Letter of Intent

The following is my letter of intent written to Teach for America:

During my year as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Germany I learned that a country’s education system is not only closely intertwined with its culture, but also a reflection of its values.

I was placed in two high schools in an affluent suburb of Munich, one of the wealthiest cities in Germany. Later in the year I had the opportunity to visit a school in a small and economically struggling East German town. After a day of visiting classes there, it was clear that they had access to the same technology, their buildings were equally as up-to-date, and their teachers were equally as qualified as at my schools. The German education system is far from perfect; they struggle with many of the same issues we do in America, including integrating their growing immigrant population. But I saw that German children, regardless of their geographical location, had access to the same educational resources and were expected to meet the same academic standards.* Germans recognize that this equality is necessary in order to move toward a better and more unified nation. This experience made me wonder; what would an outsider think of American values if they were to visit a public school in a poor rural town or inner city? I hardly think that the American public school system portrays the values of freedom, equality, and inclusiveness we pride ourselves on.

I want to join Teach for America because I want our schools to be proof that we are a nation that values all our children, not just a privileged few, and recognizes that they will all play a part in the future of our country. I want to be one of many Americans to reach out and tell those children who have been ignored that they are important to us, to America, and to the world. I believe that I can begin to accomplish that in my two years as a corps member by setting high expectations for the kids in my classroom and working hard to provide them with the support and knowledge they need to reach those expectations.

Teaching abroad and returning to work for an education association has taught me a great deal about myself and my strengths and interests. I am passionate about education and plan to pursue a higher degree in a related field, but before I continue my studies I want to see first hand the impact that I can have on one school and one group of students. My experience in a classroom will make me more aware the issues that require the most attention and that I will be most able to impact in my future. German school children taught me more about German culture than I could have imagined and I believe that American school children will inspire and motivate me to take an active role in shaping the future values of America.

*Obviously this is an oversimplified comparison, a 250 word essay does not allow space for a discussion of the complex pros and cons of the German school system (This article discussed some of the major problems they are facing especially with immigrants.). My comparison is based only on the Gymnasiums (highest track college preparatory public high schools) that I saw in Munich and Greifswald. Money is spread equally among schools within each German state. Teachers are likewise assigned placements by the state. This means that there is very little disparity between same-track schools in different areas of Germany. Of course this equality cannot make up for the discrimination that exists in the tracking process , I discussed this issue in this post. (In that previous post I wrote that placement was determined based on grades and tests, I learned that that is is not entirely true, the ultimate decision on tracking is made by the parents with recommendations by teachers.)

Announcement: Next Big Adventure!

At some point in the last months the adventures of me turned into something not so adventurous and more sedintary and my brain became filled with less witty observations and insightful commentaries and more whining about how boring it is to sit in a cubicle and push paper all day. And thus the blogging tapered off into nothingness. This development, among other factors, was an indication to me that my life was due for a new twist. Luckily for you I am not the type sit around and wait for things to happen. SO- In January I submitted the online portion of the Teach for America application... Three months and a few interviews later I've accepted a position as a Secondary English Teacher in South Dakota on the Pine Ridge or Rosebud Indian Reservation beginning fall 2007. :-D

A few other fun things happened in those months, a successful Holiday House Party on T Street, Christmas at home, a fun trip to Boston and a buisness trip to Kalamazoo (Yes! There really is a Kalamazoo), many more nights out in Georgetown, a visit to my Senators' offices on Capitol Hill, and more recently finally getting around to some DC touristy things (See pictures in Flickr account over there --->). But the long and short of it is that even though I work for a great organization, really like my coworkers, and fully believe in our mission and values, big city 9-5 office life just is just not my thing, at least not right now. I may one day return to work in an office for an organization I care about, but hopefully it won't be until I'm actually high up enough to have an office-- cubicles are just not good for anyone.

In the mean time-- Westward Ho!! I'm ready for some Wide Open Spaces :)

The time line looks something like this:
April- mid May:
Continue plugging along in my cubicle
Take Praxis II teachers test
Read massive quantities of TfA pre-reading
Find someone to take my room, my job, and my bike
Pack all material possessions into my car
May 24th-ish: Drive to Minneapolis
May 26-June 1: NAFSA 2007 Annual Conference and Expo in Minneapolis MN - We need temps if you're interested!
June 3 - June 8: Drive to South Dakota for induction
June 8-10 ish: Drive to Houston
June 10- July 14: TfA Institute in Houston
July 14- Early August: Hang out at the lake in MN
Mid August: Move to South Dakota
Late August: Be a real teacher!



Further updates and reflections are coming soon. Renewed blogging activity is obviously a must, but right now I should be working! Ciao

Cute little guy, isn't he? I killed four of these minniature monsters this evening. blech. In case you're wondering, it's commonly called a camel or cave cricket. They are found in dark moist areas like caves or... you guessed it, basments! kinda like the one I live in. Lovely. Needless to say, my dehumidifyer is now going full blast- best purchase ever.

Apologies for my lack of blogging. It certainly hasn't been due to lack of excitement. Well, not excitement really, but there have been plenty of amusing anechdotes strait out of typically twenty-something "young professional" big city life. Like xerox mishaps and printer jams, answering phone calls meant for NASA or FAFSA (it's NAFSA!!!!!), a pizza party in my hotel room on my first ever buisness trip in Minneapolis, meeting wonderfully friendly layed back Pacific Northwestern international educators on my second ever buisness trip to Boise Idaho, the power going out on my birthday because no one thought to pay the electric bill, participating in a brain research study to make extra cash, dancing with a giant bannana and Tigger in a bar on Halloween and randomly running into someone from my high school class, mid-term political madness, a trip to Philly for freinds cheesesteaks and sight seeing, navigating the city on my bike, farmers markets, happy hours, and generally doing my best to be a responsible, independant, grown up or something like that.

It's been interesting. I'm learning a lot. About myself, my streangths, weaknesses (I should definitely avoid xerox machines in the future if possible), and interests, about DC, about professional associations, about international education, about life in general. I passed my three month mark at work a week ago. Hard to believe I've been here that long, but also hard to believe it hasn't been longer. I have to come up with some goals for myself for my slightly overdue three month review, perhaps I'll share them with you after I come up with them :) I do like goals as you may have noticed.

P.S. Listening to The Writers Almanac online is very soothing.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch!

Our House

at my mother's request I have finally taken a few pictures of my house and room. As you can see it's a bit difficult to take a picture of our house because there are lots of nice big old trees in front of it, but there you have it. Someday I'll take more pictures around DC. But next weekend I'll be in Minneapolis! woo! I'm excited :)

Oh, funny story, so my boss asked me to make a list of resturants and attraction downtown around our hotel. So I went to the hotel website and filled out the online "contact us" form to ask if they had a list. And the next day I get an e-mail back from none other than Amanda!!! We're staying at the hotel she works ah. HA! too funny.

I'm being dorky and staying in to read tonight because I have to finish this crazy book on Goddess Worship for our book club meeting next weekend. It's called "When God was a Woman"... it's a bit text book ish. I recently finished "The Time Traveler's Wife" which is GREAT. You should read it. And I started Zadie Smith's "On Beauty" and would really like to be reading that right now, but the ancient Goddess calls....

tschuess

Ra Ra for Richmond!

I can't believe how German I am sometimes... living there for so long affected me more than I thought. I bought a bike over the weekend and I can't even tell you how much I have complained (at least in my head) since then about the lack of bike-friendlyness in DC. Not only that but I find myself worried about rules and laws and feel distressed that there seem to be no laws about bikes. I'm sure there are, but no one knows or follows them. How can people bike without bike laws??? How can there not be a bike rack outside every building?? But riding a bike to work is fun, and a huge improvement over taking the bus, so I guess I'll relax about it. I would like to start a campaigne to make DC a more bike-friendly city. Someone out there get on that for me, would you?

Backpedaling a bit (haha, it's a bike joke!), I had a great weekend in Richmond. I drove down there Friday night and met Jackie and Emily at Jason's apartment. Saturday afternoon we went down to Carry Town and then to UR campus to wander around. It was weird but nice. I somehow forgot how incredibly beautiful it is. I guess you don't notice so much when you're living there, but it really is a perfect little bubble of prettyness. And they remodeled the science center AND the dining hall which blew me away, I'm a tiny bit jelouse. Overall it was nice to see it and made me happy that I went there and have so many fond memories, but I'm done with that part of my life and wouldn't want to go back now. It's a good feeling. What I miss most is my classes, but that just means I need to get my butt back in school soon, and I can manage that. Moving on, Saturday night some of Jason's friends from high school living in DC came down and we all went out for a very nice dinner at one of my favorite Richmond resturants. (The Hard Shell, in case you're interested) There was wine and bread and wine and crab legs and wine and key lime pie and a little more wine.... It all felt very posh and grown up. Richmond night life is kinda like that. After dinner we went out to a couple bars and then all went back to Jason's to continue the party..... a good time was had by all. Sunday I stopped at Target, bought a bike and a de-humidifier (oh the joys of living in a basement) and then spent half and hour with two high school aged target employees trying to fit it in my car, I finally had to buy a wrench to get the front wheel off and get it home. whew.

Now it's back to work for me. Work is getting a bit more interesting as I get involved with more projects. I'm very excited for the meeting I'm going to in Minneapolis in a few weeks because a)I finally get to meet some members and see some faces to go with all the names I'm e-mailing and it should be interesting and b) It's in Minneapolis which means it's a free trip home and I get to see everybody!! :)

York, PA

hmm, there's a new blogger. I'll have to play with that later. After 7 hours of sitting at a computer at work I'm not all that excited to log on when I get home, hence the not so frequent blogging. But here's a quick update on my life anyway. My weekend in York was really nice. It was great to see Caroline and be around a close friend who's known me longer than a few weeks. I'm hoping she's going to apply for the open position in my department.... we'll see! I didn't really see the tourist sights in York (there are some) but we did go shopping and I got to go to TWO family labaor day picnics and eat a lot a lot of picnic-y food. So it was nice and relaxing and good to be away from the city and all the stress of moving and whatnot.

This weekend promises to be a bit more on the wild side, at least that's what Jackie is hoping for. I was never really all that wild during the four years I lived in Richmond before, so I'm not sure if that will pan out... but we'll see. I could go for a let loose kinda weekend about now. This 9-5 cubical stuff is getting to me... it's a little scary that I'm actually starting to get used to it and I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

I saw Grant today! Here visiting his sister at George Mason, he invited everyone he knows in DC out to dinner, we had a two law students, two grad students and three young professionals. It's like I keep saying... DC is the place to be!

in fact it's so exciting here that I'm wiped out and may fall asleep right now before 10 pm. wooooo. it's a crazy life I lead. :)

Big City Life

No one has clicked on the link I put up in my last post so I'm guessing no one has sent a letter to their congressmen... how dissapointing. I know you're reading this, so do it!

In other news... life in DC is going well. The miserably unbearable humidy has finally given way to rain and cloudyness, which is a good thing in my book, it was gross before. I had a fun weekend. Friday I went to the National Gallery after work. I was still wearing my work shoes (I usually keep them at work and wear flip flops, but I forgot) so I was kind of distracted by the pain in my big toes and didn't thouroughly enjoy it. I did, however, enjoy the gift shop where I bought several prints for my room. I bought Matice's "Open Window" as it seemed apropriate because I have no windows in my basement room.

Saturday I met Shannon and Mike at the American History Museum where we wanted to see the Jim Hansen Muppet exihbit. It was not so much an exihbit as a couple small displays, but it was fun anyway. That night we went to a Leg-Warmers concert, they are an 80s cover band and it was GREAT. Everyone (including me) was decked out in full 80s gear and singing at the top of their lungs and pony stepping their hearts out. It was fun :) Who doesn't love the 80s (in a haha, glad we aren't actually in them anymore kind of way)? My camera was unfortunately out of batteries... sorry. I am going to take DC pictures soon, I promise.

Sunday I went to mass at the Georgetown University Chapel. It was move in weekend for freshmen, which I thought might make me feel nostalgic, but it mostly made me really really glad I don't ever have to go through that again!

Work is going well. I'm starting to feel kind of like I know what I'm doing, or at least sounding like I do when I'm on the phone. Which is good, because the girl training me who I work with most closely is actually being promoted and leaving our department in a couple weeks. Her position (which is the same as my position) is open by the way, if anyone is interested in a very cool (if not very well paid) job in DC working with me everyday. I'll have some say in picking the next person, so you have an in! This means that I'm going to be training the next person, which is pretty funny since I'll have been here for about a month and a half at that point.

It's an interesting place to be working. Yesturday I got to meet a couple of University administrators from Moldovia. It was kind of a depressing meeting, since we can't really help them make the connections with American Universities that they are hoping to make, and I'm not sure if they are going to find schools who want to set up a program in Moldovia. And they talked about how little money they have, and how strict the governement is. But they were really nice and I really wanted to help them. I also am very glad to be an American citizen.


This is long and babbleing. Obviously I'm missing having good friends around to talk to every day. BUT Shannon will HOPEFULLY be moving here very soon (pressing my thumbs!) and I'm going to York, PA this weekend to see Caroline!! YAY! And next weekend I'm going to Richmond to meet Jackie and Emily! yay! (and weird, to be going back to Richmond). More on those trips (and pictures) later. Ciao.

Speak Up

If you have any interest in supporting international education and study abroad then go to this site to join the NAFSA advocacy group and mail a letter to your senators online.

and if you do happen to do all that, then let me know because I get brownie points at work for getting friends to sign up :)

Working Girl

Hello! Here I am, still alive and well and living it up in DC and still loving my life. I now have two full weeks of work under my belt and it's going swimmingly. I like the organization a lot and my co-workers are really nice and fun. The work I do is not the most thrilling, lots of answering phone calls, filling in spread sheets, etc, but I at least feel like it's for a greater good and I'm interacting with my co-workers a lot of the time, so it's not too tedious. And I do get to work on some interesting, challenging projects, writing some promotional stuff and things like that, so it will be good. I will definitely be very busy and learn a lot.

My living situation is likewise amazing. It took no time at all for me to fall in love with Georgetown, it's just too cute and perfect and there are a million little independant shops and resturants around I can walk to, and then M street a little further down if I want the hottest shopping street in the city. I love that I can walk places. I do have some parking issues because I need to get DC plates and license before I can get a permit to park on the street and before I can get that I need proof of residency and this and that and the other thing, it's a long horribly process with lots of documents and paper work that rivals even German beaurocracy. But I'll get it done.

I finally got my bed that I purshased two weeks ago (there were some miscomunication issues with the delivery people) and funished my room with a great desk from goodwill and shelf and dresser from a garage sale. I deserve a pat on the back for my thriftyness. If I weren't so tired and lazy I would get out of bed and take pictures. I'll do that soon. I've gotten some housemate bonding time in this weekend and the girls I live with are very fun and nice. I went out with them Friday night. Night life in DC is nuts. There are sooooo many young people, it's like... I don't even know what it's like. Everyone is just a few years out of college, working in the city at some kind of amazing world changing job, happy, and single. Adams morgan is totally insane, when the last bar we were in closed we went out and the streets and sidewalks were completely full of people hailing cabs and stumbling home. I've already run into a couple UR people randomly around town, and I expect that will continue. DC is obviously the place to be.

Thus far I don't find the people here to be overwhelmingly obsessed with politics or TOO self important. Although there is kind of this sense in the city that it is the center of the world and just being there somehow makes you more important. Luckily the people I work with are very down to earth, my closest coworker is even from MN! And my housemates are also pretty normal and laid back. So maybe I just haven't met all those typically DC people yet. We did have a couple young guys knock on our door working on a grassroots campaign for the Democratic National Party. One of them had the longest beard I've ever seen on a probably college aged guy. We invited them in and gave them probably the smallest donation the DNP will ever get, but it was about the support. What a horrible job though, that's dedication. I'm sure the ten minutes they spent chatting with us in our house were the best and most encouraging of their night.

So, in conclusion, I love my life. Setbacks thus far have been relatively minor, and I feel like a totally independant and with-it adult type person. It's a little frightening, but in a good way. Other things are bound to go wrong, but I think I'll be able to handle it.

I hope you are all eaqually excited about life right now, or at least enjoying reading about mine :) I'll try to keep this updated with less general rambling and more interesting DC anecdotes in the future. Until then, Ciao.

Chapter One: A room of her own

I got a room!!! In Georgetown!!! I'm living in Georgetown and working three blocks from the White House. My life is like a cheesy chick book. Minnesota girl starts her first real job in the big city... living in a Georgetown row house with three other young girls she's never met and working in the city... You'll laugh and cry as she stuggles to pull off looking put together in buisness suits, trys to act hip exploring the bar scene, meets wacky new politically crazed friends, and even bumps into the President (literally!). This is a heartfelt novel that everyone who's ever tried to make it on their own will identify with.

Ok, maybe I took that a little too far, but you get my point :-P I should totally write book jacket blurbs, by the way.

Don't worry...

I will keep blogging, I know you are all on the edge of your seats after my last abbreviated post... and I'm not really going to fill you in completely right now. I'm exahsted. I drove 20 some odd hours in the last two days in my un-air conditioned car (in case you didn't catch that, my car has NO AIR CONDITIONING!!). But, here I am, in DC, alive and well and ready to start my life as a real person with a real job-- or something to that effect. Cubicals, 9-5, buisness professional, dental plan, retirement fund, morning commute, the whole bit.

I think I couldn't write during the decision making process because I was afraid of over thinking it and making things hard on myself. This is a great oportunity, I can just stay for a year, it will be a great experience, it's in DC, it's an organization I'm interested in, and they're actually paying me. I didn't want to stop and think about the whole leaving home less than a month after getting back part of it. That hit me somewhere in Wisconsin :( But luckily I had several more states to recover and I'm over it for now and excited to be on a new adventure in a new city.

Tomorrow: apartment hunting, or room in group house hunting as the case may be. Wish me luck (or find me someone in DC to live with!)

I'll probably write more about the last couple weeks soon.

Big News

I got a job. I'm moving to Washington DC. Next week.

eep!

Minnesota style

Hi. I am currently alone in what now seems to me to be an enormous house. A few hours ago it felt so cramped and tiny. Then everyone left (Thank goodness) and now I think I hear the echo of a tapping keyboard in the other room. The family madness continues this week. Aunt Nancy and her husband and three boys got here Saturday, my cousin Tommy is still here, plus I have two brothers of my own. That adds up to a heckuvalot of boys. I'm totally whiped out. All these crazy California visitors seem to think that there should be tons of exciting Minnesota touristy things to see and do, and while I guess there are, that's not really what we do. I mean, there's a lake. Can't you just sit and look at it for a while? It's pretty. Slow down. and for heaven's sake, be quiet! I elected to once again stay at the house house tonight where I get to actually sleep in a room with no one else in it. Bliss. I had a lovely evening watching pay per view movies and eating the best ice cream in teh world (from Graters). I finally saw Brokeback Mountain, which was really good, great characters, but horribly sad and depressing. Really, pretty much nothing good happens. But the scenery looked awfully nice on that big wide screen tv.

I'm going to Wicked on Friday!!! yay! AND.... next Thursday I'm going to Virginia and I'm finally FINALLY going to see my sweetheart again. YAY YAY YAY YAY! I may or may not actually explode before then. We'll see.

Meanwhile... unpacking? job applications? being lazy and doing nothing because it's July and it's flipping HOT out here? stay tuned to find out.

Minnesota style

Hi. I am currently alone in what now seems to me to be an enormous house. A few hours ago it felt so cramped and tiny. Then everyone left (Thank goodness) and now I think I hear the echo of a tapping keyboard in the other room. The family madness continues this week. Aunt Nancy and her husband and three boys got here Saturday, my cousin Tommy is still here, plus I have two brothers of my own. That adds up to a heckuvalot of boys. I'm totally whiped out. All these crazy California visitors seem to think that there should be tons of exciting Minnesota touristy things to see and do, and while I guess there are, that's not really what we do. I mean, there's a lake. Can't you just sit and look at it for a while? It's pretty. Slow down. and for heaven's sake, be quiet! I elected to once again stay at the house house tonight where I get to actually sleep in a room with no one else in it. Bliss. I had a lovely evening watching pay per view movies and eating the best ice cream in teh world (from Graters). I finally saw Brokeback Mountain, which was really good, great characters, but horribly sad and depressing. Really, pretty much nothing good happens. But the scenery looked awfully nice on that big wide screen tv.

I'm going to Wicked on Friday!!! yay! AND.... next Thursday I'm going to Virginia and I'm finally FINALLY going to see my sweetheart again. YAY YAY YAY YAY! I may or may not actually explode before then. We'll see.

Meanwhile... unpacking? job applications? being lazy and doing nothing because it's July and it's flipping HOT out here? stay tuned to find out.

PS. Germany got third! woo! Which totally means I get to leave the flag on my car for at least a few more weeks in celebration :)

Suburbia and Beyond

Whew. I feel like I've been on a constant high since getting back a week ago. I can't believe it's only been a week. The jet lag finally caught up with me the last couple days, but was nothing a few unplanned afternoon naps couldn't fix. It's been a full week of family and friends and driving my car (I love my car!) trying to get stuff done, but mostly avoiding things I should be doing, like unpacking for example. Oh well. On the fourth I got decked out in my Germany gear and went downtown and meet Lindsay (von Dusseldorf)at a Brittish pub to watch the football game. It was actually packed and there was a big screen set up and fans from both sides, we even spotted a real italian and a real German! Great atmosphere, heartbreaking game :( We wandered around after and got lots of "sorry for your loss" from passers by and were generally finally feeling a little better about not being in Germany at the moment. We ended up hanging out downtown long enough to stick around for the Minneapolis fireworks, which I had never seen before. They were quite nice and we had a great view with the skyline in the background.

Sunday I went out and ran some errands. Shopping! on a Sunday!!!!! crazy. I even went grocery shopping which was pretty exciting. Last night was Music in Plymouth, which means more fireworks! which we had a not so spectacular view of directly behind a clump of trees. OH well, at least we saw the AMAZING (ly cheesy and horrible) laser show.

Now I'm hanin' out at home because Mom is on a buisness trip, Bob is at work and the rest of the family is at the lake and it is blissfully quiet and peaceful around here. Maybe I'll even unpack sometime. or not.

On the whole, it's nice to be back, I love Minnesota, but I can't live here, not now anyway. I just can't do it, I thought I might want to, but after the first day here I knew I was going to have to leave. So I'm plugging along with the job search, I have a few good looking prospects, I'll let you know how things turn out.

Sweet Home Minnesota

I made it. And it's kinda like I never left. The flight was long and uneventful. Being back in the US is a little strange, but I'm getting used to it quickly. I few thoughs I've had, in chicago O Hare- Holy Diversity! I forgot how many different people are all americans. The diversity thing went away however upon arrival in MN where everyone pretty much looks German. I forgot how it's acceptable for americans to walk around in public wearing sweats and T-shirts and generally looking scrubby. I guess I can stop trying to look presentable now :-P I also forgot how much I love skim milk. mmmm. Yesturday driving up to the lake house I stoped at Target. It was confusing and disorienting. I bought batteries, flip flops and cereal all at the same store! Insanity! Also at Target (in Buffalo, which is beyond suburbs and into small town Minnesota) I realized how incredibly Minnesotan everyone sounded. Please tell me I don't have that accent! Now I'm at the lake, hanging out. My cousin and her boyfriend are here, Uncle Nick and his family should be here soon. It's a busy place. Fishing, swimming kayaking, it's nice to be home. I gotta get outside now, it's too nice to be in here. I'll write more later. Ciao.

Oh! the Germany game friday was amazingly intense and awesome, I can't wait to watch the next on the 4th, they're going to smash Italy!

26 hours to take off....

Before I left I wrote down a few goals for myself for the year. Seeing as things are coming to an end now, it seems like a good time to look back and see how I've done. Keeping in mind that these are wishy-washy kind of goals I'm going to take the rose-colored-glasses aproach to evaluating myself :-P


1. Be a dedicated teacher. Stay on top of lesson plans, be creative, get to know the students and keep them interested. Impress the students and teachers with your maturity and confidence. And speak loudly enough for them to hear me!! Go above and beyond. Find a project you care about and follow through, start an after school club. Remember, teaching is the reason I'm in Germany!

Teaching has been at times rewarding, at times boring, at times really fun, and at times incredibly frustrating. I would say I've learned a lot about working in a school and being in a classroom. I would have liked to have done more, but I think it took me the first six months or so to realize what it is I could do and how to do it, before I started speaking up and feeling more comfortable asking teachers to do something with me or making my own suggestions. But in the end I hope I had some kind of impact. Getting to know students was hard at two huge schools, but I had a few classes I know well and of course my discussion groups who I had a lot of fun with. At least when I walk through the halls lots of kids say "Hallo Frau S!"

2. Utilize free time. You are in Germany for goodness sake. Get out of your little dorm room and do something cool! Visit every museum, church, park you can. Walk, hike (in the Alps!) , ride a bike, get moving! Take interesting classes, do the reading, learn something! Travel as much as possible and travel alone sometimes. Try new things, be open minded and adventureous.

Check and check. Ok, so there were a few dark cold months in there when I watched a lot of German TV, BUT overall I've done well I think. I did take classes, I did see museums, I did go to parks, walk, ride my bike and travel tons, although not so much alone, but I'm ok with that, I had great travel buddies. I've most certainly been open minded, tried new things, and had lots of adventures. yay :)

3. Meet people. Be outgoing, be confident. Make friends, but don't spend all your time with the same people, this is the perfect oportunity to meet new, different, and interesting people. Be open to anything and anyone (just don't be too naive).

Ok, so making friends in Munich was challenging, but I have a few. Some of the younger teachers last semester, Peter my language partner, of course my neighbor Katie. I've also met tons and tons of other divers and assorted people throughout the year, just not a lot that I clicked with and kept up with. But I have I think been open to meeting different types of people and people from all over the world, and I've had a number of interesting conversations and heard some new perspectives. The best friends I've made have been some of the other TA's who I've visited and traveled with, and we will definitely be friends for life. I think it's natural to gravitate toward people in a similar situation and place in life as you. I'm ok with that.

4. Speak German! Don't spend ALL of your time with English speakers! practice, read German, take classes in German, study German, write in German. German, German, German!

Umm, ok, I'm going to have to give myself a not so high mark on this one. Does German TV count? I did try to read a couple german books, and will continue to read them when I get home and actually miss german a few weeks from now. My German is a little better, especially listening comprehension. Speaking... I don't know, I'm more fluent, but my grammar is just as bad as always, I'm just better at slurring things and cutting off endings like the Bavarians do now :)

5. Budget. Plan a monthly budget and stick to it. Make some extra money to use for traveling. Cook your own meals, don't buy clothes or stuff you don't need and can't fit in your suitcases anyway! Be smart, plan ahead.

I'm pretty proud of myself on this one. I got some, but not THAT much money from my parents at the begining of the year. I did quite a bit of babysitting and funded my own travels, which is impressive I think considering the amount I've traveled and the fact that I live in the most expensive city in Germany. I've done lots of cooking and been good about avoiding too much shopping. I'm throwing out one big bag of clothes and everything is going to fit fairly easily into my suitcases (I think, I have two out of three packed so far!) I feel like I let go of a bit of my desire for more matierial possesions, and that's a good thing. AND I get my last pay check on Friday so I'm actually going to have money left over to start the summer and tide me over until I find a job!

6. Stay in touch. Send postcards, write e-mails, take pictures, write letters, make phone calls, blog blog blog. All that good stuff I can do to let you people know how much I love you even though I'm so far away.

Well, the blog is alive and well. I hope you all feel kept in touch with. I had so many visitors this year, I felt really loved, I have so many great friends all over. Everyone is so spread out now, keeping in touch will be challenge at home as well, but I don't think it will be a problem. There are some friendships that can withstand anything, and I'm lucky enough to have quite a few of those :)

I realize that these aren't the good kind of goals that you can actually measure, but at least it's something to look at if I'm ever feeling lonely, homesick, or just off track. Mostly I hope that I can have a great time, be happy, have fun, all that. And I hope that I can make it meaningful!

I've certainly had my share of loenly, homesick, and off track moments, but that was part of the challenge of living abroad. Overall I feel good about my year here. I'm so glad I made the decision to come. I have had a great time, had TONS of fun, and it's been meaningful. yay me!

Thats all, it's time to get to my last day of school now. One more long bike ride. One more round of rice krispy bars for my other conversation group :) and I get a fancy official "certificate" with a stamp and everything- how german. Then I have to finish packing and clean and do something fun with Katie! ahh! I don't really need to sleep tonight, I'm so excited and wired! Almost HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Berlin! Berlin! Wir fahren nach Berlin!

So, plans for when I return: Get into airport at 7:30pm. Home by 9pm or so. In bed by 10 or so. Sleep 12 hours and then.... Watch FOOTBALL!!!!!!!

Ha ha, that's right, for those of you completely in the dark, Germany just won and will be playing in Berlin on Friday against either Mexico or Argentina, we'll see in a few hours. Everyone is invited to my house, 10 am June 30th, to watch on the big screen from the comfort of large leather couches.... ahhh, home sweet home. Just to warn you, I'll be waving a german flag and wearing a german lai and belt, and possibly switching intermitently between cheering and crying because I'm not in Germany to watch it anymore.

Nah, I'm not really that sad to leave it behind. I wen't into the city today just to experience a bit of the atmosphere, but Katie had to work at 5 and I have failed miserably at making any other good friends in Munich, so I wandered around by myself during the game. I'm glad I did though, it certainly is a once in a lifetime thing. It was actually a great day for shopping, all the stores were empty, in fact most of the streets in the city were empty because everyone was huddled around every availible television set. But no matter where I was I could hear the game and roaring crowds when they scored. I din't make it to the fan park, but most of the action downtown was on Leopoldstr. where they blocked off traffic for about five blocks and all the bars and cafe's lining the street overflowed with football fans standing on their tip toes to see the screen inside. The beer garden at the Chinese tower was a hot spot as well, I was at least able to sit down there, just not in view of a screen. At the end of the game I walked back to Leopoldstr. which had turned into a massive throng of german flag waving yelling screaming horn and wistle blowing fans. Literally so packed you could barely move. The Germans might have been a little excited. By that point I had had enough and managed to squash myself into an u-bahn to get home and crash. Whew.

My living room is sounding pretty nice right now.

I sold my TV today, which means I have one less distraction from cleaning and packing...blah.

Aufwieeeeeedersehen.........

So goes the chant, goodbye US. And I didn't even get to watch the game because it wasn't broadcast on regular tv here and I was too tired and lazy to go downtown. Stupid Europeans. So, I don't have my birth country to cheer for anymore, Germany will have to do. You better believe I'm going to buy one of the those stupid little german flags for my car and drive around with it when I get home. Although it's tempting to cheer for Ghana as well, it would make a great underdog story if they went on to win. But they're up against Brazil next, so good luck to them with that.

I had my last discussion group with my girls today :( they bought me flowers. They are so sweet, we had a lot of fun hanging out speaking English this year. I'm going to miss teaching. I made them and the teachers Rice Krispy bars today, they were a big hit. Everyone is impressed by rice krispy bars.

So, now it's officially my last weekend in Germany. ah!! My room is a disaster, still. I'll probably get on that at some point. After sleeping a lot. Katie has Sunday off of work, I want to go to the Fan Park again, but England is playing and they are somewhat notorious for their hooligans... I think we can brave it though. Sorry, I'm talking about football again, someone stop me.

One week until home!

Daumen drücken!!!

In order for the US to advance to the next round tonight they have to beat Ghana AND Italy has to beat the Chech Republic. Both games are on at the same time, 4pm here, 10am EST. I have to figure out some way to watch both at once.

come on Americans, get excited!