Rhythms

Today was an excellent day, especially in relative terms. As some of you might know, I´ve been having a rough couple weeks. I won´t get into details, but I think I reached that 3 month panic of living a year abroad. A strong mix of homesickness with difficult children. But things are definitely looking up now. I have a new energy and perspective, and had quite a bit of fun with the children today. I also got off work early, about 3:30, so that always helps... :) I just realized that coincidently the things that have made me happiest in the last couple days have to do with rhythm. Kind of a cheesy way to connect things, but I´m going to go with it. :)

Rhythm #1:
The Little Drummer Girl: Emma Sophie is a drumming prodigy. She blows my mind! She mastered "basic" (I still can´t make them work, myself) drumming patterns on the electronic drum set after only a few days. She can do many combinations with the snare, bass, and other parts of the drum set that I´m too percussively (is this even a word?) illiterate to describe. And her tempo is dead on. She never loses that internal beat, which amazes me. Today Torsten started to teach her more complicated patterns, and she even played along to a rock song that he hooked up to the set with a flash drive. It is so awesome to see her intensity! I really think this might be Emmi´s thing. I have been so confused by this bright, emotional child. She is so vibrant, and so extreme. But she has showed little interest in learning to read, write, etc. I don´t like comparing children´s achievements, because I know that of course they are very different and that makes life beautiful. But I still think it is interesting to observe. Paul Luis was already reading at 4 - and almost completely taught himself. He has now only been 7 for a few days, and is reading thick chapter books. He should still be in 1st grade, but has skipped ahead 3 grades already. The brilliance of this child almost terrifies me. He loves all things science, has memorized all the flags of the world, and can do some complicated math problems already. Emmi is barely one year younger, and has shown no interest in these things. I have wondered if some of this contributes to her fits and drama. But now I wonder if her drama is just a big part of who she is. This is difficult for me, because those tantrums are impossible to deal with sometimes. But I´m trying to be more sensitive to her young developing personality. It has really been amazing to see her shine on those drums. It gives her something to be proud of, and we´re all completely blown away (with minor headaches, mind you).

Rhythm #2:
Twas the Night:
Claudia and Torsten have asked me to help teach the children a Christmas poem to recite on Christmas Eve. This is a very big German tradition, apparently, to memorize Christmas poems. I was excited be this challenge, but honestly the only American Christmas poem I know is "Twas the Night Before Christmas." I looked it up online, and was worried by how long it actually is. But I printed it and showed it to Torsten today. He thinks it might be difficult, but really liked the history of the poem, and its tradition in American households. So we´re going to try! I read it to the children, and they love it. Who knows - it might be possible. I memorized it when I was a child, and I think I remember hearing that Aunt Ann and Aunt Jane could recite it when they were only 3 and 4! So we´ll see how this goes. This challenge really excites me for some reason, though, and it will be nice to refresh my own memory. I only remember the first 3 verses. I´ve also started singing simple Christmas songs to Emmi and Tivan in the car during the mornings on the way to Forest Kindergarten. I´m pretty sure Tivan thinks I´m insane, but Emmi loves it and has almost memorized Jingle Bells, Let it Snow, Rudolph, and White Christmas.

Rhythm #3:
Moon Phases:
Today Emma Sophie was very excited to see the moon in the sky as we drove to Kindergarten. She asked why it was so small, and I had a difficult time explaining why there are different phases of the moon in a way that is simple enough for a 5 year old with limited English to understand. She doesn´t know yet that the moon is bright because of the sun´s reflection, and that it changes shape due to the position and shadow. I had no idea how to explain all this (while driving) without building a model or something, but gave it a valiant effort. But she caught on better than I expected, and even learned to say and apply the word "crescent." Success!

Rhythm #4:
Salsa:
I´ve started taking Salsa Dance lessons after my German course on Wednesday evenings. Random, eh? But it is about time I start actually getting out and doing things around here. My friend Hanna has gone a few times already with Manuel, a guy around our age from Spain in a more advanced German course. She asked if I was interested this week, and without blinking I said "absolutely." It makes a very late night for me on Wednesdays, but it is definitely worth it. We left class by foot around 8:15, and got terribly lost. Around 9:15 we were already late for the class, and Hanna had me hop onto the back of her bike (which she was walking with us) and we soared through the streets of Kiel for another half hour! I was in deep pain from my metal "seat" where the basket usually sits, but it was kind of fun! Like we were in an old movie. Finally we found the club (translated to "The Dream Factory") which is a disco of sorts in an old brick mill. It was really warm and relaxed. Manu wasn´t too upset that we were late, and I caught on to the basic steps surprisingly fast. I was worried that the class would be formally structured, but because it was in a disco-bar, people could choose whether they wanted to be on the dance floor or sitting or mingling at the tables or bar on the side of the room. Such fun! Though a bit humiliating to go through the apologetic routine of "I speak very little German... I have never Salsa danced before..." each time we changed partners! Oh well. People were generally friendly, and I was shocked when I looked at the clock and it was already 10:50. I ran as quickly as I could to the station, which is normally a 40 minute trip by foot. I barely caught the 11:20 train back to Bordesholm. Whew! There might have been another coming at 12:03, but it is rarely reliable. It was pouring rain when I walked from the station to the garden house, and didn´t get to bed until well past midnight. But I didn´t mind. I might not go to lessons every week, because it makes a very late night considering I work early on Thursday mornings. But I definitely don´t regret it, and hope to go again soon!

So... these are some recent details that contribute to the "rhythms" (I stretched this one too far, didn´t I?) of my own life. This post is a bit longer than intended, but it has been a while since I´ve talked about random things like this. I hope life is treating you all well. Expect to hear from me again soon!