Tomorrow, Monday the 2nd of January, is my last day off from teaching before returning from winter break.
I am oh-so-very ready to return. Not because I look forward to rising at 5:15 AM, or even to having responsibilities to students and administrators in three different schools. Rather, I am looking forward to having some structure to my day.
The last ten days of Christmas break have been days of sloth for me. True, I completely produced two half-hour podcasts and recorded five others. But I’ve also spent the whole time sitting on my bottom, causing the discs in my lower back to compress further. I should have exercised–instead, I took too many naps. My wife and daughter and I all have acid indigestion this evening from all the junk food we’ve eaten the last several days. And above all, my motivation level has dropped to zero or below.
There are plenty of things I should have done during the break. I have checkbook registers to balance, bills to pay, midterm exams to write, tax records to prepare, and general cleaning, filing and straightening to do. Yet I’ve watched old movies on TV and slept very late every day.
Ah well. I should let it go. I think the worst thing about the break, really, is the guilt I feel now for not being “productive.”
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Hey, I understand you Dave.
I mean it’s great to have a break but I too feel somewhat aimless just relaxing and doing nothing in the breaks between my courses.
I think this is something really common.
You’re dying for the summer holidays to begin but by the end of them, you’re itching to go back to school again.. and then already on the second day of school you wish you could sit at home… confusing but true.
Honestly, Sim, it’s not much different for teachers than for students. We have an obligation to be more “mature” about needing to teach what we have to teach, but we also treasure those days off.
In the northeastern US, we get snow in the winter, and frequently school is snowed out. Teachers love those days as much as students–unless we have already had a day or two off. Then we’re eager to go back to it.
hmm.. interesting.
I wanted to ask you Dave, do you have Goethe Institutes in your country?
If you do, are the levels the same?
Grundstufe 1-3, Mittelstufe 1-3 und Die Oberstufe?
Dave, very interesting blog. Those of us tied to “regular” jobs with only two weeks off a year are often envious of the likes of you teachers, with lots of time off. It’s good to put it in this kind of persepective.
Simran, we do have Goethe Instituts here in America, in quite a number of cities. I have attended the one here in Washington two years before spending two months in Germany this last fall. And I’ll no doubt return to Washington next year if I can. Otherwise I’ll continue with the distance courses.
Here they are switching over from the old Grundstufe, Mittlestufe, Oberstufe organization to the Common European Framework, with the A, B, and C levels. I’m personally just finishing up the “B” level, which is the “Independent User” level.
This causes a bit of confusion, since the Goethe Institute’s books are now on the new system, but the examinations are still on the old system (there is a Zentrale Mittlestufe Prüfung and a Zentrale Oberstufe Prüfung, and they don’t come at the end of the levels.
Anyway, keep blogging. And Sim, when are you going to start up the German Word Nerds???
Julie Holm
Hi Julie,
I really like your long and interesting posts.
We still have the Grund/Mittelstufes here in the Max Müller Bhavans (Goethe Institutes) in India.
Zur Zeit bin ich in der M3.
I’ll be giving my ZMP early next month.
It’s great that you can do distance learning, at your own pace. I’m at the institute for more than 6 hours a day.
We’ve been in touch and we’ll probably start recording after the 8th and have our first episode up maybe by next weekend. It’s just that Torsten (the other German word nerd) is still in California and will only be returning to Munich after a week. Also Chrisitan Dreyer from Switzerland might be joining us and contributing his bit about Swiss German and HINDI! I’ve been teaching him slowly over the past few days and he’s a fast learner!
Sim,
I think it’s great that you folks are getting the German Word Nerds up and going. Be sure to leave the contact info here, so I can subscribe!
You’re ahead of me. I’m hoping to do the ZMP next fall. I’m real close but need to clean up grammar and sentence structure.
I like the idea of bringing in the swiss guy. Swiss German is so different and it would be very interesting to hear about some of the differences, and how they developed.
Julie Holm