It Just Takes Some Time

Alright here it is. This week can only be described as crazy busy. Monday I drove M to her Kita for the first time. J didn't start school until Wednesday, so I took him to his Hort. For those of you wondering, Kitas are like a daycare system for children not old enough to go to school. The Hort is a sort of afterschool daycare for the school children. Then I went to get my food handler's permit sort of thing, which just required me to watch this 20 minute video about handwashing and not going to work when you're sick. It was actually kind of funny to watch, especially since it was all in German. We also ran a bunch of errands Monday, but I'm having memory issues (probably from the jetlag) and I seriously cannot remember much of that day.

Tuesday I rode the S-Bahn and U-Bahn by myself for the first time! I met up with my contact from the Au Pair agency who went with me to the Auslaenderbehoerde to get my work visa. We already knew that my visa had been approved and they really just needed to hand it over. Apparently though, the people there don't mind a little sweet talking to help make sure things go smoothly. Luckily, Frau Krueger (from the agency) knew this and brought along a big can of chocolates for the lady, which ensured that I received my visa. And now I am able to work legally in Germany! Woo! After this whole experience (which I am told took much less time than usual, only about half an hour), I took the S-Bahn back to Zehlendorf, the suburb where I live. I decided to be brave and explored for awhile on my own. I successfully bought a few different things that I needed, including a big jar of Nutella! I went to the bank to use the ATM and I even went into a bakery and ordered another Pfannkuchen, since I'd been craving another one since New Year's Eve. I also bought lunch at a little street restaurant thing. I ordered a currywurst, which is a fried sausage cut into pieces and covered with a ketchup-like sauce and curry. It was sooo good! I didn't know what to do with my plate though so I kind of sat around and ate slowly like a complete creeper so that I could watch this little old lady and see what she did, lol. Anywhere, after all of this I walked back to my house feeling really awesome and successful. Nothing compares to that feeling of conquering something that seemed so scary at first and being completely independent. That night was also the first night that AM was away, so I made tacos for everyone. Thank goodness tacos are so easy that even I couldn't mess them up!

So Wednesday was my first day working at my Kita. It wasn't bad at all. I got placed with a group of about 9 two year olds. They're fun kids and I think I'm really going to like it there. It's definitely different than the crisis nursery though. It's a lot more laid back for one thing. And it's crazy how all of these kids can switch back and forth so easily between languages!

Yesterday, Thursday, I was scheduled to work at the Kita again. I had to take the bus to get there this time and I was very nearly late. I was at the wrong bus stop to begin with because there are two stops right near my house. I think I've got it down for next time though. After work I was supposed to walk to the nearest U-Bahn station to buy my transportation pass. We've been working on getting my unlimited pass for the year and we've had to go back and forth several times with different forms and such. Of course it was pouring rain yesterday and I was completely soaked by the time I walked the ten minutes to the station. My pants, my shoes, my purse, everything was wet. And I tried so hard to talk to the lady. She was nice and spoke slowly for me, but I just wasn't getting why she kept saying no. So I didn't end up getting the pass and I felt completely defeated. It sucked, but at least I used a little bit of German. I went back later that night with A, my host father, and it turns out that the particular person who was there that night didn't think I qualified for the discount on the pass, which is why she wouldn't give it to me. A bought me a monthly pass though so now I can finally start to go out and meet some people and see some places. I'm really glad about that because I am starting to get kind of lonely hanging out in my apartment all of the time.

I've started trying to get into language classes. There have been a lot of complications with everyone being on holiday for the New Year and everything. But I've got it figured out that I'm going to try out this morning class in a nearby area called Kleinmachnow on the 16th and if that one turns out to be too easy then I'm going to take the placement test at the Volkshochschule and hopefully start an evening class sometime in February. Until then I'm going to work on teaching myself. I find that I can usually get the gist of what people are saying. I'm having an incredibly hard time speaking though.

I've also been given the names of several Au Pairs in the area so I'm hopefully going to start meeting some people soon. I think I'm going to lunch with a girl nearby on Sunday, so wish me luck!

And my final big news is that I bought a ticket to Tokyo!! I will be going to see Ben June 22nd through July 4th. I'm super stoked to go to a real Ramen shop and to see a Neko Cafe!

Oh, and AM offered me a little bit of extra work doing some website upkeep and sending emails and such for a group she works with called FEPSAC. It's kind of nice to be doing some computer work again and it will be even better to have a bit of extra money!

I'll try to keep up with posting more often. With this headache I've had all week though it's just kind of difficult not to fall into bed at the first possible moment every night. I think things will be getting easier pretty soon though as I start to get a routine worked out.

I'd like to leave you with two links to check out. The first is a video by Jimmy Eat World for a song called The Middle. My iPod knows what I need better than I do and this song came on while I was coming home from the failed attempt to buy a bus pass. The lyrics were perfect and helped me to feel a lot better. Check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKsxPW6i3pM or just read the lyrics here http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/the-middle-lyrics-jimmy-eat-world/fda58ed99c53970748256ba300203ecc.

The second thing I wanted to show was this German children's book I came across in M's room. I was reading it and understood just enough to realize that it was really gruesome. A said it was an old book written by some German psychologist in the 1800's to teach kids what will happen if they don't behave. Apparently it's also been banned recently. It's called Der Struwwelpeter. You can read it in English at http://konkykru.com/e.hoffmann.html.