Soccer Mom

Spring is officially here, as evidenced by the blooming apple trees and the green fields and hill sides! School started back this week after a 2 week holiday. There's always a lot of squealing and giggling when the girls come back to the dorm and see each other again after a long break. I just partake in the giggling part...not the squealing.

Dorm Cookout

On Sunday night we had a cookout at a fire pit that's just behind our dorm in the back yard. We roasted hot dogs and then made s'mores.


Me, Kjersti, Naomi and Emily enjoying our hot dogs.



Unfortunately, it started to rain and we barely had time to make our s'mores. But, Hannah just wouldn't give up! She couldn't leave until she made her s'more!



Laundry

I don't often talk about the specific jobs I do in the dorm, so here goes:

At the beginning of the school year we let the girls decide whether or not they want to do their own laundry or if they want us (RA's) to do it for them. So, once a week we have "dorm laundry" and those girls who choose not to do their own laundry leave their clothes in the laundry room and by the time they come home from school it is all magically clean, folded and placed neatly on a shelf which bears their name. There are 13 girls who have chosen dorm laundry and as you can see from the above picture, its a lot of clothes! We usually have between 15-20 loads to wash.

We have 4 washers and 4 dryers. It's a very sad day when one of the washers is broken. Luckily, all 4 were working for me this week!


This is the completed project...almost. There were still a couple of loads in the dryer and as you can see by the table on the left, I got tired of folding. I guess "neatly folded" is a subjective term for me... :)




Soccer!

Soccer season is underway at BFA and this past weekend we had our first home game! Soccer is definitely the sport of choice for our school and every year we are one of the top ranked teams in our division, which is comprised of high schools from U.S. army bases located all over Germany. BFA has four soccer teams, Varsity and Junior Varsity girls, and Varsity and Junior Varsity guys.

Because its early in the season and the grass on the field in Kandern isn't quite "ready" yet, the games were played up "the hill", as we call it, in the town of Marzell where there is a turf field. There are 2 BFA dorms in Marzell, Sonne (guys dorm) and Blauen (girls dorm). It is absolutely beautiful up there, but unfortunately they deal with some weird weather because the altitude is significantly higher. It was sunny and warm down in Kandern, but 20 minutes up the hill it was raining and cold! But regardless of the weather, we all packed into our vans and drove up to support the teams!

Jessica C. throws in the ball--you can see it up in the air. There are 4 girls from my dorm who play on the Varsity girls team: Jessica K., Jessica C., Anna and Rachel.


The traditional shaking of the opposing coach's hand after the game. We won!


Me and Jessica K. after her game.


Our guys varsity team warming up before their game.


This is Vangie (left, an RA at Blauen) and Ellie (another Palmgarten RA) trying to stay warm while cheering on the guys. Ellie is holding a sign for one of the senior players, Serge. She has school spirit.


This is Dahee (far left), Jessica C. (middle) and Anna (right) enjoying some yummy snacks. Ellie is in the background wishing she was enjoying the yummy snacks.


While the JV girls were warming up for their game, it started hailing! But by the half, it cleared up to sunny skies again.


This is Krista--she scored her first goal!

There are only 6 weeks left in the semester and they are packed with soccer games, track meets, music recitals, and Junior/Senior Banquet. I just can't believe how fast this year has gone by! Since the end of spring break, it feels as if the BFA community has taken a figurative deep breath in order to brace itself for saying good-bye to the graduating seniors and others who will not be back next year. Because of our close-knit community here, the end of the year is a very emotional time. I for one am glad that I will be back next year and do not have to say good bye to all the girls just yet. I am also glad that I will be coming home for a few weeks this summer and can't wait to catch up with as many of you as I can!