West Point Sponsor

Dominic, Mr Sperber & Liam

A great thing that West Point does to support incoming cadets is connect them with a sponsor from the class that graduated 50 years before them. Dominic had the chance to meet his West Point Class of '68 sponsor this week.

Liam & Dominic

We drove up to Augsburg so that Dominic could meet with Mr Sperber along with another cadet candidate, Liam, from Heidelberg. The boys had a great lunch with Mr. Sperber. He gave them lots of advice, including the best places to take their dates!

While they were at lunch we did a little touring of Augsburg with Steve's sister Vicki and their mom. We also had time for a drink and pretzels and obatzda with Liam's parents. It was wonderful for us to make a connection with another West Point Family, especially one here in Germany.

Frühlingsfest(s)

Just like there is Oktoberfest in the fall and Starkbierfest in the winter there is Frühlingsfest in the spring. Of course!

Frühlingsfest is much smaller than Oktoberfest but in the same place. There are still many rides and booths but only two big tents. We went with some friends on German-American night and had a fantastic time. The band was especially fun and we danced the entire night! I've decided not to share those photos, trust me, it was a fun night.

Our kids' school also has a Frühlingsfest. There are games for kids, a talent show, international foods, different booths and this year the opening of our school's new track.We spent our whole day there.

First we were supporting AJ in his quest to gain support for his Eagle Scout project and to raise money. AJ will be installing a fitness trail at his school. Both individuals and the PTV are supporting him. How many stations he installs will be directly affected by the total money he raises. Eagle Scout is a tough endeavor no matter where you live, but having to research what he needs from German companies and work within German laws and regulations definitely adds another dimension.

Also, Rachel performed in the talent show again this year. This year she performed "The Storyteller", a piece written by her piano teacher. Watch her performance here.

Pre-injury Team

Lastly, as part of the opening of the new track the school asked for teams to do a 10K relay to try to break the world record. Silly me, I thought we were trying to break a record for the most people participating, NOT for the fastest time. Most teams had 25 runners, ours had nine and we had to have a last minute substitution 2K into the race when one of our runners was injured. Needless to say we didn't win or break any records but we did have fun. And we think our Tutus & Tiaras team theme was absolutely fabulous! Kudos to the men on the team, including our Senior School Principal who went along with it!

Post-injury Team

Rachel performs "The Storyteller"

Rachel performed again at this year's Frühlingsfest at her school. Her teacher wrote this piece for her. We love listening to her play.

Hiking the WANK

The North American group organized up hike up the Wank which is one of the smaller mountains but one with big views in Garmisch.

We took a gondola halfway up the mountain and the hopped out at the Mittelstation to walk the rest of the way. The hike was a little steep with a fair amount of steps but there were some incredible views as the trees opened up along the sides.

Not a bad spot for lunch!

Once we got to the top it was breathtaking. We had lunch at the top enjoying the views and then walked down to the station for Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) before taking a peaceful gondola ride back to the bottom.

Maibaum

May 1st is the day of Maypole raising in Germany. Towns take turns and raise a new maypole every 4-5 years. There is always at least one day of party and some times it continues throughout the weekend. Some poles are raised by cranes and some are still done by men with poles, which are really fairly good sized trees.

The Maibaum is prepared over a month before May Day. During the preparation process it is guarded because it is a thing to try and steal a neighboring town's maypole. If successful they "sell" the maypole back. So Maypoles are guarded around the clock. And guess what is setup next to the pole for the guards? A bar of course!

Look how deep the hole is for the base of the pole!

In progress

May 1st is a national holiday which means school is closed, work is closed and all the stores are closed, it is a party day.

Our friends are always ready for fun!

Prost!

We met some friends in Aying for the raising of the tallest maypole in Bavaria. Aying is an idyllic German village, so a wonderful place to spend May day. Even better than that the pole is still raised the old fashioned way, much more authentic. We got there around 9am and they had started a little after 8. They finally had the pole up a little after 12:30! We watched for awhile in the morning and then had a late breakfast/early lunch, then went back outside to see it be put into place.

Cute little boys watching the process!

Idyllic

There were plenty of people in their trachten (traditional dress) there to celebrate and watch the entire process. It was a great way to spend our holiday day.

And it's up!