The Ransom of Red Chief

I’ve decided on the show the American Theater Group will be performing at the end of the school year… The Ransom of Red Chief! The short story by O. Henry is only 11 pages, so I want to adapt it into a script for my German students. I want to make sure that the language will be simple enough for them to understand and perform in front of an audience, and I think the plot will be entertaining enough for every age group we’re working with and the sexes of the character are interchangable. There are quite a few students who joined our group, so it’ll be a challenge to create a character for everyone. I’m just relieved to finally have that picked out, now I just need to sit down and write it. Alex and I composed the first scene, but it’s really a job for one person. Since this is mostly my project, I want to take the time to write it. I’m so excited to produce this show because I have a vision in mind! After working with them once, I know what they’re capable of accomplishing and how far to push them.

Auditions will be held in two weeks. We gave them a monologue today to prepare for their audition, and helped them with pronunciation and any words they didn’t understand. It’s about teenage angst, a topic that can translate well into any culture.

Cold(s) in Germany

Two weeks into school, and we were finally getting back into the swing of things. Of course, I missed my family, but it was good to be back on a real schedule here. Besides, I was web chatting with them pretty often. The internet is a wonderful thing, and I’m not sure how my grandparents survived without it… or are still surviving without it, really.

Germany is colder than I remembered it. Snow is in the forecast every other day, which makes for rather unpleasant bike rides to school in the mornings. It’s times like these where I really miss my Mazda, though I doubt she would be able to handle herself on the Autobahn considering she fights to stay alive on the Garden State Parkway.

This German winter was also taking a toll on my health. A typical sore throat escalated into something my smuggled American drugs weren’t mending, so I saw a primary doctor in Melle. This trip required Alex to brush up on some of his medical vocab… yet another simple task turned complicated. The level of respect I have for foreigners is constantly increasing. The doctor ran several tests after my walk in appointment. Just when I thought she was finished, she handed me a cup, said something in German, and walked out of the room. Apparently, my personal translator spaced out, so we could only guess what do with that cup. It may seem obvious that the patient is supposed to urinate in the cup, but paranoia took over. I would have been mortified if I handed her a cup of urine when she really wanted a saliva sample, or even worse, just to fill it up with water to swallow a pill. Asking her to repeat the instructions was out of the question since we both nodded like we knew what she was talking about. Thus, I bit the bullet and peed in the cup. Rest assured, that’s what she wanted me to do. That could have been awkward! The doctor also prescribed me Prednisolone, a steroid to take down the swelling. I later learned that it’s only used in the US for veterinarian purposes. As long as I didn’t grow a tail and my throat felt better, I didn’t really care!

We met with our theater kids yesterday and saw some new faces. For the next few weeks, Alex and I are going to run some workshops to help the students with their English and acting skills. It’s also to buy me more time to figure out what I’m doing for the next show. I wanted to use an old script from a show I did in high school, but the language may be too complex. I also don’t want to deal with buying the rights for a performance. Hopefully we don’t end up writing the script the night before we hand it out to everyone!

"Home"

It’s hard to believe I am back in Germany already. I knew two weeks would go by fast, but I really feel like I blinked, and it was time to leave America already.

Our journey to America was lengthy, but we didn’t run into any problems. We even made seat reservations on the train since we had our big suitcases, a lesson we learned from our first day travelling through Germany, and it made things way easier.

When we arrived in Philly, both of our families were waiting for us. I almost felt like they were all a big mirage. Probably because I was so exhausted from my day’s worth of travelling. Then we all went out for a late dinner. I didn’t realize how much I missed American food. Home never tasted so sweet. I couldn’t even sleep that night, I was so excited to be back! It was partly from jet lag, and also separation anxiety from my fiancé. Separation anxiety is real!

Spending the holidays home was exactly what I needed. I think even Alex needed it, too. It was really nice to see my grandparents on Christmas, along with my other relatives. Of course, I was able to meet my best friends for hibachi, the one meal we can all agree on. I also had a quick lunch with them. While I wish I saw them more, two weeks was hardly enough time to squeeze quality time with everyone.

Alex and I made a special trip to New Brunswick and saw some of our friends from college, and that made me miss school. Maybe not going to class so much, but I missed my old lifestyle and friends. We caught up on everything, and Alex and I slept in our friend’s dorm room. It was kind of nice re-experiencing dorm life. Seeing all these blasts from the past brought back memories, so I was really overdosing on nostalgia that night. As cheesy as it sounds, New Brunswick hadn’t changed one bit, but I had. I feel like I’ve grown so much since Rutgers, what with moving to another country, assistant teaching, and getting engaged. It was strange being back in such an urban city, especially living in the safest and most rural town you could possibly imagine. I couldn’t believe I used to call New Brunswick my home at one point because so much in my life had transformed in such a short period of time. I had become so accustomed to my new lifestyle.

I think the best part of my trip was being home and spending time with my parents and brother. I really missed them more than I could say, and it was the longest I had ever been away from them. I made sure to spend most of my days with them.

I even spent New Year’s Eve with my brother, his girlfriend, Alex, and a few of our other friends. Spending the night in Atlantic City turned out to be a great night. That being said, it became blatantly obvious to me that night that German beer and the trains are far more superior to anything offered in America. Miller Lite simply made me want to vomit, and the NJ Transit conductor made an announcement that the side cars are not an appropriate place to vomit. That’s being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Classy.

The worst part about being home was knowing that it had an expiration date… saying goodbye to my family was a daunting moment that I was dreading the entire time. It was Jimmy’s birthday, and the only thing that put my mind at ease was knowing that I’d see them in March for their German visit and that’s all I thought about on the way back “home.”

When we finally got back and settled in last night, we decided to hook up the Wii and watch The Sixth Sense on it. Two things: 1) We blew a fuse plugging in the system, and 2) you cannot watch DVDs on the Wii! I think we were the only people who didn’t know that…

After we blew the fuse, we had to ask the Meyers where the fuse box was. Mind you, we were in our fleecy pajamas using our smartphones for light. Not to mention, we were not a pretty sight since it was 9pm and we had been travelling for too many sleepless hours. After we rang the doorbell several times, it finally dawned on us that it didn’t work since we blew a fuse. Once we did things the old fashioned way and knocked on the door, Frau Meyer came out and showed us where to find the fuse box. Hero.

We were both up early for school this morning. Time certainly doesn’t wait for anyone.