FCK, Vineyard Walking and Farm Fest

FCK: 

One of the teachers from school Lynnie had an extra ticket to an FCK game so I was able to go to my first professional soccer game!! It was her sons 16 birthday so there was a good size group of us who went! We played Berlin and we won 1-0!!! The standing room only section was crazy!! People had drums, flags and would sing very loudly!!! It was soooo much fun and I am so lucky that the teachers at KES have asked me to do so many fun things! 


























Freinsheim: 

I went on this beautiful wine walk where there was about 17 tents with all kinds of different foods and wines to try! It was the perfect day to be outside and wonder around the vineyards! 

Farm Fest: 

Sally and her family took me to this really cool festival with a corn maze, great fall food and of course wine! I did a little bit of shopping and just enjoyed the warm, sunny day! I had a fabulous week and weekend! I am so grateful for this wonderful experience! 

And another week of school begins! I thought this was hilarious! :) 

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest..basically a carnival with BEER! And lots of it! We went into a couple of the beer tents that were crazy packed!  I loved seeing the German singing, people dancing and pounding on the tables and the great atmosphere it created! Kristen and I met up with Jessica and a few other friends! We got chocolate covered strawberries that were SO DELICIOUS! 

We then went to downtown Munich to explore! It is gorgeous and I wish I had a little more time there! 

Downtown we went to the Hofbräuhaus! It was beautiful and interestingly was the place where Hitler went from a nobody to a somebody. The waitresses during Oktoberfest carry at least 6 of these huge glasses! She saw me trying to figure out how they do it and she came over and taught me! These half way full ones were heavy enough! Those girls have some awesome arm strength! 

I know one wine term...WINO!

Bad Dürkheim, Bad Dürkheim, Bad Dürkheim....this was one of my favorite days! 

What's not to love? Wine, friends, wine, ferris wheels, wine, german food, and did I mention WINE!  

Riesling was my drink of choice for most of the day. Here in Germany there's a drink called a schorle which is bubbly water and wine. Kristen and I drank some of these to stay hydrated and be able to stay longer. 

I went on the ferris wheel and got an amazing view of the fest! This was only a little over half of the festival!! I could not believe how many wine tents and people were there! Babies, children, adults and grandparents were all in attendance! It was like a carnival plus wine! :) 


We decided to leave around 11 which was kind of early, but luckily we did because we went about a hour north on a train instead of west...oops! We figured it out and took a long nap on the train! 

Kristen and I made some new friends and I can't wait to have a girls night with Shaunae and her adorable puppy Roo!!!! 

They say that Bad Dürkheim is the Oktoberfest of wine! If this is just a preview of next weekend in Munich, I cannot wait!!! 

LET'S GO RAIDERS!

IT'S FINALLY FRIDAY!!!!!! 

This week has literally FLOWN by! I LOVE my students and KES! I seriously could not have been more blessed with my placement! 

Tonight Corey and I went to a KHS (Kaiserslautern High School) football game! It was raining the entire time...normal thing here in Germany! But it was exciting to see the game and the cheerleaders! It was crazy finding out the different teams that KHS plays and how far away they are. Tonight they play Stuttgart which is probably 2 hours away! And that's close!!!!!! They even play at Lakenheath which is in England! That is CRAZY! 

While talking to Corey about the cheerleaders and how small the team was compared to CHS, I started to think about how hard it would be to have girls leaving in the middle of a season or even at the beginning of a season. I cheered with some of the same girls all 4 years and these girls have a brand new team every tryout! I give these kids a lot of credit! 

Off to Bad Dirkheim tomorrow for a fest!!! A wine fest! Cheers! 

Becoming Miss Joseph

Welcome to Kaiserslautern Elementary School! I LOVE IT! 

I could not have asked for a better mentor teacher! Sally has really allowed me to jump right into teaching the students and coming up with different ideas to use during reading and math. It has been somewhat stressful figuring out a schedule that works for all students during a thousand different schedules for the school day. 

Our bean table! 

Reading Area! 

Teacher desk and other tables! 

During our first week, I had the students do a coat of arms to get to know them. I did one as well; in the first box the students put the school they go to, the second the students wrote who they live with, the third was their favorite animal, the fourth what they want to be when they grow up, the fifth what their favorite school subject was and lastly their favorite shape! 

When the students finished their coat of arms, I made a bulletin board! My first completely on my own!!!! I went off of the popcorn theme and did a movie type theme! 

Special education is already full of acronyms: IEP, LI, CI, EI, FAPE, LRE and the list could go on and on. Now I have to add on military acronyms; PCS (permanent change of station), DoDEA (department of defense education association) and the list goes on. I think that I have done well so far getting to know all of them! I have already learned and experienced so much in just these short 3 weeks! 

Mittel Mosel: 

This weekend Kristen and I went to a wine fest with the middle school counselor, Whitney, and her friend Kristen! They were so nice and sweet! The town could NOT have been any cuter!

We watched a parade that went on for over 2 hours and they gave free wine out during the parade! 

                                                          How cool is this!? 

With the Luck of the Irish ♣

A weekend in Dublin was just what we needed. After a day of school, we grabbed our bags and headed to the train station. After getting a ticket to a cancelled train, watching the doors shut on another one, finally catching a train and hustling to catch the plane, we made it!!!  We hopped on the plane with so much excitement!






                                                                             

Staying in a hostel was nothing like I expected. It was very strange sleeping in a room with 6 other people who barely spoke English, but it was an adventure. Kristen and I slept across the room from each  other...luckily I was on the bottom bunk! 

DAY 1: 

We were able to join a free walking tour from our hostel that showed us a bunch of different places to go in Dublin that I may have not seen otherwise. We saw the Dublin castle, a couple cathedrals, Trinity College, Temple bar and few different parks. 

A lot of castle was rebuilt when the British took over.  During our tour, the tour guide explained that this tower is the only part of the original castle still standing. The rest of the castles looks like British architecture.  This tower held prisoners. 

This is the garden outside the castle. Written in grass it says WELCOME in Celtic. 

Dublin Cathedral! 

Trinity College.  I could not imagine going to a college where there were just as many, if not more tourists, walking around as there was students! 

  

 

And one of my favorite parts, you guessed it, SHOPPING! Grafton Street has to be one the most fun and entertaining shopping streets in the word! There's not only high end shops, but street performers who beat-boxed, little girls Irish dancing and even the occasional statue person. 

DAY 2: 

We woke up and went straight to the Guinness Storehouse! The storehouse was 5 floors and each floor contained something different like the ingredients, the commercials, the barrel making process and the best floor was the top with the 360 degree view of the city!  The most beautiful view ever!  

All the barrels at the Guinness storehouse! 

We were able to actually sit and be "in" a Guinness commercial! 







We then went to a jail and of course did some more shopping! I bought the cutest wool blanket and I can't wait to just snuggle all up in it!! This was a trip I will never forget!!