Final Months in Berlin

Amazingly, time is flying by and we find ourselves sprinting towards the last months -- ready or not -- before another big life change.

1. Geoff's going back to Seattle after our pre- and post- wedding hanging out time in Berlin. This time, he's bringing with him most of our wall decorations that we wish to keep (paintings, cuckoo clock, vintage posters, marionette, and some other knick knacks from our travels). It's helping the reality of moving sink in...

2. I am in the process of actively looking for jobs in Seattle, with some positive/encouraging progress. In May, I hope to ask for a day off to spend a long weekend interviewing with schools in Seattle. (So far, one interview is for sure. Another one during the same weekend would be fabulous to have, if I can get the extra day off and rebook my flight into Seattle.) These are two really great schools and they both seem quite interested in continuing the conversation of hiring me, so I'm feeling overall pretty hopeful with the job-search prospects.

Coupled with this, I also need to look into the logistics of filming my class just for about 10 minutes. Two different Seattle schools have offered this to me as an alternative to teaching a demo lesson on site. If I can get this working, I could just send the link to other schools that request the same...

3. In other news, since I'm the department chair, I am simultaneously interviewing potential people to hire into my current department. There's something that feels pretty funny about interviewing other people and being interviewed all at the same time, especially when some of those people I'm interviewing are supposed to fill my spot. One person I've interviewed so far is a rock star, and I hope secretly that he'll take the offer so that I can leave my students in good hands.

4. Next week will be my final full week of instruction with my Grade 12s, and also the last week of instruction before the semesterly mock exams in Grade 11. I feel quite excited to see how they will do!!

5. In Grade 9, we're doing my favorite 3-D project again. The kids are making good progress so far -- they've already gotten their designs/dimensions checked off, and half of the groups also had their calculated volumes already checked off. Next week, we'll be working on the surface area calculations, drawing 2-D nets, and starting the construction during class. EXCITED!!!

6. The sun is rolling in, slowly but surely. It's my favorite time of the year in Berlin!!! In May, there will be the annual Karnival der Kulturen, and in June, we're going to try to work out one last trip -- to Kiev (where my friend has offered for us to stay at her condo) or Vienna or Bamberg (with their unique "smoked beer"/rauchbier local breweries) or kayaking through / camping by the beautiful lakes surrounding Berlin. Lots to choose from, but so little time left!! I'm sad just thinking about it.