December Reflections

I know it's January, but since I haven't written in this blog for over a month and didn't write at

all in December, I'm going to give an brief overview of December...

December was quite a busy month.

Visitor from the U.S.: Kenny (my boyfriend) came to visit for the first week of December. It was wonderful to see him, and we also went to visit my relatives in Austria again. While with my relatives, we went to Salzburg's Christkindlmarkt (Christmas market). We got to see the beautifully decorated city and walk around to the various booths of handmade crafts, Christmas and winter items, and delicious food. Below is a picture of the Christmas market.

Snow/Winter Wonderland: Here in Altdorf we got a lot of snow, and I mean a lot, over the first few weeks of December. We even had a day off of school because of the snow! The snow made life a little more interesting and the town prettier. All together I think we probably got over a foot of snow! I went on two walks through a nearby woods that I normally jog through. I have some pictures below of the snow-covered woods.

Christmas Time in Germany: Christmas is quite similar in Germany as it is in the U.S. Decorations of lights, fir tree scrappings, angels, Santa Clauses (Weihnachtsmann in German), etc. Of course, there are some other traditions found in Germany not found in the U.S., such as Advent calendars, which count down the 24 days before Christmas. I've seen these calendars in the U.S., but they aren't as popular there as they are in Germany.

I also had the chance to go to Nuremberg's Christmas Market, which is the most famous one in Germany. When it wasn't too crowded, I enjoyed walking through the rows of booths and drinking a nice warm cup of Glühwein (hot, spiced wine).

From December 24th through December 26th, I stayed with my Austrian relatives. It was really interesting to experience Christmas in Austria and see their traditions. I also went to Christmas Mass at the Catholic church my grandmother grew up in. My Austrian relatives' Christmas traditions are similar to my family's in the U.S., but the Christkind (who brings the children presents) comes on December 24th, and the children open the presents usually that same day. Of course, I missed my family a little bit during these days, and I was particularly anxious to fly home on the 27th! So yes, I decided to come home to Indiana from December 27th to January 3rd. It was a quick week, but I was able to get really cheap airfare, so I decided it was worth it. And it definitely was! Last week was spent relaxing at my parents' house, visiting friends, eating lots of good food, and visiting Muncie and Ball State University. I was sad to leave, but I'm also glad to be back here in Germany to finish my last six months.

Reflections of the past four months: I've been thinking about my time here so far, and I have to say I'm pretty content here. Of course, I have my frustrating days when I feel like my German is terrible and I feel like an awkward foreigner. But at other times I really think I'm helping the students enjoy their English classes. For example, I had a class of 5th graders singing, swaying, and clapping along to an old childhood song, and I received positive feedback about an activity I did with my two conversation groups. For this activity, I made up various discussion questions and different words that the students had to describe for another person to guess. I printed out these questions and words and cut them into little strips of paper. The students and I took turns picking out the strips of paper from a hat and discussing what was on them. It was a relaxed activity for the students, and it was an opportunity for them to talk about themselves and learn about each other.

I plan to start a book club in February. This will be for older students who are interested in reading short stories from various English-speaking authors. I'm excited to share with the students one of my own interests, and hopefully this club will allow them to enjoy learning the English language.

I promise I will do a better job in the coming weeks with my updating!