September 23, 2011: BOP: A Week of Crazy Not-Supposed-To-Be-Fun Fun

So, apparently if you are a ninth grade Realschule student in the loverley (not a real word, I know) land of Germany, you are required to attend a week of something that is kind of like career training called BOP. Now, I have no clue what BOP means. I know it is Beruf Something Something.... I think the last word might be Praktikum. Oh well, it is now over, so what it is called is not so important anymore. Anyway, my group seemed to be the only group that actually enjoyed their time in the BOP. My group was given a ridiculously long name that was basically gastronomy and hotel service.

The first day, we were all assigned to our groups. That was also the day that I became pretty sure that I am not actually registered as a member of my school. My name was not on any of the lists the director people had, so they told me to just go with a friend. Luckily, my friends, Sheryl and Merima, both went to gastronomy so I super lucked out. The other groups did things like computer software, cutting metal, and landscaping. We got to cook. Now, I don't really know who it is that reads this blog, but I'm pretty sure not all of you know me personally. You see, I love to cook, and bake, and that sort of thing, so this was just perfect for me. Our first day, our teacher, Frau Peterson, set a big bowl of brotchen in front of us and Nutella, cheese, and meat, and was like, here's your breakfast for today, enjoy it. If you like cereal, I'll bring some tomorrow. Frau Peterson, by the way, is just the most awesome person I ever met. She always wore her hair up in a scarf type headband with her long crazy frizzy hair sticking out the sides, and she always looked us right in the eyes when she spoke to us. I really liked and respected that about her. When we finished eating she took us into a big circle, put a bowl on her head, and walked around us looking at us and saying one thing nice to us. She came to me and said, ''Anna, you are beautiful.'' I could tell she meant it. And not only because she is German. We all took turns, and when we were finished, she made us write down six sentences that I now say in front of my mirror every morning before school.

''Ich bin selbsbewusst.'' (I am self-confident)

''Ich bin wundervoll.'' (I am wonderfull)

''Ich bin schön.'' (I am beautiful)

''Ich bin freundlich.'' (I am friendly)

''Ich bin hilfsbereit.'' (I am helpfull)

''Ich bin Liebevoll.'' (I am lovely, alternately, I am full of love)

The next day, Tuesday, I was assigned as a cook. Silent dance and song of victory please. That day was awesome, and I got very friendly with the two coffee pots in that industrial kitchen. Lets just say, if they were my kids, one of them was the good kid. Never spilled a single drop of coffee, made the coffee fast, and didn't ever burn. The other was always in the corner. I could not even put new water in it without getting my shirt and apron soaking wet. The coffee always dribbled down the sides when I tried to put it in the coffee pots. Ugh. It was just not nice. That day, I also helped Sheryl make what is called a ''Tasse Kuchen'' a.k.a. a Cup Cake. But not those tiny little things we serve at birthday parties and Fourth of July. A Tasse Kuchen is a cake where the ingredients can be measured by the cupfull. You see, Germany, kind of like the rest of the world besides the USA, uses metrics, so they usually weigh their baking ingredients, or have them in milliliters. The cup we used were just standard coffee mugs, about three hundred mL each, I believe, and the cake was pretty simple. Just add this, add that, put in the oven. I was surprised when we added mineral water to the cake. Frau Peterson said that makes it fluffier. Well, okay. :) The cake turned out really yummy. I made one in a springform pan, which is the same in German, I learned rather bashfully. When that was finished we poured melted chocolate on top, and it was really good. The other cake, made from the same batter, but on a different pan, we made a lemon icing from lemon juice, a bit of water, and a big bag of powdered sugar. It was delicious. We also made pizza which was also delicious. The day was crazy as we were just getting started and everything, but it was also so much fun.

I have to go now! Geraldine and I have to go pick up the walnuts from the pony stall!! I'll finish telling you guys about BOP maybe today, maybe tomorrow, but soon!

Until my next post, Tchüß!

Mit Freundlichen Grüßen!

Anna <3