Hanging out with an Australian and Austrian.

How do an Australian, Austrian, and 

American Know Each Other?

Last year, I went to Germany and did an English immersion company called Diverbo - in Germany it's called Englisch Hausen (In Spain they call it Pueblo Ingles).  The Austrian who lives in Germany was also there and we became friends.  I was actually with her in June also and she took me to Austria.  She did another Englisch Hausen recently and met the Australian there.  She took us both around to Roth and Regensburg.  She has been so kind and generous with her time!  She is an amazing person!

Rock Concert, Roth, and Regensburg

This was the most interesting concert I have ever been to.  A guy in a small small village has a barn.  Several years ago, he invited a few of his friends to come and play music for fun.  That grew into an annual event that includes about 300 people and a cover band.  It is absolutely free and there are venders (or friends) who are serving drinks and food that is for sale. (Bratwurst and beer mostly - this is Germany.  I had an apple juice and water.) There is even a portable bathroom (not an outhouse) with several stalls!  It was cold and a little drizzly, so they had a bonfire going and tents up so people wouldn't get wet or cold.

Most of the people there were either from the village, knew someone in the band, or heard about it from word of mouth.  My friend knew several people there because her ex-husband had worked in the same village.  Several people knew how to speak English and they were very friendly.  One girl I met was determined to find me someone to talk with, so she kept dragging her friends over to meet me.  It was really funny.  They would say, "How can I help you?"  I would say, "She wants me to meet people who speak English!"  Then we would chat for a few minutes - I was mostly there because it was close to the fire.  :)  I went into the actual barn where the band was playing just a few times.  Once because my friend told me to join me on the stairs so I could see better.  (It was the first time I realized how extremely tall Germans were.  I would say 75% of the men there were over 6 feet tall.)  Anyway, when I got to the stairs where she was, there was really no place to sit, so a man who was over 75 years old offered his lap.  Lol.  I said, "Nein" and stood.  

This is Purple Mania - A cover band for Purple something or other.

My Australian friend made this amazing salad.  She called it an Australian salad.  :)

An American, Austrian, and Australian.  These ladies were so much fun!!!  This pictures is of Regensberg. It is a cute town on the Danube River.  It has beautiful old colorful buildings and great architecture.  It is a World Heritage Sight.

Roth

The following pictures were taken when me and the Australian went for a walk in Roth.  In both places, we saw an opening in a wall or gate and went in to see what was there.  The first pictures were an amazing garden with all types of flowers blooming full force.  The last 2 pictures were inside the courtyard.  It has a little turret on the outside, so we just went around the corner to see what it was protecting. We weren't disappointed with a fountain, a beautiful clock and great artistic facades.

Nuremberg: Who is to blame?

Nuremberg:  A place of castles, cathedrals, and a long history.

All these pictures were taken with my cell phone using the selfie method because the SIM card messed up my regular picture taking ability on my phone.  So, sorry if they are a little sideways or cut off.

I almost didn't see this!  You have to look over the bridge to see this view.  I love the arches to make way for the water.

I love this saying.  Although it is sad and tragic, I think it's a metaphor for when anything horrible happens in our life.  This cathedral - one of the smaller ones - has pictures of right before the bombing of Nuremberg with Nazi flag after Nazi flag to the finish of the rebuilding of the cathedral.  There are sayings like this that accompany each of the pictures.  It is moving to say the least and had me wondering who was to blame.  I am going to chalk it up to the casualties of war with my American brain saying that it had to be done, Hitler had to be stopped and this was how it was done.  There was no alternative.

  

Walking down a cute colorful street on the way to the cathedral.

 The following pictures are from either the top of the 

castle tower or the surrounding area.

This shows the destruction of Nuremberg from the bombings of World War 2.  Most of the buildings are completely destroyed and all seem to have at least some damage.  These pictures were all around the top of the tower.  So you would see the before picture, the after picture, and look out the window to see the city as it is now.   I liked the pictures in the cathedral a little bit better because to me, this shows the destruction only.  It didn't show the row after row of Nazi flags like the cathedral did.  To me the castle talked about the destruction rather than the consequences of following an evil dictator.  

This is a model of a well that was found inside the castle walls.  It is so deep that it took about 5 seconds for us to hear the splash of water that the guide poured in.  Sorry I don't have a picture of the well, but you can't see down it at all because it is so dark.

I climbed to the top of this tower!  It has great views!

This was breakfast - It was very yummy and not cheesecake at all.  The "plain" one actually had a nutty mixture in the middle.  I love German bakeries!  YUM! 

New Friends and Places to Go - Woo hoo!

I Made New Friends!
These are my new friends Bianca and Corina.  They are from church and about 20 years younger than I am.  They are super cute and fun girls.  This is Corina's house and I love the ceiling!  Such cool architecture in her apartment and building.  I tried to capture it, but it's almost impossible!  Ugh!  I got to visit them on Tuesday - Bianca invited me over when I told her I was lonely!  :)  So cute!

This maybe capture a little bit of the charm, if you look closely!  Anyway, trust me, it was cute and very German!

I Made Dinner!

So, if you know me, I'm not that big on cooking.  I asked my friend Karma how I can help her since she is going through a hard time.  She is also from church and works at the same school I do.  She asked if I liked to cook and I said I didn't but I would do it anyway.  She said she didn't like to cook either!  HA!  So, I cooked and it actually turned out better than I thought it would!  Thank heaven for the internet, great recipes, and a bit of luck!  I got to visit her and her family at her beautiful house on Thursday.

School - Good and Not so Good.

People at school are super nice!  One guy offered to show me where the 2nd hand store was!  I realized that I didn't pack as many clothes as I thought I did (I am not sure if I had that many in the first place).   

Today (Friday), I went to have "drinks" after the school meeting today.  Drinks for me consists of fruity drinks like Fanta.  I did discover though that there is a multitude of fruity drinks here.  Today, I'm not sure, but I think I had rhubarb and apple drink.  It was great just to socialize for a couple of hours with other people!

Not so good?  Well.... one of the girls in my technology class said, "Ms. Trent are we going to learn anything in this class? (We had already done 3 different projects on Digital Citizenship.  Animoto, Voki, and Tagxedo)  Last year's teacher made us take notes.  Are we going to have tests in this class?"  This was one of my favorite classes and I hated that she didn't think she was learning anything.  So, I told my friend Karma while I was cooking dinner about this experience and she said that I should give them a test and tell everyone that it was her idea.  So, today, they walked into class, I said, So... somebody said they weren't learning anything, here is a test, let's see if that is true.  The girl that made the comment asked if it would count and I said, you bet it will.  Let's just say, I had a very quiet class today.  At the bottom of another girl's test she said, "I have enjoyed your class and I have learned a lot!"  Things teachers have to do at the beginning of the year to set a line through the sand!  UGH!  I had so much fun with that class!  I hope it can still be fun!

Weather in Ulm

So far:  Week 1:  HOT!!!!  Week 2:  Fall weather, had to wear a jacket in the mornings  Week 3: Warm, with a HOT weekend.  Next week:  Fall weather again.  It's kind of odd that the weather stays consistent for several days.  NC weather tends to have mood swings.  If it rains here, it rains for a few days.  At least this is my observation from a newbie who doesn't know better.  :)

Teaching in Germany

So, this was my first week of working with the whole staff and my first week of teaching middle/high school students.  The staff is great and I've been fixing their problems left and right, so I think they like me!  Ha!  I'm actually lucky, because I'm the technology person, I get to know everyone very quickly and they all know me.  I think I'm helpful and friendly, so it's great.  There are 2 people who work in the office - Doris and Martina that are especially friendly and I have a lot of interaction with them asking for keys to this and copies of that.  Luckily, they haven't gotten tired of my visits - yet!

Wednesday was the first day that the students were here, but I don't teach on Wednesdays.  So, it was a nice easy transition and I got time to plan (thank heaven).  On Thursday I did my first teaching and I found that I only had 4 or 5 students in each of the 3 classes I taught and I could be relaxed and easy going.  I had 2 of the students that were "hyperactive" and I was a little worried, but with only 5 students, it is not a problem at all.  (But of course it's the first week of school.)  The only problem that I found was these students do things a lot faster than my elementary kids, so I need to make sure I plan extra things to keep them occupied!  Next week I have a class with 16 kids for 2 hours!  :)  That should be interesting!

On the IT side of things, I'm learning how to do a little networking - so far I'm horrible!!!  Kids with Macs and Iphones come to me and beg me to put them on the network.  NO CLUE how to do that!  I don't know the password for the guest wifi and even when I did put it on one, it didn't work.  Grrrr!  So someone is coming who used to work here.  Luckily his wife had an appointment at 6 in Ulm.  So, I'm at school at 6:00 waiting.... on a Friday. :)  I'm so excited he's coming though! 

My life in Neu-Ulm:  Outside of school it is quiet.  Very very quiet.  I'm such a social person, I'm jealous of people walking with their friends into town.  I think I'll take a German class.  That is twice a week.  It will help me get to know people and I won't be quietly on my own.  I think the biggest difference is that in the US, I was Soooo busy with so many things.  Now, I have work and that's it.  On Fridays we have shorter classes, an early dismissal and have a staff meeting.  After every staff meeting they go to the beer garden to socialize.  I thought that was so fun!

I do walk a lot.  Some days, I walk to Ulm - about a 20 minute walk - by the river.  I think it's actually longer to walk by the river, but it's so gorgeous I can't help it not to mention it's healthier.  This picture was taken on my walk home.  There are actually 2 sidewalks - one for bikes close to the road and another one through the trees for pedestrians.  I bought a camera - a real one, so pictures very soon hopefully!

Cutting through the Red Tape

Today was insane.  Okay, let's back up.  In order to do anything when you want to move to Germany, you have to have 2 things:  A work contract and a rental agreement on an apartment.  You have to have these before you move to Germany.  As soon as you move to Germany you have to go to the registration office and register that you have a rental agreement.

With the registration you can have a bank account, but you have to sign up for a time to meet with the banker - you can't sign up right then and there.  In order to get a cell phone you have to have the registration and a bank account.

You also have to go to the immigration office - your registration needs to have been processed first - Ulm people, so sorry, you have to wait for a week, Neu-Ulm people can go the next day. (Luckily, I live in Neu-Ulm.)  When you go to the immigration office (which happens tomorrow for me), you need everything certified and documented.

I literally have a folder which proves that I am who I am from birth certificate to degrees to passports. I also have to have a background check done in Germany by the German government - never mind that I had an FBI background check that took 12 weeks to get back to me just certified.  No wonder I could never figure out how to live abroad and get a job on my own.  Too many specific steps you have to follow in order!  Lol!  Thank heaven the school has someone who specializes in this type of thing and speaks fluent German and English!  She was amazing today helping all of us newcomers!

Beer Gardens are for Kids & Wandering Around is the Best Way to See a City!

Beer Gardens are for Kids:
So, just down the street from my apartment is a really popular beer garden.  If you know me well at all, you know I don't drink alcohol.  So, why would I go to a beer garden?  Because, although they sell beer, they are actually a family and community type of restaurant.  It is made up of picnic tables and a casual dining style.  In fact, more often than not, you'll be sitting with strangers on the other side of the picnic table.  The food is usually cheap and good.  You do not have to have a beer.  The one near my house has a playground for children.  Another one I saw, had an extensive playground for all ages of children.  As I went on my walk today, I saw people literally flooding in the one almost next door to me.  I need to go there to eat dinner one day soon.  This is one I passed that was closed. It was right next to the cathedral.

Wandering Around is the Best Way to See a City:
When I go to different places, one of my favorite things to do is get lost.  I have my map on my cell phone when I want to get home. (Just an FYI, if you look at your Google map when you have wifi, and don't close the app, it will show you exactly where you are and an interactive map of the city - no data required.  It will also tell you directions if that is what you choose to do, but you have to program the directions before you leave wifi.)  I followed directions to church this morning.  It worked, but it took me through streets that had shops and not very interesting things.  This afternoon - after the heat had gone - around 5, I decided to walk along the river.

This path is very close to my house.  The bridge is just for walkers and bikers, cars can't use it.

On the other side of the walking bridge is a lovely park with things for all ages!

I love that there are remnants of the old city wall and fort.  This is in the middle of the park.

This is a little fair for kids.  I couldn't tell if they were paying for the rides or they were free.  I think they were free, because they could ride over and over again.  I love the variety of rides.  I'm not sure if you can see the swings, but they were 2-people swings - big enough for adults. Under the green umbrella is an old fashioned roller coaster - emphasis on the roller.  They took old crates, put it on the rollers and rolled down the ride.  The kids would take the crates back to the top and go again!

I love the old mixed with the new!

I love towers!  More stairs to climb to see great views! (Later!)

I love these shopping streets. I actually hate shopping,
but these are pedestrian only and are great for people watching!

THE Cathedral:  Ulm Minster - It has the tallest church spires in Europe.

Fisherman's Quarter - I'm in love!

This is a mix of old and new.  Water and waterfalls.  Art and food.  I loved the watermill and how the houses were right on the water.  The next bend would bring more fun architecture and sculptures.

Reminds me of Venice!

This is a city wall that separates the houses from the
walk/bike path and the river.  It's up high and goes for a long way with beautiful sights on both sides!

I loved this candy striped house!

When I didn't think it would get any better, a the end of the wall, there is a flower garden!

I saw so many boats!  Rowing, canoeing, kayaking - you name it, it was floating down the river!