At the end of every school year, we have staff members who leave to return to the US/Canada/UK/or other home country. For various reasons, God calls them to serve him somewhere else. Goodbyes are hard and happen often when serving here at Black Forest Academy.
Then, comes the beginning of the school year when new staff members come! Excitement over serving missionary kids here at BFA and figuring out how to live in another culture. The HR department at BFA works hard to set up new staff members with those established here who are willing to host by taking care of all the legal issues (getting registered at the local Rathaus or City Hall, opening a bank account, getting German insurance, etc.), getting basic furniture like a bed, groceries, things they may need to get through their first few days here.
My friend, Sarah and I were asked if we would host Esther, who would be teaching at CSK. CSK is the elementary part of BFA and serves German-speaking and English-speaking students from 1st to 4th grade. Sarah is great with details and I can drive (among a few other things) so we are a good match for hosting! While I was in the US for my mom's funeral, Sarah emailed Esther with details and answered questions that she had about moving to Germany. When I returned to Germany, I was able to also talk with her pertaining to her kitty, Mer as she would be bringing her kitty with her.
A few days before Esther arrived, Sarah and I drove to Carrefour (big store in France) to get school supplies. We also picked up some kitchen essentials for Esther like silverware, a few mugs, etc. Sarah picked up some groceries for her and I found an air mattress. We met in her apartment to sweep one last time and set up her bed. There was also a table and Sarah brought over some stools.
I drove to the airport in Basel (30 minute drive) to pick up Esther and brought her to her new home! Her kitty, Mer is so sweet! When at Carrefour, I picked up a few kitty toys for Mer as well for a welcome gift. Kitties need their toys. :) Sarah met up with Esther the next morning and took her to the Rathaus (city hall) to get registered then brought her to the bank a few days later to get her bank account set up. The three of us drove to Loerrach on another day to check out a few shops (teashop, Asian grocery, phone store).
My favorite trip was to a huge thrift store in France called Emmaus. Usually, new staff members are taken to IKEA which is about 45 minutes away. I was asking around and heard about Emmaus which is a fantastic thrift store all over France with a great one about 40 minutes away. Another teacher at CSK, Michelle (also new) wanted to come with us so it was Esther, Michelle and myself who went. I am a BFA certified driver (shhh, careful who you tell!) so I put a hold on a large BFA van for the day so we could purchase furniture and bring it back. Did I mention it is a manual? I love driving manual transmission!
We drove down to the Emmaus store, parked and started making our way in. There are several buildings with large furniture in one, smaller appliances and more in another and clothes in another building. A gentleman had a shed where he was selling carpets and Esther found a great deal on some nice but slightly worn Turkish carpets. Then we hit the furniture store and she found so many good things! 4 cute chairs that had a medieval design on the seat (10 Euro a piece) and a real wooden round table that amazingly matched the chairs! 30 Euros! In case you are wondering, the Euro is really close to the dollar right now. We found small little tables to go alongside chairs and a small two-seater that she already found, a cloth chair with a real wooden base and arms, a tiny chair that rocks on the floor and more! Of course, we are in France so there is a need to converse in French. Michelle and her family have lived in France so she was our French communicator. Esther was purchasing furniture from one gentleman, who is originally from Poland and speaks Russian. So does Esther so they spoke in Russian! I used a little of my German so between all of us, we had all the languages we needed! I think that was my favorite part! The beauty of language!
When Esther found all of her furniture, we had an hour to move her furniture to the van which I was going to take care of. I was able to move everything on my own, except for the table...needed help as it was bigger and heavier. Esther and Michelle went looking for lamps while I moved the van closer to the back of the furniture building and began hauling her purchased furniture to the van. The Polish seller brought out the table and told me in Russian or French (not sure) that I was strong! Haha!! I was not able to tell him that I grew up hauling wood and pulling weeds!
When Esther and Michelle returned, we also checked out a bike seller next to the carpet seller and found Esther a bike too! So she can ride to school and back...when it's not raining. We filled the van with furniture, lamps, a few things for Michelle and a bike! I wish I had taken a picture but by the time the van was full, we needed to leave as everyone else had left and they wanted to lock the gate. We had gone last Saturday and Emmaus is open from 9-12 then siesta for a few hours and then they are open again from 2-5. It was a few minutes past noon when we drove away and it was with such a good feeling of success!
It took us about 45 minutes to get back to Kandern then we first sat down to have our picnic lunch then began to unload the furniture. The driveway to Esther's apartment is small and narrow and at an incline so Esther and Michelle helped me back up by standing on either side of the van. After unloading the furniture, I passed the van key to Esther and she passed it to Hochung who came an hour later to help her pick up a cupboard with lots of glass and a schrank (like a closet cupboard) from Sarah. Hochung also works at BFA and lives here with his family (wife and child). He shared with me on Monday that he was impressed with my ability to back that huge van into that tiny driveway. I'm giving that credit to my dad who is an excellent driver and of course, God's grace. :)
Below, you can see a photo of Esther and her kitty, Mer. I shared how sweet Mer is and Esther is really sweet too! She is so grateful for our help in getting her set up and we are both enjoying helping her and getting to know her!
No comments:
Post a Comment