The Palmgarten Fashin Show

 A tradition of Haus Palmgarten is to have a fashion show.  The dorm has collected a lovely variety of old banquet dresses and other similar fashion pieces.  As the RA, my job was to record and photograph these lovely ladies as the paparazzi!

 "K" gives us her "blue steel" fashion pose.  She is made for the runway!

Sporting a look not many people can pull off, "J" looks amazing!

Blue is the rage for this fashion season.  "P" and "A" give huge us smiles and the opportunity to look at their unique makeup.

This is the hippy, fairy look that "E" is wearing.  It is wonderful evening wear and will guarantee to turn heads.

                       These super models are super beautiful!  

Creativity is looked highly upon at BFA.  "J" has been able to take a shinny sheet and make it look chic!  Even though this looks like a lot of silliness...it was the activity that drew the new and returning students together.

Ice Cream & Opening Ceremonies

 The first week of school is always busy and full of fun activities.  The new students arrived a day before the returning students.  They are wide eyed and overwhelmed with a new culture, new school, new home, new language, and new friends among other things.

 Taylor, my co-RA, and I took the 11 new girls out to the Eis Cafe (Ice Cream Shop).  We also showed them around the village of Kandern. 

"D" one of our retuning seniors explains the importance of Hiebers, the local grocery store.  This is next to the school and many students come here during lunch for some fresh baked goods and candy.

Four of my new students are ready to begin their first day of school.  They have their back packs and are ready for Opening Ceremonies.

The seniors enter the auditorium caring their countries flag. Smiling "S" shows us her pearly whites and she is officially acknowledged as a senior.

The entire class of 2011 stand as they hear the charge to the seniors.  It looks like it will be a promising year.

Dutch Visitors!

 When I was just moving into the dorm during RA orientation, I received a facebook message from Dwight and Letty Grismore.  They served with me in Alaska at Echo Ranch Bible Camp and now they like in the Netherlands and serve at a NATO Base with Campus Life.  They were going on holiday to the south of France and they stopped over in Germany.  There is a camp ground just around the corner from my dorm, so they stayed there.

I was able to spend a wonderful afternoon with the Grismore family.   Here are Dwight, Letty, Reben, and David on the tower on Hoch Blauen.  From this point you can see France, Switzerland, and all of the surrounding areas...even the Alps...if it is a clear day.

Hoch Blauen is also a point where para-gliders will jump off to sail into the vast unknown. 

Up, Up and Away he goes!  Look at the beautiful country below him!

We saw quite a few para-gliders take off and feel the wind under their wings!

2010 Avant Europe Conference

 Every two years Avant has an all Europe conference.  This year it was in Beatenburg, Switzerland with is in the Swiss Alps, just above Interlaken, Switzerland.  It is a very beautiful place and the Lord used his beauty to speak to me for my week here.

 This is the amazing view from the balcony of my room in the Swiss chalet.  It is not too hard on the eyes.

Even though we had rain almost the entire time we were there, God did give us a rainbow.  If you look at the gray clouds you can see the rainbow.  What a great reminder that God will keep His promises to us!  

I just love the intense blues and grays that God uses and constantly changes in his creation.  I spent quite a bit of time on my balcony just praying to the Lord and seeking Him.  What a great place to seek the Lord, in the mist of His beautiful creation.

Some of the other singles and I went on a walk in the local area.  It is very quaint here with sheep on the hillsides.

 This house represents Switzerland with the Swiss flag, the Barvarian style architecture, bright flower boxes.  It sits on a lovely hillside with cows in front of it.  Wouldn't you just love to live here?

On of my favorite things about the conference was being able to connect and reconnect with fellow single missionaries.   Debby Fox (the girl in the red Ohio State shirt) and I were roommates in college at Taylor University Fort Wayne.  She serves on a short cycle team in Prague, Czech Republic.  It was so wonderful for me to have quality time with an old friend.  Dawn is in the black. She is a new friend I met.  She serves on a short cycle team in Poland.  We hope to visit each other this year.

This is the Swiss Chalet that we stayed in.  It also serves as a Bible College for the Swiss people.

The magnificent Swiss countryside.

I love the beauty of Switzerland!

 This is an interesting form of decoration that I found.  But it is something my father, Mark, and Uncle Jim would greatly enjoy.

A group of us went down into Interlaken to see the sites and enjoy the touristy shops.  Here Kelly and Dawn are enjoying the town...even in the rain.

This is the mountain called Jung Frau...which means young virgin girl.  It is very beautiful.

Shelly (Poland), Debby (Czech Republic) and Estella (France) are enjoying site seeing. All three of these ladies serve on short cycle teams that are planting churches.  They are all Americans and they have all learned another language.  I am so impressed!

This is the group of singles that I got to hang out with. They are an amazing group of people.  This picture was taken right before I left to drive back to BFA to complete my ResLife orientation.

 As I was driving home...in my car...I saw this Swiss farmer who motioned for me to stop.  After I did these cows came around the corner.  I guess you know you are in the Swiss Alps when this happens!

The hood of my car is in the picture. This cow got really friendly with me and walked right next to the car so that her belly rubbed against the car.  How many Americans would choose to walk their cows in order to transport them...probably not too many! 

The Lorrach Castle

Here in Germany we have castles everywhere.  For our ResLife picnic we choose to have it on the local castle grounds.  This castle in in Lorrach, Germany which is just 13 kilometers from BFA.

Here are the women doing what women do at picnics...setting out the food...

 ...and here are the guys doing what they do at picnics.

Both Amanda and Anne found a nice place to sit and enjoy the fellowship with people.  They are under the root system of a tree up on the side of the hill.

We also went into the castle museum and there is an authentic helmet of armor.

Apparently the helmets didn't always work...or maybe this guy lost his helmet before he took an axe to the head!  Ouch!  It looks like he might have survived for a bit as the skull looks like it is trying to heal. Can you imagine living with and axe to the head!

This is the grand entrance to the Lorrach Castle.  You cross the mote bridge and then you enter this stone fortress.

On this majestic tower, you can see for miles.  If you look close enough you will see Taylor and Julie enjoying the view.

The dorm moms, Danielle and Stephanie are enjoying the beautiful castle courtyard and getting some sun at the same time.

The view of the small city of Lorrach from the castle window.

This view is from the highest tower of the castle.  The people who lived here probably saw something more like this view than the other view...I can sure they were looking for people who were trying to attack the castle.

I would like to introduce Taylor Corey.  She is my fellow RA in Palmgarten dorm.  She is from Toledo, Ohio and I just love working with her...even if she does like Michigan...not sure how I feel about that!!!!!

Julie, Chris, and Jon enjoy the spectacular view from the castle tower.   A group of us just sat up on the tower and enjoyed the view for quite a while.

And then a group of choose to hike from the castle to the Storchenblick dorm.  It is about a 10 kilometer (6 mile) hike through the rolling hills of Germany.

Some of the dorm moms, Sue and Susie, got in on the fun.  Here in Germany, hiking with these Alpine Sticks is a favorite outdoor activity.  Both of these ladies have lived in Germany for quite a few years.

2010 RA Orientation

 The ResLife Staff at Black Forest Academy beings orientation 3 weeks before the students arrive.  The new staff learn how to drive stick shift vans on narrow German streets and where everything is located at.  We also learn about how to live, care, and parent the students in our care.  But the best thing about orientation is just hanging out and getting to know each other.  The first week we had all of the RAs living in one dorm together...it feels like a reality show...only a Christian version!

 This year I am privileged to have 2 fellow Blufftonite RAs.  All three of us graduated from Bluffton High School in Bluffton, Ohio (in different years!).  Here I am with Amy Cherry and Julie Thompson.  We are in the Rathaus (Town Hall) in Basel.  We liked this guy...he looked pretty interesting.

 Here Julie and Anna are enjoying this "beautiful" fountain!  Notice how there faces match the face on the fountain.

 This is just a small section of the inside courtyard of the Rathaus.  The artwork is amazing and I believe this building was built in the 1300s.  Pretty impressive.

The Rathouse is not to far from the Muster, which is the biggest church in Basel and it overlooks the Rhein River.  Here we are all enjoying the scenic view.

We also took our new staff up to Hokeblauen.  It is a mountain where 2 of our dorms are located.  Oh the top of this mountain is a look out tower that you can see Switzerland and France while in Germany.  In the distance, just beyond the mountains are the Swiss Alps...which are hard to see because they are snow covered.

And most importantly like would like to introduce our 6 new RAs this year.  There is Laura (CA), Lauren (MD), Anne (American who grew up in Turkey), Taylor (OH), Amy (OH), and Michael (OH).  Anne was a BFA grad and now she is back to reach out to students like herself.  They are an excellent group of people.