30.9.2007 Grenzenlos - borderless

I find the photo inspiring: the Bavarian lion and the Austrian eagle facing and embracing each other for a peaceful present and an even more prosperous future....isn't that what sister cities are designed to help create as well?

How are Paderborn and Belleville stimulating each other to create valuable outcomes that better serve both cities and their folks? How could we add to these efforts? What visions and attitudes would be beneficial?

Tourists and natives alike pose in front of this wooden sign in a forest between Mittenwald,Germany and Leutasch,Austria indicating the demarcation line where the old border used to be.Now it has grown into a borderless region with fantastic scenery and endless hiking opportunities.No passport required here - not even a friendly "Grüß Gott" is needed for the border is no more - here the United States of Europe is a lived reality - the lion and the eagle are finally having a ball.

21.9.2007 And the operator says: 40 cents more...

I love to sing along when I shower and one of my favorite songs right now is "Sylvia's Mother" by Dr. Hook .....it is about a caller who is desparate to talk to his ex-girlfriend - Sylvia - one more time from a phone booth and there is this voice from the operator asking him to deposit another forty cents for the next three minutes...those times of operator interrupted calls are long gone - today forty American cents would be roughly 28 European cents, enough money to allow for a ten minute international,overseas phone call between Carolin's mother here and her daughter in Belleville...now that's really good news to sing about.

20.9.2007 Spellbound - in one direction only?

Recently the school where I am currently teaching had its 40th anniversary and it was a busy day for teachers, students and visitors alike - many interesting projects had been prepared and there were speeches,performances and reunion tears as well.

Everyone was in a somewhat elevated mode - there was a much different energy in the building as busy bees were roaming the hallways offering fresh fruit snacks and tips on where to go to next....

I ended up in one classroom of a fifth grade class - they proudly presented their English project: the 50 States of America - I stopped at the description of Oregon first and then I saw the Illinois and Kansas posters...and the eagerness of the two students who had drawn them warmed my heart...they had memorized their data and they could name the capitols of each and it was as if they were ready to be beamed across the Ocean to experience their treasures in reality.

I left that room wondering what it would take for us here to create the same fascination in the Illinois fifth graders for them to want to draw up a poster of our Northrhine-Westphalia highlights and then to long to make it over here?

15.9.2007 Left Brain - Right Brain

Being a foreign language teacher is what I really enjoy doing.There are always some new challenges.Like this one: In one of my seventh grade classes all the boys sit on the left side from the center aisle ( when I face them ) and all the girls seated themselves on the right side.And there is this wide gap space - the middle aisle - which separates the two "blocks". Their seating arrangement reminds me of the attached mind-map drawing depicting the typical assumed activities of the left brain and those of our right brain.I found the drawing in a wonderful book on mind-mapping by Nancy Margulies called: Mapping Inner Space.

So on my left side I face the boys with their energies and needs and on my right side are the girls with their colors and dreams....and I guess if I somehow put up the former Berlin Wall between the two groups both sides would cheer me on - that is how far apart they are in their behaviors,needs and learning styles.

Our English text book is only of limited help. For the next lesson the authors provide us with two main texts: one about the game of rugby ( I guess to satisfy the boys' interests ) and one about a leisurely bicycling tour through Northern and Southern Wales ( catering to the girls ?).

But just as our brain has an interface to allow for a collaboration between its two parts I will try to use a third text item to stimulate the interest and cooperation of ALL class members: it is an article about fat couch potatoes and what can be done about overcoming and preventing child obesity.

Although the two topics on sports and the one on nutrition may help me to get the attention of all my seventh graders it will most likely be a fleeting one - for their gender based division is a visible and felt fact and I phantasize that it might be far more effective if the system allowed the foreign language teacher ( and other subject teachers as well ) to instruct each group individually - during this and probably the next two grades as well.I know this is being tried out with some success mostly in private Highschools in the US - we as teachers and as parents here don't have these options - as of yet.

9.9.2007 A sweet promise - from the other side

When we get involved in facilitating exchanges of people there are many "official" functions and roles awaiting us: Our Deutsch-Amerikanischer Freundeskreis ( DAFK ) for instance has a President,a secretary,a projectmanager, a treasurer,a webmaster etc. and our sister - city counter part in Illinois the Belleville Sister City organization ( BSC ) offers similar positions to its members as well.

Recently two other ones were added or reactivated: the matchmaker and the mailman.Let me explain:A delegation from Paderborn will soon travel to Belleville in mid-october and folks there agreed to act as hosts for our delegates. Making these matches here, our secretary Dr. A. matched up our delegate Giesela Sch. of Paderborn with her Belleville host Nancy M. and since Giesela Sch. doesn't have email access as of yet Nancy M. sends her emails addressed to Giesela to my computer and I then act as the mailman and deliver the print-outs to Giesela Sch.'s mailbox via the old fashioned " sneaker net" - that is I walk or pedal to her house.

Now here is the fun part: In a letter to me Nancy M. - who was a guest at our house here two years ago - comments about her exitement about having Giesela Sch. as her guest.And she repeats the promise which she had made to Giesela earlier: we will have such a good time. (Click on Nancy' wonderful text - and yes, I asked for Nancy's permission to post it here.)

This reminded me of an expecting mother who makes a promise to her yet unborn child:"when you are "here" I will love you and care for you even more than I do now - and we will have such a good time while you are here."

And aren't we as mature adults also aware that those loved ones who are no longer among as are sending us their promises as well? I hear my father whisper to me: "Jay, we will have such a good time - when you get here. "

8.9.2007 Ueberstreichen - Redecorating

In Germany we have the expression: "Einfach überstreichen". It translates into English as: if you don't like your tired looking wall colors anymore, just get some fresh paint and a brush.

Well,the kids of the class my daughter attends - were moved upstairs into a new classroom at the beginning of the new school year a few weeks ago and they resented their green walls from the start.

So last night a few parents - assisted by two very supportive teachers and three eager students - met and we started to redecorate the classroom - we used some nice yellow paint to ueberstreichen that strange green.About two and a half hours later we congratulated ourselves on the great and clean result we had achieved.The pictures show the students and two smiling and artistic women: the head teacher and the elected PTA parent - would you guess who is who?

This was the second time that I was involved in repainting a classroom.The first one happened when our daughter was in first grade.The other parents spoke of similar experiences - I find it intriguing that our city authorities encourage parents to do small school improvements by themselves. I know, basically, it has to do with a lack of funds and yet what a mental stretch to hand over the Überstreichen activities to us - a happy bunch of (well intended) amateurs.How would the Belleville schools handle a local request such as ours?How would we find out?

6.9.2007 Being honored

It is not very often that a good neighbor- friend receives such an honor.But it did happen a few days ago when our very active neighbor Fritz Buhr received a federal medal honoring his unselfish engagements for environmental and social causes.The newspaper article even called him the "ecological conscience" of our city.

At times - and probably even today - it must have been so frustrating for Fritz ( and for his wife as well ) being way ahead of the rest of us in terms of ecological awareness and anticipation of the changes that we are now witnessing locally and on a global scale. It is a small wonder that Fritz has remained an optimist and a model of the goodness and integrity that most of us are striving for. Thank you, Fritz, for your help in steering us, our local politicians and planners into the right direction and then to encourage us to remain on course.

The photo shows our county commission chairman Mr. M. Mueller ( on the left ) and Fritz Buhr during the award ceremony in the county building assembly hall where 125 people had gathered to celebrate the occasion.Mr. M. Mueller will join a DAFK delegation in mid-october when they fly to Belleville,Chicago and New York City.Maybe we should invite Fritz to come along as well - he would certainly have new ideas for some of our American friends who drive to their local Wal-Mart store in a Humvee!

6.9.2007 Here I go again

Two days ago I signed a work contract with our State authorities. The contract allows me to teach ten classroom hours of English at a local Highschool. The principal assigned me two seventh grade classes and today was my second day at work. I am so exited to be back "on stage" - the last two years righted the old pun that teachers don't die - they just lose their class. By not actively teaching any more I became aware of how I was slowly losing that part of me which previously had given me vital energy for all those years ( see photo ).

So now I am once again surrounded by eager learners. And my seventh graders have such sparkling eyes and clean approaches. Have you ever stopped at a red light when the motorcyclist in the other lane reved up his engine again and again in hurried anticipation of the lights to change from red to green?

It is wonderful to be a part of this reving-up dance once again - and I especially appreciate the giving and the taking aspects of it.The love you put in is returned the very same moment. My heart probably knew this secret from the first day I began my studies - my head,however, had to wait many years before the message finally sank in.Now on my new assignment I finally get to congruently use both:mein Herz und meinen Verstand - my heart and my mind.What a precious gift - received just at the right time.