A Day in the Life of Benjamin Fritz

Benjamin often has really good days here.  Of course, he has some not so good days but for the most part he is really liking life here.
Last week Marty picked Benjamin up from school and they ate lunch in the school cafeteria just like old times.   On Thursdays I have German class until 1PM and he gets out of school at 1PM so I sense a lot of these cafeteria Dad and Benjamin lunch dates in the future.
On Thursday they had pancakes for hot lunch.  What??? Yep, pancakes with maple syrup cooked in.  Along with fruit flavored quark which is pretty much like yogurt with fruit jam.

 He was in heaven.  He also has library day on Thursdays and got a new library book.  He is really really into reading lately which makes me SOO happy!!
Then his best friend, Clayton, came by the lunch table.
And then later in the day before bed he enjoyed our fancy whirlpool tub.

Happy, Happy Benjamin.  Until the next morning where he currently fights the 7:00 AM alarm clock.

This is what he looks like most of the morning... Growing is part of it, I'm sure.  Most of his pants become too short overnight.

School and Cold Feet

This is not my school or the kids but
some of the school buildings here are just
super cool.  This is just one of the many
schools I passed walking to my class. 

Well, I was a touch nervous but my feet really were cold in the freezing sense not in the nervous sense as it had snowed overnight and my walk to my first day of German classes was quite slippery.
Just before we left for Athens we got a call that there was room for me in the German class A1.2. It was interesting because I am clearly a beginner and the message (which went to Marty's phone) was a woman speaking German very quickly.  So quickly, in fact, that he and Josie had to listen to it several times to get the call back number correct.  If the message had gone to me and I didn't have anyone in my life that understood German how in the world did they expect me to know that there was a space for me?  So crazy that they wouldn't leave the message in English.  But maybe they don't know where I am coming from and which language I speak but still at least she could have spoken really slowly and enunciate her words.

I had tested into this class but there was no room so I opted to take the very first class offered A1.1 because if I didn't I would have had to wait until at least the middle of February or even mid March before there would be a guaranteed space.   But since a spot opened up and the class was offered in Zehlendorf (A1.1 only had place in the Steglitz class) and because the A1.2 class had Fridays off instead of Tuesdays I jumped at the chance.  I was a bit nervous as I do understand a bit of German but not sure I was at the level to skip an entire 5 week /16 hours a week course worth of German.

But off I went.  I made my lunch along with the kids in the morning and after school drop off I made my way to my class.  From the map it looked to be just behind the Sbahn station.  It turned out to be a much further walk but I made with 15 minutes to spare.  Starting something new is hard and I thought about how nearly effortlessly both Benjamin and Josie started school here this year.
I was the first one to arrive at the classroom so I found a chair and put down my things and pulled out the books I had borrowed from a friend who had already taken this class -the books I ordered had not arrived yet.
The class slowly starts to fill up.  I talk with a couple of people are from the US who are sitting across the room.  When the teacher arrives there are about 15 or 16 of us sitting in a U-shape.  The teacher seems very German.  All business and all in German.  I'm a bit nervous because I know I skipped a level and not too sure what to expect.  It turns out 95 of the class all took level A1.1 together for the past 5 weeks so most people know each other.
The class proceeds all in German.  In fact, if anyone speaks English at all the teacher scolds you and says "kein Englisch" It is interesting because she never says that when people speak Arabic to each other or other languages.  Just English.
I understand nearly everything she says.  She speaks very clearly and slowly which helps and I know the context which also helps.
My classmates are all kind. There is an interesting mix of young and old.  There are 2 women (one in her early 20s and one is probably her early 50's who are both from Brazil.  There is a guy probably in his mid 20's from southern Italy.  There are a handful of students from Middle Eastern countries.  There are 5 of us, including myself, from the US.  One guy is from the Middle East originally but lived in Italy for 20 years and found it too stressful and too difficult to find a good job.  There is one woman from Norway who has a Pakistani father and a German mother.  The mix is truly interesting and the one thing I notice more than anything else is how seriously they are all taking this class and how supportive they are of one another.  I really don't "need" to take this class.  I'm interested in learning German but with Marty and Josie and some newer friends I could get help with German if I really needed it and as a teacher I could get a job teaching or subbing without really knowing German.  My guess is there are a lot of people in the class who really NEED to learn German.
So I mess up a few times but really try to understand everything and do the right thing.  It is funny because after teaching Spanish I now know what it is like to be on the other side of the table.  To not really understand everything or what the teacher is asking.  So... to my former students, I apologize for not being more sympathetic.  It is hard to remember what it is like to not understand something.  It seems that once you know how to speak a language you can't remember ever not knowing how to.

By the end of the class my brain was fried.  I was so tired and it felt like I had run a mental marathon.  When I got home I told Marty I really liked it but can't believe I have to do it again the next day and every Monday-Thursday for the next 5 weeks!! Yikes!! I made some popcorn and the kids and I did our homework together.  Josie thought it was HILARIOUS that she is about 100% better at German than I am and that she was able to help me with my homework.

Athens Day 2

Our second day was just as spectacular as our first.  We went to the #1 breakfast restaurant in Athens (according to Trip  Advisor) named Meliartos and it was YUMMY and cheap.  Actually all of our food and drinks were very cheap in Athens which is amazing because we thought Berlin prices were cheap compared to Seattle and now Athens is cheap compared to Berlin.

After breakfast we decided opt for a day in the city rather than 3 hours on a bus.  We walked up to the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon . There were incredible views and the sun even came out for us. 

One of the upsides to traveling in the low season other than much lower prices is that there are also much fewer tourists.  I can only imagine how hard it would be to get a good photo without a million other people in it.

The kids really took it all in.  We saw the Temple of Athena and walked under the ENORMOUS pillars. 

Temple of Zeus in the background

On our walk down we came across a huge stray cat colony.  The kids were in heaven.  There was another tourist that came along with a box of cat food and distributed it between the kids and three of them feed and petted the cats for at least an hour.

After the hike up to and around the acropolis we stopped by a place (Freskos) which was right around the corner from our Airbnb that served delicious Greek yogurt with your choice of different toppings.  Not only did you choose your toppings (different kids of nuts, honey, granola,fruit, smarties) but you also choose your percentage of fat in your yogurt (1%, 5%, 8% or 10%)  It was SO so good.  As was the fresh honey. 

After a short down time we went back to the Olympic Stadium and found the secret, local entrance around back which was free and open to the public but really only the locals know about it. 

We ran a few "races" and took a few cool photos and were very impressed with the view.
We went out the wrong way and got stuck after walking all the way down we had to head back up and exit the way we came in.  The kids were SOO tired and SOO hungry by this time that we caved and went to the same restaurant that we had gone to the previous night out of hunger and desire to have just as good of a meal for our final night.  And it was even better than the night before.  Yum.
We agreed that we met some of the nicest, warmest and friendliest people while in Greece.  We also agreed that we ate some of the yummiest food since arriving in Europe 6 months ago.
So in the end 3 nights and 2 full days was definitely worthwhile.

The kids kept up with every step. Both days
we clocked in between 9 and 10 miles