Christmas cards

The longer I live here, the more I learn about things that just aren't as simple as they were back in the States. One of those things is buying Christmas cards. In the States you can walk into any Wal-Mart, Target, bookstore, Dollar Tree, or grocery store and choose from a wide variety of boxed Christmas cards, anywhere from 10-50 cards per box. Here in Kandern, however, boxed Christmas cards can't be found. Oh sure there are Christmas cards, but they're sold individually, in racks right next to the birthday and anniversary cards. I searched all the shops and stores in town, and asked around at BFA to see if anyone knew of places out of town where I could find my coveted boxed cards.

Finally admitting defeat, I resorted to making my own Christmas cards. Last year I also made my own, but I had friends equipped with the supplies to make nice looking cards: thousands of rubber stamps, inkpads in every color, and a massive collection of pretty patterned papers. This year, I have a pad of construction paper and a 10-pack of Crayola markers.

So I sat down this afternoon hoping to crank out a stack of cards and get my Christmas mailing ready. I gave up two hours and eight cards later because I was getting a cramp in my hand from all the cutting, drawing, and writing. Even with all that effort, my cards look like a ten-year-old made them. If you got a card from me last year, I apologize in advance for the poor quality of this year's card!

The interesting thing is that as I searched for these cards and agonized over how simple it would be to do this in Ohio, I started thinking about how this is a reflection of culture. Americans place a huge value on the frills and thrills of Christmas; all the material aspects like decorations, presents, parties, and cards. Why do we really send Christmas cards? Because we truly care for people and want to with them Christmas blessings, or because we got a card from them last year and feel guilty about not returning the "favor"? This week I read John Grisham's Skipping Christmas, on which the movie "Christmas with the Kranks" is based. If you're unfamiliar with the plot, Luther and Nora Krank have decided to forgo the formalities of Christmas and go on a Carribean cruise and face hilarious consequences. Here, Nora considers not sending Christmas cards this year:

According to Luther's audit, The Pumpkin Seed had collected $318 from the Kranks last Christmas for cards, and at the moment it did seem somewhat extravagant. Not a major expense, but what did they get from it? Luther flatly refused to help with the addressing and stamping, and he flew hot every time she asked if so-and-so should be added to or deleted from their list. He also refused to offer so much as a glance at any of the cards they received, and Nora had to admit to herself that there was a diminishing joy in getting them...Nora asked herself how many on her list would even notice. She received a few dozen each year, a dwindling number, she admitted, and she kept no log of who bothered and who didn't. In the turmoil of Christmas, who really had time to fret over a card that didn't come? Which brought up another of Luther's favorite holiday gripes - the emergency stash. Nora kept an extra supply [of cards] so she could respond immediately to an unexpected card. Every year they received two or three from total strangers and a few from folks who hadn't sent them before, and within twenty-four hours she'd dash off the Kranks' holiday greetings in response, always with her standard handwritten note of good cheer and peace be with you. Of course it was foolish.

Unlike Nora, I don't feel the need to send a Christmas card to every person I've ever spoken with. But also unlike Luther, I don't want to neglect the important people in my life at Christmas. So somewhere between Nora's obsession and Luther's total apathy, hopefully I've found the balance with my cards this year.

Christmas in Kandern

While I was in Paris, Jill and David bought and decorated a Christmas tree. It felt a little strange to not have done any Christmas preparations, but I had several of my own ornaments to add to the tree, so I did that on Christmas Eve as well. After my triumphant return from Paris on Christmas Eve, Jill and David made and frosted Christmas cookies. Then, we each opened one present. Both of our families have a tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve, and I had told Jill awhile back that my Christmas Eve present is always pajamas. However, I was still surprised when I opened my present and found myself holding a new pair of pajamas! I was a little worried that the pants would, as usual, be too short for me, but these ones aren't too bad. Aren't they cute?

Jill's Christmas Eve present was the movie UP, so we snuggled up to watch it together. Unfortunately, by that point in the evening I was exhausted so I fell asleep. I had been waiting for a skype call from my family, and they called in the middle of the movie, which woke me up. We talked for over an hour, and then it was time for me to listen to Candelight Carols! I did the math and realized that the rebroadcast would begin at 3 a.m. for me. So Jill, David, and I sat around the Christmas tree listening to carols and (in Jill's case) falling asleep. David and I finally went to sleep sometime after 5 a.m. I crawled into bed, fell asleep instantly, and didn't wake up until 1 p.m!

For breakfast (maybe it's more appropriate to call it lunch?) we had french toast and then opened the rest of our presents. Jill got me a fleece blanket, a new scarf, and some beautiful beaded necklaces! After my shower, it was time to skype my mom's side of the family and go to dinner at the Careys house. We had delicious Swedish meatballs, sweet potatoes, salad, and a yummy chocolate cake for dessert. The Careys also gave us each a stocking with some goodies inside: chocolate, tea, and an ornament.

We came home from dinner and watched Ice Age 1 and 2 (a present from David), then I worked on putting Paris pictures on Facebook. I was supposed to be receiving another skype call, this time from my dad's side of the family. After waiting for a long time, I crawled into bed and set my computer next to me so that I would wake up if it rang. Sure enough, at 3:00 a.m. my skype went off and there they were. They couldn't get over how good I looked for waking up at 3 a.m. but what they don't know is that I brushed my hair before turning on my video feed!

I finally went to bed and then slept hard until around 11 this morning. Jill and David leave today for their weeklong whirlwind tour of Europe, and the plan is for me to meet them in Vienna next week, at the end of their trip. I'm hoping to go to Vienna to see my friends from Vienna Christian School, including the ones who I didn't see in Paris last week. The train ticket is causing me a lot of confusion but hopefully on Monday when everything opens again I will be able to go to the station and figure out the cheapest way to get to Vienna. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to a quiet week at home involving lesson planning (gotta start sometime), reading, hanging out with other BFA friends still in town, and skyping friends back home.

It's my prayer that everyone reading this had a safe and wonderful Christmas with friends and family, and that the new year will bring lots of blessings.

Christmas in Paris

I had a chance to travel to Paris this week. Now that I live in Europe, all those places that always seemed so far away are much easier to get to, and rather affordable to do so as well. The distance between Kandern and Paris is roughly the same as the distance between Tallmadge and Chicago, but it still felt like I was going on a huge journey to visit Paris. I'm including a few pictures with this post but the rest can be seen in my Facebook album by clicking here.

While in the city I stayed with my cousin Leslee, who has lived there for nine years. She speaks French fluently and is currently giving French lessons and working on her master's. I also met up with a few friends who are teaching at Vienna Christian School and had made plans to visit Paris at the same time as me. I was thrilled to spend time with the girls again, since I hadn't seen them since summer of 2008 at PFO.

I arrived in the city late Monday evening, hungry and worn out from a seven hour train ride. It was only supposd to be 4.5 - 5 hours but because of snow on the tracks, the trains had to go much slower than normal and I arrived in Paris two hours later than scheduled. Leslee took me to where the girls were staying so that we could make breakfast plans.

Tuesday morning we had brunch at Leslee's place, then went to Notre Dame. The cathedral is such a beautiful place; I love looking at all the details in the stained glass windows and carvings. After studying the outside and taking lots of pictures, we went inside and walked around the church. Even though there were a ton of busy tourists inside, I managed to quietly observe the candles, statues, windows, and plaques (in French!) telling the story of Notre Dame.

We then waited in line outside for over an hour to climb the towers and visit the bellfry. It was a lot of fun to see Paris from the top but the climb was grueling. I didn't mind the number of stairs as much as I did the construction of them...it was a very tight, narrow spiral! Going down was even harder though; by that point our legs felt like jello and we fought to keep them from buckling as we gingerly tiptoed our way back down. After seeing Notre Dame we explored the area on foot and discovered lots of architecture and shops. Many of the tourist places had started to close, so we grabbed a snack at Subway and then made our way to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up after sunset.

We spent awhile enjoying the view of the Eiffel Tower after dark, then made our way back to the apartment where the girls were staying to have dinner. Mmm...tacos! Following dinner we met up with Leslee and she took us to see the Galleries Lafayette, an upscale shopping area that goes all out with Christmas decorations and does fun window displays like Marshall Fields used to do in Chicago. She also took us to see the Madeleine (a church) and the Opera House because they were in the same area and they both look really cool lit up at night.

Wednesday was another full day. The girls and I grabbed breakfast at a bakery (Parisian pastries are so wonderful!) and made our way back to the Eiffel Tower, where we planned to go up to the top level and enjoy a spectacular view. Unfortunately the tower was shrouded in fog, so we moved on to the Arc de Triomphe. By the time we got there, the weather had begun to clear up and we had a nice view from the top. Again, we climbed many stairs but the spiral staircase here was much more tolerable than the one at Notre Dame. We spent awhile looking at all of the carvings and reading our Paris tour guide books before we decided that we were ready to eat lunch. We planned to return to the Eiffel Tower after lunch so that we could get up to the top while there was still nice weather.

After climbing all those stairs at Notre Dame and the Arc, I decided why not make the trip complete by taking the stairs at the Eiffel Tower? But I didn't, for a number of reasons: 1) you can't take the stairs to the very top level, 2) we got in the wrong line and could only buy tickets for the lift, and 3) I was the only one who wanted to take the stairs, and it would have been no fun to climb them alone. So I took the lift, where we were packed like sardines into a big glass box. The view was great, but we were so high up that we began to notice a difference in temperature. It was definitely much colder up at the top! You wouldn't think this by looking at it, but there are a lot of things to do up on the Eiffel Tower: there's a gift shop, a little museum area, a cafeteria, and even a bathroom. After about a half hour of freezing our faces off, we retreated to the lifts and made our way back to the warmth of the ground level.

Upon returning to solid ground, we spotted an international Christmas market out in front of the Eiffel Tower, so we spent about an hour exploring the little shops and eating crepes. We also spotted an ice skating rink, but unfortunately we were running low on time so we didn't skate. It was time to go to the Louvre! Because we went after 6 pm, we only had to pay 6€ to get in! By that point in the day we were so tired but we managed to see a lot of fun things inside the Louvre. I laughed when I saw the Mona Lisa because it's such a small painting. I already knew that it is much smaller than we picture it in our minds, yet I was still surprised by how small it really is. We also saw the Code of Hammurabi, Venus de Milo, and several other fascinating pieces. I wish we had had more time and energy to see the whole museum because I know we barely cracked the surface, but I'm thankful for what we DID get to see.

The next day was Christmas Eve, also the day that I would return to Kandern. I met the girls at their apartment for crepes, and then we went to see the Sacre Coeur, the Church of the Sacred Heart. It was a much more somber place than Notre Dame, and I felt a bit of eerieness as we walked through. Outside, a man played a harp and another man, dressed all in white with white facepaint, pretended to be a statue. He looked like a dead pope to me. We also learned an interesting piece of information about the Sacre Coeur: the Germans tried bombing this church during WWII but there were people inside praying. Thirteen bombs were dropped, and none of them hit the church. They all fell in a line along the street outside the church.

After that it was time for me to say goodbye to the girls and make my way to the train station for my return trip. Leslee walked with me up to the platform, where we were greeted with a huge crowd of people trying to board my train. We waited in line for about 5 minutes before realizing that no one was moving. Lines or waiting passengers snaked out of the trains and inside, people were bustling and setting and moving bags here and there. Leslee asked someone and we found out that my train had been incredibly overbooked and there were way too many people trying to board! The thing with trains is that you can buy a ticket on the spot and board the train, but if you sit in the seat of someone with an advance ticket (with seat assignment), you have to move. So there were a ton of last minute people boarding the train, preventing us ticketed passengers from boarding. I should have been able to simply go to my seat and tell whoever was sitting there that they had to move, but the conductor refused to let anyone else get on the train!! So there were a ton of people trying to get back to Mulhouse who were instructed to take the TGV, a faster train that would leave in another 1.5 hours. The only problem here was that the train people refused to trade my ticket for a TGV ticket, so my only options were to BUY a ticket for the TGV (way more expensive than my original ticket) or simply board and hope I could find a seat. Leslee told me I should be able to find a seat if I go to the dining car, because there are seats there but they are not ticketed. Imagine my dismay when I reached the dining car and it was already packed full of people! I ended up having to stand for two hours, but then a nice little lady came up to me and offered me a seat that had opened up in the back of the car. I was so relieved to finally sit, but I was able to relax and enjoy the last hour of my train ride home.

I learned a few things on this trip. I still have a lot to learn about how to work with groups of people and communicate effectively in foreign settings. My trip to London was a rather painful lesson, and I used those mistakes to plan this trip better. There were still things to be learned, but they were very minor and didn't put a damper on the trip. Another thing I realized was that I haven't yet come to the point where I consider Kandern my home. But after being away for four days, I found myself saying, "I can't wait to go home." Returning to Kandern felt like a homecoming for me, and it's starting to feel a bit more like home for me now. For this reason, think it's safe to say that LEAVING a new place can also help in the settling process because it helps you establish your home base. And finally, I learned that German is becoming more a part of me than I realize, even if I still don't know that much. As we were walking along the Seine river one afternoon, these obnoxious vendors kept coming up to us and trying to sell Eiffel Tower keychains. I fully intended to be polite and tell them, "non, merci" but instead, what came out was "nein, danke." I was stunned by the fact that I had spoken German without even trying. I didn't think about it, didn't phrase my sentence in my head before speaking it, just said it reflexively. I guess that's a good sign!

Colmar Christmas Market

This morning I stayed in bed a little while longer than usual. I woke up slowly, putting off getting out of bed as long as possible. As I lay curled under my duvet, I listened to the people walking and driving by on our street. My window is about a foot away from the street, so this is pretty normal. Suddenly, I became aware of a new sound, and noticed that I couldn't hear anyone's footsteps. I had a sneaking suspicion, but I had to get up and pull back the curtains to confirm it: there was snow on the ground! We're not talking the snowglobe fluff that's been swirling around all week, this was serious snow. 3-4 inches, at least. So naturally, I went outside in my pajamas to take pictures.

I also another taste of Christmas in Europe! Jill, David, and I went to Colmar, France with our other friends Katrina and Amanda. I've been to Christmas markets in Germany and Switzerland, but this was my first French market. I haven't studied French since 7th grade, but somehow I understood more French than I normally do German! Also, it felt more Christmassy than the other markets I've attended. Maybe it was the snow, maybe it was the American Christmas carols being blasted from speakers hanging in the trees, maybe it was the overabundance of stuffed Santas. Regardless, I'm finally starting to feel like it's Christmas. I picked up several new ornaments for my very first Christmas tree away from home, and have started an international Christmas ornament collection. Several people have already given me gifts of very German Christmas ornaments, and today I picked up a cute little red phone booth ornament to represent my trip to London this fall. In a few days when I visit Paris, I'm hoping to find a little Eiffel Tower ornament. It's exciting to start new traditions, but at the same time my heart hurts a little to think of all the things I will miss by being away from my family this Christmas.

Here are a few more shots from the Colmar Christmas Market!

Joyeux Noel!

it's here! it's here!

I'm officially done with the 2009 fall semester. I finished grading finals yesterday around 3:00 and then did some last minute things at school before coming home for good. Before I left school, I stopped in the library and checked out a nice stack of books and movies with which to occupy myself over the next three weeks while I don't have lesson plans to think about. Here is my proposed reading list:

• finish the last 500 pages of "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" (I've been reading this since October)
• The Bourne Identity
• The Bourne Supremacy
• The Bourne Ultimatum
• The Great Divorce
• The Screwtape Letters
• Gathering Blue
• Skipping Christmas
• Al Capone Does My Shirts
• Al Capone Shines My Shoes

I also checked out "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and the BBC "Planet Earth" series to watch. In case you're wondering, the plan is not necessarily to accomplish all of this, I just wanted to have options and be ready for anything. Sherlock Holmes and the Bourne books are rather long, and will take several days to work though, while the others are much shorter and can be knocked out in a few hours on a cold winter evening while I'm curled up in bed. I also have a few train rides that are several hours long and will require some reading material.

Last night I was finally able to experience a Christmas evening in Kandern. Every Thursday they light up the Marktplatz with flaming logs, open the food booths, and have live performances by local artists like the BFA choir or the Stadmusik Kandern (local band). Since I sub at Maugenhard on Thursdays, I haven't gotten to attend any of the special nights yet. Last night was the last night of the event, and I didn't have to go to Maug because all the kids are going home. So I went to hear my roommate play in the band and enjoyed some hot kinderpunsch because I don't like gluwein. It was a fun evening and the perfect way to start my German Christmas.

Today I did a little running around downtown and bought a few more Christmas presents, and then Jill and I did a big grocery run because we were almost out of food and her brother would be arriving today! After unloading all the groceries, we went into Loerrach with our friend Katrina to do a little more holiday shopping, and then we picked up David in Basel and brought him back to Kandern. That's when he gave me a special delivery: my new computer! My parents made the purchase back in November, then gave it to my Uncle Joe at Thanksgiving. Joe drove it back to Chicago and then met up with Jill's brother, who goes to Wheaton. David then brought it to Germany in his carry-on. And now it's FINALLY here!

Tomorrow we hope to go to a Christmas market, and then in the evening I'm going to the Boettcher's house to spend time with Leslie and help keep awake her kids who have come home for Christmas and will be getting over jetlag. On Monday I leave for Paris, where I will spend a few days with my cousin Leslee and some friends from Vienna Christian School, and then I'll return to Kandern on Christmas Eve. Hopefully I'll have a chance to post from Paris, but if not, I'll be sure to have an update ready when I get back.

Frohe Weihnachten!

the end is near

So, after the crazy week I had awhile back, the most recent week has been much better. On Friday, the middle schoolers had their Christmas party, where we donned our pajamas, watched "Unaccompanied Minors," and revealed the secret santas. I proudly wore my hot pink cupcake pajamas and got lots of compliments from the kids. :)

On Saturday, I had a whole day to myself for the first time in a few months! Jill and I slept in, wandered though some shops in town, then watchd TWO movies together. It doesn't get much better than that.

Sunday was the BFA Christmas concert, which was so much fun to attend. There were performances by the piano class, guitar class, middle school choir, high school choir, and orchestra. I've spent the better part of this quarter listening to some of the eighth graders moan about how embarassing it is to be in choir (they don't get a choice in middle school), so I was impressed with how well everyone sang during the concert. Actually, I was really impressed, and pretty proud, too. This is the first time I've been able to attend a school concert and not have any part in performing or directing. Needless to say, there were no sobbing angels on my shoulder this year!

The other day I noticed that I have attended quite a few Christmas parties/gatherings. So far, I've attended the New Staff Christmas Gathering, the New TeachBeyond Staff Christmas Dessert, the middle school staff Christmas (slash Happy Birthday Bob and Lee slash Goodbye Julie) lunch, and the middle school Christmas party. Tonight, I will attend Christmas Part #5, A Charlie Brown Christmas Party. I knew I would get more than one Thanksgiving but no one said anything about five Christmases!!

PS: In exactly FOUR days, I will hold in my hands Lila, the newest member of my family. No, it's not a puppy. It's a computer! :D

give me Your eyes

The rest of this week has been absolutely carazy! I've been praying over a few big things and dealing with some emotions, but the weekend is here now, and I finally got a chance to get some rest last night. I've spent most of the week trying to figure out what it was that God wanted me to share with my students during middle school chapel this week. Way back in August when I was still dazed and confused, I agreed to speak in middle school chapel sometime, and that sometime ended up being yesterday! After much prayer, I felt God laying His love on my heart. So I put together a message that involved the poem "The Christmas Guest", my stuffed lamb (yes, Lamby came to school!), Matthew 25 (Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me), and Brandon Heath's song "Give Me Your Eyes." I gave the students two things to think about: 1) We don't get to choose who we should love, and 2) What we do here on earth will have an effect on where we spend eternity. And why should we love even "the least of these"? 1) God commands it, 2) God loves us, and 3) We act out our love for God by showing love to others. I ended by showing them the Brandon Heath music video and challenging them to start each day by asking God to give them His eyes so that they can see people like He does and know how and who to love.

I was shaking the entire time I was up front, but somehow God gave me peace enough to speak clearly and confidently. My hope is that the students had open hearts and will respond.

This leads me to my next big event of the week. A little background: every year during spring break, BFA sends teams of students led by staff to various places around the world for missions trips. Early this week, it was announced that there was a crucial need for one specific trip. The team had been assembled, but no adults had stepped in to lead it. I immediately knew I wanted to do it, but I also knew I needed to take time and pray over it to make sure my desire was from God and not my own. I spent all week praying, going over options, jounaling my thoughts...for those of you who prayed for me this week, thank you! On Friday as I was giving my message to the middle schoolers, my message about loving others and asking God to allow you to see through his eyes and show you how to love... it hit me. God has clearly given me some people to love. So on Friday afternoon, I went down to the chaplain's office and informed him that I was in.

So, in March 2010, I will be spending the first half of spring break serving in Central Asia. Please pray for all the preparations and details we as leaders will need to cover before we go in three months.

hello december

The Christmas season has officially begun! Here in Germany Thanksgiving is not a national holiday, so there is no reason why Christmas preparations can't begin in November. Kandern began decorating about two weeks ago and put up about 100 Christmas trees this past weekend. Also, I received my first Christmas present already! In the middle of math class, one of my sixth grade boys said, "Miss Bertschi, heads up!" and suddenly there was something flying toward my head! My poor reflexes meant I had to pick it up off the floor, but its contents weren't damaged. It was a little bag of chocolate candies from a Christmas market! I asked him, "Ben, what is this?" and with an impish grin he replied, "Merry Christmas Miss Bertschi!" You know you teach middle schoolers when the preferred method of giving gifts involves chucking them at them at the recipient.

Saturday evening was BFA's annual Christmas banquet. It's mostly a high school event, and all the students get all dressed up for dinner and a show. Students sing duets, play musical instruments, and do stand-up comedy routines for entertainment, and a few teachers serve as MCs for the night. This year's theme was Candyland, so there was lots of candy sprinkled on the tables and fun, festive decorations all over the place.

A handful of our eighth graders are chosen to be banquet servers, which requires them to don a Santa hat and feed everyone who comes to banquet. They did a great job as servers, and next year they will get to sit back and enjoy banquet for themselves! I'm looking forward to attending banquet in a few years, when all of my current students will be high schoolers... it's much more fun to attend these sorts of things when you

know all the students.

The next day, I went to Basel, Switzerland after church with a few friends to visit the Weihnachtmarkt, or Christmas market. Apparently, Basel has the longest Christmas street in the world, so I was pretty excited to see it. Unfortunately we didn't get to see very much because we ran out of time, but the parts we did see were really cool. There was just booth after booth of people selling everything from candles to jewelry to wool socks to Christmas ornaments. There were also a lot of food booths, and many vendors selling gluhwein, a traditional spiced wine typically consumed at Christmas time. I'm not a huge fan of alcohol, but I wanted to try a cultural experience. I took a sip of someone else's drink and almost spit it back out. Yuck. Jill and I happily nursed our hot chocolate and brought home the souvenir mugs in which the drink was sold.

Today, the handbell choir of which I am a part played at the Luise Klaiber Haus, a nursing home right next door to BFA. It's nice to be so close, because many of the students have found ways to minister there, either through music or service opportunities. Unfortunately I don't speak German yet, so when a kind old man starting talking to me, I had to run and get my friend Katrina to translate for me! I felt just a little bit silly. Our bell choir is composed of teachers, staff, and parents from the BFA community, and we have only been practicing for about a month. So yeah, we were a little rough around the edges during our first performance. But that's ok, because we still had fun! Plus, we get a chance to redeem ourselves this Sunday when we play at the Mennonite church in Basel, during their morning service. I haven't played bells since the spring of 2007, so it was really great to be playing challenging pieces and performing again. I wish this could be a year-round group.

Now that the middle of the week has passed, I need to focus on the next few days. Tomorrow I head up to Maug for my weekly dorm sub duties, and on Friday I am speaking in middle school chapel! EEK! I have an idea of what I would like to share, but I'm having a little trouble tying all the loose thoughts into a coherent message. Please pray for me as I share my heart with the middle schoolers on Friday. Pray also for our basketball teams, who will be playing in the first games of the season here at home this weekend, and for me as I am learning how to run the scoreboard and will be the official time keeper for two games! Double EEK!

I forgot to mention that today was another spirit day for middle schoolers, and the theme was Twin Day. Ironically, Mrs. Watson and I accidentally dressed like twins on Monday, two days before we were supposed to! Here are some pictures from Twin Day - click on them to make them bigger.