Christmas Letter 2012

…aaaaaand it’s time for a Christmas letter again!  Especially considering that it’s been, well, a while since we last wrote one.  I can’t even quite remember…

O.k., so in 2009 we bought a house, moving in August.  I had been getting ready to open my own Daycare, but gave up when faced with the space restrictions in our new place.  So it was back to the drawing board for me jobwise, when one day I read an ad in our local rag:  one of our local kindergartens (where I had done some volunteer work earlier) was looking for a temp for six to eight weeks.  One of their Kindergarten teachers had broken her finger rather badly – I called, sent them my paperwork, and one week later I was there.  After the other teacher came back they asked me to stay on, and the director had an interesting suggestion:  why not go back to school and become an “Erzieherin”?  This job covers every age from birth to… well, 18, I guess – I can’t teach in a school, but I can do after-school programs, and work in other organizations that offer programs for kids.  Most commonly Erzieher work with 3-6 year-olds, the usual age for Kindergarten in Germany.  There is an acute shortage of Erzieher here, so the schools have started offering programs for “old farts” like me – people with a lot of experience, but not that crucial certificate that you need.  I thought, sure, why not?  Can’t be harder than university, right?  Two years of going to school for five hours twice a week… oh, and work 20+ hours a week…  oops, and then there’s my two kids, hubbie, two dogs, two cats, rats, the house, the garden… um, and I guess there’ll be homework and test and a big series of exams at the end.  Oh boy.

But hey!  Here I am in 2012 (still) and I survived to tell the tale!  We’ve been comparing this year’s Christmas season with last year’s, and it just makes me shudder.  The mornings I got up, dragged myself out into the fields to walk the dogs, and just wanted to drop unto the ground and cry, or die of exhaustion.  Constantly getting sick, and then REALLY sick, and dragging myself to exams anyway.  Always worrying about having to drop out at the last minute after putting so much time and effort into it.  Feeling like I was short-changing everyone.  And now my brag moment:  five written exams, three twos, two ones (ones are the highest grade you can get in Germany).  Then three oral exams, ALL ones!!!  I so proud…  I NEVER would have made it without Mike’s constant support and help.  He just kept picking me up off the floor, and quietly took over most of the household work that was threatening to crush me.  The girls did their part in becoming just so independent, keeping up with their studies, taking over some extra chores, and learning to ignore my emotional outbursts!

Celebrating with classmates after exams

It’s not quite over yet, either.  I’m still working at the same Kindergarten, but as an “apprentice” – meaning I still occasionally go to seminars, have to meet with an instructor to give them updates, and prepare a long-term project which I document, write a thesis for, and defend at the end of my apprenticeship.  Since I’m working half-time (20 hours), it’ll take me two years, but I am relishing the relaxed pace.  I feel like I’m finally pulling my weight at work.  I’m now working with 1 to 3 year olds (usually a group of 10), I get along really well with my co-worker, and my head is clear again…  I can think about other things besides getting past the next exam and cramming information into my brain.

Mike and I have been fun experimenting on our garden, trying out various vegetable projects (thank goodness we don’t have to feed a family with the results).  This year we had huge amounts of chard, and found out we really don’t need that much, because we don’t like it all that much either- a little goes a long way.  On the other hand, we had little difficulty polishing off all the zucchini and cherry tomatoes we grew.  Mike’s bush beans were a success, but he could’ve grown ten times as many! – and the same goes for his brussel sprouts, which we just munched before Christmas.  The artichokes looked interesting but didn’t produce anything edible.  The basil was a definite underperformer.  The green onions did well, but somehow were never harvested.  The amount produced by the “decorative corn” was meager but very pretty!  We got way too much calendula, not enough cosmos, the lupins and snap dragons did well, as did the Echinacea and Sedum.  Projects for this coming year (or further in the future) include planting an Elderberry bush, putting in some pink roses, possible a cherry tree, or an herb garden…  And no real plans for veggies.  Probably stick with the tried and true!

Kathryn is in her second year of Gymnasium (her school puts a special emphasis on Biotechnology), and she absolutely loves it- great group of friends, and she especially enjoys math!  Her grandfather is constantly impressed at the level of math they work on over here.  She recently got her hair cut short, and we’ve been talking about joining a fitness club to get into shape – especially since she is considering a possible career in law enforcement. Kathryn also earned her drivers’ license. She still has to have an adult in the car with her when she drives until she turns 18, which is only a few months away.

Ursula is in her second-to-last year of Realschule, and who know what she’ll want to do afterwards!  She just finished an internship at a local Art school, where she loved the classes and discovered how boring office busywork can be.  Her latest craze is T-shirt design.  Otherwise Ursula is still obsessing about Homestuck. She’s taking a new approach in her art as well, moving away from manga/cartoon style, and getting more into the classical drawing human anatomy approach.  She’s also very happy in her class and has steady group of friends she likes to get together with on the weekends.

At work, Michael is still documenting security products and features. His new challenge is working with a team in Vietnam in addition to his other responsibilities. He was also invited to join the core team for Cultures@SAP, a grass roots organization of national lunch tables that promotes cultural diversity at SAP. At SAP’s annual diversity event, he took the stage as Danny Zuko and lip-synched to Summer Nights and Rock Around the Clock. At home he continues his passion for gaming. He went to Spiel 2012 and had his impressions published in a German gaming magazine. He also worked hard on his gaming blog and is now attracting 5000 pageviews a month.

In the Kubishaus in Rotterdam

The number of animals is still the same.  Binky is getting older (12), Tenten is still unbearably beautiful but a real challenge behavior-wise, Mischa and Cleo (5 and 6) get in each other’s way, and we still have Gracie, but had to put Dottie to sleep.  To keep Gracie company, we got Alice! 

We spent two weeks during the summer break in Holland, taking Tenten and leaving Binky in the care of friends and family.  We had a heat wave while there, but since we were five minutes from the beach, we managed!  Holland was beautiful - something for everyone -  and very relaxing. Afterwards we had a visit from Erika Niestroj-Frost and her two sons. In the fall, Kathryn went to London (again!) with her class, and Mike and I went to Göttingen for our anniversary in December. 

Happy Holidays and a wonderful 2013!