My birthday and a field trip

Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle

A couple of weeks ago I celebrated another birthday.  It just so happened that it overlapped with the day planned for language field trips.  So on my birthday I was responsible for taking 15 kids to a castle in France and to a town nearby that I had never visited.  As a new teacher thing I feel very out of my league when it comes to field trips especially in an area that I do not know well or better yet have never been to before.  I have to admit when I first saw that the field trip was planned for my birthday I was a little sad.  The weight and the responsibility of all the details and the unknowns did not sound like a fun day to me.   

However, my kids saw things very differently. :) Four of them approached me at different times to ask me if I had planned the field trip for that day on purpose. In their minds they could not think of a better way for me to spend my birthday than with all of them.  :) And after our day together I could not have agreed more.  Jesus really worked for me and for us that day.  I had two wonderful drivers/chaperones that helped figure things out with me and count heads and my kids were a lot of fun and behaved in a way that made their teacher very proud.  The castle we visited was at the top of the mountain and the kids did not complain once even though the temperatures were well below freezing at that altitude and within those stone walls.  Fortunately, we were able to visit a beautiful little town at the bottom of the hill which was much warmer. They all enjoyed this visit and believe it or not the find of the town was ice cream with cookie pieces in it.  They were thrilled. 

I came home and was able to have dinner with my pastor and his family and the Ingrams (LCC missionaries and long time family friends).  What a blessing and then my roommates planned a wonderful evening with some new friends.  Needless to say I felt very loved. 

French 1 Class

What a blessing to celebrate another year with so many wonderful people.  I felt like the Psalmist who said – “But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.  My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.” (Psalm 71:14-15) Jesus has been so good to me in the last year and I want to be faithful and continue to love, obey and praise Him in the year to come.

Where to start...

It has been too long since I last updated my blog.  This semester has been very busy.  Filled with work, students, grading, planning, basketball games, teacher’s conference, etc.  In many ways this semester has been easier in other ways it has been harder.  I now know my way around town, know a little more about BFA, know my students better, etc.  But the weariness of the last 7-8 months has set in in new ways as well.  Throughout it all though the Lord has truly been faithful.  Here is a brief overview of the last several weeks. 

We had two home basketball game weekends.  It was really fun to go and cheer on our students (being the stand in for their parents who are often not able to be there).  Our varsity girls went on to the European Dodds finals and lost by only one point in overtime.  They played hard and we are proud of them.  One of the music teachers here decided to start a pep band for the home games.  It included staff, students, teachers, RAs, etc.  After announcing it several days in a row and not having any students sign up they finally realized that the kids did not know what a pep band was. :)   So the next day they explained it and several joined. They did a great job cheering the teams on.  

On the train with my wonderful co-workers

In mid-February I was able to go with 5 other teachers to the Association of German International Schools Conference in Hannover, Germany.  It was a new experience for me to attend a teacher’s conference but it was helpful and educational (good thing at a teacher’s conference :)).  The US Ambassador to Germany spoke on the opening night which was interesting.  There were about 300 teachers there from international schools all over Germany. The teachers themselves were from all over the world (Australia, England, Ireland, France, the USA, Canada, etc.).  All in all it was a very good and helpful conference.   

My middle schoolers presented to their parents and to the 8^th grade French class a play that they have been working on memorizing, along with some songs and Bible verses.  They did a very good job and I was quite proud of them. 

My small group had a crêpe party thanks to the other French teacher who invited us over to her house.  She made us delicious crêpes and we celebrated Valentine’s Day and one of my girl’s birthdays.  Three of my girls had never had a crêpe before so it was fun to see them discover a new and delicious dessert (in my unbiased opinion).  

Nonnberg Chapel

I spent a wonderful rather spontaneous weekend in Salzburg, Austria with my cousin Katy Beth, and two other wonderful ladies.  It was a gift to me straight from Jesus.  We had a wonderful time exploring Salzburg.  One of my favorite things (pun intended) was visiting the convent where Maria Von Trapp was from and where she and the captain were married in real life.  This summer we were able to visit their lodge in Stowe, VT but to see where it all begin was pretty amazing.  One woman's obedience to do what God had asked her to do not only changed a family but is a story that we are still talking about today.  And getting to experience it with my cousin and two friends was just icing on the cake.  I truly felt spoiled. 

Dancing at the Sound of Music gazebo

What fun to be with my cousin Katy Beth