Vanessa Kleyer from Germany volunteers regularly in her host child’s 3rd grade class in Mastic Beach. She brings in games from Germany and plays with a some of the kids during their lunch break. The week before the holiday break, Vanessa gave the kids a special lesson. She taught them a little about her country.
First she had her host child find Germany on the world map. They learned how far away Germany is from the USA.
Then she taught some German words and phrases to the children. She showed them the German flag and each child colored a flag on a flyer she handed out.
She told them some stories that were written in German and the children were excited when Vanessa introduced her mother visiting her for the holidays. Her Mom read “The Princess and the Pea” in German to the children after telling them about the story. The children listened intently.
Each child received a piece of chocolate from Germany to try. Then they split up into groups with the teacher, assistants, Vanessa and her Mom to play some German games in small groups. The lesson was fun and informative. The children truly loved hearing about Germany from their friend Vanessa!
Learn more about Global Awareness, sponsored by Au Pair in America, by visiting the Global Awareness website. http://www.globalawareness.com/
German Au Pair, Justine Probst visited her host child’s 2nd grade classroom to talk about her country with the students.
That feeling to cross the finish line is indescribable. The whole stress drops from me and I have tears in the eyes. My legs are shaking and I have the feeling I can’t move any further but my friends are there, hugging me and I have a medal around my neck. Yes, I’ve made it . I smile. This is an experience what I will never forget!
I couldn’t stop telling everyone that I am accepted for the race and immediately my dad who’s a runner made me a run-schedule. But the really big support for the whole time were my friends. Even if they had to work too and everyone has a different schedule they were my personal trainers. Whether with the bike next to me or also running there was always someone with my on the roads and beaches of the Hamptons. Thanks to Ane, Nina, Paulien, Catrin and Eva.
After a short night with two of my support girls in a hotel in Chinatown I woke up with a stomachache. I was so nervous, anxious and thinking that I couldn’t run the whole 13.1 miles. But my friends were all the time with me. They dropped me off in Central Park where the race started. The whole Central Park was crowed, 22 000 runners and their supporters.
The race started at 7:30 am and I waited in my running group for 40 minutes to cross the start line. These 40 minutes felt like 2 hours! Then I was running in Central Park for like 7 miles and it was amazing! Everywhere people along the edge smiling at your face. I was just running. My friends were waiting for me at mile 6 and I got new motivation after I saw them. The next big “stop” of the race was Times Square and then to the west side and all the way down to Ground Zero.
The finish was Water Street at Maiden Lane. And again were my friends waiting for me. The smile in my face was getting more broadly when I saw the finish line. I crossed the finish line in 2 hours 37 minutes 49 seconds. I am so proud of myself and I’ll never forget that day in my life!