....til the cows come home!

Last Sept 22, a few staff members drove to the beautiful Swiss village of Alpazug to ....yes....watch the cows come home! This is a traditional celebration as each of the families parades its prize cows down from the hills through the main street of the town, just as generations have done at the end of the summer grazing season for hundreds of years. Cows are adorned with greenery on their heads, and massive, loud (but moosical) cow bells. To complete the ambience, there are lots of other forms of music, including a traditional alpine horn trio, and an "oldtimers" trio. Then there's the food for sale everywhere.....the best of the wurst, if you know what I mean!

My favourite image though had to be the little girl, no more than three, carrying the biggest stick she could....and boy, could she whack those cows!

Visit to Robyn

In early October, Jennifer and Cam had a short break from school, and took advantage of the inexpensive Easy Jet flights from Basel to London, and then on to Belfast to see Robyn. She has been working in an Addictions Counselling program at the Harmony Hills Presbyterian Church youth drop-in centre, just south of Belfast, since early September. Robyn took a few days off, and we rented a car (Yes...the right-hand drive type!), and drove around Northern Ireland for three days. After the first few days of Cam's driving on the "wrong" side of the road, and of Jennifer's white-knuckle warnings about being too close to the curb, things settled down for a comfortable tour. This included a look at the Giant's Causeway (which legend says was built by non other than the legendary Irish giant, Finn MacCool....love that name!!), the Kerrick rope bridge, Bushmills distillery, Dunluce Castle, and the Barbour family home town, Ballymena. The travel brochures are absolutely right....Ireland truly does have 40 shades of green!

Country Hoe Down Oct 13

Instead of a Halloween celebration this year, RIA hosted a Country Hoe Down behind the school building. We had all kinds of activities, including a petting zoo, pony rides, square dancing (taught by the local German square dancing club), cow milking, face painting, plus lots of pumpkin soup and barbecued food.

October Grape Harvest

Last October, our entire school had the chance to help harvest the grapes in the small vineyard right beside the school. The students and staff were paired up to snip off the ripe grape clusters, put them into buckets, and carry them to the waiting trailer. Mattias, our German vintner friend, then squeezed some fresh juice for everyone to try. What a great experience for everyone!

Let's go back a few months...

A lot has happened since the 10th of August. The last part of July and the first part of August are just a blur in our rear-view mirrors as Jen and I think back to all the things that had to be done at home before we left. Jen did a superb job of basically packing up our household, and stashing it in the 29-foot trailer we have parked in our back yard. Cam finished putting a new metal roof on the "shop" just days before we left. Well, all of that's a story we don't really want to recall right now.

We arrived in Weil am Rhein to a joyous welcome from the staff at Rhein International Academy. We spent the first few days settling into our two-bedroom apartment, and then in helping to get the school cleaned up and organized in time for the students to arrive on August 20th. We walked to and from school for those first few weeks (before we latched onto some bicycles), and enjoyed the beautiful stroll through part of Weil, then the walk up (or down) the spiral staircase that leads over the railway tracks, and on to RIA.

Rhein International Academy is a small English-speaking school which is open to students of all faiths and nationalities. We presently have students from the U.S.A., England, India, China, Spain, Italy, Poland, and Switzerland to name a few. Our web address is www.riaweb.net (Check out the smilin' Scot on the home page!)

It's About Time That We Heard from Them!

Cam and Jen have finally entered a new era, as we establish a web log of our own! What a novel thought! After moving to Germany on August 10th, we think it's time to let folks know what we've been up to. This won't be a comprehensive day-by-day diary, so don't expect a lot. We hope to post a few pictures, and to keep you up to date on our latest bits of news. Enjoy!

Here's a snapshot of the Middle School class at Rhein International Academy...an inspired group of hard workers who also enjoy their breaks and free time to the limit! This year we have three students from the U.S., one from Switzerland, and two from France. Among us, we speak English, German, Polish, and French. What a dynamite class!