A Day in the Life of Miss Lewis

At approximately 8:05 each morning, I step across the threshold of the Garni House and into the wide German world outside my doorstep. My red drawstring bag is in my hand, packed with my cross-country shoes and running clothes. I carefully load the bag into the front basket of my German bicycle, roll the bike out of our garage, and prepare to make my descent down the hill and into “downtown” Kandern. My WVU backpack is strapped to my shoulders and securely packed with textbooks, computer, lunchbox, and anything else I might need for the school day (such as a shopping bag for picking up groceries later at Hieber or an umbrella for the inevitable German rain showers.) On most days, I also have two of my roommates—Johanna and Hanna, the other bicycle riding Garni Girls—at my side and ready to make the great morning commute to BFA.

I arrive on campus between 8:15 and 8:20 each morning (a little bit earlier on the days when we have staff devotions.) Since I teach a first period class, I like to have a little extra prep time before the students arrive. After dropping off my teaching materials and coaching clothes at my office, (yes, I have my own little desk space in the community faculty room!) I run my lunchbox up to the third floor staff kitchen and then proceed to prep the lessons for the day. This might include making photocopies, setting up the projector, organizing materials, entering grades, or just getting the computers turned and warmed up before the start of class.

Students begin to arrive on campus about 8:30 and continue to trickle in all the way up until 8:45 (or later!) when the first warning bell rings. If it’s a Monday, the students file into the BFA auditorium for a short beginning-of-the-week assembly called Matins. This usually includes announcements for the week as well as a short devotional.

Matins runs from 8:50-9:00 and then it’s off to first period. The other days of the week (with the exception of Friday chapel) students report directly to first period for a 10min opening class devotional and prayer time. By 9am, the devos have ended and the regular class schedule is in full swing.

The first class of my morning is Beginner Journalism. We meet on the very top floor of the Janz building in a tiny classroom called JB 32. 

 

Though it may seem small, it works out just fine for my very small class sizes. To me, the low wooden ceiling and large rectangular table in the middle of the room has a nice, homey feel. I like being able to discuss poetry and story ideas seated at this table with my students. I feel that it helps to create a classroom atmosphere of safety and trust. (However, I will admit that my room is not without it’s flaws…it has been mistaken for a closet on a number of occasions.)

With a school of over 300 students, perhaps you are wondering how I ended up with classes that are so small. If you have any experience in today’s high school culture, you will soon discover that the English electives are usually not the most popular of classes. Here is the usual response that I receive when I ask a student if they would ever consider signing up for a creative writing class: “Why would I choose to take a class where I actually have to write?” Interestingly enough, I receive a similar response when I ask a kid why they won’t sign up for cross-country...“Why would I choose to play a sport where I actually have to run?”

I suppose that I never before realized the similarities between writing and running…both can be (and usually are) extremely taxing and time consuming, but both when the right amount of time and effort are invested, can produce the most amazing results. I guess I just love to see the result of hard work. I love to see young people enjoying the journey, learning to push themselves to the limit, and learning to always work to the best of their abilities.

Sorry, I realize that I am off on a major tangent. Back to my schedule. My next class after 1st period Jouranlism is 3rd period Study Hall. What do I love about teaching study hall at an international Christian boarding school? The students actually study! So far, my biggest issue in this class was when a student forgot to sign in with me because she was so eager to go to the library to get all of her homework done. (Seriously, this happened.) Study Hall is also a good time for students to meet with teachers individually, take private music lessons, or meet with the counselor. Seniors have the privilege of signing out of study hall to go to the student center, outside to a picnic table, to the grocery store, or to downtown Kandern. As long as they are back in time for their next class, BFA has an open campus. (Something that I always wish that I had in high school!)

After 3rd period, I have a prep period and then lunch. I typically like to take my lunch with some of the other teachers outside, but since it’s been so rainy and cold lately, I have been eating in the upstairs kitchen. There is always some sort of lively conversation going on in there…which usually involves a discussion of each other’s intriguing dinner left-overs and the ever popular question: "where did you find __[insert random food]__in Germany?"

Directly after lunch is one of my favorite classes of the day: Creative Writing Poetry! I have had so much fun planning lessons for these young writers. They are all so eager and enthusiastic…not to mention talented. I often feel like I am teaching college freshman or sophomores, not juniors and seniors in high school. Next semester, I will have Creative Writing Prose added to my schedule, which I am also looking forward to teaching.

Creative Writing is my last official class of the day. The other two periods are dedicated to prep time and “office hours.” School ends at 3:50 and at 4:00, cross-country practice begins!

I will write more about cross-country as soon as I can find some more blogging time. We had our first meet this past Saturday, so I have lots to tell you. :) Along with the BFA cross-country team, I also had the chance to race this past weekend. On Sunday, I went to Switzerland with about 12 other BFA teachers to run in the Basel 10K. Such an exciting experience! Full update to come soon!

First Week of School

Week one of classes has come to a close here at the Black Forest Academy and the first-year teachers are wondering just how they managed to survive it all. :)

I realize that it’s been a while since my last blog update, but, as you can probably imagine, my life has become a little more busy now that classes are in session, cross country is up and running, and the school year is in full swing. Therefore, I’ll do my best to update you on some of the bigger highlights of the week.

Garni Girls on the first day of school!

  
Monday evening was the official start of the semester and what BFA likes to call “Parent-Teacher Fellowship Night.” During this time, the parents of the BFA students have the opportunity to meet the teachers (hey, wait a minute, that’s me!) and preview the campus. For the evening’s agenda, each parent was given a copy of their student’s schedule and 7 minutes to visit each classroom. 

It was fun to see parents bustling back and forth across the campus, wondering how in the world their child will be able to get from the 4th floor of the main building all the way to the 3rd floor of the Janz Building all in less than 5 minutes! One of the things that impressed me the most about this evening was the opportunity to see so many world missionaries gathered together in one location. How inspiring to be surrounded by men and women who have given their lives to serve God and are willing to step out in faith and entrust the care of their children to the faculty and staff here at BFA. It is a decision that is definitely not easy, but one that will hopefully open so many new opportunities for their children to grow both in faith and in education.

Tuesday brought tidings of the Opening Ceremonies as well as the first day of school. A time-honored tradition at the Black Forest Academy, the Opening Ceremonies begins with a flag carrying procession in which every member of the senior class carries a national flag into the BFA auditorium. 

 

Flag Carrying Procession

Since most of the students at the school are TCKs, it is not uncommon for them to feel as if they come from several different countries. Therefore, it is often difficult for them to settle upon exactly which flag they want to carry. Students might choose to carry the flag of their passport country, the flag of the land where they spent the majority of their childhood, or perhaps even the flag of the country where their parents are currently serving. It is truly the diversity of this procession that makes it so spectacular. Who would ever believe that in the tiny town of Kandern, in the corner of Southern Germany, so many nations would be represented?

Along with the start of school, Tuesday also brought the start of cross-country! Though the team is small (4 boys and 5 girls), I am honored to be able to coach such a fine group of young people. We began Tuesday’s practice with a warm-up jog to the park behind the tennis courts. After a few minutes for drills and stretching, we headed out to Sitzenkirch on a trail affectionately known as the “Llama Run.” And yes, since I know you are going to ask, we actually do pass real llamas!

As I have quickly learned from my first week of coaching and running with the team, there is a variety of trails known only to the elite few who have even donned the BFA cross-country jersey. Each of these trails includes a creative name, so here’s a sampling of the names that I know…. there’s Monsoon (including both an easy version, “Mini-Monsoon,” as well as a more advanced version, “Big Monsoon”),  Fox Trot (haven’t run this one yet, so I’ll describe it for you later), the 5k race course (which just so happens to include a hill called “The Widowmaker”), Sausenburg Castle (almost entirely uphill!), and Sitzenkirch (aka the Llama Run). So far, I have greatly enjoyed my time with the team, which has consisted mainly of running up mountains, demonstrating form drills, encouraging the newcomers, and running up and down the forest trails looking for the boy’s team! (When do boys ever learn to follow directions?!?)

Friday was Chapel Day at BFA. This weekly service includes a Praise and Worship Band which is entirely student-led. So cool! There was also an encouraging message from the campus chaplain as well as an introduction to this year’s theme, which is “Seek Truth.” At the end of the day on Friday evening, I went with my roommates to the Italienisch Eis-Café to celebrate the successful completion of the first week of school. With two scoops of stracitella in my waffle cone, a group of friends all around me, and the beautiful stars in the German sky, I couldn’t help but thank God for this amazing opportunity to live and serve in such a place.

The Black Forest Dorms

So what does it look like to attend boarding school in Germany? Read along for a glimpse into the BFA boarding program…

Along with attending classes, dorm life is an integral part of the BFA student experience. Of the 250 high schoolers who attend the school, about 60% are dorm students. There are eight high school dorms at BFA—each one different from the next. 

 On Thursday night, the new staff had the opportunity to take a grand tour of all the BFA high school dorms. Since Kandern is such a small community, most of these dorms are spread throughout the neighboring German villages. Piling into two BFA vans, we prepared to depart on a 3 hour adventure of visiting dorms and meeting the 2013-14 Res Life staff.

Palmgarten

Maugenhard

Our journey began with a stop at Palmgarten and Maugenhard. These two dorms are the only ones located right in the center of Kandern. Because of their close proximity to the main campus, students at Palm and Maug have the luxury of walking to school when the weather is nice. Palm was originally built as a hotel (much like our ever-beloved Garni), but now accommodates between 20-22 girls. Above Palm, is the newest of the BFA dorms, Maugenhard. It too, is fairly large, housing between 20-24 boys. My favorite feature of these dorms would have to be the enormous kitchen in Maug and the stairway to nowhere in Palm. I guess if you’re feeding 24 high school boys, you had better have a huge kitchen! As for the stairway to nowhere, I suppose it just makes Palm even more unique. :)

Check out Liel's green fireplace to the left!

After Palm and Maug, we took a 10 minute drive to the village of Liel. One of the oldest buildings in the BFA dorm collection, Landhaus Liel (known simply as Liel) was built around the year 1760. No big deal or anything, but that’s 16 years older than the entire United States of America! As a result of Liel’s impressive age, the floor has started to sag a little bit, which means that BFA will have to find a replacement building in the next year or so. My favorite feature in the girl’s dorm of Liel would have to be the lovely green fireplace…which doesn’t actually work anymore, but is still a really cool visual piece.

Yup, that's a real stork!

After Liel we proceeded to Storchenblick, known for short as Storch. Originally a village school, this girl’s dorm got its name due to the beautiful view of nesting storks that can be seen on a neighboring church tower. This dorm was one of my favorites—very artistic with a warm and home-like feel.
    

Storch Dining Room

Archway into HBR

Haus Bad Riedlingen was the next dorm on our tour. Known commonly as HBR, the 20 boys that live in this dorm often joke that “bad” is their middle name. Built around 1750, this dorm is even older than Liel! The original building had a mineral spring bath. One of my favorite features of the dorm was the large painted sign that hung over the front entrance.

And...another dorm room! (boy's)

Inside a typical dorm room (girl's)

 Wittlingen (pronounced with a “v” sound) was originally built as a combination inn, country store, and gas station. I would say that it has the most confusing and exciting layout of all the dorms we visited. Secret rooms in the north tower, fire escapes to the roof, hidden basements, and a lovely backyard were all a part of the Wittlingen experience. Witt accommodates between 18-20 girls. One of my roommates, Julie, used to live at Witt when she was a high school student at BFA!

Outside of Wittlingen

The final two dorms on the tour were located about 10 kilometers away from Kandern in the beautiful hillside village of Marzell. These dorms included Blauen, a girls dorm with lovely blue shutters, and Sonnenhof, a boys dorm with a castle-like appeal. Although these dorms are the farthest from Kandern, they were definitely two of my favorites! 

Sonne

Blauen

Painting on the wall of Sonne

Seeing the dorms of BFA helped to give me a better understanding of campus life here in Kandern. It was a glance into the lives of the students and a chance to imagine what it must be like to live and study as a high schooler away from home. While it must be extremely difficult to live away from one’s family, it was encouraging to see the way that BFA strives to create such a loving home away from home for MKs from all over the world.

To Infinity and Beyond!

For those of you who were particularly interested in my post entitled, My Run to the Sun, I have some exciting news! I have successfully completed the quest to locate all nine planets! In addition, I was even able to find Ceres, which is largest asteroid and the only dwarf planet in the inner Solar System.

The first stage of my mission was accomplished last weekend. While my roommates were still nestled all snug in their beds, I rose early Saturday morning to follow the illusive trail to Pluto. I decided that the best plan would be to work my way back to the last planet that we had discovered: Neptune. Sure enough, when I reached the model of Neptune, I found a small picture of a planet and a tiny arrow pointing back towards Kandern. Above the arrow was the word, “Planetweg.” I also noticed a short footnote at the bottom of the sign, “1400m zum Pluto.”

With these two bits of information to guide me, I turned back down the trail and started to head in the direction of downtown Kandern. It seemed strange to me at first  to be heading right into the city. After all, shouldn’t the planets be hidden in the woods and not in the middle of a city street? My fears soon faded when I noticed the start sign for another hiking trail. Since the Planetweg was obviously built as an attraction for hiking trails, I was convinced that this must be the way to find Pluto. Completely ignoring the previous information that Pluto was only 1400m from Neptune, I headed pell-mell up the mountain and into the new world of the red diamond hiking trails. (Most of the trails that I had been following before had been yellow diamond trails.)

You can probably guess that my hasty actions did not serve me well. I scoured those mountain trails for nearly an hour, completely determined that I would not give up until I had found the little planet. Finally, hot, tired, and a little grumpy, I decided it was time to head home. I would have to look again tomorrow. Besides, how was I to know if some crazed anti-Pluto activist hadn’t removed the planet years ago? Perhaps all my searching had been in vain…

Feeling much less enthusiastic than I did on the way there, I ran dejectedly down the main street and back towards our home at the top of the hill. Just as I was crossing by the bridge near Rachel and Amy’s house, I noticed a man reading a city map that was posted off to the side of the main street. Taking a closer look, I realized that right beside this map of the city was none other than the model of Pluto! It had been right there on the main street all along and I had just kept on running blindly past. You can probably imagine my elation when I realized that I would not have to return home without accomplishing my task. The littlest planet had been found and it was much closer to home than I had ever guessed it would be!

My planet quest was officially completed on Sunday. Before church, I spent my morning time with God by running from Pluto, to Neptune, to Uranus, to Saturn, to Jupiter, (to Ceres,) to Mars, to Earth, to Venus, to Mercury, to the Sun and back again all within 70 minutes. Talk about a great reminder of God’s amazing creation!

My favorite planet, Saturn!

Einkaufen Gehen

One of the biggest adjustments to living in Kandern has been learning to adapt to a new style of grocery shopping. Besides the obvious struggles of reading German food labels and converting dollars into Euros, there are so many other little differences to be considered. Let me share with you a few of my lessons learned…

 

The Playing Field: There are two main grocery stores in Kandern: Penny and Hieber. Penny is more of a discount grocery store (similar to Aldi in the States). However, unlike Aldi, Penny offers a random assortment of special sale items each week. These can be anything from “Hello Kitty” pajamas, to chain saws, to cheese graters. Hieber, on the other hand, has a much bigger food selection and a wider variety of international brands and products. Yet, with this variety also comes higher prices! 

Weigh those Veggies: At Heiber, you have to weigh your fruit and vegetables before you check out. This can be confusing since we usually weigh produce at the check out counter in the US. If you forget to weigh your veggies, the sales clerk has to get up from their seat at the cash register, go all the way back to the produce area, and weigh your produce for you! As can be imagined, this can get a little embarrassing if you end up holding up an entire line of time-conscious German shoppers. 

Decisions, Decisions: Many of the German grocery stores (Penny more so than Hieber), don’t offer the product selection that we see in the US. If shopping at Penny, you probably won’t see fourty-five different types cereal, eight brands of ketchup, and fifteen different kinds of milk. Instead, there are usually two or three reasonable options. While this might sound limiting, it does make shopping a lot easier!

On the flip side, if you are shopping at Hieber, you may find an overwhelming selection of products that you would never suspect to see in the US. For example, there is an entire aisle devoted to jam. Though I don’t have an official count, I am guessing that Hieber offers well over forty different jam varieties. Hieber is also crazy about their müsli selection—raisins, sunflower seeds, chocolate, dried fruit, almonds, crunchy, chewy, healthy, organic, for kids, flax, millet, and the list is never ending! But, to the German’s credit, the Müsli here is really good! 

Going Green: Don’t come to the grocery store without your own bag! In Kandern, people typically use reusable canvas shopping bags. You could request plastic at the checkout line, but you would have to pay an extra 5 cents per bag…not to mention a few glares for your wasteful ways.  

Who says we need a canvas bag? We have a laundry basket!

Less is More: In Europe, you typically don’t buy as many groceries as you do in the States. The reason is very simple, you just don’t have the room! The refrigerators here are much smaller, especially when you are sharing with seven other girls!

Our German "mini-fridge"

Eat Fresh: It seems that food here goes bad a little faster than it does in America. There is much less use of pre-packaged/boxed food and preservatives. (yay!) So, be sure to eat your food quickly, otherwise, watch out for mold!

Scrambled Eggs: Looking for eggs? Don’t check the refrigerator aisle. German eggs are always left out on the shelf. At Hieber, you also have the option of individually selecting the eggs that you would like to purchase. You simply load your own carton right there in the store! You can also buy hard-boiled colored eggs at any time during the year, not just Easter!

Bäckerei: Heiber and Penny both have a great selection of fresh breads. Most German breads are crusty, grainy, and brown—just the kind that I like! They also have some yummy soft pretzels for only 70 cents. I have enjoyed getting to practice my German skills with the bakery staff at Hieber (and Heitzmann, another local bakery), “Ich möchte zwei vollkorn brötchen, bitte!”

So this isn't actually the Heizmann in Kandern..but the inside looks similar!

My Run to the Sun

While this is probably going to sound a little crazy, I ran to the sun yesterday. Before I expound upon this further, let me first preface this story by saying that my morning running excursions have become so much more enjoyable now that Jesse and Sam have moved into town. Jesse and Sam are two new BFA staff members who have come all the way from Oklahoma to work with the support staff at the school. They live on the top floor of an apartment just three houses down from the Garni House. And the best news, Jesse just happens to be a runner! It is such a blessing to have a friend waiting for me outside at 6:30 every morning so that we can run up the German mountains together before language class! 
 

Well, my story begins on one of those such mornings. Jesse was waiting for me outside the Garni in her gray pullover and green running gloves. Mornings have been pretty chilly here in Kandern. I suppose you could say that August in Kandern is similar to October in West Virginia—cool during the mornings/evenings and hot during the day. Anyway, I come out of the Garni to meet her and we decide to run up Sauweg and towards Rainweg. Since I arrived about a week earlier than Jesse, I have the advantage of already knowing a lot of the trails. As usual, the run on Rainweg was lovely! We could even watch the sun rising over the crest of the mountains. After about 3 miles, Jesse decided to head back towards home since she is still getting back in shape and adjusting to the hilly German trails. (I think I have a bit of an advantage since West Virginia is good deal more hilly than Oklahoma!)

Well, I continued on the trail another mile and a half through a long patch of wooded area and then some rolling hills and an open field. At the bottom of the one of the hills, I encountered a very peculiar sight for the middle of the forest. There was a huge silver orb on a pole in the middle of the field. Just in front of the orb was an informational plaque which was labeled “die Sonne.” This title was followed by a paragraph of scientific facts about the Sun and the surrounding universe. As I continued down the trail, I soon found Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. It seemed that all were built to scale according to the circumference and location of the model sun. Therefore, Earth was about the size of a marble and was suspended above a plaque approximately 150 meters away from the giant silver sun. Below each model planet was scientific description and an accompanying picture.

Now if you know anything about me, you can probably guess that the first thing I wanted to do was to discover the location of all nine planets. But, regretfully, I was already over a half mile past my allotted running “turn-around” point. Which basically meant that if I wanted to make it to language class on time, I would have to turn around as soon as possible. So, I sadly waved good-bye to the solar system in the woods and traveled back up Rainweg to home.

But, the story doesn’t end there! The same afternoon that I discovered the Sun, a few of my roommates decided to go hiking in the mountains. Near the bottom of Sauweg, on a path that I have run nearly every morning since arriving in Kandern, they discovered Neptune! To think, I had run past it all those times and never noticed it before. The craziest part is that the model of Neptune is a good four miles away from where I found the Sun! It seems to me that our solar system is way more vast than I have ever previously imagined! So now, I have a new running mission: to discover all nine planets before the start of school. Saturday’s goal: Pluto hunting! :)

Sonntag im Deutschland

Psalm 117 - Praise the Lord, all you nations;

    extol him, all you peoples.
 For great is his love toward us,
    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord.

If you ever have the chance to attend a church service that is conducted entirely in another language, I urge you to take advantage of the opportunity. It is something truly amazing to hear those around you singing praises to God in a tongue that is different from your own. To me, it’s like a little picture of heaven with every tongue and tribe praising God in their native voice. Though it might seem strange to us at first, it is important to remember that God speaks German (not to mention Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Hindi, Swahili, and any other language) just as well as he speaks English! (Though I suppose a person could argue that He speaks Hebrew the best, but we won’t go there in this blog post…) My main point is that God is the God of all nations! I feel so blessed to be able to serve him in Germany!

Last Sunday, I attended a German church in the neighboring village of Haagen with three other BFA teachers. Even though there is an English speaking church right in Kandern, I wanted my first experience of church in Germany to be at an actual German church. Similar to in America, churches in Germany are entirely different depending upon the denomination, worship style, pastor, and all those other factors that make a church unique. The church that we attended was called “Gemeinde Der Offenen Tür,” which basically means “church of the open door.” True to it’s name, it was a very welcoming environment with lots of friendly greeters…not to mention a coffee/cookie bar. ;) The worship style was energetic and modern—similar to many newer American churches. It was fun getting to sing some familiar English songs with new German lyrics!

Praising God in Germany!

To help foreigners (like myself!) understand the sermon, the church offered a simultaneous sermon translation. This meant that while the pastor was teaching, I could listen through a headset to a real-time English translation. This was definitely helpful since my German is not nearly advanced enough to understand an entire sermon! About mid-way through the sermon, I decided to take a little break from the headset and see how far my language skills would take me. I did fairly well, but was nowhere near full comprehension. I remember him talking about the story of the boy who shared his five loaves (fünf Brötchen) and two fish (zwei Fische) with the crowd and how Jesus multiplied it to feed over 5,000 people. There was also this example about giving God all they keys of your life (Schlüssel zu Ihrem Leben) and not holding back any keys like the key to your house (Schlüssel zu Haus) or your car (Schlüssel zum Auto). Of course, all of this linked together somehow in a lesson about Barnabas in the New Testament, but I have to admit that my limited German didn’t always pick up on the connections. Overall, it was a memorable experience and I am excited to visit other churches in the area.

Sundays in Germany are traditionally a day of rest (Ruhetag). Stores shut down and many people spend the day resting or visiting with family and friends. People typically will not do any type of outdoor/public housework…so no washing your car, mowing your lawn, hanging your laundry, or painting your patio. (Not that people typically paint their patios…but I just thought that I would throw that in there!) People are also expected to be a little more quiet and respectful on Sundays than they would on normal days of the week. Of course, all of this is from the perspective of a small rural town in Southern Germany. I am sure that if you visited the big cities in the north like Berlin or Hamburg, things would probably be a little different.

Even though the stores in Kandern are closed on Sunday (make sure to do your shopping on Saturday!), restaurants do remain open. After church, we decided to stop at the local Döner/Pizza shop. This is where I had my first (and definitely not my last!) taste of a Döner kebab, which is a Turkish flatbread which is basically the same thing of as a Greek Gyro—shaved lamb, tomato, lettuce, cabbage, and a cool yoghurt sauce. So delicious!

Kebab shop at the bottom of our street :)