Yay, Small Dictatorship!

I'm slowly building up my German army.

While I am popular in each grade (and in some classes more so than others), I seem to be more of a hit with the sections of the second grade. Today demonstrated this yet again, as the two sections I assisted were very successful (though, if I have to sing "Old MacDonald" one more time, I will weep dark red tears of raven's blood). 2c, while perhaps more difficult to teach than the other two sections, is especially sweet, since I had three of the students actually competing with each other to help me with the song and clear off the chalkboard once the lesson was over. Oh, and I still get hugs.

One of my students, Sarah, is a short little bundle of loudness, scatter-brained, holds her finger up (instead of "hands up," it's "fingers up" in German classes) even when she doesn't know the answer, and probably would be the type of child I would tie to a tree if I were to look after her for more than an hour. But, she's always been my little cheerleader, and she has such beautiful green eyes. She was one of my helpers today, as she rushed up to the front of the room when I was going over the farm animals for the third week in a row and asked the teacher if she could help me. She is Minion #1 in Jen's German Minions series. Stay tuned. (My minions will be listed in no particular order, but Sarah is the first one who pops into my mind right now, as I T.A.-ed in her class today.)

Another incident of note today deals with a certain package I received in the post this afternoon. Hoorah for my friend-type person, whom I have fondly nicknamed Hooker, and her family! I got all sorts of lovely items, including tea, a Zombie Eye ball, three books, a drawing designed especially for me (thanks, Declan, for your weirdness at such a tender age), window decor, a t-shirt, and a writing pad. Vielen Dank for your generosity and weirdness!

Unfortunately, I have to switch gears and backtrack a bit, which leaves little room for a good transition. Yesterday, I traveled to Luneburg for another orientation, but this time for the assistants from the Luneburg Heide, or district. This also included not just American assistants (for there were only two: Maryle and myself), but also British, French, Spanish, Canadian, Australian, and Chinese teaching assistants. Though the day overall was enjoyable enough, the orientation seemed a bit of a waste of time, seeing as I learned nothing new about how to teach nor anything about the Niedersachsen school system. Still, it was interesting seeing the other assistants (though I talked to maybe...two of them), and Luneburg does have a nice Neues Rathaus. We were even given a tour of the said courthouse, which is, admittedly, more like a museum. I'd like to return to the city to see more than just the courthouse and the Nordsee fast food restaurant.

Oh! Another random thought. I carved my own pumpkin today! It's a small, titchy thing, and I designed it in the Slime persuasion of the very first Dragon Warrior video game. It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Here! Have a picture!

A Slime draws near!

Command?