Starting again!

Hello, everybody!

Well, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, summer is behind us, September is here, and the school year is gearing up. I’ve been in Germany for just over a month now, participating in BFA’s residence life orientation sessions, meeting new staff people, getting to know my new dorm parents, and preparing Palm for the arrival of our girls. It was a tiring three weeks of meetings and prep work, but at long last, my girls arrived. And life begins again. J Being in the dorm always feels weird without my Palmies, so now that they’re back, things are starting to feel right again.

I’ll give you a few highlights of the first week of school—if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, though, a lot of this will be familiar. The beginning of the school year always begins with the same events.

Highlights:

Welcoming our new Palmies!

Seniors holding their countries flags on the first day of school. 

We’ve got 20 girls in Palm this year, and 8 of them are new. It’s been so fun to get to know them and watch them settle in. If you’re interested in keeping score at home, here are some Palmgarten stats for you:

·         20 residents

·         19 different countries represented

·         9 seniors, 6 juniors, 3 sophomores, 2 freshmen

·         12 returning students; 8 new girls.

·         4 staff: 2 returning RAs and 2 new dorm parents

The beginning of the year is always sweet—and awkward. We try to do plenty of goofy things and embarrassing get-to-know-you games to keep them laughing, to get them comfortable around each other, and to create a safe and fun environment. I love watching this band of unfamiliar and unrelated band of girls become a family.

Initiation Bonfire
On the first weekend of the year, the seniors plan an activity to welcome the new girls to the dorm, and to welcome the returners back. This year it involved a bonfire, face paint, and randomly generated Indian princess names. (Featuring such fearsome names as Firebreathing Ladybug and Hungry Panda.) We enjoyed roasting marshmallows, playing campfire games, and just being together as a full dorm for the first time. It was great fun, and I’ll include a couple of pictures.

Palm Prints...and an awesome hat on Uncle Bryan.

Budenfest

Yes, it’s that time of year again in Germany. The time when our town of Kandern bands together, turns the entire main street into a fairground of booths to celebrate one glorious thing: food. There is literally nothing at this festival but booths of traditional German food (think cheese-filled bread, spaetzle with sauerkraut, pretzels, and bratwurst) and drinks (which we and our students did NOT participate in, though you probably have a good idea of what traditional German drinks were served). After church on Sunday, we followed the wave of people flowing down Hauptstrasse to buy lunch, enjoy the sunshine (which surprised us all!) and hang out with each other. While it’ll be nice to be able to drive through Kandern again without detouring around all the excitement, I must say I approve of a festival where the only purpose is to serve delicious and carbohydrate-filled food. Good work, Kandern.

So those are my highlights. On to prayer requests!

Prayer requests:

·         Pray for smooth transition for my girls. For some of them, this is their first time at BFA, and for many of them, it’s their first time in our dorm. And they’re all getting used to new teachers, staff people, workloads, etc. This has the potential to make this a less-than-fun month for them, so pray that they’ll soon begin to feel at home and comfortable where they are and with what they’re doing.

·         Pray for a smooth transition for my staff as well as my girls. Katie, Bryan, Jennifer, and I are working to figure out how to best work together as a new team, and there are always speed bumps in that process.  Pray for grace and patience for all of us, as well as clear communication.

·         There are still a few staff members hoping to arrive at BFA this school year, but they haven’t raised all of their financial support yet. I know they would appreciate your prayers to bring the last of it in!

·         Finally, pray for wise decision-making as I determine whether to commit to another year here or whether God wants me to move on. It’s often tough to see beyond my own emotions, others opinions, and encroaching deadlines to really find God’s plan. So if you would be praying with me—for clarity, wisdom, and peace in this decision—I would really appreciate that.

Thank you all so much for reading this update, and for supporting me in my time here at BFA. I am so excited to be back at Palm, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what God has for my girls, their families, my staff, and for me this year. 

Love and prayers from across the pond,
Amanda