All posts tagged: campus

Forgiven Faculty

Published by Sula H.

Vergebenes Lehrerkollegium   Alright, admitted: I didn’t go to the candle light ceremony this year – the inauguration of the freshman students. (Before you get all fussy about that, however, just a little note on the side: I didn’t have to go.) Little did I know, though, that this year I really missed out on a huge feat! (As my colleagues were kind enough to point out to me the other day. Remember my not so foreign stuff teacher ID lunch talk?) After all, all foreign faculty who went to take part in the ceremony were given a huge deal. They were noticed as the “forgiven” faculty (foreign faculty). Now, my question is: Does that mean they have permission to mess up big time this year, knowing that they’ve been pardoned already? Or does it mean only those colleagues who’ve been pardoned in the past were admitted to join the ceremony? I guess the answer to such a big and important question really lies with the powers that be. But no matter what, I definitely …

Lovely Letters

Published by Sula H.

Liebliche Briefe   One of the things I love about my job is the things that happen on the sidelines of the class routine. Like getting little letters from my students. Now, keep in mind that I’m teaching freshman university students. But isn’t it lovely to get a letter with little drawings and nice sentiments? No matter how old my students are, these things always warm my heart and make me happy to be a freshman teacher! Einer der Gründe, warum ich meinen Job so mag sind die Dinge die am Rande des Unterrichts passieren. Wie z.B. Briefe von meinen Studenten zu bekommen. Vergesst dabei nicht, ich unterrichte 1. und 2. Semester Studenten an einer Universität. Aber ist es nicht allzu lieblich, einen Brief mit kleinen Zeichnungen von den Studenten zu bekommen? Egal wie alt meine Studenten sind, Dinge wie diese wärmen mir leicht das Herz und machen es mir ein Vergnügen, 1. Semester Studenten zu unterrichten!                  

Foreign Stuff

Published by Sula H.

Fremdes Zeug   After quite a number of years, I accomplished something. I managed to get myself a teacher ID card. For the first time. (Yes, I never remembered to put in an application for one in previous years, but this year I did!) Not that we actually really need this card. But if anything, I thought, it might be able to add a little happiness to my life. So, I proudly presented my ID card at the lunch table. But my joy about such a feat was soon dampened when my colleagues kindly pointed out that my card was different from those colleagues who’d gotten their ID cards in previous years. Whereas their cards would give them a reason to be amused each time they’d look at it, mine was simply plain and boring. Why? Because where it simply says “foreign staff” on my card, on theirs it said “foreign stuff”. Bummer, that I can’t be stuff here at school like they are! Nach einer Reihe von Jahren habe ich endlich ein Ziel erreicht. …

A Window-Load of Fresh Air

Published by Sula H.

Eine Fensterladung frischer Luft   I have a dilemma. I like to air dry my laundry. One reason for that is that the dryers are in constant use and it’s difficult to catch a free one if you don’t want to do your laundry in the middle of the night (as some of my colleagues do). Another reason is that I don’t want to keep chasing my laundry in case I come late and others need to use the dryer and take out my laundry before I get to the laundry room.So, like I said, I prefer to hang my clothes and let them dry slowly. But I also don’t like to hang them outside because the air’s so polluted that I feel like I might as well return the clothes to the laundry after hanging them outside. The problem with hanging up clothes inside the building is that the air in my apartment is pretty damp. So drying clothes on a rack takes quite some time. I’d just done a couple loads of laundry …

Smokin’ Good

Published by Sula H.

Verr(a)ucht   Do you see this? Seht ihr dies Bild?     This is our lobby. And no. This isn’t a bad picture taken of the lobby (though, admitted, the picture is pretty bad). But this is our lobby during harvest season. The mist you see in the picture is actually smoke. From all the harvest fires. And that smoke doesn’t just give our lobby a sweet and dreamy appearance. That smoke is everywhere, wafting through the hallways and into our rooms. Smokin’ good, ain’t it! Das ist unsere Eingangshalle. Und nein, das ist nicht nur ein schlechtes Bild von unserer Lobby (obwohl, zugegeben, das Bild ist ziemlich schlecht). Aber das ist unsere Lobby während der Ernte. Der leichte Nebel, den ihr da seht, ist eigentlich Rauch. Von all den Erntefeuern. Und der Rauch gibt nicht nur unserer Lobby eine verträumte Erscheinung. Dieser Rauch ist überall, wabert durch die Flure und Hallen in unsere Wohnungen. Ziemlich verr(a)ucht, findet ihr nicht auch?

Of Rain, Lobbies, And Missing Buckets

Published by Sula H.

Vom Regen, einer Eingangshalle und fehlenden Eimern   Check this out: It’s been raining (yes, I talked about that blessing yesterday) but by crossing our lobby, we have no other way to tell than by looking out of the windows. Yes, as a matter of fact, our “rain-proof” in-lobby weather report doesn’t work anymore. All the buckets are gone, and there are no puddles around to tell us to beware that we might need to prepare ourselves for odd weather circumstances outside. Whether the fact that the buckets are missing and the leaks are gone – in other words, whether our personal weather indicator has finally been put out of order is a tragic thing or not, I leave for you to judge.   Seht euch das nur an: Es regnet (ja, über diesen Segen habe ich ja schon gestern philosophiert), aber wenn man unsere Eingangshalle kreuzt kann man nur noch erkennen, dass es draussen regnet, wenn man aus den Fenstern guckt. Tatsächlich funktioniert unserer “regensicherer” In-Lobby Wetterbericht nicht mehr. Alle Eimer sind weg und auch …

A Day to Celebrate

Published by Sula H.

Ein Tag zum Feiern   It’s been a busy weekend. Pretty much for everybody here at school. The reason? Well, let’s see. First, there’s the graduation ceremony for all those students whose time at our university has come to an end. And second, commencement has been merged with another rather huge ordeal – our school’s anniversary. Add our annual homecoming parade and celebrations, and you have a weekend full of festivities. Today, the hype started with the parade, followed by the big anniversary show, filled with speeches and performances. And if you want to know how most of my colleagues felt about the anniversary ceremony, well, see for yourself:   War das ein volles Wochenende! Für jeden hier an unserer Schule. Der Grund? Also, lass mal sehen … Zuerst ist da die Abschlusszeremonie für alle Studienabgänger. Und dann ist dies Abschlussfeier mit einem anderen riesigen Event zusammengelegt worden – dem Jubiläum unserer Schule. Füge dazu noch die jährliche Parade und Feierlichkeiten für Familienangehörige und ehemalige Studenten, dann ist das ein Wochenende, bei dem die Post …

Hidden Treasures

Published by Sula H.

Verborgene Schätze   The nice thing about living on a campus is that you never know what surprises might be waiting for you any moment. Like that of this exhibition, where students and teachers displayed their latest projects. Who would’ve known that behind the ruins of our campus’ biggest construction site, you would find beauty and art?   Das gute daran, auf einem Campus zu leben ist, dass du niemals weisst, welche Überraschungen im nächsten Augenblick auf dich warten. Wie diese Ausstellung, bei der Studenten und Lehrer ihre neuesten Projekte vorgestellt haben. Und wer hätte gedacht, dass sich hinter den Ruinen der grössten Baustelle auf dem Campus solche Kunstschätze verbergen würden?  

Ice-Cream, Baby!

Published by Sula H.

Eiscreme, Baby! Yiiihaaa! Summer’s here and for me that mean’s one pretty important thing! It’s time to start investigate the various ice-cream places around campus. After all, there’s simply no summer without the ice-cold pleasure!   Juchhuuu! Sommer ist hier und für mich ist da eines ganz ganz wichtig! Es wird Zeit, die verschiedenen “Eisdielen” auf dem Campus genauer in Augenschein zu nehmen. Immerhin, Sommer ist einfach nicht das Gleiche ohne dieses eiskalte Vergnügen!  

Grading Season

Published by Sula H.

Notenzeit   Grading time has come, and that means we’re stuck at our desks, working with numbers, and then more numbers, and then even more numbers. Not that easy, when you consider that behind every number is a name, and behind every name a person, and behind every person a destiny. So, you can imagine that this isn’t a time that we can can take all too lightly. Die Zeit der Notengebung ist gekommen und das heisst, wir stecken hinter unseren Schreibtischen fest und arbeiten mit Zahlen. Und dann noch mehr Zahlen. Und dann noch einmal mehr Zahlen. Das ist nicht so einfach, wenn man bedenkt, dass hinter jeder Zahl ein Name steckt. Und dass hinter jedem Namen eine Person steht. Und dass mit jeder Person ein Schicksal verbunden ist. Also könnt ihr euch vorstellen, dass wir diese Zeit nicht auf die allzu leichte Schulter nehmen können.