Sunday night I could hardly sleep I was so excited for my first day at school. I had so many unanswered questions, I was dying to know! What would the kids be like? What will they think of me? Viola gave me her old phone and I bought a sim card with "Aldi Talk". What this is, is basically a one time fee and I talk to her and the boys for free! Which is very nice incase we are traveling and become separated, I have a way to contact them. Anywho, the purpose of that information is that I set my alarm on it for the mornings! I was looking for a ring tone that would guarantee me waking up (I'm a very hard sleeper!). Then, I came across the perfect song by Simon and Garfunkle: "The Sound of Silence". I love this song and hadn't heard it in forever! So, this is now my designated ring tone, which is very peaceful to wake up to, I must say!
Now that I am off subject, let me tell you about my first day of schule. Viola and I ride our bikes to school everyday. It is certainly a good way to wake you up on a cold morning! I love that we ride though. It makes me feel much more productive and I could certainly use the exercise. Before I go on I must tell you this bike is a little big for me and much different than any bike I ever rode in the US. It has big skinny tires and the handle bars swoop down. You also pedal backwards to break! Like children's bikes in the US. I need to take a picture so you can see it, as my descriptions will not give you the image I want to share. I don't know what it is about the bike but it makes me want to whistle! I try to hold back from doing this! Everyone is so good at riding their bikes here and in contrast, I'm... well... terrible! I am SO short for my bike. It takes everything in me to get on and get going and even more to get off. I finally figured out to bring my leg over and hop off. Those that know me well must be dying laughing right now. The image of me on a bicycle is quite hysterical! But wait, it only gets better from here. The school is very close so it takes no longer than five minutes to get there by bike. Right before you get to school there are posts you have to swerve in and out of. The first time I saw them there might as well have been a huge red light flashing and a sign that says "Emily: DO NOT ENTER". The first time I hopped off the bike, walked through them, and then go back on. Now that sounds like no struggle but let me tell ya, it was! This time I didn't want to go through the trouble of getting on and off; plus I hate making Viola wait on the slow American bike rider. I decided to conquer the posts. I approached them and before I knew it my tire hit the post and I almost when flying off the bike. Viola was ahead of me and makes it look so easy! I giggled and pushed myself off. I hope no one saw me. It was very embarrassing! I will bike through those posts before I leave. Mark my word! I will show pictures of the posts someday so you can understand how hard it is, or maybe... its just me! Keep laughing, but you better get used to it cause this girl is getting a bike when I get back to Kentucky :)
I walked into the schule and saw kids everywhere! I was now even more excited! We went to the teachers lounge which is a huge room with an individual desk/table for each teacher. Between periods the teachers come here to eat, plan, make copies, etc. I really wish our schools in Kentucky had this. It is so nice and makes it feel like the teachers are a big family. They are always collaborating together, which is fabulous! My class is named "5a". We made our way up to the classroom and I introduced myself. I prepared a "me box/bag" which I learned from my education classes at WKU. I used a WKU bag and inside of it I put items that represent who I am. For example, I put a University of Kentucky (GO CATS!) t-shirt, headphones because I love music, my nook because I love to read, etc. etc. The kids LOVED it! I passed around the items so they could have a close look. Then, I "quizzed" them to see if they understood my explanation since I spoke English. You would be surprised just how smart and great these kids did! After I prepared a picture slideshow of my family. I told them who they were and their names. They loved seeing them. It made me sad the first introduction seeing my whole family. I know if they had been here they would have been so proud of me! The lesson was a success and it broke the ice very well, I thought! The kids kept speaking to me in German and although I could understand some of them, there were many things I wasn't sure of. Thank goodness for Viola and Frau Hegel. The rest of the day I continued to introduce myself to all of Viola's classes. I had kids ranging from 5th grade-7th grade. They were all such wonderful kids! Sometimes we had extra time at the end of my introduction for the students to ask questions where they asked in English and sometimes in German. We encouraged them to try using English which many of them did very well. I was very impressed! The first day was so wonderful! It made me so excited for the next couple weeks here. I couldn't have asked for a better experience and I am learning so much! I may be teaching English but they are teaching me German, and I LOVE IT!!! I need to remember to bring my camera so I can share photos with you!
Till' Next Time! :)
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