Spring Has Sprung Springingly

Hey Everyone,

So, I realize that I probably shouldn't have said I'll post more often right before I go away for the weekend. Also not helping is the fact that I came down sick...but more on that below.

Theater Weekend Retreat
I must admit that this weekend was a lot less hard-core. I had to ride the train this time, with 10 other people, because there weren't as many drivers available. We went to the tiny town of Abtschlag - about 2 hours by train. It was slightly funny because no one noticed we had 11 people, we just assumed we had 10 until we got to the town - we'd only bought 2 Bayern tickets that were good for 10 people total! Our theater instructor Christine had a good laugh over that. The first night I went to bed around 1:30, unfortunately the walls were like paper and it was impossible to sleep for an hour. I hadn't been feeling 100%, my joints were hurting a bit and my neck was sore. The next evening my symptoms exploded - I was simultaneously feeling fevered and chills. I got mothered by Sara and whisked off to a different room that Andy (the other instructor) gave up for me. I'm pretty sure I had a fever, but it broke by the next (Sunday) morning. After 11 hours of sleep, I woke up with a killer headache and no voice. I had some tea and took an early train back with a couple of other people. I got back to Regensburg by noon, took medicine and slept for 7 more hours...However, today I am feeling much improved and will continue to get lots of sleep, water, vitamins, decongestants, allergy medicine and cough drops pumped into my system. Yay.

On a less Depressing Note
Spring has sprung in Regensburg. Yesterday and today were delightfully (and unfortunately, headache-inducing) sunny and warm. The trees have all frantically shot out their leaves and the grass and flowers are growing rampantly. The fountains have gurgled back to life, the pigeons are obnoxiously wooing outside our windows and the statues have come out of their boxes. And since it's the season for new beginnings, two more strikes are on. It is rumored that the train
strike is actually over. However, the buses and the post are on strike. This doesn't effect me really, as the only mail I normally get is from the bank and that's all they are not delivering. Apparently they just want to hurt the businesses. A German naively asked me what happens when our post goes on strike (which they're not allowed to do, under federal law) and I told them that we don't have the expression "Going Postal" for nothing and we don't like to tempt fate.

The Pant Dilemma
I have decided to try to make do with my 2 remaining pairs of pants and my two pairs of capris. I also have some springy dresses and a skirt or two, but let's not kid ourselves people. I will try to save myself the 30-60 euros for something important. Like icecream on hot days when it's too hot to breathe in my room.

Teaching English Conversation
So, I have had 2 sessions teaching my group of high-school aged kids English conversation. I had 8 the first week and it was a bit awkward at first. They hadn't gone to the last scheduled meeting, so Molly hadn't been able to tell them that she probably wouldn't be teaching them the next semester. Also, the kid (literally, about 7...) who was supposed to meet me and take me to the room apparently couldn't figure out who I was. So I had to find it myself, with a phone call from Molly. There weren't a ton of awkward pauses, I had brought along a bunch of questions (ie. if you got stuck on a dessert island, what 3 things would you bring? etc) and did a couple of other activities. We played 2 truths and a lie, which went over well and then tried to do a current event (which went horribly...lol). However, the hour passed swiftly and I felt assured that YES I COULD do this.
The second week only 3 showed up, but the others should be back next week (they/we have a holiday this Thursday). I had quizzed them about adverbs and nouns the week before as a set up to Madlibs. They loved them. I also had printed out an adverb list with such gems as lackadaisical and abhorrent (along with much easier ones), so they maybe learned some new vocab as well. We also played Never Ever Have I Ever...and that was fun as well. I had planned to do a fill-in-the-blank lyrics sheet, but we didn't have time. So that's going well!

Anyhow, I have some homework to read through for tomorrow...so until next time!
Steph
Ps. The pic is me all dolled up for Molly and Emma's B-day Extravaganza where...I think I look weird without any bangs...but I did my hair myself!