Thursday, January 8th

I write this as my fourth day in the schools is beginning, and I can safely say that there will not be an idle moment during my stay here. Yesterday morning I observed a wonderful 8th grade Social Studies teacher, Mr. Kiefer as he taught the tail end of the American Revolution as well as current events in Israel/Gaza strip. I loved his teaching style. He was extremely animated and his sense of humor hit my funny bone just right. I believe my favorite moment was when a male student asked, since Jerusalem is such a problem, why don't we just create a second one. Oh, if only we could rewind history and do that. Ask Jesus to be born elsewhere or for Mohammed to ascend into heaven another rock, in a location other than Jerusalem. If only. We had a nice laugh and wished that for a moment a solution as simple as that could be found and moved on. I hope to take part in Mr. Kiefer's class more as this month goes on. It was a wonderful experience.

Tom and I then moseyed on over the the hospital on base for a bit of base-culture and good eats from the Hospital's famous salad bar. The hospital is impressively large and is the primary military hospital in Germany. The number of wings was simply daunting and the selection in the salad bar almost as overwhelming. We then returned and ate our lunches, and went on to the second half of the day. I observed Mr. Fairchild that afternoon, a long-term substitute in 6th grade Social Studies. He has taught a variety of classes over the years at Landstuhl, being hired on one-year terms, for unknown reasons. He is well respected by the staff and is a very good teacher. I had the opportunity and talk to him a bit about his role within the DoDDs system, and it was a very educational experience.

I ended the school day playing with Tom's advanced band, assisting the clarinets with their rhythms as they read through pieces and enjoyed greatly the opportunity to play. Sandy and I left the school shortly afterwards to hit the gym at the Ramstein airbase - an extremely large and extensive base with many top-of-the-line facilities. Their gym was just as Sandy had described it to me: impressive. The weight machines were numerous and the cardio machines each had an individual TV screen with a remote so you could plug in your headphones and choose what you wanted to watch. Since we went after school, it was quite crowded with military members and people getting off of work, so Sandy and I are going to try to go in the mornings more often, but I appreciated the workout nonetheless.

After a "late" dinner (in the Merchat family, eating at 6:45 is late) and a good nights rest, I start today with another full plate. I will be observing the school's drama teacher first, then the intercultural class with Jane Bellieu. Since these children constantly live within two different cultures, there is a class that focuses entirely on culture. I am sure it will be quite the educational experience. I will then end my day in Tom's room, observing him with the beginning band, with an assignment he gave me to look for an effective element of his teaching style I see, and something I might do differently. He thought it would be good for both himself and me, as he says he could use the critiquing.

This weekend I look forward to taking in the Kaiserslaughtern fruit and vegetable market and the surrounding sites, with the possibility of a day trip elsewhere on Sunday. That decision will be made shortly. I am adjusting quite well to life here, enjoying the healthy eating and early bedtimes in the Merchat household, the only problem being battling for a shower in the mornings, every time I attempt to turn on the one downstairs, someone hops in upstairs. I have to laugh as I seem to get it quite late in the morning and get ready quickly, but that is hardly a complaint. I have now become quite up-to-date with the news as the family has it on every morning at breakfast and any time we are in the car, and I find myself enjoying the Paul Harvey news updates more than I would have anticipated. I do find it rather daunting that the children here look at skiing in the Alps as no big deal and trips to France, Austria, or Italy as nothing short of a regular vacation. I simply chuckle to myself at the opportunities they have by living abroad, but yet also see the down side, as they move constantly, without every staying long enough to have a place called "home." Sandy had said she has now learned never to ask a child where "home" is, and rather focus on where they most recently moved from. While to children who have known nothing else, this may seem like a small loss, but to me it is a little more than that, for I will always be able to look back at my home in Montana with fond memories, of traditions centered around my family in Missoula, rather than a constantly moving picture, with no traditional "home" to reflect on. Well, these children certainly don't seem to mind, and I must admit I too would love to go on a regular vacation to one of the Alps many ski resorts! To the classroom I now go, so I will write more at a later date.
~Katie