Catch up

Just living it up

As you can see by the above photos... I've been busy doing stuff. This past weekend my group which consist of me and the 4 other girl aquatics counselors I work with everyday went to Paris. We had a great time and saw everything you could possibly see there. It was my second time there and it definitely paid off as I was the chief navigator of getting us around town. A responsibility I enjoy very much. We had three days to spend in Paris (Sat-Mon) so we had a lot of time to go to all the hotspot Paris has to offer. My favorite spot is the Louvre. It is the largest museum in the world and I am just a big fan. All of my life I have been fascinated with old art and the history to it all. There is something about seeing the Mona Lisa and other art in the Louvre that makes it pretty special.

This is me with the Mona Lisa in the background. Its a crazy room full with people constantly taking pictures.

The beautiful outside pyramid that will always make you say wow I really am in Paris.

Work

This past Tuesday "Camp" finally started. My days will be pretty similar for the rest of the summer. From 8-12 and 1-5 I do swim camp with 6-10 year olds. Swim camp is basically having fun with kids in the pool (aka playing games with them, helping them with their swimming, and just being their friend). We are in the pool about half the time then we eat snack outside and play games outside in the lawn. I really feel like this is my cup of tea and really feel lucky this is what I get to be doing all summer. That doesn't mean some days are going to hard because we you are dealing with youth you will always run into problems but I do believe I will have a great summer working with the kids. Myself and 2 other counselors are in charge of about 15 kids each time.

As you I have talked about earlier I am the Aquatics Director here at Ramstein AFB so that means I have to oversee the counselors and make sure they are doing a good job as well as taking all the instructions from the air force base pool managers. I have a lot of responsibility and I can feel myself growing as a leader.

Contact Me

I really do think of all my family all the time while I am here and hope you are all doing well. Please pass this along to people who do not get this e-mail. Let them know Matt is doing okay in Germany and is just starting to get into the swing of the things and will be able to start traveling to some cool places. I hope to hear from you guys and will do my best to update this blog as much as possible to guys can know what I am up to.

God Bless!

The Beginnings

Settling in

Well I have been in Germany for about 10 days now and I am settling in nicely. I live in an apartment building on base where I have a room to myself which is pretty sweet. In my apartment are the only 2 other guys at Ramstein for Camp Adventure. There are a total of 33 people here at Ramstein for Camp Adventure which means 30 are girls and 3 are guys. I work with 4 other girls with aquatics and all the other people work at different sites around Ramstein (the biggest military base ever) doing Day Camp. It's really nice to be at a big site for Camp Adventure because my past experiences have been very small so it will be great to meet new people.

My job

This first week and a half my job has been coming to the pool each day from 9:30-6:30pm. During the day all of us counselors either lifeguard or help teach swimming lessons. So far it has not been very entertaining because its not really Camp but more like a regular job at an indoor pool. The facility I work at is fantastic and has all the equipment I would ever need for teaching swimming lessons. Next week starting on June 22 we start whats called 'Swim Camp' which we will run for the rest of the summer. Swim Camp will be a camp for kids 6-7 and 8-10 year olds. From 8am-12pm the 6-7 yr olds will come to the pool where we will run a camp. Basically, we will play games in the water, eat snack, and play games out in the yard. I am so excited for this because it has a day camp feel to it but its really aquatics (sorry if thats to much Camp A lingo for ya). Then we will have a 1 hour lunch break from 12-1 and then come back and have swim camp from 1-5pm for the 8-10 yr olds. My summer will consist of running this camp (playing games in and out of the water), teaching swimming lessons, and lifeguarding.

Outings

Saturday we finally were able to get off base and experience some of Germany. We went to a local place called 'Big Emmas.' The burger there was bigger then my head. I'm not kidding. Everything there was HUGE. To say the least I left full. We eat there and watched the USA soccer game against England. Sorry there are no pictures I am working on that and they will be posted later.

This weekend my aquatics group will be heading to Paris, France (you may have heard of it). I am excited to go there for the 2nd time and see Paris during the summertime. I will have pictures and better postings when the summer gets rolling.

I do miss home a lot and most of all I missed my loved ones. Each day I am getting stronger in my faith and my life here. As much as I love traveling aboard I still will always miss home and being with people I care a lot about.

Blessings to All.

Made It

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted you all to know that I made it safe and sound to Germany. I am currently in my apartment getting ready for bed.. its late here! I have had a looooong day and need some rest for tomorrow. I will update you all as more things come about.

Love to All.

God Bless.

Here I Go

Showtime

I am currently in the Cedar Rapids airport waiting for my flight to Chicago and I am very anxious to get this day going. I'm pretty confident with traveling especially when dealing with Cedar Rapids and Chicago... one year ago that was not the case. For this trip I sort of know what to aspect especially since I was just in Germany in January. Once I am over there it will be a whole different ball game but I'm ready for it.

Where am I going?

I am flying from Cedar Rapids to Chicago and then Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany. I will arrive in Germany at about 10 am local time on Monday June 7th. The flight time from Chicago to Germany is about 9 hours. I really hope I snooze on the flight over to Germany because I know it will help so much but I am not counting on it. I have never slept on a international flight because I get so anxious/excited. Once I arrive in Frankfurt I will be picked up and taken to Ramstein Air Force Base which is where I will stay for the summer. I have no idea the distance from Frankfurt to Ramstein but based on a map it doesn't look to be too long.

My Job in Germany

I will be the Aquatics Director at Ramstein Air Force Base for Camp Adventure. What that means is I will be in charge of four aquatics counselors. So all five of us will teach swimming lessons each day while in Germany. What I have heard is our schedule will be teaching 30 min swimming lessons all day long with a lunch break. I really dont know my day to day schedule until I start working. My job as the Director will be overseeing the four counselors with regards to work and non work stuff. I am in charge of assigning them jobs and what to teach for swimming lessons and for after work stuff they have to check in with me about curfew and those kind of things. This summer holds a lot more responsibility which is what I am most nervous about this summer. It will look completely different then the experiences in the past with Camp Adventure. I am also excited for the challenge. I hope to be a great director and help my counselors love what they are doing and have a positive attitude toward each day of work. I believe I bring an enthusiasm about life that can become contagious. The four counselors are four girls from Iowa and California all of which are experiencing their first summer with Camp.

Blog

I hope to update you all as much as possible much like I did last summer when I was in South Korea. I will definitely be doing a lot more traveling this summer as I hope to see all there is to see in Europe! I will have pictures and such to make this thing a pretty interesting read. =)
I will put up another post when I receive internet access in Germany and let you all know I made it.

Well it wont be long until I get on the plane and I start my travels! Know I will be safe and will have a great time.
Love to ALL.

As my best friend told me as I left our apartment, "be the light.."

Psalm 37:4