Posts made in November, 2008

Was bin ich von Beruf?

Posted by vienna on Nov 5, 2008 in Other Tongue | 0 comments

Ich bin Lehrerin von Beruf aber im Moment arbeite ich nicht als Lehrerin, weil es für mich fast unmöglich ist als Lehrerin zu arbeiten. Mein Mann und ich reisen so viel und es gibt keine Schule, die mir viel Urlaub gibt. Deshalb habe ich versucht einen Job zu finden und darin war ich erfolgreich. Jetzt arbeite ich als Blogger und diesen Job mag ich sehr gern, weil ich wann und wo ich will arbeiten kann. Ich arbeite zu Hause. Da hat mein Mann ein Heimbüro für mich eingerichtet. Mein Job macht mir Spaß, weil Schreiben zu meinen Hobbys gehört und weil ich für Web Design großes Interesse habe. Normalerweise schreibe ich nur morgens. Ich finde das gut weil ich nachmittags andere Sachen machen kann. Im Grunde bin ich meine eigene Chefin aber es gibt auch Zeiten, in denen ich abends arbeiten muss. Meine Kunden sind aus Amerika. Daher haben wir einen großen Zeitunterschied und das ist ein Nachteil.

Momentan ist Blogging ein perfekter Job für mich, aber in der Zukunft möchte ich wieder als Lehrerin arbeiten. Kinderunterrichten ist meine erste Liebe deshalb wäre ich glücklicher, wenn ich in der Zukunft unterrichten könnte.

Another Day in our German Class

Posted by vienna on Nov 4, 2008 in People and Places | 0 comments

You might have already heard about the discussion in our German class last Friday. When my German teacher talk to me and apologized, I thought it’s over. Of course, I was still a little bit mad but I thought, “Monday will be another day and this will all be forgotten”. So when I came to class yesterday, I acted like nothing happened but I am curious about how it’s going to be. I was actually in a very good mood. But when this particular teacher entered the class, the first thing he said was “Today, I brought a book so next time we have a discussion about some things again, we can directly check DUDEN.” Fine. But the thing that made me think that “IT” is not over yet was that whenever one of us makes a mistake, he’d say, “Wait, wait, wait. I think that was a wrong but let me check the book.” And he does it in a really sarcastic manner. What an asshole.

I am glad that we will have Karin for today and for the next two days. It’s good to have a break from Herr Bucher. With Karin, the class is relaxed and pleasant. We even call each other by first names but with Herr Bucher, we play it formal and call each other by our last names so imagine what complaints my Chinese classmates have whenever they have to call me by my long compounded last name. I like learning German but teacher like Herr Bucher makes me hate it.

Why I Called Him an Asshole

Posted by vienna on Nov 3, 2008 in People and Places | 0 comments

Because I mentioned that my German teacher is an asshole, I will tell you the story that lead me to say that.

We were in the class that day and we were talking about fast food. What a topic! So anyway, my German teacher (who is from Northern Germany) asked me what fast food is common in the Philippines. So I said we have restaurants like McDonalds and KFCs but he said that those are from America. I said, if such food from such restaurants are not counted then I really can’t think of any Philippine fast food. Then he asked, what about noodles? I said, “No, instant noodles are from China (Instand Noodles sind aus China).” And I said China as “Kina”. Then he said something that made my blood rush to my head.

A-hole (in a really sarcastic way): “Kina?!?” Only the Austrians say “Kina!”
Me (took it as a direct attack to my husband): Is that so? I am sure that people from south of Germany also say “Kina”.
A-hole (cornered): Yeahhhh…. But the right pronunciation is “China” like the “ch” in “ich”.
Me: Ok, then. Instant Noodles sind aus China (tried to say right).
A-hole (smirking so arrogantly): “Chhhhiiiii-na” (stressing the sound).
Me: “China” (Tried to say the word again but was sounding funny). I am sorry sir, it’s difficult for me. I need more practice.
A-hole (still smirking so arrogantly): If you wanna learn “high German” you should learn how to pronounce the words properly.
Me (really angry now): Well sorry sir but it is not my aim to speak like the Germans do. I just want to be understood. How many brain cells will you need to understand that when I said “Kina” I meant this big country in Asia where the Chinese are from?
A-hole (got angry too): If you continue to speak like that, people will think you have a stupid teacher.
Me: I don’t think so. If I speak like this, people will know that I am not German and that is a beautiful thing (sarcastic). Accent is beautiful, it is part of what you are, and it arouses people’s interest. If you don’t speak like them, they’d be interested to know where you are from.
A-hole (cornered): I don’t care. I am the teacher in this class. I make the rules. You are the students, you follow.

There was a long discussion after that. One classmate came to my rescue but the two others remained quiet. I can’t remember now how it ended but it didn’t end well. So anyway, all throughout the class I had this sour look on my face and he noticed that because he asked if we can talk during the break and so we did.

A-hole: Can we talk outside.
Me: Why not just here?
A-hole: Cause I need to smoke.
Me: Fine. (we went outside). Can we talk in English?
A-hole: Yeah, ok.
Me: so?
A-hole: I noticed that what happened in there made you angry.
Me: Off the records. Yes, that made me angry.
A-hole: Sorry but we had this discussion before. I just realized now that you were not here when it happened the first time. So when it came up again, I got irritated immediately.
Me: I hope that next time…, when something like this comes up, you should also remember that we are all adults in there. You don’t need to treat us like kids. I hope you’d handle matters better.
A-hole: Handle matters better… hmmm? Tell me, how would that be? You are a teacher too right?
Me: Yes and if it would have been me in front, I would have handled it differently.
A-hole: How exactly?
Me: I don’t know…. Just in a less-asshole kind of way I guess.
A-hole (blown away cause of the word asshole): (Let out a deep breath) Ok. I’ll remember that. So I am really sorry again.
Me: Ok, I’ll go inside now because I feel cold out here.

So he asked for forgiveness but I don’t really think that was genuine. He’ll be my teacher again later and I don’t know what will happen. I will act like nothing happened but if he acts like an asshole to me again; he’ll be hearing words he can’t stomach. He can be sure of that.

No Mistakes, No Pain, No Nothing

Posted by vienna on Nov 2, 2008 in People and Places | 0 comments

I do believe in marriage. I do believe in love. I do believe in “staying together for the rest of our lives”. Once might call me fool, naïve, of somebody who is hopelessly out of touch with reality but imagine this world without people like me. Imagine a world filled with people who are realistic, practical, and well people who don’t believe in love and romance. People who say “I don’t like what I do but I am still here because the money is good” or “I don’t have the slightest feeling for you for ok, I’ll marry you because you are rich” value convenience over passion and if all people were like that, this world would be a really sad place.