Cristmas on Schwäbische Straße 3

Well, for christmas I ended up staying for a week and a half with my former hostfamily in Berlin where i lived six years ago as an exchange student. I must say, it was a really wonderful time, the best christmas I could have wished for over here in Germany. It felt as if nothing has changed and i had been living there ever since, although the girls and johannes and jonas have all grown up a great deal! We went to the christmas markets there and heard this fantastic brass choir with guys dressed in really awkward santa suits. We took several walks with Donna in the forest. It was really beautiful, we even got SNOW and a lot of it for Berlin! I have to admit, i do miss some of the snow, it just adds to the christmas atmosphere. for christmas we went to omas and visited the whole family for coffee and tea and cake (Stephan was there with his wife, Jonas, Biggi, Astrid, Bernhard, Johannes, Cora, Ronja, Lara, Anna, Oma, Opa, myself, and Benni). We got a chance to catch up on things, jonas is rediculously tall and posh now, really into golf for some strange reason. After that some of us went to church where i was the last time i was here for christmas, the whole event was the same as six years ago. After church, where the pastor gave a wonderful speech, came the gathering at our place in Schöneberg. Santa visits on christmas eve in Germany. In order to start the evening and open gifts everyone has to tell a story, sing, play or something. Bernhard played Guitar and I sang with him, we did a really cool acoustic version of J. Crockers You Are So Beautiful, we sang it twice actually! Then we had fondue as usual, which was great, and the whole meal that way lasts a bit longer than a regular meal precooked. Lara and I had a bit too much wine, but it was fun anyway, reminded me of the times when she came and stayed with us and Larissa for six weeks. (ps i read three HUGE books in german from this series by Trudi Canavan called the Black Magician trilogy, so good!'). For New Years i was supposed to go out with Milli and Sven, but that evening i had planned to have dinner with my hostfamily and then go out, the traditional Raklette dinner, where you fill these pans with meat and veggies and cheese and put them under this roasting thing and put the meat on top to cook and then mix em. Lara and her friends and anna came late, so we started late and i didnt leave the apartment till about 920pm, which i thought was early enough to still go outand have a great time right? well unfortunately i left my cell phone in my coat pocket while eating, and milli had written, assumed i was ditching them, and then was already underway on the subway to some party with sven because they had finished pregaming and were going far away to eastern berlin, which i didnt know we were going to do, so they left without me and we got in this huge fight because there were miscommunications and misunderstandings. But she forgave me and everything which is great, because she is great, and i dont want to lose her friendship. love ya milli! Thats the thing, my first year here everyong accepted the fact that there were going to be a ton of misunderstandings, which there were. now that i speak fairly good german with agood accent, people just automatically assume that there are no misunderstandings, that i dont have any problem expressing myself or saying things clearly and properly, which is not the case! i still have problems writing in German, particularly a quick text message or something, and there are still some words i dotn understand or dont know how to say myself. this creates some problems. plus, germans dont like people who arent permanently attached to their cell. as many of you all know, i hate cell phones, and i rarely have mine with me or answer it. i just need to fix this problem somehow, but its frustrating slightly. Either way, i ended up getting five min too late to the train station and they left, so i went back home, and went out with Cora and her boyfriend Girum. We went to this really cool but rather dead crowd club near the river, it was in a boathouse!, watched the fireworks from the riverside (which was great, the whole city was one big firework.) im not the biggest fan of berlin on Silvester (new years)...why doooo they call it Silvester...ill never know. Berlin is just so dangerous with all these 13, 14 year old drunk groups of kids walking around throwing knallas and firecrackers and TNT everywhich way. I was walking down the steps to the train and didnt realized that seconds before this group of kids threw an explosive in the garbage can i was standing next to at the time it exploded! gah! nearly crapped myself. Every year houses catch on fire. oh well. At least this year, unlike the year when i was here, the Rednecks werent headling the biggest new years party in Germany haha! It was sad to say goodbye to my family there, i really do miss them! But...i had to make my way to Prague.

Certainly, Definitely, Absolutely
Shim

Chelsea Visit

Its about time I blog about these happenings since November! Well, a short while after I arrived back from Dublin I received a visit from the sister Chelsea for THREE AND A HALF weeks, which was great! haha no joke! Her plans got a little combobulated, was supposed to stay with me for a week or two (which she announced the day before she was to arrive at my place, i received a text message from some strange number while i was at a christmas market in Tostedt haha that she was coming the next day per train...silly chels). She ended up staying with me extra because plans got all effed up with Anne and so i went to the bathroom, came back and was informed that she had changed her ticket to go back on christmas eve rather than stay and go to prague with me! but things worked out in the end! i ended up chaperoning a trip to prague, but more aboot that later. So she came and camped out on my extra bed, and by bed i mean left over mattresses in a corner of my room, but im sure they were more comfy than the ooooolllldddd couch. We went all over, went to Bremen a few times, the first time just walked around and visited the christmas market and went shopping down the shopping streets there, which are great cuz no cars are allowed on them. Bremen is really a beautiful city, a lot of the old city still stands and it just gives it this charming air to it, particularly with the medieval christmas market and everything. Gotta love Gluhwein, Gebranntemandeln, and Nutella Crepes...mmmmm and all those Bratwursts roasting on these round castiron wheel thingies that are attached to chains and which swings back and forth over an open flame...pretty sweet. That time we forgot to say goodbye to Roland while touching his knee...and well...lets j ust say the bad luck that followed was our due punishment. Ill always remember to pay attention to the type of train that i get onto, because apparently Niedersachsentickets cover all trains except IC or ICE trains, we got onto an IC train...went to Hamburg, had to pay an extra 40 some euros (CRAP) i was soooooooo pissed, soooo pissed, i called the woman many bad and evil things i shall never repeat. whoever was sitting near us and could understand that kind of english must have had a great train ride hahaha. we went to hamburg to try out this onstage training center for fitness and dance, wanted to try an hour of hiphop to see if i liked it, used google maps to find it, never again, ended up walking for about and hour and a half, and not even coming close to the place, ran after and missed two busses, finally got on a bus, and got off one stop early and had to walk another 10 min and came to the class an hour and a half late. needless to say, i signed up and have now been taking hip hop in Hamburg three days a week. Dennis Jauch is one of my dance teachers, who won Germanys version of so you think you can dance, and Nelson and Memo are my other teachers. Nelson just recently asked for my info to be in a new hiphop crew and they are trying to find a studio for me to teach step and get paaaaid haha in Hamburg, how great is that? im very stoked. Anywho, Chelsea and I watched over 40 movied and EVERY episode of Family Guy that have been produced on DVD. Good times. We had themed days, my fave when i got my christmas gift from Amazon i bought myself, three movied, muppet xmas carol, elf, and grinch and a christmas music cd. that was great. We went to the Becks Brewery, saw some moviees with my English AG in English at the Grendel Palast in Hamburg, discovered an Irish pub auf dem Kietz, toured the redlight district, searched for an erotic art museum which to our chagrin no longer exists, but no one knew it no longer existed so we searched for a while anyway ahah, visited the Hamburg Dungeons which is great and is where ill be having my goaway party haha. It was like this cool haunted house with actors thing which went through the various stages of Hamburg city history, talking about pirates, fires, plagues, floods and torture! right up my alley! haha. I have a great pic of chelsea chopping my head off. im sure she enjoyed that very much, she insisted on holding the axe. We stopped by the Hamburger Dom which is like some big fair with rides and food and things that make you fat. that was fun. All in all, it was a great time, and im really glad she came, particularly right before christmas, good support!

Lots of love,
Shim

Holy Update!

First off, I think its hilarious when Brother Jon uses the word studmuffin and ladyfriend haha. secondly, i really need to update this more, so much has happened since malta! I came back and had a week home and visited Bremen and Hamburg frequently. I met up with Jen and her friend from France and we had a great time chilling out in Bremen at the Freimaarkt and the medieval market, it was so cool and rustic and you could buy so many good things. its such a comforting thing walking through the old city and having a glass of gluwein (spiced heated wine) and a bag of roasted almonds...i disovered these for the first time...they are heaven. We rode this really amazing indoor rollercoaster and it was a happy day. Ive been hanging out with Sara, Caro, Ole and the crew a lot, been to the Riepe Disco a few times, thats a hoot. Celebrated one night with Ferdi his 22 bday, went out dancing and then came back to his place at 4am with more guest and people were still up and partying...in a coma of course, but whatever.Visited Patrice, Martin, Jonas, Timo and Robert at the Gemeindehaus for their band practice, Get The Last Clap, and they had their first performance together at Bandabend, it was great. they kickedass. i was up front and totally supporting, 100pro. Me and Sebi and Simon and Eich jammed out that night, thanks to the help of Astra Rotlicht.

I went back to bremen with sara and went on tons of rides, a swing that went rediculously high over the city, TWO rollercoasters and a watercoaster. it was sweet, cept i almost broke my arm cuy i fell. Ive had my first two performances with Sambucada, a Brazilian Drum group i play with, it was awesome. we played for the christmas party for Steinway and will be performing at the Bremer Carnival. stoked. Ole and Caro and their new roomie Bjorn threw a sick halloween party in Hamburg, i helped decorate and brought some ghosts made from lollipops and carved the pumpkin, it looked great. they even made pumpkin soup which was amazing and roasted the seeds for me. it was an interesting night to say the least. my germans found it interesting and quite amusing to dress their ami up as hitler...thanks guys. they wanted me to have a costume so they gave me one. and then after they did that they beat me up and i got a bloody nose blood came from my ear. haha jk (thats how they changed the make up after the Hitler scandal...its an ironic transition). there was a creepy drunk guy there...ended up naked at the end of the night for some strange reason (after he started ripping his costume apart and telling everyone he wanted to f&%$ them...sheesh). We had a Fulbright Niedersachsen meeting in Lüneberg and met the mayor and had a tour of the city, that was nice. Met a french kid named Erwann who speaks german with the starkest French accent. We went to Hamburg and saw the Legends of Beowulf with Gira, that movie was awkward...i dont quite know how i feel about it.

My English AG is going really well, its my afterschool study group. we have a bunch of great things planned, the students are awesome, and we spent four hours last tuesday cooking a traditional american thanksgiving dinner! i couldnt have asked for a better turn out or result from the evening. I just returned from Dublin yesterday, visited KK for the weekend with her family, it was the best time ever! The Top Moments of Life list has been updated to include an amusing tour through the guiness factory and a guiness pub crawl, and by guiness pub crawl i mean pub crawl weekend.

The newest addition to the top five moments of my life is the moment after leaving this really quaint irish pub after laughing a great deal whilst drinking a nice amount of guiness pints and walking down the main Grafton street there, and stumbling into a group of 7 irish guys dancing in suits and ties with a street entertainer playing the guitar (lots of bon jovi and billy joel and a wierd mix of "its closing time" and who knows what else) i cant remember all the songs he played because we were singing at the top of our lungs and jigging...yes JIGGING with our new irish friends. it was...amazing, people kept stopping along the streets and gathered around us all, this weird irish american herd of hooting and jigging young adults haha. i cant tell you how many photo albums we are in now, immortalized. it was such a happy moment. i just cant describe it, no words do justice to the experience. the guys did magic for us, stuff ive seen before but i pretended to be really surprised when the ash ended up on my palm. haha. then, suddenly, they were gone. my first night there me and kk went to temple bar and had our first guiness pint together and listend to live irish music, it was so wonderful. i cant wait to get the video up on this thing, its great. oh life. now im back at school, and already getting ready for my next adventure...with my friends every weekend is an adventure.

Ill probably be heading for Edinburough next weekend and then Chels is coming to visit and after i spend christmas with my hostfamily in Berlin we will be off to Prague, Budapest and Italy. so excited. although very tired. Christmas party this weekend with Jen in Bremen and then off to the Hamburger Dom! (ps. i saw Maria Bergner again! it was great, she is the reason i came to germany the first time six years ago!)

oh, i discovered myself (meaning Shim) in a German book, i didnt realize that TA Barron wrote the third book in the Great Tree of Avalon series already, you can imagine my reaction when wandering through one of my fave places in teh world, a bookstore, having suddenly stumbled upon the third book in German. good shiznit. mom, you need to read this next installation of the series i introduced you to.

I sent out 11 packages from Germany and Malta, im proud of myself, im usually horrible at thatkind of stuff.

i was on the train the other day, on my way to the airport and was reading my book quietly and wondered why this group of four in front of me hadnt said a word to one another. then all of a sudden there was this burst of muffled laughter emanating from them, and i realized they were signing to oneanother. and i couldnt help but think about this, this silent conversation, and through the silence the one thing that cuts it is laughter. i think thats a nice thought, dont you? i couldnt help but smile with them everytime they laughed, although i had no idea what they were laughing about. good trainride.

kk and i were walking through the streets of dublin sunday, and i saw t his poster advertising a photo exhibit, and on the poster was this beautiful yet provoking image of what the artists calls the "invisible woman". It was this woman, a bit older and a little overweight, or maybe that looks so because of her body being covered by rags and rags of shirts and goats and quilts torn by wear and bad weather and by the sidewalk as a bed. she has one leg which is injured or permanently crippled, and it is turned inward at a very uncomfortable angle, which led me to picture her shuffling along slowly and full of effort. she had a scarf around her head, either a comforting sole piece of accessory for her white head of hair or another layer to protect her from the dublin weather, im not certain. she has a few missing teeth and her face is pulled into this gutwrenching form expressing both anguish and need. a look that says, a life can only take so much rejection, please dont add yourself to the ranks of those whove rejected me. is it a show? i dont think so, but the common pull of society these days swings us to believe that those begging will only use th emoney for drugs and alcohol...but what about all those who really do use the money to survive? it sucks to always question the intentions of the homeless, what a horrible feeling. it was justsuch a powerful image. and i think the world needs more sympathy, trust, and people need to emphasize with other people, even if they are strangers. and wouldnt you know it, we were walking into a store and i looked out the window as my friend was shopping and there she was, in the flesh, shuffling along the street with the same clothes, same bent leg, same yearning face, the same outstreched hand. i got all revved up and frantic searching for money, but by the time i fished it out of my pocket she had disappeared. i dont know how she did it but she was gone when i ran out of the store. i wonder if she knows she is semi famous? i wonder what thoughts go through her head as she walks down the street asking for money and suddenly discoveres her image on a billboard. hmm.

certainly, definitely, absolutely,
peace, namaste,
Shim

wow...i just saw that the second to last remaining survivor of the titanic died last month...there is only one left. hmmm, wow. i dont know why, but its just profound for me, anyone else?

Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean of Southampton, England, who was 2 months old at the time of the Titanic sinking, is now the disaster's only remaining survivor, according to the Titanic Historical Society.

crazy...and she cant even remember being on the darn big boot.

ps. the pres in Georgia needs to knock it the eff off, and i hope the people continue to strive for their rights!

pps. turkey...leave the kurds alone. oh...wait...better yet, treat them like equal human beings! i know its hard, but lets give it a shot.

Gazing down at the Mediterranean

i know i know, its been a while. we just had two weeks of school break, and i flew to malta for a week! it was beautiful, ive never seen a place like malta before. the whole island was like one city made of white limestone, surrounded by the Mediterranean. even at the end of october the weather was beautiful and i got to swim in the sea for the first time in my life. ive learned these first time experiences are something to take special note of, and are easy to appreciate much more than everday experiences, although those too are given too little appreciation. either way, the language was so unique, it sounded like arabic, but was a mix of arabic, english, italian and some others. the place is rediculously expensive! when we first arrived, i was a little apprehensive, because it just looked dirty and dead. but then after the first day this wave of a particular sense of charm came over me, and i really felt comfortable being there. they have tons of fortresses there, were invaded like a billion times. there was a bomb that was dropped on a church while three hundred people were praying...and it didnt explode and no one was injured....amazing. the best thing about the trip is that it was so laid back, the bus systems are so good and cheap, its really easy to pay a few cents and see the whole island. we paid about 5 euro for a four hour tour, which we thought was a boat tour but ended up being a car tour. oh well, we saw the whole place! it takes about 40 min to get from one side to the other. there are really no beaches, but there are tons of harbours which are really beautiful at night. that was one of my favorite things, walking from sliema where our youthhostel was to paceville to go to the movies or to go eat along the coastline, going down to the sea at night, there was this constant orangeish glow from th elights at night, reflecting off the sea and the tan buildings of stone, it jsut gave the place this really warm and peaceful feeling. as many of you know, i love the ocean, i just feel for me its one of natures best remedies, best aroma therapy candle, best soothing music, best spiritual peacebringer. i mean, i love sitting next to turquoise blue water, smelling the sea, feeling the warm breeze, listening to the waves, looking at the moon, and meditating, all by myself. i mean, it was great, even though the island is almost entirely made up of tourists, you could still discover these serene and nature pure places to explore and enjoy. one day we hopped on bus 38 from valetta the capital to the blue grotto and the only three sand beaches on the west coast of the island. we paid our 20 lira cent and got onto a packed bus with a driver who loves to chat on his cell, or stop the bus to talk with a fellow driver along the way, or laugh at another whose bus broke down, it was so lax and i couldnt help but smile! the bus was filled with jesus and mary, its a very religious island, every bus had a picture of the big J C in it. we finally arrived at the last stop, got out, and discovered this little dirt path away from the beach full of tourists and hte new radisson hotel where tony blair stayed and walked down it. we passed another beach that was completely empty and beautiful and walked up to this plateau of sorts, you know, the little cliff thing next to a rocky sea. the sun was shining and i decided first to read a bit in an alcove near the top and then i walked around to the other side where the was no person to be seen, no building to disrupt the view, the wind was blowing at like 20 mph but i didnt care. i bouldered for a bit, climbed around everywhere, and went out to the furthest sharp rock i could find to sit on and medidtate for a bit. next to the crashing waves. it was really wonderful, and then i found my way to the blue grotto and jumped in, this little grotto between cliffs where i was the only one swimming for a while, and then a few random people joined me in the water, it was great. really. between that, the cheap pizza place we discovered, and the hilly beautiful city of valetta, i couldnt have asked for a better vacation. plus i saw about 4 or 5 great movies, got a new lip piercing on the spot, and got my hair done professionally...it was really sweet deal, and the hairdressers were mad cool, the girl who colored my hair was beautiful and from nigeria, and the guy was cooky and fun and loved his job. it was a good experience haha. the best haircutting, grooming exp yet. there was only one movie to watch at night in the hostel...ill give you one guess....yep thats right...big momma 2! hahahahaha ps that movie is really funny, add a few skol beers and smarties to that, and youve got a good night, or three (cuz thats how many times we wathched it! lol). anywho, malta was great! next entry...to come...about the rest of the break and halloween!
much love, peace, namaste,
Shim

ps. pictures and videos galore are to come, i still dont know how to get them from my laptop to the laptop in school where there is internet to post them...someone stole my usb stick...:(

Ole, I love Germany, promise.

haha, seriously, i love germany, i love europe, i love being here and will be for at least another year if not longer. of course, id like to make my way to Columbia, NYU or Georgetown at somepoint for gradschool, but why not look first into studying in Paris perhaps? mal sehen. I went to Berlin for four days last week and had an excellent time. I stayed with Milli who was my classmate at MCO Gymnasium SIX years ago! it was so nice to see her again. We arrived at the brand spanking new hauptbahnhof which was really ill, i mean, it is so big and full of windows and shining silver. its like a shopping mall that you can take a train to. really cool, and we ran into this really drunk kid named nicki who was so funny and a really nice kerl. it was a good start. (although i told jeff to buy the wrong ticket by accident, but luckily it only cost 8 euro more). The first night we went to KuDam and walked along the main city center street and then wandered over to where I lived in schöneberg. I wasnt sure if my family still lived there, but i saw through the window my hostfather Bernhards guitars on the wall still as they were six years ago. so milli dragged me inside and hoopalah who was standing there but none other than my host mom and dad, haha, they were so surprised to see me. we had some beer and ate some abendbrot and caught up on life. the dog is still there, everything, cept all but ronja and johannes have moved out, both of whom are reall grown up, its crazy! i have videos and pics, but they are on my laptop in my apt. after that we went out for a drink with milli, caught up on things, and then the next day she had to work but we went strolling around where i went to school, and the area and then met up with her to get ready to out on the town. we met up with ALL four host sisters at this really cool shisha bar downtown and had a wonderful time, lots of pictures for sure. i might go back for christmas to celebrate. we went out to a place called soda in this really cool hof somewhere, met up withsome friends of millis and jeffs and danced in the hiphop room which was packed. apparently i was looked at funny the whole night cuz i danced so wierd...sigh. the next day we met up with Katie VL, who is btw the best. she was there for a German Foreign Affairs conference as the US expert on the EU. apparently she was haggled by the italians and germans there, but mostly due to misunderstandings, and partly due to her penchant for playing devils advocate and saying what everyone thinks but wont say. go her! learn from the best, i always say. we had a GREAT day touring around Berlin, went all over the place, visited Angie Merkels house and yelled for her to come out for some tea so we could discuss things. she didnt come out....:( we saw the dom and unterdenlinden and hakischerhöfe and the remenants of the wall, which was the first time katie was there since it fell, so that must have been a really cool experience for her. i love potsdamer platz and gendarmenmarkt, two of my favorite spots in the city. we had some nice german cuisine and beer and then dropped her off to head home to her family and back to the grind at adelphi. The last night jenny came over and we went out to a nice mexican place for some drinks and the next morning had to say goodbye to milli after going to visit MCO and take pics. it was a sad day but i cannot wait to go back! ps i got studivz and found a bunch of friends from my class at MCO which is ill, even Krümel i found, who is now living near munich unfortunately, but i hope to see her soon. and MARIA lives in Bremen now! like, 25 min away by train, she was my german exchange student friend at Chatham High, we sat next to eachother in physics and made everyone jealous by kicking some seirous physics butt. word. my renters came back yesterday, and things have worked out well, they are really quite a nice couple and i look foward to smoothing over our first bad encounter and building up a good relationship there. Well, there is more of course, like about Riepe and some new friends, and efforts made yet failed at trying to save this girls crazy exchange program in Ameria, and the einweihungs party from the brother of Neele in Hamburg, and the stupid saturday where i missed out on a flankyball tournament by fault of my own stupidity. sigh. but that will have to come tomorrow or when i get back FROM MALTA!!!! yes, thats right, im flying to malta eaaaaaaaaaaarly thursday morning for a week! i cannot wait to see the mediterranean! wooo! and then im off to amsterdam mostlikely to see my doublekbattery. who i miss dearly.
bis dann,
certainly, definitely, absolutely,
Shim

ps. Sambucada rocks my socks.

American Sarcasm...untranslatable. Just wonderful!

So...it has been a while since i've posted, it's becoming more difficult to do so since the internet i use is in school. I moved into my new apartment last week, and have already found myself getting into trouble. You know...i just cant seem to find a place to live either in the US or Germany that doesnt have an overbearing family around, strict oldschool landlords, or crazy nozy obnoxious neighbors (or the drug/alcohol addict kind). sigh. just once i would like to live somewhere where i had my own space and was free to do whatever i wanted without feeling like i was disturbing someone or breaking some invisible rule...really. that would be fantastic. My second night there Patrice, Martin, Robert, Sebi, and Jonas came by with some beverages and playing cards and we sat in a circle talking, playing games, and listening to music quietly on my computer in my big bedroom/livingroom. We're we loud? no, course not. did we smoke inside? no... we're we trashed...not even close (nicht mal annehend). but lo and behold here comes dashing into my room without knocking for which i am paying my renter in his bedclothes freaking out in german saying we knew what we were doing and that we were being bad and that we were smoking in the house and that we would have to discuss this in the morning cough cough TIM!....firstly...im 23 years old, im not your son, and im renting for you and we werent loud. oh yea and my friends went quietly downstairs outside to smoke. dont come barging into MY apartment and yell at me and embarass me infront of my friends, who are really nice and respectful btw and who now feel uncomfortable coming by. ugh. what to do. turns out that he is having the neighbors watch over me and the house and what i do and who comes by while they are gone this week on vacation. they have keys....hahahahaah oh goodness. silly silly man. oh yea, and he was waiting for my orientations teacher as she walked to her car (a neighbor told him when and where she usually parks) to talk to her while i was gone about our bad first start. and how horrible and how bad it looked to have all those young people around their cozy street and in their cozy little german home. im more than slightly irritated if you cant tell. ps. before that night we were shopping for food and beer in the supermarket and some customer told the cashier that we had stole something and some guy and a few others stood in front of us as we checked out, asked us to open our pockets and bags and then took us to the back in their office to inspect our things and investigate us...meanwhile what happened was is that i wanted to buy everone a small thing of kleiner feigling, but wasnt sure, and asked if they sold single ones at the counter, which they did, my friend showed me how big it was, i told him it was too much and he put it back, they thought he put it in his pocket or something. hah. i guess we are just outright hooligans! already causing trouble in germany! pps. did i mention the party full of neonazis? ill check back later, and if i didnt, ill write about it tomorrow. Aside from that, school is fine, i was observed the other day, the superintentent was really pleased with me, was really happy i was here, and said i had a lot of potential as a teacher. said that i really make the students have fun and feel comfortable and am very clear and easy to follow. woohoo for me. students handed me their characterization-photo essays the other day and they were all really well done! ich freue mich.
namaste leute,
Shim

ppps. please look up and sign the petitions for the Burmese monks, wear maroon, spread the word.