Thursday, January 5, 2012

Bringing in 2012

There are a few times each year when a teacher simply knows that life is going to get hectic.  This isn’t an unusual concept for any working person, which would be pretty much all of us.  The weeks leading up to a winter break are one of those times where you fasten your seatbelt and simply hang on.  I thought perhaps being at an international school with smaller classes might be different.  You know, maybe not so hectic.  Maybe more help.  Well, the last statement was true, but the first NOT.  Sitting here in my kitchen on January 3rd and looking back on that time now after two weeks’ vacation, it feels like it was decades ago, but I get exhausted just thinking about it!
We have 54 nationalities at our school, but most cultures celebrate some form of the Christmas season – even those who are Buddhist.  So, what I thought might be a relatively played down holiday is actually one that is showcased, where every class plays a part.  To kick off the season, my 7-year-old class invited parents to an afternoon performance of holidays around the world where they sang a song and made oral presentations about one of their own home country holidays.  Parents brought food from their own country to share.  It was a lavish feast.  After I had arranged for this to happen, I was informed that all classes also had some sort of holiday party and celebration.  Fortunately, my room mother did an excellent job of organizing the food, the gifts, the Christmas tree (for the classroom, mind you), the games, and Santa Claus (thank you Mr. T, our librarian, who looks like Santa without the costume!).  We had this party on the last full day of school at the end of school and on until past 5 p.m.  I did have to convince my students that Santa and Mr. T are twins (shhh! Don’t tell anyone).
                                                                  Yes!  The beard is real!
The parties and performances were not limited, however, to just the homeroom classroom.  My students in French, German, and Russian had performances as well.  We also watched our little 5-year-old buddies perform in their Christmas extravaganza. Ken’s class had a party with treats, but it was much more low-key than mine, but he doesn’t have the help (!) of a room mom.  As is custom, many students gave us gifts.  The coolest gift of the season was a model police motorcycle with a functional siren.  Made Ken a little homesick if you know what I mean!  Needless to say, it was an endless string of holiday cheer.
Ken and I also had the pleasure of singing in a staff choir and performing in a charity concert to raise money for an orphanage outside of Kiev.  Friends of ours, Jessica and Keegan Tossser, organized this event last year to raise money to bring a group of orphans to Kiev for a weekend of fun.  All of the orphans have never been outside of their small city, so it is a treat.  At the concert, art pieces created by the orphans are sold as well – original pieces and reprints. 
Ken and I also had the chance to attend this year’s Christmas party at Otchiy Dim, a local Kiev orphanage operated by Father’s House, a Christian organization.  I have volunteered at this orphanage in the past, and it was fun to see all the children together receiving gifts from Santa (donated by people in the American Embassy and our school).  We also delivered special gifts to the foster families that house up to 8 orphans.  These gifts were given from donations raised by another friend, Darla D’Ettore, from kind hearts in the United States.  I am always proud of my American heritage – the most charitable people in the world.
There are 30,000 orphans in Kiev alone if that gives you an idea of the problem.  The children come from a variety of circumstances.  There is little government aid in this country, so when families hit hard times children are often given up.  Further, poverty levels here are fairly high and alcoholism is rampant.  A large number of children find themselves out on the street.
To this endless string of holiday cheer you need to mix in Ken’s 60th birthday.  We had an open house birthday party where people brought an appetizer to share and we crammed 13 people into our tiny living room and played a rousing game of Farkle.  Ken said to me the other day – you know I really don’t feel as old as I am.  Now I know that some of you reading this are saying to yourself “60 isn’t old” and some of you are saying “Jeez, he’s 60!  That’s older than dirt!”  I think Ken’s got it right though – it isn’t the age, it’s how you feel and what you do with your life that counts.
We had several Christmas parties including a large extravaganza put on by the school at a local Georgian (the country, not the state) restaurant.  By the time the 16th of December had rolled around, we were ready to be rolled away, and vacation could not have come at a better time!
On Monday, December 19th at o-dark 30 we flew out of Kiev to Munich.  We were pleased to see a bit of snow on the ground when we landed.  Kiev had had only one snow fall and it didn’t hang around much.  We procured a driver to take us to Salzburg, and they were able to deliver us right into the hands of Frau Bankhammer, the proprietor of a bed and breakfast located across the street from my old high school.  It had been 13 years since we had last seen her and it felt a bit like a homecoming.  Angela was two when we were last there so she had no memory, and she enjoyed walking around their dairy farm and horse boarding facilities.

 On our way to Salzburg

 Our room in Frau Bankhammer's bed and breakfast.

 See the fortress in the background?


A view from Angela's bedroom - Kim's high school

It snowed the day we arrived and continued to snow for the next two days, making the beautiful town a Christmas wonderland.  We walked through the Christmas market in the Old Town area and we took a bus to Hellbrun, a small summer castle located in a town outside of Salzburg to another Christmas market.  At the markets, our favorites included mulled wine and a hot orange punch, roasted chestnuts, roasted candied nuts, and Bosna which is a sausage smothered with mustard, onions, and curry powder. 


Residenzplatz Market Salzburg

Mmm...roasted chestnuts!


More Christmas Market - Salzburg

Hellbrun Palace - They turned the building into an Advent Calendar.  How cool is that?


Snowing!  Mulled wine or hot orange punch warms you to your toes.



Salzburg is a magical city and this is mostly due to its beautiful fortress that rises up above the city like a protector. FestungHohensalzburg(Fortress High Salzburg) was originally built in 1066 and added onto over 600 years by different Prince Archbishops – an interesting position which combined royalty and church.  The fortress is one of the only fortresses in Europe that has not been destroyed due to battle.  That is not to say that it did not fall into “enemy” hands from time to time.  The fortress can be seen from all around – from out at our bed and breakfast and from walks along the river Salzach.  Its beauty is both day and night, and we were fortunate to see it shrouded in fog which lent a mysterious air to it.

View from our bed and breakfast

City view from the fortress

Up on the fortress

Another view toward the Untersberg - our bed and breakfast is on the road to the Untersberg (Under Mountain)

View from inside the fortress - it was well protected


Untersberg behind us



Halfway up to the fortress - you can walk or ride a funicular

Barely seen through the fog

We were the quintessential tourists in Salzburg.  We took the Sound of Music tour.  We saw where different scenes were filmed and drove to the church where Maria and the Captain were married.  In the movie this was not in Salzburg but in Monsee, a beautiful town in the lake district of Salzburg.   We sang songs in the bus and watched a short clip of the movie as well as an interview with Lisel as an adult.  It was a really fun tour.  Later on we downloaded the movie and watched it.  I was mortified to discover that Ken had never seen the whole movie.  How could I have let that happen!

Background is Leopolkskron and the pond where the children and Maria fell in

The lane Maria skips down on her way to the house

The gazebo

A view on our way to Monsee

The church where the Captain and Maria were married in the movie.

Inside the church

Christmas was, of course, different without family around.  We had moved hotels to a pension in the downtown area near the train station (Bahnhof).  This put us within walking distance to most sites, so we did a lot of walking.  We walked through MirabellGardens  - the summer home of the Prince Archbishops, and the location of my high school graduation.  We went to a Christmas Eve dinner and Mozart concert in the fortress which was absolutely delightful.  It was an intimate affair with a string quartet and a clarinet.  We had front row seats in a small concert hall in the original part of the fortress.  During the concert I imagined what this room had seen – a thousand years of concerts, parties, war discussions, and so on.  
Mirabell Gardens

Salzach River

Famous Sachertorte

Enjoying Sachertorte at the Sacher Hotel

So many beautiful buildings

After the first few days of beautiful snow, the weather turned warmer and we had several days of rain.  It seems this is the trend for much of Europe and the United States this year.  No one at Christmas had much snow.  By Christmas Day the snow in Salzburg was gone replaced by puddles.  There wasn’t even any ice!  However, we had arranged to take a sleigh ride in the mountains.  A tour bus picked us up at 8:30 and drove us up into the mountains to a village named Ramsau.  As an aside, this happens to be the area in Austria that Arnold Schwarzenegger is from.  This area is also known for its cross country skiing.  In this beautiful area there was plenty of snow.  We were placed in a carriage pulled by two immense, black draft horses.   It was magical as we were pulled through the countryside.  The day started out sunny and I was sorry I hadn’t brought my sunglasses with me.  We stopped for a cup of coffee (or beer) at a small inn and when we returned to the sleigh the sky had turned gray.  Shortly after starting up again, the sky opened and it began to snow fat, white snowflakes that were so large you could see them defined on your jacket before they melted away.  The rest of the trip was snow-filled and a little blustery but it added to the drama and beauty of the day.  Other than with our families, we couldn’t have imagined a better place to spend Christmas.

The Untersberg

The Austrian Alps wrapped in mist

My little summer cottage

Our view behind our sleigh

Our view in front of the sleigh

Bright Day!


Taking a break

Finally, snowballs to throw - coming at you!

Uh huh, clueless.

Getting ready for the second half


This reminded me of a painting by Beverly Doolittle

The sun disappeared replaced by blustery snow

A new view behind us - amazing horses

End of the ride

Playing around in the snow

The day after Christmas found us traveling by train from Salzburg to Munich.  We then hopped on a plane to skip over to Merry England.  We arrived in London and were greeted by a transit strike.  It took us over two hours and a bunch of money to make it to our flat in Chelsea.  Once settled, however, we were happy to be in this fabulous city.  Ken had to make it back to the airport to pick up Ali late that evening.  It was an adventure as he hoofed it to a tube station that was closed and then a bus to another station and finally to Heathrow.  For the return, fortunately, a driving service had been arranged, so Ali and Ken made it back to the flat in much quicker time.
Whereas in Salzburg we played the tourist, in London we were the shoppers.  Holiday sales and abundant shops allowed us to get some items that we couldn’t get in Kiev, so we spent the first couple of days shopping and walking.  One of the reasons I enjoy London so much is because of the parks.  Our flat was one block off the river Thames and across the Albert Bridge is a park called Battersea Park.  Most mornings I ran through the park or Ken and I took a walk.  It was a great way to start off each day.
At Harrods
Ali getting her truffles!
Battersea Park

Houses along Battersea

Chelsea along the River Thames

Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park

Prince Albert Bridge


Another view of Chelsea

The beginning of the street where we stayed in Chelsea

Ali loves the Victoria and Albert Museum, so we spent the good part of a day walking through that museum.  While London is probably one of the most expensive cities in the world to live or vacation in, there are several museums which are free to the public.  The Victoria and Albert museum is one of those.  Ken and Ali also went to a National Army Museum across the street from our flat.  Entrance was free there as well.  They both said that it is interesting reading history from another country’s perspective as they found in this army museum.

Glass chandelier by David Chihuly

Nativity Scene

Silver Cross
Ali turned 20 on December 29th.  We celebrated her birthday at a pub called The Phoenix, one of my dad’s favorite places to eat in London.  The food was excellent.  We also had an excellent Middle Eastern meal the next night with some friends who live in London at a Lebanese restaurant called Randa.  So, don’t listen when people tell you that food in the United Kingdom is lousy.  You just have to know where to go!
We did play the tourist a bit during our stay.  On New Year’s Eve we went to the Tower of London.  We took the Yeoman’s Tour which I have always found entertaining and this time was no different.  This was Ken and Angela’s first time, and they thoroughly enjoyed it.  We also took the Jack the Ripper tour on New Year’s Day.  The tour guide was excellent and he spooked us all as he led us down the streets where Jack the Ripper attacked his victims.  He shared all the information surrounding the case and then presented the different theories and suspects.  Very entertaining, and I think as a family we all agree that the man who traveled to America and killed a woman there in a similar fashion and then died there was the true Jack the Ripper.




We left Ali in London on January 2nd and traveled home to Kiev.  What!  No snow!  In fact, it rained the night we arrived.  We find this very, very unusual.  Perhaps we brought a little California weather to the Ukraine, including taking the rain with us.  I am wondering if we will ever get to use those snow boots we bought!
We have a few days here to rest up before we start work on January 9th.  We plan on seeing a few sites in Kiev, but mostly we have a lot of planning to do.  Angela has quite a bit of homework to do as well.
2012 holds many promises, and we wish you all the very best the year can offer.  “Talk” to you soon.