Bitter Sweet

On Thursday, February 18th, I (Joey) had my Orientierungskurs Prüfung (Orientation Class Test). This was a test on the history and politics of Germany. I will be honest with you. I had a lot of interest in studying this, but it was really hard doing it in the German language, because there were now so many words that I did not know and would have to learn in this short two week class. Within in this two week class I missed 3 days of the total 9 day class since our kids were sick and Aliyah was in the hospital. So I did have a little bit of fear going into the test that I would not pass and would have to do the class all over again. So I did what I could and I just studied over the 300 questions that were given to us, of which we would only have 25 of them on the test. To say the least, after studying for hours about the German politics and history in German, my head hurt! So I decided that I would get a good nights sleep and wake up in the morning, do a little bit more studying and then go do the test. This day officially my last day in my German Class! So I was really excited to get over with the class, but a little bummed because I knew that my moments with my classmates was coming to an end. More on that later...

Once I was given my test, I was so stoked because most of the questions that were on my particular test were the ones the I did know and understand. There were a few that I wasn't to sure on, but it didn't matter, I knew that I had passed and I was so stoked! After leaving the class early, to go pick up my mom at the airport (more on that later), I immediately called Rebecca with excitement and told her, "I Definitely Passed!" She was really excited for me as well.

Right before leaving the class I talked with my teacher for a little bit and let her know that I would see her later that evening for the dinner that our whole class would have together. I shared with her once again how excited I was that the class was over, but how I was bummed because I was really going to miss seeing everyone. She then shared with me how she would also miss this class alot because although she has many classes, there are none like ours. I am not just saying that because it is my class, I am saying this because this is what my teacher and the director of the school had said about our class! They had truly said that there has never been a class like ours! So while I was talking to my teacher, she even began to get teared up in her eyes, which really showed how much she loves us as a class! I then said goodbye to some of the Russian women and let them know that I would see them later. They then asked if I was bringing my kids, to which I replied, "No I am not." They then asked if I was bringing my wife and encouraged me to do so since my mom would be with us! I was super stoked with the idea, since I had not really thought about it!

So later on that evening, we as a class met at a local Chinese Restaurant and had a great time together! The women were really excited to meet Rebecca, which was really a blessing! As I have said before, I really see how this class has become a family! In fact, as the night went on, there were many of them who did not want to leave at all. They were completely sad because they knew that this was it! This would be the last time that we would see each other until our final test, which takes place on March 12. PLEASE PRAY FOR ALL OF US!
Rebecca had the opportunity to talk with one of the Russian women for about 10-15 minutes, just the two of them, which was really funny, because I know that this Russian lady doesn't know any English and Rebecca doesn't know any Russian, so the only common language was German. So I was so proud of Rebecca to be able to understand and speak with this woman for that long!

We then went on outside and said our goodbyes. When Rebecca, my teacher, and I had sat in our car, I said that it would be great if we could get some cocoa and coffee (for those who like coffee). So the night continued. There were a few of us who went down the street to a little coffee bar that was opened, which is not normal for the late hour that it was, and spent more time enjoying each others company!

That whole day and evening was bitter sweet! Sweet, because I am really excited to be done with my class, but bitter, because I am going to really miss seeing all of my "new family members" everyday in the class. The good thing is that we all have each others contact numbers and emails and so I do pray that we can stay in contact with each other!

I do ask you all to pray for us all! On March 12 we will be taking our big test! This is what it all comes down too! Please pray that we all do good! Also do pray as we will be getting together that evening also for dinner, but this time at a Turkish Restaurant in Herborn.