Christkindlmarkt

It is the season of Christmas Markets here in Germany and so it was only fitting that the girls school put on their own.  With vendors selling their handmade wares, Christmas craft stations, traditional food and drink, concerts by both the kids and adults and even an appearance by Santa there was fun to be had by everyone from 1 to 92.  It was our first time visiting our sister campus out in Haimhausen (well, technically second if you count the tour before we enrolled) and we were once again blown away by the beauty of the school and how welcoming the families were to us "city folk".  The girls had a great time running free with their friends and trying their hands at some games.  I did capture them a few times and sit with them to make some crafts but then they were off again to roam the playground or the halls with what seemed like every single child from both campuses.  Which was just as well as it gave me some time to chat with my friends.  All in all a very successful afternoon - even if I didn't win my raffle baskets of choice (see below).

We did both - cookies and ornaments.

She sure likes her sweets...

This one chose to paint instead...

They took off so I listened to the band for a bit...

 And then, by some miracle, we captured a group of them and got a picture with Santa...

 It was getting towards the end of the day so they decided to make one more craft...

 Finally, it was time for the raffle.  Each grade level put together a basket according to a theme they were assigned.  The MadHatter's class was given Chocolate and Stinkerbell's Baking.  Their baskets turned out pretty great thanks to a lot of hard work by our class moms.

 I, of course, put a ticket into each of their baskets but I had one left so I had to decide what I wanted more...beer or bar...

In the end, I went with the bar but it hardly mattered because half of the school did too, I suppose.  These Haimhausen classes are much larger than our city ones so they have a lot (a lot) more people donating which made for some pretty incredible prizes.  We must take note for next year!

Student Led Conferences

We were off of school again this week for two days (same as last week - it's no wonder we don't get out of school until the 1st of July).  This time it was for student led conferences and we were all a bit excited about them.  The girls had been working hard for the past few weeks making sure that they had picked out just the right things to show me and tell me about their class.  They are limited to 20 minutes so they had to be selective and make sure the work was still representative of their learning.  Quite a feat for them to reduce 3 months of work into such a short presentation but they both did it.  And did it fabulously.

I am so proud of these two girls.  They have shown resilience and adaptability beyond even my understanding.  They have switched schools (for the 3rd time!) and have had to make an entirely new group of friends while adapting to new ways of teaching and a new language (their 4th - yikes) all without a single word of complaint.  And if their conferences were any indication they are doing it all spectacularly well.

B wasn't able to come to our conferences as he was traveling but it allowed me to snap a few pictures of the work the girls are doing...I give you a peek into what 2nd and 3rd grade are like here in Germany (at least at our International school).

Stinkerbell was first (and with back to back conferences it also meant she got a little less time) and she was so proud of her work.  First she showed me her reflections on 2nd grade so far...

She then took me on a tour of their library and what they were working on in terms of Non Fiction books.  She described to me the different features in the book and even told me what the difference between labels and captions was.

We moved on to her maths and she showed me a bit of her work with the larger numbers...

And then she showed me how proud she was of her spelling...

The 20 minutes flew by and I would have loved to stay for a bit longer but MadHatter had her conference right next door at that moment and they were waiting for us.  So I dropped Stinkerbell at the childcare area and picked MadHatter up for her to show me around her classroom.

She began by showing me the class rules.  The kids decided these themselves on the very first week of school and pledged to follow them.  Her teacher assures me that she is doing great in this respect!

Next, we saw the wall that shows where each of the kids comes from and a little about themselves and their traditions.  MadHatter picked Chile for this assignment as her teacher told her that because she was the only one that had lived outside their home county longer than in it she should be able to pick what culture she connected with most.

With only 12 kids in her class they still have a very diverse classroom.

 We moved into what they were currently studying...

And what her class was doing to help the community and the world...

Created by MadHatter and her friend N.

Our tour of the classroom finished, we down and let her share her successes, knowledge and creativity.  And then she told me her challenges and what she needed to put more effort into.  Her presentation was well thought out and her insights into what she needed to work on were spot on.

What she has been working on - taking risks.

Her proudest achievement is her progress in maths.

Another challenge...

And another success.  I love that the school is still teaching cursive.

 The time flew by once again and we were late for our meeting with their German teachers but I got a quick meeting and a snap or two of what they were working on.  It is pretty basic at this point but I am so proud of them for trying (and for wanting to learn more).  I just have to keep in mind that this is language 4 for them and they are only 7 and 8.  

 Finally, we hit up the PE and music rooms and finally the library.  I love that their librarian is making the kids self-sufficient by allowing them to earn badges in shelving, checking out and cataloging.  As a former library worker (and current volunteer) this makes my heart happy.  Both girls are working towards their check out badge!

And that is a wrap on conferences.  Once again, so proud of my girls and happy to hear the enthusiasm in their voices and the spring in their steps when it comes to learning and going to school.

Residenz Museum

We were well rested by the time we entered school on the Tuesday morning after fall break.  We had truly enjoyed ourselves in Prague and Dubai but it was time for us to do some learning once again and that included me too.  The Culture Club at the girl's school plans outings in and around Munich so we can all get to know our adopted home.  On Thursday we all met for lunch and then headed across the street to the Residenz Museum for a private tour of the Treasury.  There were over 50 of us so we were split into two groups and I think I ended up in the wrong group for me.

You see, I only have so much patience for museums.  I love to hear the stories and see the artifacts but only for so long.  And then my mind starts to wander, or I a pretty gem catches my eye or I just get plain old bored.  Our tour guide was fabulously detailed and loved her subjects - but maybe a bit too much?  There are 9 rooms in the Treasury; we were still in room #1 20 minutes into the tour.  At that rate, it would take us 3 hours to finish.  Way too long for me to keep my attention focused.  And thankfully my friend S thought the same way.  We wandered off shortly after the group entered room #2 and we finished the tour on our own.  But just because we skipped out on the private tour doesn't mean that we didn't learn anything or enjoy our time in the Treasury because we surely did...and we even got to tour the Residenz apartments since we had time left before we had to pick up the kids from school.  I call that a win-win.

The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and was at one time the Royal Palace of the Bavarian Monarchs.  It has 10 large courtyards, 130 rooms and contains a Theatre, a church and a music hall which are all still in use today.  The Residenz construction was begun in 1385 by financing from the citizens of Munich as a punishment for a failed uprising against King Stephen III.  It was built to keep the royal family safe from future coup attempts by their rebellious subjects but it was also to keep them safe from their own war loving relatives.  The palace was constructed almost as a city within a city with quick escape routes built in for the royal family.  At one point it even had a moat surrounding it (and yes, Munich is completely landlocked).

We didn't have the time (or frankly, the patience) to visit all parts of the museum but we did see two of the most famous.

We started our tour in the Treasury.  Founded by Duke Albert V it houses the jewels of the Wittelsbach dynasty (rulers from 1180 to present day).  The collection is one of the most important in the world and spans over 1000 years of Bavarian history.  That is about all we learned before wandering off to just look at the pretty shiny things...I jest, but only slightly.

Carved entirely of wood and made to look like marble...

The Palatine Crown, or Bohemian Crown, of Princess Blanche.  The oldest surviving crown of the English royal family and it dates back to 1370.

The Cross of Queen Gisela and the Reliquary of Emporer Henry II from 1000 a.d.  

The Reliquary Crown of Henry II.

Alter-ciborium of Emporer Arnulf of Carinthia

Crucifix from 1629.

Statuette of St. George.

There is an impressive collection of miniatures housed here and also a few things that we had a hard time deciphering what they would be for (see the picture below and see if you can see the hand gestures used in this...charm?)

At this point, we had seen all 9 rooms and our tour group was still in room 3.  S and I decided that since we had some time we would take a quick wander through the Apartments.  This time we picked up some headphone tour guides before we set off because we found that sometimes too little information was as bad as too much.

The residence part of the Residenz is quite opulent and grand in scale (as are most royal palaces).  Though it is going through a renovation at the moment and there was a lot of it closed or behind scaffolding, we were still impressed.

We began by walking through the Antiquarium.  It is the oldest room in the Munich Residence (1568) and also is the largest and most lavish Renaissance hall north of the Alps.  I also found it to be the most impressive room in the whole palace (even if there was scaffolding at both ends).

The 16 paintings on the crown (ceiling) show allegories of fame and the virtues.

The lunettes and the windows show 102 different views of the towns that made up what was then the Duchy of Bavaria.

The small throne room where one could get an audience with Royalty.

There were many bedrooms, all making me question how big these people were as the beds were tiny and very short.

Part of the Rich Rooms is this Mirror room (you can see why), a place where guest waited for an audience.

This wallpaper from the Rich Rooms made me want to redo the dining room!

The Green Gallery was used for festive gatherings and is used as a picture and mirror gallery.

Our final peek - the court chapel.  You can't get any closer than this, the second story gallery, which was ok by me because this is where the royal family watched mass when the public worshiped below.

At this point, S and I were both done with our lessons for the day and ready to head out.  We grabbed a quick tea and bit of cake and said goodbye as we headed into the metro to pick up the girls from school.  History lesson accomplished!