Sunday, August 17, 2014

Among the Alps??


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!
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!

Enjoying summertime on a hike with friends :)