How is it June?

I'm not cut out for blogging, sorry.

Time is running ungodly fast these days. I am down to 2 weeks left in Brandenburg and 1 month left in Europe. And I have to say, that I will miss it. Not every aspect or every moment, but who really loves every single moment of their lives anyway?

My students can't believe the time has passed so quickly either. They keep asking me if I can stay, but I always say, no, my program is over. I have to go home. The 5th graders are in denial and the 7th graders decided that they would make each person in the class give 5 euros to buy me a plane ticket back (5 euros x 28 students= 140 euro) NOT enough for a transatlantic flight, but the thought is very cute. Also the English teachers seem to have decided that they like me a lot. Not enough to let me teach lessons, but they like me an awful lot as a person, which is pretty cool. They're just really into following their textbooks.

We've been trying to take advantage of the last weeks here as much as we can. The weather is being uncooperative again and has gotten chilly and rainy. It does not feel like June.

I took a trip to Wurzburg again to see the Meissners (who lived in BG for a year) and also to meet with my Dad. He came back to Brandenburg with me for a few days and we explored Brandenburg, Berlin, and Potsdam. Considering the last time he was in Berlin was in 1990 right after the wall fell, there was a lot to see!

I also traveled to Strasbourg, France where Centre has one of their study abroad programs. This means that I have heard tons of my friends talk about Strasbourg nonstop, so I decided it was time to investigate for myself. This was also motivated because my German professor/advisor, his wife, and their 3 year old daughter are the Centre in Strasbourg people this year. So off I went to visit Strasbourg. It's a really pretty town with all sorts of cool half-timbered buildings. Ian and I also visited the EU buildings which are very impressive. I promise I'll add pictures to Facebook and Picasa soon.

In Berlin we've seen several shows recently. The Producers is playing at Admiralspalast for 2 months. If you aren't familiar with this show, it makes blatant fun of Germans and includes a fanciful song called "Springtime for Hitler". Needless to say, we weren't sure how this would go over with a German audience (and translated into German). Overall, people were laughing. There were some awkward moments when the swastika was first shown, as people were not sure if they should laugh. It was a very interesting experience to see it in Germany.
We also saw the ballet of Dornröschen or Sleeping Beauty by the Berlin Staatsballet. It was very traditional ballet and just a liiiiiittle too long for me. I was intrigued until the same fairies had the same soloists for like the 5th time. Then Erica and I decided to also see Schneewittchen or Snow White by the same company. We figured it would be the same kinda thing, but oh were we wrong! It was very modern and had the evil stepmother dressed somewhat as a dominatrix type, the dwarves climbed rock walls and danced on flying equipment, there were naked people onstage and most people were wearing very little clothing. Oddest interpretation of a fairy tale that I've ever seen!

Now I'm trying to figure out who all this borrowed stuff belongs to and how to get everything that is mine into 2 suitcases. I'm traveling for 2 weeks after I leave Brandenburg. First to Switzerland and then to Malta. Love and well wishes in this time of stress and goodbyes (which I hate) are much appreciated.