Ein Mas!

My cousin Miranda and her husband Jody were celebrating their 10 year anniversary this past week and took a lovely trip to Germany!  They got to travel around and see some beautiful places in Bavaria and Austria as well.  How nice of them to invite me to tag along for a few days on their romantic getaway :D 

Really though, it was so nice of them to invite me to check out Munich again and get to spend time with them.  Last time I was in Munich, I got very sick and did not have the best memories due to some bad food I ate.  Although I was a little wary to return to the city with the BMW museum and white sausages, the lure of getting to see some family, trumped my hesitations. 

I am so glad I went back.  There were many things I missed out on when I went there the first time, that I got to do this round!  Vlad showed me the Modern aspect of Munich, whereas I got to see a few churches and historical aspects this time.  And also enjoy other fantastic German food and of course Beer.  And more beer.  With some café and kuchen thrown in the mix.  

Primera Semana de Clases (Round 2)

     On my first day, I met my new teachers and am excited to work with most of them!  I have my own "bilingual coordinator" who is in charge of making sure I show up in time/I can go to if I have problems.  I have a few classes with him and he is verrryyyy organized.  Which is pretty nice because most things dealing with the Spanish are not… His name is Diego, and he seems very nice.  I also work with two teachers close to my age (about 27) and this is their first year teaching.  They seem to be happy that I have a little experience with these students and are open to any suggestion I bring up.        

     My students from last year were very excited to see me, which was a great feeling!  The first day I was back they all came running up to give me a hug and ask if I was in their classes.  This year I have more students and get to work with 2 ESO and 1 ESO, the equivalent of 6^th and 7^th graders in the United States.  This is how school levels work…

United States	Spain
Preschool	Infantil (3-4)
Kindergarten	1
1	2
2	3
3	4
4	5
5	6
6	1st of ESO (Obligatory Secondary Education)
7	2nd  ESO
8	3rd   ESO
9	4th   ESO
10	1st of Bachillerato
11	2nd of Bachillerato
12

Bachillerato is a two year program where you pick what field you would like to start studying, between, Arts, Sciences and Technology, Humanities, and Social Sciences.  Pretty cool! 

     I am getting a lot of Spanish listening and talking in because my teachers all speak Spanish around me.  They speak to me as well, and we carry on little conversations.  It’s great practice for me, but of course the students have started to pick up on this, the students I have from last year get lazy and speak in Spanish to me.  The new students are baffled and say “Can you say (insert easiest Spanish word that anyone who has taken Spanish 101 would know)?” 

     This year, my goal is to really get out there and speak more!  It’s been a whole lot easier than it was last year.  I know where I need to go, I know what I need to say, but it’s time to get out of my comfort zone and delve a little deeper into the experiences Madrid, Spain and Europe have to offer…