Munich Day 2

Too tired to post todays super fun Munich pictures on here AND Facebook, so click here and you can see Day 2 pictures before I put them on here within a few days.

Having a blast with my Rachel!!! Tomorrow we go to her school and do a tour of the city before I had back to Bratislava.

lovelove.

Munich Day 1!

Arrived in Munich yesterday! And after hugging each other 50 times and squealing as loud as we could, I was straight away taken to meet Rachels boyfriend, Niki, and their other friends at a traditional Bavarian restaurant in Munich. OH MAN they really do wear lederhosen here and its so cute! Had a lovely time with everyone, and must say being already adjusted to the time change, being able to just walk off the flight and go out with your luggage in tow, and everything of that sort was SO lovely. Its just like I live here and its not a big deal, so nice! And seeing Rachel was so refreshing to my heart that misses "real" friends who truly KNOW you and its just effortless to spend time with them. Its been just lovely.

Then today Rachel took me around the city on a walking/shopping/eating tour of sorts. Of course we chose the literal coldest day of the year to do so, but hey, more excuses to stop in places and shop or buy food and snuggle. I would love to write more, but its 3am and I am already SO tired! But here are some pictures that can do the talking for me!

Love from MUNICH!

The Bavarian restaurant we went to right from the airport. Goldie, our professional hockey player friend, insisted on including the nice picture in the background. Look how happy we are to be together! I love this one!


Then today began looking like this out my window, ie its COLD...

In the main plaza which is just GORGEOUS...

(I just thought she was so cute!)

Then it was time to eat some stuffed olives and browse the outdoor market...

We walked and talked...

Until we got cold and stopped for some treats...

Stopped by a beautiful church just randomly in the middle of the street...

Then Rachel took me to the COOLEST store with all these colorful kitschy things organized by color. 

I was in heaven...

 Finally it was time for dinner, more beer, and lovely times...

Ok, I know its blurry, but I still liked it. 

 

Two more wonderful days with my Rachel! Enjoying and treasuring EVERY moment.

Love from Munich!

Images From Today...

To go along with the human body, we learned about our 5 senses today. Miss Esther mixed yummy smelling things with paint and we used our hands to make a big poster. It smelled like coffee, chocolate, and jasmin. The kids had paint on their noses from smelling their hands...and of course they kept trying to eat it. 

 Snippets...

Today it snowed again all day, but was rather warm for snow so it was just another perfect day!

Here is my walk up to school every morning...

The cute little town of Devin where the school is at. Just snapped this waiting for the bus...

**Snowy Days**

Oh friends, I got to walk to work in the snow early this morning and it was so magical! Then it just snowed and snowed all day! I loved being all warm and snuggly inside while watching the snow fall all day outside our big classroom windows. It is just BEAUTIFUL!

But the kids didn't want to go play outside because they were really busy building a lego house...plus we were thankful we didn't have to dress them for the outdoors for once...you should have seen then coming in this morning!!! If you thought they were puffy and waddling before, you have NOTHING on snow suits! OMG the cutest thing EVER. I remember I HATED wearing those things...so restricting and you couldn't strip down once you were somewhere warm so you were just perpetually hot. And then when you would play out in the snow and it would get in your pants or sleeves it was just cold and wet and stuck in there because your mittens or fingers couldn't properly get it out. It was awful. BUT SO CUTE!

Our theme this week is more of the Human Body, so I reviewed the body parts with them yesterday and had them paint a picture of themselves. Then today I taught them about 4 of our organs and had them color, cut, and glue them to their bodies from yesterday. I made this lesson and activity up myself! My old third grade class used to call me "Super Teacher!" and I suppose this could now be applied after you witness the following...

And oh man, so stinkin cute...

And this is me from just awhile ago waiting at the bus stop after work. If you look closely its STILL snowing!

We have been studying the letter N for the last 2 weeks, this is my new letter focus board. But I need to make a proper sign for the top and a border. I am thinking "Our Lovely Letter" or "Lovely Letters" or something. I just grab whatever we're done using from the lessons or what I can find around and stick it up there. Soon we will have a color printer which will make things even MORE awesome!

Why is Miss Esther an awesome teacher? Because today we learned that the letter N is also for NECKTIE and then we made these!!! I dont even have curriculum and my class is just so awesome!!!

Kindergarten Continues+My First Slovak Snow!

Things with Kinder are still going great, we've just been renamed the British way as "The Early Years" and the elementary is now called "Primary School". We are all in LOVE with the new management... they are finding ways to give us more money, reorganize things so they are more efficient, cut annoying things and paperwork that serve no purpose, and are just making our school awesome. I feel so proud to be a part of it, its going to be amazing. 

Here are some pictures from last Thursday and Friday when I accidentally left my camera at the school for the weekend. We are learning about hibernating animals so we made bears in caves and then bear prints like they are in snow...

And today we painted our bodies because we are also learning about the body parts. Tomorrow we will learn about the organs and color, cut, and glue them to the little people we made. I might have them add clothes out of cloth too. Oh...I came up with these lessons myself! Aren't you proud? I love what I do!

And then it SNOWED last night! I couldn't capture it snowing last night because it was too dark, but everything was even more beautiful this morning! 

 The kids made this and wanted to take it inside, hehe

Bird feeders we made last week! I had to clean the snow out of it so they could actually get to the seeds today! Oh and by the way, the seeds are stuck together with this stuff thats like actual PORK FAT that the teacher I work with said the locals will spread on crackers with salt and eat it in the winter because they think its like extra fat to keep you warm. Sometimes old ladies will put it on their skin?! Our entire class room STUNK the rest of the day. I clearly was not in charge of this project. 

I have a bunch of cute ones of the kids in the snow and climbing all over me when we were playing a game last week too, let me know if you want to see them and Ill send them privately.

Out in Bratislava...

Went out with teacher friends last night to an Irish pub which oddly felt like home. 

Had such a lovely time!

Flat Update

Sooooo I was talking to our new director last night who was in shock that we lived so far away from the city center, its 20min by bus, but we have a little town of sorts around us with grocery stores, bars, a gym, cafe, nice restaurant, etc. I told him that when I came I asked to be in the city center and our HR girl (who recently got let go, ahem) said that either I could live alone not in the city center, or where I am now with friends but also not in the city center. So I asked him if thats true, and he said absolutely not. That I could totally live in the city center somewhere and to just ask the receptionist to find something for me. So I am thinking of moving...

I would have to live alone, which seemed unappealing at first, but now that I know the city better and am much more independent then I was even when I first told them where I wanted to live a few months ago, and have seen the other apartments that are all brand new inside and SUPER nice...it is sounding more and more awesome. Plus, after a long ass day I find I dont always want to hang out with anyone. A lot of nights I just hit the gym, make dinner, and sit in my room and work more or talk to friends online. I would probably get an apartment much more modern and would be able to walk and be at any amount of cafes, restaurants, malls, and cultural places. I think I'd get to meet cool new people too. So maybe Ill ask about it on Monday. Even though I know my parents are freaking out right now about the idea of me living alone, haha. But this is seriously the safest city I have been to in all of my travels, I feel safer here then even Paris or Rome. 

Here are some photos of the progress on my flat so far...

This table and chairs are probably my favorite things we have. They are so cute! I added the flower and we are going to get a cute new table cloth for it too.  

Most days the back of our kitchen looks like this. It sucks. We want to get curtains to cover it with. 

My room in progress. I just need a new duvet/sheet set, curtains, and a mirror. 

I'd like to get something to go under the strings of post cards too. Hoping to find a lovely poster of sorts in Vienna when I get the chance to go. 

But now I am wondering if I should even bother redecorating and just move to a new place thats already cute and modern? hmm...

But for now I HATE so many aspects of my room that its driving me crazy! I miss my pretty stuff at home I've collected over the years. This is why I want it to be awesome when I get back to my room here each night so I like it here and don't just miss home half the time.

Thoughts?

Love from Slovakia!

Finally the Weekend

Oh, another LONG week with crazy Kindergarteners. I really do love my job, but it is exhausting. And now I remember why I was ok with doing something else awhile before doing this. But is a blast, and even though planning and prep takes up some of my free time in the evenings and weekends...I just love it!

They were really testing me in the afternoons, so Miss Esther had to be a little meaner then usual at times. We have found it difficult to do mostly positive reinforcement with the kids because they don't understand very much English. They don't understand "We walk in the classroom please"...but they DO understand "DONT RUN INSIDE!" or even better with my really low English learners we do "RUNNING. IN CLASSROOM. NO" each with a corresponding hand motion- haha. But I must say, understanding what they are trying to communicate and communicating back to them with hand motions is becoming normal for me now. I have to make sure and "turn it off" when the day is over actually! I have picked up some of what they say a lot...

"nevium" is "I dont know" which is what one of little boys always says because he'll jabber off in Slovak to me EVERYDAY and Ill tell him, "darling, you have to try in English, you know I don't understand" and he'll just shrug his shoulders and say "okkkk nevium" and walk away. 

Theres the German girls who always say, "Was machst Du?" which as asking me what I am doing...but we taught them how to say it in English now so they are trying and its pretty stinkin cute" "Mish Esther, wash you doing?"

I implemented sticker charts for each week now, its a "caught doing good" method that is more tangible for them then just the positive words...that they don't understand. They are suddenly much better at brushing teeth, cleaning up, raising their hand, and getting ready to go outside then ever before-hehe. We still have work to do...I can not send them to the next grade level without them being able to get dressed to go outside by themselves at least!

Speaking of which...yesterday we were going outside and all the children had already gone and I was left with the 2 stragglers. I finally had both of them dressed when a little guy just looks up at me and says, "Miss Esther. Toilet.". I just covered my face with my hands and started laughing in an annoyed way...he just kept saying, "me sorry! me sorry!". So off the coat and snow pants, regular pants, and tights went, and he went to the toilet. It was pretty funny. We always make them go before, but there are always 1-2 who say "I dont have to go" and then this happens! Too funny. 

Another highlight of the week was when one of my favorite little girls (a German speaking one of course) rattles off to me in German during play time and then pulls me over to a little set up she had in the kitchen play area (they build a sort of house everyday, and designate who is Momma and who is Poppa, dress all the babies up and drag some boys to play with them too...omg you would die!!). She has this whole doctor kit set up and I see what we are going to do so I pretend to be coughing and sick, and she gives me shots and puts on band aids and talks to me in German more...and we just went on like this for 10 minutes. IT WAS SO CUTE!!! I try and do prep work during their play times so I dont have to work during my free time, but I also try and balance it out with actually playing with them a few times a week. Its all constructive play and well...its the best part of my "job".  So let me know if you want to come help drag all the classroom chairs over to the opposite corner, get dressed up, grab a baby, and play house anytime soon. Because every morning and afternoon- my class is the place to be, hehe.

I have some cute pictures from the last few days but I left my camera at school accidentally, so you will have to wait until Monday.

Tonight we are going into the city to either go to an underground tea room which is a converted bunker, or to a cool bar...I am hoping to convince the troops to take us somewhere where there is live music or dancing.

SO EXCITED for Munich next week and an extra day off!!! Now trying to figure out where I want to go for our week off in February...

Winter Time!

Our January theme is: Winter. 

Here are some cute projects I've come up with to have my class do!

We are learning about winter sports, like ice skating. Its so cute because most of them can never remember the word in English. 

And since we are also working on parts of the body I had us make these little coat people.

Waiting for the bus today by the school...

My roomies.

You always know where I am when I wear this hat.