December - the Busiest Time of Year No Matter Which Country You Live In

There were about a billion and one things we did during the rather short month of December.  All of these things were unique to being in Wolfsburg and memorable.  For example, the Waldorf school traditions definitely know how to create a marvelous atmosphere when it comes to celebrating the holidays.  We celebrated the four Advent Sundays on the following Mondays each morning starting on November 30th.

Soon after the morning bell rang, the classes from the first through seventh grade would file into the main hall where the appropriate candles of the giant Advent wreath hanging above was already lit.  The candles on the wreath and the candles on the table with the nativity display were the only lights in the gray December mornings (aside from the few stand lights for the musicians).  Then a select group of students would begin the celebration by performing some music.  Some of the classes would sing advent songs, others would play pieces on their recorders (blockflöte).  For the last morning, our sixth grade band performed a few Christmas tunes.

After the music, the seventh class teacher, Rolf, would recite the next installment of the story of Die Lichtflamme (a condensed and translated version here) -- all from memory.  Rolf could be the epitome of fun and spunky grandfathers.  That combined with his theatrical voice made for a lovely story telling.  Once his portion of the celebration was complete, our sixth class teacher Frank would lead the students singing more Advent songs with his guitar.  Each morning ended by singing a round as the students filed back to their classrooms. 

Below is Corrina, class three teacher, leading students in Advent songs.

 

Probably the most anticipated and slightly stressful part of December (for Mike and me) was the winter music concert featuring all of the high school performing ensembles.  Not only was it the first official music performance of the year for our groups, but it was also our "debut" as the new music teachers.  Of course things went well.  As is tradition, the concert was held in a nearby church.  Because of a slight schedule mix-up, our sixth graders had their performance at this concert as well.  They followed the "project choir" run by one of our colleagues for older students who want to sing in choir, but cannot because orchestra and choir rehearsals happen at the same time in our schedule.  My school choir followed the sixth graders, which Mike so graciously lent his voice and piano skills, and then the orchestra closed the concert. 

This picture is from the dress rehearsal just before the concert.  For some reason I only got a picture of our colleague Mattias in front of the orchestra.  You can easily imagine Mike standing in his place.

Lastly, to touch on the other aspect of our jobs here at the Waldorf school, the upper grade English teachers all received an interesting invitation from the city inviting us and some of our students to the Rathaus to participate in a "town-hall-meeting" with the new U.S. ambassador to Germany and other students from area schools.  Having no idea what it would entail besides some sort of dialogue about U.S. and German relations, Mike, Annelie, and I went with about ten or twelve of our students to see what it would be about. 

Some how Annelie and Mike (who arrived before me since I had class until 3) procured prime seats.  This is the view of the event from the 2nd floor.

When Ambassador Philip Murphy finally arrived, he received a Wolfsburg soccer jersey as a gift.  The team here happened to do very well in the last year, winning the German championship, and the ambassador was formerly a soccer coach. 

 

I have to admit, it was a lot of English at once and he talked rather quickly for a long period of time, but discussing the event with my eleventh graders in class the next day, those that went were overall pleased by the experience.  Most notable to them was how, during the question-and-answer part of his appearance, he was very personal and friendly with the students.  He would walk up to the student asking a question, hand the student his own microphone, ask for the student's name, and tell them that he was pleased to meet him or her.  For being an older adult, they also thought he was pretty cool.  Before the conference started and while we waiting for the ambassador to arrive, current popular music from the states like Lady Gaga and other stuff you'd hear on pop radio was played over the loudspeakers.  The word passed around was the mix was the ambassador's current favorite music.

To me, it seemed less a "town-hall-meeting" than a chance for the ambassador to give a speech about the history of German and American relations after the war, but it was interesting to hear what he had to say.  He also allowed time for students to ask any question they wanted of him and he gave very thoughtful answers to all of them.  In any case, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany was in Wolfsburg and Mike and I got to go hear him speak, which is not something that happens every day.