A good friend of mine
recently pointed out that the title for my newsletters (and, consequently, the
title of my blog) is a bit of a misnomer. Though at first I didn't want to
admit it, he was entirely correct. I do not technically live or teach in the
middle of the Alps. I live in the Black Forest, which is lovely trees, green
hills, and endless hiking trails…but regretfully, no Alpine peaks. As someone
who likes to write, I suppose I just got caught up in the alliterative allure
of a title such as “Among the Alps.” It was so much better than
“Frolicking in the Forest,” “Teaching in the Timber” or anything else that was
coming to mind. To be fair, my life is not entirely devoid of this famous
mountain range. I can technically see the Alps from Kandern. I just have to
climb to the top of Sausenburg Castle or head up the mountain for dinner (5
Euro Schnitzel!) at Alpenblick. When the weather is clear, the snow capped
peaks are just visible on the horizon. For an American who for many years had
always dreamed of living even remotely close to such a magnificent mountain
range, I think we’ll count “being-able-to-see-a-peak-on-a-clear-day” as being
in the among category. So, in the
future, please know that I do indeed know the difference between the Alps and
the Black Forest. I have just decided to translate “among” to mean “within a
100 mile radius of.” But thanks again to my friend for helping me to clarify my
geography!
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| You can just catch a glimpse of the Alps on the horizon |
As for recent events in Kandern, the
hustle of school is almost upon us. Today is our last official day of break and
tomorrow we start with All Staff Conference. I am so excited to meet all the
new teachers, RAs, and other new staff members. There will be lots to meet
because this year at BFA there are about 50 new faculty members! As is BFA
tradition, we will begin the week with new staff testimonies. This is where all
the newbies get to share the awesome story of how God has brought them to
Germany to serve at BFA. From past experience, I am looking forward to these
testimonies as being a time of encouragement and celebration for the year
ahead.
As for myself, I am once again starting
to get the start-of-school jitters. I was hoping that those would go away since
it is my second year teaching and
all. But, the anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach, the crazy dreams that I’m
late for the first day of school, and the waking up in the middle of the night
and writing down a sudden idea for a lesson plan (which always ends up making
no sense in the morning) hasn’t seemed to have diminished at all from last
year. The students arrive on August 31st
and school begins September 2nd. More updates to come!
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| Enjoying summertime on a hike with friends :) |
