Here are the pictures (finally)

It has been a busy week here, so I'll spare you the gory details, but the pictures finally uploaded successfully. We will work on another update soon.

See - it really did snow! You can see the staff parking lot to the right...

Our friend Jennifer coming in from the cold. This is after about a 6 minute ride. Brrrr. Someone told her it would be easy riding a bike in the snow.

Below are our pictures from the retreat at Lagenbruck.

When the fog lifted, it was a beautiful view into the valley.

Here's the group.

It is a nice group of friends.

Well, wouldn't you know.

It seems like we are having some slight server problems uploading pictures, so that means you won't be able to see what we saw this week. Sheep? No, that was last week. Students dilligently studying? No, we see that every week. Snow? Yes. That's it. We had snow flurries earlier in the week. We got a few centimeters, which drives the kids crazy with excitement. The snow layered the city and surrounding area with that beautiful layer of white that makes one think that all is right with the world. I reflected to Delynn as we walked to school that if the same percipitation was coming down as rain, we would just trudge along and wish for sun. However, when it comes down as big fluffy flakes, gently floating to earth, we say: "Isn't this nice, ahhhhh" Now, I'm sure for all of our friends that are getting TONS of snow this winter, it is not quite the same reaction, but this is the first significant bit of snow we have seen since we have lived here.

Guess what else you don't get to see? Pictures from our Life Group retreat in Switzerland. Well, I will get something posted as soon as I can. We traveled up to a retreat center run by the Child Evangelism Fellowship in the hills outside of Basel. It is interesting because these "hills" might be considered mountains depending on your perspective... It was a quick overnight retreat with 13 members of our Bible study group, but it was very peaceful, restful and spiritually fulfilling. This is the same place to which the whole church will be holding a retreat in May. It will probably be very different then (i.e. no snow...). So, the weekend has gone very quickly. We had another wonderful worship this morning - the music seemed to go just right and that does so much to enhance the worship experience.

Oh, did I mention that March is reading month at the school? The students are keeping track of all the pages they read, both for school and for pleasure. The goal for our school is 50,000 pages! That averages out to over 1,000 pages for each student. And do you know what the prize is for reaching the goal? The librarian will shave off all his hair. OH WAIT! I'M THE LIBRARIAN! Rats! I should have thought this through before suggesting it at that staff meeting... Of course, the upper elementary grades are quite keen on seeing Mr. Walz sans hair, but it is a very aggressive goal, so I may get to keep my curly locks yet. I'm sure that if the kids win the challenge that lots of pictures of me losing what precious little hair I have left will be making it onto the blog.

Well, I just tried uploading again and no joy. You will just have to imagine the wintery, snowy, spirtually wonderful weekend. Hopefully, I can get the pictures posted tomorrow.

Peace be with you.

Sheep Thrills

Okay, it must have been a slow news day... Last Friday was a teacher development day. We were blessed to have a staff member from our Seoul school help us develop our biblical integration skills. Sarah and her husband Stephen, have been visiting all week as Stephen was performing an internal financial audit for us. They were wonderful to have around - we sometimes forget that we are a part of a much bigger network that spans the globe. Well, just like every week, we finish our Fridays with janitorial duties. As we were working through our chores, the principle called "sheep!" from her upstairs vantage point. We ran outside and the hill across the road from our school was alive with migrating sheep. We ran around trying to find cameras to record this unique event - we were giddy with excitement.

The shepherd, his son and their dog paused the sheep just opposite the school for about 5 minutes as they prepared for the next leg of their journey. It was just a perfect place to take a picture of our school's sign with a nice woolly background (makes it look like we are out in the sticks!) It was so cool to watch the dog keep the sheep in place. At one point, a couple of strays were walking out onto the road (soon to become lambchops and fuzzy slippers) when the shepherd yelled and the dog raced off with amazing speed to bring the strays back into the fold. There is something spiritual there if you ponder it...

It is a bit harder to tell, but the picture below shows the next leg of the journey for the group - they just walked down the middle of the road! You can see the little baby sheep with their mothers toward the back of the herd and one itty-bitty little black sheep. (Sheep are so cute!) The pickup was a part of the herding team (they keep their emergency flashers going so people know that there are sheep ahead... like they couldn't tell...)
After the excitement of the sheep drive, we settled back down into finishing up our school chores (Sweeping, mopping, cleaning bathrooms, etc.). We ended our Friday evening with a big dinner out with our visiting friends. They treated us to an Argentinean steak house in the neighboring town of Lörrach. It was the first beef steak I have had since we got here - you don't want to know how much it cost! Did I mention that the € to $ exchange rate hit another record high? - it now costs us over $1.50 to purchase €1. Ouch! But God always provides.

Other than our "Sheep Thrills" last Friday, it was a normal week. Delynn was sick the first half of the week before passing it to her favorite person (uh, me) to let me carry the ball for a few days. Michael started his German class at night school. At the first meeting, we had 16 students and our teacher. Together, we represented 17 different countries! Wow, what diversity. Individuals from Viet Nam, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Algeria as well as France, Italy, England, Sweden, America (me) and Canada (my colleague Jennifer). We are looking forward to the opportunity to meet and talk with this eclectic group.

Next weekend our Bible Study (we call them "Life Groups") is having an overnight retreat. Hopefully, Delynn and I will both be healthy and ready to go! We have a great group of people in our group and look forward to diving deeper with them.

We appreciate all of you who are following our blog. Our friend Howard mentioned in his blog that we are "vacationing" in Germany for the next 18 months (he also clarified that statement). It is true that we are enjoying many new experiences, but our primary joy is giving a quality Christian-based education and community experience to our students. We are so thankful for all of you who faithfully support us in the many ways that allow us to accomplish this. We love you and miss you all.

When in Rome... (or an outpost thereof)

It seems that some 2050 years ago, as the Romans were expanding their empire across central Europe, they stopped and built a settlement called Augusta Raurica in what is now the town of Augst, Switzerland. Augst is a sleepy little town 15 minutes by train outside of Basel Switzerland. Not much going on there, except that it was well located on a river that lay at the crossroads of several trading routes. In its day, Augusta Raurica boasted a forum, several temples, an underground well, baths and the largest Roman theater north of the Alps. Unfortunately, much of the stonework was recycled during the middle ages for new construction, but there are still significant foundations and such scattered throughout the cattle pastures.


Above are some of the excavated items on display next to the museum. In the background across the road you can begin to make out the theater ruins. Below, Delynn and Michael are at the theater. They have used the ruins as the basis for replicating a theater that is used today (in nice weather...)


The grey stones are excavations, the red stones are the new additions (this was done in the 1990's). The stage is of wood and everyone gets a good view.


Today, lazy swiss cows enjoy the sunlight in the shadow of a 2000 year old temple. When we got over to the far end of this pasture, we walked through the cow pasture to reach the temple and walk around it. They employ little 'v'-gates which allow people to pass but are too small for cows. As we walked past the cows, they were gathering as though they new it was time to start heading in for the evening milking. One even had a small swiss cowbell around her neck, but they seemed very used to having visitors walking the paths.

This picture is of the underground well. A tunnel was built to access the well which is located just behind the pillar on the right. What struck me was how incredibly dark it would have been - we are so spoiled with electricity and artificial light everywhere. Even with the lights, it was just a little eerie.

The city I lived in between 1984-1990, Augusta Vindelicorum, was founded in 15 B.C. and eventually became the city of Augsburg, Germany. Augusta Raurica, founded about 30 years earlier than Augsburg has a much better collection of ruins and foundations, probably because it did not prosper and grow as much as Augsburg did during the Middle ages and Renaissance. We didn't visit the museum - we are saving that for when our sisters come to visit over the Easter break...

The weather has also turned incredibly warm for two days now. It has reached 19 degrees (66 Fahrenheit) today which is really warm for February. Delynn and I are going to go out for a walk - the nice thing is that with everything closed, all we can do is window shop (and maybe stop off for an ice cream "kugel").

Be blessed; be a blessing to others.

Changes to posting comments

Dear friends and family: due to some spams posted as comments to our blog, we reluctantly need to change the way comments are posted. If you choose to comment (and by the way, we love to read your comments...) a couple of extra steps will occur. You will need to type in a passcode that will be displayed. Additionally, your comments may not post immediately as we will need to review them prior to posting.

Sorry for any inconvenience, but these things happen, we are just sorry that there are those that wish to exploit the technology in such unproductive ways.

Fasnacht in Dreiländereck

Well, well, well. It looks as though Fasnacht has consumed much of the week and I have neglected to update everyone, so this will be a big entry. This week has been a fun, intriguing time - I have never experienced anything quite like it. For anyone that would like to learn more about Fasnacht, you can follow this link to Carnival of Basel on Wikipedia. The Weil am Rhein Fasnacht started Sunday afternoon after church with a parade in our home town. Over one hundred groups, predominantly Guggenmusik (brass) bands paraded under out balcony. We didn't realize what a great vantage point we have.

Wonderfully colorful costumes (including colorful clogs) - you can just make out some confetti on the street, tons of the stuff will be distributed throughout the region before Fasnacht is over...

I really hope you can see this video: it is a parade participant spewing fire. Run it a couple of times to be sure to see the first bit.

Fire seems to be a dominant theme during Fasnacht. Before the Weil parade was finished, Michael joined some of the school staff for a trip to the Chienbäse (Fire Parade) in the town of Liestal, Switzerland. Delynn, unfortunately, was down with a fever (I think she got it from me) and could not attend. In the end, it was best for Delynn to stay home because it became a long day/night.) Below is a great picture of Aubrey, one of our fellow teacher friends (who happens to hail from the Pacific Northwest and shares my birthday). She is definitely ready for the parade!

Okay, this might be a bit hard to see, but the Liestal Fire Parade consists of groups of people (um, one could say slightly crazy people) carrying huge torches of burning pine and rolling flaming bonfire carriages through the city gate and down the main street in this old city.

The Feuerwehr (Fire Brigade) hoses down the stone gate in between carriage runs - the stones steam from the heat. This must be why everything is built of stone here...

Here is a close up of one of the bonfire carriages - believe me it is HOT, we were in the back row up against the buildings and could feel the heat, especially when they stop the carriage RIGHT IN FRONT of you!! (Makes for a nice picture...) People who arrive late pay the penalty and have to stand further forward. When the carriage stops, they turn their backs to the fire, it is so intense.

The group does an eyebrow check after the parade. No burned coats or singed hair.

After the excitement of Liestal, we hung around until Morgestraich, the official beginning of the Basler Fasnacht. At 4:00am Monday morning, all of the lights in Basel are extinguished. The only light in the city comes from the lanterns carried by the Pipe and Drum bands. There are probably 50 different bands that travel throughout the downtown area along with hundreds of thousands of others that come for the experience. I apologize that I don't have any pictures, but it is considered bad form to use a flash during Morgestraich, but I have a quick video clip.

Morgestraich goes on for hours. After being up over 22 hours, we turned our heads toward home for a good day's sleep. Delynn was sleeping soundly when I finally made it to our cozy little apartment.

Tuesday, Delynn was feeling a bit better, so we joined up with Cam and Jen to experience Fasnacht day 2. The central part of Basel nearly shuts down over the three days of Fasnacht. Trams are rerouted to avoid the center, so people walk everywhere. Below is Barfüßerplatz (literally "Barefoot Square"), one of the larger tram interchanges in Basel - a tram could not get through this throng.

A nice example of the lanterns carried in the parade. Often the lanterns depict political or social issues and are many times critical of local politicians. It is free speech at its best - unfortunately, it is usually written in the local dialect which makes it nearly impossible to read, so we guess a lot.

Harlequins are a popular theme during Fasnacht.

More of the lanterns. You can see a Russian bear gobbling up a Swiss city. There are immigration issues all over the world!

Can you see all of the confetti? It piles in drifts along the roads, but at 4am on Thursday morning, in typical Swiss efficiency, Fasnacht ends and the streets are completely cleared of confetti and any traces of Fasnacht by noon.

These three Waggis - misschevious creatures that like to throw confetti - were very tired. With their masks on, it is hard to tell, but I think they were asleep...

After the frenetic pace of Fasnacht, Delynn and I took a day (we have been on break this week) to visit the lovely town of Colmar in the Alsace region of France. The sun never quite broke through the fog, but we had such a nice relaxing time.

Doesn't it just feel peaceful?

If you have made it this far, I commend you for your perseverence. We love you and miss you all. We pray that God will be present with you during this season of Lent; that He will draw you close and give you peace.

I just can't believe it...

Well, here another week has gone by and guess what? (have you guessed yet?...)... I'm still waiting... Okay - I'll tell you: Michael was sick again! Yes, again! I can't believe it. I wash my hands with soap and water, I use Purell, I disinfect the tables, keyboards, mice (uh, computer mice - the others are too hard to catch...), doorhandles and I still had a 100°+F temperature for two days. I can't remember the last time I had a fever for that long. It must be my weakened immune system from the last cold. Cousin Donna sent an encouraging comment that it will only take a couple of years to get our immune systems use to teaching. Did she say a COUPLE OF YEARS? I don't know if I can survive... Actually, it has been a particularly tough winter for our school. We have had 25-30% of the students out ill over the last two weeks. In fact, several schools in the area have had very high attrition rates this winter.

The fever finally broke late Friday afternoon and I was feeling remotely human again by Saturday morning, so Delynn and I went into Basel for a bit to visit the bookstores that carry English books. They carry English titles but it seems criminal to charge 20 Swiss Francs for a paperback novel (That is about $18.00). Even though I had a gift certificate from Christmas, I could not justify spending that much on a trade paperback. Luckily, we have some adult fiction books at the school library that we can read. I have just started getting into Agatha Christie a bit and re-discovered John Grisham (we have several titles from both authors...). As families transition to new assignments, the RIA library is often the recipient of home libraries. We also received a copy of Divine Conspiracy recently and are looking forward to diving in.

After much searching at the bookstore, I decided to spend the gift certificate on an intermediate-level German language workbook. We have a couple of beginning level workbooks but I need something a little more challenging. One of my fellow RIA'ers and I are looking into taking a German conversation course at night school (Volkshochschule). Even though we live in Germany, we really don't get all that much opportunity to speak German during the day. It is also a nice opportunity to make some contacts outside of school within the community.

Just as a side note. Something I noticed again when we were at the book store. Think about this. When you look at a shelf of books (This should be easy for librarian friends), which way do you turn your head to read the titles? Hmmm. Maybe you should get over to Barnes and Noble more often... So, most of us turn our heads to the right because the book titles are written from top to bottom along the books' spines - right? Well, guess what? In Europe, the titles of books are written from bottom to top along the spine, so you would need to tilt your head to the left. Sorry, no reason is forthcoming, just an observation. Again, perhaps this is an easy question for our librarian friends.

Hey, and while we are talking about different (not wrong, just different) things, try this one on. When you open a door to enter a store, do you push or pull? This is assuming that the door does not operate in both directions. Now, when you leave that same store, do you push or pull? I seem to remember reading that in the States that by law the doors have to push outward on exit. Am I right? I have noticed most shops here are exactly the opposite (i.e. you push to enter and pull to exit). It is all very comical because pushing on a "pull to open" door can cause one's face to get planted in the nice clean glass. I'm sure someone is laughing...

Keep praying please for the health of our students, families and staff. Our director will be heading back to the States for the annual NICS conference next week, so we could also use prayer as new teachers make decisions to come over to Germany. For us, we can't believe sometimes that we are actually here and can't believe of a better place to be.

Love all - Serve all.