Back from Sweden!

Jennifer and Cam are just back from a wonderful week-long trip to visit the land of Jennifer's forefathers...Sweden.  There is probably no country on earth more gloriously displaying Nature's Fall colours than Sweden.  Everywhere we went, people were friendly and the scenery was spectacular.  We enjoyed staying with one of Cam's Kodaikanal India Class of '68 classmates, Kristina Ajaxon,  her son Nils, and her husband Ragnar.  Thanks to all of you for being such great hosts!  The conversations were always lively! Thanks too, Kristina, for letting us try all kind of Swedish delicacies, including caviar and reindeer.

Our quick tour took us by Ryanair (Latin for "no legroom sucker") to Nykoping, just south of Stockholm for a day or two of visiting with the Ajaxons.  Then...on to Stockholm for a visit to the harbour and a day of walking down the Strand and through the Vasa warship museum....fantastic!  The last few days, we spent driving north to Varmland, the area of Sweden where Axel Nathanael Bergstrom (and 139,999 other Varmlanders) emmigrated to North America from many years ago.  In Dalarna we also visited the home of the great Swedish artists, Carl and Karin Larsson.  Both of us have a much greater appreciation for all of Carl's beautiful paintings now.

Let the photos do the talking!

Way to go, Jennifer!

Congratulations to Jennifer on completing the full Swiss Walking Event marathon (yes all 26 miles 285 yards, or 42+ kilometres) in Solothurn, Switzerland this Sunday, August 31st.  The first words out of her mouth as she crossed the finish line were "Remind me to never do this again"....or something to that effect.  We'll give it a while.....she'll be ready to try it again in a few months or so.

First Theme Day of the Year at RIA

Friday, August 29 was our first theme day of the year. Each of us in the fifth and sixth grade class dressed in our national colors. We had colors from the USA, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland and Canada. Other classes themes included a safari theme and a princess theme (how did you guess that the 1st-2nd grade class is all girls!)

Rhein International is back in Session!

The Fifth and Sixth Grade classroom is off to a great start this year at Rhein International Academy. We started classes on August 18th, so things are well under way. I have included some photos of our most recent Science experiment, based on our study of mass, volume, and density. We each built a small boat out of a 12 cm by 12 cm piece of tin foil, then floated our boats and added weights until our boats sunk. It's amazing how much cargo you can carry in such a small boat if the design is right. Jakob was our class winner with a mass of 76 grams in his boat. Fantastich!

Happy 60th, Henri!

This past weekend we had the pleasure of attending Henri Braun's 60th birthday party in Dielsdorf, just north of Zurich. You may remember Henri as the father of our Swiss exchange student, Joel Braun, who lived with the Barbours in 1999-2000, and attended Eagle Butte High School.

Henri and his family hosted an absolutely splendid party on Saturday, followed by a leisurely breakfast and a walk to Regensburg (a medieval fortified village) not far away.

It was so great to see all of the Braun family again, and to meet some new members of the family. Our linguistic skills were indeed tested, as the celebration was a combination of Luxembourgish, French, German, Swiss German, and English. I think we all got along well, though, and Henri seemed to enjoy his party.

A Short Summer Back in Canada

After a productive two-week stay at the NICS Pre-Field Orientation in Southaven, Mississippi, we returned to Alberta on July 4. It has been sooooooo good to see friends and acquaintances again, although it seems a little strange to be back in an English-speaking environment again. You know you've been in Germany for a while when you accidentally bump into someone in a department store here in Canada, and the first thing that comes out of your mouth is...."Entschuldigung"....instead of "Excuse Me". Hopefully that's a precursor to more successful communication in German next year.

So, for the time being, we are enjoying finishing up all of our errands, and visiting with our family and friends.....not the least of whom is our delightful grandson Finn(eas).....he's just so much fun! August 6th will see us take the big silver bird back to Deutschland, in preparation for a new year of school which starts on August 18th.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers, everyone!

Cam and Jennifer

Congratulations, Robyn!

Although we weren't able to attend her convocation from the University of Lethbridge, we did huddle around our laptop at nearly midnight German time waiting to see Robyn walk across the stage and receive her B. Sc. It was well worth it!

The photos from Jeff and Ann-Marie Scott were fantastic. It's nice to know that we had surrogate parents attending on our behalf. Thanks guys!

See you all back in Canada in early July!

How Can We Help Myanmar and China?

Last Friday, the students and staff of Rhein International Academy held a bake sale to help in some small way with the dire needs of people in Myanmar and China. While the Middle School students organized the selling and advertising, the school cooking club baked some delicious chocolate banana loaves, and the First Grade class created some wonderful chocolate chip cookies (including one giant one that was raffled off). In addition, every family at RIA generously donated something to sell.



Thanks to everyone's hard work, we raised about 230 Euros, all of which will be sent to World Vision Deutschland to use as they see fit in the relief efforts.

Mr. Barbour's Middle School Class Goes Formal!

On Wednesday, May 7, 2008 our school welcomed visitors from the community on Open House Day. In honor of this special occasion, and in special honor of the visit of our Oberburgermeister Herr Wolfgang Dietz, the middle school class decided to go all out and dress up for the day......by adding ties to their outfits. What a great looking group!

Quick visit to Valencia, Spain

Last Wednesday, during our school's Fasnacht break, Jennifer and Cam took a cheap Ryanair flight from Basel to Valencia. Our bed and breakfast was on the eighth floor of apartment building right across the street from the new performing arts and science centres. We took in two great Imax shows, Mysteries of the Nile, and the Alps. The centre of Valencia is great too....the Sorrenos Gate, started in 1492, and completed in six years, was part of the old Valencia fortifications. There really are oranges on the trees in the middle of February in Valencia. Fantastic!

Christmas Photos

The 2007 Christmas season has all but wrapped up, and most of the Barbour family has returned to Canada. We had a great time in Weil am Rhein, just visiting, playing games, and eating far too much. We were glad to have visits over the break from Nigel and Beatta Beaumont from Bielefeld, Joel Braun from Zurich, Vijay and Tobias from Lucerne, as well as school staff members and friends. It made the whole holiday time very special, having lots of people in the apartment.
It has also been great to have Carolyn stay a few extra days, but alas, she is heading back tomorrow, Jan. 10th.

The B family drove up to Rotenburg aub der Tauber for a day or so, then stopped in Berg to visit the Rheinhardt family for a day as well.

Cam and Jen's photos are not nearly as good as Dan and Renae's, so please enjoy the slideshow to get a sense of what we were all up to:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Renae.Barbour/ChristmasInGermanyDec15Dec28/photo#s5151849778914873650


Happy New Year everyone!