Sprechen sie Deutsch?

Hello everyone,

First off, I hope YOU are doing well. Thank you so much for your continued kindness and love for me. I have definitely had my doubts about this trip, but everyone has been so caring and encouraging that it's hard to imagine why I was even scared.

Also, a huge thank you to my wonderful German buddies. These are student volunteers who have taken Alexis and myself under their wing. They are so kind and genuinely care about making sure we have the best trip possible. I am amazed at their continued kindness towards us and patience in translating everything. 

So German school is quite different from American school. For starters, the Gutenberg-Schule begins at 7:45 and the students go home at 1. The students have a class period from 7:50-9:20, a break for twenty minutes, class again from 9:40-11:10, another twenty minute break, and finally class from 11:30-1:00, at the end of which they go home. Each class period is broken into two forty five minute lessons. One teacher may teach the entire 90 minutes or teach for only 45 and move classrooms. One huge advantage I see of the German school style is that the teacher moves rooms. Instead of having students constantly forgetting things in their locker or being ill prepared for class, the students stay in the same room all day, with their materials at the back of the room for each class. The teachers have their own room, like a teachers lounge, where students can come ask them questions during their break. There is no lunch time because students eat after school. However, during their breaks, there is a snack window where they can get cheap goodies to tide them over.

Currently, Alexis and I are both traveling with one teacher who instructs English to grades 8, 9, and 10. The students have an oral English examination in April, which Alexis and I are helping them prepare for. Once our schedule gets more nailed down, I hope to shadow one of the math teachers for a few days. Since math is primarily numbers, I have a strong feeling I will know what is going on, even if I do not speak fluent German. 

I have really enjoyed our time at the school so far. The students seem to be interested in what we have to say and how we can help them. I am able to translate some bits and pieces and am praying for a miracle of German ability to come. :)

Our living arrangements are not exactly what we were anticipating, so we are hoping to discuss some potential changes in the near future. I ate my first Mozzball today. I only knew what it was because of too many episodes of Chopped. It seems that everyone over here eats bread, all the time, for any and everything. And although I am not part of the Atkins diet, I'm still not entirely convinced I can eat the bread without running 7 hours a day. 

For anyone wondering why all my photos contain minions, Tim and Dave will be the Flat Stanleys of my trip. I think that's all my updates for now!

Xoxo/Tschüs
Faith