Pictures of my brush with death

At least Colmar would've been a cute town to die in...

One crisis to the next

Those were David Love's words about my week, and they weren't even that bad of crises. But he and his whole family didn't know what they were getting when I moved in upstairs. **Warning: long post to follow!**

Wednesday:
Well, first I overslept, and then I flooded my bathroom, but that's nothing new now. The real issue was that I had a dead car battery. Praise the Lord I discovered it this day rather than 2 days later when I would've needed it more urgently. David tried to jumpstart my car with his, but that did squat. So we had to call roadside assistance, and they were able to do it. Turns out, both our cars have ancient batteries that need replacing. Mine I couldn't turn off again, so I drove straight to a car garage in Binzen (12 min away). They were able to get a new one in a jiffy, but it was a strange experience because they never stopped to ask me what I wanted or if I had a preference on anything or even if I wanted to upgrade the newest whoha and latest whatchamathing. But I did drive out of there in one piece. Hooray!

Thursday:
My entire day of proctoring was fraught with mini student crises including wrong tests, missing tests, and missing students. So it was a day of long stretches of monotonous writing interrupted by moments of frantic, high-stress panic.
Then when I got home, a man showed up at my door, claiming he was here to take away my garbage can. Come again, I said. Yeah, he said, since I was technically and officially a part of the Love family household, I shouldn't have my own garbage can. (Now, the back story is that we have to keep our garbage cans up on the terrace on the 4th floor. So, in order to be able to carry them down 3 flights of stairs every Monday, they need to be smaller and lighter. We can't do one big one.) So I begged and pleaded with the man to keep my garbage can. David Love came out too and begged and pleaded with me. The kind man finally relented, but I did have to make several phone calls to the Waste Removal people of Kandern.

Friday:
My parents sold my little car Sylvester back in Colorado, and the title arrived this day. I was supposed to sign it and send it back via FedEx IMMEDIATELY. Well, the closest FedEx office, according to the Internet, was at the airport in France. Fortunately, I had to drive to the train station in Switzerland anyway, and the two are close (go figure). However, I didn't anticipate that I would have to find the freight terminal, ask a stranger with the thickest accent imaginable where the FedEx office was only to understand zip, give up my passport in exchange for a barcoded badge, go through heavily guarded gates, walk among freight trucks and burly-looking men, squeeze through a tiny door, climb the fire escape stairwell and try every single floor looking for FedEx, only to find French-speaking people at every turn. Finally, I located the office where they begrudgingly took care of my mailing needs, and I got my coveted passport back into my clutching fingers in no time.

Saturday:
I had arranged with some friends that we'd go to a big Christmas market on the Saturday after school got out - yesterday. We didn't bank on the fact that it would be 10 degrees. "Bah," I said, that's nothing compared to MN winters. So, we bundled into my car, and I drove us to the historic Christmas town of Colmar, France. I also hadn't banked on the notion that I'd have to park really far away from the Christmas market. We found it just fine, and we all did quite well the whole first hour, but then the wind picked up. And what I forgot was that 10 degrees (colder with wind) in MN was fine and dandy because I ran from the house to my car, and the car to work, and then work back to the car, and then into my house. I didn't spend 2-3 hours wandering around outside in it. All that to say, I was in such agony when we got back to the car. I was sure I'd lost at least half my toes to frostbite and could feel nothing below my knees.
I cranked the heat the entire way back (45 min) and never warmed up. Back in my apartment, I quickly exchanged the wet clothes for dry ones and threw myself onto the floor with my feet on the radiator, and experienced one of the strangest sensations ever: my entire body would be racked with uncontrollable shivers, and it'd pause, and then it'd go again, and I couldn't stop. My apartment just was not heating up fast enough, so I went downstairs where Catherine Love tucked me into blankets and got me some tea. It took a full 30 minutes before I stopped shivering and another hour and a half before I STARTED to feel warm again. I'm dubbing it "my brush with death" and have decided hypothermia would be an awful way to die.

There are my adventures of the week. Some are from my stupidity and some are things I just didn't have to deal with as an MK in Europe before but do have to now as an M. Life's never boring, that's for sure!

Battle in the shower Part 2

Shower 2 Katrina 0

Is there a class for this or something? I flooded the bathroom again!

Ringing in the Christmas cheer

Yesterday, the BFA choirs and ensembles ushered in the Christmas season at the school. My friend Jill conducted the strings, and my friend Katie the Middle School choir. Look at my adorable students!!!

The best part was when the piano teacher led the audience in all snow carols with the promise that if we sang loud enough and it snowed, we might get a snow day. You should've heard the students belting out "Let it Snow" at the top of their lungs.

Finals start tomorrow, and by Friday, everyone should either be home or on their way to their respective countries. And I'll be sleeping.

Banquet, Basel, and Friends

My camera is still MIA, but some of my new friends sent me a couple pictures, so I can finally post a few, both of banquet and of our trip to the Basel Christmas market. I praise God for providing friends here!

And here's one of me and another teacher from Twin Spirit Day.

Loving Germans

In order that you don't think I spend all my days in Germany fighting in the shower and banging my chin, I thought it was time to give you a more serious glimpse into what's been going on in my heart. I actually had quite the convicting morning in church last Sunday.

A couple of things had happened last week that somewhat irked me and made me really annoyed at Germans. Nothing serious, but I just kept having run-ins where I felt I was treated unfairly or someone came across as rude or impatient for things I couldn't help. Of course, the fact that I lived the last 9 years with "MN nice" and 19 years before that in "Austria nice" (pretty much the same things as MN nice) doesn't improve the situation. Germans don't do that fake nice in the slightest. They'll tell you to your face that you've gained a pound or have bags under your eyes today or parked your car slightly too far to the right or didn't remove your glass from the counter fast enough.

So, Sunday morning was the first time I finally made it to the local German church I'd been wanting to visit since I arrived. The first song was in English, and it was great for preparing me to come into the presence of the Lord and worship with those around me. But then we moved into a German song, and words kind of fail to describe this moment. I've always said English was my heart language since I learned it first as a kid and since it's the language I can pray in more easily, yet there was something about singing a praise song in German that moved me deeply. The screen background was a moving video of the clouds breaking open to reveal a mountain range, and that pushed me over the edge. It was like the clouds were lifted from my eyes again to see how much love and passion God has for the German-speaking people of the world, warts and all. In seeing his love for them, my own heart was filled again. My whole outlook on my interactions this week have been amazingly different so far, and I praise God for the opportunity to work among this people group!

Bruise on my chin

It's a perfect half-circle blue-outlined, purple-filled bruise promptly situated on my chin for everyone to see. What can I say? I've got talent.

Double Thanksgiving

I can't find my camera :-(, so pictures will have to wait. I did have Thanksgiving #1 last week at the Sonne dorm where I often sub. There were 50 people eating, and keep in mind that 30 of them were teenage boys with appetites to match. I watched SJ across from me pack away an entire double-sized turkey leg! Then, after dinner, we all had to go around and say one thing we were thankful for. Some of the answers were, of course, extremely funny and entertaining. But I was surprised by how many serious ones there were, too: thankfulness to the dorm parents and RA's for working so hard, thankful to BFA for existing as a safe place for them to come, thankful to God for loving them.

Thanksgiving dinner #2 was last night with my WorldVenture team. I made the green bean casserole, and in exchange got to gorge myself on turkey, the best stuffing I've ever had, and even pumpkin pie. It was so yummy. Plus, I got to connect with teachers and parents, RA's and students I don't get to see often. God is good, and I am blessed.

How was your Thanksgiving?

P.S. Just discovered one picture of me and the food on Jill's site: http://musickfamily.net/jill/blog/

Battle in the Shower

Yesterday morning was just one of those days. I went to turn on the water for it to start heating up and forgot to lower the shower head first, so it sprayed directly into my face and of course onto the floor around me. I also forgot my friend had just taken a shower before me, so the water was already scalding hot. I began fumbling for the knob to make the water come out of the faucet, but when I pushed it in, it didn't stay and just squirt right back into my face and around. So I tried yanking the shower head down and proceeded to spray the entire bathroom. Then, I accidentally dropped it, which in turn made the shower head jerk around like a snake and spray the ceiling as well. I tried the knob two more times (it didn't stick either time), and finally I thought to turn the water off entirely. I was soaked and scalded.

I spread out a couple of towels on the ground and hopped into the shower, making sure I had a tight grip on the shower head before I turned the water on again. What I didn't check were the curtains. When I finished my shower and opened them, one had been outside the tub instead of inside. The bathroom was now not only wet; it was under 2 inches of water.

At that point, I had to laugh, or I would've cried. Sigh. Guess the bathroom needed to be cleaned anyway, right?

Sonne and Maugenhard

With school closed Monday and Tuesday, all teaching staff were asked to assist the dorm staff who don't get the day off when school closes. On Monday, I picked up Julie (student teacher), and we headed up the mountain to the farthest guys' dorm: Sonne.

We made a giant pan of coffee cake for breakfast the next morning, that sadly burnt around the edges, and then a triple batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Those were then rolled into small balls and stuck in the freezer for later in the week. The guys moved in and out through the kitchen. A few went outside to play Lacrosse in the rain, but most were on the computers or wandering around the house. When we finished in the kitchen, we popped in Home Alone 2, but Julie got too cold down in the basement where the hang-out room is. (It is a very old house with poor insulation.)

On Tuesday, we visited a different guys' dorm: Maugenhard, which happens to be right in Kandern, so we both walked to it. Right as we got there, 20 of the 28 boys were piling into dorm vans to go play soccer at a nearby field, so sadly we didn't get to do much with the guys. But we were busy in the kitchen, first preparing veggies and salads for Wednesday's lunch, and then - the major operation of the day - making Egg McMuffin sandwiches. I cracked 70 eggs! The boys did start trickling back in around 4:30 and showering. One joined me for a couple rounds of speed scrabble, and even though I led most of the game, he ended up beating me twice. Overall, it was fun to see that side of life for a couple of days, but I did forget to take a single picture even though I took my camera both days.

How to attend the theater in a swine flu epidemic

This is what the audience looked like at the play tonight (the only BFA activity that wasn't cancelled this weekend):Here's one of me and the Love girls (who live below me):The play, which was of the Who-dunnit-caper-type of genre, had a line that went, "Should we be wearing masks for this?" The audience absolutely roared.

Excitement of the Year

I'm living under quarantine! I've always wondered what it would feel like, and my guess is by tomorrow I'll be going crazy and break it (since it is somewhat self-imposed).

It's official: BFA has the swine flu. The German government STRONGLY urged shutting down for a week. We're trying 2 days for now. So, there will be no school Monday and Tuesday, but the kids have to be in their dorms or at home. Of course, that puts a major strain on all the dorms, so they did ask a bunch of us to sub. I'll be at Sonnenhof on Monday (my regular dorm I sub at) and Maugenhard on Tuesday - both boys' dorms. Classes will resume Wednesday with a strict "stay on campus" policy through the rest of the week. We'll see how this goes or how many more catch the thing. My opinion is that shutting all the well students into beehive dorms with the sick ones isn't the best answer, but what do I know?

If you think of our school, please pray! For health (obviously) but also for wisdom as the nurses work frantically and administrators make decisions. Thanks!

School Announcements

Day 1: A black man's bike with yellow lettering is missing. If anybody knows where it is or took it for a quick errand, please return it ASAP.

Day 2: A black ... MEN's bike with yellow lettering is still missing. The bike is black, not the owner. If anybody has seen it, please let the front office know.

Day 3: The bike that can be ridden by a man of any color though the bike happens to be black and have yellow letters is STILL missing. You know what to do.

Plugging Away

Life it just plugging away here. Things are settling into a routine at work (as much as there can ever be one at school when your day keeps getting interrupted or changed around by college fairs, volleyball tournaments, observation requests, parent-teacher conference days, etc). My apartment is starting to feel like home.

I made 3 different soups in the last few weeks that were all yummy. One was white chili I made for my neighbors/bosses/landlords downstairs. I think it scored an 8. Then there was the pumpkin soup that I was most excited about. It was fine, but I'd remembered it better, so I'll give it a 7. The surprise one was Erdaepfelgulasch (potato gulasch). It was a first-time make, and - if I say so myself - turned out fantastic. My parents gobbled it up! :-) 10!

Today looks to be a mostly relaxing day. The sun is rising, which gives me hope for a nice Fall walk in between all the grading I have to do. Then tonight, I get to drive 10 girls to Zurich for a Jonas Brothers Concert. I'm here to serve, right! Actually, it should be fun to see Zurich and hang out with the Loves. Okay, enough stalling. Back to grading.

Herbstmesse

Last Thursday, the entire school ended with an hour of Worship Chapel and then piled into 5 buses to go to Basel for Herbstmesse. Think of a mini fair with big halls for exhibits, rides spread out all over town, and of course food stands galore. The highlight, I quickly learned, is when BFA completely takes over the bumper cars for two hours. For one hour, the middle schoolers get to go at it, and for the next the high schoolers, followed by a quick minute of staff rides. Not that we didn't also go off and on throughout the entire two hours! So much fun!!!

the BFA crowd

bumper cars: friend Rachel (science teacher) in bottom picture

My friend Amanda and I also went up in the Ferris Wheel, apparently the tallest mobile Ferris Wheel in the world. The view of the city of Basel, with interspersed carnival rides, was amazing.

The buses left again promptly at 9:30, and I was surprised how exhausted all the kids were on the ride back to Germany. I'll bet half the bus fell asleep. Fortunately, they cancel school on the Friday after Herbstmesse, and our fun in Basel was followed by a 3-day weekend! Wohoo!

Relaxing in France

The rest of my time in France was pretty great. Sunday was wonderful: slept in, went to church with friends, relaxed on the couch with a good book, listened to music, made yummy quiche, helped carve pumpkins, enjoyed Luc's guitar playing, and watched a movie with the older kids.
The only slightly negative thing was that Anne ended the day with a fever, and we had to make a bajillion phone calls to her parents' hotel in Paris. The first time, the front desk clerk was still very friendly. "Room 617, of course, mademoiselle. I will petch you right srough." The second time: "Room 617? Of course." The third time: "Room 617, huh. Wait on the line." Every subsequent call: "Room 617. Mm-hmmm."

Bartenheim, France

Not a very French-sounding name is it. But then again, we're only 10 minutes from the Germany-France border. I arrived yesterday morning to find only the girls, Allison and Anne. Luc was off for an overnight. So, the three of us played a rousing game of Scategories, in which Allison gave us all a run for our money, had a scrumptious lunch of sandwiches (I even let Anne make her chocolate tortilla), and then we took off to St. Louis (that's more like it in Frenchiness) for a shopping trip - #1 on the list: ice cream. While Allison worked on the computer, Anne and I went for a fun bike ride. She gave me Luc's old one, and my knees almost hit my chin as I pumped the small pedals up and down. But she so badly wanted to show me all the hills she climbs so that she can zoom down them at full speed. A girl after my own heart! I did feel like a kid again when we pushed our bikes through the neighbor's knee-high grass and drove them through a bumpy field. "No pavement? So? I can see the path, can't you?" Ah the adventuresome spirit.

After more games and a special dinner treat of pizza, we made cookie dough to go with our ice cream, and then popped in some episodes of Alias. It was hilarious because they picked out all their favorite episodes from Seasons 4 and 5 (which I've never seen), and we jumped around between them in random order. Is it wrong that the plot line still made complete sense?

This morning we drove back to Germany for church and to pick up Luc. The worship this morning was amazing, by the way!!! We picked up my pumpkin (for some mad carving later on) and drove home where we just finished off the rest of the pizza and rough housed with the dog. Now Luc's going to practice guitar and piano, the girls are painting each other's nails, and I should be grading, but this is so much more fun. So far in France, so good.

Keeping up with JB

I have a group of middle schoolers every 6th period, anywhere between 3 - 5 students, which surprisingly is a handful when they're 12 and 13. One of them probably has ADHD, and he usually comes in screeching or yelping or dribbling or some other noise-infested way and riles up the other kids. So, I've discovered that putting a brain teaser up on the board often holds his immediate interest when he enters, and then I can get all the other kids to start on their work BEFORE JB distracts them. Many times though, once he's finished with mine, he'll erase it and put up one of his own brain teasers - some real and some he makes up on the spot.

Today, he wrote something along the lines of:
"Start at the White House and measure 25.9 mm to the power of 56, divided by 8.92759 to the power of 3 plus 73629.65297 km to the power of 62. How come?"

While he was working on something, I crept over to the board and wrote:
"Because the sun rises in the east."

I've never heard him laugh so long. All the way out the door and down the hallway. Oh to glimpse inside the mind of an ADHD middle schooler!

Good Monday

Today was the first "full-feeling" day at school, where I had something work-related to do all day but also didn't feel overburdened. I feel like I'm finally getting to know my students, and they're finally feeling comfortable around me when they come in for their one-on-one. I know that can be intimidating as a student.

I came home and made dinner for three other single girls and myself: Putengeschnetzeltes (say that ten times fast). I think it turned out! Plus I had yummy bread fresh from the bakery three doors down the street that made up for any bad-tasting food I may have made. We all left together, and I headed over to one of the girls' dorms where I tutored a freshman and helped her study for her World History test tomorrow. The dorm dog Jersey kept coming over and sniffing my left hand, which was pretty cute, I have to admit. Plus, I got to spend the evening talking about history! Could my job be any cooler?!

A Walk to School

When I get up in the mornings, I often stand up on my bed and poke my head out my skylight window to look down on Marktplatz (market square) as well as my favorite church bell tower (oh my word, the bells started ringing just as I typed that - no joke!).Then, I shower, get dressed of course, make lunch, read my Bible, and pack my bag for school. Upon leaving my house, if I look back, this is what I see. The four right windows in the roof are to my cute apartment.
My first turn is down Blumenmuehlgasse, which makes me snicker every time because it means "flower mill alley." Not "flour mill," "flower mill." Who mills flowers?After that, I can either go through some houses (the shorter way) or along the creek (the pretty way). Here's a shot of the creek.I pass a grocery store and the fire department as well as this funny set up of metal bins for clothes donations. Note the efficient German way for depositing shoes is to tie them together.
Next, I pass my favorite house of the walk: this yellow one. I love the lace in every single window, even the attic ones.Finally, I reach the school. Here's a shot looking up at the main building. My office windows are the first four full-length ones on the top floor (from the left). And I'll follow up that description with a couple views of and from my office.
So, now you've gone to BFA with me. Hooray!

Sounds and smells of Kandern

I keep meaning to take my camera out into town with me to post pictures. Sorry, folks. They'll come. I wish I could transmit sound and smell, too. Some long-forgotten ones came back to me. Firstly the 11:45 soup smell. It's just unbelievalbe how all Austrians/Germans/Swiss? always seem to make the same bouillon soup smell for lunch every single day. (Of course, they do eat their big meal at noon, and it's very common to have a soup course.) Then there's the rain. It's been misting steadily for two days now, but I do love the earthy smell that accompanies spring and fall rains here.

The other distinctive have been the sounds, most annoying of all the church bells. It doesn't help that I'm spitting distance from the main church (I live on market square, for crying out loud), but every hour on the hour plus the quarters in between. At midnight, you get four little chimes to let you know it's the full hour, then 12 deeper gongs for each hour. Just lovely when you're in jet lag. The better sounds, by far, are the sounds of kids when school gets out, not just BFA but the local ones, too. I can hear German middle schoolers outside my window right now. I missed the lack of sound during the hours of noon and 2 pm when every store and person shuts down for the highly guarded lunch hour. And the sound of roosters! Maybe I am a country girl at heart.

First Post from Germany

I made it. I landed in Germany. So did all my suitcases. Praise Jesus! Going to bed. Over and out.

Dessert Night

On Saturday, many of you came over for a Thank You Dessert Night, and I so enjoyed getting to chat and say good- bye. Thanks for coming and making my night!

Happy Belated Birthday, Fiona!

I did think of this prior to Sep 26th, but major distractions got in the way. Sorry, sis! Hope your birthday was FABULOUS!!!

BFA choir

Just a random video clip I had of the BFA choir. Can't believe I'm going to be here next Wednesday!!! I have a plane ticket!

How did I get here so fast?

As of yesterday, I have 100% of my monthly needed support!!! Wow!!!

In the Rockies

Well, Sylvester now has Colorado plates, and I have a Colorado license, and all my mail is coming to a Colorado address. It's bittersweet, but I know it's only the first small step of a larger step of leaving Minnesota.

Yesterday was my day at the DMV (only took three visits). Today will be my day at WorldVenture headquarters where I'll sign all the final paperwork and have my exit interview. I'm about 2% away from receiving clearance to book my plane ticket (which happens at 100% monthly support)! I still can't believe it myself. God's timing is flawless, isn't it?

The Rockies are beautiful. I'll never be able to explain it, but seeing mountains or being near them makes my heart sing in a way it just plain can't on the plains. I feel blanketed and yet free-er at the same time, perhaps because they're so familiar. Pikes Peak already has snow on it. I love winter and the general changing of seasons. God's creation is wonderful, isn't it?

Advice from my elders

In no way do I mean to demean my aunts and uncles with this post, but it was too funny:

I saw 6 of my aunts and uncles in the last 24 hours. It was intentional so that I could say good-bye before I head out for Germany (whenever that is). At some point before the actual good-bye, each aunt and uncle separately came up to me, placed a hand on my shoulder, got a very serious look on his/her face, and said, "Drive carefully, young lady/missy/Katrina." Obviously, in the context of my cousin's recent car accident, I know where they were coming from and very somberly replied that I would.

As I slid into my car, my Dad called to check on my estimated time of arrival at their home in Colorado. We talked for a few minutes, and then, as we were saying good-bye, he said, "Drive fast!" I was so shocked I laughed out loud. I love my Dad!

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

And I'm so excited you have a house you love!

What every Husker fan dreams of

My first Husker game was a success! I've only been a fan since birth, thoroughly brainwashed and dressed in red since Day 1. Going to the game last weekend really was a treat. Thank you Uncle John, Aunt Janet, Uncle Butch, and Aunt Lori!

Pictures: me with Tom Osborne and Brook Berringer, the Sea of Red with the band on the field, balloons after the first touchdown, and me with my Aunt Janet.