Lots of little things going into today's post, so forgive me for the increased randomness. It will probably range from reading to nicknames to having a nice voice. Something along those lines. For clarity's sake, I'll separate each topic into sections. That's what writer-type people do. Yeah.
Einfach die Welt veraendern
So, last night while getting ready for bed, I went into my bathroom to, well, get ready. I noticed that, under my hairdryer, there laid a small, square book, entitled Einfach die Welt veraendern: 50 kleine Ideen mit grosser Wirkung (rough translation for non-German types: Easy to Change the World: 50 Little Ideas with Big Effects). It appears that Andrea left if there for me to read (but not in the bathroom, you perverts), and it may or may not have been a pointed action that she placed it under my hairdryer...but I'm going to ignore that. You see, Einfach die Welt is a book by those crazy kids at We Are What We Do, an English organization that encourages small good deeds in the somewhat optimistic belief that these such actions can make a big difference, given enough participants. Sounds all well and good, right? It's technically a piece of green, save-the-planet propaganda, but I'm going to go out on a carbon dioxide-producing limb here and say that not all propaganda is bad--and this book is actually quite a delight to read. It makes me happy, anyway, so there must be some good in it. It gives such helpful hints as giving away--or, "recycling"--books, old computers, and the like as well as providing advice to plant trees, smile at people (from a German book, HA*), and bathe with your partner to conserve water.
Though I enjoyed the book (and wonder if I can keep it; I haven't seen Andrea today to ask about its mysterious appearance in my bathroom), I cannot help but wonder that this is Andrea's attempt to get me out of what she may deem as a funk. To clarify, I'm not too terribly social with the family (though I did give Andrea a jar of my peppermint tea as a thank-you for her hospitality), but that doesn't mean that I'm not thoroughly enjoying myself here--and I found myself thinking, "Hey, I already do that" many times while browsing through the book. Regardless of intent, I really appreciate the loan.
If anyone is curious, here is the link to the WAWWD website: http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/. Now go! Go and be delightfully brainwashed by good-intentioned, yet too-optimistic Green people!
*Reference my angry post about Germans' reactions to smiling pedestrians.
Nicknames
I probably won't write nearly as much here as above, but this is worthy of honorable mention in my blog. While in grade school, I went by the nickname "Jenny." I have long since gone by Jennifer (and if people are close to me or feeling brave, then Jen), having deemed the nickname of yesteryear unsuitable for my personality. For the most part, I am right. Jenny doesn't suit me. However...
Kids in 2a, the first week: Jenni!!!
Kids in multiple classes, this week: Jenni!!!
So, yeah. Now that I'm working in a primary school, it comes back like the reanimated corpse of Frankenstein's monster. And I don't mind one bit.
Don't get me wrong. Most of the students still call me either Jennifer or Ms. Jennifer. However, I have the feeling that Jenni will stick for at least a little while...
"You have a nice sound."
I co-substituted for yet another class today, seeing as Susanne is still sick. Fortunately, the subject was yet again the parts of the bicycle, and the substitute and I have pretty much done this lesson thrice now. It went very well, but that's also because the class itself is well-behaved. During their busy work, Katrin and I started chatting:
Katrin: "The students come up to me and say that they like hearing you speak because you have a nice sound."
Perhaps I should explain/pseudo-translate. This remark does not sound strange to me, but that's because I'm used to the German structure of things and am a little removed from how English is supposed to sound. (Not really, but you see my point.) What Katrin means is that the children like to hear me talk because I'm fluent in English, therefore making my mother language, which is foreign to them, sound prettier than, say, a German teacher trying to speak English. Does that make sense? Damn, now I'm confused. Now that I've read over it, yes, it does make sense. If it doesn't, then you're just weird.
I've been told that I speak like a primary school teacher. Considering the source, this probably wasn't a compliment. But, you know what? It does help the kids. So, I'm glad I do have that sort of voice, if only at this point in time.
Oh, hey--I lied. There's one more section...
This Instant Coffee is My Drug.
Really. It is.
Being the uber language dork that I am I had to try and match your German to the translation, so tells me how I do. Welt = world, die = the, einfach = easy, veraendern = change (I forget if German sentences typically start with verbs or end with them, so I may have those last two reversed...). mit = with, ideen=ideas (does the n make it plural?), grosser = big (like the gross sum is usually the bigger number - that’s Haley logic), kleine = little. So, how’d I do. Did learning Old English pay off? Actually, returning to my verb debate, veraendern definitely looks like an Old English verb. Now I really want to learn German, and I’m reminded that I should practice my Spanish more so I don’t lose fluency.
ReplyDeleteYour explanation of sounding pretty made a whole lot of sense to me. I love that the kids notice the difference. For me, Spanish always sound much nicer when spoken by a native speaker then, say, when I do.
-H
Your super Old English skillz paid off, Haley. You're right on the money. It was really cool reading through your logic. If you want to learn German, perhaps I can help by paying for half of a plane ticket for you to visit. :)
ReplyDeleteYay, my explanation makes sense! Hooray, validation!
Score! God, I wish I could visit. Stupid school getting in the way of fun...
ReplyDelete