Monday, March 23, 2020

an unexpected teacher free essay sample

In the summer of 2010 I had the opportunity to bring life back into a city of destruction, to bring love where there was none, and to bring hope when all was gone. After traveling sixteen hours in a fifteen passenger van I was determined to change lives, unaware it would be mine that would instead be changed forever. I was in New Orleans, a city that had looked death, destruction, and devastation in the eye and yet decided to pull together and help each other out in whatever means necessary when many of them had nothing left to give. Although it had been five years since Hurricane Katrina had tragically taken everything from the majority of the people in New Orleans, from the look of the city it could have just happened yesterday. The streets were dirty with paper, mud, weeds, and just about everything else imaginable- the yards overgrown, the houses deserted, the neighborhoods childless. We will write a custom essay sample on an unexpected teacher or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page New Orleans had lost its vibrancy, its color, its hope and its life, all of which we hoped to help restore. We devoted an entire week solely as servants of God. We picked up trash, demolished houses, fed the homeless, cleared lots, had a carnival, and gave away free clothes. However, it was on the sixth night of my mission trip, when we went to downtown New Orleans to serve the homeless, that I learned more in five minutes then I had my entire life. I had never seen so many famished, exhausted, dirty people in one place as I did that night. They came by bike, bus, and many by their own two feet desperate for anything we could give them. Men, women, children, teenagers, old men, and babies came in tens, hundreds and thousands. From among all the people I met and stories I heard, one man exceptionally stood out: A man by the name of David. He was A tall gray-haired man, who looked like it had been weeks since his last meal. We offered him everything from spaghetti and meatballs, Caesa r salad, cookies, punch, and bread, all of which he refused besides a tiny slice of garlic bread. â€Å"That is all I need† He said, â€Å"Save the rest for the children or for the people who really need it.† Never have I ever been so amazed, astounded, or flabbergasted than I was that moment when A man who had absolutely nothing decided to take the bare minimum when offered a full meal. He had nothing to give yet in that moment he gave everything to one more man, woman, or child who would eat that night because he refused it. When we asked him how he would make it, as it was apparent he had not eaten in weeks, he just looked up at the sky and responded, â€Å"I’ll make it through the night, I have him† and turned to leave with his single piece of garlic bread and a smile on his face. The rest of the night I continued to hear stories of hope, hard work, and faith but nothing came close to my encounter with David. I could not stop thinking about his genero sity and faith in God’s plan. Not only did I return home with a few souvenirs, a bracelet one of the children made me and a New Orleans shirt to commemorate my trip, but also a newfound sense of hope, peace, and love. Of all the things I learned that week about myself, New Orleans, and the world I learned the most from a tiny piece of garlic bread and a homeless man by the name of David: to always have hope even when no one would blame us for having none, to always have faith in God because everything that happens is part of his plan, and to always have love for ourselves and each other as in the grand scheme of the world we are all a family and all God’s children.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Learning German Adjectives and Colors

Learning German Adjectives and Colors German adjectives, like English ones, usually go in front of the noun they modify: der  gute  Mann (the good man), das  große  Haus (the big house/building), die  schà ¶ne  Dame (the pretty lady). Unlike English adjectives, a German adjective in front of a noun has to have an ending (-e  in the examples above). Just what that ending will be depends on several factors, including  gender  (der, die, das) and  case  (nominative, accusative, dative). But most of the time the ending is an -e  or an -en  (in the plural). With  ein-words, the ending varies according to the modified nouns gender (see below). Look at the following table for the adjective endings in the nominative (subject) case: With  definite article  (der, die, das) -  Nominative case Masculineder Femininedie Neuterdas Pluraldie der neu Wagenthe new car die schn Stadtthe beautiful city das alt Autothe old car die neu Bcherthe new books With  indefinite article  (eine, kein, mein) -  Nom. case Masculineein Feminineeine Neuterein Pluralkeine ein neu Wagena new car eine schn Stadta beautiful city ein alt Autoan old car keine neu Bcherno new books Note that with  ein-words, since the article may not tell us the gender of the following noun, the adjective ending often does this instead (-es  Ã‚  das, -er  Ã‚  der; see above). As in English, a German adjective can also come  after  the verb (predicate adjective): Das Haus ist groß. (The house is large.) In such cases, the adjective will have NO ending. Farben (Colors) The German words for colors  usually function as adjectives and take the normal adjective endings (but see exceptions below). In certain situations, colors can also be nouns and are thus capitalized: eine Bluse in  Blau (a blouse in blue); das Blaue  vom Himmel versprechen (to promise heaven and earth, lit., the blue of the heavens). The chart below shows some of the more common colors with sample phrases.  Youll learn that the colors in feeling blue or seeing red may not mean the same thing in German. A black eye in German is blau (blue). Farbe Color Color Phrases with Adjective Endings rot red der rote Wagen (the red car), der Wagen ist rot rosa pink die rosa Rosen (the pink roses)* blau blue ein blaues Auge (a black eye), er ist blau (hes drunk) hell-blau lightblue die hellblaue Bluse (the light blue blouse)** dunkel-blau darkblue die dunkelblaue Bluse (the dark blue blouse) grn green der grne Hut (the green hat) gelb yellow die gelben Seiten (yellow pages), ein gelbes Auto wei white das weie Papier (the white paper) schwarz black der schwarze Koffer (the black suitcase) *Colors ending in -a  (lila, rosa) do not take the normal adjective endings.  Ã‚   **Light or dark colors are preceded by  hell- (light) or  dunkel- (dark), as in  hellgrà ¼n  (light green) or  dunkelgrà ¼n  (dark green).