A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Living Room...

I decided to do another post. :)

After fighting with Google to figure out how to use Google Friend Connect for about an hour earlier, I had decided I was done posting for today. However, since a few people have requested my blog link already, I thought it would be a good idea to post something substantial that people might actually want to read. ha, ha!

Now the question is, what to start with: our trip to Amsterdam, what my daily life is like right now, my first few days at "work"...

At the moment, most of the questions I have been getting are "how is work?" and "what do you do for work now?", so I think I will begin there.


I work in the office of the DJK Nieder-Olm Verein. Verein translates to club, so it is basically a basketball club. DJK is pronounced, in German, Day-Yoht-Ka, by the way. From how Felix has explained it to me, it's like a minor league basketball team. The website will be in German, but if anyone is interested, here is the link: http://www.nieder-olm-basketball.de/. I started last Wednesday at 11:00am. My normal schedule is 10-1 on Mondays and Wednesdays in the office. On Wednesdays, I also accompany one of the other girls in the office to the Zornheim Gründschule (elementary school) to lead a couple of after school programs from 1-4. Her name is Marie and she is 19. In May, she plans on leaving the verein and beginning her training to become a Polizei (police officer). In 2008 she did an exchange program in Boston and lived with a family there for 3 weeks. I think she is the first German (outside of Felix's parents) to willingly speak LOTS of English with me. She said she loves to speak English and other than me, she doesn't have anyone to speak with.

The other woman in the office is named Donja (pronounced Dohn-ya, like Sonia) and she brings in her big black dog to the office.

He is a large, calm dog. I think his name is Rudy, but it always takes me a while to catch on to "normal"names here because of the different spin the Germans put on names.  Even something as simple and short as Paul is harder for me to catch here. Donaj's English is pretty good as well, but she follows Ralf's lead and only uses English when I say I don't understand what she said in German, which is fine. She only works with me on Wednesdays, so I haven't been around her much. Her dog just lays over by her desk and sleeps all day. ha, ha.

Ralf has been there for varying times every day I have been in the office so far. He was 1.25 hours late the first day, but that's okay. My first day I was late after a semi-traumatic morning, so I still showed up before him.

Felix drove me to work on Wednesday. I told him he didn't need to bother finding a parking spot or walk me in. A few days prior, we drove by the entrance to the building and Felix pointed in the general direction and gave me verbal instructions to go up one floor. So Wednesday morning I walked through the open doorway at the end of the walkway and went up the elevator to the first floor. It was nothing but doctors' offices. I went up to the 2nd and then the 3rd floor; all doctors' offices. I went down to the ground floor and found a back entrance to the offices of a shop Felix took me to last year to buy resume paper. In my weak German, I asked the lady, "Wo ist die DJK?" She started answering me in quick German with an air of annoyance and the only word I understood was "Rathaus." Rathaus is the city hall. I thought she was trying to direct me away from that building to the Spielhalle, or the gym where the basketball games are held, which is on the other side of town, so I changed my question and asked, "Ein bischen Deutsch. Wo ist die DJK Büro?" Which means, "a little German. Where is the DJK office?" The woman started talking at me again, so I just said "Danke" and left. I walked up towards the Rathaus and realized that wasn't going to get me to the office at all and I don't have a cell phone still, so I had no way to call Ralf, Felix, or anyone. Then I walked up the street a little further to where Oma Lotte, Felix's maternal grandmother, lives.

I rang the bell and she buzzed me in. I tried to tell her, in German, "Ich arbeite heute" (I work today), but instead, she offered me some mittagessen (lunch). I politely declined and she reassured me it was "ohne Fleisch" (without meat), but I still declined, so she offered me a drink, and I declined again. Finally, I asked her, in English, if I could borrow her phone to call Felix. I don't think she understood much other than "Felix" though. :) I called Felix, who was thankfully just down the road at the Post Office. He picked me up and dropped me off INSIDE the office this time. Turns out, the door Felix meant for me to go through was on the right side of the walkway, not the open one at the end of it.

Felix kissed me goodbye after introductions had been made. Marie showed me to the desk across from her and turned on my computer. I checked my personal e-mail and made notes to myself in my planner until Ralf showed up because Marie and Donja didn't know what Ralf had in store for me. I ended up sitting around for the rest of the day. As a group, the 4 of us decided on my schedule and Ralf informed me that on Wednesdays, I would need to wear sport clothes because I was to accompany Marie to the Gründschule. At 1, Marie and I left to head to the school.


My next post will tell the tale of my experience at the Gründschule and my original expectations for what my work responsibilities would be versus what they are turning out to be. Stay tuned! :)