Osterferien Part I: Copenhagen

"Where'd you go for Osterferien? You got a sunburn!"
"... Denmark?"


When other ETAs and I started to plan our spring break trips, we had one requirement (relatively inexpensive) and one want (sunny and warm). Not too hard to find a place that fulfills both, right?

Well, Spain and Portugal were out-- too expensive. Southern France was out-- also too expensive, and none of us wanted to hang out on a beach for more than a few hours. Greece was a possibility, but the discount airlines were out of tickets. None of us had a strong desire to go to Italy. We tossed around Prague, Budapest, and Croatia as other possibilities but decided against all of them. Eventually, J, K, and I settled on Copenhagen.

Fortunately for us, Denmark had a heat wave while we were there, and K and I ended up with a sunburn! (Mine was limited to my left ear; K wasn't quite as lucky.)

At first glance, Copenhagen looks exactly like a stereotypical European city: colorful three- to five-story buildings with big windows, a lot of big churches, and a lot of bike paths. My friends and I joked that Copenhagen was a smaller, upscale version of Berlin. The differences can be subtle, but by the second or third day, we were pointing out little differences between Copenhagen and other cities: sculptures near churches that resemble Greek or Nordic gods, exercise stations for adults in the middle of the city, and very slight architectural differences. (Oh, and the boats, I guess.)

We flew out on Friday morning, left our luggage in a storage room at Absalon Annex (a budget hotel in a great location-- pretty clean, pretty good breakfast, very thin walls), and wandered around the pedestrian area of the city while waiting for the official check-in time. Somehow, we ended up in a toy store and comparing our childhood toys to the current trends. Nostalgia, anyone? After checking in, we went to the National History Museum and learned that Vikings were not actually as bloodthirsty and violent as most think-- after all, they founded several settlements around the coast. (J and I had a few issues with this explanation.)

On Saturday, we went to Rosenborg Castle and Amalienborg Palace. Personally, I preferred Rosenborg, but I was also a little distracted because I was appointed the official group photographer. It was a little rainy, so we called it a day mid-afternoon and went back to the hotel.

Sunday was a bit of a lazy day: we went to the botanical garden and to the Glyptotek before taking a short break. I'd recommend the botanical garden in Dahlem over the one in Copenhagen, but it was such a beautiful day... When we were climbing around in the garden, we were joking about making it to the top (one section is a mini hill with steps), and a grandmother started singing, "We Are The Champions" to us. Very random. It was definitely directed at us, too, because she kept sneaking looks at us. We looked at her and started laughing, and she smiled, finished the stanza, and then sheepishly said, "Sorry." We're the champions for climbing 10 feet? Go us!

The Glyptotek's layout is a little confusing. We wanted to see the French Impressionism first, but somehow we ended up in the Degas section (which was fine; we wanted to see the Degas anyway). We continued to look for the French Impressionism and then ended up in the Danish art (which was fine; we wanted to see that, too). On our third attempt, we ended up in ancient art (which we didn't want to see; we have the Neues Museum in Berlin, and we really just wanted to see the French stuff)-- and then we decided to ask for directions. (Eventually, we did find the French art, and it was worth the wait! I was hoping for a little more Monet, though... oh well.)

For dinner, we went to a restaurant around the corner from the hotel that had a deal on burgers and drinks on Sundays. Our burgers were huge. We ended up taking off the top and eating it with forks and knives, European style! Mmm, it was the best veggie burger I've had in awhile.

We decided to save the canal tour for Monday because the weather was supposed to be really nice. We thought it would be a good idea to take a boat from the southern end, switch at Nyhaven, and then ride up to the Little Mermaid statue. Yeah, well, it turns out that only one boat line was running, but the boat company didn't advertise that at all. We waited for almost an hour before giving up, walking to Nyhaven, and learning about the one open line. (NOT COOL, DFDS!) Honestly, I was disappointed in the tour. It might have been a great Day One activity, but it was less informative than I had expected. (The tour was in three languages, so that didn't help.) We got off at the Little Mermaid statue, took pictures with it, and then wandered around the Kastellet for about an hour.

Next up: Osterferien Part II: Jordan!

Abiturprüfungen

I wrote this shortly before leaving for Osterferien and never got around to posting it for some reason:

Last week, I had a few days off from school, thanks to the Abitur and MSA presentations. Students write a paper (usually about 15-20 pages, I think) about a topic that they're interested in, and then they give a 20-minute presentation of their research to a panel of two teachers.

My New BL invited me to sit in on a presentation by one of her most impressive students ever. The topic was definitely interesting (the Republican/Democrat "culture war" in the US), although I have to say that I disagreed with her conclusion to an extent (that Americans themselves don't see a culture war because they're politically disinterested; it comes only from the political parties). What was particularly impressive is that she has never studied in the US. A handful of students go abroad every year, but she has only been to English-speaking countries for short trips.

Her English is better than my German-- I was seriously impressed. She has a stronger accent than many of the students who were abroad, but her vocabulary and command of grammar was extremely strong. New BL told me that "this student gets 15s" on tests because she has nothing to correct. (She really does write better than the average Miami freshman. That said, I could tell that English is her second language: she makes very, very minor stylistic errors, and she has trouble with academic register at times. I'd still give the paper a 15, though, because it is far ahead of what I'd expect from an EFL 13th grader. A non-German speaker probably wouldn't be able to tell that she's an EFL student; her mistakes are really that minor.)

After the Abi, I'd love to sit down with her over a cup of coffee and talk about her paper. :)

Enjoying Osterferien

Back next week!

Thinking Like a Teacher

I TAed for four semesters in college and coached gymnastics for six years, so even before I got to Germany, I was decent at creating an authoritative presence when it was my turn to lead class or present a project.

Now, I don't just play teacher; I find myself thinking like a teacher.

Last month, some of the 10th graders were so excited to say hello. Really excited. In retrospect, suspiciously excited. I stopped and chatted with a circle of guys for a few minutes before heading to my next class. When I walked through the door, I realized that I had tape connecting my head to my bag. 

The next day, I greeted the guys with: "Oh, hey! I have a really silly question: did I have tape on my head when I was talking to you yesterday?"

It was a simple yes/no question, ne?

One of them responded, "It wasn't us! Ms. A, do you really think we did it? We wouldn't do that! We like you! We would never put tape on your head!"

Guilty!! Ha! I gave them a knowing smirk and left it at that. Good thing they used masking tape and not a stickier tape, right?

Fulbright Berlin Conference: "Networking in the Fulbright Family"

What do you get when you mix about 500 American Fulbrighters in Germany, American Fulbrighters in other European countries, and future German Fulbrighters going to the US?

Answer: a very loud week that was definitely not designed by introverts.

For me, the week of networking kicked off on Saturday, when I met J and E's ETA friends from Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland. Since Berlin was actually sunny, we headed to Treptower Park and the former Tempelhof airport (now a park). I also brought Puppy because she's always up for a little exercise. :)

On Sunday, several of my friends and I went on tours of Berlin. I've been to most of the government buildings, major museums, and tourist attractions, so I decided to go on a tour of Neukölln. It wasn't quite what I had expected (we only went to a mosque, and I thought we were going to see more parts of Neukölln), but the mosque was beautiful, and the tour guide was informative. After we got back, we had dinner with plenty of free wine* and chatted with a few Germans who are heading to the US next year.

(*I mention this only because we supposedly drank more wine than any other previous Fulbright group. Of course, that's also because we had the highest number of participants.)

I attended panels, of course, but I think my favorite part was the music gala on Tuesday night because the performers had such different talents and interests. (The Marlene Dietrich impersonator was definitely a hit amongst the German-speaking crowd!) Closing with "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso" is also always a good choice. (Wenn ich nur fleißiger geübt hätte...)

During our trip to the Rotes Rathaus, someone asked Ingeborg Junge-Reyer (Berlin's mayor and senator for urban development) where you could find the best Döner in Berlin. She gave a very diplomatic answer about finding the best döner stand next to a very busy, very good currywurst stand. Unfortunately, most non-Berliners thought that this was general commentary on the ubiquitousness of good currywurst and döner stands. She was actually referring to Curry 36 and Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap in Kreuzberg. :) (Sadly, that day was the first and last time that I ate/will eat at Mustafa's. I'm allergic to one of their spices, most likely cumin.)

Since I live in Berlin, I had to commute to and from the Park Inn Hotel. However, that didn't stop me from taking full advantage of the breakfasts and dinners! Even as a vegetarian with food allergies, I was able to find plenty of things to eat. I also greatly appreciated the free trip to Weimar that I won through the nametag lottery. :)

When I got back to My Gymnasium, one of the teachers (Musik/Ethik) approached me and said (auf Deutsch), "I didn't know that you're a Fulbrighter." (One of the English teachers interjected, "I didn't know that, either! Not bad.") Musik/Ethik teacher: "My daughter was at the conference last week and saw 'My Gymnasium' in the program. She had such a great time, and she came back raving about the Fulbright family atmosphere." I told him that if she has any questions about studying in the US, she should email me, and he responded: "See? Networking in the Fulbright family."