Busy Weekend

This past weekend has been quite the eventful weekend. The guys had Friday off so they got a long weekend free which means that we as staff had a very long weekend. I nice surprise was getting 2 hours off on Sunday though. Very nice surprise.

Thursday evening, we as a dorm had Thanksgiving. It happened to actually be on Thanksgiving this year which is unlike BFA. But we had one of our student's parents come and help us. They brought turkey too. So the ladies did wonderful cooking and Jeff and I went to decorating the dining room. We put up all kinds of lights and green garland everywhere and it looks nice and Christmas treey. The dinner was enjoyable and there were plenty of pies for dessert. We got a football game taped and watched it after dinner. Overall a good day.

Saturday night was the Christmas banquet. All of the guys had fun asking the ladies to go to the banquet. And finally the night brought guys with corsages dressed very nicely and waiting for their dates. There was much happiness when everyone arrived and finally sat down for the meal and program. People turned in Christmas wishes over the past few weeks and then on Saturday night probably around 30 of them were granted. Ranging from having a song sung to the wishee or to fuzzy pick slippers. There were also musical acts galore, some serious and others funny. In the end the Christmas court was announced and everyone cheered happily. It was an enjoyable evening and a chance for everyone to do something different.

Those were the two biggest events of the weekend.

Well, a first of a season

It snowed today. Really it has been flurrying for the past week, but last night and today it decided to pick up. Probably got about a couple to a few inches on the ground. Also broke the shovels out for the first time of the year. I shoveled for two hours and man do I hurt. We have a long driveway. I only got about half of it done then other people came out and helped. Yippee! Let it be known that it was not required, but I went out on my own free will. A wonderful surprise was some ladies from the dorm across the street bringing me a cookie and some hot chocolate. Very nice of them.

It looks beautiful and is nice to have a different start to the winter than last year. Right now it is about two months ahead of our first snow last year. I could be in for quite the winter. Anyway, just wanted to say 'Hi.'

November

Hello all,
It has been a while, but I am coming to you with a prayer request. The year has started out quite smashingly. But it is now a bit over two months into the school year. That honeymoon period has worn off. School is a long boring day for the students and the dorm is just a place where there are a bunch of rules.

For staff, we are tired. It has been busy and will just get busier. My reactions are not what they should be and aren't as gracious as they were at the beginning of the year. Overall, it is just a hard time for everyone. Please pray that I will respond with grace and love to people and that November will be a happy time rather than a tired and stressed time.

Strange hours

Since we over here are from the USA, we need and want to connect back to the states every once in a while. This can lead to some strange hours. This was brought on by my fellow RA staying up to watch a baseball game of his Red Sox that started at 2am. Another RA I know calls her family in Alaska at 5am.

Last year we watched the Super Bowl which wasn't over until 5am. We frequently will call people back in the states between the hours of 11pm and 1am. This is when they start to get back from work.

Strange hours are held by us who long to connect with our other part of our life.

New in Life

Hello from cold Sonne,
It is snowing today. Nothing major, just flurries. The first of the year. The guys are really excited about that. It has been pretty cold for going on a week and finally the flurries broke through. It has been a busy week with things happening everywhere. We got to go see the US men's national team play Switzerland in soccer. That was very enjoyable and hopefully I will put some good photos up soon. We took a van of guys up to Freiburg yesterday to walk around and do some shopping.

Things are going well and I am tired. That is just part of things here though. I pray that all of you are doing well.

October in Germany

Es ist Oktober hier in Deutschland.

After September was in the 50s most of the month, for the first week of October we are in the 70s at least. It has been a nice change. Today the seniors leave for Rome. They spend a week traveling with stops in Venice, Florence and a couple days stay in Rome. Most of them have been looking forward to this trip their whole BFA life.

The juniors are gone to Normandy this weekend. They will stop in Paris on Friday and then be in Normandy on Saturday. They will be exhausted when they get back, but will have a great time.

That is the latest here.

What's happened

It has been busy. Sports are in full swing with tennis, volleyball and girls volleyball. We have 2 in tennis, 6 in guys vball and 1 in girls vball (dorm parent's daughter).

I was creeked a couple of weeks ago for my birthday, but I don't have any pictures yet. I'll get them at some point. A two friday nights ago was the fall party. The theme was movies and tv shows. I joined 5 other RAs to go as the Gilligan's Island crew. I was the skipper. Here is a pic.


Last week was Spiritual Emphasis Week. The topic was 2 Peter and talking about being fully equipped in God. The week ended on Friday with a very powerful service where many people took some big steps in moving towards God. It was nice to see the students make some important commitments.

Hard things

Many great things are happening from being over here. Some really hard things happen too. Today is the wedding of one of my best friends. I can't be there because I am here in Germany. It really stinks and I wish that I could be there.

It hurts that I can't be there.

I just have to trust. Sometimes, even the good things in life throw you nasty curveballs.

A Week In.

Here I am, a week after the students have arrived. We got 11 new students and most everyone seems to be integrating quite well. Our last guy arrived at 11.30 on Monday night. It was good to see everybody. Many happy reunions from all of us which haven't seen each other all summer. It was a busy weekend here at Sonne. Friday night the school had a big party called Chillin' and Grillin'. A chance for food and fun and everyone to meet new people. The RAs here at BFA did a fashion show on the different things that we as RAs do. Sonne was the sports dorm. I portrayed soccer, basketball, golf and fishing. It was quite fun. We all did Zoolander's Blue Steel to end the skit.

Saturday we took the guys to a big shopping area called Carrefour. They got all kinds of school supplies. Saturday night we played a bunch of soccer and then had a fire in our fire pit. The Blauen girls from across the street came over and we all had a wonderful time. Yesterday we played floor soccer. In Sonne we have three floors which have the same number of people. This year second floor won. Then we had a water balloon fight. All in all it was a crazy weekend and I am glad to have this be my first day off.

Coming Attractions

It is sunny today. I haven't seen the sun since Saturday so that is nice. We are getting the dorm ready for people to arrive. Starting Sunday 27 guys will unload their stuff at Sonne. It will be great to see old faces and to enjoy the year with them while having some history. The new faces will also be exciting because they will find out how wonderful it is to be a part of the Sonnenhof dorm.

Please pray that everyone arrives safely. Thanks.