January 2005

THE JANUARY 2005 NEWSLETTER THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN WRITTEN IN OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER

Happy New Year to you all! Well, as you may have guessed and some of you have even reminded me, my newsletter fell off the wagon. But…I have some terrific excuses. The most important reason is computer problems. Our computer crashed again and we literally had to rebuild it, actually, Joe rebuilt it only for it to happen again. It seemed to be a Microsoft Windows compatibility problem with our anti-virus software. We just got it back up and running but with very few programs. I had no idea how dependent I am on MS Word. That is my best excuse. I won’t burden you with the other 102 excuses I have prepared, however they are available upon request.

Well, just to recap the latest, we are both still in Germany and will be until summer 2006. Joe is still playing with the Air Force band and has just joined the jazz band for a while. He switches groups so often that I don’t know what instrument he’s playing much less what group he is with. During the holidays he was leading a jazz combo on tenor sax, now he’s with a scaled down jazz band on alto, and before that he was in the concert band and subbed with the Dixie band a few times on the soprano sax and clarinet. Now you can see how easy it is to forget what he’s doing day to day. I am still teaching a remedial reading program called Read 180 and Gifted Education. My passion lies with gifted kids and this quarter we are focusing on math and problem solving. My goal is to make math fun and to teach some skills that make it fun. It is not, has never been, and probably never will be my strength but I must admit that in creating this curriculum, I’ve learned a few new things myself. So, while I’m in my math mode, I decided to continue the theme in my newsletter. Let’s see if you remember all those fun little symbols for greater than, less than, equals, etc. Enjoy!

12=7
Some of you are looking at this simple equation and are considering calling my principal and letting him know that I have not memorized basic math skills and shouldn’t be teaching to kids. Those of you who are math wizards are trying to figure out a theorem that would make 12=7. I am in good spirits so I’ll give you the answer. (I would not do this for my students, mind you)

We were finally given Christmas leave (aka-vacation) from the “oh so generous” Four Star General. Originally it looked as if we would not get the time and so we did not plan anything special. We did not want to get excited about a trip or lose money unless we knew the time would be approved. I won’t go into my less than satisfactory opinion of this General. We were able to get a reasonable flight to the states. We flew to Tampa and stayed a week then flew to Chicago and stayed another week. As you know, the time difference is 6-7 hours. Our flight to Tampa stopped in Cincinnati. It took almost 12 hours to get from Frankfurt, Germany to Cincinnati, Ohio. This was a long and tiring flight but when we arrived in Tampa 2 hours later, it was all worth it. We had a wonderful time with my family (sunless) and we were able to see my sisters and all of our nephews as well as our niece. After a week with them it was time to fly to Chicago where we spent another week with Joe’s family. We had another wonderful week (snow-less). It was finally time to go home to Germany via Cincinnati and the last thing we wanted to do was sit on a plane for 12 hours again. It turns out we didn’t. The 12 hour flight to Cincinnati turned into 7 hours from Cincinnati. There was some technical reason like tail winds and such but this just proves that 12=7!

1st THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving always evokes an image of family gatherings. Joe and I have never really had a tradition with either of our families unless you consider not being together a tradition. For some reason, this day signifies the start of the holiday season and we always seem to miss our families more than usual. Of course, being in a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving adds to that melancholy feeling. However, that doesn’t stop us from trying. We got together with a few friends and each of us brought something for the meal. One of our friend’s was engaged (at that time) to a German girl and they were celebrating with us. She did not know what Thanksgiving meant and so all of us were reminded of our first and second grade years and gave her a brief history lesson. When it was time for the almighty feast, we did it buffet style. She lined up behind me and said she’d follow whatever I did. I didn’t think eating a turkey and all the fixings could be that difficult…..but….she had never seen a whole turkey before! She didn’t know what stuffing was! She didn’t even know what cranberry sauce was! Oh, she has so much important stuff to learn about American culture. After we all sat down to eat, someone brought up the fact that they loved the cranberry sauce with the ridges. You know, the stuff that comes in a can and slides right out. Try to explain that to a person who usually eats wholesome, natural, unprocessed food. The ridges are just something ya’ gotta seeJ

1G+1A=1GA
One German woman plus one American man equals one German-American couple. We recently went to a wedding. The man is in the USAF band and his new wife is from Germany. We were only invited to the reception and we noticed some interesting differences. The actual church ceremony was on a Friday where only family and very close friends attended. The reception was held on Saturday evening where everyone, friends and family, were invited. This is traditional in our part of Germany. It was most interesting because of the dual countries. The groom’s (Jeff’s) parents were here for their son and don’t speak a lick of German. The reception was in the basement of a church and decorated very nicely and was catered by a restaurant. Before the food was served, several toasts and speeches were given in the new couple’s honor. It was incredibly long because everything was said in German first then translated in English. It was humourous because something funny would be said and the Americans shrugged their shoulders in ignorance while the Germans chuckled. Five minutes later, after the story had been translated into English, the Americans were chuckling and the Germans were chuckling at us for taking so long to get the joke. There were other differences as well. The bride, Sylvia, had three sisters, all of whom are musicians just as she is. There was a mini orchestra that played some traditional German pieces and then they played a medley that lasted forever in honor of Jeff. It was their version of “All American Music” and had the Germans humming and singing along and the Americans trying desperately not to roll their eyes. There was a choir who sang, a skit where Jeff had to dress up like an opera singer and Sylvia accompanied him on piano. There was a test of their future where they held up one of their own shoes and one of their spouse’s shoes. They sat back to back and questions were asked. They were to answer via the shoes, his for him and hers for her. There were questions like, “Who initiated the first kiss?” She held up his shoe and he held up hers. It was a silly but funny game, something I would envision being played at a shower rather than a wedding reception. The couple went to the states in January and had an American celebration with Jeff’s family. When Jeff’s mom asked Sylvia what color the bridesmaids would be wearing she was surprised to find out that Sylvia did not know what a bridesmaid was. That is another tradition I assumed was a part of all weddings. There were no bridesmaids and everyone could wear whatever color they desired. Imagine all the money I could have saved if I had been German. Never mind those ridiculous dresses we’re required to wear. I’m sure Sylvia has stories to share about the crazy American traditions she learned at her own wedding!


YOU is less than COUNTRY is less than WORLD

As you all know, President Bush won the election. I’m not going to discuss my views but I will tell you that this was not good news to most Germans. I remember telling you how different it is on TV here. We don’t get all the commercials and hype that is in the states. However, if we were to watch German TV we would see more about the elections. Joe has an adult student whose lesson happened to occur the day the announcement was made. We knew that it looked like Bush would win but hadn’t heard it officially. He had. The first thing he said to us as he entered our home was, “I’m sorry for you, I’m sorry for your country but most of all I’m sorry for the world.” What more can I say?

VOUCHERS
In November I had the unpleasant job of returning an item to the store on base. This is no big deal, just a pain in the you know what. As I arrived in Customer Service I sighed at the long line. I wasn’t in a hurry and Joe was looking around so I decided to just wait patiently. There were several people in front of me, two of which were in the Army and had obviously just come from Iraq. They both had 2 carts each filled to the brim. One of the men, or I should probably say boys, turned around and apologized for taking so long. It was hard for me not to wonder what their situation was. I asked if they were back for good and they responded in unison, “I hope so.” They both were injured, although it wasn’t outwardly obvious and were staying at Landstuhl Army Hospital until released. Sometimes we don’t realize just how difficult life is for these people. When they go to Iraq and other deployed areas, they only take what they absolutely need. Civilian clothes are not a necessity. When they come here instead of going home to the states, the only thing they have that is theirs is the clothes on their backs. I mean that quite literally. It seems that the Army provided a $200 plus voucher to the Base Exchange for these guys to buy some clothes and other necessary items. As I stood in that line, I continued to inwardly sigh and wonder how they can be so matter of fact about this. Tears stung my eyes but I would not let them see. They want support not pity. I thanked them for the job they are doing and wished them well.
After returning my items, I was looking for a few travel sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, powder, etc. These are wonderfully convenient when traveling and vacationing. But as I started to look for what I needed I realized that those items had been ordered by the store for something other than convenience. I saw several people in their desert uniforms picking up these travel size bottles. I knew I had every right to buy them as well, but just couldn’t do it. I didn’t need those items, I wanted them. They need them. My perspective is always changing the longer I am here.