Hello Friends!
It's November--can you believe it? The fall seems to be flying by...but it hasn't flown so fast that we haven't managed to pack a lot of action into October. :) Which is just a confusing way of saying that October has been busy! Here come some highlights:
1. Underclassmen Weekend
I mentioned in my last post that the juniors and seniors were heading off on their respective class trips to Rome and Normandy, leaving our dorm at less than half capacity. Although our freshmen and sophomores were left behind at the dorm, we didn't want them to feel left out of the fun. So we did our best to do a lot of special things while their older dorm sisters were out gallivanting through Europe. :)
Messy Game Night and Sleepover
On Friday night, Katie and I planned an evening of bonding games for the seven remaining girls. The games were held together by one common thread: Make a Mess. So we played "Eat a Muffin Off a String," "Blind Makeover," "Feed your Partner Whipped Cream Pie," and "Messy Twister," finishing off the festivities with a bubble fight in our kitchen. (Rather than try to describe the details, I'm including pictures.) After the games, everyone showered, got their pajamas and pillows, and gathered in the common area to watch Iron Man 2 and have a slumber party. As you might guess (and can hopefully tell from the pictures), it was a great night.
Callier Chocolate Factory
We told the girls at the beginning of the weekend that we had a special trip planned for Sunday afternoon. We all packed lunches Saturday night so that we could hit the road right after church, eating on the way. Everyone was excited (and who wouldn't be) when we revealed that we were heading to a chocolate factory in Switzerland. After entertaining ourselves on the two hour drive by playing "Never Have I Ever" (always an interesting game with Third Culture Kids), we arrived at the factory, nestled in the hills of Broc, Switzerland. We all laughed at the 1950s-era commercials playing as we waited for our tour to begin, but once it finally began, the girls all enjoyed it. And of course they LOVED the tasting room: a room full of chocolate samples of various types, where the only limit to how much chocolate you can eat is your own self-control. (And encouragement by the staff to "remember we have a long, windy car ride home.) It was a great adventure, and a sweet opportunity (pun intended) to get to know our underclassmen in a smaller group.
All told, it was a sticky, sweet, tiring, but worthwhile weekend. :)
2. Pumpkin Season!
Of course October is the month for pumpkin everything. :) We've made pumpkin scones, pumpkin cake, pumpkin pancakes, roasted pumpkin seeds (we also made lemon bars. Which were delicious, but strayed from the theme a bit.)...we carved pumpkins with Maugenhard, our brother dorm (see picture below). We also carved pumpkins with HBR. We tried to make pumpkin coffee creamer, but it had a weird texture...we'll have to find a better recipe before making that in large enough quantities for the dorm. As pumpkin season begins to wane, we have just one more pumpkin project on our schedule: make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. But you'll have to hear about THAT in my next blog post.
3. RA Halloween Party
One thing I haven't mentioned much this year is the great community of RAs we have at BFA. There are 19 of us, if my counting skills are still intact, and every now and then, we find time to get together as a group and fellowship together. (which is a fancy way of saying "eat food and talk about dorms and everything else.") Sometimes these times are serious (like our weekly prayer group), sometimes they're spontaneous (like lunch or coffee outings), and sometimes they're well-planned, well-attended, and just plain fun. Like our RA Halloween party. :) The Monday before Halloween, some local staff members (Thank you, Brant and Laura!) opened their home to a group of rowdy, costumed RAs. We all brought fall-themed food, we all dressed up, and we all talked, played games, and had a great time. I was pretty pleased with my costume this year. I was Frodo, from Lord of the Rings. I love putting together costumes. And I feel that I have to add that I spent 4 hours of my off-time making a hobbit cloak. All those homeschooling mothers who tried to teach me basic sewing...I hope you're impressed. :) (I wish I had been the one with the camera so I could post pictures. I'll try to include them in my next blog post.)
4. Herbstmesse
Fun fact: this was the 543rd annual Fall Festival in Basel. For those keeping score at home, that's 2.25 times as old as the United States of America. Yep, they've been celebrating the arrival of fall with games, carnival rides, roasted chestnuts, and hot cider since 22 years BEFORE Columbus ever set sail. How's THAT for a little old-world perspective? :)
But anyway, the students and staff of BFA attend every year on October 31st. So last Thursday, we loaded up 5 charter buses and headed into the city. Once we arrived (and reminded the students to remain in groups of three), we all headed off to enjoy carnival games (I won a stuffed banana!), half-priced pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks (essentially the only time I ever drink Starbucks over here. I dare you to guess how much a coffee costs in Basel...), bumper car battles with my girls, and cinnamon-roasted almonds. It was a fun evening in a beautiful city. I don't love cities, but as I was standing on the bridge overlooking the Rhine, watching my girls laughing and walking ahead, I was watching the stone steeple of the Lutheran church change colors with the dancing lights of the ferris wheel behind it...well, it almost made me cry, thinking how blessed I am. I will never stop being thankful and blown away that I get to live here, with these people, in this place.
Thank you for reading, and for praying for me, my dorm, and this ministry. I love this place, and I ask you to join me in praying for my girls as they process through spiritual questions, relationship questions, decisions about the future, and just "how to make the most of high school and survive through midterms" type questions. I want to know these young women better, to serve them better, and to love them better...but mostly I want them to know God better and to really come to terms with His love for them. I'm praying that November will be a month where God moves in Palmgarten (staff AND students), and that this will be a place where He is honored and where His children feel loved and at home.
It's November--can you believe it? The fall seems to be flying by...but it hasn't flown so fast that we haven't managed to pack a lot of action into October. :) Which is just a confusing way of saying that October has been busy! Here come some highlights:
1. Underclassmen Weekend
I mentioned in my last post that the juniors and seniors were heading off on their respective class trips to Rome and Normandy, leaving our dorm at less than half capacity. Although our freshmen and sophomores were left behind at the dorm, we didn't want them to feel left out of the fun. So we did our best to do a lot of special things while their older dorm sisters were out gallivanting through Europe. :)
Messy Game Night and Sleepover
On Friday night, Katie and I planned an evening of bonding games for the seven remaining girls. The games were held together by one common thread: Make a Mess. So we played "Eat a Muffin Off a String," "Blind Makeover," "Feed your Partner Whipped Cream Pie," and "Messy Twister," finishing off the festivities with a bubble fight in our kitchen. (Rather than try to describe the details, I'm including pictures.) After the games, everyone showered, got their pajamas and pillows, and gathered in the common area to watch Iron Man 2 and have a slumber party. As you might guess (and can hopefully tell from the pictures), it was a great night.
We told the girls at the beginning of the weekend that we had a special trip planned for Sunday afternoon. We all packed lunches Saturday night so that we could hit the road right after church, eating on the way. Everyone was excited (and who wouldn't be) when we revealed that we were heading to a chocolate factory in Switzerland. After entertaining ourselves on the two hour drive by playing "Never Have I Ever" (always an interesting game with Third Culture Kids), we arrived at the factory, nestled in the hills of Broc, Switzerland. We all laughed at the 1950s-era commercials playing as we waited for our tour to begin, but once it finally began, the girls all enjoyed it. And of course they LOVED the tasting room: a room full of chocolate samples of various types, where the only limit to how much chocolate you can eat is your own self-control. (And encouragement by the staff to "remember we have a long, windy car ride home.) It was a great adventure, and a sweet opportunity (pun intended) to get to know our underclassmen in a smaller group.
All told, it was a sticky, sweet, tiring, but worthwhile weekend. :)
Of course October is the month for pumpkin everything. :) We've made pumpkin scones, pumpkin cake, pumpkin pancakes, roasted pumpkin seeds (we also made lemon bars. Which were delicious, but strayed from the theme a bit.)...we carved pumpkins with Maugenhard, our brother dorm (see picture below). We also carved pumpkins with HBR. We tried to make pumpkin coffee creamer, but it had a weird texture...we'll have to find a better recipe before making that in large enough quantities for the dorm. As pumpkin season begins to wane, we have just one more pumpkin project on our schedule: make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. But you'll have to hear about THAT in my next blog post.
One thing I haven't mentioned much this year is the great community of RAs we have at BFA. There are 19 of us, if my counting skills are still intact, and every now and then, we find time to get together as a group and fellowship together. (which is a fancy way of saying "eat food and talk about dorms and everything else.") Sometimes these times are serious (like our weekly prayer group), sometimes they're spontaneous (like lunch or coffee outings), and sometimes they're well-planned, well-attended, and just plain fun. Like our RA Halloween party. :) The Monday before Halloween, some local staff members (Thank you, Brant and Laura!) opened their home to a group of rowdy, costumed RAs. We all brought fall-themed food, we all dressed up, and we all talked, played games, and had a great time. I was pretty pleased with my costume this year. I was Frodo, from Lord of the Rings. I love putting together costumes. And I feel that I have to add that I spent 4 hours of my off-time making a hobbit cloak. All those homeschooling mothers who tried to teach me basic sewing...I hope you're impressed. :) (I wish I had been the one with the camera so I could post pictures. I'll try to include them in my next blog post.)
4. Herbstmesse
Fun fact: this was the 543rd annual Fall Festival in Basel. For those keeping score at home, that's 2.25 times as old as the United States of America. Yep, they've been celebrating the arrival of fall with games, carnival rides, roasted chestnuts, and hot cider since 22 years BEFORE Columbus ever set sail. How's THAT for a little old-world perspective? :)But anyway, the students and staff of BFA attend every year on October 31st. So last Thursday, we loaded up 5 charter buses and headed into the city. Once we arrived (and reminded the students to remain in groups of three), we all headed off to enjoy carnival games (I won a stuffed banana!), half-priced pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks (essentially the only time I ever drink Starbucks over here. I dare you to guess how much a coffee costs in Basel...), bumper car battles with my girls, and cinnamon-roasted almonds. It was a fun evening in a beautiful city. I don't love cities, but as I was standing on the bridge overlooking the Rhine, watching my girls laughing and walking ahead, I was watching the stone steeple of the Lutheran church change colors with the dancing lights of the ferris wheel behind it...well, it almost made me cry, thinking how blessed I am. I will never stop being thankful and blown away that I get to live here, with these people, in this place.
And that's about all I have space for, and I'm sure it's more than you have time to read.
Thank you for reading, and for praying for me, my dorm, and this ministry. I love this place, and I ask you to join me in praying for my girls as they process through spiritual questions, relationship questions, decisions about the future, and just "how to make the most of high school and survive through midterms" type questions. I want to know these young women better, to serve them better, and to love them better...but mostly I want them to know God better and to really come to terms with His love for them. I'm praying that November will be a month where God moves in Palmgarten (staff AND students), and that this will be a place where He is honored and where His children feel loved and at home.
Love and prayers from across the pond,
Amanda
Amanda
Well, just reading your post made me cry, thinking about how blessed these young women are to have you for a big-sis/mom/boss/tutor/counselor figure. Thanks for serving Him!
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