Well the week went by fast! A lot of newness for me. I made 27 new 2 and 3 year old adorable friends. I learned a lot about German culture. I got to practice my German a lot and I got better at hearing and understanding German (sometimes by trial and error).
In Germany, kindergarten is like our pre-school and their pre-school is like our kindergarten. So basically it's daycare with organized play time. My job is pretty easy. I help with lunch, snack, naps, bathroom duty and occasionally think of games or ways to entertain them. Mostly I just play with the kids.
I will give you a sample of some the things I found to be very unique here.
1- We play outside every day. No exceptions. Pouring rain or very cold, we're outside. Each kid has inside shoes, outside shoes and rain boots, inside pants, outside pants and rain pants, inside shirts, outside jackets, and rain jackets. It gets darn confusing for me when it comes time to dress them for outside time.
2- The babies sleep outside. Unless it is below -10 degrees celsius (14 degrees fahrenheit!). All babies have cribs set up outside on a porch with a roof but it is not closed in at all. It's a Swedish thing. They say it is good for their immune systems.
3- We (the staff) are supposed to let the children work things out on their own when they fight with each other. So if they are yelling and crying and hitting each other we do not interfere. Not unless there is biting or pinching are we to get involved.
4- We are always supposed to be at eye level with the children so we don't make them feel inferior. So at play time or when reading to them, I sit on the floor. At lunch I sit in a tiny toddler chair at a tiny toddler table. When we change diapers we sit in a little chair and the kids STAND UP! If they have a dirty diaper we can lay them down though.
5- When the kids take a nap, we never wake them up. They can sleep as long as they want. They say it puts the kids in a confused, disturbed mood to wake them up. So I learned a big lesson the hard way. In German, "Would you like to go see if the children are awake?" sounds a lot like, "You can go wake the children if you like". OOPS!!! I had already woken a couple kids by the time another staff woman stopped me. I was horribly embarrassed but she was very kind to me and was not mad at all.
(By the way, the kids I did wake up were perfectly okay, not emotionally disturbed at all. In fact they smiled when they woke up).
Basically this kindergarten is all about making the kids independent and confident.
Well, all that to say I really like my job. There are some cultural rules for me to learn and I absolutely need to keep practicing my German. The other women who work there are extremely nice to me and MOST of them are patient and willing to speak slowly and repeat themselves.
Okay so now I get to share with you the most exciting part of my week and why I think I have the most wonderful husband in the world : )
Here are 5 reasons why I am the luckiest Frau in Germany...
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These are all of the brand new things Sam bought for me and had hidden throughout our small room. He surprised me with a little scavenger hunt when I got home from work last night.
So you might be wondering, "I thought they were poor newlyweds living off a minimal stipend?" You are right. However, we have been saving up and talking about buying some of these things for a long time and now since I have the job Sam decided it was a good time.
So the Christmas decoration/Advent calendar is just adorable! We need a little spunk in our room and that is something we can use every year.
The scarf was super cheap and I keep talking about how I want a pretty colorful scarf but I would never have just bought it on my own.
The awesome leather tennis shoes are to replace my old pair of leather diesels that I bought 4 1/2 years ago which are falling apart.
The jacket: Sam actually bought me a black dress coat when he proposed last January but it did not fit and we never found another one to replace it.
The boots are the best part and the thing that made me the most happy! EVERY woman in Germany owns a pair of tall boots. I'm not kidding.
Apparently after graduating from college it is no longer socially acceptable to wear fleeces and Nike's or ski jackets and snow boots everywhere I go.
It was the best surprise after my first week of work. Now I can go out and look nice like the other German women who seem to be dressed up every where they go.
One great week for me : ) Thanks Sam!
