YAY! We got the rest of the German journals in the mail at the museum this morning! They are fabulous! I can't wait till the Greensburg Salem High school students get back from their holiday, so they can see them!!!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Germany Blog Dec 9th
Today began with a press conference a the LVR museum. Dr. Schleper, Stephanie and I were there as well as two teachers, Mrs. Reiber and Mr. Schleck. Some of the students also attended. We had reporters from one newspaper and two magazines. After Dr. Schleper and the teachers spoke, I said a few words and the students presented me with their journals. After the conference I got a chance to send some emails and do a little bit of work online before we left for lunch. Authentic Italian food at a restaurant near the museum. It was very good! We met with a teacher from the third school after lunch. Mr. Gormanns from the Gymnasium-Gustav-Heinemann-Schulzentrum has a great idea for a video project. I will find him a teacher to work with in Greensburg-Salem once I return. After the meeting we went to the new Ruhr Visitor Center. They had a lot of new technology - video screens that slid up and down a timeline to tell different stories of industry. All of the buildings on the site were also part of the factory at one time. Now they've been transformed into exhibition spaces, event halls and lots of other things. At the Henrichshutte Ironworks in Hattingen, the site has been transformed from a working mill to a preserved place to show the process of making iron and tell the story. They have a fun mascot for kids - a blue rat! The curator led us on a tour - it was pretty amazing walking around these huge machines! We rode an elevator to see the top of the blast furnace. The images and stories of the people were throughout the site.
The Dortmund Christmas market was the last stop for the day - it was really fun. It is like an outside fair, with little booths that people make food to sell and also artwork, candles wood carvings. Lots of stuff. There were displayes of fairy tale scenes and lots of traditional German food and crafts. The Christmas tree there is 45 meters tall - made up of 1700 individual trees. It was awesome!
The Dortmund Christmas market was the last stop for the day - it was really fun. It is like an outside fair, with little booths that people make food to sell and also artwork, candles wood carvings. Lots of stuff. There were displayes of fairy tale scenes and lots of traditional German food and crafts. The Christmas tree there is 45 meters tall - made up of 1700 individual trees. It was awesome!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Old Fashioned blog Dec 8
Today was rainy but not too cold - reminded me a lot of Pittsburgh! I had another busy day. Stephanie and Kevin from the LVR museum picked me up. We went to the Heinrich-Boll-Gesamtschule to visit Mrs. Reiber's art class and present them the Greensburg-Salem journals. The school is really big - they have many ties with schools in other countries, which makes them an international school. I met the head of the school Mr. Henn who was really excited about the project. One of the students interviewed me for the school newspaper. As soon as we passed out the Greensburg-Salem journals, the students were pouring through them. They were really curious to see the artwork and poetry the other class had done. During class they passed them around and made comments. Then they started to work in the journals, using watercolors and pastels.
Next we visited Mr. Schleck at the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium. Mr. Schleck told me an interesting story about the school's past. Mr. Schleck will collaborate with other teachers to create short videos that will combine to tell a story of the Ruhr region. He plans on sending the webcams home with the students. We saw an english classroom - the students were beginning to learn to read, write and speak english - they were doing good so far! I also met a Spanish and French teacher who wants to participate in the project. We walked in on a few other classes - the art room had a life size horse statue in it!
After school, I met the director of all the museums. He was very happy to hear that the teachers and students were enthusiastic about the project.
Then we went sightseeing! The gasometer is a huge barn-silo type building that was used to hold gas for the factories. It is now a place where art and science exhibits are held. The gasometer is very high, and you can take an elevator to the top, go out on the roof and look out over all of Oberhausen. It was so cool! I really enjoyed that. We visited St. Antony next. This site was where a very very old steel mill used to be. They're now excavating part of the site, but the building where the owner lived still stands and it houses the artifacts and tells the history.
For dinner we went to Greck (I think that's right?), a Polish restaurant. I was excited to look at the menu and see words I recognized: kielbasa! pierogies! It was all soo delicious, too! The owner of the restaurant is from Poland, he is quite a character - always wears a bowler hat. He didn't believe me that Pittsburgh has a "pierogie race" during ball games. Ha ha! We had a lot of fun tonight.
Next we visited Mr. Schleck at the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium. Mr. Schleck told me an interesting story about the school's past. Mr. Schleck will collaborate with other teachers to create short videos that will combine to tell a story of the Ruhr region. He plans on sending the webcams home with the students. We saw an english classroom - the students were beginning to learn to read, write and speak english - they were doing good so far! I also met a Spanish and French teacher who wants to participate in the project. We walked in on a few other classes - the art room had a life size horse statue in it!
After school, I met the director of all the museums. He was very happy to hear that the teachers and students were enthusiastic about the project.
Then we went sightseeing! The gasometer is a huge barn-silo type building that was used to hold gas for the factories. It is now a place where art and science exhibits are held. The gasometer is very high, and you can take an elevator to the top, go out on the roof and look out over all of Oberhausen. It was so cool! I really enjoyed that. We visited St. Antony next. This site was where a very very old steel mill used to be. They're now excavating part of the site, but the building where the owner lived still stands and it houses the artifacts and tells the history.
For dinner we went to Greck (I think that's right?), a Polish restaurant. I was excited to look at the menu and see words I recognized: kielbasa! pierogies! It was all soo delicious, too! The owner of the restaurant is from Poland, he is quite a character - always wears a bowler hat. He didn't believe me that Pittsburgh has a "pierogie race" during ball games. Ha ha! We had a lot of fun tonight.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Katie's Skype from Germany!
Katie skyped us from her hotel in Germany! This is Mrs. Audia and Mrs. Bevington's classes who have been involved in the journal exchange.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
My old fashioned blog Dec 7
I was having technical difficulties when I was in Germany, so I blogged the old fashioned way - I wrote in a journal. Below are my journal entries. Enjoy!
-Katie
Monday, December 7th
Very early this morning I landed in Dusseldorf. I didn't sleep much on the plane because I was too excited! The man that sat beside me gave me some suggestions - he said I have to visit the Christmas markets. After I got my baggage I met Stephanie and we got a coffee at the McDonald's at the airport. Tiny little coffee cup (like a dixie cup) but really strong coffee! It was good. Stephanie gave me a gift of chocolate, because yesterday was Saint Nicholas day. After stopping at my hotel I went to the museum, met the staff, and Dr. Thomas Schleper gave me a whirlwind tour. The LVR museum is really cool. There are old machines from factories - a lot of them still work and they do demonstrations for tour groups. The machines tell the story. It is awesome! For lunch we went to a kiosk - a little diner-type place. Had sausages with sauce and french fries with mayonaisse. It was really good. The buildings are cool, they're mostly brick, it is a clean city. Everyone is friendly. Then we met some of the teachers at the museum. We discussed some of the problems of the project and also opportunities. They are excited to participate and want to visit Greensburg. After our meeting I walked from the museum to my hotel. I love the cobblestone designs on the sidewalk. Later on we went on a driving tour of the city on our way to Mr. Langer's house for dinner. We had a wonderful and delicious meal - soup, salad, meat and potatoes, and homemade raspberry ice cream for dessert. We ate and laughed until almost midnight! I just got back to my hotel and I realize that I dont have any european plugs, so I hope I can borrow some! Now I'll sleep because tomorrow is another big day.
-Katie
Monday, December 7th
Very early this morning I landed in Dusseldorf. I didn't sleep much on the plane because I was too excited! The man that sat beside me gave me some suggestions - he said I have to visit the Christmas markets. After I got my baggage I met Stephanie and we got a coffee at the McDonald's at the airport. Tiny little coffee cup (like a dixie cup) but really strong coffee! It was good. Stephanie gave me a gift of chocolate, because yesterday was Saint Nicholas day. After stopping at my hotel I went to the museum, met the staff, and Dr. Thomas Schleper gave me a whirlwind tour. The LVR museum is really cool. There are old machines from factories - a lot of them still work and they do demonstrations for tour groups. The machines tell the story. It is awesome! For lunch we went to a kiosk - a little diner-type place. Had sausages with sauce and french fries with mayonaisse. It was really good. The buildings are cool, they're mostly brick, it is a clean city. Everyone is friendly. Then we met some of the teachers at the museum. We discussed some of the problems of the project and also opportunities. They are excited to participate and want to visit Greensburg. After our meeting I walked from the museum to my hotel. I love the cobblestone designs on the sidewalk. Later on we went on a driving tour of the city on our way to Mr. Langer's house for dinner. We had a wonderful and delicious meal - soup, salad, meat and potatoes, and homemade raspberry ice cream for dessert. We ate and laughed until almost midnight! I just got back to my hotel and I realize that I dont have any european plugs, so I hope I can borrow some! Now I'll sleep because tomorrow is another big day.
Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium students
Mr. Schleck and his students
This is a class learning to speak English. The teacher told me to speak slowly so the students could understand. After I was done the teacher asked if they noticed anything. A boy raised his hand and said "She talks really slow!"
more videos from Katie's visit
At the Heinrich-Boll-Gesamtschule the kids couldn't wait to see the Greensburg Salem students journals...
The students begin to draw in the Greensburg Salem journals.
The students begin to draw in the Greensburg Salem journals.
videos of German schools from Katie's visit Dec 09
This video and the next are of The Freiherr-vom Stein Gymnasium
Mr. Schleck is explaining how part of the school was destroyed, and rebuilt. Amazing story!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Merry Christmas
The team of the LVR-Industrial Museum in Oberhausen wishes everyone
MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Back to work
Well, I am back at the Westmoreland today, with tons of emails and phone messages. I brought a few journals back to share with the Greensburg students (they were too heavy to lug home with me, sorry!). Stephanie has sent the rest - they're on their way to the states right now. Our next steps are to match some more teachers, begin buying necessary equipment, continue blogging and posting pics, oh and of course report in to MCCA and let them know how the project is progressing. I have some videos of my trip and lots of photos - I will be posting those soon.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
positive feedback
Well, we met with teachers, had a press conference, did a lot of fun sightseeing and ate at a kiosk, Polish restaurant, Zahrdian restaurant (I think I spelled that right). I love Oberhausen! The weather is a lot like Pittsburgh, and so is the culture and heritage. The soccer team BVB is even our colors, black and gold! I have lots of great stories to tell! I am very excited to meet with our teachers again and share news. See everyone soon!
Friday, December 11, 2009
résumé
Dear Katie,
dear teachers, students and colleagues,
Thank you very much for the ambitious work during the last days! The project got started...
http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/oberhausen/Virtuelle-Bruecken-bauen-id2240153.html
dear teachers, students and colleagues,
Thank you very much for the ambitious work during the last days! The project got started...
http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/oberhausen/Virtuelle-Bruecken-bauen-id2240153.html
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
I'm packing my suitcase
Yesterday I met with the principal and teachers, and had our picture taken for the Tribune-Review! I set up Mrs. Audia's computer with a webcam and I got the journals. They are so great! Creative, witty and beautiful. I cannot wait to present them to the students in Germany! I leave tomorrow afternoon, and I have a lot to do until then! Oberhausen, here I come!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
the beginning
Hi everyone and welcome! I am really excited about Building a Transatlantic Bridge! The journals are unbelievable! I can't wait to take them to Germany... in 5 days!!!
Anyone involved in the project can blog about it, teachers, students, museum staff. Please share your thoughts and ideas about the project as we go.
Anyone involved in the project can blog about it, teachers, students, museum staff. Please share your thoughts and ideas about the project as we go.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
