Lots to Update

I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday.
(Author Unknown)

It's been awhile since I've checked in online. The past 2 months have been hectic and unpredictable. Let's go back to Christmas...

I went back to the States for the holidays and spent some awesome quality time with family and friends from home and the lake. It was good to be in the company of honest fans (lol!) as it's never certain who you will find abroad. I miss "my people" sometimes and know that this amazing adventure comes in exchange for other important parts of my life.

A quick list of what has been happening. Please email if you'd like more details! :)

• We celebrated Kathryn's 30th Birthday and spent the evening dancing 'til 5am.
• I completed 17, in-depth, 1 page narratives on each of my students (a form of assessment I have never experienced prior to this year).
• I spent a fun weekend with Addy and Izzy while Jesse and Karen were out of town together. Rem came over and made her Dutch pancakes for dinner and we laid low for 2 days. God I love those kids!
  
• I am taking a formal German language night class for 4.5 hours/week to "sprechen Deutsche."
• Went on a Berlin Bizarre bar Tour that included a toilet and tranny theme (I can tell this is where the emails will begin flowing!)
• I am now hooked on "24" and it is all RimNuts' fault!
• Hosted a Grade 3 Art Exhibition at my school that was cooler than I ever imagined. There is something so personal and inspiring about children's artwork.
• I have been (forcefully) adjusting to morning runs. I hate running in the morning. You all know how I am in the morning (even my poor 5th Graders probably remember!). But, I'd like to complete a 10K this year. So... if I want a social life, I must get it over with before I leave for work or I find I am stuck out for the day.
• I spent last month on a budget I've never experienced. I had to figure out creative ways to mix my existing food choices with low-budget fresh fruits and veggies. This is not as easily done as may be assumed. I've never panicked more, as I have never known the feeling of truly "having no money." Ick.... never want to go back there again.
  
• I spent this past weekend at a conference. Enough said.
  

This coming Saturday (14 Feb.) I will be leaving for an Outward Bound Adventure trip to Austria. We will be skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and sleeping in an igloo! I am going with 20 BBIS students, along with a friend, Ben (our PE teacher) to chaperone. I am very much looking forward to being out in nature for sport.

This month will be spent traveling to Austria. March brings Lizzy (yaaaaayyyyyyy!) & Jenelle. April brings Aunt Laura and Uncle Mike (yyaaaaayyyyyyy!) for 2 weeks, and May brings a 4 day weekend I haven't planned for yet. June and July are biergarten months, so I will be sticking close to the 'hood.

I know this is brief and has covered a lot of time, but if I spent my life blogging, I wouldn't have a life to blog!

I miss you at home and hope all is well in Chi-Town. Props to Alex and strength to him as he wins his battle again. I miss you, buddy! "The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground." (Author Unknown)

Love you all.
kate xo

Alex

I'm in the fight with you, Alex. Every. Single. Day. You can count on me. I can't wait to see you at Christmas!! xo Miss K.

"...we have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.”
(Lance Armstrong)

Merry Chrismahanakwanzaka

"Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveler, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!"
(Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, 1836)

Happy Christmas!

In just 10 days, I will be arriving back in Chicago, with a suitcase overflowing of gifts and stories of travel and adventure. It is impossible to recap all that I have experienced since first landing here on 1 August... only pictures can begin to tackle a fraction of the memories.

It is difficult to believe how grounded I feel here. I never thought I'd find a "home away from home," or friends as dear to me as those already in my life. I can't believe the amount of love and support I have found here... both personally and professionally. There are no words to describe the "cool factor" of the people I have met, and continue to meet. I am so lucky.

Stockholm was beautiful last weekend. We toured the Palace, met the locales, pubbed it at O'Connell's, shopped a Christmas market, ate dinner at Tiffany's, slept on a yacht hotel, iceskated in the centre, circled the island in a guide boat, and took a bus, plane and train to and fro. Monday morning and 8 year olds... ok I'm focused again!

Christmas always stirs an emotion of coziness in me. It's one I like to be able to share with those I am with. Between the travel opportunities with friends; Drew, Karen, Jennie, Kathryn, Carmen and Katie, (in respective order) and the moments created in between those travels, I am certainly feeling humbly grateful for the cultural opportunities opened to me on a regular basis. As Mrs. Pepping once told me about the many blessings in my life, "you know this is not normal!"

As I continue to try and make sense of this fascinating world around me, I realize this is quite the lofty goal! In a previous post I said, "It seems that the more I travel, the less I know!" It's because once I seem to make sense and give reason, it all goes bust and I'm back at square one trying to figure it all out again! Ever the eternal optimist, I'll get it one day!

My NY's decisions this year will come in different compartments; personally, professionally, & culturally.

• Personally, I would like to become brave enough to open my heart again.
  
• Professionally, I would like to determine the importance of what I do, and pinpoint what I value most as an educator.
  
• Culturally, I would like to begin intense German language courses and become capable of conversing at ease with the people around me.

Carpe Diem and God Bless you this New Year!
k. xo

Happy Thanksgiving, Katie!

Thanks for a fabulous meal, KTL!

Riga Pics

Drew and Jennie, enjoy! ... See you in December @ Chuck's!

Happy Thanksgiving!

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” (Martin Buber)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you at home! It will be my third Thanksgiving away from my own family's table and it doesn't get easier... enjoy your time together everyone! Welcome Olivia... love you! xo

Jennie, Drew and I gathered in Riga, Latvia for a snowy Baltic vaca together. It was an adventure in of itself that could never be repeated. We stayed in a hidden, secret Hostel right on the sea in the center of town. We toured Riga; caught up on time passed, shopped the local market, hit up the skyline bar overlooking the city lights, ran into a movie being filmed, talked Jennie into an impulse "water dog" purchase, marveled the beauty of Baltic snow, ate Russian pizza in the late night, and celebrated the upcoming holiday. I can't say it enough... Life is Good.

After landing in a snow-dusted Berlin, I met up with my flatmate Kathryn and her best friend from Liverpool for a few glasses of red at our new local watering hole, Dicke Wirtin, only to end the night at the Greek restaurant behind us with a plethora on the table. I enjoyed getting to know part of Kathryn's life from home.

The next few weeks before break will be filled with Thanksgiving celebrations, German Christmas markets all over the city, Stockholm on the 5 December, reports for school, and Chicago on 20 December! It doesn't end in the new year, as trips are already booked and others still evolving to parts of this world I only once dreamed of seeing.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, it only fits to acknowledge all that I am thankful for in the experience I am living. The people I continue to meet astound me, every one of them having something to teach me. The places I have been and those I will travel open my mind to possibilities never imagined. The work I exhaust myself attempting to perfect fills me up with purpose. The old friends, mixed with the new, draw up feelings never exposed before. I'm growing. I can feel it. And I am thankful every day for it.

Carpe Diem and Happy Turkey Day!
k. xo

Moldova Pics

Had the best time, Drew... See you and Jennie soon! xo k.