Happy Thanksgiving!

It's crazy to think Thanksgiving is tomorrow. No sign of that anywhere here in Germany. But it's obvious Christmas is coming! Decorations are going up in the train stations everywhere! This city will look so cool decorated for Christmas and covered in snow (hopefully)!

Well, Heather and I are almost half-way through the course we're taking in Berlin. This has been a really intensive course. Before we came here, I kept saying it would be intensive. But I don't think I had any idea what that meant. I should have meant that I would eat, drink and sleep teaching English. It's been intense.

We got here and started classes, and they threw us in right away. We had to teach a class of English learners on the second day we were here. Total, we have to teach 8 times, 2 times a week for the 4 weeks. Tonight Heather and I completed our 4th lesson, so we are half way. There is so much planning that we are required to put in to be prepared for each lesson. Then we're observed as we teach it. And get feedback the next day on how bad or good we were. Last feedback session I had, it was bad.

Anyway, it's been a great experience so far. We may be completely wiped at the end, but it'll pay off when we're actually in Southeast Asia doing this stuff. The preparation this is giving us is priceless!

Berlin is so interesting and diverse. Our class has 13 people in it. Beyond that, they've split us into 3 groups (4, 4 and 5). It's so interesting in my group. When we are in our class teaching (the 4 of us, our tutor, and 8 students), there are 9 different nationalities represented. 9 nationalities in 13 people! Wow!

British

Irish

Iranian

Hungarian

German

Australian

Azerbaijan

Syrian

American

I think that is so cool. Anyway, Berlin is definitely an international city. Ben and Jasmin's apartment (where we are staying) is in the Turkish section of the city. There is this nice little Turkish bakery down the road that Heather and I have fallen in love with. We love to go there when we have time to get something to eat.

So tonight is the first night since we started that we haven't really had any homework to do. We had a little, but nothing compared to normal. So it was kinda nice to settle down. No one will believe this, but I made dinner. Don't laugh. Rice and green beans. I made them totally on my own. And it wasn't bad!

Well, it's sad to say, but our time in Berlin is going way too fast. This city is incredible in its history and diversity, and it kills me that we can't spend more time getting to know it. We've already been here for 2 weeks, and feel like I have only seen the train (which is awesome, by the way. I love public transportation!)

Pray for us as the course only gets harder in the last half. We know it'll be over in no time, so we don't wish for that. We want to enjoy this country while we're here!

We miss you and love you all. Happy Thanksgiving!

Later guys,

Matt

Wir sind in Berlin und Schnee fällt!

So, I have seen no snowfall since about February 2005. That's about 32 months without snow, and hard to take for an Illinois guy that loves seasons and loves winter. All that has changed today.

It's about 2:45 in the afternoon (14:45 for Berliners) in Germany, and I heard the rain coming down hard. Suddenly I heard the rain stop, and I looked outside, and saw it. Finally, I saw snowfall. Oh the sweet relief on this Saturday afternoon in November!

                                                                                         

So, I'm enjoying today. Even as it starts to get dark so early (It's completely dark by about 4:45), I'm in a good mood this afternoon. I made my first trip (alone) to the grocery store, will soon take the train with Heather to our friend's church, and we get to walk in the snow. It couldn't get better!

Pray for Heather as she is trying to adjust to the time difference. We start class Monday, and we need to be prepared!

Here are just a couple other pictures. One of a massive Lutheran church downtown, and the other of the Bible Study group that met in Ben and Jasmin's apartment Thursday night. It was a blast!

                                                                                          

We miss you all, and love you!

Later guys,

Matt

*Correction: It's been since December of 2005 without snow, not February of 2005. That means it's been 23 months. Not quite the 32 I thought, but it sure feels like it!

We're in Germany!

Hello from Germany. We've now been in-country for about 3 hours. Already, we've been on the Autobahn, passed the motorcade of the king of Saudi Arabia, and experienced some major jetlag.

I gotta say, I think I'm gonna like this. Some good conversations have already been had with our friends Ben and Jasmin, and I seriously doubt they'll be the last. We're so excited to be here!

OK, I gotta get to work to be prepared for classes starting Monday. Pray Heather and I can stay awake!

Later guys,

Matt

From Connecticut

First, I think it's interesting that we're in Connecticut for a connecting flight. Connecticut. What a great name for a state. I think I like it. I wonder where it came from (wikipedia...).

Heather and I are on our way to Berlin, Germany right now. We're in the midst of a 7 hour layover in Hartford, Connecticut and will be getting on a flight to Amsterdam and then to Berlin pretty soon. Crazy to think that we're going to Europe right now. Doesn't feel too different than normal, actually.

I hope we actually will get to see Berlin while we're there for this upcoming month. This course we're taking is going to be pretty intense (9-hrs-of-class-a-day-,-3-hrs-of-homework-a-night-intense). I look forward to the course, and I look forward to hanging out with our friends Ben and Jasmin in Berlin. They have a really sweet coffeehouse job that I'm excited about seeing.

Well, hopefully I'll have time to post some things while we're in Germany for this month. Until then...

Later guys,

Matt