It is hard to believe but we have reached the end of the semester. This afternoon the students finished all their finals, and have been celebrating ever since. It really is bizarre how fast the time has gone.
Now that the exams have been finished, the guys must work on their rooms! Tonight they will pack a lot and sleep a little. Within the next 10 hours we will watch 21 guys leave from the dorm, going to all different parts of the world. The earliest van run leaves the dorm at 3.15am, and the last one leaves at noon.
Needless to say there is a bit of work to be done, and a lot of fun to be had. It will be a good night, but busy and exhausting.
Next week I hope to be able to blog, after I have had a little time to rest.
thanks for checking up on me!
Tommy
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
That time of year
The cliche phrase is that pictures are worth a thousand words. Therefore, since my time is limited, and my energy depleted, I will post a few different pictures from recent happenings here at BFA in hopes of sharing with you what is going on here.
Above, some of the Sonne guys diving in for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal!
Below...the result of eating all that food!
I don't know that I ever posted a picture of my amazing 3v3 team from a few weeks ago. We took second in the entire tournament, and had a blast playing together. The team is made up of students from Blauen and Sonne. We called ourselves, "Team Zimties." Zimties is a German brand of cereal very similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Three male RA's enjoying doing some stupid touristy things on a weekend off. Holland is famous for the wooden shoes...so we had to capture the moment.
Above: getting ready for banquet meant tying a lot of ties, and getting the collars looking crisp and clean.
Below you will see most of the Sonne guys, at our recent Christmas Banquet. They clean up pretty well.
DP is a stud! He had one of the best performances at Christmas Banquet, and was named "King" of the senior class.
Last and certainly not least! I was very blessed and excited to have Stephanie come and visit me for a few days. She helped a lot around the dorm, and made the guys pancakes on Saturday morning while they watched some cartoons!
Thank you for keeping up with the blog! Please don't hesitate to send me an email (Bressontw1@gmail.com). We are near the end of our semester, which has left me exhausted, homesick, and tired.
Tommy
Above, some of the Sonne guys diving in for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal!
Below...the result of eating all that food!
I don't know that I ever posted a picture of my amazing 3v3 team from a few weeks ago. We took second in the entire tournament, and had a blast playing together. The team is made up of students from Blauen and Sonne. We called ourselves, "Team Zimties." Zimties is a German brand of cereal very similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Three male RA's enjoying doing some stupid touristy things on a weekend off. Holland is famous for the wooden shoes...so we had to capture the moment.
Above: getting ready for banquet meant tying a lot of ties, and getting the collars looking crisp and clean.
Below you will see most of the Sonne guys, at our recent Christmas Banquet. They clean up pretty well.
DP is a stud! He had one of the best performances at Christmas Banquet, and was named "King" of the senior class.
Last and certainly not least! I was very blessed and excited to have Stephanie come and visit me for a few days. She helped a lot around the dorm, and made the guys pancakes on Saturday morning while they watched some cartoons!
Thank you for keeping up with the blog! Please don't hesitate to send me an email (Bressontw1@gmail.com). We are near the end of our semester, which has left me exhausted, homesick, and tired.
Tommy
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Checkers and Tic-Tac-Toe
Today was quite an entertaining day. We did not have a lot of guys come home on "early bus" so I thought it was a great opportunity to get some one-on-one time with some of the guys. I found one wandering around the dorm looking bored, so I grabbed him (quite literally) and sat him down to play some cards. After going through a few different card games, I quickly found out we did not know any of the same card games. So, seeing our checkers board close by, I snagged it and said, "we're going to play checkers." The look of complete and utter confusion I received was priceless. To my amazement, he had never heard of checkers, let alone had no clue how to play. So we sat down and I taught him how to play checkers. I really wanted him to do well, and wanted him to have fun playing, but he didn't fully pick up on the strategy and fell prey to a few of my traps. There was one moment where I was teaching him a rule, and in order to adhere to the rule, I ended up jumping five of his guys in a row! I felt pretty bad, but thankfully he started laughing and enjoyed playing nonetheless.
After beating him twice in checkers, I thought I would try to boost his ego a little by playing some tic-tac-toe. That game is harmless, and takes little to no thought. Therefore I figured it would be a good game to play. After my suggestion to switch to tic-tac-toe, I once again received the same look of complete and utter confusion.
I was baffled. I couldn't believe he did not know how to play checkers OR tic-tac-toe!
After going through the rules we played a few games of tic-tac-toe, and I may have made a few 'mistakes' that allowed for me to be on the losing end.
I walked away smiling for having been part of a very unique experience for our student. I am honored and feel special for having been able to teach him how to play these two games. I am still a little baffled that the games of checkers and tic-tac-toe were foreign to him. But when you grow up in three different countries, in three different continents, all by the time you are 15, I guess it is understandable.
After beating him twice in checkers, I thought I would try to boost his ego a little by playing some tic-tac-toe. That game is harmless, and takes little to no thought. Therefore I figured it would be a good game to play. After my suggestion to switch to tic-tac-toe, I once again received the same look of complete and utter confusion.
I was baffled. I couldn't believe he did not know how to play checkers OR tic-tac-toe!
After going through the rules we played a few games of tic-tac-toe, and I may have made a few 'mistakes' that allowed for me to be on the losing end.
I walked away smiling for having been part of a very unique experience for our student. I am honored and feel special for having been able to teach him how to play these two games. I am still a little baffled that the games of checkers and tic-tac-toe were foreign to him. But when you grow up in three different countries, in three different continents, all by the time you are 15, I guess it is understandable.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Flu prevention week
I apologize it has been a while since I have put up an update on my blog. My last blog highlighted the many events that have taken place, keeping us all very busy. Since my last blog I have also been on more planes/trains than I have fingers, so it was difficult to sit down and type something up. Hopefully this will get you caught up to speed.
Here at BFA we are finishing our period of isolation. What exactly does that mean? Well...last week for a few days we had many kids absent from school with the flu. When I say "many" I mean we had at least one-third of our dorm students and more home-students out of school. There were a few dorms that had over 50% of their students home sick. Therefore the administration felt it best for us to initiate Flu Prevention Week. The biggest act taken was to cancel school yesterday (Monday) and today (Tuesday). Thus all the dorm students have been in the dorm unable to go anywhere for the past four days. If a student recorded a temperature of 37.5 or higher (roughly equivalent to 100 degrees F.) they were sent to their room for at least 24 hours and were to have minimal contact with any other students.
Honestly, looking at a four-day weekend, with students around 24 hours a day, at first seemed exhausting and painful. It was definitely exhausting, but it turned out to be quite a bit of fun as well. I must say a generic "thank you" to all of the dorm subs who came up throughout the weekend to offer our dorm staff a little break. People came up to help cook/bake, they entertained the guys, and some came up and gave me the opportunity to go for a run, which I greatly appreciated. So a special thank you to all those who came up and served in the dorms this weekend.
The weekend enabled the students to relax, sleep in, and hang out. We tried to have enough things going on in the dorm to prevent them from going crazy, but also give them enough breathing room and enough time to relax.
Friday and Saturday was the night for the high school play, which also happened to be the start of our Flu Prevention Week. There were rumors the play would be canceled as a result of the illnesses. However, everyone involved came to a compromise, and the show went on...but everyone in the audience had to wear a mask!
It turned out to be quite an entertaining twist to the play, and something that will not be forgotten for a lot of these students. I cannot imagine what it was like for the actors to look out an audience of people wearing masks. Despite the added distraction the high school play was a huge hit, and very well done.
Tomorrow the students will go back to school, hopefully rested, and definitely feeling better physically. They will find excitement knowing basketball tryouts start tomorrow, and Thursday we are celebrating Thanksgiving in the dorm!
I know...I know... the American Thanksgiving is still a week away. But here at BFA we do things on a different schedule. Because we have so many students from so many different countries, we try to compromise and make everyone happy. I am sure it will be a long day in the kitchen cooking a Thanksgiving meal for 30+ people, but it will be well worth it when we sit down for some delicious food. We had somebody tape some NFL games from this past Sunday and we will watch those Thursday night (We have the Packers game, and the Colts game. Both were brilliant games, with phenomenal results!)
Thank you for all you do.
Tommy
Here at BFA we are finishing our period of isolation. What exactly does that mean? Well...last week for a few days we had many kids absent from school with the flu. When I say "many" I mean we had at least one-third of our dorm students and more home-students out of school. There were a few dorms that had over 50% of their students home sick. Therefore the administration felt it best for us to initiate Flu Prevention Week. The biggest act taken was to cancel school yesterday (Monday) and today (Tuesday). Thus all the dorm students have been in the dorm unable to go anywhere for the past four days. If a student recorded a temperature of 37.5 or higher (roughly equivalent to 100 degrees F.) they were sent to their room for at least 24 hours and were to have minimal contact with any other students.
Honestly, looking at a four-day weekend, with students around 24 hours a day, at first seemed exhausting and painful. It was definitely exhausting, but it turned out to be quite a bit of fun as well. I must say a generic "thank you" to all of the dorm subs who came up throughout the weekend to offer our dorm staff a little break. People came up to help cook/bake, they entertained the guys, and some came up and gave me the opportunity to go for a run, which I greatly appreciated. So a special thank you to all those who came up and served in the dorms this weekend.
The weekend enabled the students to relax, sleep in, and hang out. We tried to have enough things going on in the dorm to prevent them from going crazy, but also give them enough breathing room and enough time to relax.
Friday and Saturday was the night for the high school play, which also happened to be the start of our Flu Prevention Week. There were rumors the play would be canceled as a result of the illnesses. However, everyone involved came to a compromise, and the show went on...but everyone in the audience had to wear a mask!
It turned out to be quite an entertaining twist to the play, and something that will not be forgotten for a lot of these students. I cannot imagine what it was like for the actors to look out an audience of people wearing masks. Despite the added distraction the high school play was a huge hit, and very well done.
Tomorrow the students will go back to school, hopefully rested, and definitely feeling better physically. They will find excitement knowing basketball tryouts start tomorrow, and Thursday we are celebrating Thanksgiving in the dorm!
I know...I know... the American Thanksgiving is still a week away. But here at BFA we do things on a different schedule. Because we have so many students from so many different countries, we try to compromise and make everyone happy. I am sure it will be a long day in the kitchen cooking a Thanksgiving meal for 30+ people, but it will be well worth it when we sit down for some delicious food. We had somebody tape some NFL games from this past Sunday and we will watch those Thursday night (We have the Packers game, and the Colts game. Both were brilliant games, with phenomenal results!)
Thank you for all you do.
Tommy
Friday, October 30, 2009
Update
Sunday is the first of November, where did October go? I guess the saying is correct, time flies when you are having fun. It also helps when there are multiple things going on every day, and every weekend. Here is a little update on some of the things that have been going on in the BFA world.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit one of our families in Venice. It was an amazing weekend in which I was able to catch up on sleep, reading, and just enjoy a new city. I had a great time walking around the city by myself, getting lost on the curvy roads that make no sense, and taking pictures of the city. I would have loved to put up a few pictures with this blog, but have not gotten around to putting them on my computer yet.
Last night (Thursday) the entire school went down to Basel, Switzerland for Herbstmesse. We packed 5 buses full of staff and students, and took over the city. Herbstmesse is a fall party, that is bigger than your county fair, but smaller than a state fair. You can find cotton candy, corn on the cob, just like in the States...but there are also wonderful treats like Swiss Chocolate, German pretzels, and of course plenty of stands selling wurst.
Every year BFA takes over the bumper cars from 7.30-8.30. It is hilarious watching staff and students alike rushing to get a car, and then destroy as many people as possible. I was pretty successful out there, and didn't get hit too many times, but delivered a few good shots.
Herbstmesse is also known as the "official" time at which guys can start asking girls to Christmas Banquet. Unfortunately I did hear about some guys getting turned down, but there were plenty of guys beaming with excitement as they now have a date to the Banquet, which is in the end of November. I must admit, the girls here are lucky, because the guys get extremely creative and do a really good job at putting together a way to ask a girl. Rarely is it done face-to-face, rather it is a process that may lead a girl on a rabbit trail, with the usage of notes, flowers, other students, and even two-year old kids! It is pretty impressive. One of the best I heard from last night... a guy wrote a poem, and every period had a different student give a section of the poem to the girl. At the end of the day he gave her the final piece of the poem, along with some flowers, and asked then.
Today (Friday) there is no school because of a German holiday, therefore we have our first annual 3v3 basketball tournament. I am on a team called, "Zimties." Zimt is the German word for cinnamon. Zimties is a type of cereal over here, very similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. A bizarre name, I know, but we are proud of it. I will play with three guys from Sonne, and two girls from Blauen. I have no idea as to whether or not we will be competitive, but I am sure it will be fun. The tournament will take all day, and most of the students will be there watching and enjoying the tournament.
Tomorrow (Saturday) we have home volleyball games! This year we only have girls volleyball, but there will still be plenty to watch. Because of the nature of the league our sports teams are in - this is the only home game of the year. Needless to say, the girls are excited to play in front of their fans, and the students are excited to get out there and support their friends.
Saturday dinner, I am 'on' for cooking Saturday dinner this week. I am planning on making some fajitas for the guys. So after volleyball I will need to grill enough chicken for 20 high school boys, chop onions, peppers, tomatoes, and put it all together!
Saturday night, two of our dorms are having an 'open house.' Essentially they will pick a theme, and decorate the entire dorm, and all of the rooms according to that theme. Then the entire BFA community walks through the dorm, enjoys some delicious treats, and hangs out.
Finally, we come to Sunday! A day where we don't have a lot planned, because...every other day has enough going on. After Church on Sunday we encourage the guys to get caught up on homework, take a nap, or lay low. They need it, and staff does as well.
There is a 'brief' update on this weekend at BFA.
Tommy
Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit one of our families in Venice. It was an amazing weekend in which I was able to catch up on sleep, reading, and just enjoy a new city. I had a great time walking around the city by myself, getting lost on the curvy roads that make no sense, and taking pictures of the city. I would have loved to put up a few pictures with this blog, but have not gotten around to putting them on my computer yet.
Last night (Thursday) the entire school went down to Basel, Switzerland for Herbstmesse. We packed 5 buses full of staff and students, and took over the city. Herbstmesse is a fall party, that is bigger than your county fair, but smaller than a state fair. You can find cotton candy, corn on the cob, just like in the States...but there are also wonderful treats like Swiss Chocolate, German pretzels, and of course plenty of stands selling wurst.
Every year BFA takes over the bumper cars from 7.30-8.30. It is hilarious watching staff and students alike rushing to get a car, and then destroy as many people as possible. I was pretty successful out there, and didn't get hit too many times, but delivered a few good shots.
Herbstmesse is also known as the "official" time at which guys can start asking girls to Christmas Banquet. Unfortunately I did hear about some guys getting turned down, but there were plenty of guys beaming with excitement as they now have a date to the Banquet, which is in the end of November. I must admit, the girls here are lucky, because the guys get extremely creative and do a really good job at putting together a way to ask a girl. Rarely is it done face-to-face, rather it is a process that may lead a girl on a rabbit trail, with the usage of notes, flowers, other students, and even two-year old kids! It is pretty impressive. One of the best I heard from last night... a guy wrote a poem, and every period had a different student give a section of the poem to the girl. At the end of the day he gave her the final piece of the poem, along with some flowers, and asked then.
Today (Friday) there is no school because of a German holiday, therefore we have our first annual 3v3 basketball tournament. I am on a team called, "Zimties." Zimt is the German word for cinnamon. Zimties is a type of cereal over here, very similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. A bizarre name, I know, but we are proud of it. I will play with three guys from Sonne, and two girls from Blauen. I have no idea as to whether or not we will be competitive, but I am sure it will be fun. The tournament will take all day, and most of the students will be there watching and enjoying the tournament.
Tomorrow (Saturday) we have home volleyball games! This year we only have girls volleyball, but there will still be plenty to watch. Because of the nature of the league our sports teams are in - this is the only home game of the year. Needless to say, the girls are excited to play in front of their fans, and the students are excited to get out there and support their friends.
Saturday dinner, I am 'on' for cooking Saturday dinner this week. I am planning on making some fajitas for the guys. So after volleyball I will need to grill enough chicken for 20 high school boys, chop onions, peppers, tomatoes, and put it all together!
Saturday night, two of our dorms are having an 'open house.' Essentially they will pick a theme, and decorate the entire dorm, and all of the rooms according to that theme. Then the entire BFA community walks through the dorm, enjoys some delicious treats, and hangs out.
Finally, we come to Sunday! A day where we don't have a lot planned, because...every other day has enough going on. After Church on Sunday we encourage the guys to get caught up on homework, take a nap, or lay low. They need it, and staff does as well.
There is a 'brief' update on this weekend at BFA.
Tommy
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Journal
The weather has quickly turned here in Germany. A few days ago I was wearing shorts and feeling comfortable, and now they are predicting snow over the weekend!
Lately I have been venturing into my old journals for pleasure reading. It is quite interesting and educational to read what I wrote a few weeks, months, even years ago. It helps me better understand where I have come from, and it sheds light into situations I am currently going through. You would be amazed how many times the same emotions and struggles throw you for a loop.
Yesterday I found this entry and thought it would be cool to put on my blog. It was written in August 2008, as I was on the plane coming to Germany for the first time.
Enjoy.
36 F. This is where it all starts. The man next to me is crowding me as his head continually bobs up and down. 36 F is the start, and the end is not in sight. The next stop is the Black Forest Academy located in Kandern, Germany. That is the next stop but I will call it home for at least the next twelve months. This is where my next journey begins.
The word journey to me implies there is a goal or a purpose. Journey carries the weight that something is being searched for. I am on a journey for students lives I can change. My purpose is to obey my Heavenly Father and my goal is to pour out the love of Jesus Christ into their lives.
Change. Having the power to make someone or something different as a result of my actions.
Different. Having no like or equal. Set apart and unique. Having a distinguishable characteristic separate from their surroundings.
My goal and purpose is to make the students at BFA different than their culture in that they have an ever-increasing love and devotion to our maker and savior, Jesus Christ.
It is amazing to look back and see the ways in which God has prepared me for this. It is as if every trip had been building towards this, all of which I was completely unaware of six months ago.
My first mission trip was in the spring of 2005 when I flew over to Rome for a week. Even now I can recall moments when I was shy, ashamed and scared. Yet that entire experience was only a stepping stone for my next summer when I spent 32 days traveling down the east coast. Many of the fears I had experiences a year earlier had made their way out of me, yet I was still learning and finding ways in which I needed to improve. The following summer (2007) I once again went into the refiners’ fire to be molded and shaped more into the image of Christ. The growing continued as did the length of my experience. That summer I spent eight weeks away from home and traveled to two foreign countries, and many states within the USA. Then, finally here I am in 36 F. I have seen the length of my journey grow from one week, to 32 days, to eight weeks, and now a full year. I have been through many different experiences and have gone through many different emotions. Yet through it all God has proven himself faithful. That is all I can lean on and all I can hope for. So as I begin my time in Germany I will continue to walk by faith. Every move along the way, every bend in the road has brought me to where I am. I have no doubt that in a few years I will look back at my experience in Germany and will recognize how this too was another step in my journey.
So as I continue, I will walk by faith. I will not always be able to see the next step but I believe God will prove himself faithful. God will prove himself once again and whisper in my ear, “Keep walking towards me my child. You are mine and I am yours. Be ready to fight. I will be ready to pick you up when you fall, but fear not for I have already gone ahead of you and secured the victory. Follow me my son. Follow me.”
August 2, 2008.
Lately I have been venturing into my old journals for pleasure reading. It is quite interesting and educational to read what I wrote a few weeks, months, even years ago. It helps me better understand where I have come from, and it sheds light into situations I am currently going through. You would be amazed how many times the same emotions and struggles throw you for a loop.
Yesterday I found this entry and thought it would be cool to put on my blog. It was written in August 2008, as I was on the plane coming to Germany for the first time.
Enjoy.
36 F. This is where it all starts. The man next to me is crowding me as his head continually bobs up and down. 36 F is the start, and the end is not in sight. The next stop is the Black Forest Academy located in Kandern, Germany. That is the next stop but I will call it home for at least the next twelve months. This is where my next journey begins.
The word journey to me implies there is a goal or a purpose. Journey carries the weight that something is being searched for. I am on a journey for students lives I can change. My purpose is to obey my Heavenly Father and my goal is to pour out the love of Jesus Christ into their lives.
Change. Having the power to make someone or something different as a result of my actions.
Different. Having no like or equal. Set apart and unique. Having a distinguishable characteristic separate from their surroundings.
My goal and purpose is to make the students at BFA different than their culture in that they have an ever-increasing love and devotion to our maker and savior, Jesus Christ.
It is amazing to look back and see the ways in which God has prepared me for this. It is as if every trip had been building towards this, all of which I was completely unaware of six months ago.
My first mission trip was in the spring of 2005 when I flew over to Rome for a week. Even now I can recall moments when I was shy, ashamed and scared. Yet that entire experience was only a stepping stone for my next summer when I spent 32 days traveling down the east coast. Many of the fears I had experiences a year earlier had made their way out of me, yet I was still learning and finding ways in which I needed to improve. The following summer (2007) I once again went into the refiners’ fire to be molded and shaped more into the image of Christ. The growing continued as did the length of my experience. That summer I spent eight weeks away from home and traveled to two foreign countries, and many states within the USA. Then, finally here I am in 36 F. I have seen the length of my journey grow from one week, to 32 days, to eight weeks, and now a full year. I have been through many different experiences and have gone through many different emotions. Yet through it all God has proven himself faithful. That is all I can lean on and all I can hope for. So as I begin my time in Germany I will continue to walk by faith. Every move along the way, every bend in the road has brought me to where I am. I have no doubt that in a few years I will look back at my experience in Germany and will recognize how this too was another step in my journey.
So as I continue, I will walk by faith. I will not always be able to see the next step but I believe God will prove himself faithful. God will prove himself once again and whisper in my ear, “Keep walking towards me my child. You are mine and I am yours. Be ready to fight. I will be ready to pick you up when you fall, but fear not for I have already gone ahead of you and secured the victory. Follow me my son. Follow me.”
August 2, 2008.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Rainy Day
Today in Germany we have been pummeled by rain since the early morning. It is difficult to describe the way in which the students and staff are affected by the weather. A rainy day has the power to leave many in a somber and discouraged state of mind. Waking up to darkness, and the constant deliverance of rain all day can leave many without the desire to smile, laugh, or be motivated to carry on daily routines. Therefore, tonight for our snack after study hours, I decided to make a special treat of, "smiley face pancakes." Hopefully it gave the guys a reason to smile on a rather gloomy day.
Also... I was having fun with Seeun and trying to get him to smile... this is the best I could do...
Also... I was having fun with Seeun and trying to get him to smile... this is the best I could do...
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