Day 7

Wow. I couldn’t believe that I had been in Germany for a whole week and yet, only a week. It felt like three weeks had passed and yet I barely new how to get around or what to do. The day was great with the kids. They got to have their first German lesson, as well as music and PE started. The bummer to the day was that I woke up with painfully swollen sinuses a headache and indigestion. PE consisted of the kindergarteners and first graders playing on the playground, and thankfully other teachers teach German and music, so I could be a little less “on” during those times.

This was also the day that we went to town hall to get my trash card (I’ll explain later) and meet the mayor of Weil. I was thankfully feeling much better at this point because of the two Excedrin I had taken earlier. The mayor told us about the history of Weil, about himself, and about his job. He is a very nice, funny guy. He studied in the US a couple times and has amazing English ability. He is a huge supporter of the school and is so positive about what can be achieved in the future for the school, but also for Weil am Rhein. We were there for about two hours where we got a picture taken for the local paper and were sent home with a ton of information on sites and activities around Weil and Basel. I might try to join one of the clubs a little later in the year when I get more of a handle on things.

While we were in the meeting, I had to use the toilet. I had to ask the mayor’s right hand man for directions and he was kind enough to show me to the staff restroom, which need a key that looks like a miniature head of a crow bar. I stood there looking at the door, which had a normal keyhole, trying to figure out how the two of these worked together. Finally, I decided to try the door without the key, and amazingly, it opened. I then discovered that the key was to open the stall door. Now, in Europe, it is always interesting to flush a toilet because you never know how the flushing mechanism will work. I have had to push, pull, twist, etc. This one was like a knob on a sink and you turned it and water flowed freely. You let it go until everything is gone and then you turn it back off. I have to say, my learning curve was much shorter on this toilet than it has been on others. Anyway, fun story about using the mayor’s bathroom.

By the time we left there, it was after 6pm and we decided it would be easier to go out than to make dinner. We were all tired. So, Anne, Allison, Michael, and Delynn, and I went to Tadim, which is a Turkish restaurant. I had the Turkish pizza, which was a bit spicy (I don’t normally do spicy, that’s my Gramma’s thing), but when you spread the lemon on it, it is amazingly delicious. I had the leftovers for lunch. I was excited that it wasn’t a sandwich.