We had a busy week this week preparing for and many participating in Candle Light Dinner. Candle Light Dinner is it is an outreach event for locals in our community. The narration was all in German and it was geared towards reaching non-believers. On Wednesday night there was a dress rehearsal that everyone who was going to be helping had to attend leaving our dorm with only a few students left. Many of our girls helped by serving, hosting, and performing in the show. I was able to attend the dress rehearsal since I wouldn't be able to see it during the weekend. Candle Light Dinner was on Friday and Saturday night. They were nights filled with van runs to get girls back and forth, but it all worked out and everybody seemed to have a good time. We heard good reports about how it went from the gal who organized it on Sunday at church.
This weekend was Cara’s weekend off, but we were blessed to have a student teacher, Sarah Sax, come to stay at the dorm to fill in for her. The girls seemed to truly enjoy having her here and getting to know her on a more personal level outside of school. She was a huge help to us as well since it would’ve been only Brant and I otherwise.
We ended the weekend with watching the Canada vs. USA Olympic hockey game. There are many of us from America and some (mainly one) from Canada, so it was fun to let out our patriotism. Those with no loyalty to either country chose a side (most chose Canada). Flags from each country were brought out to represent on either side of the TV and many bore their national colors. It was a great game to watch and a lot of fun with the girls to cheer our countries on.
The biggest change to recently happen is that we gained one more girl! She arrived late Thursday evening from Korea with her mom. Her name is Jeewon (Jessie). She has already finished her freshman year, but will be auditing, in a way, freshman courses for the rest of this year and jumping into her sophomore year next year. At dorm fellowship last night we had a chance to go around and tell her who we all are and at the end she was able to repeat back all of our names! We were quite impressed. The girls are very excited to have her here and have been great at welcoming her with open arms.
Prayer requests:
Our dorm mom is still in the states finishing things up from her mother's estate. Please pray that she can return soon and safe.
The whole high school is off to high school retreat this weekend. Please pray for their safety and for spiritual growth from what they hear from the speaker.
Please also be praying for our new girl, Jessie, and her transition into life here and for us, as a staff, to have wisdom on how to make her feel welcome.
Praying you all have a great week!
Erin
P.S. I have uploaded some pictures from our dorm Christmas party, my Christmas break, and from my weekend off last weekend when I spent two nights in Strasbourg, France with 2 other gal RA's.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Washington State NOT D.C.
I am on the last day of my first weekend off. I have been staying at my friends', Becky and Alyssa, home in Kandern at the same place I stayed over Christmas break. It's been very relaxing and refreshing. They are both art teachers at BFA. Last night I had the chance to go out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Lorrach (a bigger town nearby) with Becky and some of her and Alyssa's German friends from their church. Thankfully there were a few who spoke English which were the ones I talked the most to. Becky is very good in German so she talks to them in a mixture of German and English. It was, sadly to say, the first time I got to meet and socialize with German peers. It was really fun and I hope to get to hang out with them again on a future weekend or day off.
So, for a funny story...Today I went into Lorrach to get my German driver's license. A lady at the school fills out all of our paperwork for things like this and then we just each had to go and pick up our license's as soon as we got a card in the mail saying they were ready to be picked up. Cara (my Co-RA) thankfully came with me because I wasn't sure where the place was and how it all worked and such. Instead of waiting in a large waiting room and then going up to a window like the licensing places in the States, here you wait in line and then go into someone's office. So Cara and I went into a ladie's office when it was my turn and I told the lady right away (in German) that I don't speak much German. She spoke at least a little English which turned out to be helpful. She plugged some of my information in on the computer and was looking at my Washington driver's license and started making a couple phone calls and then went over to someone else's office. I wasn't sure what was going on because I knew that Washington state has full reciprocity for getting a driver's license over here. She came back into the office with another man and they started to say that I needed to take a test. As we start to talk about this, with basic and slow English, Cara catches on to the fact that they are talking about Washington state vs. D.C. Ever since I've got here I'm always careful to say that I'm from Washington state because I know that they will assume D.C. if I just said Washington. But now the lady is saying that they need proof that it is Washington STATE. I tried to explain that because it's the state's name that the license isn't going to say state on it. She starts making more phone calls, meanwhile Cara is on the phone trying to get someone from BFA to explain in German to these people the difference between state and D.C. The lady leaves the room again and Cara sees the guy who had come in to help Google Washington state with a look of "awww" come over his face when he started to understand. Thankfully, when the lady came back in she said they sent a fax or something over to Washington (not sure if she ment state or D.C.) and they confirmed for her that I was in fact from Washington state not D.C. This was a HUGE relief because they were tring to say I would have to take a test in German, which is very expensive, if I couldn't prove I was from the state. During part of the confusion Cara said to me, "you would come from a confusing state" and I said, "I know, I know." All this to prove that D.C. really has made it quite confusing and hard for us TRUE Washingtonians.
So, for a funny story...Today I went into Lorrach to get my German driver's license. A lady at the school fills out all of our paperwork for things like this and then we just each had to go and pick up our license's as soon as we got a card in the mail saying they were ready to be picked up. Cara (my Co-RA) thankfully came with me because I wasn't sure where the place was and how it all worked and such. Instead of waiting in a large waiting room and then going up to a window like the licensing places in the States, here you wait in line and then go into someone's office. So Cara and I went into a ladie's office when it was my turn and I told the lady right away (in German) that I don't speak much German. She spoke at least a little English which turned out to be helpful. She plugged some of my information in on the computer and was looking at my Washington driver's license and started making a couple phone calls and then went over to someone else's office. I wasn't sure what was going on because I knew that Washington state has full reciprocity for getting a driver's license over here. She came back into the office with another man and they started to say that I needed to take a test. As we start to talk about this, with basic and slow English, Cara catches on to the fact that they are talking about Washington state vs. D.C. Ever since I've got here I'm always careful to say that I'm from Washington state because I know that they will assume D.C. if I just said Washington. But now the lady is saying that they need proof that it is Washington STATE. I tried to explain that because it's the state's name that the license isn't going to say state on it. She starts making more phone calls, meanwhile Cara is on the phone trying to get someone from BFA to explain in German to these people the difference between state and D.C. The lady leaves the room again and Cara sees the guy who had come in to help Google Washington state with a look of "awww" come over his face when he started to understand. Thankfully, when the lady came back in she said they sent a fax or something over to Washington (not sure if she ment state or D.C.) and they confirmed for her that I was in fact from Washington state not D.C. This was a HUGE relief because they were tring to say I would have to take a test in German, which is very expensive, if I couldn't prove I was from the state. During part of the confusion Cara said to me, "you would come from a confusing state" and I said, "I know, I know." All this to prove that D.C. really has made it quite confusing and hard for us TRUE Washingtonians.
Friday, December 11, 2009
pictures
I've added some new pictures from the Holiday season! We have been keeping very busy. I included pictures from our RA Thanksgiving (we celebrated as RA's on the day of American thanksgiving), Christmas banquet, and a flag football game our girls played against another girls' dorm. This is the last weekend with the students and they all start leaving on Thursday and Friday for their Christmas break. I will write more and add more Christmas time pictures after they leave and things will be calmer then.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
fun weekend
This last weekend was a fun one! On Friday night, the high school had their annual Fall Party. Each year they have a theme and this year it was 'opposites'. Many of the dorms do some form of skit or performance to represent the theme and ours decided to do a dance off performance of nerds vs. girly girls. We had a lot of fun and apparently the judges liked it too because our dorm won! We were very shocked, but also excited.
On Saturday we left some open time during the day because we knew there was a lot going on the rest of the weekend. One of our girl's parents came to visit who live outside of Paris and they made Mexican food for our Saturday night dinner! It was truly amazing! We do not get much of any Mexican food here, so it was a blissful occasion for those of us (particularly me) who have a deep love for Mexican food. During the day, Cara (my co-RA) and I moved couches and comfy chairs outside to set up for an outdoor movie! After our Mexican fiesta, one of the other girls' dorms (Storch) came over to watch Sister Act II on a screen we put up on the side of our shed outside! We served popcorn, hot cocoa, and cookies. It was a seriously awesome time.
On Sunday we went to church and then afterwards stayed in town for a town festival (that's the only word I can think of to describe it). It is called Budenfest and they set it up in the Blumenplatz (kind of like the town center area). Budenfest is pretty much just a bunch of booths selling different types of food. All of the dorms stay in town after church and all of the kids and staff get 5 euros each to buy our own food. It was definitely a fun German experience.
All in all, it was a great weekend! It was also very tiring with all of the activity, but it was well worth it. I have updated my pictures with some of the things I talked about such as the Fall Party and the outdoor movie.
On Saturday we left some open time during the day because we knew there was a lot going on the rest of the weekend. One of our girl's parents came to visit who live outside of Paris and they made Mexican food for our Saturday night dinner! It was truly amazing! We do not get much of any Mexican food here, so it was a blissful occasion for those of us (particularly me) who have a deep love for Mexican food. During the day, Cara (my co-RA) and I moved couches and comfy chairs outside to set up for an outdoor movie! After our Mexican fiesta, one of the other girls' dorms (Storch) came over to watch Sister Act II on a screen we put up on the side of our shed outside! We served popcorn, hot cocoa, and cookies. It was a seriously awesome time.
On Sunday we went to church and then afterwards stayed in town for a town festival (that's the only word I can think of to describe it). It is called Budenfest and they set it up in the Blumenplatz (kind of like the town center area). Budenfest is pretty much just a bunch of booths selling different types of food. All of the dorms stay in town after church and all of the kids and staff get 5 euros each to buy our own food. It was definitely a fun German experience.
All in all, it was a great weekend! It was also very tiring with all of the activity, but it was well worth it. I have updated my pictures with some of the things I talked about such as the Fall Party and the outdoor movie.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
new photos!
I have figured out a way to show my photos on the slideshow on this page! The slideshow you see on the top right titled "Wittlingen" are my pictures from the dorm. This is where I will be updating my photos. If you click on a photo during the slideshow you can look through all the photos yourself.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
photos!
Go to this link to see my first photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007791&id=124400046&l=c6adf7dda7
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007791&id=124400046&l=c6adf7dda7
Saturday, August 8, 2009
the first 4 days
I am safe and sound in Germany! I arrived last Monday night and was welcomed by the rest of the resident life staff! It wasn't too long of a trip with the flight from Seattle to London being between 8-9 hours and then from London to Basel being less than 2 hours. God blessed me greatly by not feeling much of any jet lag! I've been able to sleep each night and make it through each day just fine.
It is VERY beautiful here. Kandern is the town where the actual BFA school is and all of us res. 
life staff have been staying in one dorm in a village called Holzen. We all needed to stay together because Janz Team has English camps for local kids and they have been using the other dorms.
life staff have been staying in one dorm in a village called Holzen. We all needed to stay together because Janz Team has English camps for local kids and they have been using the other dorms. <>
My dorm is.....Wittlingen! The dorm name is the same as the village it is in. It is a very
nice and small village and a very easy drive from the school. This is a picture of it >
There is one other RA I will be with who is a returner. She isn't here yet, but I have talked to her before. She will be here on Monday. My dorm parents are a great couple from Texas. There names are Brant and Laura. Brant took me on a tour of the dorm on Thursday afternoon while the kids from the camp were gone. We will be moving into our dorms on Tuesday.
It's been a crazy, but awesome week with lots of new experiences. The German language hasn't been too hard to pick up on because the class we took this last week was very helpful. Please continue to pray as I keep practice driving as I had not been an experienced driver of a manual car before here. I am starting to pick it up and find my way around, but it will still take a little more time for me to get it down. Please also pray that my co-RA, Cara, will arrive safely and that we will bond quickly. I already know she is going to be a wonderful coworker and friend because she had gifts waiting for me before she even knew who would be her new co-RA! (She's pretty great!).
As I said, I arrived on Monday night and then jumped right into the schedule on Tuesday. The basic schedule for each day this last week was me and the other new staff went to a German class in the morning, came back to the dorm for lunch @ noon, had devotion time with everyone @ 1, driving practice in the afternoon, then dinner altogether back at the dorm. We then had some down time at night. There are 3 other new RA's, but only 2 of which are here yet. The 3'rd is hopefully coming this weekend. We did not know which dorm we were going to be in until Thursday. The Howe's (a couple who are the head of res. life) sat down and got input from the dorm parents on Wednesday night and then they made the official decision on their own. We were told are dorms then at devotion time on Thursday.
My dorm is.....Wittlingen! The dorm name is the same as the village it is in. It is a very
nice and small village and a very easy drive from the school. This is a picture of it >There is one other RA I will be with who is a returner. She isn't here yet, but I have talked to her before. She will be here on Monday. My dorm parents are a great couple from Texas. There names are Brant and Laura. Brant took me on a tour of the dorm on Thursday afternoon while the kids from the camp were gone. We will be moving into our dorms on Tuesday.
It's been a crazy, but awesome week with lots of new experiences. The German language hasn't been too hard to pick up on because the class we took this last week was very helpful. Please continue to pray as I keep practice driving as I had not been an experienced driver of a manual car before here. I am starting to pick it up and find my way around, but it will still take a little more time for me to get it down. Please also pray that my co-RA, Cara, will arrive safely and that we will bond quickly. I already know she is going to be a wonderful coworker and friend because she had gifts waiting for me before she even knew who would be her new co-RA! (She's pretty great!).
Today we have some down time, so the returner RA's are going to take us to a town nearby to spend the day and hang out there. We were going to go on a field trip, but it is rainy today, so the plans have changed. Last Wednesday night we were able to go into Basel, Switzerland to walk around while the dorm parents met here. It is a very cool town and it was neat to walk around it. I haven't taken pictures yet since it's been so busy, but I'm going to start today! So, I will post a link to them once I get them up and running. That's all for now!
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