Ms. K's Adventures Abroad: GAPP celebrates!

So first off, a note about the weather. Before we arrived, they had three straight weeks of rain. When we came, so did the sunshine, and it was HOT! The result was that life was muggy and sticky for most of the first week (thus all the mentions of swimming at the pool or lake). Saturday finally cooled off a bit, and yesterday alternated between sunny, partly cloudy and breezy, and even the occasional showers. We are getting the full range.

We had two birthdays this week--Mia last Monday (our first full day here) and Leah on Saturday. Each received a card and enough money for a chocolate bar of their choice from us. So that was a fun way to celebrate! On Friday we had our regular check in (minus Natalie, who was so into the English lesson that she wanted to stay in class, and Isabella, who took advantage of the lack of early classes her partner had and slept in a bit), partly due to the extreme heat, we decided to ditch third period and get spaghetti ice cream. This is a traditional German ice cream. Not a normal brunch, but it really was hot, and it's something everyone needs to try (and we shared).

On our way down, we stopped first to look at some "Stolpersteine" (Stumbling Stones). These are little 4x4 brass squares with the names and fates of Holocaust victims placed in front of homes where they last lived or worked by choice ("Here lived __________, born 1884, fled to Holland 1935, interned Westerbork 1942, deported to Auschwitz, murdered Auschwitz Nov 2, 1942"). They are in fact a powerful reminder of the fact that Holocaust victims were real people living lives just like ours in towns like this. The memorial exists all over Europe and consists of over 50,000 (and increasing) stones in 18 countries. It's incredibly powerful to "stumble" across these--way more than a statue or monument with a list of names nobody reads.

After our ice cream we headed into the church--most of the students had not been inside yet (nor had I). The organist was practicing some pretty grim sounding music, but there was nothing else going on and we were able to look around at a typical European Catholic cathedral. Then we walked down to the drug store and grabbed a few items before the weekend, stopped in a school supply store for students to buy German style pens and pencils (they like the fountain pens and Stabilo colored pens favored by most Germans) before returning to the school. Andrea C shared that several of them had been in a politics/government class and had discussed the Brexit vote (ie class to English). It was fun having intelligent conversations with students about Brexit over ice cream in the EU.

We also celebrated soccer this week. Last Tuesday, Germany defeated Northern Ireland 1-0 to win its group and advance to the round of 16. Well, yesterday Germany's offense finally got rolling, and we defeated Slovakia 3-0 to head to the quarterfinals (opponent will be winner of Spain-Italy this afternoon). From what I heard, some of the kids headed to public viewing. Some of them also went on various outings with families or had family viewing parties over the weekend. I know that the Power Man Duathalon world series was in town on Sunday (10 km run, 120 km bike, 20 km run). I watched and cheered on the athletes. Saturday was the shorter version (5 km, 40 km, 5 km), which our host teacher completed. So lots of sports!

On Friday Andrea C shared that several of them had been in a politics/government class and had discussed the Brexit vote (in English! The teacher, a former GAPP coordinator who has been to Eugene often, switched the entire class to English). It was fun having intelligent conversations with students about Brexit over ice cream in the EU! Today an English teacher shared how a few of our kids (she specifically mentioned John and Andrea, though as we have two of each, I don't know which ones!) were in a class and students got the opportunity to practice in groups with native speakers over topics that actually interest teenagers. I also just ran into Lucas, Maija, and Natalie in the bistro, where they enjoyed a free period. I saw Isaac and John M. in the hallway, each surrounded by a group of Germans. Andrea S, Rayna, Mia, and John used their free 3rd to walk to the bakery. Then Payton, Isabella, and Andrea C. (who missed check in this morning because they were having too much fun in class) grabbed them to help finish filming a video for English class that was due at the end of next period. I would say they are being fully integrated! They have mentioned meeting people who are not part of the exchange--friends of their hosts, etc.--and I know Mia, Leah, and Natalie (and maybe others) are joining the Latin class on a field trip to Trier tomorrow.

Today and tomorrow are mellow school days, and Wednesday we head to Heidelberg with Josephine, the other host teacher.

Here are a few more pictures from Iceland and from our trip to Castle Eltz.