Snow!!

It started snowing this week! I was wondering when it finally would, though everyone warned me it doesn't snow much here. It was odd, because when I was in class, I saw streams and streams of snow flying past the windows, but when I went outside it was all gone. They did tell me the snow doesn't stick, but it was weird to see.

I'm pretty happy with how things are going at the school, especially after this week. One of the teachers had to miss a few classes this week, so I substituted for a double period class of his. They're practicing debating in English. I had them run through two debates that they had prepared and then we had 15 minutes left over, so we did a "speed debate." I had 4 people come up, on the spot, and do a sped up version of a debate on a topic of my choosing. I chose nuclear power and whether it should be used more prevalently in Germany (they aren't allowed to build any additional nuclear power plants and people are very distrustful of it here). I was impressed with how they were able to come up with good arguments on the spot and be able to debate in a foreign language.

On Thursday I held my first discussion group on the Great Gatsby. I have a group of 17 students and am teaching this book completely on my own. I was happy with this first meeting. The students were into it and we had a nice rapport going. Everyone participated and seemed interested to talk about the book. I especially like it, because this way I'm becoming more of the every day life here. I think I'm starting to stick out less and less and be a little more accepted. I also did a double period crash course in Hamlet for the same teacher just today with him observing. That was a little nerve racking, but I ended up pulling it off! I was pretty happy, since I was up most of the night worrying about it, actually.

So, the strikes have gotten worse here and I can't ride the train to Wiesbaden this weekend. I am displeased. It's ending this Saturday (for now), but there's no reason to go anywhere on Sunday since everything will be closed. I'm actually going to a concert on Sunday along with some of the students, though (there's a shuttle). In other news, I'm going to Barcelona next weekend (the 23rd) and meeting Mark there, who's in Europe this week. I'm excited about seeing the Dali and Picasso museums. Time to buy more batteries for the camera...