Beirut: Impressions / Eindrücke

Today (Sunday) I took a walk around Beirut.
















Here is a view to the West/Northwest (Blick nach Westen/Nordwesten). Notice the snow on the mountains (Schnee auf den Bergen)

As you can see, Beirut is located directly on the Mediterranean (liegt direkt am Mittelmeer). Beirut is a very lively city, and the shops stay open late. You can buy almost anything here.
At night it seems that everybody goes out! There are very many nice restaurants and clubs.

The drivers here are a bit crazy. When you cross a street you have to be careful (Vorsicht beim Straßenüberqueren)!

The weather was nice and it was sunny today. Some (a few) people even went swimming in the sea (Ein Paar Leute gingen sogar Schwimmen!). In the Summer many people go to the beaches north and south of the city. Now you can go skiing - the ski slopes are only two hours away (jetzt kann man Schifahren gehen - die Schanzen sind nur 2 Stunden entfernt).

Well, I hope you found this interesting! Until next time!

First day of Instruction / Erster Unterrichtstag

"Marhaba" aus Libanon!

On Monday and Tuesday I taught my first classes.

The pupils are quite nice. They asked a lot of questions about me, Germany, Neustadt and Edenkoben.

I also gave the letters which Lena, Carina, Theresa and Mareike (from Latin 8a/b) wrote to the two 9th grade classes. Many of them said they would write!

Here are pictures of my 9th grade classes.




























I have also learned some Arabic!
Marhaba = Hallo
Kiefak = Wie geht's? (das sagt man einem Mann)
Kiefik = Wie geht's? (zu einer Frau/einem Mädchen)
Mnih = Es geht mir gut (ein Mann sagt das)
Mni-ha = Es geht mir gut (eine Frau sagt das)
Schuhkran = Danke schön!
Achlan uah sachlan = Willkommen

On Wednesday, Feb 14, we do not have school.
It is also my birthday ;-)

Well, that's it for today! Tell me what you would like to know. I will post something here again soon!

Maa salameh!

Lebanon - Backround / Hintergrund

OK, a little lesson (eine kleine Lehrstunde)!

Lebanon is an ancient (uraltes) country. Over 3000 years ago the Phoenicians (Phönizier) were a leading trading people (führendes Handelsvolk).

The leading city-states (Stadtstaaten) were Sidon, Tyre and Byblos (von dem Name kommt "Bibel", da Byblos auch viele Bücher produzierte).

Beirut first became famous during the Roman Empire ("Berytus"). Beirut was known (bekannt) for its law school (Iura-Schule). Now Beirut is the capital (Hauptstadt).

Lebanon is still famous (immer noch bekannt) for its trade (Handel). It is perhaps the most "western" of all Arab countries. The people are very open (aufgeschlossen) and friendly!

Traditionally, Lebanon has been a very tolerant country - it is the home to many religions: Christians (Maroniten, Katholiken, Orthodoxe), Moslems, Druze (ein moslem-ähnlicher Glaube) and also Jews.

Unfortunately (leider) there have been tensions (Spannungen) between these faiths (zwischen diesen Glauben) and other countries have involved themselves here (andere Länder mischen sich hier ein).

In 1975 a Civil War (Bürgerkrieg) began and lasted until 1990. The war made my family leave Lebanon because my father could not do any business.

After the Civil War, Lebanon recovered quickly (erholte sich schnell) and until the Israelis bombed Beirut (Summer 2006) everything seemed very good.

People are nervous here (die Leute sind jetzt nervös), but the Lebanese are a very industrious (fleißiges) people. They are even now building new buildings (sie bauen immer noch jetzt ständig neue Gebäude) and they are very hopeful.

Also... ich hoffe dies hat einige von euch interessiert!

In School / In der Schule

Marhaba! (Hello!)

Here are a few pictures from inside the school!

Here are two photos of my classroom!















And here is the hallway (Flur) outside of the classroom.















I was introduced to my new pupils. They seem nice, but they do not seem as as lively (lebendig) as my pupils in Edenkoben and Neustadt.

We will see!

The weather has been very nice here the last few days.

Today (Friday) there was no school. It was a holiday: "Saint (Sankt) Maroun" Day. Saint Maroun founded (gründete) the Christian sect of the Maronite (Maroniten) Christians.

Yesterday (Thursday) night I was invited (eingeladen) to go to a club. The people were very nice! I even meet a Lebanese TV personality (Fernsehstar).

On Monday will be my first day teaching! I am a little nervous, but it will be OK!

The next time I will have photos of the city and I will then take pictures of my students!

Mareike und Co... am Montag stelle ich eure Briefen den Schülern der 9. Klasse vor!
Am Mittwoch habe ich Geburtstag!

In Beirut and at School !

Greetings from Beirut!

I spent much of the weekend walking around the city - it is very fascinating!

It is still Winter here: it is cool (ca. 15 °C) and it is raining a lot. But sometimes the sun shines and it is very nice.

On Monday and today I spent some time at the school and took some pictures for you!

Here is the entrance (Eingang)

to the "High School".

Pupils (Schüler/-innen) in grades 9-12 go to school here.

This is where I will teach.

Here is the entrance to the Middle School.

Pupils (Schüler/-innen) in grades 5-8 go to school here.

This is also where the library (Bibliothek) and the cafeteria is.

The cafeteria (Mensa) offers (anbietet) sandwiches (also hamburgers, etc.), salads, ice cream, etc.

In back of (hinter) the cafeteria is a court (Hof) where pupils can "hang out" during their breaks (Pausen).

The teachers are all very nice (there are about 50 teachers!). I found out that I will teach two 9th grade (9. Klasse) classes and two 10th grade classes.

School starts at 8:00 am and ends at 3:15 pm.

The school also has a gymnasium (Sporthalle)

and

sports fields (Sport-felder)!

As you can see, the Mediter-ranean Sea (Mittel-meer) is very close!

The next time I will take some pictures of the classrooms (Klassenzimmer).

Bis bald!

Arrival / Ankunft in Beirut!

The flight (Flug) on Friday was very good - I had no problems!

(Here is a picture of me on the airplane)

It was a strange (komisch) Feeling to see Beirut again after 31 years!

Many things have changed, but some things have remained the same (sind dasselbe geblieben).

On Friday I visited the school - I was there in the 7th grade (7. Klasse), and now I will be a teacher there!

(Here is a picture in front of the school.

The pupils are leaving at the end of the day)

On Friday night two teachers took me to a very nice restaurant where we had a lot of very good Lebanese food!

Then I went to the Hard Rock Cafe. On Friday evenings there is karaoke and I sang two songs!

On Saturday I explored the city. I walked around the city for many hours and found the apartment building (Wohngebäude) where my family lived so long ago.

Tomorrow I will take more pictures and put them here.

Until soon!

Duane

Last Report from Germany!

So... it is ten o'clock pm (22:00) and I'm about to go to bed.

My father is driving me to the airport, and we will leave my parents' house at 6:00 am!!!

The next report - from Beirut Lebanon!

(Ciao, bis bald!)