It's All English to Me

At the Christmas Market in Dresden

I just realized that I have almost been here for more than three months.  Furthermore, I am averaging a whopping one blog per month. Lame!  So here's another :)

The last couple weeks have been great--feeling a lot more settled at school, traveling for a couple weekends before that (prompting my housemate to call me a Travel Maniac), and just feeling more settled in general.  The kids seem to be enjoying having me around as well, which is always a moral (ego) boost.  I was even cheered for in the third grade class the other day!  One of the local newspapers came into one of the classes yesterday to interview me because they are running sections on the local schools.  The article turned out really nicely and they ran a picture of me "teaching" with some of the kids.  Most definitely staged.  The kids were all trying to get into the picture for a little, but in the behaved German way they ended up staying back far enough for the photographer.  The one kid who ended up (not on purpose) being in the background was the one kid whose parents said that he wasn't allowed in the picture.  I guess some people are just destined for greatness no matter what stands in their way.  Sometimes not even your parents can keep you out of page F27 in the newspaper.        (ok, the number was a little exaggerated). 

At my favorite Dresdener Weinachtsmark: Neumarkt

We've been learning about Christmas for the last couple weeks as well as finishing up our time unit. . the two units together have introduced more Britishisms than I thought would run into in Germany.  It has been incredibly difficult to remember it's half past 10 instead of ten-thirty.  I still seldom "have got" anything nor have I ever taken "maths" in my life.  If my American accent wasn't hard enough for the kids to understand I don't know how my confusion helps my explanations either.  I have found that there is an interesting amount of pride in American English among the Fulbright students.  I think being around someone else's dialect brings what you like about your own into sharp perspective.  There are more differences than you would think as well.  Last week while teaching the second-graders i took the stack of cards and held up the first one.  I love the second grade because they provide a counterpoint to the big fourth graders.  They are small and get to play a lot of games in class as opposed to having a little more constructed work.  Now, most times the cards have the words on the back: picture of a pair of shoes = shoes, etc.  These didn't but what could be the big deal?  I started out strong with "these are socks" and then quickly plummeted to a point where I should have just sat down with the kids.  Before the children could repeat, "this is a hat" we were informed that it was, in fact, a WOLLY hat.  Ah, no big deal, that makes sense.  But it had planted a seed of doubt.  After success with "t-shirt" we moved on to "these are shoes." But they weren't, they were "trainers." After a further failure with "cappie" I tentatively checked with the teacher, "jacket?"--It could definitely have been a jacket masquerading as an "anorak"--it was and I was finally more confident wearing my trainers, socks, trousers, and pullover.  Its all English but I have never got any maths.

Neumarkt again, with the Frauenkirsche in the background. After taking this
we had to run to a store to warm up.. it was a balmy 15 degrees or something.

On another partially related note, I have been enjoying Christmas time in Sachsen.  I seem to have landed in two of the best places to experience Christmas in the Germanic world with Salzburg and Dresden.  People absolutely love Christmas time here and are extremely proud of their traditions, their markets, and their handmade works.  There are many many different Christmas markets in Dresden besides the main market, the Stielzelmarkt, which claims to be the oldest in Germany and has the largest Erzgebirge step pyramid.  I am yet to find one for myself (miniature sized) but am hoping to get a handmade one this week before I leave for Salzburg for Christmas.  I did get myself a really neat Räuchermannchen that was carved down in the Erzgebirge and resembles Gandalf a little.  I think he and the Pyramid would be a fitting Christmas adornment together.  

Räuchermannchen

 Thats all for now but I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas from here in Germany :)

I have some more pictures on my camera but cannot find the cord.  ONce I find it I will for sure post some more!

Denise and I on a snowy hike south of Dresden

A Beginners Guide to Making a Busy 12hr Work Week

Fall in Dresden--This is at the Straßenbahn stop outside my place

This is near the TU-Dresden (the University)

We live in a society and world that calls us to efficiency.  This fits me, I like being busy--working, exercising, going to school, writing papers, socializing. During my time at UP it was simple: take 15-17hrs of classes, work two jobs, and overcommit in general.  Vwuaaaa-la, mission accomplished.  I came into this year thinking my 12hrs of work a. . .wait for it. . . week would be good for me.  I couldn't be overcommitted or at least would have to find several hobbies to make it passable.  I have found through some trial and error that I, indeed, can make a 12hr work week busy.  I want to share my tips an pointers so if any of you are stuck in this same fortuitous  position than you'll know exactly what to do with yourself.  I will not claim that the following list exclusive in any way but a good start toward making one's self busy while enduring the hardships of 12 hrs in primary school classrooms.

The key to accomplishing the goal of being "busy" is always having something else on the list.  This means that you can NEVER finish your list.  Sub-tip 1: If you don't make lists start--the "to-do" list is your key to measuring how busy you are. As you see slashes creeping through the words nearing the end of the page quickly jot down something that you inevitably forgot.  This leads us to TIP NUMBER ONE:  its alright to forget non-vital things. If you forget some of the trivialities, the small things you don't need to do but really should accomplish, two productive things can happen.  Suddenly, the trivialities will become important and often, urgent.

Before we get too far into sweeping tips we need to remember that the start of the day is one of the most important parts of the day.  Remember TIP NUMBER TWO when your alarm goes off: Snooze like you mean it.  Not just lazily hitting the button because you're so comfortable rolling out of bed would just be a cumbersome task.  If you're not rushing in the morning you're not starting your day with the sense of urgency that you had when you looked at your "to do" list the night before.


TIP NUMBER THREE: Make your commute productive. . but not all the time.  By doing something while commuting than you fill a couple seemingly empty hours with productivity.  Furthermore, make sure you are not productive during your commute a couple times a week. This will make you miss the normal productivity of your commute and thus enhancing its ability to feel like you accomplish something everyday and that you are working toward your goals (overall productivity).  Not doing something on the commute a couple times a week is a reminder of what you could be doing.  That brings us to TIP NUMBER FOUR: Wasting time is a platform to make everything else you do seem more important.  Without wasting some time your achievements, however small, will seem less important and your small achievements will be the forgotten little brother at the rest stop.  (consequently, my family has only forgotten my mom at a rest stop. . I honestly don't know how this ever could have happened as all of us kids always had a bead on where she was).  TIP NUMBER FIVE: Rejoice in the small things.  You remembered to use "abholen" instead of "bekommen"? Great.  You helped (or at least tried to help) the old lady on the Straßenbahn? Great.  You answered a question correctly without really knowing what it meant? Great.  You understand (almost) everything in the 4th grade German class? Great. 

Now, you don't want to waste too much time because you don't want to slip into being lazy. . that being said you don't have to be efficient.  TIP NUMBER SIX:  Why go to once when you can go twice?  Really,  Getting outside is always good and going to the store takes time AND is productive.  Two birds pigeons with one stone.  The more time you spend in transit places than the better off you are.  Therefore, two trips to the store is definitely better than one.  You can even mix it up and go to two different stores--one will assuredly be farther away.

TIP NUMBER SEVEN follows tip number six: Struggle with bureaucracy. 

These are the official guidelines for pictures..
Note five lines from the top

A move to a new country or situation cannot avoid some bureaucracy.  You have to deal with bureaucracy in some way.  Make sure you deal with it as often as possible while also making sure you construct your own barriers and red tape to parallel their barriers.  In this way you can make a seemingly impossible maze of red tape into something truly foreboding.  For example, get all the documents you need in order but take a horrible passfoto at a random kiosk.  To really do this right find the kiosk that is in the grungyist hidden corner of the train station.  If it looks like nobody uses it its what you're going for.  The pictures may look alright, but do not fear! They will most likely fade yellow if you wait (wait the couple of days just to make sure they are the proper yellowish tint).  Here are some quick things that you can do if you find yourself settling in in Germany to prolong your struggles with Bureaucracy: give the railway a non-residential address for your bahn card--it just wont get delivered and you'll have to go into the station and then finally call and attempt to get them to send another, sublet--it will take a while to get a good enough looking rental contract for your Aufenhaltserlaubnis, make sure you use electronic means of communication to matriculate at the University--basically, only communicate in a way that can be ignored.. if you go in they have to deal with you. Now if you do go in make sure you go in at a time when the office is closed, preferably right after it closes. In this way you maximize your effort to productivity ratio such that you use as much effort as possible without falling into feeling like you are, in fact, wasting time.

TIP NUMBER EIGHT: Deal with the unexpected.  Now this isn't as much as a tip as much as something to remember.  Things will happen and you'll have to deal with them.  By doing this you'll actually get better at them and, if you happen to be in Germany, get to practice your German.  When my bike was stolen I got to use a lot of time figuring out what I could do about it, talking to the police, meeting the police to take pictures of the basement cage, and looking for my bike on the internet.  It sucks but there is nothing else to do but deal with it and, hopefully, by dealing with it I'll at least increase some sort of understanding of German.  At least I'll know what "pedals" are auf Deutsch, probably forever.

TIP NUMBER NINE: Find a hobby. . or two.  One key is finding a hobby to use your time.  Doing actual productive things during free time is essential to using free time.  Who would've thought?  I always have things I want to do or get into but have not had the time or they were not high enough of the priority list to make the time.  Now you don't even have to make the time as much as use it.  Some may ask if this is the case why have I not kept up on my blogging. . . uh, anyways, find something productive and fun to do.. something that you might not get to do otherwise.  Oh, and stay (or get back) in shape.  Think of the weather beckoning you out to work out; or challenging you to, as the case may be.

TIP NUMBER TEN:  Make Friends and have a social life.  This means something different for everyone but when working such a schedule why not get to know people and experience the world though someone else's glasses?

Denise and me in Nürnberg at the castle wall.

TIP NUMBER ELEVEN:  Make sure you work towards your goals that you came with.  This one is a no brainer.. for me it means getting my German better.

I hope that these tips will help you at some point and if not, I hope they help you understand my day-to-day life a little better!  Its been great and I haven't yet had a problem keeping busy. . perhaps I'll refine my technique and publish a refined and updated guide but until then, keep busy!

October 10, 2010

So I wrote this a while ago, didn't like it too much, decided to change it, didnt end up doing that, decided to post it, had to deal with my bike being stolen, and now I'm finally getting around to it.  Thanks for your patience (if it required any ;-p )!

At Oktoberfest. . I think all of Italy and a lot of Bayern were there.

I think I am forming quite the habit of writing while on the train. . I guess I need to start taking books with me to avoid this.  I am traveling back home to Dresden after half of our Fall break, in which I traveled to Salzburg, München (Oktoberfest), Nürnberg, and Bamberg. Although there were a lot of locations wrapped up in that last sentence they are all situated in such close proximity to each other that I was actually able to achieve relaxation!  I spent four and a half days spending time in Salzburg (exculding the one day at Oktoberfest) and then the other days in Nürnberg with the last overnight in Bamberg.  The weather, in a surprisingly unusual move, decided to welcome the break with sun and clear sky (minus one day).  We have some Russian air currents, meaning cold air, moving in but it has also kept the clouds away.  That is one reason that this trip has been such a success.. hopefully I'll be able to impart some other reasons in at the next paragraphs.  I have settled on a couple overarching reasons for the trip being so relaxing and fun, they are as follows: Spending time with friends, gracious hosts, and Fulbright connections.

On the train to München

I met up with Denise and Liz, Liz is a college friend that went on the Salzburg program with us and is participating in a Fulbright grant in Mainz, and returned to our old stomping ground of Salzburg.  I left Salzburg with a plethora of experiences but a convincing feeling that I had not stomped the ground to its fullest extent.  A few days of doing "Salzburg things," with the exception of Oktoberfest, did a little to abate this feeling and reminded me how easy it is to pick up something that has been left off.  We stayed with one of our former professors in Salzburg, who owns an extra little apartment right next to her own.  She would have us for tea and coffee in the evening and set a time for us every morning for breakfast.  We would knock on her door to find fresh break and tea or coffee cup, according to our preference.  I was battling a little of a throat cold and, therefore, consumed about a liter or two of tea a day. 

I forgot how gorgeous Fall was in Salzburg

On Untersberg. . Im getting better at self-shot photos. :)

We went to Mass on Sunday morning at the main Dom, which is actually not under renovation at the moment.  So many of the old churches and buildings maintain an almost constant external skeleton of scaffolding over part of their exterior.  It is very rare to see a large old building that does not have at least a partial shell.  We then wandered through the city, had coffee/hot chocolate at the café Fürst, Later in the day we had dinner at our favorite local restaurant (Knüsperschnitzel--breaded with cornflakes, mmm, mmm mm, so good), and commenced to run the food off on the way to getting Denise and Liz to the train station.  Apparently our sense of how long the journey took was a little underestimated.  In end result Denise and Liz reached the train clutching full bellies of Schnitzel and Weißbier. 

The most quintessential Austrian hiker.. Note the Nordic walking sticks

My last few day in Salzburg brought me to the top of Untersberg, a small mountain just South of Salzburg, and the the UP-Salzburg Center.  I made it to Untersberg without problem but with worry I was on the wrong bus. When I asked the ticket booth if they had a student price for the Gondola to the top of Untersberg he asked if I lived in Europe. Yes, I live in Dresden.. oh and here is my international student card.  His response:  This card is bad. . . but I will give you the discount.  I guess there are some tangible benefits to trying to speak German all the time.  Untersberg was wonderful. . I spent a couple hours just enjoying the clean air and un on top.  The only polluting element was an annoying American tourist that knew everything about anything.  I think if I could have had dinner with him I would have been lucky if I only escaped with a couple pearls of knowledge or at best understanding the progression of philosophical thought throughout time.  On the gondola he explained to some other American tourists some of Salzburgs history and that it seemed amazingly small for having 300,000 to 400,000 people. . the Austrian next to him corrected his impression by informing the group the total was close to 100,000.  Go big or go home I guess.

Aloe Blacc on tour in Munich. Denise's cousin plays keyboard for Aloe.  It was awesome hanging with them and being at the concert.  One of the sweetest connections I've been able to use.  Ever.  If you like soul music at all look him up!

After making sure that I utilized my week bus pass to the full extent and a short stop in München for a Aloe Blacc concert I could I met Denise in Nürnberg to spend some time with her and do Nürberger touristy things.  It was wonderful being able to wander around Nürnberg and enjoy the sun with her.  My favorite part of our wanderings was stopping at a cafe on the castle wall called the Wanderer for a couple glasses of wine and just watching people and chatting.  Our time in general we did many things that I would have done on my own as well but it reminded me that traveling is much more fun with a companion or group.  I would have had a hard time justifying staying at the café so long (we outlasted everyone who was sitting when we first sat down) or been so content walking around for so long.  We met up with two different groups of Fulbright people in Nürnberg which most definitely gave us a slice of America.  Sitting at a table of 6 Americans who are all excited to speak English is quite comforting. We are also certainly all German-nerds. . we're a small percentage of American college students who really wanted to learn German and come over here for a year.  Fairly homogeneous really.


Tschüssie!!

Biking the Elbe

So I am postponing writing about school but soon, I promise :)   I really am waiting because I want to get a picture of the kids to go with it.  They all have these backpacks that are hard plastic (much like oversized lunch boxes with straps) that are wider than their backs.  When I was trying to leave school the other day I was surrounded by a group of kids (girls to be more exact. . beats me why only 1-4th grade girls find me super cool).  Anywho, point being Im working on a school post and may just go without a kids picture but I'll get one soon enough.

September 20. 2010

On the Elbe

The sandstone made steep and interestingly worn
formations.

So I know I promised to write about school but Im going to postpone that until the end of this week (the end of my hospitality weeks--sitting in and watching).  I did make the teachers brownies on Friday as a end of the week gift and, more importantly, a thank you for having so much patience we me, my german, etc.  I got to the school during the last period of the day so I dropped off the brownies with a teacher in the staff room and wasn't back until Monday.  The ploy seemed to have worked!  The teachers continually greeted me, or else greeted passed by and came back, to say "oh die 'Brownies' [capitalized because its German :-p] war sehr lecher, Danke!" The word 'lecker' essentially means delicious.  One teacher asked me if the brownies were calorie free, describing how they consisted of a good inch and a half, crud I mean 4cm of chocolate.  I told her it was an old American trick to make a calorie-free brownie..

I have been trying to take advantage of the good weather we've been having here (but also there are COLD, frigid nights already) to get outside.  This last weekend another Fulbrighter from Saxony, Dan, and I headed down to the Sachsische Schweitz for a little hiking.  We set out with a book my current Mitbewohner lent me with a somewhat detailed description and about 3x3cm map to guide us.  On the train trip down (only 30min by S-Bahn!) we talked about how European trails are, in general, poorly marked.  For example, they use little pictorial markers--not unlike flags, three horizontal stripes, usually white-color-white, or a colored dot with a white background--to guide hikers.  As hiking is a popular pastime here and many of the trails can be a little confusing because the parks are not the vast expanses in the US and they do run into civilization one would expect that they are well marked. Wrong.  It seems that typically markers are placed along sections of the trail that are obviously the trail. In short, saying, "good job! you're headed the right way!"  Where they fail is that they are distinctly lacking at intersections, turn-offs, forks, etc. In short, saying, ". . ." well absolutely nothing at all or, perhaps, projecting, "good luck! But you should know where you're going anyways or just relax and enjoy yourself."  Furthermore, distances are measured in hours instead of kilometers.  I do not have the fairest idea how to measure an hour on a map.

We ran into several difficulties on our little walk.  The first part was absolutely clear because we walked along the top of a rock formation until we descended from it.  We had trouble once this section was over.  There was a part of the trail that had our sign, white-yellow-white, pointing one direction, ales Klar. Then we reached a fork.  Only white-red-white and some other landmarks that we were not going towards.  So we walked in roughly the direction that the first sign had told us.  We ended up in a small village. Hmm.  Asking a nearby German for help he looked at our book and pointed out that we should, in fact, be in a forest and we definitely were not.  He directed us to walk through a field and find the trail again.  We both realized if we were in America we would be looking around for the farmer, ready to hit the deck when he or she started firing warning shots at us to get of her land.  Thank goodness it wasn't a American farm.  We made it back to the trail and were again on the right path.  At this point we did realize that it would help to read the directions instead of just using the map (remember, 3x3) and started following white-red-white.  I, however, cannot explain to you why the yellow trail markers wouldn't just continue at this point. We ran into a couple similar problems but managed fairly well after that.  Every once in a while we would see the white-red-white again on a tree or somesuch.  It was reassuring but the significant walking past the forks in trail still left us in long minutes of wonder.  In the end we took the shorter cutoff.  Although I feel like we did well with the directions we must have had significant wayward walking because the "three hour" distance was four and a half for us. 

Other neat/different things about European hiking is the access to civilization, mostly meaning food, bier, and lodging.  We even stopped at a small restaurant on the berg for a bier during the hike.  We also passed several B&B's on the way down and ate at a B&B/restaurant upon our return.  Overall it was a successful trip for sure!!  When I go again I will continue to expect to go the wrong way and humble myself to understanding that their 1hr distance is longer for me. . sigh.

I made it to Meißen to the West of Radebeul.  After I coffee I was ready to bike
home. . although I prolly should've taken the opportunity to look around more

My other outdoor adventures this week consist of biking to work.  Its a 30 minute ride to Radebeul mostly along the Elbe river on the Elberadweg.  Its an extremely nice ride, most of all in the morning with few people on the path.  On Monday I biked out to Meißen before I headed back to Dresden. (33 miles of bikign today total). I had a Cappuccino and lunch in a cafe there and then had a Torte at another because it looked like a locals place.  When I was getting back on my bike I talked to an old woman from Hamburg. I took her picture in front of the cafe for her as we talked about Saxony and where we were both from.  Her accent was a little difficult but not as bad as the Dresden dialect.   I think I should start bringing books with myself when I go exploring so that I can sit and read at the cafés for a while.  The only downside that I see is that, Im starting to hate cobblestones (well, at least when on a bike). . I don't know why they insist on making every path with those little vibration creating things!  They have them on parts of the path here and there.  Quite annoying.  Some of the sections of them are these HUGE stones that felt like they were trying to buck me off my bike if I don't go super slow.

Dresden at the end of my ride

Overall, Ive enjoyed the wonderland that is outdoor Saxony and Im giong to be urning for spring soon!

16. September 2010--Altenberg and Hoping the Sun will Come Back

We couldn't even fit all of the Kölner Dom in the picture
of all of me for that matter. . .

Ive just finished me first week after the three day training session outside of Köln which lasted from Sept 6. through Sept 9.  We learned many things about what we were supposed to do this coming year, a bunch about bureaucracy (which royally stinks to deal with b-t-dubs), the German school system, and most importantly I discovered that coffee gives me strength and confidence.  Its a lot easier to speak German after a cup of it! I think one of the most important things about it was meeting other fulbrighters in Dresden, Saxony as a whole, and throughout Germany.  It was quite a pleasant splash of cold water over my face to go from hearing practically only German to standing in the middle of a chattering crowd of 160 American, British (20), Australian (3), and New Zealander (1) Fremdsprachenassistants.  Luckily, I was able to break into the English-speaking world by meeting up with the other UP Fulbrighters the night before training in Köln.  I reveled in being able to speak English, share travel stories (Liz and Allison by far outshine my own, having been on the continent doing exciting things for weeks), and catch up. 

This is the Cathedral at Altenberg.  The complex is a former
monastery that is now shared by the Catholic and
Evangelical Churches. About 30min outside of Köln it
was pretty much all by itself. Over the wall to the right
is a cow pasture. .

The four of us (Liz, Allison, Sarah, and me) shared a few drinks and went out in search of Turkish Kebabs that evening.  It was definitely a sweet and glorious moment having a Kebab again. . Im pretty sure that they are going to be my downfall at some point.  A Turkish Kebab requires the server to slice meat (usually chicken) off a rotating 2.5ft stacked slab of meat.  Sarah and I shuffled giddily waiting for our Kebabs and were content for the day thereafter. 

The next morning we headed to the Kölner Dom after grabbing breakfast and sat at a coffee shop trying to peg who other fulbrighers were.  With somewhat dubious success we finally pegged a girl sitting next to us as a fellow assistant.  Picking out Americans is a not so delicate process of eyeing their shoes suspiciously.  Running shoes are pretty much a dead giveaway. . also certain backpacks are certainly red flag markers.  Comments varied from "He's for sure American, look at those kicks" to "if he's a Fulbrigher I call dibs" and falling to the point of something like, "look at his gate, he even walks like an American." Four hours at a train station is never a good sign.

This is my bed (top bunk) at training. . nice view of the
Cathedral out the window along with the 30min long
alarm clock (bells) at 6:30

The training was busy at its worst and lively and fun at its best.  They even opened an impromptu "bar" in the evenings after the sessions.  Meeting so many new people is exciting, most of all when there are set conversations to fall into because we all shared the same upcoming experience.  Even having similar conversations gets exhausting though. I found myself gravitating toward the people I knew or had previously met after a little while.  The German hosts of the conference were extremely nice and often had a funny dry sense of humor which kept even the bureaucracy from grating our collective patience too raw.

After the conference I was able to travel back with Sarah and we ran into another Fulbrighter during our train change to travel the rest of the way with.  Traveling with people really is much more splendid than alone. I'll post something else in the coming days about my first week.  I want to get some pictures of the school/Dresden first.  :)

5. September 2010--Stephan, Stefan, Stefan, und Stephan

The first Dresdener I was in contact with, an email address given to me by the former assistant in my school, was named Stephan.  Its quite the fun name to attempt in a German accent.  In the coming days I ran across adds for rooms by a Stefan, then more Stephans.  A few days ago I emailed Stefan and Stephan, who had a nice room for rent.

I realized yesterday as I walked past the Straßenbahn stop that I was talking to myself.. a couple other people noticed directly before I did.  I have never had so much time to myself and, consequently, never had so much time in my own head.  I guess sometimes I don't realize how much the lack of consistent social contact makes me compensate within myself.  This must be exactly what happened after I emailed the Stef(ph)ans. 

This is a picture of the local trains--the S-bahn that runs several different directions, including out to Radebeul (which they pronounce "Rad-a-boil" here. .)

It took me by surprise how some of the smallest things make me realize the differences between America and Germany.  I noticed once I got off the plane that Germany lacks that foreign-jaw dropping feeling this time around.  I feel a sense of normalcy now with in a country that is a temporary home.  The Stephans pulled me a step outside of this feeling for a moment.  Many buildings were built in the early 1900's or before, the light switches were outside of the bathrooms (my hand consistently travels thoughtlessly up and down the inside wall of the bathroom), Peugeot is not only a bike brand from the '70s, the trains run on-time, and the people are speaking German (Hopefully soon the last will also be a small difference, I added it with this thought in mind :0)  ).  I like being used to and getting used to these small differences that make up the complex web that is apart of the culture. 

Thus my mind pulled and moved around a simple concept. Perhaps someday I'll thank Stephan for prompting my small reexamination of my life. Or, then again, probably not.

This is me sitting in my Pension-zimmer.. it was really nice to have my own space and bathroom although there wasn't internet in the room--or anywhere in Radebeul for that matter. I went around looking for it with no avail.

September 1. 2010--From an airplane over the Atlantic

12hrs 20 min since I woke this morn, drove to PDX, said bye to D and went through security. Im writing this while on the plane with about seven hours to Frankfurt.  I am finally at the point where I feel I can really get ready to land but i also feel that this is the easy part of my journey.  I can just sit here on the plane and not have to worry about anything.  I can just sit and watch the lady across the way mirroring the Karate Kid movie playing. My plane yoga is not on par otherwise it would probably be good for my circulation to join.. On the plane there is at least nothing I can do , really not too much to worry about.  I feel as though once I arrive I am bound to be a spectacle, like the vw bug in a mattress commercial--the people having monopolized on the savings and stacked the car three fold its height in mattresses.  In my inevitable awkwardness I may even wish I was sitting on the plane once again.  Or perhaps not. .

I figure what better time to write my first post here than  before I arrive and embark toward  Dresden.  Once I get off the plane my forced inaction must abate and I will be consistently moving for the next days. 

This is me after reaching Frankfurt.  I wish I had taken a picture of me with all my stuff but, unfortunately, I didnt want to dig through my bag to find my camera.  Note the large backpack has my other backpack strapped to it. .



 The next photo is a poor image of my strapping of my other backpack to the roll-y bag.

I titled my little set of writings here "Ziemlich Gut Deutsch" because I speak, read, and write ziemlich gut Deutsch (I'll let you look that up: dict.leo.org).  As I wrote emails to German students asking for rooms to rent, or more poignantly, talked to them on the phone I realized that I am most quintessentially a sorta good speaker.  I hope by the end of the year I can drop the ziemlich.  This is a blog about my experience as a Fulbright Fremdsprachenassistant in Dresden/Radebeul, about my travels, the many lessons I will learn.  I hope I can get across some sort of clear image of my life through these writing and photos.  My dear friends, please comment, tell me how I am doing with this goal, and in this way, by reading and perhaps also interacting here, I hope you can join me in this place I will soon call home.