The beginning of a new chapter

I am back home from Clausthal-Zellerfeld, near the city of Göttingen, where we had our prep seminar week for Namibia. So I thought there is no better time than now to get you all up to date.

Firstly, I am officially no longer a student. I finally graduated at the end of June! Yay me! It was definetly a great feeling when I got to hold my highschool diploma, but also a bittersweet moment. Its hard to imagine that this chapter, after 12 years - three countries - four schools - came to an end and a new one begins. The seminar has helped to bring this all home, although I still have a hard time believing that I no longer have to get up at 6am every morning heading for school.  No more homework, no worrying about tests or exams, no more asking if I had my hand up often enough for active participation.  Yet with that relief also comes the worry of the unknown. I also decided to stop swimming competitively since I will most likely not manage to keep up the level of training that I have had for the last ten years. It was also quite hard to say goodbye to something that has played such a big role in my life and has been my outlet, my safe place and in some cases my mentor.  On the other hand, having the chance to be able to introduce young children to the sport is also a great feeling and allows me to give something back and share my experience and adventures in swimming. I will not only be doing swimming lessons but also all P.E. sessions for the classes. I also hope to give the children the opportunity to explore a number of different sports and help them find the one that speaks to them the most.

The week prep seminar that the ASC offered was really helpful. I applaud them for their throrough preparations. Now before I took the train to Clausthal-Zellerfeld. Just before that, I spent ten days with my family, including my grandma, in Greece - more exact the island of Corfu.  We were blessed, or cursed, with the hottest few weeks Greece had seen in over 50 years - lucky us. We will had a great time and made best use of our time at a number of beaches including taking a couple of scuba dives.  Upon returning to Germany, where summer seemed to have ended already, the yearning for those warm days continues up until now.

Anyways, I feel more excited than ever having returned from the seminar where our Nambia group really grew together as a team learning about the country in which we soon will live and work and how we best approach our interaction with all the children, teachers, and staff at the school. I am ready to go and greet Mother Africa once again. How I will say good-bye to my family only seeing them maybe eight months later on a planned visit to Namibia - I have no idea.  We cross that bridge when we get there.

Lastly, I want to thank you all for the donations that I received! I am very close to my fundraising goal and will push for those last inches.  Thank you for pushing with me and for being so generous and supportive.

Warm hugs from Berlin,

Zoë