Back to Warner Barracks! We spent this morning returning to the army base where we student taught six years ago. We packed up with Bill and Rene this morning to head for school where they are beginning their week of finals, which will end next Tuesday. Rene signed us on post and then Bill took us around the school to see his new room and some of the teachers we remembered from our semester at Bamberg.

We were shocked by how empty the building felt - a result of seniors having already finished and so many students leaving the base because of the closing. Next year, they are expecting 100 students (7th-12th grade) and 30 teachers! Talk about ideal class size :-) Actually, it seems like it'll be a tough year on kids and teachers with so many tele-conference classes and SO many preps for teachers.

After getting to see my mentor - Elaine, who is getting ready for a move to Okinawa, where she and her husband (also a DODDS teacher) will be teaching at a new school - we walked around post and visited our old apartment & the CAC, and saw the chapel we went to while living there. It was a bit strange being back, especially knowing that because of how transient life is here, there are few people we know still around (even in the school).

We spent the afternoon walking around Bamberg for the last time and then headed to Seehof Summer Palace for Bamberg High School's graduation. What an incredible place for a graduation! The speaker made the point that very few Americans can claim to have graduated in the Orangery of a Summer Palace in Germany...so true!

This evening we said goodbye to Bill, Rene, and Sara (their niece)...oh, and Max, who were off to Prague right after graduation. Tomorrow morning, we will leave 28 Hainstrasse for the Alps and Innsbruck, Austria! We can't wait for the next leg of the trip...it's been fantastic so far!

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