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Saturday, September 25, 2010

A Day in the Life of Brittany...

(This is my day in a nutshell in the Front Office -all of the events listed have happened and I have accomplished, not in my own strength but only by the strength of my Father - what a joy it is to serve Him in the Black Forest!)

8:00 - Open up the school - empty the dishwasher - and start the much anticipated coffee! (Will the 50 cup pot be enough for the day???)

8:28 - Answer the phone - Student A from Dorm 1 is sick. Student B from Dorm 2 will be late. 

8:50 - First bell rings 

8:52 - Sign 6 late slips 

9:00 - Put postage on the 12 letters that need to go out

9:16 - Student C and D are marked as absent  but no one called them in sick - time to call out a search party - bring on the yearbook! If I need to search campus for them - what do they look like??

9:33 - Start walking to the Post (post office) 

9:49 - Successful mail pick-up requires around 8 German words - Guten Morgen, Mail für BFA, Bitte....Danke - Tschüss! (Good morning, mail for BFA, please...thank you, bye) 

10:06 - Walk back into the office - 2 students need their computer login information - 1 staff member needs the key to the storage closet - 1 German speaker on the phone and the police walk in - take a deep breath! 

10:23 - Sort through mail:
Pile 1 = current students
Pile 2 = bills to open, sign and take to finance
Pile 3 = current staff
Pile 4 = past students - hmmm, where are they now?
Pile 5 = past staff to be given to the personnel office to find current address
Pile 6 = german advertisements

10:47 - The office is Q (quiet is a forbidden word to say as it always brings chaos), time to grab a cup of coffee and check email

10:59 - Internet Explorer opens - 48 new messages - some have to do with parent/teacher conferences and guest house bookings, and some are new staff phone numbers to add to the phone list that was printed in bulk yesterday - draft copy is a term used for most phone lists until around April! 

11:26 - Start a Resin office supply order - Now let's think - Bob wanted a stapler, Tom wanted 4 reams of the light green paper, Sarah wanted 4 packages of 10 mm staplers, Chris wanted erasers and green pens and the supply room is out of white paper - I think that was all! Now let's see... what would the German name for that be??? 

12:32 - It is the students lunch time! Many come to the office to pick up lunches, call home, or are searching for their long lost textbook. 

1:00 - Time for my lunch.... ahhh a quiet and near deserted staff room. There are only a handful of us who are eating at this time. I don't mind eating a little later and I look forward to the few moments of quiet I can get. 

1:30 - Fix a paper jam - sign for a parcel - send a fax

1:52 - A Resin order from last week comes in - time to unpack and organize. Paper is organized by colour and weight in the paper room - they are labeled now, please don't mix up! The office supplies go in the closet and are there for the staff as they need them. 

2:46 - A family of 6 is visiting to check out the school - write and sign their visitor badges and appoint them to their tour guide for the afternoon

3:50 - School is out! Kids are running everywhere. "Can I use the phone" ... "Have you seen my mom"... "Did my glasses get turned in here" ... "Do you know if there is volleyball tonight" The answer is a glad and cheerful yes! Now just one second while I answer this phone. 

4:15 - Dorm Sonne calls - "our guys are not home yet, were there buses today?" Time to track down the bus company and make sure the students get home soon! 

4:30 - The halls are quiet - time to finish drinking that cup of coffee I started this morning. 

4:44 - respond to some pressing emails. 

4:59 - turn off the computers, printers, shut the windows, clean the kitchen, start the dishwasher

5:00 - Lock the doors and home to Riedlingen I go. 

"Thank you Father for another awesome day in the Front Office!"


2 comments:

  1. If only, oh, if only everyone else who reads this post could HEAR me reading it like you did! THIS IS HILARIOUS! And praise God for good attitudes and His great grace as we encounter many Abenteuers in this new place!

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  2. I think I would like to hear Heather reading your post, Brittany...and singing that song! I'm glad that you love your work and you want it that way! "Tell me why..." :)

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