Back in High School

Well, Diane and I have come full circle. Thirty-seven years ago we met in a high school Social Studies class after the teacher moved my seat for reasons we won't discuss here. We became friends, then more than friends, attended separate colleges (successfully), married, raised four children, held jobs, bought and sold houses, became missionaries, became grandparents, all the usual and some of the unusual things - but now, as we said, we've come full circle. We're back sitting next to each other in a high school classroom and studying German. It's no longer col to be the oldest kids in class.

German, we hear, is a logical language - so far the logic escapes us. We're hearing terms like "dative" and "accusative" - can you even remember what that stuff refers to from your days in English class? People say English is quirky - and it is - but it's also oftentimes economical. Take the article "the" for instance. In English we say, "the boy, the girl, the boys, the girls, the cow, the herd, the watermelon, the crop, the cell, the cells, the organ, the limb, the body, the family, the community, the state, the country, the continent, the hemisphere, the planet, the solar system, the galaxy, the universe, the mind of God". What a useful word "the" is. German is logical so this language says, " der Junge, die Jungen, das Mädchen, die Mädchen, die Kuh, die Herde, die Wassermelone, die Ernte, die Zelle, die Zellen, die Orgel, das Bein, des Körpers, der Familie, der Gemeinschaft, des Staates, das Land, dem Kontinent, die Halbkugel der Erde (literally - half scoop of earth!), des Sonnensystems, der Galaxie, das Universum, der Geist Gottes. Der, die, das - and we're not even talking about the prepositional variations as yet!

But - it is good to begin to formerly work on this language because it is not one that just gets absorbed by hanging around German speakers and there is progress. It's just hard for the half century plus brain to exercise cells that have lain domant for so long. The great motivtion, besides better understanding this place and culture we live in and besides making life all around a bit easier, is Diane and I get to compete on test and quiz scores.

Well, gotta study now!

BFA's back in action

The Senior Parade!
Hear no evil, speak no evil - or is it just amazement that they're seniors?
You can only carry off the white belt look if your family works in Italy.
BFA is a strange and wonderful place - look at the smiles because school is starting!



BFA held its opening day last week. Traditions run hard here so it began with the procession of Seniors carrying the flags of many nations followed by the less colorful (but with way more straight lines) teaching, support and dorm staffs. As the roster of forty plus nations currently hosting the families of our student was read, cheering of various volumes rose up, largely dependent on the number of students directly involved. The United States rang loudest as most of our kids hold US passports. My seventy-six seniors have families working in twenty-eight countries. I polled my students and had them list the countries that they had personally lived in for a period of greater than six months. Fifty-seven different nations were tallied. By most accounts, there are currently 195 nations in the world. How big is the impact of Black Forest Academy? You do the math!

School now means for me (Russ) the dance of developing classroom climates and relationships that will allow my Worldviews classes to transcend the sharing of information and arrive at the place of spiritual and life in general growth. Pray for the tone and spirit to be conducive to real sharing and challenge and maturity. Pray for insight and wisdom as each class develops. Pray for kids to have the courage to examine their own faith worlds and recognize the beauty of Christ for themselves.

It feels great to have classes back I front of me! I love teaching these guys and Diane and I love being involved in other aspects of their lives. The big deal, coming up one month from now, is the fulfillment of our duties as Senior Class sponsors – we “have to” go with them to Rome for Senior trip!

This weekend is filled with a conference for classroom teachers to be held in the beautiful Alpine town of Adelboden. Two full weeks of classes connected by a weekend conference doesn’t really sound very conducive to rest. I say this because for the first time in about six months, Diane and I had a relaxing (not a whole lot on the gotta do right now list) weekend and it was fabulous! We didn’t do much of anything really special (well, we showed our friends the Shumans around the local hot baths) – we mostly just relaxed. I guess that’s why I’m a little less than eager to go away and "do" this weekend – we need more down time. God is good, it will come.