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!"