Sometimes it clicks.

There are these moments in life when God places people in your life for such a time as this. It can be a friend who's been there for 10 years or one you've only known for 10 days. When I headed off to the WorldVenture conference right after Christmas, I was missing my Germany teammates Amanda and Jill very very much. I had only a vague idea of who my roommate was going to be (which is to say I knew her name and that she lives in Spain) or if I would get any alone time to think or if I would have anyone to hang out with when I didn't want to be alone. Would she be okay if I nerded out at the Parthenon and yet fell asleep at 9 o'clock at night (it was at the end of a busy semester after all)?

So when I walked in and JM smiled brightly and exclaimed, "Katrina! I'm so excited to get to know you," my heart sighed with relief. When she slipped into her pj's and earplugs at 9:30, I excitedly got into mine. When she dragged me out the door at 12:30 am on New Year's Eve, I followed with thrill. 10 days can be so short in many respects, and yet there was so much bonding that happened. From late-night chats about theology to walks around the Acropolis quoting Brian Reagan and all kinds of laughing in between, we connected at a heart level.

And then there was KP. With her own flair and love of all things beautiful at the end of her camera lens, she brought viewpoints to the table and insights from the her part of the world that amazed me. Together, the three of us spent our last day on the island of Aegina, walking, talking, eating, and basking in the sunshine. Stories of life, hurt, and success poured forth, and I wanted to freeze time and bottle up this day forever. They got me. They could relate without needing to try very hard - not that I don't appreciate the people who do, but sometimes it's nice not to have to put forth any effort at all, especially when time is short. I guess there is such a thing as instant friendship.

More Nose Kissing

If you've been following my blog for 2 years or longer - kudos! You might remember a post almost exactly 2 years ago called "Nose Kisses" in which I elaborated on this thing God and I share where he shows me cool stuff from airplane windows, and we spend some time in sweet fellowship, usually with me crying. Well, he did it again. (Warning: sentimentality ahead.)

On my way to our WorldVenture conference last month, I was ecstatic to see our flight path take us across Lake Constance and right into Austrian airspace. Using both the screen overhead and the window to my left, I spotted Bregenz, Innsbruck, and the Salzburg area. Then, to my delight, as I was whispering desperately at the screen "Turn right. Turn right," we turned right! We passed directly over Spittal and the Millstaettersee!!! Unfortunately, the clouds did obscure my view of the actual city and lake, but the Villach basin popped out for me to see, and God nudged me from the seat next to mine with a smile. He still likes me!

History Bowl

About three months ago, BFA was contacted by creators of the International History Bowl: Europe Edition about participating in a competition with other English-speaking schools. It sounded like fun, so we have been pursuing the idea, communicating with the IHB people about what that would look like, and even offering a fun History elective class at the Middle School which has been a blast!

Yesterday and today, we had tryouts to formulate a team to go represent the BFA Middle School. So exciting! 12 showed up for their chance at the team, and the 6 winners will be announced tomorrow; then study will begin in earnest. Mid-March, Brittany and I get to travel with them to Paris for our regional competition, and if we do well, we get to go to Rome in May for the Europe-wide tournament.

Feel free to pray. I really have no idea what we're getting in to, but mainly I want the students to have fun, to learn some history, to work together as a unified team, and to somehow through it all grow more in love with Jesus Christ.

Secret Police Headquarters (Berlin)

I step into the office of the high commander and survey the room critically. My eyes can't help but search the corners, cracks, and crevices, hoping to spot a secret compartment somewhere. Surely the head of the Secret Police would have kept some of the most incriminating files close to his personal body, and since there were fully three rooms of secretaries to get through before you reached him, he would have had plenty of time to secure such files before he was found out. While I stare at the ginormous phone console - the height of technology in 1989 - I think about the whispered conversations that would have taken place in this room, the names of certain "criminals" whose death sentences were signed on that desk.



A large tour group enters, so I decide it's time to follow the rope guidelines and move through the backdoor. Shockingly it's not a conference room or an office for bodyguards. It's a bedroom! Apparently, East Germany had so many enemies fighting for the chance to get in that the head of the Secret Police couldn't even afford to go home at night. I do have to wonder at the mindset of this place. How could anyone think this was a good system? At least 1 informer for every 6 East Germans?! Talk about a lack of privacy. Even for the top dog whose bedroom I now traverse.

As I move from room to room, smiling to myself at the stark wooden decorations which remind me of my childhood in Austria, I can almost sense the quiet fear this building would have instilled. Darkened windows, echoing hallways, propaganda posters, small all-white rooms that functioned as cells. Several of these latter rooms feature large boards containing the names, stories, and detailed documents of all kinds of inmates who once crossed these thresholds. I sit down in a chair across from Uta Franke and read about her "crimes," her desire to raise the level of debate and reform her country for the better. Her eyes look kind, though her words carry a fiery edge. What happened to her in this place? How did she keep herself alive during her imprisonment? Does one of the smell jars perhaps contain a piece of her clothing?


I never expected the Stasi Headquarters to touch me so deeply. In the entryway stands a smallish vehicle, and when I glance inside, I'm amazed to see 5 mini compartments used for prisoner transport. Isolation from the very start. Chains still dangle from the walls and the floor, and since there are no windows or lightbulbs, it's easy to assume how dark such a ride must have been. Silence was a powerful Stasi weapon.

When I leave the building, it is like gasping fresh air for the first time in weeks. Suddenly I can't get away fast enough. But at the end of the street, I turn to glance back, and I see the gate that had appeared in several pictures toward the end of my tour, the gate that East Germans tore down in the days following November 9, 1989. Thousands of men and women in their skinny 80's jeans and big floppy hair invaded this building and in doing so rescued hundreds of thousands of files from destruction. Overnight they dismantled not only the entire Stasi system but the fear that had come with it.

"The one who thinks differently is an enemy."

I'm not usually one to condone violence, but as I stare back at the Headquarters, I'm thankful for the fall of the Stasi and the entire Berlin Wall. I feel an affinity for the people who took back ownership of their country, who saved it from sinking into even further abuse of power. I'm thankful I have the freedom to work here in this country and openly share Christ. It is a milestone, because even though I sense a twinge of guilt toward Austria, for the first time, I am proud to be in Germany.

Dare I post this?

I’ll be the first to admit that I rarely make New Year’s Resolutions, and if I do, I keep them secret. No need for the whole world to know how epically I fail at keeping them. However, this year three words have been mulling around in my mind, and since they all start with W (sort of), they’re too good to keep to myself. Plus, they’re adequately vague so that I can be brave enough to publish them without the internal pressure combined with guilt I naturally feel under accountability. So, without further ado, here are my 2014 New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Write More.

It’s not that I have grand aspirations of being a writer, like my cool friends who are published (Jackie Lea, Kristin, Tommy, …), but I want to refine my skills. I tell my students in my online class all the time that the only way to get better at writing is to write. Maybe it’s time to practice what I teach. I do have more specific goals that I’ll keep to myself, but one of the side effects of being forced to leave Germany for a year is, I hope, even just the chance to write more. Guess I’ll leave the details to God.

2. Walk More.

Again, I do have some secret specific goals and one particular plan that should avail me of much time and space to walk, but even without that, I want to walk more. With my newly purchased, albeit holey, backpack, I want to explore more of the wooded paths around the Kandern, the ones I physically can’t run. Perhaps even the stretch between my home and school could become more familiar to my walking boots. There’s just something about that rhythm of movement that frees me up to think more clearly.

3. Word More.

So far, I’ve used every odd year in this millennium to read through the Bible in a year. My Bible reading in the even years tend to be a bit more willy nilly and unstructured, which can be great for going more in depth but can also mean I’m not as disciplined as in the odd years. In this year, I’m going set the broad goal of Word More, but what I mean is really depth AND consistency. I really do treasure God’s word, yet it loses its luster the longer I ignore it. I don’t want that to be a problem this year.

That’s it. Short and sweet but oh so challenging.

2013 in Review

I'm feeling nostalgic and have been reflecting on the year 2013 and what I learned. If you're interested, read on, but if not, no pressure. :-)

January: I entered the new year amid smoke and firework in downtown Kandern - like any good German. We did start off with some other "newness" too because 2 new girls joined our small group, and I love them to bits! As a group, during this month, we had our sardine sleepover in my tiny living room and finished our "I Am Second" videos. Theme of this month: New Mercies.

February: Mainly I remember being in two places this month: at school especially for Play Practice, and at Elemenz Cafe (before they closed down). I also managed to retreat to the Rapha House with my beautiful Bible study group. Theme of this month: Friendship.

March: There were some big highlights this month in between the M.S. play performances (Love me some Alvin Fernald), taking the 8th graders hiking to a castle, and BFA hosting ICEC, in which I co-led my first workshop. Theme of the month: Courage.

April: Once Spring Break came to a close, April was fairly routine. A bunch of us did run in the Freiburg marathon, which apart from the cold was pretty fun. Theme of the month: Persistence.

May: Usually, May hits a school year, and someone punches the fast-forward button. I took a jaunt to Austria for a beautiful wedding of two friends. Some of us ran another race that took us through three countries (yes, countries), and nobody died. We braved yet another annual trip with 8th graders to southern Switzerland for a week, and nobody died there either. Theme of this month: Celebration.

June: The most bittersweet month was full of hurrahs and good-byes as we wrapped up another school year. Jill, EmKel, and I topped it off with 8 days in Israel, before I had to hug them both farewell (as well as many others). Theme of the month: Good Closure.

July: A kind soul named "Dad" brought me home for three weeks, so we could celebrate some family milestones, including my parents' 40th anniversary. I got to meet niece Megan, see the new house since the fire, and offer support as brother Andi underwent surgery. Theme of the month: Family.

August: Rachel and I got to spend nearly 2 weeks in gorgeous Marzell with three equally as gorgeous girls. Beyond that, August was fairly slow, and I spent a lot of it at work preparing for the new year. Theme of the month: Rest.

September: The new school year started with a bang. It's always challenging and fun to get to know new staff, new students, new bosses, and everything. Spiritual Emphasis Week generally comes at the perfect time to help me refocus and to help me look past early failures to a brighter future. Theme of this month: Humility.

October: As the leaves began to turn, I particularly enjoyed some new experiences, such as working the Cross Country meet, attending an educational Leadership Conference, and reconnecting with an old friend at a new outdoor museum. My small group girls dove in deeply, and God revealed himself to me in the creativity of my students. Theme of the month: Beauty.

November: 4 Thanksgiving meals are nothing new anymore in this community, but I was thankful for the good people they surrounded me with. Elizabeth and I snuck off to Avignon for a historical trip, and my Bible study group returned to the Rapha House, so I got to use my French. Theme of the month: (no surprise) Gratefulness.

December: The fastest month of the year, always, was particularly peaceful this year. Once the challenge of keeping students focused until the end was over, I actually had time to write, to decorate, to visit local Christmas markets, and to welcome my parents to my home for Christmas. Theme of this month: Focus on Christ.

If you made it this far, I'm impressed. And I would love to know some of the things you learned in 2013. May God's favor rest on you in the New Year as well!

After All, It is a Small World

Last weekend I had the privilege of a three-day mini vacation in Berlin. Back in October, Easyjet offered some amazing deals, and I had my wonderful cousin's apartment to crash in, so even though school was barely on break, I jumped at the chance to visit Germany's capital. I thoroughly enjoyed the sites, the museums, the history, the international food, the culture, and the stories, but one thing happened that I couldn't have planned or initiated if I had tried to.

On the very first day, I signed up for a free walking tour, and we ended up being such a big group, that they decided to split us up. The first guide said he'd take "this crowd over here," and about 20 of us trudged through the rain behind him to a nice view of the Brandenburg Gate where we began said tour. As we walked through the city, people started to strike up small talk conversations with others. I met a nice Scottish couple who now lives in Australia and an American from California just wrapping up her semester abroad. At one point, though, I overheard a woman say she taught at an international boarding school. "Interesting," I thought, "I didn't think they were any others besides BFA in Europe." Due to the course and then eventual end of the tour, I didn't get a chance to chat with her until we were departing from our final stop, and we happened to head off in the same direction.

Our conversation went (almost) exactly as follows:

Me: So, you work at an international boarding school? Me too!
Stranger: Neat. Where?
Me: Here in Germany.
Stranger: My school is in the U.S. But I've lived overseas, too.
Me: Where?
Stranger: In Asia.
Me: Me, too. Where in Asia.
Stranger: In Taiwan.
Me: Me, too.
Stranger: I was there on a Fulbright scholarship.
Me: What?!? Me, too!
Stranger: Okay, this is freaky. Where in Taiwan?
Me: I-Lan Province.
Stranger: Shut up! Me, too. If you say Gu-Ting Elementary with Gloria, I ...
Me: YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stranger: ...
Me: ...
(Mouths wide open.)
Stranger: When?
Me: 2004/05
Stranger: I was there in 2008/09. It was weird. When I was there, they kept saying I looked like one of their former teachers, a Katrina.
Me: I'm Katrina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say, I was shouting at this point. I mean, what are they odds?! We took a picture to send to Gloria, and then we parted ways, probably never to meet again. Then again ....