Round Two!

Round Two, y'all (Do I pass as Southern yet? Haha, nope...er, no ma'am! sir? I give up.)

Today was the first day of my second year of teaching! It's crazy how fast last year flew by, and the summer flew by even faster (as it always does).

Last week was full of meetings--professional developments and general faculty meetings, all chock full of information (ahem, mostly useful). There was a lot of scrambling to get done, but I noticed a significantly lower amount of stress than last year. As I prepared my classroom and thought about all that I needed to do (and still need to do, as I'm writing this), I reflected on the stress of last year: I had just moved into a new apartment in a new state for a new job, with an apartment in shambles of moving boxes (I will forever be sending my mother a bazillion thanks for unpacking my ENTIRE apartment) and a classroom for which I had 0 decorations and 0 ideas. Phew. Thankfully, this year, my classroom mostly stayed the same (my favorite still being my dictionary-page bulletin board) and the addition of some new hand-made posters/signs AND A MOUNTED PROJECTOR. You have no idea how EXCITED I am about that. Yes, I know, I'm a nerd.

As I was reflecting during my post at morning duty (making sure the kiddos go where they're supposed to be going in the morning), I realized that it doesn't feel like I've started a new school year. It feels like we had some time off, but I don't feel like it's a NEW year. We just had a break and now it's time to keep going! Except with all new classes? Yep! I still feel like I'm supposed to be a newbie first-year teacher, even though I'm not the newest at the school anymore, and it's not my first year anymore.

And then the students came. I started the day energized and ready, and was greeted with UTTER SILENCE. Seriously, complete silence, even when I asked them questions or tried to joke around with them (I am definitely not a follower of the No-smile-til-Christmas rule). I guess I forgot how ridiculously shy the classes are, as a whole. I know that will not last long, and I should be relishing in the silence for now, but when you're trying to get to know them and introduce them to the classroom rules and procedures, you sure do feel like you're talking to a wall when all you back get are blank stares. Sheesh. Not to mention all the repetition, since all three classes today were German 1 classes (the last one is technically the 4x4 class that will meet every day and do German 1 and 2 in a year, but they're still starting out as German 1). I had to repeat the same intro information over and over and over. Fun. Tomorrow will be some familiar faces and some unfamiliar faces, most who already know the ins-and-outs of the German department and have some basis in the German language. To be honest, I'm not yet 100% sure how to do the class of last year's students differently than today, since so far, in my whole one year and one day of teaching, all first days have been brand new classes of brand new (to me) students.

I'm also anxious for tomorrow's first class, being my only class with any of my own students from last year, to see how much they actually remember of German. Two and a half months of NO foreign language (because I am not kidding myself into believing they even thought about German at all over their summer) is like an eternity in teacher years.

I also realized how much I already miss some kids from last year. I knew that I would, but seeing them in the hallway made me realize how blessed I was with some truly awesome students last year. Some stopped by between classes or shouted hello as they walked past, many expressing regret that they didn't have me as a teacher this year--I didn't inform any of them that I wouldn't be teaching German 3 this year, because I knew they'd just complain. Students want what they're used to and that's it; they don't like change. It warmed my heart and made me more excited to get to know the students from this year.

So, here's hoping this year is as good as last year. Everyone says the first year is the worst, so I'm hoping that's true. Not because last year was bad, but because if that was the worst, it's only going to be awesome from here on out ;-)

In the blink of an eye...

Somehow there are only days left of my summer vacation. I knew it would fly by, but I still wished it wouldn't. I know having summers off is a big, needed perk of the job, but it still goes by too fast, just like it always has and will.

So, since my last post about my travels in Europe with the school, I've kept extremely busy! After stressfully and frantically finishing that first summer class, I breathed a sigh of relief for about three seconds and promptly started the second summer class...I spent two weeks on Sanibel Island with my grandparents. My grandma and I spent a lot of time scrapbooking together and taking breaks in their pool. 

I also watched the World Cup, and obviously rooted for Germany the whole time. In true me-fashion, I painted my nails for the final game to show my support :-)

Then Dorina, my roommate from Switzerland, came to visit for three weeks! It was the perfect amount of time to show her my hometown, where I studied, and where I currently live. A few days after she arrived (to let her acclimate to this time zone a little first!) we drove to Michigan--all 13 hours. It went by fairly quickly, and we shared the driving, so it was really great. 

My brother had his graduation party, for which we made most of the decorations. 

Then we went to Grand Rapids for a few days. Some sweet friends were gracious enough to open their home to us so we could avoid hotel costs. I showed her Calvin, some of my favorite places in GR, and we ventured to Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, it was a cooler day and super windy, so the beach was not as lovely as it normally is. Nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves :-)

Back in Waterford, we hung out with my family and helped my brother shop at IKEA for college dorm things before beginning our return 13-hour drive.

And back we went, with a car stuffed full (I can never seem to leave with only the things I brought!) and my cat. 

Once back in Columbia, we mostly did what we love to do: hung out together. Some of our favorite memories together from my year in Switzerland was watching movies and talking for hours. So we did just that! Some might think that's boring or think we should have done more sightseeing or something, but for us, it was perfect. In between movie and chat sessions, we went to the movies and in my apartment pool with a friend of mine, had a girls night with some girls from church, took her to see my school, went to church and lunch with friends afterward, and went shopping lots. 

We also ventured to Charleston for a day. It was cloudy and full of predictions of rain, but we managed to miss the rain. We ate at Hominy Grill for some especially Southern cuisine, walked up and down King Street for some window shopping (and a little real shopping mixed in ;-D), and to Sullivan's Island, one of the many beaches in Charleston. Although it was cloudy, it was quite warm and perfect for sitting on the beach and not sweating our faces off :-)

And then, all too soon, it was time to say goodbye! The time was perfect, but (as usual) not nearly enough. It was fun to show her all the things that make up my life, to show her the little and typical American things, and to spend so much time with one of my best friends. After spending a year where we lived and traveled together, and spent almost all of our time together, three weeks was a wonderful gift. 

And, to answer the most common questions: 

1. Yes, we spoke mostly in English. Normally, we switch off and on, but before she got here, I thought to myself "If I were spending three weeks (or any amount of time, really) back in Germany/Austria/Switzerland, I know I would want to speak German as much as possible" and knowing that Dorina likes to speak in English, I decided that I would intentionally talk in English with her, for as much as she wanted to. Of course, we had random sentences or words that were in German, and yes, when we didn't want people to know what we were talking about, we would often switch to German :-)

2. She really enjoyed being in the US. It was her first time here, so it was fun to show her all the little differences. She loved Target and Hobby Lobby, just like I knew she would and was as amazed about our "low" prices as I was about the exorbitant prices in Switzerland. She enjoyed the food we ate and restaurants we went to.

3. The differences I think she was most surprised/impressed by were: free refills at restaurants, the number of lanes on our streets, and our typical greeting of "Hi, how are you?" where we don't really care about how the other person is--it's just a part of the greeting.

And now, I'm enjoying my last few days of nothing, while my brain begins to remind me of all the things I could have (and maybe should have) done in preparation for this school year, but I don't really feel bad. This summer was full to the brim, but so perfectly full and just the break I needed.