School-Day 2

Good Afternoon!

This morning we started our day by presenting to a 12th grade class. Both groups gave their presentations and then we broke into small groups for question and answers. Since the kids were older, they asked about more in-depth topics: the death of Osama Bin Laden, Health Care in the US, opinions about President Obama, etc.

We then met for about 30 minutes as a group. We worked on fine tuning our presentations and then the kids related some of their new experiences to me. They were quite animated. Some of the interesting events: Searching for the bathroom light in the dark (most light switches are OUTSIDE of the bathroom door). The door handles do not move. When you leave a house, most houses have a gate that is also locked. Alec and his partner got stuck between a locked house door at a friends and a locked gate to leave the house. This also happened to me the first day. I forgot to buzz the gate open from the house and had to search for my house key.

The windows/glass doors have two settings-one it opens inward and the second direction it tilts inward about 15 degrees. Evan was turning the handle on the glass door when it started coming in his direction. The first time that happens, it is very nerve wracking.

As you can see the kids are happy and accumulating tons of experiences daily. The weather today was overcast and then rained when school was out. Tomorrow should be the same and then by the weekend, it should be quite warm: 85-90 degrees.

I have pictures for today, but my camera battery is charging and those will be added later. I will briefly see the kids tomorrow and then not again until Monday, due to the holiday-Accension.

Enjoy your day.

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Location:Eleonorenschule-Darmstadt

More Pictures

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Location:School

Presentations

Guten Tag!

Today was our first day at school. Both groups presented today and they did a good job. We presented in the 9th Grade class (Group 2-Natalie, Tristan, Alec and Sami) and Group 1 presented twice today-once to 5th graders in their first formal year of English and once to a 6th grade class. I will post pictures.

We started today by being officially welcomed by Mr. Krell, the principal of the school. We met in his office and he spoke in German to the kids. We were there for about 20 minutes. The school will celebrate its 100th birthday in the fall. The building is also 100 years old. It is being renovated and will not be finished for another year. The classes are spread out in 3 buildings so it is confusing and can be noisy due to construction.

All of the kids look like they are adjusting to the time schedule. I heard comments about food: they like the bread and Sami said she ate 6 Bratwurst the other day. The weekend seemed to be fine for everyone and we will now get in our routine.

Tomorrow, we have more presentations and I will update when I get home from school with more pictures!

Bis später!


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Location:School

Pictures from our arrival

One of the parents sent pictures to Ms. Fontaine from our arrival at the Frankfurt Airport. I am posting several of the pictures. Tomorrow I will see the kids during third period when we have our official welcome from the school principal. They will give presentations during 4th and 5th periods. Tuesday, we will also present. This coming weekend is a holiday weekend and there will not be any school on Thursday and Friday.

Our arrival

Guten Tag or maybe good morning is better to say. We survived our 22 hour travel day. It was medlars to say a very LLLLOOONNNNGGG day. Iceland Air was fine. However they charged for food. No one was hungry until we got on the flight toFrankfurt. We did passport control in Iceland and didn't need to go through it in Frankfurt, which was nice. Our families were waiting for us, they had flowers for Emily fold her birthday and we all sung Happy Birthday to Emily. The kids left with their host families and will see them on Friday. Schönes Wochenende! Have a great weekend.


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Location:Darmstadt

Update

Hi Everyone,

We just checked in to the Humphrey Terminal for our flight to Iceland that will arrive from Iceland is slightly delayed. However, they hold all flights in Iceland that are connections.

We ate lunch at Houlihan's and hung out there for about two hours. All is well and we are looking forward to our arrival tomorrow.

Bis später!


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Location:Humphrey Terminal

Volcano Update

It appears that things are calming down, which is good news. The Minneapolis flight departing Tuesday evening is scheduled to land 2 hours late, however the connecting flight to Frankfurt won't depart until 9, so it appears they are coordinating flights to get everyone to their destination. That being said, it would be a food idea to have some extra clothing in your carry on just to be on the safe side.


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Volcanic Activity

Guten Abend Alle!

Good Evening Everyone! As of 6 PM (Iceland Time) on the 23rd, the airport was reopened. The flight that we are on to Frankfurt is scheduled for Tuesday as normal. So I think we will be fine as long as the volcano doesn't erupt before Friday morning. I will see everyone at Delta (on the east side) between 7:15 and 7:30. Don't forget to check in online the night before.

Gute Nacht!