Guten Tag!!! Hello to all... apologies for not writing!! Before leaving I thought I would have LOTS of time to write and update everyone on my life here in Germany. Wellll I couldn't be more wrong!! That being said let me start off by saying I LOVE it here!! By LOVE I mean I dont like ALL the aspects of living here but the GREAT aspects FAR outweigh the not so good ones! As I think I mentioned before I will break up this post into sections. The first section will be Frankfurt in general, then ISF(the school I work at), then social life, and finally my vacation that I went to for fall break. As I am writing this I am sitting in a BIG bookstore... 4 stories tall with a winding staircase on 1 side, COMFY red chairs LOTS of them scattered around and I am sitting in the cafe part drinking peppermint tea(YAY for Germany knowing what mint is) and enjoying my free cookie that went with the tea! EVERYONE is reading books they are not going to buy.. LOVE IT!! Ok enjoy reading my blog!
FRANKFURT
I still love this place after being here for almost 3 months!!! Time is flying by yet I feel like I have been here longer then 3 mts. It was so easy to just be comfortable in this city. Even though it's a city I feel like it's more like a mini city. I know my way around pretty well, got down the trains and some of the buses pretty well and yet I can walk everywhere! What I havent gotten used to is the weather... in August and most of Sept. I would walk out the door and it would be nice and then get to work and it would be raining.. I never knew what to expect. The seasons have changed here and I think it skipped fall.. yes there are leaves scattered around on the ground and it's beautiful but OMG it is FREEEEEZING!!! Seriously I missed out on about 3 mts of HOT weather by coming here. This past week the highs were in the 40's and low 50's.. yup I wrote it correctly. Since I have been here I have bought 3 jackets.. 1 VERY warm jacket and 2 that I can wear but have to wear something underneath them. I am in search of some rain boots... Once I get off the train in Zeilsheim where the shool is I have to walk on a dirt path and it gets REALLY muddy from all the rain... sooo rain boots def. need to be purchased this week!! Frankfurt is SO international... I am talking about food... unlike greece where I couldnt find salsa or chinese sauce for cooking I have made burritos a few times and LOTS of Chinese stirfry. My friends and I went for sushi last Sun.. all you can for 15 euro.. soooo yummmyyy!! So ya I am liking Frankfurt :-)
ISF
Ughhhhhh is all I have to say about work! So ISF is different then every school I have ever taught at or learned about in school. It has it's own educational system called SABIS.. I'm not going to get into the details but basically the kids take tests everyweek I've got a homeroom class.. 4b 25 students 4 of which leave the class and go into intensive English class for most of the days. I dont teach all day.. it depends upon the day. The students have English, Social Studies, German, Music, Science, Computers, Math, PE, and Art throughout the day/week. The kids stay in the class and the teachers move around unless they need to be in a lower German class or English class. The most I teach is 5 periods a day but I dont teach them all in a row. SO you would think I would be loving this job.. I only teach 21 hrs a week. BUT every minute of my sparetime I am doing work and trying to get ahead for the week. My 4b class is quite literally the class from HELL.. I get reminded everyday not only from the class but the people I work with.. apparently they put ALL the trouble makers and behavior problems from last year ALL in my class. I have some CHARACTERS.. 2 kids that bust out with noises ALL the time to a kid who goes outside in the cubbys and tries to figure out peoples combinations.. mind you these kids are VERY rich and secondly there is NOTHING in their cubbies but books. This past week my students in both my homeroom 4b class and my 3rd gaders 3A took CAT tests. They are tested in ALL subjects.. yes even computers. I would FAIL at this school.. anyways each teacher has to proctor tests so in English it's broken up into vocab, reading, handwriting, writing, anthology, spelling.. every aspect of English. So we cant proctor our own class so this week I was proctoring for the other 3 4th grade classes. While I was away 2 kids were caught cheating, 1 kid wrote a note saying fuck you.. the list goes on.. this was JUST this week. Everyday it's a constant battle while I am teaching.. 1 kid is on a behavior plan yet he is still misbehaving half the time. Not only are the misbehaving I come in from teaching my 3rd graders and the room is a DISASTER.. I've NEVER seen anything like it. ALL the other classes are all neat and orderly.. UGHHH!! I've tried EVERYTHING... nothing is working and it doesnt help that teachers are STILL coming up to me and saying they feel sorry for me.. I GET IT! I am hoping that the head of department will move some of the students and seperate them.. it's against the schools thinking but it NEEDS to be done!! Apart from that I LOVE my 3rd graders.. they are great and make me laugh! There are some students in my 4th grade class as well and I REALLY feel sorry for them b/c they really want to learn and have fun. Alright enough bitching.. I like work.. the people, the school is beautiful and most of the kids come with a smile on their face! Even though I have the class from hell I never dread going to work. I wake up at 6, leave my house at 7 to catch the 7:06 bus, meet up with 3 friends at the train station and then take the S2 to work and walk in the door at 7:45... I LOVE having colleagues in the same position as me. We are all expierincing the same newness and not only are we colleagues we are friends....
SOCIAL LIFE
I think my social life is what is making me stand up infront of my 4b class and be ok. I know that when I leave ISF I have a life and friends and things to do. My roommate Lindsay is GREAT!! We get along and are able to laugh at eachother about out little habits and quirks. We are straightforward and I love it! We work together, live in the same apt. and have the same friends yet I'm never sick of her... :-) I've got a group of about 8 people I hang out with every weekend. 2 of those are Jen from Michigan and Armita from Canada and 1 is Lindsay.. the 2245 girls... we have fun! If u want to know what 2245 stands for ask me. Two are the guys who live across the street; Luke and Kyle and 2 are the couple from NY Lisa and Derek, 1 is Elyar who is originally from Iran but lived in England for a good part of his life. Last night we went bowling then to the old part of Frankfurt.. Sachenhausen.. 1 of my fav. places in Frankfurt! We go to clubs.. last Friday we had girls night and went to an apt. party and then 1 of the clubs called Living which is a hot spot on a Wed. but a good place on a Friday too!! I'm def. living the life here.. never a dull moment and unlike Greece I actually dont have time to write blogs everyweek. When I get home from work the last thing I want to do is write or read :-( I try to leave my work at work but sometimes I have to cave in and bring it home but it hardly ever gets done.. thank goodness for those free periods during the day!
TENERIFE, Canary Islands SPAIN
At first I thought I wasn't going to be able to write about my fun times at Tenerife.. well mostly because I didnt think I was going to go. 8 of us bought our tickets.. 3 different flights. Unfortunatly Elyar used his credit card and took an earlier flight then 5 of us.. got to the airport and then was told that we needed his credit card... he was in Madrid by that point though. SOO basically the 2 hrs we got to the airport before hand was NERVE racking and THANKFULLY Elyar was able to fax his info. JUST in time.. we literally ran to the gate!! SOo Tenerife we went!!! It as a fun week.. We got there Tues. am at 12:30am and left at 3 AM on Sunday. LOTS of beach action, biking around the island, snuck into a REALLY nice hotel and ended up being in the middle of an aqua aerobics class dancing to songs that kept saying sexy sexy!!! FUNNNN and have never laughed so hard in the water.. EVER!! Found a local bar.. Harry's where the bar tenders loved saying my name.. I dont even have a local bar here in Frankfurt BUT if u ever want to go to Tenerife I can show u what bar to go to to have a great laugh.. Basically Tenerife was relaxing,ate YUMMMY paella the 2nd to last night.. AMAZING AMAZING LOTS of seafood and lots of hot Spaniards with their speedos... lovin' it.. haha!! Now it's back to reality where I am looking forward to the next vacation!!! Dec break.. Yosefa is coming.. Trevizo/Venice and Rome are on the list!! There might be a weekend trip somewhere before break as well. OHhhhhhhhhh I forgot to mention Oktoberfest.. the GREATEST thig everrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Went EARLY sat. am 4:40am and got to Munich at 11ish only waited 20 min. in the rain to get into a tent and stayed there till 7pm... I have NEVER laughed so hard EVERRR!! A band was playing.. people were standing on tables singing, Random Italian guys dancing with Jen and I, met so many crazy funny people... YOU HAVE TO GO ONCE IN YOUR LIFE ATLEAST!! I'm going next year again sooo come!!
**** Alright this was long enough!! THANKS FOR READING!! I want to hear about you next time!! Email me or myspace me or facebook me!! LOVE YOU AND MISS YOUUUUU! ****
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Frankfurter
HELLO ALL!!! I arrived safe and sound on Aug. 6... a little over 3 weeks now. It's been a whirlwind nonstop amazing AMAZING time. I can honestly say that I am a RESIDENT of Frankfurt and a true frankfurter! I've got a bank account, a gym membership... (yes I joined the gym the first day I got here), the owner of a monthly transportaion pass, and the list continues... This first blog will give you a heads up on what I've been doing the past few weeks. The rest of the blogs will hopefully be about my feelings and life in general in this AMAZING place!!! Sooo to catch u all up I will sum up my life the past few wks. I'm def. going to be summarizing so dont worry.. it will only take about ummmmmm 10 min to read maybe.... :-)
** I arrived Aug. 6 EARLY in the morning and greeted by Amanda.. the person in charge of new hires as well as her husband and a young teacher anamed Elyar. I was given my keys to my "flat", some cash and some general info. about Frankfurt and then Elyar accompanied me inside the taxi to my apt. Elyar is originally from Iran but lived in England for awhile and has been at the school a year.. he is now the head of Chemistry. After asking him a million qsts about the school and Frankfurt and after the cab driver got lost finding the apt.. I live on a TINY street called Rotteckstrasse. By TINY I mean there are only 2 apt. buildings on the street... anywho.. got up to my apt... opened the door ANDDDDDDDD ok sooo my apt. is small.. no living room but it's got a nice kitchen with a washing machine, little hallway, 2 bedrooms, and a bathroom with a REGULAR shower which was AMAZING to see... MUCH better then my Trikala apt. so I cant complain too much!! Said goodbye to Elyar after getting his number in case I needed anything and made plans to meet up later in the day once Lindsay got in. Layed down on my bed and I was OUT woke up to a buzzer and let Lindsay in and another teacher named Dan... After showering in COLD water... something was wrong with the water heater.. ughhh Lindsay and I set out to explore. Alright.. from now on I will list things.. I think I'm writing too much and I have A LOT to write... ok sooo here it goes:
** I live in Bornheim... known as the trendy/hip area of Frankfurt. Lots of bars and towards the river there are old pubs **
** The street Linds and i live on.. is TINY.. the first day we got LOST for ummm about 4 hrs NO JOKE.. we missed out on meeting up with Elyar and stupidly didnt find a grocery store either. Had some good dinner that first night though**
** 2nd day in Frankfurt.. met up with Elyar and another new teacher named Nadia who is from France. Took a tour of the school.. UMMMMMMMMM AMAZING!! HUGE school and really nice. I take a 20 min. train ride to get there. Some days I take the bus to get to 1 of the main train stations and other days I take the train station close to me which is a 4 min. walk and then I switch trains **
** I've been to a total of 5 festivals so far... yes there are festivals ALLL the time! This wknd there is the museum fest.... LOTS of booths, bands, and fireworks tonight.. AMAZING!! **
** There are 40 new teachers.. most are mid twenties and some are in there 30's.**
** I hang out with about 10 of them along with some teachers that came last year.. the PE teacher Luke from Australia as well as Elyar. Luke and my friend Kyle live across the street.. they have a living room and a tv.. def. both luxury items.. **
** I came only knowing Lindsay and have a solid group of friends now, same group everywknd ** I LOVE the river.. running to it only takes 10 min, the cafes here are AMAZING.. def. feels like Greece**
** The weather has been WEIRD rainy some days and other days like this wknd it's warm **
** Been to a wine festival, found a chinese garden 3 min. from my apt, walked infront of a Persian wedding, only ate German food once so far**
** I've taken a kickboxing/taibo class in German **
** I'm in LOVE with how international it is here.. I have NO clue who is actually German.. this also includes the school I work at.. A TRUE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL!!! **
** I've got kids from Malaysia, Kuwait, Iran, 1/2 japanese 1/2 Turkis, Korean, Polish, American, Scottish, Croatian.. seriously the list continues.. some of my students know 3 LANGUAGES.. AMAZING!! **
** I've been here for 3 wks but feel like I've been living here over a year. I LOVE Frankfurt.. the different areas, the people, the buildings, the uncertainty of EVERYTHING **
******** Arlight that's it for now.. just a taste of what is to come. I'm truly enjoying my self here... EVERYTHING about this city makes me happy and I know work will too... I will write another blog about my classes :-) Until then.. I'm off to the museum festival to see the fireworks!! Much LOVE from Germany!!! ************ I WILL POST PICS SOON~
** I arrived Aug. 6 EARLY in the morning and greeted by Amanda.. the person in charge of new hires as well as her husband and a young teacher anamed Elyar. I was given my keys to my "flat", some cash and some general info. about Frankfurt and then Elyar accompanied me inside the taxi to my apt. Elyar is originally from Iran but lived in England for awhile and has been at the school a year.. he is now the head of Chemistry. After asking him a million qsts about the school and Frankfurt and after the cab driver got lost finding the apt.. I live on a TINY street called Rotteckstrasse. By TINY I mean there are only 2 apt. buildings on the street... anywho.. got up to my apt... opened the door ANDDDDDDDD ok sooo my apt. is small.. no living room but it's got a nice kitchen with a washing machine, little hallway, 2 bedrooms, and a bathroom with a REGULAR shower which was AMAZING to see... MUCH better then my Trikala apt. so I cant complain too much!! Said goodbye to Elyar after getting his number in case I needed anything and made plans to meet up later in the day once Lindsay got in. Layed down on my bed and I was OUT woke up to a buzzer and let Lindsay in and another teacher named Dan... After showering in COLD water... something was wrong with the water heater.. ughhh Lindsay and I set out to explore. Alright.. from now on I will list things.. I think I'm writing too much and I have A LOT to write... ok sooo here it goes:
** I live in Bornheim... known as the trendy/hip area of Frankfurt. Lots of bars and towards the river there are old pubs **
** The street Linds and i live on.. is TINY.. the first day we got LOST for ummm about 4 hrs NO JOKE.. we missed out on meeting up with Elyar and stupidly didnt find a grocery store either. Had some good dinner that first night though**
** 2nd day in Frankfurt.. met up with Elyar and another new teacher named Nadia who is from France. Took a tour of the school.. UMMMMMMMMM AMAZING!! HUGE school and really nice. I take a 20 min. train ride to get there. Some days I take the bus to get to 1 of the main train stations and other days I take the train station close to me which is a 4 min. walk and then I switch trains **
** I've been to a total of 5 festivals so far... yes there are festivals ALLL the time! This wknd there is the museum fest.... LOTS of booths, bands, and fireworks tonight.. AMAZING!! **
** There are 40 new teachers.. most are mid twenties and some are in there 30's.**
** I hang out with about 10 of them along with some teachers that came last year.. the PE teacher Luke from Australia as well as Elyar. Luke and my friend Kyle live across the street.. they have a living room and a tv.. def. both luxury items.. **
** I came only knowing Lindsay and have a solid group of friends now, same group everywknd ** I LOVE the river.. running to it only takes 10 min, the cafes here are AMAZING.. def. feels like Greece**
** The weather has been WEIRD rainy some days and other days like this wknd it's warm **
** Been to a wine festival, found a chinese garden 3 min. from my apt, walked infront of a Persian wedding, only ate German food once so far**
** I've taken a kickboxing/taibo class in German **
** I'm in LOVE with how international it is here.. I have NO clue who is actually German.. this also includes the school I work at.. A TRUE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL!!! **
** I've got kids from Malaysia, Kuwait, Iran, 1/2 japanese 1/2 Turkis, Korean, Polish, American, Scottish, Croatian.. seriously the list continues.. some of my students know 3 LANGUAGES.. AMAZING!! **
** I've been here for 3 wks but feel like I've been living here over a year. I LOVE Frankfurt.. the different areas, the people, the buildings, the uncertainty of EVERYTHING **
******** Arlight that's it for now.. just a taste of what is to come. I'm truly enjoying my self here... EVERYTHING about this city makes me happy and I know work will too... I will write another blog about my classes :-) Until then.. I'm off to the museum festival to see the fireworks!! Much LOVE from Germany!!! ************ I WILL POST PICS SOON~
Sunday, August 3, 2008
All packed and ready to FLY!!!
Yup!! The time has come!!! I've known since February that I would be boarding a plane in August and setting out on an adventure!! February was awhile ago and there wasn't one day that went by that I didn't think of the amazing adventure ahead! I was also asked just about everyday #1 if I'm nervous and #2 how am I going to live without Yosefa!! #1 I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO NOT nervous.. haha maybe I should be?? But there is not one ounce of nervousness! I think it mainly has to do with having moved abroad before and that this time I'm actually going to have a REAL job and I'M MOVING TO EUROPE.. CENTRAL EUROPE for that matter... Nope NOT NERVOUS :-) #2 Yosefa is my TWIN BUT she isn't attached to me.. contrary to what some people may think/feel!! There was a time where I was living in Greece and she was living in Israel and ummm we survived!! Yes we still texted/communicated just about everyday and everyday I missed her of course BUT we went and lived our lives!! It's def. fun to share stories!! I'll be looking forward to her visiting and us continuing our amazing traveling times together!! I LOVE you Yo!!
I've tried to prepare myself for the huge journey although I wish I knew some German!! :-( My family has been speaking some to me.. yes my grandfather, aunt, and dad all know German.. crazy!! Since moving back home from beachy Southern California I have had lots of time to pack.. pack.. re-pack.. and buy odds and ends. I've got 3 suitcases and a big back pack all ready to go.. and yes packed in the car.. I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED!!! The only thing that I know for sure is that I am being picked up at the airport, then will be taken to my apartment where I will be given some kind of cash advance and THEN my roommate/friend Lindsay will be arriving a few hrs after I get there!! YES I said friend!! About a month and a half ago Lindsay went to the LAST international school job fair and ended up getting a job at the same school as me!! She actually taught at the same English school as me in Greece but arrived 6mts after I left. I met her last year when I went to visit Greece and Italy for a quick spring holiday! We'll be sharing an apt. in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt. Supposedly a nice place where young people live and there are lots of bars and cafes.. I will let you know if that's true!! :-)
Orientation starts Monday, August 11 and will last for 2wks. After that the kids come and the teaching begins!! PLEASE come and visit.. you will have an apt. to stay at and a guaranteed FUN time!!I've been at my parents' house/cabin up in the mountains.. no REALLY the mountains where wild peacocks roam and the country roads are TWISTY.. and scary which I've learned driving at night.. NOT fun!! I was able to see LOTS of friends.. some from college, high school, and even my travels!! SO great to catch up!! Tomorrow my mom and I will be spending the day in Sacramento then meeting up with my dad for our last family dinner and then spending the night at a hotel near the airport to board the plane EARLY Tuesday morning!! So until whenever I get Internet again... I LOVE YOU ALL!! Keep in touch!! And save some $$$ so you can come visit!!! Make sure you check out this site often with my crazy travel stories! ALSO if you have Skype... ADD ME!!! surfrgrl83 or just type in my name Paloma Gilon If you dont know what Skype is.. go to http://www.skype.com/ it's a FREE way to talk to someone over the internet.. just like if you were calling someone on a regular phone!!
Much love and lots of peace and happiness till next time!
** Paloma **
I've tried to prepare myself for the huge journey although I wish I knew some German!! :-( My family has been speaking some to me.. yes my grandfather, aunt, and dad all know German.. crazy!! Since moving back home from beachy Southern California I have had lots of time to pack.. pack.. re-pack.. and buy odds and ends. I've got 3 suitcases and a big back pack all ready to go.. and yes packed in the car.. I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED!!! The only thing that I know for sure is that I am being picked up at the airport, then will be taken to my apartment where I will be given some kind of cash advance and THEN my roommate/friend Lindsay will be arriving a few hrs after I get there!! YES I said friend!! About a month and a half ago Lindsay went to the LAST international school job fair and ended up getting a job at the same school as me!! She actually taught at the same English school as me in Greece but arrived 6mts after I left. I met her last year when I went to visit Greece and Italy for a quick spring holiday! We'll be sharing an apt. in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt. Supposedly a nice place where young people live and there are lots of bars and cafes.. I will let you know if that's true!! :-)
Orientation starts Monday, August 11 and will last for 2wks. After that the kids come and the teaching begins!! PLEASE come and visit.. you will have an apt. to stay at and a guaranteed FUN time!!I've been at my parents' house/cabin up in the mountains.. no REALLY the mountains where wild peacocks roam and the country roads are TWISTY.. and scary which I've learned driving at night.. NOT fun!! I was able to see LOTS of friends.. some from college, high school, and even my travels!! SO great to catch up!! Tomorrow my mom and I will be spending the day in Sacramento then meeting up with my dad for our last family dinner and then spending the night at a hotel near the airport to board the plane EARLY Tuesday morning!! So until whenever I get Internet again... I LOVE YOU ALL!! Keep in touch!! And save some $$$ so you can come visit!!! Make sure you check out this site often with my crazy travel stories! ALSO if you have Skype... ADD ME!!! surfrgrl83 or just type in my name Paloma Gilon If you dont know what Skype is.. go to http://www.skype.com/ it's a FREE way to talk to someone over the internet.. just like if you were calling someone on a regular phone!!
Much love and lots of peace and happiness till next time!
** Paloma **
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