Time flies when you're ... in Germany.

Well, it's been several days, so maybe I'll just give a bit of a life update today. I (surprisingly) don't have anything to rant about! :)

First of all, as of yesterday evening I have been in Eilenburg for ONE WHOLE WEEK! Happy anniversary to me! :)

So school is going really great so far. I know it's only been 4 days but I am just loving it already. Which makes me unbelievably happy because one of the reasons I'm here is to reaffirm my desire to teach. Now, there're still 8 months to go, but at least we've had a good start! Wednesday was another day at the younger kids' school, which was fun. I really love the grades 5 and 6. They are so eager to participate. One of the classes had me up at the front of the room with questions IN ENGLISH for half an hour! I was very impressed and they were so sweet. When they asked about my hobbies I mentioned that I love music (including singing and piano), after which one little cutie put her hand up and asked me if I'd sing them a song. How sweet is that? (I told her I didn't have anything prepared but maybe some other time...)
Yesterday was my first day at the older school, which was a very different dynamic. All of those kids are well-behaved and quiet in class. Pretty much all of the teachers prefer the older grades because of these qualities, but on the other hand they were all far too shy and self-conscious about their English to ask me any questions. (Which they shouldn't be. I could not believe how good they are!) I helped out in some of the group work, where they opened up a bit more, but it was quite a stark contrast to the little ones. I don't mind the energy and the volume that the young students bring into the lesson. I mean, that might change yet, but there's something about their trust and willingness that really speaks to me.

In the staffroom I've been talking about how this year is kind of also supposed to be my guide as to what age group I would like to teach (seeing as how I need to choose that before I apply to the Education program...) and I've always leaned strongly towards elementary school, but also sometimes towards junior high. And I've never even considered wanting to be a high school teacher. Most of the teachers here (who have been super welcoming and helpful) have since been trying to convince me otherwise, but I'm still not sure. Again, I realize I've only been here one week and I'll need more time to figure some of this out, but these past few days have definitely got my wheels turning already. Plus I find that the students at different ages even act differently in Germany compared to in Canada. Weird, hey?

Anyways, this blog obviously isn't becoming a literary masterpiece. I feel that all the previous paragraphs seem to be confusing and poorly written, but I don't know how else to say it. THERE IS NOTHING MORE FRUSTRATING TO ME THAN NOT BEING ABLE TO EXPRESS MY THOUGHTS CLEARLY AND LOGICALLY IN WRITTEN FORM. NOTHING!!! But it's Friday morning and I only got up an hour ago. How lovely is that? No school today for me! :) Anyways, ya. This had better not be a sign that my English is going to crap already...

So what else this week? Well, Tuesday evening I went to a tiny little Bible study that has just started up, like, literally this week, in East-Eilenburg. There were five of us in total and I was the youngest by about 20 years, but it was so nice. Apparently they all go to an evangelical church in Leipzig (which is half an hour away from here) and I've been invited to go with them. The church has about 300 people and a good-sized group of young people, which sounds ... nice. :) Really nice. I'm definitely going to try it out. Dad, if you want to check it out a little, here's the website: http://www.elim-leipzig.de/

And on Wednesday I went to "Frauensport" (aka. women's sport) at the Eilenburger Rowing Club with my mentor teacher, Rita. It's basically an hour of aerobics. Awesomeness! Again, I am the youngest by about 20 years but it was so fun. Plus I do workouts all the time at home by myself, so it's kind of nice to do it in a group of hilarious women that complain about their aching joints and muscles the whole time. Definitely going to do that every Wednesday.

And then yesterday I went back to the club where all the rowers get together on Thursdays to drink and hang out. They have all been "expecting me", the next assistant. Apparently the English assistant from last year was VERY involved in the club and everyone loved her etc etc. I keep being introduced as the new Ruth. And everyone talked about how much they missed her and I had big shoes to fill, etc etc. Finally one of the guys yesterday spoke up and said I shouldn't be introduced that way anymore. I'm Julia, not the "new Ruth". Lol. And I eventually told some of them that I wasn't her and they shouldn't expect me to be. (Obviously I said it nicely...) I mean, how can they expect me to be someone I'm not, never mind someone I've never even met? Haha. I know they didn't mean it that way, but I was beginning to feel that if I wasn't just like her then I wasn't interesting enough or something. I mean, I've got shoes of my own. Big ones! I don't want to fill someone elses. Plus I think I'm interesting enough in my own right. Anywho, they all agreed and we drank some beers. Good times.
Looks like I did have something to rant about after all, even if it's only a mini-rant. :)