È caduta la neve

Gia adesso! Ha nevicato tutto il giorno e quando le nuvole se ne sono andate, Voila! La neve!! Sembra davvero strano perché le montagne sono ancora tutte verdi. Verdi con bianco... Fa anche freddissimo. Uffa.

Dalla stazione devo sempre camminare circa 10 minuti e quando sono arrivata stamattina, le miei stivali erano tutte bagnate. Poi il riscaldamento non è ancora acceso e fa davvero freddo qui. Così ho fatto qualcosa nel forno e quando era pronto l'ho aperto e tutta la cucina era bel calda.

Dopo di insegnare ho preparato i lezioni di domani e poi sono tornata con il treno. Sono andata in città a Bellinzona e ho fatto la spesa. Be, niente di speciale ma un giorno un po' tranquillo.

Percora nera- schwarzes Schaf

Seit einigen Wochen gibt es in der ganzen Schweiz Plakate einer gewissen Partei auf der auf einer schweizer Flagge drei weisse Schafe ein schwarzes von der Flagge kicken. Man kann sich denken was das bedeuten soll. Oder auch nicht. Die Diskussion ist riesig. Ich kriege jedesmal Aggressionen wenn ich dieses Plakat sehe. Ja, sicher, es gibt das schwarze Schaf, als Redewendung. Auch auf Italienisch. Aber dieses Plakat ist jawohl eindeutig zweideutig und für mich eindeutig rassistisch.

Heute habe ich dann endlich eins gesehen auf dem jemand mit fetter schwarzer Farbe Hakenkreuze auf die weissen Schafe gemalt hatte. Yay!!! :) Und heute habe ich auch in der Zeitung gelesen, dass für den 29. um drei bei uns hier am Bahnhof eine Demo gegen Rassismus stattfindet. Freu!! Das sind doch mal klare Zeichen.

Soll ich oder soll ich nicht auf einen kleinen nächtlichen Streifzug gehen und die anderen Plakate ähnlich verzieren? Hmmmmmm....

Il corso all'ospedale

Well, I don't know why I got nervous on Monday, after all I have already been teaching adults for a while. The class at the hospital is very friendly and open. There is one doctor and a lot of nurses and health technicians. Their biggest problem is that they believe German to be much more difficult than other languages.

Today I also met some of my kids in town when I was on my way to the station. There is an American girl who is very open and friendly and I got a chance to change a few words with her.

The kids from that class, however, are still having difficulties staying quiet for an entire lesson. That is, quiet enough so that I don't have to yell and that others can work with concentration. After almost 10 years at public schools they aren't yet used to working quietly. Sometimes it frustrates me that I have to punish them all in order to do something. But a lot of times (almost all of the times) it is not one student talking but a group of them.

The first vocabulary test, on the other hand, went great! Lots of sixes (equivalent to a German 1 and an American A) and fives.

Today, during the break at noon I went down to the lake. All the colors were pastell like and the lake was placid and still. It was very humid and I had only just finished eating when the sky started grumbling. I looked up and knew right away, this one was a fast one (living in the Alps you learn these things rapidly). So I started running up the hill (at least some sport...) and right after I reached the door of my school, the sky broke open and a wall of water came down. Just like that. Boom. The nuns came running controlling all the windows and it turned into a nice little thunderstorm.

We had already had a thunderstorm last night that woke me a few times and one of my students hadn't slept at all.

600 parole

Ho imparato o ripetuto questo weekend con l'aiuto di memomo. Quasi tutti sono in cassetto 3. Adesso diventa già più difficile. Tante parole so passivamente ma non attivamente.

Tra un po' devo partire per insegnare la prima volta all'ospedale. Sono un po' nervosa.

Memomo

No, I'm not talking about my cat "Momo." This morning I found something on the web: A great vocabulary trainer. I can hear you all say, "... a vocabulary trainer?!!"
"Yes, it's a vocabulary trainer."
"What's so great about that?"
"It is great because it works and it's free and it offers a lot of languages."
"What do I need that for?"
"You need it if you're trying to learn a foreign language. And I know that some of my friends are learning foreign languages and therefore I decided to write a post about it."
"Ah, ok. And what's so great about it?"
"It is great because it doesn't make you repeat vocabulary that you already know five times. It works with Leitners Karteikartensystem but you don't have to go out anymore and buy those little cards. And what I love about it is that when you know a word but you misspell it, it remains in the same box as it was instead of going back. They explain it all on their site: Memomo."

Bailamos!!

Am Freitag war ich auf dem Lateinamerikanischen Festival. Zusammen mit einer Schweizerdeutschen. Und da wurde mir wieder ein bisschen bewusst, warum ich eigentlich in den Süden gegangen bin. Während vorne auf der Bühne die Tänzer und Sänger vortanzten, dass es ein Riesenspass war mitzumachen und ich mich auch sofort ins Gewühl geschmissen hab, stand das Mädchen einfach nur da und machte negative Kommentare. Aber die Leute aus Bellinzona tanzten und versuchten das nachzumachen, was uns die Sänger auf der Bühne vormachten. Kinder, Jugendliche, Mütter, Männer und auch ältere Menschen, alle hatten sie Spass.

Und wer hatte keinen? Und warum? Ja, es stimmt, es gibt in der deutschen Kultur diese Tendenz sehr schnell negative Kommentare über etwas zu machen anstatt sich einfach mitreissen zu lassen. Man muss sich immer kontrollieren. Leider ist das so. Nicht unsere Schuld sondern Werte, die von Generation zu Generation getragen werden. Und während ich oft zwischen Schweizerdeutschen und Deutschen keine Gemeinsamkeiten finde, war es in diesem Fall doch so.

In Münster haben Isabel und ich ein paar Mal versuchte eine anständige Salsaparty zu finden. Aber ausser dem grossen Lateinamerikanischen Karneval auf dem ich mit Pierre war, habe ich so etwas nie mehr gefunden. Bis auf Freitag Nacht in der Piazza del Sole. Und wenn das Mädchen nicht stocksteif neben mir gestanden hätte und statt dessen einfach mitgetanzt hätte, hätten wir sicher bis spät nachts getanzt und einen Riesenspass gehabt. Aber so hatte ich nach einer Stunde genug. Leider.

Il mio primo test!

Oggi ho fatto il mio primo test agli miei allievi e sono contentissima. Ho avuto quattro che hanno raggiunto 100% e solo un test che non è andato bene. Gli ho già detto i punti ma non ancora le note perché non so ancora come farle. Non vorrei che sia troppo facile ma neanche vorrei che perdono il coraggio.

Dopo il test volevano così tanto che gli dica subito il risultato che hanno lavorato calmi e tranquilli come mai! Così ho potuto correggerlo in classe mentre loro lavoravano. Ormai dopo siamo ancora arrivati alla fine della parola "extra" che significa compiti in più. Quando c'è troppo rumore funziona bene fare così. Non sono ancora abituati a stare tranquilli. Però sono carini e bravi e mi piace insegnarli anche se adesso è ancora un po' faticoso.

Uffa!!

Uffa, letzte Nacht nur drei Stunden geschlafen. Das ist so krass, wenn ich nach 18:00 Kaffee trinke, kann ich abends nicht einschlafen. Aber das scheint einfach so verrückt, dass ich es manchmal doch versuche. Und heute hatte ich fünf Stunden über mehr als acht Stunden verteilt... ich dachte, ich schaff das nie so müde aber das ging ganz gut. Sobald ich im Klassenzimmer stehe, läuft es wie von selbst.

Und in der Mittagspause (von halb eins bis zwei) habe ich mir mein Brot geschnappt und bin runter zum See. Da hab ich mich in den Schatten einer Zypresse gelegt auf die Stufen am Ufer und ein bisschen den Wellen gelauscht. Heute morgen als ich mit dem Zug nach Locarno gefahren bin, war der Lago Maggiore spiegelglatt und ich dachte noch, wow, so glatt habe ich ihn noch nie gesehen. Aber in der Mittagspause rollten grosse Wellen ans Ufer und es flog richtig die Gischt obwohl es strahlend schönen Sonnenschein gab (wie immer :P). Ich habe das total genossen, die Wellen, die Sonne, die Pause und natürlich auch das Salamibrot.

La mia prima settimana

Well, I did it. My first week as a teacher is over and I am proud of myself because I didn't get sickening nervous. Sometimes when I was on my way to a job interview I'd get so nervous and anxious I felt like throwing up. But I did good this time. The trials are over and all I have to do now is do my best in class.

The kids in German class are still a bit impatient and talk to much but we're getting there. The only problem they have is that sometimes they don't get what I explain the first time and that gets them all upset and panicked. I tell them to calm down, I will explain at least three times (I try to speak only German) and if there's still someone who hasn't got it, I ask one of them to explain in Italian. But basically they're good kids and I enjoy teaching them.

The first and the third class on the other hand are much easier to teach but the first class is definitely too quiet. The third class, however, is fun to teach, because they understand a lot and they are also a bit more creative. There are also two or three girls who are very ambitious. And then I have a student from town coming in who is almost as old as me and very sweet and friendly.

Well, I have been reflecting for some time and these are my goals for the next two weeks:

- improve discipline in German class
- do things even more calmly
- relax, you're doing fine
- make first class talk more
- reread all schedules of the previous teachers
- learn all names
- reserve more time for explaining tasks and don't get upset if they don't understand
- in hallway ask one or two of them how they are doing (every day)
- relax, listen to a CD
- stop thinking of school when you're trying to sleep

The other thing is that I can't get rid of the feeling that this is too easy. There's got to be a problem coming up or something. It is not a very good feeling and I hope I'm only imagining things. Maybe I'm only still a bit scared of it all?

Ohne Zusatzstoffe

Und wieder so ein Fall. Bei der Migros. (Ich scheine mich nur noch dort aufzuhalten?) Ein tiefgefrorenes "Sweet and Sour" von Vite Fait. Steht fett drauf "Ohne Zusatzstoffe!". Ich drehe das Teil um und lese "...Laktose..." Mavafanbagno!!!! In solchen Momenten möchte ich dem Hersteller das tiefgefrorene Gemüse am liebsten um die Ohren schlagen!! Hallo!? Ohne Zusatzstoffe aber mit Laktose? Laktose ist ein Zusatzstoff!!! Wer es noch nicht weiss, ich bin total laktoseintolerant. Ich bin "minus-L". Ich kann rein gar nichts mit Laktose essen und Produkte auf denen steht "Ohne Zusatzstoffe!" sind normalerweise meine Rettung.

Lobend kann ich da nur mein Frosta erwähnen. Frosta ist wirklich für alle da. Wenn da drauf steht "Ohne Zusatzstoffe!" dann is(s)t das so. Ich vermisse dich, Frosta. Du hast mir das Leben bereichert und leichter gemacht. Und gut schmeckst du auch noch. Seufz. Erstmal einen empörten Brief an die Migros geschrieben. Aber die werden das nach meinem Stunt letztens wohl nur als suspektes Ablenkmanöver betrachten.

How I became a thief

I have found that when you're a teacher little mechanic bureau things become very important. Puncher, stapler and CO. The other day at Migros I was looking at a puncher when my apartmentmate arrived and said, "You don't need that, we already got two of them at the apartment."
"But they're yours."
"You can use them."
"But I need them in my room."
"You can keep them in your room if you want."
"Really? Can I steal the puncher?"
I was still holding the puncher.
"Yeah."
"Ok, great."
What I didn't know was that there was a woman behind us. The woman who is the "detective" at Migros. According to my apartmentmate all she heard was "Can I steal the puncher?" and then followed us through the whole market until we left.
So, I guess I'm now on "the list" at Migros and this lady will keep me company whenever I enter the market to shop for groceries.
What a riot!!!

Gott und die Priester

Die Germanischen Priester ritzten Zeichen in Stäbe aus Buchenholz (darum "Buchstaben) und warfen sie auf den Boden um dann die Stäbe wieder aufzulesen und zu interpretieren.

Frage: Was bedeutet auflesen? Warum sagt man heute "lesen"?
Antwort: Man sagt lesen, weil sie die Buchstaben auf den Boden warfen, so konnte der Gott auch lesen was sie geschrieben hatten.

Frage: Waren die Priester der Germanen wie unsere Priester in der Kirche heute? Was war wohl anders?
Antwort: Sie waren nicht wie die Priester von heute. Sie konnten heiraten.

Frage: Für welches Land stehen die Buchstaben BR?
Antwort: Britische Republik

Sind sie nicht süss und ideenreich, meine Schüler?

First days of teaching

Well, I have already been teaching for two days and it's going pretty good! The kids are much easier than the ones at "Lingue e Sport". The German class is a still a bit of work but we're on the way. The first and the third class, who have already been at the school for some time are so sweet and wonderful. Teaching the third class is like being on a holiday!!

But the kids from the German class are also quite sweet. Some of them have already talked to me after class, one of them a very smart American girl, who came to me today and asked me where in the US I have been. I asked her if she misses America and she said she did.

This morning when I took the train to Locarno I felt so happy. I was listening to some music "Si, dev'essere così" (Yes, it has to be like that) and outside the windows the beautiful green mountains of the Alps were passing by. Then we arrived at the lake and the air was so fresh and clean it was awesome. I climbed up the hill and it felt great going to work like that, in a beautiful place and with the schooldog waiting at the gate. When I arrived, the teachers and I had coffee together with the nuns and then we all went teaching. We do have coffee together every day at 10:20 talking about the students and joking together.

Well, and now I'm still sitting here, playing around with a program that lets me create crosswords, which I found is a great and playful way to exercise vocabulary for the students.

Das "Mau" auf Abwegen

Oh, was für ein Schock! Kamen heute vom Einkaufen und da liegt auf einem Parkplatz neben einem Haus in der Nachbarschaft eine kleine schwarz-weisse Katze, tot. Blut im Gesichtchen. Sah so aus, als ob sie unter einem geparkten Auto geschlafen hat und dann ist der Fahrer gekommen. Ich hatte dann Angst, dass die Besitzer vielleicht mit den Kindern kommen und die Kinder das Tierchen so sehen müssen und habe der Frau in dem Haus Bescheid gesagt. Sie wusste es aber schon und hat uns dann nur gefragt ob wir gesehen haben, wer sie überfahren hat oder wie es passiert ist.

Ich hab sie dann gefragt ob es ihre Katze ist und leider war sie es. Das tat mir so leid für sie, ich weiss ja wie das ist einen Minitiger zu verlieren.

Aber dann kam das Momochen nicht nach Hause!! Wir waren schon in der Stadt, das erste Mal mit Momo draussen weil er nicht zurückkam. Er war ja nicht mal da als ich von der Schule nach Hause kam. Sonst kommt er immer gleich angerannt um "Hallo" zu sagen.

Dann wurde es später und später und wir haben schon Abendbrot gegessen, da kam eine Stimme vom Balkon: "Permesso?" Und da war unser Vermieter und das Momochen. Das war mal wieder in einen Kofferraum gesprungen und war dort wohl den ganzen Tag eingeschlossen gewesen!! Und vorhin hat ihn dann unser Vermieter gefunden, als er den Wein aus dem Auto holen wollte.

Jetzt ist er totmüde und schläft hier neben mir auf dem Sofa. Hoffentlich hat er jetzt gelernt nicht mehr in fremde Autos zu steigen. Er hat das nämlich schon mal gemacht und ist beinahe mit dem Sohn von unserem Vermieter der über uns wohnt in den Urlaub gefahren. Böses Mau!!!

"Mau" ist das ägyptische Wort für "Katze"

Domani

Domani bedeutet "morgen", aber nicht "der Morgen" das ist la mattina. Kleine Italienischlektion am Rande. Hab grade Correspondenza vorbereitet (ihr könnt euch denken was das heisst) und es hat sogar Spass gemacht. Die Kids müssen zwei Briefe schreiben pro Woche und diese Woche mache ich "Anfrage" (eines Produkts). Darum hab ich mir überlegt welche Produkte sie wohl interessieren und habe eine Aufgabe gemacht in der sie Einkäuferin beim H&M sind und eine bei der sie den neuen Ipod Video einkaufen müssen. Ein bisschen komerziell-materialistisch das Ganze, aber leider ist das ja so in der Businessworld.

Anderes Problem: Ich kann die neue Rechtschreibung nicht und bei der Kommaregelung rate ich auch eher. Mavafanbagno!! (Könnt euch auch denken, was das heisst...) Jetzt muss ich die tatsächlich lernen!! Also falls jemand nen guten Link hat für das Ganze, her damit!! Hab ein bisschen gesurft aber nichts wirklich übersichtliches gefunden bis jetzt.

2. Problem: Der Akku vom Notebook geht nicht. Mavafanc....! Diesmal ganz ausgesprochen. Mist, Mist, Mist. Hatte grade alles so schön installiert und war auch super zufrieden wie schnell und bequem ich meine Stunden vorbereiten konnte, alles super übersichtlich, schon neue Ordner angelegt für alles und jetzt alles für die Katz!!

Wie auch immer, domani ist mein erster Tag an der neuen Schule! Denkt an mich!!

Due!

Ecco, solo un altro giorno ma dopo di aver preparato 5 lezioni sto tanto meglio e meno nervosa. Sembra tutto facile perché mi hanno dato così tanto materiale e informazione che so esattamente come e cosa fare. E dopotutto sono solo 45 minuti non un ora d'insegnamento. Mi sono anche divertita a preparare la lezione di istoria della letteratura. Uau!

Ma devo ammettere che adesso ho capito un po' a cosa servono tutte queste regole e la disciplina. Fa la vita più facile. Per tanto tempo mi sono solo sentita oppressa delle regole e "vietato questo vietato quello"... in Germania e una cosa che è ancora tanto valutata purtroppo. Spero che posso fare capire anche agli alievi che non vogliamo torturargli con le regole ma che vogliamo aiutargli.

Three!

Be' it's the final countdown. (Sound of trompets...) I woke around eight or rather my cat woke me around eight purring around my head stepping on my face and pushing his wet nose into my ear. Yucky!!! But sooooo cute, too. He does that every morning, purring because he woke in a place that he likes with people he likes. At least that's what I think. He certainly isn't a great purrer but in the mornings he goes like a lawn-mower. Rrrrrrrrr-rrrrrrrr-rrrrrrr-mao---rrrr.
He also kind of anounces himself at the door, it's so cute. He does a real short miaow that sounds like "Ciao!".

Right now he's outside exploring the wonderful world of Bellinzona. And when he returns he usually does a real long loud miaow so that we all realize that he's back!

I just sent a message to my friend Nury asking her if she wanted to go to the market. After that I decided, I'm going to prepare three lessons, then tomorrow again three and Monday again three. That will be nine and the rest I will prepare during the week. Fortunately, the course at the hospital begins only in two weeks so I get a slightly smaller load of work in the beginning.

I'm so nervous, yesterday at the conference there were so many things and now I hope I can get everything done like they want it. I do love, however, that there's one set of rules that all the teacher and students have/will agree to. Even if "no drawing" was on the list and I know from personal experience that drawing does not take the attention away but rather helps listening... but I can live with that. I'm sure, however, this system will help a lot with the girls (and boys... there are four of them!)

After the conference yesterday I ran into Brigitte with whom I taught at Lingue e Sport and we will definitely meet for lunch sometimes. Then I went down to the lake and there was still a sack of tourists (wow, rather literal translation from Italian "un sacco di..." and it was so strange beeing there and knowing they will all leave but I will stay and be there every day. I'm sure I couldn't have found a more beautiful place in the world for teaching. The sun was real bright and reflected in the greenish-blue of the lake and the wind was moving the palm trees. The mountains in the background seemed crystal clear and the atmosphere was totally peaceful and relaxing.

But it's always the people that make a school and the other teachers seem very friendly and open and some of them said they liked of the school that it was like a small family. And one even saidit was like the two nuns where our moms. Hehe.

I still find all the rules there a bit much but after the chaos of Lingue e Sport it seems, unfortunately, that the kids need them. I talked with another teacher the other day and we found it's really the kids of the kids of the years 60 that are the problem. Seems like the laissez faire education doesn't work or leads to great problems at school. And let's face it, at their age, school is really important because they only got a few years and then all the rest of their life will be determined by their grades...