Weekly Update

A few unrelated thoughts from the past week and a half:
- I'm getting very good at telling off people and animals in German (I practice a lot on Puppy). I snapped at a student who decided to bow, make slanty eyes, and greet me in Chinese. At least it actually was "ni hao" and not "ching chong." If you're going to be offensive, you might as well do it properly.

- I got to teach an entire Leistungskurs! This really shouldn't be so exciting because I've led more than my share of college classes, but it was the first time that I taught a potentially 'touchy' topic. We talked about 'Otherness,' and I used a vignette from The House on Mango Street, which went over really well. What surprised me was how willing the students were to share their experiences and thoughts... and they nailed it. I barely needed to prompt them-- they brought up problematic comments in the vignette; they bounced around ideas about how Otherness reflects dominant privilege (okay, they didn't use the phrase 'dominant privilege'... after all, they're 16, and they're learning English as their third language); and they just plain understood the text. I am no longer in Miamiland-- I am teaching in a school in a low-income neighborhood, where 70% of the students are Muslim, where 70% of the students are not ethnic Germans, and where they are confronted with racism, classism, and xenophobia on a daily basis.

- Are my students perfect? Oh, no, they are not. Anti-Semitism is a significant issue at My Gymnasium. I think one of my future lesson plans will involve parsing the differences between governments and people.

- Fall break is lovely. I went to the zoo with J and spent the entire day wandering around the animal exhibits and walking through the aquarium. German zoos seem to have much less stringent fencing rules-- it's possible to hop the fence and walk into most of the exhibits if you really want to. Also, the lions have individual cages inside (and, of course, an outdoor area), and the cages do not have solid sides. The zoo authorities thought ahead, though, and posted a sign to warn visitors: "Lions may spray urine through the fence." I also went to the botanical garden with J, H, and E.

- I love my mom's chocolate chip cookies. Best recipe ever, I'm telling you.