It has been a while since we posted about our actual work over here (after all this is not vacation). This is partially out of respect for our colleagues, their privacy, and partially because this blog is way more interesting when we talk about the cool stuff we are seeing, eating, and of course drinking!!! However, this week our work was the most interesting thing we can share!
Oh, and we don’t post about work often because of the political stress going on in the lives of these teachers, students, and school leaders.
This is the remains of a friendly, and official, poster in an unnamed Dept of Defense School, that was pulled down after the new administration in Washington determined the message of kindness somehow inappropriate…
Anyway, we began the week with a goodbye to Aunt Jean and a plane and train from Spain up to the Netherlands where we met with Shelley Brobst, her husband Paul, and their little Pomeranian puppy Ziggy. The three of them who are saving us from renting an apartment or getting a hotel. It is always a bit nerve wracking to stay with people you don’t know, but after twenty minutes we felt like best friends, and we don’t want to leave! Tommy was especially in love with Ziggy the puppy. Shelley and her husband Paul live in Landgraaf, Netherlands (less than a mile from the German boarder) and work at Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) in Brunssum, Netherlands. Paul (retired Aircraft and crash expert in the U.S. Air Force) works in facilities at the N.A.T.O. command center, and Shelley at the N.A.T.O. International School (AFNORTH International School).
We spent the week in the International School which is a design unique in the world. The school is overseen by a board of directors from Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. The board then works with an overall director who is currently an American. However, each country has its own section of the school with their own curriculum and principal, but some classes (like music) are combined across countries. Most programs are limited to citizens of their home country, but some programs (mostly Canada) allow tuition students from other countries. And, since the N.A.T.O. Commander is currently Italian, and the base is in the Netherlands, there is a real international feel.
On our second day at the school the library (which serves the school and the community) celebrated its grand reopening after being closed for a few years for major renovations. There were tons of international dignitaries, soldiers, and special guests in attendance from across all of N.A.T.O. I conducted the choir as part of the celebration. It was a very moving experience with tons of press coverage.
In addition to preparing for our festival performance with all the student choirs and the Military Wives Choir, Sarah and I taught regular classes. I had a blast teaching electric bass and working with the rock band, giving voice lessons, and leading normal choral classes. Sarah taught a number of elementary classes and was especially excited to teach elementary music for the Canadian school students!
The concert went amazingly well, the director of the entire school attended and was thrilled with how the week went. She even talked to us about expanding our work and bringing master’s and doctoral students over to learn in the school!
Once again Sarah and I are humbled by the children of service people and diplomats who spend their childhoods changing schools every few years, miss out on opportunities their peers back home have, and yet through it all remain kind, resilient, and truly inspirational young people. I was moved to tears as these kids hugged us and thanked us for the experiences we provided them. I had to wonder who was really getting the most out of this adventure- them or us? And I am pretty sure these kids and their parents are giving us far more than we are giving them!
Post-concert drinks at the pub next to Shelley, Paul, and Ziggy’s house in Landgraaf, Netherlands
And now, with our week of teaching completed, and with another concert done, we have to catch a train to Belgium!