I Am "Ganz Native"

Today was a very interesting day in my Austrian Teaching Life. One of the teachers asked me to prepare a powerpoint presentation on myself. I made it last night, with lots and lots of pictures (Mom, Dad, Kristin, Grampa, Nicole, Rashley- you all make an appearance in my picture slideshow...just so you know! Haha, now you're also famous in Austria...). It was all about my life in the USA. I showed them pictures of the Oregon Coast (represent!), of kayaking in the Willamette River, the massive amounts of snow we had last year at Christmas time, Mt. Hood, Sacramento, San Francisco, Sac State, etc. They all were just staring at everything in awe. It was interesting to see their reactions to things, and to see what they thought. However, the projector and laptop didn't work in the second lesson, after reformatting the powerpoint which didn't work in the first lesson. At any rate, I am also sharing it tomorrow, so no need to worry now! At least it ended up working.

It was during the first lesson, when I was telling the students about how long I've studied German, and how it all "came to be", that the students who have been pestering me since they found out I can speak German, asked me to speak German. So we made a deal: They could ask a question in English, and I'd answer in German. They were ecstatic, and just so giddy when I would answer them. They thought it was the craziest thing. I will not quote Bernhardt, a 14 year old boy in the 4th form class: "Oh my gosh! You sound JUST like a German!!!!" They were pretty impressed I think. That was a huge compliment, especially since it came from a student. I was very flattered, and it made my day.

(On a similar note, the lady at the Lufthansa ticket counter in Frankfurt spoke to me in German until she noticed my passport, and said, "Deutsch oder Englisch?" Meaning, do I speak German or English. I said, "both!" She proceeded to compliment me up one side and down the other, saying she had hardly ever met an American who can speak as good of German as I do, and that she thought it was just simply fantastic. Go me!)