Opening New Doors

Picking tulips

So much has happened this week. My week started in Düseldorff with one of my favorite people, Sabine. She is a Italian teacher at AFG whom I met last year while in Rome. I absolutely loved this city! It holds a special place in Sabine's heart because she went to the university there. By her showing it to me, it made it special to me as well. We were able to see the Rhine River and take a short walk next to it. We also got to go shopping, yay! We got sushi for lunch and then, naturally, went to a Italian coffee shop for our afternoon coffee. On the way home, we saw a tulip field and stopped and picked a few before returning home. What a great day we had. I am so thankful for her!

On Monday, Miranda and I were back at Uhlandschule. We did our usually performances and added a fun charades game into our lessons. The students enjoyed working together to make their charades. We saw some pretty creative ways to act out different hobbies, I might’ve even taken some notes for future reference :). With first grade, we were able to sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”. The students really enjoyed all the songs and activities we put together. Third grade has really been my favorite class to teach. We teach storytelling and have been letting the students make up their own story. The students are all so creative and eager to make a story. One major difference I have noticed is students and their writing utensils. The students in Germany are serious about the pens and pencils they use to draw and write. No way would any student say, “Ms. Haas, I don’t have a pencil.” It is serious business to have 3 different ink pens, a pencil, a full color wheel of colored pencils, and, of course, rulers and erasers.

Look at that concentration

Birgit and family

Monday, April 29, also marked the Dancing into May celebration. May 1st is Germany’s Labor Day. So, we had no school on Tuesday. We were all able to celebrate together and with Birgit and her family. Birgit and Bruno burned up the dance floor. This event was so fun and it appeared that everyone who lived in Werne was celebrating by Dancing into May.

The culture in Germany is so welcoming. Everyone is so friendly and eager to talk to us. I feel that this directly relates to the fact that they are taught English early in their education. Thus, they are able to communicate so well with us. The students are all extremely focused on school and they want to succeed. Obviously, kids will be kids but overall there is very few times the teacher has to take time to redirect behavior. This leaves more time for teaching and addressing content that needs to be addressed. Students are expected to learn at school so they come to school and are prepared to learn. Students also feel a bit of pressure to be successful which is why they are so eager to study for tests. The students want to be successful in their schooling.

Today, we had a special encounter with Martin Schiwy Pfarre. I found this house that had beautiful character. I loved the ivy inching its way up the brick. The little handrails looking like bunnies. The special brick  had been perfectly placed on the house. As we were taking some photos in front of the house, an elderly man came out and started speaking German. We all assumed we are in trouble for taking photos in front of his house. We told him we only speak English and he asked us if we would like a photo of all three of us. We say, “yes” and he snaps our picture in front of his lovely house. He went on to tell us he and his wife worked on the front of this house together. He told us about planting the ivy, about the bunny handrails, the perfectly etched cement on the house, and then he tells us that his wife passed away a year ago. It was obvious how happy telling us about his house and his wife made him. It made me so happy, too. We all realized he was lonely. We knew he must have been watching from the window, alone.  Observing what the rest of the town was doing while he sat inside him home. I am thankful I picked that house to take a picture in front of today. Because, for one moment, this new friend was able to feel so special and full of life again.

I think this is important to share because coming into international student teaching each of us need to be open to all the encounters you have with people and seizing all the opportunities you are given throughout this wonderful experience. Whether that be spending time with the people in your program, spending time with other teachers at AFG, or spending time with your host family.

Tomorrow we will hop on a train to Berlin to spend the weekend. Thank you, Heike, for planning this exciting trip! Can’t wait to learn more about the history of Germany.

Until next week-