Taknemmelig - Thankful

En mærkelig følelse har sneget sig ind over mig: Taknemmelighed. Jeg føler mig taknemmelig over, at jeg kan blive opereret. Igår havde jeg mange smerter, og så slog det mig for alvor, hvor heldig jeg er, at om blot 11 dage, så er årsagen til smerterne væk. Havde jeg levet for 100 år siden, så kunne man nok ikke gøre noget.
Og så føler jeg mig taknemmelig for, at jeg har fået sådan en dygtig kirurg. Han er bare så opmuntrende og har så meget psykologisk indsigt. Han ved lige, hvad han skal sige på det ethvert tidspunkt. Det er en noget anden oplevelse, end den jeg havde i Danmark for to år siden, hvor kirugen næsten satte en ære i at skræmme mig fra vid og sans.
Derudover føler jeg mig taknemmelig over, at efter at der har været en del bøvl med min forsikring, fordi jeg er så ny i Schweiz, så var der ansat på mit hopital, som spurgte, om hun skulle forsøge at ordne det hele for mig. Det havde bare været alt for overvældende for mig at klare selv på tysk.
Sidst men ikke mindst føler jeg mig overvældet over at jeg kender så mange mennesker, som sender mig opmuntrende emails.
Der er meget at være taknemmelig over.

A strange feeling has filled me... Thankfulness. I am so thankful that I can actually get an operation. Yesterday I had so much pain and it is so good to know that in 11 days the source of the pain will be gone. Had I lived maybe only 100 years ago that would probably not had been an option.
And then I feel extremely thankful for my surgeon. He is really good and he has a lot of psycological insights and knows exactly what to say in any situation. It is a completely different experience than my operation two years ago where I was terrified beyond reason.
I am also so thankful for the fact that realising that I have problems with my insurance because I am so new in Switzerland that some person at my hopital asked if I wanted her to take over and do her bst to solve it. What a wonderful person! It would have been way too overwhelming for me to have to do this myself in German!
And last but not least I am happy to know so many wonderful persons that has send me tons of encouraging emails.
There is a lot to be thankful about.

Operation

Som nogle af jer ved, så har jeg en cyste, som jeg har været i medicinsk behandling for. Desværre hjælper det ikke, så nu skal den væk.
Derfor har jeg lige i dag fået at vide, at jeg skal opereres fredag 12/9 - altså om to uger. På grund af min tidligere operation for to år siden, så kan den kun fjernes ved en lidt større operation. Og når man så er i gang, så vil man så også fjerne nogle nye muskelfibromer, som jeg også har fået (magen til det, jeg fik fjernet for to år siden dog meget mindre).

Det hele er lidt overvældende, da jeg troede, at jeg kunne nøjes med et lille indgreb men nu istedet skal have en rigtig operation, 5 dage på hospitalet og 4-6 ugers orlov efterfølgende. Også tanken om at skulle være langt væk "hjemmefra" er lidt skræmmende, men jeg har nu fred i, at det skal være her i Schweiz.

I må meget gerne bede for:
At alt må gå godt med operation og bagefter
At det ikke bliver nødvendigt at fjerne min højre æggestok
At jeg må have råd til operationen (noget betales af forsikringen, andet af patienten)

As some of you know I have a cyst on my ovary that the doctor has tried to treat with medicine but it has not worked so now I need an operation in two weeks time (Friday 12th of September).
Normally this would be a small surgery but because of a previous operation I had two years ago the doctor needs to do a much bigger surgery. And since he has also discovered some fibromas (I think that’s the English name) he will also try to remove them to prevent another operation soon. The fibromas are normally harmless – it is what I had removed two years ago too.

It is all a bit overwhelming since I thought I only needed a small surgery but now it’s a big thing including five days in hospital and six weeks off from work afterwards. Also the thought of being far away from my home country and family and old friends seems a bit overwhelming. However I have peace about having the operation here.

So to sum up – I would really appreciate prayers for:
The operation and the recovery
That the surgeon does not need to remove my right ovary
That I can afford the part of the cost that is not covered by the insurance

Sommer - Summer

Sommerferie oh sommerferie

Telttur med kirken i Norge
Varme sommerdage med masser af badeture
God tid, god lovsang og godt fællesskab

Tilbage i Danmark
Regn, regn og atter regn
Hygge med veninder, venner, familie og andre væsener
Familieweekend med bål, badeture, god mad og masser af hygge

(Bålhygge med familien - Bonfire with the family)

I Tivoli med Miriam, Marcus, Hanna og Far - In Tivoli (amusement park) with Miriam, Marcus, Hanna and Dad)

(Farmand er stadig verdens stærkeste! Han kunne stadig slå så hårdt at klokken ringede. - Dad is still the strongest man in the world - he punched so hard the bell was ringing.)

Og så selvfølgelig Jonatan – feriens højdepunkt

Storken kom pludselig meget uventet og meget hurtigt forbi med en lille dreng til min søster og svoger, Jette og Filip.
Ham har vi ventet på længe. Og han er simpelthen en vidunderdreng!
Hele familien elsker ham rigtig meget

Summer holiday, oh summer holiday

Camping in Norway with my church
Warm summer days with lots of swimming in the sea
Lots of time, good worship and good fellowship

Back in Denmark
Rainy, rainy days
Cosy times with friends, family and other creatures
A family weekend with bonefire, nice food and lots of good fellowship

And then there is Jonatan – the highlight of the holiday
The stork very suddenly decided to bring a little baby boy to my sister and brother in law, Jette & Filip
We have been waiting for him for a long long time and he is a wonder boy
We all love him very much

Undervisning - Teaching

De sidste uger har været travel. Der er blevet undervist på fuld tryk! Og så har jeg haft besøg af Claske – en tidligere kursist, som har hjulpet mig i to uger med at undervise, rette lektier og evaluere kursisternes praktiske prøver. Hvilken velsignelse!
Det er en utrolig dejlig gruppe kursister, vi har. De har masser af erfaring i at arbejde med børn og har masser af gode idéer. Det er (næsten) helt sørgeligt at tage på ferie og være væk fra dem i tre uger.

The last weeks have been busy. There has been lots of teaching going on. And then I have had a wonderful visit from Claske – a former student. She came to help me teach, correct homework and evaluate practicals. What a blessing!
The students this summer are really wonderful. They have lots of experience in children’s work and are full of good ideas. It is (almost;-) ) too sad to leave them and go on holiday later today for three weeks.

Ledermareridts - Education nightmares

Jeg husker stadig den sommer, hvor jeg lige var blevet færdiguddannet som lærer. Hen over sommeren havde jeg nemlig flere skolelærer-mareridt. Jeg drømte, at jeg havde fået et job, men første dag på jobbet gik alting galt og jeg endte i besynderligere situationer.

Nu, hvor jeg har overtaget lederposten her med ansvar for vores europæiske uddannelsesafdeling, så gentager oplevelsen sig. Jeg har de mest besynderlige mareridt, hvor jeg står i totalt mærkelige situationer som leder og skal finde en tjuhej hurtig løsning.
Så selvom jeg egentlig har det godt, så påvirker mit nye ansvar mig åbenbart mere end som så. Det gode er, at jeg altid vågner op og opdager, at det var bare en drøm...

I still remember the summer when I had finished teacher’s college and were ready to find a job and start teaching. That summer I had teacher nighmares where I dreamt it was the first day at work and everything went wrong and I ended up in strange situations.

Now when I have recently taken over the responsibility for our Western European Education Department the same thing is happening all over: I have these totally crazy nightmares where strange things happen and I have to find a quick solution,

So even if everything is going fine, this whole new situation is apparently affecting me more than I think. The good thing is I always wake up and realize that it was just a dream…

Sommerundervisning - Teaching

For to uger siden startede vores sommerkursus for børnemedarbejdere, og det er nogle dejlige kursister.
I denne uge og næste underviser jeg om hvordan man holder børneklub og om forskellige undervisningsmetoder. I år er jeg så heldig, at en tidligere kursist, Claske, er på besøg og kan hjælpe mig. Dejligt!
På billedet ser I lidt sjov og ballade vi havde, da vi startede med at undervise igår.

Two weeks ago our Leadership Training Institute began and we are really enjoying the students!
This week and next I am teaching about how to run a Good News Club and about different teaching methods. This summer I am so fortunate that a former student, Claske, is visiting and helping me. Wonderful!
On the picture you see a little bit of fun we had yesterday as we began the teaching.

Engle eller irere? Angels or just Irish?

(To irske engle - Two Irish angels)

Havde lidt ondt af mig selv i formiddags…
Jeg har tålmodigt i månedsvis ventet på at kunne leje et ekstra værelse i vores lille lejlighed, som før er blevet brugt til at huse diverse gæster her på Kilchzimmer. Og endelig lykkedes det fra første juli, så jeg nu har to værelser. Så i torsdag var det bare af sted til IKEA for at købe seng, kommode m.m. Og så sidder jeg her lørdag formiddag og kan ikke få samlet tingene. Øv. Mandag ville vores sommer-altmuligmand sikkert have tid, men mandag virkede som meget langt ude i en fjern fremtid. Tænkte på mine brødre og min far og dagdrømte om, hvor hurtigt de ville kunne samle tingene. Meennn de er jo altså 1500 kilometre væk. Har også fået mig en ”adopteret storebror” her i Schweiz - min kollega Sarahs mand, Andy, men han var sikkert også langt væk.

Så i mit hjertes nød gjorde jeg, hvad min mor lærte mig fra jeg var helt lille: Give selv den mindste bekymring over til Gud: ”Kære Gud, kunne du sende nogen, der kunne samle mine møbler i dag?” Satte mig ud i solen for at spise frokost, og kort efter kommer en irsk gæst forbi, som er på ferie her i en uges tid. ”Hvordan går det med dine IKEA møbler? Har du fået dem samlet? Skal mig og Stephen komme forbi efter frokost og samle dem?”
Og der sad jeg så i chok. Hvordan viste han overhovedet, at jeg havde været i IKEA?

Vi tilbragte en hyggelig eftermiddag med at få samlet møblerne, og resten af dagen gik jeg og flyttede ting over i mit nye soveværelse og måtte gang på gang tænke over, at Gud hører selv det mindste suk. Utroligt, at han, som har styr på alle stjernernes baner også har tid til at tage sig af min lille lørdagsbekymring.

Tak Gud fordi du sendte to "engle" på min vej i dag.

(Et lille kig ind på mit nye soveværelse - A little peep at my new bedroom)

This morning I felt a bit sorry for myself…
I have patiently waited for months to begin renting another room in our apartment that has previously been used for guests of Kilchzimmer. And finally I was able to take it over first of July so that I now have two rooms. Off to IKEA I went on Thursday to buy a bed, a chest of drawers and other stuff. And then I am sitting here Saturday morning and can’t get the things assembled. Monday our volunteer maintenance guy would probably have time but at that point Monday seemed far out in a distant future. Started longing for my brothers and my dad. Was daydreaming about how fast they could assemble these things and felt a bit lonely and far away from them. Here in Switzerland I have an “adopted” brother – my colleagues Sarah’s husband, Andy – but he was probably also far away.

So from the distress of my heart I did what my mum taught me from a very young age: To bring even the smallest and silliest requests to God: “Dear God, could you please send someone today, who could assemble my furniture?”
I went out to eat my lunch in the sun and soon after a visiting guest sat down beside me and said, “So how is all your IKEA furniture coming along? Do you need help assembling them? Stephen and I could come by after lunch and help you.” I was in chock. How did he even know I had been to IKEA?

We spend some nice hours that afternoon getting the furniture assembled, and the rest of the day I spend organising everything in my new bedroom, and again and again I just had to marvel at the fact that God who is soo big and knows even the course of all the stars also has time to look after my silly Saturday requests.

Thank you God for sending two "angels" on my way today!

Kysset af en ko - Kissed by a cow

Her på billedet ser I en meget glad version af mig. MED MIN NYE BIL!!!!! Det er simpelthen en kæmpe frihed for mig endelig at have min egen bil. De sidste måneder har det været så kompliceret ikke at have bil, men nu ligger alt det i fortiden!!! En kollegas mand har hjulpet mig med at finde et godt køb, så nu har jeg en lille fornuftig bil, der kører godt og sikkert i sne.

Og så hører der endda en lille historie med til bilen: Mens den stod pænt og stille hos bilforhandleren og ventede på at blive opdaget af mig, kom en ko forbi. Koen havde været hjemme for at blive malket og var nu på vej tilbage til marken for at græsse (nogle gang kan man altså blive i tvivl om Schweiz er et uland eller et højindustrielt samfund, men det er en helt anden historie.) Hvor om alting er, så endte koen med at blive tiltrukket af min bil, og dens horn efterlod en ridse i min forskærm. Dette resulterede i en rabat på bilen, fordi min kollegas mand vidste, hvordan det kunne repareres.

Jeg har allerede været på et "længere" ture. Skønt! Jeg har fundet et friluftsbad med bjergvand, som jeg tror, at jeg bliver en flittig gæst hos denne sommer. Det er nemt at køre dertil – hvis man altså har en bil!!!

On the top picture you see a very happy version of me. WITH MY NEW CAR. It is such an extreme sence of freedom for me to have a car. The last half year without a car has been so complicated but now that is all in the past. The husband of one of my colleagues has helped me to find a good car that drives fine in the snow. And there is even a little story to my car:

While it was waiting patiently at the car dealer to be discovered by me, a cow came by. The cow had been home for milking and was now on it's way back to the field. (Some places in Switzerland seem very far away from Zürich; Basel or high tecnology). To cut a long story short, the cow took a special liking in my car and it's horn scratched the front of my car. This resulted in a discount because my colleagues' husband knew how to fix it.

So now I am enjoying my car BIG time! I have already been on a few longer trips. I have also found a nice big pool with mountain water that I think I will visit regularly this summer. It is easy to get there - if you have a car!!!!!

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.