settling in, getting lost, and the works.

to instruct, is to be responsible for building trusting relationships. 

Overall.....
It's been an adventurous couple of days. It is easy to get lost in a city that has same-height buildings that all look fairly similar in architecture. I do not wish to detail too many of my adventures - I would not want to give away secrets of how not to get lost, because getting lost may be my favorite part of orientating myself with a new city. Except when I am supposed to be at a meeting and get caught in a slew of taxi charges. Oh, what fun.

tonight, a beautiful dinner - and of course stunning conversation 
at Casalot: 
I keep forgetting to take pictures of these things. It is a middle eastern restaurant owned by an Israeli man - and this was the location chosen for our welcome dinner. I have gotten quite used to discussing politics here in Germany, whether it be American or general philosophy - but one particular conversation stood out. So, I met the teacher I am working with, Heidrun Klare. She was summarizing the demographic of the school (Herbert Hoover Schule) - which is predominantly turkish. Literally, about 5% of the school is German - pretty similar to how minority clusters work in the United States.
Then she began a more serious conversation about her experiences at Herbert Hoover Schule.  For those of you reading who don't already know - Herbert Hoover was an American president who was fairly well liked and received in Berlin. He made extra effort to provide food to those in need during times of war and other aspects of the general welfare - regardless of his "republican party." Partisan politics of course were different back then, which is something to learn through books or other discussions. Anyway, Harriet started working in 2004 in Herbert Hoover Schule which is predominantly composed of the Turkish and Arab people, who are often Muslim.
"The Bush times, were hard times."
To work as a teacher in a school of Arab children who are now having their identity attacked for simply being born with a certain appearance, caused the children to shy or disregard any white authority - unless they gained trust. So in the first few weeks of her first year at HHS (a republican US president) - she was asked "how do you feel about Bush?" Once she clearly dismissed his approach to international relations, the students felt they could trust her.

This led to many more conversations surrounding the theme of what it means to educate between a teacher and a student - and that it must always begin with knowing the students.

As much as I think the attitude of teachers should change to that of Heidrun's, of building trust on both ends.. it is hard to demand all people to change. Maybe it is better to focus on making different types of schools more accessible so student can try to suit their own learning style. Ehhh... this is getting to broad now and away from my day. I'll come back to this later.