As I write this post, I am sitting in the teacher's lounge trying to hold onto the comfort that I have grasped to since my first day at Gymnasium Untergriesbach. Surrounded by excellent teachers, excellent students, and a beautiful school, I have been smiling for three weeks straight. This morning was filled with gathering contact information from my colleagues, teaching my last lesson for a delightful class of 8th graders, and interviewing with a reporter from the newspaper of Passau. But now I find myself alone with my thoughts, reminiscing like an old crow looks back on the time that has flown by. On my first day here, I was more nervous than a CEO about to tell his staff that he had sold the company for a box of oranges. Three weeks later I feel that I am being kicked from the nest without being able to fly. I sit on the brink of the end of my time here at the Gymnasium, and there are a number of things that I will miss dearly. I guess I will just have to list them as the following:
1. I will miss the barrage of wide eyed stares I receive from the students who think I am an alien.
2. I will miss the amazing coffee machine that does everything from hot chocolate to a damn good latte macchiato.
3. I will miss the stunning beauty of the sun creeping over the steeple of the church as I arrive at school.
4. I will miss the crystal flakes of snow that fall lightly to coat the streets and towns like a silken blanket.
5. I will miss the warm "Gute morgen's" of the teachers as they stroll into the lounge.
6. I will miss the 5 hour super lectures on the biology of DNA and chemistry of petroleum.
7. I will miss the puzzled looks of the students and, even better, the horrified looks the victims I call to the board.
8. I will miss bright smiles of Mr. Brunner and his yellow turtlenecks that match his car.
9. I will miss my distillation experiments and lighting stuff on fire.
10. I will miss stories of Ms. Schoenbrunner (she has quite a few brilliant ones about police officers in the States)
11. I will miss the exchanges with Hanz (the Foodmiester), seeing pictures of his fishing trips, and his hearty handshakes.
12. I will miss the sizzling schnitzel semmel and flavorful Bavarian lunches.
13. I will miss watching American football with a true fan, Mr. Vogel
14. I will miss teaching swimming for my wonderful group of athletes
15. I will miss the people...
This last one, number 15, is possibly the most important thing I will miss. It's the people that you meet that make the wealth of life. Never before have I met so many wonderful people willing to help me get on my feet in a place that is as foreign to me as the earth is to a martian. It's this group of teachers and students that make Gymnasium Untergriesbach such an amazing place. Unmatched hospitality, charity, and understanding. Infinite patience and great humor. I will never be able to forget this community that has given me so much. The list from above goes on and on. I am just not able to remember it all and I don't really want to bore you (my readers) with the great things that will never be experienced the way I experienced them. I am so thankful to be in Gymnasium Untergriesbach, and this is the only day that I haven't been able to smile through every minute because it is the bitter end of a remarkable journey. Although this is not the end of my trip in Germany, it feels like the end of a wonderful chapter of my life. Gymnasium Untergriesbach, I have one last thing to say before I leave...In the words of the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, I'LL BE BACH
And I miss you!
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