things i realized today.

remember how i became recently obsessed with my web cam?

yup...hasn't gotten old yet.

1. students are funny

here are a couple of examples of lesson plans i've used lately:

in the 12th grade, we just started a unit on "food in the USA".

for one of the students' assignments,

i printed off the pdf menu of interurban

and gave one to each student.

then we did a role play activity,

in which the students practiced ordering,

waiting on tables, improvising questions/answers, etc.

it was so cute hearing the students say,

"i'd like a theta burger" or "can i please have the rusty's steak?"

i made sure to inform them

that my best friend's dad owns the restaurant. :)

then, for the shakespeare class,

i altered this lesson plan,

by adding some shakespeare characters into the mix.

even though this class is completely different

then the class that came up with these hilarious answers,

edward cullen still somehow ended up being gay.

what i found most funny, however,

was one group's scenario,

in which beyonce defends her little sister (juliet)

from a horrible ex-boyfriend (romeo).

i had given the students 10-15 minutes to prepare their skits,

and this group's skit included the following dialogue:

beyonce: juliet, i know you're so crazy in love, but, as your big sister,

it's hard to see you as a broken-hearted girl.

you've got to stand up for all the single ladies and dump this beautiful liar!

and yes, each time they referenced a beyonce song,

they sang the title to the tune of the song's chorus.

it was truly amazing. i almost cried.

the best part was they had the beyonce accent down so well.

i wish there had been a prize for 1st place.

they totally would've won.

2. in my head, everything is a movie

my supervisor at my internship this summer

was uncle billy from it's a wonderful life.

one of my other superiors in vienna

was norma desmond from sunset boulevard.

in bamberg the other day,

i walked right past what appeared to be

naomi watt's cottage

in mulholland drive.

last week, i walked into a class

full of crazy, misbehaving 7th graders.

and all i could think was,

"this is jumangi".

and while eating lunch with another teacher last week,

i was distracted by her striking resemblance

to one of the female chess pieces

in the 1985 version of alice in wonderland

(starring ringo starr, john stamos and scott baio - yes, that one).

for the record,

i'm talking about the chess piece who sings,

"jam tomorrow, jam yesterday,

but never, ever jam today".

3. in order to learn german,

you just have to be okay with making a fool of yourself.

all the time.

i have now accepted this as absolute truth.

it was kind of a revelation, when i realized this.

before, i would think about each sentence

before i opened my mouth to speak.

and if i couldn't figure out each word

and each gender/case,

i wouldn't bother trying to say it.

now, however, i just talk.

and i make a fool of myself all the time.

but i learn so much more in the process.

i will say this, however:

phone calls are the worst.

the very, very, very worst.

making a phone call in german,

or picking one up,

is something i dread far too much.

sometimes, when all i hear on the phone is:

"aeoir jfdsoviur klnvosdihfgoi 49r sidjg",

i'm tempted to just hang up.

i've never done that, though.

....yet.

4. i cannot watch the pursuit of happyness without crying

will smith, you're fantastic.

and that last scene gets me every time.