Time for a break.

Today marks the finish of the Customs English part of this years BWZ (January/February) and the beginning of my next adventure, a month back in the U.S.  I have just over a month off of work, so I am leaving for Minneapolis on Sunday.  While the month is not planned, it will involve spending some time back in Colorado and Minnesota, as well as moving my sister Jennifer to California.

Once again, this month I was lucky enough the have an excellent class.  Whilst each battling a cold over the course of the month, we shared many memorable moments and laughed a lot.  Whether it was enjoying a little too much wine at La Corrida or getting down at Rathlin's and the Black Sheep, it sure was fun to see Customs officers get a little crazy outside the classroom.  Thanks B11 for a great month!!

From left: Pascal, Ramona, Olli, Valerie, Steffi,
Natalie, Stefan, Me and Florian (Britta not pictured)

Customs English 2013

So it's back to work at the Bildungs- und Wissenschaftszentrum (BWZ) for another round of Customs English.  Like last year, I will teach English to German Customs Officers over the next six months.  January and February is for students in their 3rd year of study and April, May and June for 1st year students.  With the month of March free, I will return to the U.S. for three weeks after nearly two years of being away.

Pictured below is my first class of the year.  We had a great time together and I will be happy to see them again when they return for more studies in April.  A big thank you to all of them for a great start to another year at the BWZ.

Pictured from left: Me, Angela, Florian, Andreas, Klaus,
 Andrea, Alicia, Frederic, and Sabastian (Axel not pictured).

An overhead view of the BWZ.

Bildungs- und Wissenschaftszentrum

Weihnachtsmarkt 2012

One of my favorite things about winter in Germany is the annual Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market).  My goal for this Christmas season was to visit as many as I could.  I spent several afternoons walking through Münster's different markets as well as Osnabrück, Bad Salzuflen, Herford and Hamburg.  Each one is a little different, but the food, smells, and of course Glühwein are always great.

Bad Salzuflen Weihnachtsmarkt

Hamburg Rathaus (City Hall)

Hamburg Weihnachtsmarkt

Since returning from our trip to Italy, it has been a busy couple months.  I began working for Inlingua Osnabrück, Fokus Sprachenshule and Satellite Entertainment on top of already working for Inlingua  Münster.  For the month of November alone I spent around 500 euros on train tickets.

While teaching English for three different schools is fun, the highlight of the past two months has been working with my friend Ash at Satellite Entertainment.  We traveled all around Northern Germany and into Holland DJ-ing Christmas shows at various British military bases.  In May, I worked with Ash as the 9th Signal Regiment left for Afghanistan.  A couple weeks ago I was able to welcome them back.

The funnest of the shows was getting the opportunity to dress as Santa Clause for the Scottish 4th Battalion (The Highlanders) kids Christmas party in Fallingbostel.  Ash was the DJ and performed a magic show for the kids while I was in Santa's Grotto where I spent two and half hours speaking with around 100 kids.  This is pretty good example of how it went:

Merry Christmas Callum, Callum, Kieran, Callum, Ewan, Callum, Eva, Callum, Callum, Kieran, Callum, Eva, Callum, Kieran and Callum.  What would you like for Christmas?

Italy

Gallipoli

Santa Maria De Leuca

Vieste

Vieste

Pack your bags baby, we're goin' to Italy!!!

Tomorrow my girlfriend Sarah and I are leaving for Italy.  Around a month ago I found a flight from Düsseldorf to Pescara, Italy for 20 euros round trip and decided to pull the trigger.  While we will only be there for 5 days, we should have a great time.  Pictures and updates to follow.