Ich Bin Gestellt Worden!

I love mail!! It is just a wonderful, joyous, exciting, ecstatic, time when you receive something just for you. I have to say that it is more exciting than email. Yes, I check my email everyday, sometimes several times and I get excited when I have something there to tell me about how you guys are doing but its not the same as getting a personal handwritten or typed letter from the good ol' post office. (I know run on sentence there). This week has definitely been no exception. I have received gift after gift from the pony express. First I received notice that I passed my AEPA test for teacher certification and today I received this...

I have received my placement to do my student teaching in Ansbach, Germany in a 4th grade classroom! I am very excited for this! I still cannot believe that I will be leaving my little town of Taylor and entering the unknown world of Germany. The adventures that await me in the classroom and outside the classroom are just too amazing to even grasp. I can't wait to get in the classroom and work hard and put to work my pedagogy (<--means pretty much your teaching philosophy - nothing like a little new vocab every once in awhile eh? Now try to pronounce it...). And I can't wait to get out and really 'see the world'! Germany holds SO much history along with its many neighboring countries. Prague is 3 1/2 hours away, Paris 6 1/2 hours, Rome 10 hours, Berlin 7 hours, Munich 2 hours...and the list goes on. Of course these are driving time so probably riding time will be shorter on the Metro (european train system).

This will definitely be a time in my life that I cannot and will not forget. I plan on forming memories to last a lifetime (sigh-ahhh). All I can say is bring on the German Chocolate Cake! I am ready for it!!! (so much for a diet eh?!)

P.S. Anyone know German????!???!!!?

YiPeE for mE!!!!!

Do you know how long a month is? Besides the 'sunday school answer' of 30 or 31 days except for February which has 28 or 29 days depending on whether it is leap year or not. Or 744 hours or 44,640 minutes or 2, 678, 400 seconds - really what is a month?? Here is what a month is...

An everlasting, black hole which conceals every movement into a canister the size of a pinky finger and goes on and on and on and on with no way of nowing when this black canister is going to end. Okay so I am not the best metaphorical master but that is what comes to my mind. Now the next question, why would I share with you this meaning of 'month'. Well a month ago today, Sept 20th, I entered a testing room at Gilbert High School to take the Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessment (AEPA). I was locked in a classroom with no electronic device that would get me out in an emergency, the emergency being a brain-attack or complete exhaustion. It was just me, 10 pencils, 1 eraser, 1 bottle of yucky water, a bubble sheet, and test booklet. (I void out the others taking the test because I could not even concentrate on them.) For three hours I was flashing back to every past moment of my education courses over the last 8 yrs. I KNOW my brain had never worked so hard. Ms. Cunningham's AP Seniors English final wouldn't have even come close to the pain and suffering my poor brain cells had to go through for this test. My synapses have never snapped in such fashion or cleaned off so many dusty shelves in the 'long-term memory' department. I'm telling you this was the bar exam for teachers. Not fun!

Well, today is October 20th, a month later and I have finally found the end to this black hole canister that my brain has been concealed in. I have received word that I PASSED the AEPA test. I CAN NOW OFFICIALLY BE A TEACHER in the state of AZ!! - I still have 8 weeks of school left this semester and my student teaching (which I still have not received word on where I am going) but I know I will pass the rest of the schoolwork so I am in good shape!

I dedicate my sucess for this test to Mozart, bananas, Moki's chicken katsu and a mighty brain who stayed with me throughout the whole 3 most agonizing hours of my life yet. YiPeE for mE!!

An insight...

I really don't have much to add to the blog but since it has been awhile and I am waiting for some big news I will give ya something to read about...

For those who might not know, my brother David is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Rome, Italy right now. This past week he wrote to us and told us about how the members of the LDS church reacted to the announcement of a temple in Rome. He said it was like a soccer game! Now if you need to know how the Italians (or any European for that matter) celebrates 'futbol' then you need to google World Cup 2006 and watch the videos. I must say that not only was this the response here on this earth but also the rejoicing of generations in Heaven. For all areas that are blessed with a new temple, not only is it felt here on earth but in Heaven because the door is opened to so many others to receive the blessings of our Heavenly Father who in this life did not have the opportunity to accept His gospel. It's absolutely amazing to think of!

Uhm...Well I was going to post more but it is of a different 'tone' so I will post it another time.

P.S. For those who are reading this and would like to know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, please go to www.mormon.org.