School, research, Erasmus.

And definitely not in that order. Still, this will be my life here...working on my study, teaching, going to my own classes and last but not least, doing the Erasmus thing (Erasmus = European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students). I know, I'm not an Erasmus student. You have to be European to be on an Erasmus exchange. But it doesn't matter - all international students in some way feel like Erasmus kids...we all know each other anyway. Eat, sleep, party......(work). Repeat.

Uni classes started on Monday, although my teaching starts this week. I'm still drafting my course syllabus - a work in progress. I wonder what my class will be like...I got the list on Friday, 18 students. The class is full. Mostly German names, lots of girls. Interesting dynamic? I am hoping my first lesson will go down as follows: introduction of... myself, get-to-know-you games, organizational stuff, followed by a short first reading. Pretty much what I do with my German students back home...

Working with the English textbooks is interesting. I'm currently also tutoring a woman in advanced English...she's quite good. It's been hard gauging her level as I have no prior knowledge of level-gauging for English. Ha! We seem to share the same political mindset, and we've already had a few discussions...she's from Romania, and is married for the second time to a German man. She's quite strong-willed, and a little over-excited about practicing English. Well. We'll see how it goes.

My own classes at the university went well last week. I only am taking two courses, and really I only need to take one. Luckily, I don't have to do a thing for the second one (the one I'm taking out of interest), not even a presentation. Just show up if I want, and read if I want. Excellent. The phonology class sounds good too - I'll only have to do a presentation for it. AND it's Richard Wiese, Mr. Well-Known. And some kid in my class has heard of Herr Brown. WHAT?! Josh is famous, and for some reason I'm not at all surprised...

But alas, Uni week #1 ended, and on Saturday a group of 10 of us went to Frankfurt. We toured the city and then headed to the Frankfurter Buchmesse (book fair). Holy crap, that place was enormous. I've never seen so many books and stands...with only 2 hours before it closed to look around, we didn't get to see even half of the place. Still - quite the experience!

After the day in Frankfurt, I got home just in time to tune into the York University graduation ceremonies - all live via webcast! My sister graduated with an (Hons.) Bachelor of Fine Arts and it was hilarious to see her on my computer screen...at first, I just saw her in the crowd as the camera panned across the students. That made me laugh, so I texted her...she got my text fairly soon after apparently and showed her fellow graduates around her and told them I was watching 6 hours in the future from Germany. Crazy! I saw her get her diploma as well, so it worked out really well. Funny side note: Woody Harrelson got an honorary doctorate during their ceremony. Woody Harrelson?? His speech was way too long, but I supposed he finished off well...

The night ended with an Erasmus party at Unix (bar in town) and included a round of free tequila, some delicious Desperados and lots of dancing. Today, I relax.