A Brief Overview of my Life

friends!

I have to say, I have a pretty sweet life here. I have less obligations than I've had probably since I was about 10, and also more money. Not a lot of money, but certainly enough to live comfortably. And did I mention that I have lots of free time? It's actually been quite a bit of an adjustment for me, going from the rush-rush pace of life at Wash U, where I had class, homework, research, a job and a thousand other things, to my Fulbright life, where under contract I only have to work 12 hours per week (I work a little more than that, but still, it doesn't even really qualify as part-time). So I've found some things to keep me busy, but don't worry mom, I'm not stressing myself out. The only bad thing about his abundant amount of time for relaxing is that I have no idea how I will ever adjust to a real job in the future. Fulbright is majorly spoiling me, but I guess I should enjoy it while I can.

However, I do sometimes actually work. My main job (through Fulbright) is as an assistant English teacher in a middle/high school, in the type of school they call a "comprehensive school" in the German school system, meaning that all students have class together, regardless of whether they're on the university track or planning on stopping after 10th grade and doing an apprenticeship. So, kind of like an American high school. However, comprehensive schools have a rather bad reputation in Germany that they don't prepare students for university as well as traditional "Gymnasien" do. The traditional German school system is three-tiered: Hauptschule is the lowest, Realschule in the middle and Gymnasium at the top. Hauptschule you stop after the 9th grade and go into a vocation like working in a factory. Realschule stops after 10th grade but you go on and do something like an apprenticeship to become an electrician or go into hotel management or something. From Gymnasium you're supposed to go onto university. I personally find this system highly elitist, because the kids are tracked after the 4th grade, and it can be quite difficult to switch from one type of school to the other. So basically if you're not good in school when you're 9 you will probably never have the chance to go to college. Seems unfair, but that's not the point of this blog, so tangent aside, back to my work schedule. I teach at the school every day except Wednesday. I'm usually there for about 4 hours per day, sometimes more if I have breaks between my classes. I help with a 6th grade, 7th grade, two 9th grade and one 11th grade class. I also help with an 8th grade drama class and oversee the English Club for the upper grades. I don't teach the classes independently, but I do lead a lot of lessons on my own while the teacher sits in the room, or we team teach together. Most of my lessons focus on American culture, such as holidays or the school system. Sometimes they go well, occasionally they don't, but it helps a lot that the kids intrinsically like me because I'm somebody new and interesting and from America. Plus the kids are just in general really friendly and funny; my favorite anecdotes will follow in a later post. In addition to my work at the school I'm a teaching assistant for two seminars in the English Department at the university in Dortmund. One is called "Cultural Education in Contexts of Diversity" and the other "English in America." I don't do much other than facilitating discussions every now and then and emailing with the students to help them on their projects, but then again, I don't get paid for the TA work either. Next semester I'm hoping to get involved with some research in the linguistics department, because I do miss that aspect of academia.

With my light work schedule, I've been able to indulge my hobbies more than ever before, as well as taking up some new ones. In three months I read more books than I read all of last year, and devote a few hours each week to reviewing French and Arabic so I can sign up for a language course at the university next semester. I've also started playing the piano again, because there's a baby grand in the music room at my school that is hardly ever used, and one of the nice teachers I work with gave me the key to the room so that I can practice anytime I want. I don't think I'll be giving a concert in Carnegie Hall anytime soon, but it's nice to be able to play just for myself. A new hobby I've taken up is knitting, which my roommate and a friend taught me. They're amazing and can knit mittens and sweaters and all kinds of cool stuff, whereas I'm still laboring to create a decent looking rectangle, aka a scarf. So basically, don't hold your breath for hand-knitted goods for Christmas. I've also been learning how to use Photoshop, so maybe I'll post some of my photography here one day. Other hobbies include watching Dexter, Mad Men and Criminal Minds online and, my all-time favorite hobby: cooking/baking. I've always loved to bake, but didn't really have the time before to spend hours testing out different cookie recipes. Now I do, which makes my taste buds really happy but is perhaps not so great for my calorie intake. My roommate and I both also love cooking, and I would say we probably make the best vegetarian meals in Dortmund (the competition for gourmet vegetarian cuisine is not particularly stiff in Germany). This leads to

just a typical dinner party. with a santa suit

our favorite activity, which is hosting or going to dinner parties with friends. A home-cooked meal is so much nicer than a restaurant. Also, the alcohol is cheaper. We decided with the other three people in our WG (who live in the apartment below us) that we should have a communal dinner every Sunday, so now the apartments trade off weeks and we get to catch up on each other's lives and laugh at Hidey the cat. It's all very "gemuetlich," as the Germans would say, a word that unfortunately doesn't have a good English translation, but means something along the lines of cozy, cheery, snug, comfortable, happy, etc. Basically used to describe anything that is relaxing and fun.
light work schedule, I've been able to indulge my hobbies more than ever before, as well as taking up some new ones. In three months I read more books than I read all of last year, and devote a few hours each week to reviewing French and Arabic so I can sign up for a language course at the university next semester. I've also started playing the piano again, because there's a baby grand in the music room at my school that is hardly ever used, and one of the nice teachers I work with

Santa is a huge beer fan

gave me the key to the room so that I can practice anytime I want. I don't think I'll be giving a concert in Carnegie Hall anytime soon, but it's nice to be able to play just for myself. A new hobby I've taken up is knitting, which my roommate and a friend taught me. They're amazing and can knit mittens and sweaters and all kinds of cool stuff, whereas I'm still laboring to create a decent looking rectangle, aka a scarf. So basically, don't hold your breath for hand-knitted goods for Christmas. I've also been learning how to use Photoshop, so maybe I'll post some of my photography here one day. Other hobbies include watching Dexter, Mad Men and Criminal Minds online and, my all-time favorite hobby: cooking/baking. I've always loved to bake, but didn't really have the time before to spend hours testing out different cookie recipes. Now I do, which makes my taste buds really happy but is perhaps not so great for my calorie intake. My roommate and I both also love cooking, and I would say we probably make the best vegetarian meals in Dortmund (the competition for gourmet vegetarian cuisine is not particularly stiff in Germany). This leads to our favorite activity, which is hosting or going to dinner parties with friends. A home-cooked meal is so much nicer than a restaurant. Also, the alcohol is cheaper. We decided with the other three people in our WG (who live in the apartment below us) that we should have a communal dinner every Sunday, so now the apartments trade off weeks and we get to catch up on each other's lives and laugh at Hidey the cat. It's all very "gemuetlich," as the Germans would say, a word that unfortunately doesn't have a good English translation, but means something along the lines of cozy, cheery, snug, comfortable, happy, etc. Basically used to describe anything that is relaxing and fun.

romantic setting for the WG dinner

Georg and Steffen being awkward

Hidey does not love Amanda as much as Amanda loves her

Less gemuetlich is the "Nordstadt" (north city), which is the area of Dortmund I live in. It's not really known as one of the most desirable addresses in Dortmund, mostly because the majority of the residents are immigrants and it's in general a lower socioeconomic-, working-class area. Basically, it's just not the most beautiful part of Dortmund: kind of old, industrial, not always kept-up and frankly kind of grim sometimes. I think there's a pretty high unemployment rate in the area, as every morning on my way to work (my school is also in the Nordstadt) I almost always see people hanging out on benches and outside kiosks drinking beer (at 7:30am). There's not really any violence to speak of in the area, just a lot of people with not-so-great economic prospects, and a lot of people of foreign background, to the point that you hear far more Turkish/Arabic/Bulgarian/what-have-you on the street than you do German. The good thing about this is that when I go into a store or Imbiss (fast food stand) I don't have to worry about messing up my German, because the shop owners probably don't speak it any better than I do. The residents do have a little bit of neighborhood pride, though, as evidenced by the electric sign on the side of a high-rise apartment building that says "the sun rises in the north." Aplerbeck and Dorstfeld and the other sissy suburbs may think they're the best, we Nordstadt-ers know better! So now, enjoy the scenery of the Nordstadt:

all that was left of a church after the war

I don't know why there is a Navy store, nor do I know why they fly not only the American flag, but the Canadian and Confederate ones too

I swear I live by every train track in the city

Remember the pretty view out my bedroom window? Well, they cut off the tops of the trees a few weeks ago, so now I get to enjoy this. And trust me, it looks better in this picture than it ever does in real life.