BFA - from the air

Here are some photos of BFA taken from a helicopter this summer. No, it's not quite this green here right now! The silver building is the newest construction project. It was a very, very old building appropriately called the "Altbau" (old building) and required some extensive and expensive renovations. It now houses all the High School classrooms, music offices and practice rooms, the maintenance shop, and most importantly, the library where I work (which is on the top floor and gets extremely HOT as soon as the weather warms up)! After the construction was finished, this building was re-named "The Janz Building" in honour of the family that founded BFA. The red-roofed building was finished just before we arrived and contains the cafeteria, central kitchen, auditorium (where our church, Black Forest Christian Fellowship, also meets) and gymnasium. The grey-roofed building is where BFA in Kandern got its start and which was originally an angora underwear factory (the school and the factory actually shared facilities for awhile). It is the home for the Middle School, administrative offices, computer lab, computer hub and the Students' Center. The outside court you see was the "gym" before the new indoor version was completed in 1997.
This second picture shows the front of the school and what you see as you are coming in on the main highway into town. The dorm students are not housed on sight, but rather in old Guest Houses that have been either purchased or rented by BFA. Apart from the one dorm which is in town and was originally a conference center owned and operated by Janz Team Germany, the other 6 dorms are scattered in villages around Kandern. Each dorm has its own fleet of vans for weekend and other activities, and also a hired bus service for school days.

Tulips - Tulipen - Tulpen

I love tulips. And these ones are really special because they were a gift. This morning they looked so beautiful that I couldn't help but take some pictures of them. We are blessed to live so close to Holland. We've had tulips in the grocery stores for a few weeks already, and it's still only January! Spring is a long way off but it's still nice to think about it and enjoy the flowers.

The Wolfsschlucht - Wolves' Canyon

The parents of one of Bethany's dorm friends (that's her - Chris - right in the middle of this picture) were here visiting this weekend so they took Bethany, along with a bunch of her friends, off to the "Wolfsschlucht" for an afternoon of food and frolicking. It's about a 10 minute walk from our house into the Black Forest, and it is definitely a different world. And by the way, I don't believe there have been any wolf sightings there since we've lived in Kandern.

Just an ordinary day at the dorm

These big black boxes contain supper. Every night one of the RAs goes down in a van to the central kitchen and picks up the dorm's food boxes. Inside are deep metal trays with lids where the food is kept piping hot.Once the food arrives, the temperature of the meat dish has to be taken and recorded as part of German food regulations.
I'm not sure how Deena can read with all the commotion around her!
Anna's aunt sent her a package that arrived today!
Katey in the computer room.
Kaitlyn was just a "little tired" after her 6 km run, up hill and down!
Our girls hanging with Anna who enjoyed a great soccer game after school. (Check out her well-used hoodie!)
The girls are so appreciative of the time we spend with them every Thursday night and we are enjoying getting to know them better.
Every girl has gratis that has to be done every day.

A Sunday afternoon wander through Kandern

We are in the "Carnival" season here in Germany. Sometimes the revellers hang undergarments across the principal streets in their town. This is what you see here. It's all part of the shedding of propriety and just letting it, literally, "all hang out"!
In our travels we have experienced many corners that are difficult or even impossible to see around. Fortunately, mirrors such as this one are sometimes placed at those spots so you can see down the street without first moving your car into the middle of the intersection. Unfortunately, not enough of these are in use so there are still plenty of challenging corners to navigate. (That's me in the mirror, by the way...)


I sometimes say that the crow could be Germany's national bird, due to the fact that they are in abundance here and any nicer birds that could be national bird candidates have been chased away! This was just a model but it seemed fitting to snap a shot of it. We do, however, also have plenty of storks in our region which are really lovely birds and as a result have many restaurants and guest houses named after them. The storks tend to stay to the more rural areas so we don't see them over our town very often.
Now, this is a smart place to park a Smart Car!

It's an epidemic!

We are in the midst of lots of sickness here at BFA, and Germany too for that matter. Please pray for our kids and staff! There are at least 50 students sick at the High School today and the teachers are starting to lose the battle as well. There's a mix of stomach/intestinal problems (some strains lasting up to 60 hours) and also high fevers, sore throats, coughs and colds. Howard and Katy are home sick today and I'm making chicken noodle soup for my family and also to take up the street to one of the ladies I work with in the library. So, please pray! The kids tend to come to school even with they are sick because they are afraid of getting behind. However, our director was on the intercom this morning telling the students to STAY HOME or GO HOME if they are sick, and to those who are still at school, wash hands and no food sharing. It sounds pretty basic but it was a good reminder.

German culture

This isn't a very exciting picture, but it actually says quite a lot about German culture. If you look carefully at the bottom of the tree, you may see what looks like a little plastic bow. It's actually a baggie tied onto the tree with 2 Euros in it. You see, last Saturday was "Christbaum" (Christmas tree) pick-up day. It was official. It was on the calendar. A tractor hauling a trailer filled with kids (and eventually lots of trees) putted through town picking up all the trees that were carefully put on the street for just that - pick-up. It is an event which occurs every year at exactly the same time. Like all good Germans, we have the official calendar in our home which tells us which days to put our recycling bags out, which days to put out our carboard, paper, metal, old wood, and the biggie, "Sperrmüll" (old household items). If you make an appointment, you can even put out your old appliances and someone will come and pick them up. Of course, every Monday the standard issue garbage cans with the bar codes all go out and the truck with the built-in scanner picks them all up with its automated arm. No men running behind or beside. It's all a study in efficiency.

Three happy couples

Twenty-two years and going strong!
These two couples were engaged the same evening, a few weeks before Christmas! The couple above, Byron & Kim are both in their third year as Resident Assistants and the couple below, Kenny and Tiera, are graduates of BFA. When we came to BFA, Ken was in grade 6! Howard will be doing pre-marital counseling for both couples.

Skating

Tonight the whole High School and several adults and RAs went skating in Basel, Switzerland. We pretty much took over the ice rink! The kids had a blast. Lots of them skate poorly at best, but that doesn't matter. They are together and they have fun.
I think this RA got his winter sports confused...

Jake, Brandon & Beth. They represent: Canada, Germany, Switzerland, USA, Brazil.

Katy and Deborah and their buddy Hugo. Not sure who the random guy is in the background!
Ben loves hats. Ben loves BIG hats. Ben loves hats that make a statement. Ben loves to have his picture taken when he's wearing his hats!
Four of Bethany's friends from her class.
Spencer once told us that we were like his parents here at BFA. We've known him since he was in elementary school. He's a great kid.

Chapel Band

If you look closely, you can see Bethany at the piano. She is part of this chapel band which plays twice a month for chapel.

Clouds & Daffodils

The girls love clouds and often comment about the sky. Through them, I have come to appreciate clouds - the simple beauty of them. Today was a glorious "spring-like" day and the sky was amazing.



The daffodils are up. Already. Although, last year at this time the happy little yellow flowers were already out as well. I'm not sure if they know it's still winter. On a day like today, it's easy to forget!

Staff Breakfast

This morning we had another BFA staff breakfast. We have one after each break to go over what's ahead in the weeks to come, and it gives our director, Tim Shuman, an opportunity to rally the troops! It's usually a very good time. The food's good too!

These are our friends Les and Elva Porter. They originate from Saskatchewan and have been at BFA for the past 7 1/2 years. For 5 years, Les was the chef in the central kitchen, cooking for all dorm students and residence staff. Now they are the dorm parents in the dorm we enjoy subbing at each Thursday evening.

At the golf course

The girls have made a few jaunts up to the golf course over the Christmas break to enjoy the crisp, clear days. Most of the ponds there have frozen over because it's been pretty cold for quite a stretch now. Skating isn't allowed, but I don't think we'd venture out on the ice just yet at any rate.