Surreptitious Suppositions, or My Parents Will Find this Post Familiar...

I just finished watching a number of my shows here in Starbucks and am very happy they have all returned at last! Unfortunately, internet wasn't installed on Monday because I needed a key to let in the worker to another room of a different building. Really annoying and frustrating, but I think I'm actually going to wait on getting internet until November as I just don't have the money and I'd rather eat than be able to go online :)

I had a very successful meeting with two future students of my technical English classes yesterday with my boss. This is the first time the two classes are being offered, so the course has to be made from scratch, or rather I have to make the class material from scratch! But I wanted to get input from the student representatives, to incorporate their input as to what they hope to gain from the class, and I now have a much more concrete idea of where I'm going to take the classes. Here are the two course descriptions I had to summarize in only 3 short lines><

English Study Skills for Technology Students Level 2, Course Description:

Intensive English course designed for technology students with the intent to study abroad in an English-speaking country. Course topics include university life in- and outside the classroom, higher academic writing and presenting, CV and cover letter production, and cultural insights into life abroad. 

English for Technology Students Level 2, Course Description:

Highly intensive English course focused on academic and professional written and oratory skills. Students will learn to produce essays and presentations in English at an intermediate to advanced level. A keen emphasis on technological terminology and coherent expression of technological knowledge in a professional setting defines the forefront of this course. 

I did warn the two students that the English for Technology Students (not the Study Skills course) would be incredibly rigorous and that I am expecting all the students to put in a lot of time, work, and energy into the class, just as I will. They seemed quite receptive to the ideas I had about the topics I hope to cover and offered a couple more ideas themselves. Unfortunately, just like in Japan, they simply just said, "Yeah, that sounds good." to a lot of what I said without actually brainstorming themselves. I plan on passing out a type of questionnaire at the beginning of the first lesson where students can then list specifically topics they'd like to have incorporated into the lessons. I think by announcing that they really have an incredibly large say in the direction of the class since it's so new, the students will be more motivated to provide suggestions. We shall see, though!

I'm very happy that September is slowly coming to an end as that means work and classes are coming up shortly. While I still have a tremendous amount of work to do in preparation, I have 3 weeks to complete all the prep work so I'm not too worried. I may actually end up having to teach a 3rd English for Technology Students course depending on the demand from students, which, in turn, hopefully means higher pay. But, from what I gathered in the meeting yesterday, the Language Center wants to try to stay away from the possibility of adding to my work load. Since it'd be another iteration of the same class, I wouldn't really mind having to take on another course load, though it would add 3 hours/week of actual teaching time. It'd at least keep me busy which is honestly something I'm looking forward to greatly at the moment. 

I'm planning on going to the university everyday, Monday-Friday, starting the first week of October to just kind of create a more habitual schedule work-wise. Plus, it allows me to get more into the flow of things and to commit a large amount of time in producing my lesson plans. All of the course reference guides - books actually - from which I hope to draw a lot of information for technical English terminology and my general English material is at the university anyway, so there's no reason why I shouldn't be there. Otherwise, though, I don't have any kind of professional obligation to physically be at the university outside of my teaching hours, even during the semester, which is quite nice actually. I don't know if I told you, but Mondays I teach 14:15-19:45, Tuesdays 16:15-19:45, Wednesdays 16:15-17:45, and Thursdays 10:15-11:45 (those are all military times, btw, as I tend to now think of those initially ><). While Mondays are certainly going to be more challenging due to 5.5 hours of teaching, the rest of the week is actually very acceptable; having Fridays completely free is certainly going to be nice as I can dedicate that day toward grading and prepping for the coming week. I'm going to try to have the approach toward work in which I do not do any work on the weekends, period. I will do all the work necessary during the week, but once the weekend has arrived, I will just have to wait until Monday to accomplish it. We'll see if I actually stick to that prospect, but it's really a "life philosophy" I'd like to commit to, so as to be able to create some semblance of life outside of work. 

I must say that I, unfortunately, have ended up with some irritating and less than admirable neighbors. While the area I live in is very nice, the same area, coincidentally, as my boss, my neighbors are anything but kind. I've tried on multiple occasions to strike up conversations with my immediate neighbors living beside me - both of whom are also American - but they simply refuse to acknowledge my presence. If I ring the doorbell or knock on the door, they don't come; if I greet them in passing, they act as if I'm not there. Similarly, my neighbors across the way are also not only rude but very white-trash, at least the German equivalent: they blast their music (and then yell at you if your music is too loud...oh, hypocrisy), dress and talk the part, and just treat others with a general sense of condescension. I've just learned to steer clear of everyone, and it's been going okay for the most part. Disappointing, as I was hoping there'd be more solidarity among the student residents but I guess not. Thankfully, my work colleagues are all amazingly open, kind, and helpful people, so I know I have that group of people to hang out with. 

Went to the library yesterday and got my quarterly membership registered. Unfortunately, libraries in Germany are kind of miserable and barely mediocre in terms of serves and "goods." They're not really supported locally or by the government, so a lot of the supporting funds have to come from patrons or donations, and what they do have to offer is quite dismal. Still, I went and got a card and took out the first book of a series whose third book I just finished. Thankfully, I did find a number of pamphlets at the library's entrance displaying and advertising various events that are going on throughout the Franken area (kind of the "county" name, I guess you could say, includes Nuremberg, Erlangen, Bamberg, Fuerth, and many other cities). There're a lot of city tours focusing on a variety of topics from Nuremberg architecture, medieval life in Nuremberg, to sightseeing and random historical tours. I'll definitely be partaking in a couple of them in the coming months! Plus, I found a pamphlet for our local planetarium which has a myriad of fascinating topics, not only related to astronomy/astrology, that I really want to go see. We'll have to see how my work schedule looks and how beat I am after a long work day, however! 

Well, it's 16:30 now and I should probably be heading back home soon. Gotta stop by the grocery store and then it's din din time!

Die Berge der Nürnberger Berg sind bergig, or "I Like Using the Word 'Berg' a lot in this Title"

Man, is this post overdue! I had been hoping to post something new for the past while, but had intended to take pictures of my surroundings first to give everyone at home a photographic impression of Nürnberg. However, I noticed that I had forgotten my USB cable in the states, which obviously inhibits me from transferring any pictures from my camera to my computer. So, please be patient until I am able to procure said cable!

I have been quite busy since my move here to Nürnberg, fulfilling a number of bureaucratic obligations such as filling out contracts, applying for a residence and work permit, registering my apartment, getting a new email address and username for school, opening a bank account, familiarizing myself with my surroundings, visiting various sightseeing hot-spots, and so many other things I cannot recall due to their tediousness and my willingness to forget their original purpose. Still, I've accomplished a great number of things and only have the remainder of my residence/work permit to finish, and I can then start to work on planning for my classes during the upcoming semester. 

Speaking of classes, I had a number of meetings with my boss, Kristina, and other colleagues regarding the course material/topics. I am scheduled to teach seven classes this semester, which lasts from October 17th until the beginning of February. I will be teaching four "Technical English" courses, two of which are more of intensive English courses that revolve around mastering academic English, the other two which cover English within a technical field, such as engineering, biomechanics, IT, etc. I really haven't received any further information regarding those four classes, so I can't really divulge the details until I've met with the directors of the respective departments. I will also be teaching two beginner English classes, Vantage English I and II, the latter being a bit more advanced than the prior [hence the II :)] 

These two classes will actually be quite rigorous and intensive, as the students absolutely must pass these in order to successfully graduate...so no pressure on me or the students....I've got a rough idea of how I'm going to approach these two classes, while the material covered in the courses is pre-determined. Since these are intensive English courses, I'm going to treat them as such by beginning the courses with a proficiency test to ascertain the level of my students' English and thereby determine the basis from which the course will develop. I'm then planning on having weekly quizzes as a means for the students, and myself, too, to track their progress and pinpoint which areas still need improvement/review. While that certainly sounds like a lot for the students already, I'm not planning on incorporating their weekly quiz scores into their overall grade, so as to lessen the pressure they're already being placed under. As for the weekly lessons, I have a couple ideas, but haven't really started to develop any definitive plans as of yet. 

The last class I'll be teaching won't take place until the latter half of the semester, but is one that I am greatly looking forward to. The course covers effective and efficient presentation skills in English, and, from what I've heard from my boss and previous course director, most students' presentation skills are severely lacking or non-existent. Thankfully, my rigorous presentation training at CLA and throughout K college have prepared me to teach this course, and I honestly cannot put in words how excited I am to be able to teach this "subject." 

The semester doesn't officially start until October 17th and I don't begin teaching until the 24th, but I obviously have a lot of preparatory work to accomplish in the meantime. I have an orientation seminar this Friday to help improve my teaching skills, and thereafter, the English department has weekly meetings to discuss upcoming and ongoing courses, the direction the department wishes to go in the next semester and academic year, and other various departmental issues. I'm slightly worried about the workload that stands before me, not because I am uncertain as to whether I'll be able to accomplish everything - if K college taught me anything, it was that there are always means to overcome mountains of work - but merely because I'm unaware of the kind of workload that is about to be thrust upon me. I'm certain it'll simply be another matter of adjustment and familiarizing myself with the day-to-day activities within and without the workplace, which I feel I'm quite apt at doing. 

Aside from preparing for work, I've been spending the majority of my time around Nürnberg, visiting sightseeing places, finding places to purchase items for my apartment, and just walking about aimlessly to merely take in the sights and to discover the nooks and crannies of the city. While I planned to make last weekend a touristic one, unforeseen inclement weather inhibited my tour and successful photography of my surroundings. I instead visited one of the numerous museums here, the National Museum of Germanic History, where I learned about prehistoric and protolithic (Stone Age period) history, as well as European medieval history and culture. The museum was way to big to actually take in all the information in a single day, so I imagine I'll purchase a season pass to allow for more frequent visits. I certainly learned a number of interesting, though most likely useless words (where modern-day conversations are concerned), but still I had a blast traversing the corridors and chambers housing numerous treasures of Europe's and Germany's past. 

I also stumbled upon what is now my absolute favorite store here in Nürnberg, and certainly a place I will without a doubt frequent to no end, namely Ultra Comix. As the name portrays, Ultra Comix boasts a wide collection of national and international comics, but also encompasses a wide range of fantasy books, collectibles, board and card games, painting figures (i.e. Warhammer 40K, Lord of the Rings), and other random paraphernalia related to objects that deter one from facing his current reality, lol. Since money is kind of tight at the moment, I imagine I'll start to create some sort of list of items I hope to own someday or at least something I can look forward to as a kind of reward for a long month's work! There are some amazing figurines of past video game characters that evoke the utmost feeling of nostalgia that I absolutely want to add to my collection - can anyone say Final Fantasy collectibles!?

The apartment is loosing its dungeon-esque feel to it, now that my clothes are strewn throughout the various corners of the room, and the typical look of "Paul's room" has taken over. Just like my wishlist from Ultra Comix has started to grow, I created an itemization of objects by which I wish to define my living space to make my un-humbe abode more satisfactory: I still need a duvet and an actual pillow for my bed which I'm sure will both lead to a more recuperative night's sleep as opposed to its current copacetic condition. The biggest item on my list, aside from those two "mandatory" objects, is a new desk where I can toil away and burn the midnight oil whilst grading papers and laughing at the inevitable mistakes my students are bound to make. And when I say I want a new desk, I mean a mother of a desk - one that stretches half the length of my room; I don't know why I have such a inclination towards a giant desk, especially since it would take up the little space I have, but I've always wanted a giant work space and I believe said desk would be able to fulfill this desire. 

Otherwise, I hope to procure more shelving space for my inevitable book collection, whether it be for teaching or self-study purposes. I imagine anyone reading this is well aware of my propensity to accumulate tons (as is the unit of measurement, not the synonym for 'a lot' lol) in books, ranging from academic to simply obscure topics. Lastly, I absolutely must buy a couple rugs for my apartment as I currently have laminate flooring which gets dirty in a heartbeat and is not that comfortable to sit upon. Still, these are all long-term investments, and I look forward to individualizing my apartment in time!

Other than walking for miles a day - figured out it's a 3.6 mile trip from my apartment to the main train station and back - I seem to by whiling away the time by partaking in inadvertent voyeurism, listening to music, and reading my new book, "Die Rache der Zwerge", or "Revenge of the Dwarves" which is truly so captivating, I have to literally throw the book away from me to stop reading it. 

I've taken it upon myself to conduct a personal intensive German course during which I am going to test out various new learning techniques. Unfortunately, my German has suffered a butchering since my last visit and even since I had to speak it at college, though I can still communicate well enough to engage in day-to-day activities with the "locals." Still, I do yearn for the ability to express myself as fluently and articulately as I once was able to, and the only way I'm going to do that is through rigorous studying! The largest impediment I see to actually re-mastering German is the fact that my days will be primarily defined by the English language, not only because of professional obligations, but also because it seems that none of my colleagues speak German to each other unless outside of the department. Therefore, I'll have to make it a personal point to delve into extra-curricular activities with natives to ensure a requisite use of the language. It would certainly be a travesty to live here in Germany and still be inarticulate after a year's residence. I think if I really put my mind to it, though, and try to immerse myself as much as possible in the culture, surroundings, and people, that improvement of my German skills will be much more natural. Time will tell....

I imagine the next couple of weeks are going to start to be more hectic, with my schedule filling up with more professional obligations and lesson planning; it is something that I am looking forward to incredibly at the moment, though I am sure I will yearn for some sort of respite after the semester and classes start. Until then, though, I plan on enjoying the remainder of my time off, reading, playing vintage video games on my lame-o computer that can only handle 16-bit graphics, and taking mindless promenades throughout and around the city. Thank goodness the temperature has gone down to an acceptable and welcomed 13 degrees Celsius...at least for now....

Final Sentence of Paragraph 31, Beginning of Chapter 9: Working in Germany

A stable internet connection has been re-established and I am back in Waldshut now with Grace and Basti for another week to relax a bit and prepare ever-so slightly for my move to Nuremberg. As I posted on the book of faces, I finally got a job at Friedrichs-Alexander University as a full-time teacher starting October 1st! I'm going to be teaching two classes this semester, the first of which is a technical English course of whose subject matter I'm not quite aware as of yet. The second class will be an intensive English course for about four weeks that will take place near the end of the semester. The course syllabus from the department hasn't been created yet, hence why I'm still unsure as to what the course will entail, but I have to return to the university on the 19th when I'll be enlightened upon what I need to be teaching my future students.

I thankfully found an apartment *relatively* easily, and it was actually quite coincidental that I found the one I did. I had previously been looking at sites online to no avail, but found an advertisement on-campus listing a variety of apartments for rent. Upon calling one of the numbers listed, I was informed that there were certain apartments in the Nuremberg area that were designated for teachers, apprentices, and students, and were also listed at a discount to those candidates. So, I went and saw the apartment on Thursday of last week, and while it's nothing grandiose, it certainly fulfills my needs for an apartment. It's a pretty small, one-room apartment, with kitchenette and my own bathroom. I think it's about 17 square meters - no idea what that would be in feet - but it's a bit larger than the apartment that I had in Japan. Despite its smaller size, I am thrilled to be able to have my own apartment and to be able to be living in a boisterous and bustling city. The commute to Erlangen is only about 15-20 minutes which is great, too. In case people don't know where either Erlangen or Nuremberg are, Nuremberg is ~12 miles south of Erlangen, both of which are north of Munich by a bit. The climate seems to be similar to Traverse City in that it can certainly get warm, but it generally stays a bit cooler than most other areas. Unfortunately, as is the case in most German cities, snow isn't very commonplace during winter which will certainly be missed but as long as it's cold and dreary, I'll be happy!

I am very much looking forward to exploring and researching the various facets of Nuremberg, which will be an endeavor in and of itself, considering the size of the city. I am absolutely going to have to make the occasional trek to the local clubs and create some new memories of getting inebriated and dancing the night away! I must say, I was first against the thought of living in a larger city because of the general overwhelming feeling of being drowned in the masses. However, once I actually was walking around Nuremberg, trying to locate my new residence, I couldn't help but think, "Man, it is going to be awesome living here!" There's just so much going on, so much to see and discover, and there's such a large factor of convenience that smaller cities cannot offer, that the requirement to acclimate to larger numbers of people seemed simply inconsequential.

Once I get a bit settled in my surroundings and daily professional ablutions, I hope to join a church choir so I can sing some relatively archaic but beautiful hymns in German. I have no idea why I have such an fondness of German hymns, but I think they are some of the most mellifluous and melodic musical compositions in classical history. Aside from choir, I would most definitely like to join another extracurricular club though I'm not entirely sure what that may be. Grace invited me to a yoga class in which she partakes here in Waldshut and it was actually very relaxing and rejuvenating despite the fact that I was the constant center of attention due to my inability to perform the moves correctly. Still, I'd like to do something more physically-oriented, though nothing too strenuous....because I'm lazy. I'm sure the daily necessity of walking to and from the stations for work and shopping will contribute to some form of physical activity, though.

One additional facet that made me incredibly excited about this position I received is the proposition of being able to get my masters and eventually, if desired, my doctorate through the university. My employers explicitly stated that they expect I get my masters at some point, and being a member of the university faculty, I think I have a pretty good chance of getting into some program there. I have absolutely no idea how German graduate school works, what has to be done in order to apply for a program, and what the program will actually entail, but it's something I find absolutely exhilarating and enticing. I'm not sure what subject I would pursue for a masters, but as of now I'm thinking either linguistics or medieval studies. I know my love of and affinity toward languages would lead to a natural manifestation within the field of linguistics, but the chance to study medieval studies in Europe, where everything took place and where history, literature, culture, and politics were shaped and modeled, would be...well, words cannot describe how awesome that would be. Still, I do also need to think of how practical that would be and whether it would actually result in some sort of teaching job here in Germany. I thankfully don't have to make any sort of decision pertaining to post-grad studies in the immediate future, so I'm going to give it some more thought and perhaps something else will come up before then, even!

This week is hopefully going to be rampant, in the positive sense naturally, with relaxation and leisure and I will then make my way back over to Nuremberg on Sunday. I sign the contract for my apartment on Monday, the 13th, and then start work a week later. I am so thrilled to have been able to land this job at the university, which was all thanks to the generous help from Grace, Basti, and Kyle, of whom I am eternally appreciative! I'm looking forward to what my teaching career in Germany has to offer, and cannot wait to start this new chapter in my life!