life inside a snow globe

In the last few weeks, I have gained a deep appreciation for those miniature figures on the inside of snow globes. As I sat down to write this, I tried to think of the last time I remember a day without snow. I honestly don't know the answer. It must be over a week. Anyway, busses don't come, there are car accidents, and the city of Freiburg ran out of salt for the roads. But it is beautiful. The continual snowfall assures that things stay pretty white, instead of turning gross and slushy (matschig in German...sounds like mud-jig). But it's warm enough that the accumulation at lower elevations is still pretty minimal. I will be honest, I feel like this is the absolute best-case scenario for January/Februray, and I will take it!

I spent last weekend with Thomas and his family in the Black Forest and not only was it lovely, cozy, and packed with about 2-3 feet of snow, it made me seriously consider buying a cheap pair of snow skis...I'm dying to hit the slopes. Thomas has even just about talked me into taking up Snowboarding! (something I have been wanting to try again for quite some time now) Furthermore, I gained a renewed appreciation for the fact that I do not have to shovel my own sidewalk/driveway.

I am sure you all will be happy to hear that I did in fact survive the exam phase of my semester. I had an oral exam for a film class that I passed and a Spanish exam, for which I will recieve my grade on Thursday. Now I am on to preparing to teach a 3 day unit on "Free Time Culture" in a 9th grade class in a few weeks as well as researching and writing 3 papers all due at the beginning of March. Updates to follow. (and I would be overjoyed to hear your suggestions as to what I should cover in that three day unit!)

For now, I am off to the store in search of dinner and soap. I love and miss you all. ~love~

grad-school survival

I have reached that wonderful season in which my to-do list seems to do nothing but grow... as soon as I feel prepred to cross off one task, my eyes scan to the bottom as that horrible feeling in my gut brings to my attention that the list has in fact grown at least three or four tasks in the interim. Such is the life of a student. Actually, scratch that, such is life!

A few things that I have accomplished since returning to the unusally snowy land of Germany:

-Moved. You may now address all of your fan mail to me at:

Alte Eppelheimer Str. 30

69115 Heidelberg GERMANY

(alright, to be honest, as a rather erratic blogger, I don't really expect any fan mail...but please write me anyway...an empty mailbox is such a lonely thing!)

-Researched, wrote and gave a presentation on conceptions of time for the unemployed. This, in spite of a sudden case of the stomach flu (or food poisioning, in the humble opinion of my mother) and the fact that power point decided to eat my presentation the day before I presented. I cried. But I got an A (ok, a 1.3) to be precise. (If you really care, let me know and I will explain what I understand of the German grading system. Unless I hear from you, I will assume that your life is complete without understanding this rather complex system...as it should be)

-Begun studying for (the quickly approaching) Spanish test (which I am no where near ready for) Alright, here is the honest truth...you all think I'm great at langages. The fact is, I am not. I struggled very hard to learn German, and still struggle with grammar and especially with writing. Spanish is kind of getting the better of me. I keep hoping that I will get to a point where I feel like it clicks, but I haven't. At this point, I really just want to survive the test. I am, in fact, totally intimidated by the fact that I need to "learn" Spanish by my third semester of grad school. Here's hoping!

Now on to a few things I have yet to accomplish...

- Learn Spanish. I say that only slightly facetiously. I seriously have a lot of studying to do.

- Choose topic(s) and begin/continue research for various essays and a huge paper that I will be writing in the coming month(s). I am intimidated by all of this writing in German...which is why it is good that I do fairly well verbally in presentations and such...its all just sandbagging.

- Find a job. I have to figure out how to start making some money. I hate money. Maybe I will get a lovely letter and/or email at the end of March saying "Dear Ms. Jonas, you are fabulous and wonderful and we'd like to pay you for being just that...so you just keep studying and learning, and we will give you a nice, fat scholarship to help you sleep better at night. Love DAAD" I mean, its possible...I can't be the most unlikely candidate in that pool of applicants, right?!

Now, lest you all think that I'm miserable under this hefty to-do list...don't you fret. First of all, this is what I signed up for. Second of all, I have a little flair for the dramatic (I get that from Hannah) Its a lot, and its overwhelming, but it will get done. If it doesn't get done, life will still move on. Thirdly, I still take time to cook and eat and sleep and see friends and go to the movies...it can't be THAT bad! Finally, I have the greatest friends, family and professors in the world. Both in Heidelberg and in Colorado (and a lot of other places as well) I have incredible cheerleaders who keep me going (and more importantly, keep me laughing...key at this time of year, in this dark weather) Thank you all! ~love~

its the most wonderful time

to catch up on my blog! For your viewing pleasure, I now present a potpourri of photos from the last month or so...

show me your snow face! on a weekend trip to see T's family and celebrate his mother's birthday, we had a great snowy hike up a ski hill. Chilly and foggy, but lots of fun. Snow is a rarity in Heidelberg and Karlsruhe, so I was glad to have a chance to traipse through the snow in the black forest.

we made a great new friend

And speaking of friends, an old Gordon friend got stuck with a 23 hour layover in Frankfurt, which prompted me to take a little trip up that direction to help the long 23 hours until her flight to visit her fiance go a little faster. We survivied the rain and cold and enjoyed a stroll through a Frankfurt flea market, visited the Cathedral and old city, made some new friends at dinner, and tracked down Frankenstein square. A good time was had by all.

Frankfurt

~love~

Update

For those of you who are keeping score, I finally finally finally found a lovely apartment in Heidelberg!! No more daily long train rides, no more searching the newspaper and internet, because I am sub-letting a fully furnished room right near the main train station in Heidelberg! Pictures to come!! Thank you for all of your love, prayers and encouragement...now come visit me! (just kidding ... well, not really) ~love~

catchup

As we all knew would happen, I am back to the status quo of not being very good about updating my blog...sorry about that! Here is a quick recap of a few things I've been wanting to post on here:

20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to go to Berlin for this momentous milestone which caused the country and the world to step back and memorialize the wonder of a bloodless revolution. We had the opportunity to take a closer, more purposeful look at how far Germany and the world has come in the last 20 years, as well as how far we have to go, and I was blessed to be here to engage in dialogue and kultural observation. I did have the privilege of hearing a scholar from the University of Berlin speak on the subject. One of the things that he focused on, which I haven't read or heard much about, was the critical role of the church in organizing and supporting protesters in the DDR. Afterward, a woman from the former DDR affirmed the fact that she and the other protesters would meet in the church before demonstrating every Thursday, where the pastor would encourage them with a short sermon, emphasize the importance of non-violence, and then they would light candles and go out to demonstrate. I thought this was an interesting point that is often overlooked in histories of this time.

Alright, honestly, I can't think of the other things I wanted to post. There will be more to come as soon as I load pictures onto my computer. I have some great snow pictures as well as a little documentation of a fun day in Frankfurt! I miss you all ~love~

I love my hood

Graffiti sometimes cracks me up. I love my hood. So much that I am willing to deface public property to declare it. Thats dedication. This is sort of like the graffiti at the university of education in Karlsruhe, where I studied last year. That particular gem reads "love children". Amusing, I know.

In all seriousness, though. I do love my hood. Except for the cold. And the dark. But seriously, it's lovely here. I have a good balance of cultures in my life at the moment. My university is the oldest in Germany, so I get a good dose of history and culture (and tourists) at the university and in historic old Heidelberg. On the other hand, when I need a dose of just folks, I can go to Karlsruhe, where I don't run into American and Japanese tourists every 10 minutes, where every other building isn't a UNESCO cultural heritage site, and grocery shopping on a budget works.

In other news, I am in full school mode...reading, reading, giving presentations, reading more. This week I had the luxury of being assigned an article in English to read. That was pretty great. I can't believe how fast time seems to pass as soon as "school mode" kicks in. I actually think that it goes faster in Germany since classes are only held once a week. Anyway, classes are, with one exception, extremely interesting and univeristy life here never ceases to amuse and surprise me. (That is unfortunately the only article that I found on the subject that is in English...but yes, a Lecture hall has been taken over and is being occupied by students in a show of protest and solidarity with the university of Vienna) Don't worry, its not dangerous! But here are some pictures to help illustrate. Enjoy! ~love~

Hannah's House

While Hannah was here, she took to calling the castle in Karlsruhe her home. Well, a few weeks ago, I (finally!) visited the museum that is in the castle. First of all, this museum is HUGE. I think we spent at least 4 hours in there, and definitely skipped some stuff. It goes through a lot of history of the region as well as ancient through modern history of Europe. Mummies? got it. Roman armor and coins? check. Posters from the student movement in the 60s? yep. Paintings and church artifacts? you bet. Above is a picture of the queen's crown and gown from the time that Karlsruhe was an independent "dukedom" (or something similar...the German system was different than the British and I don't honestly know how everything translates) I thought it was cool to get to see the "crowned jewels" of Baden! Hope you enjoy the picture! (for the real life experience, just come on over!) ~love~