The Gilmore Girls girls

Ja, hygge skal man jo. Og den sidste måneds tid har Kirstinas og mine hyggeaftener udviklet sig, så nu er min stue simpelthen fyldt, når vi sætter os til rette og ser Gilmore Girls. Vi har stadig 3½ årgang tilbage, så mon det ender med, at vi må tage vores konferencesal i brug?

You gotta have a goooood time! And during the last month, Kristina's and my movienights has kind of developed so now my room is full of girls in all ages when it is time to watch another episode of the Gilmore Girls. And we still have 3½ seasons left so I wonder when we will need our conference room instead of my room?

23 - 17 - 12 - 5

Så er vores tremåneders sommerskole for børnemedarbejdere skudt igang. Vi har 23 elever fra 17 forskellige nationer. De medbringer i alt 12 børn. Og kommer fra 5 kontinenter. Herligt! De virker til at være en rigtig dejlig gruppe mennesker, og jeg glæder mig til at lære dem at kende og til at undervise dem. Børnene virker også rigtig søde. Der er rigtig mange drenge, og i mine øjne ser det ud som om, de løber konstant. Frem og tilbage, på løbehjul, ind i laden og rundt omkring på grunden. Tænk, hvis man selv havde sådan en energi! Wow.

Vi mangler i øvrigt en babysitter, så kender du en, der kender en, der kunne tænke sig at være et par uger eller måneder i Schweiz med kost, logi (og evt. lommepenge) hen over sommeren, så sig endelig til.

Finally our Summer Institute for children workers has begun. We have 23 students from 17 different nations. They bring with them the total of 12 children. And they come from 5 different continents. Wonderful! They seem to be a really nice group of people and I am looking forward to getting to know them and to teach them. The children also seem very nice. There is a good bunch of boys and to me it seems like they run constantly - back and forward, on their microscooters, into the barn and around the property. Wow - if only I had that kind of energy!

By the way - we are still in need of one more child minder for these children so if you know someone who knows someone who would love a few weeks or months in Switzerland over the summer with room, board (and maybe even pocket money) then please contact me.

Fodboldfeber - Football fever

I dag tog jeg en tur til Basel (min yndlingsby) for at hygge mig. Hvad jeg ikke havde forudset var de tusindvis af hollandske fodboldfans, som også var i byen for at feste før aftenens EM-semifinale. Alt var orange! De hyggede sig virkelig, og der var en fantastisk stemning i byen (og en frygtelig stank). Men det var lidt svært at komme frem.

Da jeg skulle hjem, havde en folkefest udviklet sig midt i bycentrum, og jeg gik derfor hen til et par schweizere for at spørge om en omvej til stationen. Sådan forløb samtalen:
D: Undskyld, men kan De fortælle mig, hvordan jeg kommer til stationen?
S: Ja, De tager bare sporvognen herfra om lidt.
D: Tror De, at sporvognen kan komme igennem dette mylder?
S: Der står I køreplanen, at sporvognen kommer, så det skal den jo gøre. (Typisk schweizer-tillid)
D: Tror De virkelig, at det er muligt?
S: Næ, egentlig ikke, følg efter os! (Atypisk schweizer-opførsel)

Og så gik vi gennem folkefesten og hyggede os med at kigge på alle de totalt gakkede mennesker med kreative kostymer.
Det var ret smittende, og jeg har derfor totalt overdraget min opbakning til det hollandske team (eftersom Sverige og Schweiz nu er ude af turneringen).

Today I went on a little trip to Basel (my favourite town) to have a cosy day. What I hadn’t anticipated was the thousands of Dutch football fans who also had made it to Basel before tonight’s Eurocup game. Everything was orange! There was a fantastic atmosphere in town (and a horrible smell) but it was a bit hard to come from one place to another.

When I decided to return, a big party had developed in the town centre and I approached a Swiss couple to ask if they knew an alternative route to the station. This is how our conversation went:
D: Sorry, could you tell me how to get to the station, please?
S: Yes, just take the tram that will arrive here in a few minutes.
D: Do you think the tram will be able to get past this gathering?
S: The timetable says that the tram will arrive here in a few minutes, so that is a given fact? (Typical Swiss trust)
D: Really?
S: You are right, let’s walk together! (Not so typical Swiss behaviour)

So we went through the big party gathering and we had a blast looking at all the crazy people in great costumes. The atmosphere was totally contagious so I am officially smitten and have transferred my football support to the Dutch team.

Overholtzer

For over 70 år siden blev Evangelisk Børnemission stiftet af J. Irvin Overholtzer. Hans familie stammede fra Schweiz, og for nylig var jeg på en hyggelig lille miniferie hos min kollega Sarah og hendes mand, Andy. Sarah kørte mig ud til den lillebitte landsby, hvor Overholtzers familie stammer fra og viste mig det ældgamle familiehus. Der var ikke meget at se, udover huset, men den omkringliggende natur var fabelagtig.

More than 70 years ago Child Evangelism Fellowship was founded by J. Irvin Overholtzer. His familiy originated from Switzerland and recently I went on a short holiday to visit a colleague Sarah and her husband Andy. Sarah drove me out to the tiny little village where the Overholtzer family came from (and some still live in today). I saw the originally family house. There wasn’t much to else to see, but it was worth it anyhow.

Kruset – The mug

I dag var en sørgelig dag. Det var dagen, hvor vi for alvor skulle sige farvel til Paul og Audrey, som har ledt Undervisningsafdelingen i15 år og nu flytter tilbage til Spanien, hvor de har været missionærer siden deres ungdom. Jeg kommer virkelig til at savne deres venskab og gode råd! Heldigvis kommer de tilbage i ny og næ for at undervise.

Det sidste halve år har Audrey igen og igen hintet, at den eneste afskedsgave, hun ønskede var et krus, som hun brugte hver dag i kaffepausen. Den har nemlig i følge Audrey flere uforlignelige kvaliteter hvoraf den hvide inderside er den mest fremtrædende. Så Sam og jeg dukkede op til deres sidste morgenmad her i Schweiz med koppen og et par farvelknus. Snøft!

Today was a rather sad day. It was the day when we had to say the final goodbye to Paul and Audrey who have been leading the Education Department for 15 years but now are moving back to Spain, where they have been missionaries since their youth. I am really going to miss their friendship and good council. Fortunately they will return from time to time to teach.

The last half year or so Audrey has been hinting that the only farewell gift she wanted was the mug she always chose to drink from at our coffee breaks. According to Audrey it has several invaluable qualities of which the most important is the white glazing on the inside. So Sam and I showed up at their last breakfast with the mug and a few hugs. (Sniff!)

Dage med teamet – Team days

I denne uge samlede vi hele Kilchzimmer-teamet til et par dage med undervisning og fællesskab. Det var dejligt! Børn og ægtefæller dukkede også op, og det var rigtig hyggeligt at udbygge venskaber med folk. Jeg nød især at synge sammen, grille sammen, fejre Sam’s 30 års fødselsdag (billede herunder) og tage på tur (billede herover) til et lokalt vandfald. Vandfaldet kunne vi ikke finde, men på en eller anden måde fik Claudia lokket mig til at tage turen ned fra bjerget på en cykelscooter (billede herunder). Og efter et par kilometre midt inde mellem de krogede, kringlede bjergstier, dukkede vandfaldet pludselig op.

This week more or less the whole Kilchzimmer-team was gathered for two days of teaching and fellowship. It was a really nice time. Children and some spouses also showed up and it was nice to get to know people a bit more. I especially enjoyed singing, barbequeing, celebrating Sam’s 30th birthday (picture), and go on a hike to a local waterfall (picture). We searched and searched but couldn’t find the waterfall. Somehow Claudia convinced me to go down the mountain on a scooter bike (picture) and after a few kilometres in the midst of a crooked mountain path the waterfall suddenly appeared. Nice!

Så er teamet samlet! - The team is together!

Så er vores lille nye team her i uddannelsesafdelingen ved at være samlet, og det fejrede vi med en middag på min lokale yndlingsrestaurant Hotel Eirca (ikke at jeg har været der så tit meeennn maden er helt fantatisk og alt for billig). På første billede ser I Samantha (Sam) og jeg. Sam er vores længe ventede administrative assistent, som ankom sidste fredag (Velkommen!! Vi er så glade for at have DIG her). På næste billede ser I Kristina (venstre) og Martha (højre). Kristina har udfyldt en del af Samanthas job, mens vi ventede på hende, og nu overgår hun så til andre jobs i huset (snøft), men vi få lov at låne hende fra tid til anden. Marta er "Institute Supervisor", hvilket vil sige, at hun tager sig af den daglige drift med lærere og kursister, når vi har skoleophold her - de tre måneders kurser for børnemedarbejdere.

Vi glæder os til at arbejde sammen og finde kursen sammen. Bed gerne for os at vi må få nogle gode rutiner og fordele opgaverne imellem os på den rigtige måde.

Now our new little team here in the Education Department is finally together and we celebrated that at my favourite local restaurant, Hotel Erica (not that I have been there very often but the food is extremely good and too cheap to be true.) On the first picture you see Samantha (Sam) and I. Sam is our long longed for administrative assistant who arrived last week (Welcome, we are so happy to have YOU here). On the next picture you see Kristina (left) and Martha (right). Kristina has been doing part of Sam's job while we waited for her but now she will be helping in other departments in the house (sniff), but we will borrow her from time to time. Martha is the Institute Supervisor which is responsible for the daily life of teachers and students during institutes.

We are really looking forward to working together and to embrace the future together. Please pray that we will quickly find a good working relationship and divide the tasks amongst us in the best way.

Sortere - sorting

Som sagt overtog jeg jo lederstolen her forleden og i den anledning også en hel del papirer, mapper med mere. Det krævede en del flere hylder, kasser etc. og derfor har jeg de senere uger været en flittig gæst i den lokale IKEA. Halvdelen af resultatet ses her.

Bagved skimter man Philippe's skrivebord. Han er her stadig et par uger mere, men han har fundet sig i at blive presset ind i et hjørne af kontoret :-) Jeg har dog også store planer for dette hjørne, så måske kommer der en dag også en blogpost om dette hjørne!

As previously mentioned, the leadership of our department was passed over to me this Monday. But that was not the only thing passed over - a lot of files and other things also slipped into my office. That demanded so much more shelf space and therefore I have been a frequent customer in the local IKEA these past weeks. Part of the result is on this photo.

In the background you see Philippe's desk. He is still here for a few more weeks but I managed to put him in a corner of the office :-) However, I have great plans for this corner also, so who knows - maybe some day you will see another blogpost about this corner too.

Skræmmende - Scary

Forleden fik jeg en skræmmende gave fra de schweiziske myndigheder. To pakker piller, som skal tages i tilfælde af et udslip fra atomkraftværket, der ligger få kilometre herfra. Det var ærlig talt ikke en særlig betryggende gave, men Suzanne (min tidligere roomate) forsikrede mig om, at det skal opfattes på en helt anden måde - nemlig i lyset af den schweiziske mentalitet, hvor man er overpåpasselig og derfor vil være sikker på, at man har gjort alt, hvad man overhovedet kan forestille sig, at man burde gøre - og altså i det her tilfælde have uddelt piller på forhånd. Det beroligede mig en del. Og egentlig kan jeg vildt godt lide den mentalitet - bare spørg Buholo eller Maj, som jeg har arrangeret mange lejre med. Jeg må dog tilføje at som de fleste andre danskere er mit forhold til atomkraftværker nok ikke det mest positive. Jeg foretrækker de danske vindmøller!

Some days ago I received a rather scary gift from the Swiss authorities. To packs of pills to be used in case of a leakage at the local nuclear power station which is situated not many kilometres from us. It was not a very comforting gift, I must confess. But Suzanne (my former flatmate) convinced me to look at it from another point of view - taking into account the Swiss mentality of always making sure you have prepared for the worst case senario. That actually comforted me a great deal - and actually I like this mentality a lot - just ask Maj or Buholo whith whom I have planned many camps. I must add though, that my personal opinion of nuclear power is a whole other story!!! I prefer the Danish windmills!

Sightseeing

Da jeg tømte mit kamera igår for billeder fandt jeg disse fra sidste uge. Vi havde besøg af 63 Rumænske kolleger (inkl. børn, forældre og et par irere). Og da jeg havde lidt ferie, benyttede jeg lejligheden til at tage på sightseeing med dem en dag. Wow!

When I emptied my camera yesterday for pictures I found these from last week. We had the priviledged visit of 63 Romanian colleagues (including children, parents and a few Irish). And since I had holiday I joined them one day going sightseeing. Wow!

En fantastisk email - A fantastic email

Fik en fantastisk email idag fra to kursister, vi havde her på skolen sidste sommer og igen i januar på IOT kursus! Det første EBU-kursus er netop blevet afholdt i Tyrkiet. Læs gerne vidnesbyrdet herunder (kun på engelsk).

Got a fantastic email today from two students from last summer's institute and this years IOT course in January. The first TCE course has just been held in Turkey. Read the following testimony:

Our very first TCE-1 (Teaching Children Effectively – Level 1) course went very well. We rented our friends summer house for Friday through to Monday, taking advantage of a public holiday which fell on a Monday this year. There were 4 teachers attending from 2 different churches of İzmir. It was a very full programme with 22 sessions, including two practicals. All the teachers worked and concentrated hard to receive all the things which were taught. Then the following Friday we met again for their Bible lesson practicals and now we are looking for a suitable Saturday to complete the remaining 8 sessions. Please pray that the teachers will have opportunities to use what they learn and they will be diligent to use these opportunities.

Hvor er ballonerne? - Where are the balloons?

Igär overtog jeg officielt ledelsen af vores undervisningsafdeling, men jeg glemte helt at fejre det, for overgangen har vaeret saa gradvis at den stort set ikke föles.
Min förste beslutning var at tage en fridag idag :-), saa det gjorde jeg! Gjorde rent hele dagen og ordnede ting og sager i lejligheden. Suzanne flyttede ud (til Nordirland) i fredags, og Samantha flytter ind denne fredag.

Yesterday I officially took over the leadership of our Education Department but I totally forgot to celebrate it because the handing over process has been so gradually that I hardly felt it at all.
My first decision was to take a day off today :-) and so I did! I cleaned the whole day and made things ready for my new roomate (Samantha) that is moving in on Friday. Suzanne left last Friday to return to Northern Ireland.