Meine Damen und Herrn-
Wow, am I lazy these days. Well, not really, seeing as I've made more progress on my judo animation in the past week than I had in the four weeks before then, but still. My blog kinda well down the priority list for a while, and for this I appologize. I've been participating in a Praktikum (a small internship) at a Kindergarten in Himmelpforten. It actually turned out to be quite interesting- the children all liked me and helping with all of the activities was fun, but I don't think I could handle doing it for a living. Don't worry, I DID get picture and I WILL post them soon. Luckly, I already know in which direction I'm headed...
Lets see... Things that happened in the last two weeks: Fought in another tournament (this one didn't go so well, either); went to Enno's birthday party which was pretty fun; hung out with Nikko on the same night and got into a hour and a half long discussion over what it means to be Christian; started training judo six hours a week instead of only three (started going to both the class before the Adults and the Adult class every Monday and Thursday); and finally went to a party at Philip's to celebrate our class's survival through the Praktikum. Other than that, as far as I can remember, everythings been pretty normal around here. Met a cool Turkish guy at a Turkish restraunt (he worked there) and we talked for three hours about nothing. Very cool afternoon.
As I said, I've been working quite a bit on this judo animation and it should be done within the next two weeks. It kinda has to be, because in the third week of February I'm going to the Czech Republic to ski and so on. Should be a blast. I've also been trying to draw a little more. My goal is twenty minutes a day drawing only what I see, so essentially no creativity needed. All other drawing/creating will be done on 'my own time' and hopefully that will be a little more as well... Well, that pretty much wraps it up for these two weeks. I'll try to get back in the habit of writing these, so keep your pants on. Hope to hear from you all soon!
-Elliot P.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Busy with life
Meine Damen und Herrn-
Its been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy getting back into the swing of every day life here, so I haven't had time to post in a while. These two weeks have actually been pretty slow, as far as school is concerned. The entire 11th class is doing a Praktikum (something like a mini internship/shadowship) starting next week and going until the end of January, so these two weeks in between have kind of been do-nothing weeks. We recieved our grades in all of our classes, and unsurprinsingly mine where considerably lower than the ones I usually recieve in American, but higher than I expected in some cases. I got a '2' in art, which is the numeric equivilant of a 'B', but not quite. Here, a 'C' or '3' is actually average, not a '1' (or 'A'). I was actually at the top end of my art class, which was gratifying. I also managed a '2-' in Religion, which was equally as gratifying.
Judo started up again last week, and we've wasted no time getting back up to full speed. Steve, you asked how good I was at judo now in your last comment. Well, I threw 25 people in 30 seconds last night. The average was 15 in 30 seconds, if that gives you any idea. I have a tournament coming up this Sunday, and I'll see what I can do about getting video. Uploading video onto this blog is actually quite difficult, while the internet here isn't all that fast, so I'll post a link to the club website, where video will probably be posted.
Last Sunday I hung out with some other people from the Baptist Church, and that was pretty cool. I finally got to go the the 'Junge Stunde' or Youth Program of the church as well. Needless to say, it was quite small, but that made for a very personal atmosphere that I enjoyed. We talked and played Jenga and ate. It was all very easy-going and relaxed. There's some sort of gathering of the Youth from my church and a few others going on tonight, but its not looking like I'll be able to make it. Moritz's friend Jan is having a birthday party tonight and Moritz said I should come along, so I'll probably end up doing that.
Nothing much else to report. Been playing through the Prince of Persia series in my spare time, gearing up for the arrival of my copy of the fourth installment. I'll be sure to post pictures of the tournament and my Praktikum when I have them. Here's the link to the club videos of the last tournament:
http://www.staderjudoka.de/videos/index.php
I'm in the first and the fourth. The man I'm fighting is named Mirko, he's one of the club black belts- good fighter, very funny, and generally a cool guy. I loose both of the matches, I believe, but I won two others against other people, so its no big thing. Hope everything is going well over there. Leave a comment if you have the time.
-Elliot P.
Its been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy getting back into the swing of every day life here, so I haven't had time to post in a while. These two weeks have actually been pretty slow, as far as school is concerned. The entire 11th class is doing a Praktikum (something like a mini internship/shadowship) starting next week and going until the end of January, so these two weeks in between have kind of been do-nothing weeks. We recieved our grades in all of our classes, and unsurprinsingly mine where considerably lower than the ones I usually recieve in American, but higher than I expected in some cases. I got a '2' in art, which is the numeric equivilant of a 'B', but not quite. Here, a 'C' or '3' is actually average, not a '1' (or 'A'). I was actually at the top end of my art class, which was gratifying. I also managed a '2-' in Religion, which was equally as gratifying.
Judo started up again last week, and we've wasted no time getting back up to full speed. Steve, you asked how good I was at judo now in your last comment. Well, I threw 25 people in 30 seconds last night. The average was 15 in 30 seconds, if that gives you any idea. I have a tournament coming up this Sunday, and I'll see what I can do about getting video. Uploading video onto this blog is actually quite difficult, while the internet here isn't all that fast, so I'll post a link to the club website, where video will probably be posted.
Last Sunday I hung out with some other people from the Baptist Church, and that was pretty cool. I finally got to go the the 'Junge Stunde' or Youth Program of the church as well. Needless to say, it was quite small, but that made for a very personal atmosphere that I enjoyed. We talked and played Jenga and ate. It was all very easy-going and relaxed. There's some sort of gathering of the Youth from my church and a few others going on tonight, but its not looking like I'll be able to make it. Moritz's friend Jan is having a birthday party tonight and Moritz said I should come along, so I'll probably end up doing that.
Nothing much else to report. Been playing through the Prince of Persia series in my spare time, gearing up for the arrival of my copy of the fourth installment. I'll be sure to post pictures of the tournament and my Praktikum when I have them. Here's the link to the club videos of the last tournament:
http://www.staderjudoka.de/videos/index.php
I'm in the first and the fourth. The man I'm fighting is named Mirko, he's one of the club black belts- good fighter, very funny, and generally a cool guy. I loose both of the matches, I believe, but I won two others against other people, so its no big thing. Hope everything is going well over there. Leave a comment if you have the time.
-Elliot P.
Monday, January 5, 2009
I like having things to do.
Meine Damen und Herrn-
Wow, this post is late. In more ways than one, actually. Its almost one in the morning here, and what, four days after I said I would post? Oh well. I've been pretty busy lately.
I went to a Silvester (New Years) party at Tjark's house, and Harris made the observation that this would be the only time I would be with them for such an event. Its a strange thing. I don't really realize that all of the annual holidays will be one-time things for me here. I should probably get as much out of them as I can. The day after that was a recovery day, during which I slept and chatted with some of my favorite Americans. The day after (Friday) I went into Stade to help repair mat's at my Judo club at ten in the morning. We hung around the gym for several hours, ate pizza, watched the new Disney film Bedtime Stories, and talked about judo-people stuff. It was cool- really relaxed and even-paced, with little concern on WHEN we finished, only THAT we finished.
On my way out the door I checked my cell and saw that Esther had invited me to a shindig she was having with other AFSers. I agreed to come, and once I got there (a small adventure in itself. Her house isn't exactly close to where I live) I was pleasently surprised. It turns out that AFS people are actually a lot of fun when they're not doing anything... well, AFS. I mean no insult to the AFS organization, its just that the lack of structure makes for a good party atmosphere. There where talks about past AFS experiences, school, music, religion, economy, a little dancing and Twister, some drinking and finally sleep at about seven in the morning. The next day I made the trip back home (another small adventure) and had another recovery day. To late did I recieve the call informing me that my class's Jahrgangs Feier was that evening, and I really wasn't ready to go party again, so I stayed home.
Yesterday (Sunday) I went to the service at the Baptist Church, like always, and from there to the home of some of the people I met through the church. We had lunch and talked, then went ice skating and returned home with two more of the young people from the church. We talked over this and that- a little music and so on (I was itching to talk about anything art-related. As I've said before, there is a lack of it here). I managed to get three seperate compliments from three groups of people on my German that day. I was pretty proud of myself. Once I got home from our little meeting, Mortiz and I watched Kung Fu Panda auf Deutsch. It was almost as good as the first time, even with the language switch.
Finally, we come to today. I woke up around ten, hurried to get ready, then the rest of the family and I went to Heide's father's house for lunch and to help move some things around. I attempted to repair his internet and failed. Thats the first time I haven't been able to fix such an internet-related problem, so it was kinda humiliating. I did have a time limit, though, and all the prompts were in German, and I didn't have much information to begin with. And probably a hundred other excuses, which I don't feel like listing here. Well anyway, here I am, and its one-thirty in the morning, and I'm pretty much done with blogging for now. One last thing, though- I got final conformation on my trip to Prague today! Its gonna rock so hard. I'll be sure to post some pictures. Well, bis dann!
-Elliot P.
Wow, this post is late. In more ways than one, actually. Its almost one in the morning here, and what, four days after I said I would post? Oh well. I've been pretty busy lately.
I went to a Silvester (New Years) party at Tjark's house, and Harris made the observation that this would be the only time I would be with them for such an event. Its a strange thing. I don't really realize that all of the annual holidays will be one-time things for me here. I should probably get as much out of them as I can. The day after that was a recovery day, during which I slept and chatted with some of my favorite Americans. The day after (Friday) I went into Stade to help repair mat's at my Judo club at ten in the morning. We hung around the gym for several hours, ate pizza, watched the new Disney film Bedtime Stories, and talked about judo-people stuff. It was cool- really relaxed and even-paced, with little concern on WHEN we finished, only THAT we finished.
On my way out the door I checked my cell and saw that Esther had invited me to a shindig she was having with other AFSers. I agreed to come, and once I got there (a small adventure in itself. Her house isn't exactly close to where I live) I was pleasently surprised. It turns out that AFS people are actually a lot of fun when they're not doing anything... well, AFS. I mean no insult to the AFS organization, its just that the lack of structure makes for a good party atmosphere. There where talks about past AFS experiences, school, music, religion, economy, a little dancing and Twister, some drinking and finally sleep at about seven in the morning. The next day I made the trip back home (another small adventure) and had another recovery day. To late did I recieve the call informing me that my class's Jahrgangs Feier was that evening, and I really wasn't ready to go party again, so I stayed home.
Yesterday (Sunday) I went to the service at the Baptist Church, like always, and from there to the home of some of the people I met through the church. We had lunch and talked, then went ice skating and returned home with two more of the young people from the church. We talked over this and that- a little music and so on (I was itching to talk about anything art-related. As I've said before, there is a lack of it here). I managed to get three seperate compliments from three groups of people on my German that day. I was pretty proud of myself. Once I got home from our little meeting, Mortiz and I watched Kung Fu Panda auf Deutsch. It was almost as good as the first time, even with the language switch.
Finally, we come to today. I woke up around ten, hurried to get ready, then the rest of the family and I went to Heide's father's house for lunch and to help move some things around. I attempted to repair his internet and failed. Thats the first time I haven't been able to fix such an internet-related problem, so it was kinda humiliating. I did have a time limit, though, and all the prompts were in German, and I didn't have much information to begin with. And probably a hundred other excuses, which I don't feel like listing here. Well anyway, here I am, and its one-thirty in the morning, and I'm pretty much done with blogging for now. One last thing, though- I got final conformation on my trip to Prague today! Its gonna rock so hard. I'll be sure to post some pictures. Well, bis dann!
-Elliot P.
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