3/26 Frankfurt and Final Reflections

Last night when we arrived, we did a city walking tour to get acquainted with the major locations. We saw many of the famous spots of the city. It was rainy but we were all impressed with all we saw. This city is much different from each place we’ve already been. The city is a modern urban city. We are surrounded by skyscrapers and cars. Today we walked to Deutche Bank headquarters where they gave us a lecture about their history and the structure of their bank. We had a bit of free time before we headed to our final destination the ancient Roman ruins outside the city. Our guide was very knowledgeable and gave us great information. I took a lot of pictures, but will show you individually. The things was it was freezing and raining and we walked in the muddy water. I was so cold because we were dressed nice for our last dinner party. I loved the dinner party because we ate at another family home. The home was warm and friend and I so enjoyed the conversation of our hosts. They were at the Berlin Wall when it crumbled and told us about living in a divided Germany as well as what it was like to live in Germany during re-unification and currently. Their children helped serve the meal and they were so darling. I would love to have such a lovely family like that someday.

Today is my last day here in Germany. Tomorrow I travel all day until I am home around 10:30 p.m. Words can not express how much I’ve learned from this experience. The schedule was extremely demanding and when I didn’t think I could mentally listen any longer, another fantastic speaker captured my interest. We’ve been bless by a fantastic line up of presenters and we have been treated like VIPs each second of the trip. Our group leader Jurgen has been great. He guided us to all of our meetings each day. He was always there to answer my endless questions, give advice and keep us on time to each meeting down to the minute. Jurgen you’re been wonderful to know and I know I can say with certainty, we won’t forget you. I’m also thankful to the Atlantik-Brucke organization for sponsoring a partnership like this. They created a fantastic program for teachers to understand modern Germany. My impression of Germany can be summarized by using the words Transparent and Open. I was very surprised by the overwhelming reflection Germany has done as a country in telling their history and their current place in the world. Each place we visited, I saw a harmonious blend of old history, remembrance of the dark period, and a very clear focus and direction to the future. The openness was very welcoming, I feel by doing this it makes visitors understand their point of view as a country and to really understand where they have been and where they are going. I feel I am more knowledgeable about the Cold War period, Re- Unification and how citizens and the government view their role in society, economy and foreign relations. I’m coming home with a new perspective and approach to many topics in my curriculum and will remember how friendly and kind the German people have been to me.

Thank you to everyone who read my blog. You’ll have to forgive the grammar and other errors. After our 13+ hour days, I wrote very informally and did not spend time proof reading. I hope I was able to transmit some of my learning to you in a positive way.

Finally, I’d like to thank all the teachers on the trip Christy, Russ, Angelica, Amanda, Jeff, Anthony, Namrata, Andy, Stacy, Debbie and Cindy from the Department of Education. It was wonderful meeting such an amazing group of professionals. You are all intelligent, asked thought provoking questions and kept the dialogue constantly alive. I’m inspired by each of you. I look forward to keeping in touch and sharing curriculum. I’ll always remember our experience fondly.

Tomorrow I leave Frankfurt at 11:05 a.m. and travel to New Jersey then on to California. I’ll be home soon and can’t wait to see everyone!