, and great to do things. Now, I am looking forward to getting back to our routine, and excited for Wednesday, my first German holiday!!
Sonntag, 2. September 2007
My week
Last week was my first whole week of work. It all went really well, and I am excited for the rest of the year.
Monday through Wednesday were teacher work days, filled with tons of meetings, and lots of work getting the classroom ready. Our classroom is really small, only for 10 kids maximum, so we didn´t have that much work to get the room ready. I was really pleased that they treat classroom assistants as part of the functioning school. At my old job, assistants were always very hidden, and I barely knew 1/3 of my colleagues. Here at ISS, I have already met all of the people working in the elementary school!
We had our first day with the kids on Thursday, and everything went really well! Our first student arrived at 8:10, and it took us 15 minutes to realize that he was in the wrong class- out he went! He was a real cutie, but he was already 5 (our class is mainly 4 year olds,) and he could count, knew how to spell and write his name, and had excellent speaking skills! Our official class count right now is 8 kids. Hopefully, two will move in during the year, because 8 is very small! But the ones I´ve met so far are adorable! We have 2 German kids, two English, and two Japanese. Two more kids will start this week.
It was a fun two days with the kids, learning about each other. They are all so small, and so sweet! And boy, do they make us laugh! It will be wonderful to get the classroom really rolling in the next few weeks, all of our shyness will disipate, and I am so excited to start seeing relationships form between the kids!
Monday through Wednesday were teacher work days, filled with tons of meetings, and lots of work getting the classroom ready. Our classroom is really small, only for 10 kids maximum, so we didn´t have that much work to get the room ready. I was really pleased that they treat classroom assistants as part of the functioning school. At my old job, assistants were always very hidden, and I barely knew 1/3 of my colleagues. Here at ISS, I have already met all of the people working in the elementary school!
We had our first day with the kids on Thursday, and everything went really well! Our first student arrived at 8:10, and it took us 15 minutes to realize that he was in the wrong class- out he went! He was a real cutie, but he was already 5 (our class is mainly 4 year olds,) and he could count, knew how to spell and write his name, and had excellent speaking skills! Our official class count right now is 8 kids. Hopefully, two will move in during the year, because 8 is very small! But the ones I´ve met so far are adorable! We have 2 German kids, two English, and two Japanese. Two more kids will start this week.
It was a fun two days with the kids, learning about each other. They are all so small, and so sweet! And boy, do they make us laugh! It will be wonderful to get the classroom really rolling in the next few weeks, all of our shyness will disipate, and I am so excited to start seeing relationships form between the kids!
Sonntag, 26. August 2007
Food for thought, or thinking about food
I have to take a moment to brag about two wonderful recipes from this past week. So proud of myself, because they both came out wonderfully!
Fist, I made a delicious orichette and radicchio pasta salad from a recipe in last month´s Martha Stewart Living.
Since it has been such a cold summer, we definately haven´t been to many cook-outs, and I found myself craving pasta salad. Martha Stewart came along just in time to provide me this outstanding recipe that yielded this beautiful salad!
(http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=d1fb2af968fd3110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default)
Today, I went to a pot-luck brunch for the Early Learning Center of the International School. The ELC is pre-K through 1st grade, and we all got together to kick off the school year. It was held at the home of the deputy lower school principal, and it was wonderful! It was so great to see some old faces I had worked with last school year, and of course, it was brilliant to get together outside of the school. I took a chance on a Paula Deen recipe. I firmly trust Paula, and know that I don´t ever need to test her recipes before introducing them to people, because they will always be good. Well, yet again, Paula proved herself with an incredibly rich, yet amazing Praline French Toast Casserole
(http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_26774,00.html) which was out of this world! Go Paula!!!
Fist, I made a delicious orichette and radicchio pasta salad from a recipe in last month´s Martha Stewart Living.
Since it has been such a cold summer, we definately haven´t been to many cook-outs, and I found myself craving pasta salad. Martha Stewart came along just in time to provide me this outstanding recipe that yielded this beautiful salad!
(http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=d1fb2af968fd3110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default)
Today, I went to a pot-luck brunch for the Early Learning Center of the International School. The ELC is pre-K through 1st grade, and we all got together to kick off the school year. It was held at the home of the deputy lower school principal, and it was wonderful! It was so great to see some old faces I had worked with last school year, and of course, it was brilliant to get together outside of the school. I took a chance on a Paula Deen recipe. I firmly trust Paula, and know that I don´t ever need to test her recipes before introducing them to people, because they will always be good. Well, yet again, Paula proved herself with an incredibly rich, yet amazing Praline French Toast Casserole
(http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_26774,00.html) which was out of this world! Go Paula!!!
Samstag, 25. August 2007
Three cheers for drugstore.com!!!!
I know that I really have to start getting used to German products. You would think that after 5 years, I´d have better integrated myself. But, there are certain things I just can´t give up on, and since I can purchase said items in dollars, it is cheaper to have some things sent from the States.
Yesterday, I received my drugstore.com purchase of- cleaning supplies and face soap! Woo Hoo!!! I ran out of my regular cleaer last week, and then considered buying something German. But, since I have yet to find something that comes remotely close to those wonderful scents of lavender and pine, I really didn´t want to buy a whole bottle for a week. So, shhhh.... I didn`t really clean until my precious bottle of multi-purpose cleaner arrived. Now, I am in the throes of cleaning heaven (okay, maybe that´s a little dramaticized,) but I am really excitied.
So, three cheers for my absolute favorite internet drugstore, for feeding my "dis"integration into German society :)
Yesterday, I received my drugstore.com purchase of- cleaning supplies and face soap! Woo Hoo!!! I ran out of my regular cleaer last week, and then considered buying something German. But, since I have yet to find something that comes remotely close to those wonderful scents of lavender and pine, I really didn´t want to buy a whole bottle for a week. So, shhhh.... I didn`t really clean until my precious bottle of multi-purpose cleaner arrived. Now, I am in the throes of cleaning heaven (okay, maybe that´s a little dramaticized,) but I am really excitied.
So, three cheers for my absolute favorite internet drugstore, for feeding my "dis"integration into German society :)
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