Friday, September 08, 2006

Back in action, from the hostel computer

Hmm. Definitely didn't mean to be out of contact for so long. Sorry about that one.

Upon arriving in Cologne (after a plane trip that wasn't more painful than it needed to be - I arrived feeling tired, cramped and rather dusty, but that's par for the course) I spent two days looking around the city, which is lovely; I'll try to put up some pictures later, when I get my laptop up and running.

The four-day orientation in Altenberg, a suburb of Cologne, was pretty intense. There were about 180 English TAs there, mostly American, but also some British, Austalian, and Irish. I met a lot of interesting people - interesting in both senses; there are some (including my orientation roommates, who are going to be in different places in Berlin)whom I'm hoping to see again, and some who I'd rather avoid in any country.

The orientation mostly consisted of info on beauacrary in Germany (registering with the police, opening a back account, etc.) and how to teach English. Each of us had to give a fake English lesson, and then we discussed the various approaches one can take to teaching English. I'm not sure how much practical application all of it will have when I actually have to face down a class of German students, but I suppose it's better than nothing.

I took the train to Berlin this morning (with my roommates; they've taught me a card game called "shithead" that's actually quite entertaining) and my supervising teacher, the head of the English department at my school, picked me up. We sat at a McDonalds in the train station, drinking mineral water while he filled me in on a few details about my school. He seems quite nice, although he had a bad head cold and did't seem up to talking much.

My first day is Monday. I'm supposed to spend about a week or two observing what goes on the the classroom, and then I'll actually start doing things. I'll be here at the hostel for another week, until I can move into an apartment. The internet, while cheap, is not free, but I'll try to update here and work through my e-mail inbox. Thanks for all the nice notes and good wishes people have sent me; I really appreciate them.

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