Hanna, Fabian and I had our first Each One, Teach One, (EOTO) meeting: Introductions! Our meeting was quite mellow, with each of us sharing aspects of ourselves and our expectations as we go further into the activities we have planned. It is exciting to think about because quite early on we all decided that we would make food the core of our cultural exchange. Let me just say, we are off to a great start.
Fabian shared a little about his home and a cool project that he did with his dad. Guys, he and his dad did a DIY pizza oven. Impressive, if I do say so myself. I also learned that one of his favourite cuisines is Italian and that he lives by the 3 P’s: Pizza, Pasta and you get the picture… His all time favourite though is the sweet treats (dessert) and if all goes well, I will get to taste test some of them. Yum!
From Hanna’s I learned some more about her passions for her studies, travelling and diving. I also learned that besides her love for boardgames she also really loves plums. Hanna shared with me some of her favourite dishes and, get this, in Northern Berlin (where she is from) they are in constant debate with the rest of Germany over the rightful name for pancakes (Eirkuchen/Pfannkuchenin). The leading question is, is it pancakes or egg cakes?
At the end of Hanna’s presentation, I learned that they eat these pancakes in Berlin on the 11 November at 11.11 every year to celebrate carnival. Fun fact, in my presentation, I also revealed that we celebrate St. Martin day on November 11th. While I won’t bore you with all of the details, I will say, that sharing not only a little history about my country but also some information about the national dishes and what is possibly to come made me excited. Now, I can’t wait.
All in all, what I really loved about their presentations was the vocabulary. So far, I have learned:
Ich und meine heimat which when translated means me and my home. While it does not sound like it should when I say it, I can remember what it means. Points for me, I guess. Some other words I remember from our session: beeren – berries; dorf – village; feld – field; katze – cat.
While this was not near all of the fun we had during our first meeting, I think these are the highlights. And in case you were wondering, or maybe not, we also had some really nice oatmeal cookies (Vegan-German style), made by the lovely Hanna. So like I said, off to a great start.
Comments