The Pied Pedophile

Also, for those of you Hamliners (or Hamline supporters) who have always wondered about our creepy Piper mascot, here is the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, as written by a fellow Fulbright ETA in Hannover.

True story.

LOCK UP YOUR CHILDREN! IT'S HIM!

Adventures in Babysitting Bureaucracy

Due to the delightful language of my contract as an English Teaching Assistant in Germany, I am allowed (almost required) to take one full day a week away from the school for my own time. I chose Fridays. (Who wouldn't?)

Thus, today, I had the privilege of sleeping in. Because I am now old and my body is used to getting up at ridiculous o'clock every morning, I slept in until the beautiful hour of 8:30 am.

This means that I can Skype with friends at 1:30 am Minnesota time, while they are still going strong. One Pro for the list, I guess.

All was well, though, as I still have a list of bureaucratic crap to get through. I had intended to go to the Ausländeramt of the city of Düsseldorf (for you Anglophiles, that is the Alien Registration Office) to wait in line and attempt to convince officials that I would be a gracious and appreciative recipient of a visa that would allow me to legally live in Germany until next July.

Following such an adventure, I planned to find the Akademisches Ausländsamt on the university and attempt to persuade them to let me register as a student without making me pay tuition. I'm told that Fulbrighters often are exempted from tuition fees, though we still pay the 200€ student fee... which I will happily pay, as it allows me free public transportation throughout the entire state of Nordrhein-Westfalen until the end of next March.

Of course, being Germany, both offices closed at 1:00 pm and 12:00 noon today, respectively. Furthermore, the university office closes at noon every day. As a productive member of society, this does not work well with my schedule.

So, I decided that the visa could wait; after all, my American passport gives me tourist status for three months, so another week won't hurt. I hopped on my bike, praying not to get lost, and set off for the uni. Turns out, it's a mere 8-minute bicycle ride from my apartment. Beautiful, really. I found the correct building without a problem and headed in, rehearsing my words in my head.

"Hi, my name is Amanda. I'm a Fulbright grantee in Düsseldorf until next July, and I would like to register as a student at the university."

But, alas. Germany has foiled me again. I explained my request to staff members, only to be told that my particular person only has office hours from 9 am - 12 pm Monday through Thursday. And, she'll be out until next Wednesday. Come back then.

Germany: 1.
Amanda: 0.

Umziehung und Arbeit

An update for yoooou, though I'm exhausted, so it's going to be short and not very interesting. (Though I'm certainly not implying that my daily activities are ever interesting.)

Today was my second day at the school. For the first two weeks, I'm taking part in my Hospitationsphase, which means that I am visiting and observing various classes to see which classes and students I enjoy and would like to be a part of for the entire semester or year. (But I'm pretty sure I've already explained this.)

So far, everything is going great. (Minus the fact that I took the wrong train this morning and was twenty minutes late to school. Hey, who makes a route that goes in a CIRCLE? This makes the end destinations the same. Awfully hard in that case to figure out which direction you should take the train, in my opinion.) The students are all surprisingly well-behaved (possibly because I'm a new person?), and my colleagues are all super friendly. I even attended a Lehrerkonferenz today, in which the entire faculty had a meeting about important things.

Speaking of important, I've only been in Düsseldorf for about five days, and I already have seven keys. This includes a key that opens pretty much all doors in the school, and one for the teachers' room. As Andrew said, that's something I should put on a résumé. I feel exceedingly privileged. And kind of old.

Yesterday, I moved into my apartment. I'm not completely in yet, as one of my roommates is on vacation in Spain, and it is her former room that I will be moving into. Thus, I'm currently based in the living room/her future room until she returns on Friday.

My life overall, though, is awesome. I finally have a home base, I'm making and eating real food again (not just bread, noodles, and cheese), and I like my school. Time is already going fast, which is both a blessing and a bit scary.

Life is good.

Dining with Dutcher

Dear Readers,

I am pleased to announce to you my authorship in a second blog.

My dear friend, Haeyoon, who has personally experienced the frustrations of attempting to cook in the processed-cheese-less, condensed-soup-less, any-sort-of-spice-less country of Germany, has revamped her cooking blog for the year. Topic: how to keep Amanda from starving by providing delicious, cheap recipes modified for the Deutschland.

My part in this blog, in addition to having the pleasure of receiving and testing the recipes (and getting my name in the title... hells yes), is to issue Haeyoon a weekly recipe challenge, so that she does not bore of her task.

I now present to you:

Dining with Dutcher.

Postadresse!

Hey all. My mailing address will be as follows. Letters and packages herzlich wilkommen; they make my heart fuzzy!

For every letter I receive, a reply is guaranteed!

Amanda Dutcher
Erasmusstraße 15
40223 Düsseldorf
Germany

P.S. For future reference, my address is also listed in the sidebar. -->

First day of school!

So, school is back in session, and I'm about to experience it from the other side.

I had my first day at my school today, and it was a great experience! Really, it was a very long day, as I got up early in the morning and became an official citizen of Düsseldorf, complete with my own German bank account. In Germany, if you rent or live somewhere, you are required to register with the city as an Einwohner, or citizen. Then, every time you move or obtain another living space, you are required to reregister. When I leave, I will have to ausmelden, or essentially "log out" from the city. Unregister, if you will.

The registration process was really rather painless, though, I must say. The governmental offices were easy to find, being very near the train station (which I did not realize until I was already there), the wait was short, and the person who registered me was very friendly. I then got a little welcome box full of Düsseldorf pamphlets and info... and tea. Hmm. I'll take it!

I then went to a nearby Sparkasse, where I effectively set up my own student checking account. In Germany, checking accounts have monthly fees - unless one is a student. Luckily, the man who helped me was very kind and accepted my International Student ID card and allowed me to open a kostenloses Girokonto (free checking account). As he took me through all the paperwork, we also had an interesting conversation on the U.S. government and its role in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe and Turkey. Unfortunately, the conversation was rather one-sided, as Herr Vatim expressed his opinions, and I was not well-informed on the topic. Current foreign politics along with the population of the U.S. are two things that are now on my list to research and about which to inform myself.

I then picked up a mozzarella and tomato on ciabatta (I love the capri sandwiches here... I've been living nearly exclusively on them; hey, at least I'm getting some fruit/veggies!) and made my way to my school, which will be about a 40-minute commute for me, once I am in my new place. A bit far, yes, but I am very happy at the moment with my location in the city. Furthermore, I find public transportation interesting, and as long as I don't have to drive, I don't mind taking the train and bus to work and back each day. I am also planning on becoming a university student here in Düsseldorf, which will provide me with a 200€ Semesterticket that is good on all public transportation in the entire state of North Rhine-Westphalia until the end of next March. Rock on. Being a student in Europe has so many perks!

My school.

I arrived at the school without problem, having been met at the bus stop by Hedi, the tutor and support for all language assistants in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. We took care of some official paperwork, which will allow me to get paid as soon as possible (always good). She then introduced me to a number of teachers and showed me around the school. I was then passed on to two of the English teachers with whom I will be working, and we created a schedule for my Hospitationsphase, which will commence next week. For two weeks, I will observe classes of all levels from grades 5 to 13 and with various teachers, after which I will decide upon a fixed schedule for a certain period of time.

The front foyer, facing outward, of Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Gymnasium.

All of this took place in the teacher's lounge, which is an interesting and wonderful place in Germany. I will tell you more about this in a future post.

The main stairwell in my school, which is organized into a square with an interior yard.

All in all, my first formal day on the job was a great experience, and I am very excited to get into the swing of things at my school.

Me, happy.

Orientation breakdown

Orientation

I have arrived back from Haus Altenberg, a former cloister and current youth center outside of Köln, Germany with a head full of information, a bag full of paperwork, lungs full of crud, and a bunch of new friends.

The entrance to the Hof, or yard, inside Haus Altenberg

I must admit that I hadn't very high expectations about the orientation before I left. I was not super excited to hang out with a huge group of Americans and attend sessions beginning with breakfast at 8 am. The last scheduled activities for each day began after dinner, around 7:30 each night.

And what a huge group of Americans it turned out to be. I arrived at the Kölner Hauptbahnhof around 3:00 pm, a half hour before we were supposed to meet to board buses to Haus Altenberg. As I walked toward the meeting point, all I could hear surrounding me was English. It was almost sickening to hear so many loud Americans with their piles of luggage. I stepped outside only to encounter another massive group of Americans. I'm talking groups of 60 or more. I stood by the train station entrance, observing, and happened upon a kindred spirit, a fellow English assistant from Britain. We shared our doubts and skepticism about the upcoming week before getting swept in the crowd to the buses.

As it turned out, we needed three huge coach buses, one a double-decker, to transport the 160 American Fulbrighters + about 40 Brits, Aussies, and New Zealanders to Haus Altenberg, a little gem of a 13th-century church hidden in green hills. Admittedly, it didn't take long to change my attitude about the orientation. Set in a beautiful place, it didn't seem so overwhelming.

The 13th-century cathedral from the outside of the cloister.

At our greeting session, we were told that we'd be locked in to the cloister at night (more to keep others out) and that alcohol was not allowed anywhere on the premises... except, they had made an exception for us, and there would be beer and wine for sale every night. How German. Plus, what a great way to motivate young Americans to get through the day.

Where we socialized (networked? ...and drank) each night.

Overall, it was a great experience. We truly did get up for breakfast each morning at 8 am and spent the entire day attempting to absorb oodles of official information as well as tips for teaching. Fulbrighters, as a rule, have little to no experience teaching, so it was much like a crash course in Lehramt.

On the first full day, we were divided into groups, with whom we created a simulated lesson. On the second day, we had to teach our lesson to "classes" of our peers. The lesson had to be an actual hour long and incorporate good teaching techniques. It was a challenge and scary at first, but it was honestly a blast to execute. I feel much better and more confident going into my school and teaching, and I'm excited (though still a bit scared) to create my own lessons and have people actually listening to me and engaging. (Hopefully these high schoolers will engage... or at least some of them.)

New friends who were members of my group and "class".

The one unfortunate part is that I taught a simulated lesson for Grundschüler, or elementary students. I am personally teaching at a middle/high school. Ironically, our group was the only one in our "class" to have nearly exclusively rave reviews, and many of my peers commented on how well-suited I would be teaching young students. I guess we'll see if I can up it a few levels. :/

The ride back to Köln was unfortunately a dreary, rainy busy ride starting at 7:30 am. I nearly lost my breakfast, but a short train ride back to Düsseldorf and a few hours of sleep have put me back right, I believe.

The church at Haus Altenberg.

Apartment

As for the apartment, I chose the one with three other girls. I signed the lease on Monday before taking off for Haus Altenberg, and they were kind enough to allow me to pay half the security deposit now and half when I receive my first pay. "We all have money issues sometimes," were the words of my new roommate. Amen to that, sister.

No one will be there this weekend, so I will be hopefully moving in next week. Meanwhile, I can save a little money by staying with Esther's family, so it all works out very well.

Work

I start officially at the school tomorrow. It'll be another long day, as I take off for the middle of the city early in the morning to attempt to register myself as a citizen of the city as well as open a German bank account before taking care of some paperwork at the school beginning at noon.

I hope all goes well. Until next time, dear Readers, thanks for keeping in touch.