The First Friday (10-9-09)

I'm at the end of the first week, and I still like teaching. Mark that to the win column. I have been to most of my classes now, so I am just about done with my "Introduction lesson". I have a few more classes next week who still need to get to know me, but for the most part I will be teaching real lessons from now on. Some examples are: Globalization, Friends, Tall Tales, and Wisconsin, to name a few. I am also working on a great culture shock lesson. I'm kind of geeking out about creating my own lessons—it's very exciting to have the chance to teach things in my own style, not to mention to focus on what I like.

Now that I've been to both of my schools I can say that I like them both. People have told me to expect the Gymnasium (university-track secondary education) to be very different from the HTL (technical- /vocational-track secondary education). The schools actually are quite different: the HTL has very few girls, and their curriculum focuses less on language; the Gymnasium focuses strongly on language and there is roughly an even mix of boys and girls. Both schools are very nice, and the students from both speak very well. I feel very comfortable in both schools—I can't say that I have a favorite. I am really looking forward to meeting more of the teachers at the HTL though; I have only been there once, so I am not yet as comfortable with the teachers there.

Not completely sure what to do this weekend. I haven't really had a chance to explore Waidhofen yet, so I think I will hike around some more. It's rainy today, so I will cross my fingers for nicer weather tomorrow and Sunday. I really want to see the castle here, and hike up Buchenberg again to see the view of the city. I also checked out a "classic German-Western" novel from the library, and it is really quite good. The author Karl May wrote many adventure novels, but is probably best known for his novels about Indians and the American West. Since Karl May is a big part of German/Austrian culture, I want to read at least the most famous book: Winnetou. So if it rains I won't be at a loss for recreation.