Howdy Y'all,

That's a phrase I don't hear often anymore. So it's been about a month since I arrived in Germany now and I figure it's about time to give people updates. Alas, my procrastination can only hold out so long.

First off, I'm kind of writing this on the fly, so as far as excellent grammatical structure and a coherent theme go, expect to be underwhelmed.

By contrast, my arrival in Germany was somewhat overwhelming. I didn't get much sleep the night before I left, because I naturally spent the entire day procrastinating packing and to my horror realized around 2am what a huge job it was to pack for an entire year. Nevertheless, it worked out, and an employee at the airport was nice enough to ignore the fact that both of my checked bags were slightly overweight. Hopefully saying that here won't cost her her job, because she's clearly a baller.

My flight also happened to be delayed on the tarmac for 2 hours with no AC, so that was awesome. Thus, when I landed in Frankfurt, in addition to being jet-lagged and exhausted, I had to frantically find my meeting point with Romy and hope that she hadn't given up on me when I was two hours late. So I dragged over 100lbs of luggage a ridiculously long distance to find out that her flight had also been delayed and I waited for her to arrive. I was greeted by Romy and Tilo who were very accomodating and we traveled back to Rimbach together. At my apartment I unpacked and was very tired and homesick. However not two hours after I landed, one of my podmates from college, Brandon, and his high school friend, Dode, arrived to stay with me two days. I had at first thought that I would need more time to settle in, but their visit proved to be just what I needed. I couldn't be homesick with guests, and together we explored my new town. We even made it to a local bar and I made my first group of friends here in Rimbach.

I spent the next three weeks here at a language course in Heidelberg and it turned out to be quite a great experience. My German improved faster than I could have imagined and I am usually able to say what I want to when I need to. I also met a bunch of friends my age from all over Europe at the language course, and we had fun together on the weekends. It was also a great way for me to practice my German, as it was pretty much the only language we all had in common. Also it has been hard for me to be very talkative with native German speakers because I am embarrassed by all the mistakes I am making. However, with other foreigners, making German mistakes is just normal. Sadly some of the friends I made there have already left back to Greece or to the Netherlands to continue on in their lives, but I hope to see them again sometime. Furthermore, I will definitely continue to hang out with the friends that remain there.

Some of the more potent memories from the first three weeks here are as follows: One night, about ten friends and I hung out on the Neckarwiese in Heidelberg, which is like a 2km long stretch of green grass on the shore of a river that runs through the middle of Heidelberg. We were speaking in like a total of 5 or 6 languages and just enjoying the beautiful sunset in the valley with the Heidelberg castle overlooking us. It was also a blast to go to the swimming pool in Heidelberg and attempt a front flip from around 10ft, the highest I've done a flip off so far, but I'll increase that. I also got dinner with Helmut Hartmann at the local Fischerfest and we enjoyed one of the most picturesque moments of my life. We were eating fish and drinking local beer under a large tent filled with long tables and benches occupied by a ton of locals. Meanwhile, music was playing and the sun was beginning to set. We were sitting on the edge of a hill, looking down on four or five large ponds with walking paths winding between them where couples lazily wound their way home. There were telephone poles strung with light bulbs around these paths. Meanwhile, all around the tent and the pools was a large pine forest. Rising above the trees on the opposite side of the pools were a couple hills with pastures and old wooden fences upon them. I felt like I was in Hobbiton, and Helmut was able to appreciate that. As if that wasn't nice enough, as we ate, a hot air balloon began to land on the hill across from us. As it landed, a herd of horses crested over the top of the hill, ran under it and down the hill towards us. I just broke down laughing, it was ridiculously perfect.

The last few weeks have also contained their fair amount of stress. I've had to figure out how to pay my rent, get visas, navigate public transportation, set up health insurance, set up a work contract, cook, and learn how to be a teacher, all in a language I only mildly understand. If it weren't for the extensive and unending help of Romy Schuster I would truly be helpless, and I need to express my sincere and overwhelming gratitude at how helpful she has been already. Probably the most stressful experience for me was the Friday before school started. It was my first day in the building and I was told how to basically do everything for my job then. I should probably have been preparing a bit more beforehand as to how to teach my English courses, but I felt pretty overwhelmed. Nevertheless, the support offered by fellow teachers at the Martin-Luther-Schule is incredible.

My first day in class was a double hour with the 11^th grade in 90+ degree weather from around 3 to 4:30 in the afternoon. To be expected, I was very nervous. Also to be expected, the kids did NOT want to be in class anymore. It led to a rough first day, as I partly took their lack of interest and positive feedback personally. Nevertheless, the next morning I taught them again as well as a 9^th grade class and things went much more smoothly. I am still trying to get the hang of the whole teaching thing though, and I have plenty more to learn as I begin my second week.

Also, I joined a basketball club last week, and that has truly been a blessing. My knowledge of German did not really extend to the physical sport vocabulary realm, so I've been learning a lot of that, but the language of basketball is somewhat universal. I have appreciated in America how basketball can connect me to people far different from myself, and I appreciate it here as well. Despite playing with complete strangers on our first day, after a half hour we were high-fiveing and congratulating each other like old friends. It feels great to play that sport again, and a March Madness watching party at my apartment has already been unofficially scheduled.

There are more observations I would like to point out, but this blog entry has already been a bit of a rant. I think I really will update it more frequently now, as that will lead to less wordy entries and also allow me to point out smaller observations. Nevertheless, I hope you find reading about my experience here interesting and I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate the support of friends and family both back home and here in Germany.

Luke

Home

Hello everyone!

This is Ian again, for one last blog here. I am currently sitting at the computer at home, in Wisconsin, after a whirlwind of travel and visits during the last month.  So we'll start with my departure.

Leaving was rough.  I managed to see a lot of people before I went, though not all, and had some great times.  Saying goodbye was difficult, of course, especially to some of my closer friends, but I will see them again, I'm sure. I mailed one suitcase home, since I didn't want to have to carry it around during all the small flights I took (to Sweden, and then from Baltimore to Chicago), and that finally arrived yesterday.  And then, a short ride with Linda later, I was on the plane and headed to Sweden.

The two weeks dancing in Herraeng, Sweden were one of the most amazing things I've ever done.  It was an incredible experience being there, surrounded by hundreds of dancers from all around the world, and the feeling in the camp of enthusiasm and passion for dancing and devotion to fun is indescribable.  It was totally overwhelming at first, the night I arrived, just having left Germany behind, and now in this crazy environment, and seeing one of my friends in particular again...it was all just too much to handle that first night.  The next day I woke up feeling excited and ready, though, and the rest of the two weeks was just the best experience.  I want to go back every year I possibly can.  I learned a lot, and had crazy amounts of fun, and met some wonderful people.

I then flew to Baltimore to stay with my friend Larren and her fiance Eugene, whom I had never before met.  It was great to get to know him, and I really enjoyed my time with them (though I did have an interesting reaction to their cats.  Not my normal scratchy throat and eyes, but rather both of my eyes just turned red.  Like the deep bloodshot red of someone who hasn't slept in a week.  It was...unsettling to wake up to.)

Then it was home to Wisconsin, and a couple days with my mom and dad and my grandma, which were wonderfully relaxing, and then I was off again, headed to the Twin Cities for my friend Charles's bachelor party, a friend's birthday party the next day, then Charles and Heidi's wedding the next day, and then I stayed with a different friend every night for the next week, seeing as many of the folks from Minnesota as I could.  It was great to see so many friends again, and to dance in my "home" swing scene again.

And now I'm back, figuring out what I'm going to do.  I have an audition on the first weekend of September at a dance studio in Chicago to possibly become an instructor there, and then we'll see where things go from there.  I am incredibly grateful to have had the experience I did in Rimbach, and to all the people who helped and supported me, both here and in Germany.  When the school year at St. Olaf starts up again, I hope to go up to visit campus, and hopefully speak with a couple of the faculty about the possibility of forging stronger musical ties with the MLS as well, so we'll see how that goes.  I'll keep you all up to date, probably through email, since this blog is now Luke's.

On a final note, Herr Fink asked me to write a little something about how much German is acquired during the Rimbach year.  In answer, I would say it greatly depends.  For me, it had been three years since I'd spoken German when I arrived in Rimbach, and I had forgotten a lot.  The Sprachkurs in Heidelberg helped significantly to refresh my memory, but I would also say that my German now is far better than it ever was before.  It's certainly not perfect, but I received a lot of compliments on my German, and I felt very good about my improvement.  It's also dependent on how much effort you make to improve your German; asking colleagues and friends to correct you, and taking every opportunity possible to speak in German rather than English.  I didn't always do that, alas, but those are the strategies to really improve.  I would leave any additional comments on the topic to my colleagues at the MLS, who were around to see the change; they can verify or deny what I've said.

Once again, thank you so much to everyone involved with the program, and, before I forget, heartfelt congratulations to Linda Johnke and her husband Mick on the birth of their first son, Deniz Liam!  I'm only sad that I wasn't around to meet him, but I look forward to seeing him someday.

I'm handing the reins to Luke now.  Take care, everyone, and thank you, and good luck, Luke!

All Good Things...

Wow.  Eight days left in Germany, followed by a two week stint in Sweden at Herrang Dance Camp, three days in Baltimore visiting my best friend and finally getting to meet her fiance, and then I'm home. 

This year has gone amazingly fast, and so much has happened.  In truth all years feel that way, at their end, I think.  But a year such as this one, with a deadline, and a definite End in the sense of a finality...they seem the fastest of them all. 

The last few weeks have been, unsurprisingly, rather busy.  The Project Woche (the last days of school) were a lot of fun.  I did a Rock'n'Roll dance class which was taught by two former students who are on the competition team from Moerlenbach, and competed last weekend in the World Championships.  It was interesting to learn Rock'n'Roll, and though it's not really my kind of dance (it's mostly a show/performance dance, and as such is much less lead and followed, and pretty much always choreographed) it was a good opportunity to learn about it, and get some experience in the dance.  I want to further broaden my dance horizons, and hopefully will also do some ballet and modern at some point in the future. 

The days have mostly been filled with trying to see as many people as I can, to hang out and say goodbye to everyone.  My friend Carol, who I visited back in October, came to see me once more.  We met in Brazil, and had not seen each other again till this year; it was wonderful to see her again, and see how we've both changed.  We went hiking in Heidelberg, and I finally got up the Heiligenberg and saw the Thingstaette, which is great.  The view of the castle and city from there is wonderful, as well. 

My last night Blues dancing in Heidelberg is this Friday, and then I have two birthday parties to attend on Saturday, and then my own going away party at the Sonne on Sunday.  It will be a busy weekend, and then I have to pack and get all my things in order.  I will try to post one more blog before then, a more introspective look at my thoughts on leaving, and on my year here in general. 

I hope you are all well. 

Abi Abi Abi! Oi Oi Oi!

...Wait, I think I did that wrong.  ;-) 

I hope some of you got that, but I suppose I should probably explain.  The Abis (students who just made their Abitur/graduated) will occasionally break out into a cheer that goes something along the lines of "Abi Abi Abi!"  "Tur!"  "Abi!"  "Tur!"  and so forth, and it's essentially the "Aussie Aussie Aussie!"  "Oi Oi Oi!" cheer. 

So, it's been more than a month since I wrote something on here.  I'm terribly sorry about that, but it's been pretty busy.  The show in Mannheim went very well, and I really had a ton of fun there.  We had a pretty good turnout, too, except the last show; that one was a little spare.  In between those shows, I was trying to keep on top of corrections and school work, and was only marginally successful.  But that's all behind me now.

Last week my Aunt Pat was here to visit me, which was a really great time.  I had a lot of fun with her, and she really enjoyed seeing the "real" Germany.  We didn't place a huge emphasis on sightseeing, but rather wandered around Mannheim and Heidelberg a lot, and ate lots of traditional German food, and had a beer or two, an apple wine or two, and of course pretzels. 

However, since she was here, I didn't really do much by the way of school work, except what I absolutely had to do.  That means that I had to finish the rest of my students' last Klausuren in the few days between when she left and Thursday, when final grades were due.  It was crazy, and made crazier by a lot of other things going on. 

Tuesday and Wednesday were almost wholly consumed by setting up the exhibition for the Living History Project.  This is a class Romy Schuster and I have been working with all year, and the students have put together an exhibition on the partnership between St. Olaf and the Martin Luther Schule.  It's a great exhibition, and very informative.  Tuesday evening I also took part in the Abikammerkonzert (Abitur Chamber Concert), singing with the Voice Boys.  A number of Abiturienten/innen performed various musical acts, and a couple were really impressive.  Similar to St. Olaf, there is some real musical talent at this school.  I think it would be good for us to try to foster some stronger connections between the music departments here, and maybe the Band/Orchestra/Choir's next international tour ought to be to Germany. 

Wednesday was the opening of the exhibition, and it was also a day when the Abis pretty much take over the school.  We came in to find that the teachers' lounge had been filled with balloons, and the Abis blocked all the entrances and exits to the school grounds with squirt guns and paints.  Anyone attempting to get through was doused and painted.  It was a pretty crazy experience, and one that I don't think would fly at all in the U.S. 

Thursday I had coffee and cake with Thea Jakob, the widow of Willi Jakob, who was very influential in the reemergence of the program.  It was a very pleasant meeting, and she is more or less famous for her cakes, so that was wonderful, too. 

I've booked my flights to Sweden and then to D.C., where I'll finally get to meet my best friend's fiance, and then back to Chicago.  Grades are in.  I have already had my last 11th grade dance class, and my last conversation class.  I'll have my last 8th grade dance class on Monday, and my last English class on Wednesday.  My main commitments now are musical; rehearsals for the Abi Ball, and then also for the CD the Big Band is going to record.  I'm very much looking forward to that.  I'm going to sing Minnie the Moocher at the Abi Ball with the Big Band, too.  I can't wait. 

Thursday marked exactly one month till I leave Germany.  It's crazy. 

Whoa There!

So, so, so much to tell since the last post.  I'm sorry I've been so out of touch here, but life has been crazy.  There's a lot to cover, so some things will be mostly just summarized, rather than described in detail, so you don't have to read a short novel just to catch up.

Easter Break was fantastic; I spent ten days in England, which was really fantastic.  I visited my friend Jim, who had been my counselor at a summer study program I did at Cambridge University about seven and a half years ago.  It was a blast to see him again, and we had a lot of fun hanging out in Norwich.  We went birdwatching, sampled the finest of British comedy, took a brewery/pub tour, and went and saw a great blues band.  I then went to Birmingham to visit my friend Agnieszka, who I knew from her exchange to the U.S. also about seven and a half years ago (the last time I'd seen her was the day before I left for England).  It was great to see her, and catch up, and I also got to take a trip down to Bristol to visit a fellow Ole and swing dancer, Chris.  All in all it was a wonderful and relaxing trip.  I could obviously go on about quite a few things concerning England (new friends made, etc), but mostly I just hung out with people.  I didn't go there with the intention to sightsee, though of course I did some, but rather just to see people and spend some quality time with them.

 Then when I got back, life got busy real fast.  I was having about four-six individual rehearsals every week with the members of the various sketches in the show for Center Stage, as well as having evening rehearsals in Mannheim for This Lime Bower.  A girl I had hoped to potentially start something with when I returned home informed me that she had been dating someone since the first of April, so that threw me for a loop, as well, and it all just sort of swirled together into a mash of sadness at that fact, stressing out about how much work needed to be done for Center Stage, and sheer enjoyment of the moments during rehearsals with the students when things would just click.  The last few weeks have been some of the most demanding, and most difficult of my life, I think.  I was honestly worried about whether or not we would pull of the show at times, and whether or not the kids would really be ready for the stage. 

The week before the show was insane.  I'm not sure I've ever been quite so active.  I was on the go constantly, trying to figure out everything that needed doing, and if not for the two teachers that helped me, Anette and Romy, I would never have gotten it all done, or figured out how to do most of it.  We managed to work with the tech team, despite myriad technical difficulties relating to the room we were performing in (our normal space was under construction), and get the sound and light figured out more or less satisfactorily.  Assembling the stage was a relatively minor challenge, but still a bit of a challenge.  Since we hadn't been able to rehearse on the stage until that week, and indeed didn't even know what the stage would look like, all the plays had to be blocked out (that means that the actors' movements needed to be planned or fit to the stage) again in the space.  Most of the shows are fairly static, but a couple required more movement.  Props were assembled, and fake blood made, and sound effects found.  That Thursday I had 13 and a half hours of rehearsal.  7:30 to 17:00 with Center Stage, and 20:00 to 23:00 with TiG7 in Mannheim.  And then I was on the train to Rimbach again at 6:00 in the morning to get back for our 7:30 rehearsal.  The title of the show, by the by, was "It's Art! (I'm Not Crazy!)." 

I am very, very proud of my students; of the work they put in, the progress they made, and the performances they put on.  The shows went well, and even when a fair amount of lines were dropped or parts were skipped on Saturday night, the actors kept the show moving, and didn't let the audience know, which is a major part of theater.  I feel very lucky to have worked with such a wonderful group of kids, and am extremely grateful to them for their efforts and their patience with their often-distracted and often-contradictory director. 

This coming weekend is the show in Mannheim,  and I'm looking forward to that.  It's part of an English theater festival, so there are a number of actors there from the U.S. and U.K., and I got to meet a few of them the last couple days.  It should be a good weekend. 

All the best to everyone. 

Busy Bees!

Wow, lots to report!

First off, Virginia Larson (who keeps all of us Rimbach folks up to date, and so much more) sent me an email the other day - okay, it was more like three weeks ago - and she had a couple questions, which I think I will answer here.

How would you rate your year?
To this question, I'm honestly not sure how to respond. I have had a lot of wonderful experiences here, and a few that weren't so wonderful, but it's hard to give a whole year some kind of rating. It's been a worthwhile experience on all fronts, and I wouldn't have traded it for anything else. So, I guess on a scale of 1 to 10, it ranks at "great, but incomplete?" :-P

What are the highs?
The highs...I'm really not certain, exactly. I have had a lot of experiences over here that have been truly wonderful. Getting to know my friend Jana and her family, and spending Christmas with them was a warm, welcoming feeling. Laughing about the absurdity of English with my conversation classes is definitely right up there. The opportunity to direct a play, and test myself in that role with Center Stage. Meeting and working with wonderful people at the MLS has been a high point, as well. Making Damn Good Chicken for six people - the first time I'd ever tried something more complex than stir fry for multiple people - and having it work out great was a real triumph, though of a small sort. Introducing my 13th graders to the lighter side of Shakespeare, and hearing them laugh so hard at Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing. The list goes on.

the lows?
This is an easy one. Loneliness. Living alone after being in the dorms at Olaf is hard, and living in a very small town makes it harder still. I miss having company in my room, or just down the hall, or across campus. Frustrations with myself and my work have cropped up on occasion, and the mistakes I make in my teaching. Wanting to do and see so much here in Europe (I have standing invitations to both Turkey and Italy, and the funds to do neither), and knowing that I have to turn them down simply because I can't do everything. I know that sounds like a whiny "low" to have, because I still have those opportunities, but it's having the opportunity in front of you, and having to say no because despite only being here for a year, there's simply no way to do everything I want to.

Tips for Luke that would be of interest to all of us?
Ask questions. A lot of information gets posted on boards and the like at the school, boards whose purpose you will be told before school has gotten underway, and many of which will only occasionally be relevant for you. If your German is anything like mine, you may not understand all the details of the info you receive, and you will be reliant on your colleagues to clear up any misunderstandings, and make sure you know what you need to know.

Take the initiative, socially and in pretty much everything else. There are a lot of great people at the MLS, but getting involved in things usually requires you to go out of your way, sometimes repeatedly, to get involved in things, whether it being having drinks with some of the other teachers, or playing in an ensemble, or whatever else might happen. You will have a lot of time on your hands, often enough, and it's entirely up to you to fill it.



So, that's that for those questions. I could probably go on and on (as you have all seen me do, by now), but there is more to tell!

The weekend of St. Patrick's Day was a Blues exchange in Heidelberg, which was pretty fun, and I met some great people, and had a good time. I had started to get kind of down about my dancing, and my level of skill, but my wonderful friend Kendra helped me get some perspective, and felt better. After all, though I've been dancing for about five years, only about two and half of those years have been spent in serious pursuit, pushing myself to learn more, and I need to keep pushing myself to practice and learn and be better.
I also hung out with my friend Lorenz that weekend, since I didn't do any of the classes during the exchange, and had the opportunity to take a nap in the ruins of a castle. It was lovely.

On the following Thursday I made Damn Good Chicken (recipe provided by my once-again wonderful friend Kendra) for the teacher dinner group, and even though I doctored the recipe a bit and was uncertain about some of the quantities required for six people, it all came out very well.

And then. My friend Nicole came to visit me on Friday (Thank you again, Anette, for driving me to Frankfurt to pick her up!) and stayed till Sunday evening. It was the best weekend ever: her visit was everything I'd been missing over here as far as my friends are concerned. On the very first night we laughed so hard and so much that our faces hurt, and they didn't get a chance to recover all weekend. There was lots of hugging (which I miss so much over here) and joking and general foolishness that I don't really get here.

Center Stage is running well, and there is sooo much to do before our performances. I'll be in England for a large part of our Easter break, but I've met with the students all in various free hours, and I think they will do well.

One more opportunity arose on Thursday. Linda Johnke, who works as a set/costume designer at the Mannheim National Theater, called me up saying that one of the three actors working on a show at a smaller theater in Mannheim had dropped out, and that they were looking for another actor. I was, of course, thrilled by the opportunity to act, though there were a lot of time constraints which needed to be worked out. My job and Center Stage are, of course, my main priorities, but I met with the director today, and there should be no conflicts, so I will be performing in a short play called "This Lime Tree Bower." The show goes up the week after the Center Stage show (which I still have to title. >_> Oops), and is a very interesting little piece (it will only be just over an hour long).

Busy, busy bees!

Best wishes to all of you.

Tension and Release

Today's blog has nothing to do with the kind of tension and release I normally talk about. It's a common topic in dancing, especially Lindy Hop, when we talk about a lot of dynamic stretch and release in the swing out (the basic step) and the rest of the dance.

No, the tension I'm talking about here is the good ol' fashioned heart-in-throat tension that you feel when something really important and decisive is going on.

Some time ago, my closest friend over here, Jana, informed me that she had an audition at the Mannheim Theater Akademie, and wanted me to help her. I of course agreed, and we set about figuring out what to do. We looked through some possibilities, and she selected her monologues and we got to work. I didn't really get involved until closer to the end of the process, after she had the monologues memorized and was ready to start working more stylistically, though we talked about the identities of her characters early on as well.

One of the characters she chose was Phebe from As You Like It, a play I was just in last February, and really love. Thankfully, I learned a lot from my experience with the show, and from my director about playing Shakespeare, and was able to give her a lot of helpful feedback on her Phebe. She had a great grasp of the character, and by the time the audition rolled around, I felt it was her strongest monologue.

I went with her to the audition on Friday, which turned out to be about a 6 1/2 hour ordeal, and involved quite a bit of nerves. The aspiring actors were put together for a movement warmup/audition, then split up to sing and then to give their monologues, one at a time. After the first monologue, Jana emerged looking less than optimistic. The auditioners had interrupted her, something she was not used to, and gave her direction. She had taken that as a sign that her monologue was unsatisfactory, but I assured her it was normal, and that they were also looking for potential and how well the actors took direction, not just a polished performance. I also assured her that she would wow them with Phebe, and yelled "Knock 'em dead!" as she went off to deliver Phebe. She came back looking very happy, and told me that though they'd interrupted her again (as they had everyone else), they had also all been laughing as she continued with the monologue, in all the right places.

I could not have been nearly as nervous as she was when she went back to hear the final decision and to get feedback from the auditioners, but my heart was trying its level best. I was really on edge, and thought I heard her laugh from the room they were in, and eventually she came out with a smile on her face, but was then ushered into another room before I could find out what the deal was (though the smile was promising). Finally she came out and I said, "Well??" She odded her head, and ran towards me, and we both geeked out a little bit. She went to call her parents, and attempted to trick them by saying she had big news in a somber voice, but couldn't pull it off on account of being too excited. We celebrated with her parents and had a great night, hearing all about it.

I mostly share this with all of you because I am very proud of her, and very proud of the work that she did. But it's also to remember that even though my job here is teaching, sometimes you find yourself being apart of something really special that you'd have never expected.

Congratulations, Jana!