Fresh Haircuts

Alex and I got our haircuts for the first time in Germany! About time… well, I came to this country with short hair, which was initially great. However, I always miss my long hair after about a week. I only had my side bangs cut, A.K.A. “pony” in German, and my face framed. I cut my bangs once while living in Germany, which turned out okay. There’s just something about salon scissors though. They’re definitely better. Alex got his fro totally cut. His hair is really short now, and he looks good. We were really nervous to go in and have someone go to work on our hair who didn’t speak English just in case we’d walk out bald or something. Hair can define a woman! We were very close to chickening out, but it was a successful trip. The language barrier wasn’t an issue, especially since we brought pictures. Alex even did a great job holding German small talk, and it was only 17 euros for the two of us. One of the girls from 8L1 told me to come to this place for a haircut, so I trusted my 13 year old student. For an 8^th grader, she had pretty stylish hair. The salon seemed like an American salon. It had the same magazine with terrible Justin Bieber haircuts on the covers, trendy music, and old women getting their hair colored in the middle of the day because, well, what else do they have to do?

I’ve been trying to get my lesson for Wolfgang’s class ready so when we get back from Spain, I won’t be too overwhelmed. I think I am going to have them create a business that can be located anywhere in Melle since they all tell me there is nothing to do here. I think they liked my other lessons, it made them talk. So I just have to do the same with this one. Wolfgang’s students always tell me that he never uses English with them, and that frustrates me so much because they actually want to learn. He seems really lazy to me.

Ingmar’s students are doing great. I had them create stories with random words I assigned to them. Sometimes, it’s a challenge to find a lesson for his class since I only get half of them for 20 minutes at a time. It feels rushed, so I try to keep their assignments fun and light on the Friday mornings that I see them. They always seem to do well with their assignments, though.

One of my favorite lesson with 8L1 was when Ingmar was absent and I ended up teaching the entire class. I somehow expanded my 20 minute lesson into two periods. We analyzed the lyrics to “Gone Going” by the Black Eyed Peas, and then I had them work with a partner to present to the class the meaning of another song of their choice. Two teachers observed me, including Rudolf, who told Alex that I should think about being a teacher since I did such a good job. I was really proud of myself.

I’ve been having great conversations with Klaus’s 10^th graders lately. Not only did we talk about Dexter, but I recommended to them some must see shows like Boardwalk Empire, Homeland, and Entourage. Really anything HBO or Showtime would be a hit for them.

Theater is going well. The last rehearsal was a little rough, though. Some of the kids are still holding scripts, and the show is in two weeks. Alex and I made them put it down and think about the scene because they’ve done the scenes enough times to know the lines. All they were lacking was confidence. They got through it, and I’m hoping by the next rehearsal I will see them get into their characters more. My core four of Natalja, Nicole, Yeşim, and Fiona are all doing well. A few lines are missed here and there, but I am so happy they are the leads of the show. My younger girls are doing great, too. Pauline and Franziska in particular have made noticeable character development. I can see them playing around with their body language more, and it shows me that they understand the script. I see a change in all of them. They all hung up the flyers they made, so hopefully the show will get some hype.