Pig Passage

On Monday morning, I met Sandra Wilson at the Hauptbahnhof in the town of Schweinfurt, which literally translates "pig ford" or "pig passage."  Sandra e-mailed me about a year ago when I worked in the APU Alumni Office and I put a class note for her in the APU Life magazine.  We e-mailed back and forth a couple of times about Germany and I told her that I wanted to move there.  I held on to her e-mail address and filed her away in my mind.  Once I finally got here to Germany, I e-mailed her again (a year later!) and she actually remembered me.  She said that people say things like "one day I'm going to do this" or "maybe I'll do that," but they usually never follow through, so she didn't quite believe me a year ago when I said I wanted to move to Germany.  Obviously, she didn't know my personality yet...

We got to know each other a little in the car on the way to the Schweinfurt military base, where Sandra signed me in and drove us to the chapel for PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel).  PWOC is a ministry specifically focusing on Protestant women in the US military community.  I'm not sure how it all works, but we started off by taking Sandra's two daughters to the nursery and then heading into the chapel with all the other women.  We broke up into small groups and just went around the circle saying how we would spend a free day.  My answer was "go to Disneyland," of course!  Then they had announcements, a Bible verse for the day, prayer in partners, and a devotional (all that lasted about an hour).  After that we went into the dining area for socializing, breakfast spread, and most importantly...coffee!  Then everyone broke into their various Bible studies of about 10 women.  I joined Sandra for the study she leads using a book focusing on women in the Bible.  This week the topic was Rahab.  The women in the group all read the chapter during the week and then come together to discuss, sharpen, and encourage each other.  All the women in Sandra's group were older than me, so I felt perfectly in my element.  (As you may know, I feel more comfortable around people older than me.)  It was really nice to spend the whole morning with women seeking a deeper relationship with God.  Some of the women have husbands currently deployed, so I think PWOC is something good for them to look forward to every week.  But because they meet during the work day, female soldiers aren't really able to come, unfortunately.

After a quick stop at the Post Office, we headed back to the Wilson house, which is located in a small town close to Schweinfurt called Hambach.  It was a relaxing day playing with Loralynn (age 3) and Tana (age 1, short for "Montana").  Plus, Sandra and I had a lot to talk about!  She is from Merced, which is close to Reedley, and she always wanted to study abroad at APU, but never had the opportunity.  Her husband Dan was raised all over the world (including a couple years in Germany), because his dad was in the military.  After Dan and Sandra got married, they lived in Arcadia for a couple years until Dan was accepted by the Department of Defense to teach military kids in Japan.  They were at a Navy base in Japan for 2 years until the position opened in Schweinfurt in 2006, and they've been there ever since! 

Loralynn on our walk

When Dan came home from work, we all went on a walk in the nearby farm area, and I got to find out a little more about him.  Dan teaches junior high math and science on post in Schweinfurt, and definitely has a wide range of kids to deal with.  I guess I've been so focused on getting to Germany my whole life that I can't understand why some Americans are miserable here.  But as Dan explained a few common scenarios of overseas military families, I began to understand how emotional it can be to uproot everything and move to a foreign place where you don't know anyone, you don't speak the language, and you don't know how long you're staying.  And many soldiers are raising their children as single parents, which gets complicated when that parent is deployed.  So, although Dan is teaching in a more or less "normal American school," he really has a ministry to the kids here in Schweinfurt, many of whom do not have a stable family life.

3 APU alums in Germany!

Sandra graduated in 2002 from APU and Dan is the class of 2001.  So we have a lot in common and had fun reminiscing together.  They asked questions like, "Is Baloian still teaching there?" and "Do they still make midnight runs to Donut Man?"  They even whipped out the APU yearbooks, with which I am quite familiar.  And we stayed up talking until 10:30pm, before all 3 of us began to crash.  I was so thankful to sleep in a bed with American sheets and an American-shaped, hard pillow!  It was probably the best night's sleep I've had since arriving in Germany.

On Thursday morning, Sandra made whole wheat oatmeal pancakes for breakfast and then we went on another walk.  This time we headed to a local large farm that has over 50 horses and teaches children how to ride.  They also have rabbits, goats, chickens, ponies, and one giant pig.  (Seriously, that thing was disgusting.)  We took some carrots along and Loralynn fed them to the horses.

looking at the rabbits

My train was supposed to leave at noon, but Sandra asked if I could stay for lunch and catch a later train.  Even though we didn't know each other before I showed up at her doorstep, she was really happy to have someone from CA and APU.  It doesn't seem like either of them get homesick often, they just love adventure!  But Sandra only flies back to the States once a year and she did make the comment that having me there made her miss home.  I think it was a really good connection for both of us. 

Nutmeg, the family dachshund

Like any parent with a 3- and 1-year-old, Sandra is exhausted a lot and never has enough time to get things done.  I tried to help out as best I could with doing dishes, cleaning up toys, or just keeping the girls occupied.  I guess I'm getting better with kids, because at one point Loralynn crawled in my lap and said, "I love you!"  She also tried to convince me that I had TWO train tickets and she was coming with me.  It was adorable!

Sandra was really encouraging to me and said it should be easy for me to find a job on a military base.  Schweinfurt is actually closing in a year (like Bamberg), so they need temporary workers until then.  She used to work for the Public Affairs Office, so she's going to ask around to see if anything is open.  I learned a lot this week about how things function on post, and it seems like working for the military might be the easiest way for me to get the ball rolling in Germany.  We'll see what God has in store.  Until then, I'll just keep researching all possibilities and praying that He shows me the way!  And in the meantime, I'm so thankful for new friends!