All Saints Day

Today is All Saints Day, an official holiday in Germany, which means that offices, grocery stores, and yes, schools, are closed for the day.  I couldn't be more thankful for the day off!

With our bilingual school (grades 1-3) off from school for "Herbstferien" (fall break) yesterday, the 5th grade teacher and I decided to plan something special for our classes.  The German "celebration" of Halloween is very dark.  There isn't any innocent trick-or-treating or candy sharing. Unfortunately, it's all about the scary, evil, immoral side of things.  The children who move here from North America often miss the fun traditions of dressing up in costumes and collecting candy, but those who have grown up here in Europe know the dark side of the holiday.  So, we decided that a Fall Party would be a fun middle ground.  Students could come in costume along the theme of "movies."  Some of the girls asked me to be a part of their Alice in Wonderland costume group... of course, I was happy to participate!

Susan and Lucy (Chronicles of Narnia)

Batman

Alfred and Larry-Boy

The Alice in Wonderland crew

I coordinated parents to bring fall treats and organized some games for the kids to play (autumn pictionary and skits in a bag), and Rob showed the "Little House on the Prairie" Halloween episode.  All of the students brought in a bag of candy to share with the other students, so each student left with a mixture of different candies.  The Fall Party was a huge success!  Both classes were able to get "normal schoolwork" done in the morning, and we had a blast together in the afternoon.

 Acting out a scene from "Pirates of the Caribbean"

Creating a skit out of the items in the bag

One team's skit

Last night was the BFA annual trip to Herbstmesse, a big fall festival in Basel.  I made a quick change from my Alice costume to normal clothes and drove over to the main campus of the school to catch the bus to Herbstmesse.  My roommates and I enjoyed a yummy dinner on the Claraplatz, walked across the bridge over the Rhine, rode the ferris wheel at dusk, crashed into elementary and middle schoolers on the bumper cars, and relaxed with Starbucks before heading back to the buses.

As I said to someone last night, this is a great picture of life at BFA.  While the mixture of professional and personal lives can sometimes cause confusion, it definitely makes relationships richer.  What a blessing it is to give high fives to our students while we ride around on bumper cars, to laugh together in a fun environment, to share life together.

It was a long day... My voice was strained from running the games at school and screaming on the bumper cars.  The bruises on my knees were bumper car wounds.  My legs hurt from walking.  But it was most definitely worth it.