I detest bloggers. I find their ramblings just as arduous and pedantic as the next person. Who cares how poorly your first attempt at Pillsbury cookies went? Who cares how the doctors managed to extract the light bulb from your glory hole without shattering it? Who cares that some little old lady gave you the finger today after tailgating you in a 25 mph zone? All I can say is that these assertions, random happenings, and seemingly pointless anecdotes are in fact a waste of your intellectual space and I encourage any blog reader to smash their computer screen with a hammer.
Despite this absolute truth, here you are, reading my blog ... I encourage you to go to the nearest True Value Hardware, purchase a hammer, and smash your computer screen. But, if by the off chance you do take interest in my blog, I am offering you an explanation for what is about to ensue on this url. "Das Müssen Wir Begiessen" means "that calls for a drink." I figured this would be an appropriate title for a blog of my journey to Germany because it is in German, and I am very much looking forward to being able to legally buy a beer (nobody really knows why the U.S. drinking age is 21, but it is). That being said, this blog will be a hopeless explanation of my experience in Germany teaching high school at Gymnasium Untergriesbach.
Before I get ahead of myself, let me try to explain to you people how this whole thing happened. MIT decided to send me and other MIT students to Germany for a program called Highlights for High Schools. Our mission is to offer our knowledge in the disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Calculus to our European pupils. I have always wanted to teach; it is one of the things that I think that really can make an impact on the hearts and minds of the youth. If I can instill in my students a shred of curiosity in the world around them, then I have done a great service for the world. My father (he will be referred to as Big Jim) once said to me, "Deliver me from those who claim to know the truth, to those who are still seeking it." Big Jim is a pretty smart guy, and his ethos has driven me to continue to seek the truth, despite the daunting assumption that I might not find it. I want my students to understand this idea; we may not find the truth, but it's definitely worth looking for. Truth is a path dependent function (thank you Professor Grossman, I am now relating life to thermodynamics); it is the path to the truth that matters. I sincerely hope that I can do this for the students, as the task is easier said than done.
This blog will document my interactions with my students, my host family, and all odd things German. I plan on writing each day, but if I'm having too much fun, I probably won't write at all. It is my sincerest hope that you, the reader, gain something from this blog; my aim is not to waste your time unless it is meant to be wasted. Anyway, already I have babbled too long and have surely eaten part of your day; I apologize. Happy reading and auf wiedersehen!
