Vader's Day

Vader: German word for father.

It seems weird to have our son across the waters, so far from father – or as they say in Germany, vader – on Father's Day. I definitely made sure Jim survived the weekend OK without him!

Had a great time golfing. In fact there's still more golfing – made it home in time to catch the end of the US Open and need to get back to it. I will post some photos (the one above is Whitefish Bay on Lake Michigan at dusk last night) and more tomorrow, but tonight I will share an update about our world traveler.

On Friday afternoon, we got an update from his German teacher, Frau T, who also is serving as one of the GAPP (German-American Partnership Program) chaperones, along with Mr. O. Here's what she shared after Week One was in the books...


Greetings to everyone back home,

Please send warm, sunny weather. It has been cool and rainy almost every day. Supposedly, the weather is supposed to improve next week.

I have to say that I have had one of the smoothest first weeks ever here in Landshut. Everyone appears to have settled nicely into their host families. Jet lag did not seem to be a major problem this time and as far as Mr. O. and I can tell no one is pining to come home. Other than a couple with slight sore throats (teacher included) there have been no complaints. I have had many compliments from the host families, the teachers and my GAPP partner about how wonderful a group we have with us this time. One of the host fathers specifically sought me out to say how impressed he was with the effort the American partner was making to speak German and to learn more. During our city hall tour, we were also complimented by how polite and interested the group is.

We had a very nice welcome dinner on Tuesday evening with the parents bringing a variety of potluck items. At school, we have already begun to give presentations in several classrooms and are booked for several more. The principal gave a short history about the school and showed off the marble sculpture near the offices. The school is undergoing renovations to update the science labs and other classrooms as well. These will continue until 2021. Students have also started working on the short assignments I have for them to help make them more attentive and engaged in the classrooms as well as to keep them learning when they cannot attend a class due to a testing situation.

Today we were at the glass factory. We had a wonderful demonstration in glass making and the birthday girl, Megan, was selected randomly to blow a glass ball, which she then got to keep. After that we helped support the local economy with our purchases. The selection there is outstanding and the prices very reasonable. Even our German partners indulged and bought several gift items. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate to allow us to speed down the summer luge run. For safety reasons, they close the run down when it rains. They then need at least 30 minutes after the rain has stopped for the track to dry. We decided not to wait for an eventual rain let up and instead returned to Landshut a bit earlier than scheduled. ...

Next week is another full one. On Monday, we are going to Regensburg and on Tuesday we are visiting the local grade school. On Wednesday, we head out on our Alpen tour. The students will  not have access to the internet in either of the youth hostels,so please do not expect to hear from them (or me) until next Sunday evening.
Was so glad the week was going well for all, especially since we had so few updates from Carter. But I guess he's been busy.

Imagine my surprise and joy today when I heard his ring tone on my phone, alerting me he had just sent me a message. I didn't care that we were in the middle of golfing a hole, this was the first time in a week we'd been able to chat back and forth "live."

He wanted to wish Dad a happy Father's Day. He is having a great time doing all that stuff that Frau mentioned above, plus Lukas' family took him to Austria this weekend! (That's like a 90-minute drive or less, I think, from their home.) How cool!

Our chat was short because they were headed out to a pizzeria for dinner. I have to tell you, just hearing from him after a few days of nothing, made it seem like Mother's Day!

So we both had a special day... with no kids in sight. Just our kitty, who was happy to have us back home.