fulbright blog.: End of my Fulbright + Meet US

Sweet 5th grade good-bye card.

Monday was the last day of my official Fulbright grant. It went much like most of my other days at work have gone, except I got some chocolate from an 8th grade class and the 5C gave me a card they made themselves and a dvd of their Robin Hood musical! So when I get home, all of you lovely readers can watch a bunch of German 5th graders perform Robin Hood. I also had to give back my school key. When I found the Hausmeister (caretaker) and was signing my key back in, he said that he'd see me again in this life. I said perhaps. Then he said no and that he knew he would see me again! I guess this means I have to come back to Erfurt!

On Tuesday I watched the US lose to Belgium - it was so painful to watch, especially since it wasn't over until 12:30 here! I'm still glad they did so well in the tournament.

Yesterday I went to a gymnasium in Kelbra (home of the Kyffhaeuser) to talk to two seventh grade classes about life in America as part of the Meet US program through the US Embassy. This program connects Americans living abroad with local schools so that the students can meet a real American. It's pretty cool, and I have a ton of experience already doing just that! The school was so pretty - half of it was over a hundred years old and the other half was built in the 90s so altogether it was much nicer than the school I worked at. Since Kelbra is a small town, this school is actually part of another gymnasium in Sangerhausen, which is the next big town, and it just has grades 5-9. The classes had some nice questions, although they seemed very shy. The students had a short lunch break between the two classes that I was there for, so I got to see a spectacle in the schoolyard. One of the teachers had organized some students to play Brazilian drums while others did Brazilian dances! It was pretty fascinating to watch.

I am excited to be on the train to Kelbra!

After I was done with my presentations, one of the teachers drove me to a different train station that was closer to her house and gave me a direction train connection back home. Unfortunately, the road there was very twisty and made me feel quite ill! It all ended well, though, and I had some time at home to eat and rest before going to see my friend Sarah's choir concert at my church that evening with the rest of my Bible study. The concert was all chamber music, and it was excellent! After the concert we got ice cream and sat along the Gera to eat it.

Today I've been cleaning my apartment and trying to take it easy since it's over 80 degrees outside. That isn't hot if you're living in Oklahoma with AC, but in Germany it's just so hard to cool off that I try to avoid getting hot in the afternoon. Tonight is Germany vs. France - if Germany wins my neighbors might set off fireworks, which will have to suffice for my 4th of July celebration!