Hey all,

One of these days, I'm going to get around to posting some of the adorable pictures from the KiLa Christmas party (although I think under German law, it might be just a tiny bit illegal...I won't use full names.)...it's been an interesting first two work-weeks of the year. We got a new colleague Roland, and he and Marcus have been barely getting along. The male ego is such a fragile and amazing thing. Marcus has made comments in the past that have made me think "...ummm, okay, bizarre individual...", but I thought he would be happy to have a new team member helping us out.
Apparently he views Roland as competition for the pseudo-daddy role in these kids lives. I mean, I don't delude myself. I love "my" kids, but they're not mine. I teach them words, I change their diapers, I sing them songs, but only for five hours a day, max. I think that the unlimited trust these kids and their parents give us can lead to some types of people having serious power trips. I mean, sure--it's the most amazing thing I've ever felt to hear a child say my name for the first time, or to use an english word all on their own. Some of them are so cute, I wish they were mine. But they're not. I'd never say to any of my colleagues "I think that I'm a really important person for Tommy right now" because it's not true. Kids are fickle--their needs change daily, if not hourly and different people are better at meeting different needs than others. It's also not good for a child to get too attatched to one person or another in the Kindergarten setting. The goal of the whole Kindergarten concept in Germany is that small children become little independent, socially competent mini-Germans. Anyway, the long and short of it is that my boss is now dropping serious hints that Marcus's contracts will not be renewed in August when it runs out.
Aside from the male bitch-fest, things are cool at work. Most of the kids are readjusted from the Christmas vacation. I'm putting together my application for the early-childhood education training program. The deadline is March, but it's a private school and an overly punctual application=a slot in the class. As soon as my degrees from the US have been officially recognized in the Bundesrepublik, I'll be able to hand the whole shebang in.

In other news, I paid our "outstanding debt" to our landlord this week. I say that with great disgust and utmost irony, because they actually owe us money. However, before we take the matter to court (again), our lawyer advised us to sort things out, so that they don't have any grounds to evict us. Bastards. I'm so not impressed. But yeah. Not too much I can do about it.

Upcoming events in the Hauptstadt include a visit from a friend of Jordy's next week and Jeffy sometime in early March. And the Spring Semester of my adult ed classes starting. Is it bad that I'm crossing my fingers that they don't fill up? I've got enough stuff going on without working 5 nights a week. I mean, the money is good, but it's not that good. So we'll see. Keep your thumbs pressed, as the Germans say. After all, all work and no play makes for a very sad Mia.

So, I'm starving--which is a class A sign that it's time for me to sign off. I think I'm getting tandoori pork tonight...if all goes well.

Take care and stay healthy!

Merry 2008!

So team,
here's what's up: I haven't posted in months. In that time span, my laptop was briefly revived and then subsequently semi-permenantly put to rest by a certain cohabitant of mine, some scissors and a small incision in a slightly defective power-cable.

BE THAT AS IT MAY,
we survived the holidays relatively healthy and harmoniously. Presents were given and recieved, mammoth quantites of homemade rum punch were consumed, along with about a metric ton of red wine, some rabbit, duck, tons of pig and goose. Stephan's Mum is a bad influence on me. Or something. Kai is now officially 30, I saw the fireworks at the Brandenburger Gate for the first time aaaaaaaaaaand I've made a few decisions about how my life is going to progress.

Okay, maybe one.

For those of you who don't get regular emails from me (hahahaha--good one, huh? no one gets regular emails from me!), I've really been loving my job at the nursery school. My boss is pretty cool and my little kids are hilarious. It's not really a "grown up" job, but I'm not really sure I want to be a grown up, either with quotation marks or without. My professional goal for the new year is to try and be more involved and make more suggestions--just generally take a more active role in my group with the kids, as opposed to watching/assisting/observing. It's not that I haven't wanted to before, but I wasn't really sure of my role in the partnership with my co-group-leader, who also happens to be my boss with about 10-12 years of job experience on me. We've talked that out and I've been working on a list of projects, crafts, songs and games to do with the kids in the next few months. So yeah...we'll see how that goes. I've also got to apply for my Ausbildungs-slot--I think the deadline is next month, or maybe March, and the courses start in August. I'm excited. It'll give me a concrete qualification to do something I love anywhere in Germany or in the EU. Other than that, things are moving along. My adult ed classes wrapped just before Christmas, and I've got few loose ends to tie up there (someone forgot to file the paperwork for the certificates of participation...oops), but all in all, things are going well.

In other news, my parents and sister have booked their flight to Berlin, arriving June 17th and leaving the 26th, so if any of you were thinking about swinging by in that time frame, I'll be otherwise occupied as tour-guide/hostess. Wish me luck getting my parents to a wedding on the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. They'll also be meeting Stephan for the first time. Allllll kinds of insanity, folks. Hopefully I'll have time to keep you posted, because I'm sure it's going to be more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Let's see...is anything else interesting happening? Not really. I start work again on the seventh, which I'm actually looking forward to. It's a completely different feeling from last year at this time, where I really would have done just about anything to be able to leave my old job. Mission accomplished. I think I can say with relative certainty that last year was a bit rough, but ended with positive trajectory. I'm on the upswing, I think. It's just hard to tell from the inside.

Anyway, I know it sounds nerdy, but I got the Joy of Cooking 75th anniversary edition for Christmas and I'm reading my way through it. Out of interest. I know, it's sad, but I love it. I'm going to make me a melange and continue reading about different types of citrus.


Take care of eachother.
oxoxo
.mia.