29.8.2011 Adjusting to a new life

Sorry that it’s been two weeks since our last blog post. These past two weeks have been absolutely crazy. Thank you to everyone who have been praying for us. Here’s a little recap on what has been going on with us. I’ll break it down by week.

Aug 14 to Aug 20

This was the first week of work for me. Monday to Wednesday was all staff. I spent those days trying to figure out what I’m teaching, scope and sequence, material, etc. It’s hard going from a set system on how things work to starting from scratch. I’m adjusting from 83 minute periods 2 or 3 days a week to 40 minutes every day. What made it harder was that the other math teacher was busy with schedule stuff. He put together the new school schedule so he was spending most of his time tweaking things, answering questions, and working on other responsibilities. Needless to say, I was pretty stressed trying to get organized.

Classes started on Thursday and once things started I was reminded on why I do what I do. The students at ThIS are incredible. Yes they are middle schoolers and high schoolers, but they are respectful and fun to work with. It was a shock when I get to my 12th grade class and I only have 4 students! For my other classes the numbers are also low. 7th has 13 students, 9th has 15, but 6 of them will be gone for half the year for various reasons, 11th has 10, and my biggest is 8th grade with 17 students. So altogether I have 59 students. It is challenging to have to transition from middle schoolers to high schoolers from one period to another. It is also different in the format of the classes. Because the school is in the process of expanding we are limited in space. This means that teachers move from class to class instead of students. Plus, there are some periods that the passing time is zero minutes. That means I finish a class, run to my office, drop of the previous classes stuff, grab the next, run to the next class and start immediately. It makes for a crazy day, but I’m happy to be teaching here. So our nights these past few weeks have been filled with lesson planning instead of blogging, hence the lack of communication recently.

That first week for Heather was a hard week. While I’m at an English speaking school she has been home with two kids in a small area and having to function in a German speaking world. That week she felt very alone, overwhelmed, and was just trying to survive. What didn’t help to start the week off was that Stanley and Holly threw major fits at church not wanting to go into Sunday School. Nothing at the hotel seemed to work that week either. Internet was sparse, (there was actually several occasions we were trying to Skype but got kicked off the Internet), we still don’t have a door on the kids room, our phone in our apartment wasn’t working so if people tried to call up to us it didn’t work, we were running out of minutes on our cell phone, our water was brown on several occasions, and one day during naps repairmen for the phone and other men for our door knob had to work which woke up Holly. Plus it rained a lot that week which made things that much more difficult. We also found out more details on our current place, how much were going to have to pay the school back, and how long the contract was for (end of October!). It was a hard week.

Some positives for that week was the help we were receiving from friends looking for a new apartment. We have had several people from the school and friends from the church looking at different potential places for us. We think we found the place we wanted and put an application in for it. But we haven’t stopped looking. We had one friend, Doerte, come over one evening to help us with different things. The main was that she played with Stanley and Holly while we prepared dinner. Later she said she didn’t feel like she helped at all, but we both assured her that just having her entertain the kids was a huge blessing. Another big thing was that I got my Visa! However, when Heather went to get hers on Friday it was a total flop and she was not able to get hers yet.

Another positive was that after church we decided to stop somewhere to eat because it was still an hour until the next bus. We stopped at a Doner Kebap on the way home and found our new favorite restaurant. The food is great, The guys there are very helpful, and we already starting to get to know a few of them. Because of the bus situation it might become our new tradition to stop there for lunch every Sunday after church.

Aug 21 to Aug 27

This week has been a huge turn around from the week before. I think the main reason is that people have been praying for Heather to meet moms here that she can connect with. It actually started the week before on Wednesday August 17th. Heather met a mom named Mareike at the Elefant (in German) Park. She doesn’t live in Weimar but was visiting her mom. Both Heather and Mareika were praying to meet another Christian mom. They were able to hang out a couple of times before Mareika went back home. Then Sunday was when I believe things really began to change. Holly was great going into the nursery at church, but Stanley was still throwing a fit. But for a brief moment, Heather and I were able to take communion together before I had to head back out because Stanley was screaming at the top of his lungs in the foyer. During these past few weeks we’ve seen sides of Stanley that we never knew existed. Anyways, by the time we left church that day Heather had the numbers of two moms who wanted to get together with her that week. One of them was Susanne (Sue-san-a). We met her in the nursery at church. When I (Scott) came in later in the service to let Heather enjoy the worship and have a break from Stanley who was throwing a fit, Susanne and I were talking about our time so far. In the conversation Susanne invited Heather to come over on Monday. When I went to tell Heather she was getting the phone number of another mom named Carole (Care-ole-a).

We were also invited to have lunch at a family from church and school. The Pienaar family is a white family from South Africa whose native language is Afrikan. They have four daughters and were wonderful to get to know. They have chosen to embrace the German culture, learn the language, and are actually going to apply for German citizenship in a couple of years. Herman was great with Stanley and Holly and showed us their rabbits, the trampoline, and their play house/fort.

For Heather, this past week has been a theme of hope. She has been learning that our hope is in the Lord, not in the days or the circumstances or things. Her time with Susanne and Carole this past week were wonderful, and there is more joy as Heather has been trusting in the Lord day by day. Susanne and her husband Erik have let us borrow a bike that he no longer uses, helped us as we looked at another apartment, Heather and Susanne have hung out now several times, and they invited us to their garten on Friday afternoon and evening for a BBQ and a chance to hang out. Carole and Heather also had a great time together, and Carole even did some of our laundry so we wouldn’t have to pay the 2,30 Euros (or $3.25) per load.We also had a sweet time on Thursday evening meeting another family from the church. We had two apartments we looked at. The first one was nice but just didn’t have the right feel. The second was a bungalow that was still majorly under construction. However, the neat thing was that as we arrived, a gentleman that we thought was the real estate agent was actually someone from church who recognized us! Marcus as his family lived in the complex in front of the bungalow we were looking at. He called his wife Babett (Baw-bet) as she was on her way home. She helped translate for us as we looked at the bungalow, and then invited us to stay for dinner. Her husband was at church for youth group. Her two daughters were so nice to Stanley and Holly and they even lent us a few items (running bike and helmet, and a Dinosaur costume). Babett helped us email the real estate agent with what we’re looking for so she can let us know if anything comes up before she puts it on the market. When we went to head home around 8 pm a huge storm just started with thunder, lightning, monsoon type rain, and huge gusts of wind. Needless to say we got to the street and turned around to head back inside. We ended up staying there until about 9 pm when Marcus came home. Stanley was falling asleep on the couch, Heather was nursing Holly, and we were trying to figure out what to do. The oldest daughter suggested that we spend the night (she had wanted Stanley and Holly to spend the night earlier in the afternoon). I had to work the next day but it was sweet for them to offer.

Then on Sunday was the church picnic. It was a neat time to see our new friends and connect with others in the church. We had a service, which Stanley and Holly would not sit still for, then food, then games. Heather had to leave early with Doerte (who was her ride). I rode the bike there with the stroller. This was the first time we actually got to use the Chariot as a bike trailer! So Stanley and I came home later. I got to play a little Fussball (soccer) as well. It was really neat to see how the Lord provided for what we needed this past week. Things are still difficult, but we’re also finding joy in the midst of the trials.