Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Pics of the Place

Here are some long overdue pictures of my apartment.  I hope you enjoy!

The Front Door-Even though I am on the "3rd floor", you walk up 4 flights of stairs to get to our place...you start on E and then travel up from E to 1 to 2 and finally stop at 3

The first room you see upon entering the place is the toilet room
(notice the lack of a sink)

After turning right upon entering, you see a long hallway

The first door on the left is the bathroom which includes the wash/dryer combo unit I purchased shortly after arriving


The first door on the right is our storage room which has two closets-one for Kristi-Anna's clothes and one for us to share and put our winter stuff in


The second door on the right takes you to the kitchen (we're cooking dinner just before our book club meeting)...notice the size of the fridge-reminds me of my college fridge :)
Also notice the emptiness near the window...our tableless dining room

Same kitchen, other side

View of Living Room from the dining room (the extra dining room chairs are set up for our book club meeting)


View of Living Room from hallway


My bedroom (at the end of the hallway)


My room again
 My roommate Kristi-Anna's room isn't shown, but we have greatly enjoyed/been busy putting our apartment (flat) together.  We'd love to have visitors come and stay with us, so let me know if you're ever in Vienna!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Oh the Places I'll Go

It's amazing to think that I have finally finished four weeks of teaching here in Vienna.  The time has been flying by.  The past two weeks I've been "enjoying" my first school year cold (I hope you note the sarcasm), but today I've finally begun to feel like a normal person again.  Besides being sick, I have been greatly enjoying my students, coworkers, and general life here in Vienna.  Tonight, since I was feeling better, I went out with my roommate, Kristi-Anna, for dinner.  After eating a scrumptious meal of potstickers, egg rolls, and teriyaki chicken with rice at the nearby Japanese restaurant (yes Mary, I was thinking about you during dinner) we ventured down the street to the local park called Prater.  The Prater reminded me a lot of the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz that I go to every summer.  There were many different carnival type games, rides, and interesting forms of entertainment.  One ride in particular caught my attention.  On the ride people are not strapped into their seats.  They are able to freely move, stand up, jump around, and dance...that is if they are able to stay up.  Hopefully the video I've included below will show a much better explaination of the ride.  It ended up being a WONDERFUL and relaxing night.  I greatly enjoyed the time spent outdoors and with the roommate.  If you want to see more info about the park, feel free to click on their website and check it out.  Enjoy a few of the pictures and videos taken tonight!

The Flower Wheel

Tagada...the ride not legal in the US (watch the video)

The famous Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel
Tagada...Now you can see why it wouldn't be allowed in the US


Watch this kid on Tagada...craziness!

Another crazy ride!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

New Stories to Share

Today two very different events took place that I would love to share with you.  The first occurred right after school.  One of my Korean parents came into my classroom and asked how I was doing.  She is the mother of my "new" student (new to ICSV this year) and incredibly kind.  After I shared that I was okay, but a little sick, she proceeded to tell me her son had mentioned I was sneezing and coughing.  In her hands was a bag of small Korean packages.  She began to explain to me, in her best English, that the bags contained tea that I could use to help fix my cold.  Slowly and lovingly she explained what I needed to do with each item and when to drink the different teas.  It touched my heart to know that she had taken the time to prepare the teas, tried her very best to speak in a language that wasn't her first language, and genuinely cared enough about me to bring me a special gift.  I will forever remember that moment and I thank God that He has given me a wonderful student's parent to touch my life.

The second event happened later in the evening.  After returning from Billa (my local grocery store) with Nicki (my buddy/friend) I began to put away the contents of my purchase (we needed to buy some additional supplies in order to eat tacos tonight).  As I began to reach into my bag to remove a head of lettuce a "surprise" jumped out at me.  A 1 1/2 inch bug (it looked like a cross between a cricket and a grasshopper) came "flying" out of the lettuce and landed on the ground nearby.  I immediately began to freak out (I'm not a fan of bugs) and I had no idea what to do.  In my mind it was to big to smash, but not small enough to get near.  Fortunately Nicki took hold of the situation by telling me to leave, smashing the bug, and erasing all evidence of it's existence.  Thankfully the night continued without any additional bug intrusions, but I still couldn't get myself to eat any of the lettuce the bug had made it's home in.

Movie Time!

My original intention was to post four different videos that I shot while exploring Vienna, but unfortunately only one was "small" enough to put onto the blog.  Once I figure out how to edit my videos, I'll add some more.  Enjoy this short video of a view of the courtyard of the winter palace.

Little bit more

The first three weeks in Vienna went by VERY quickly, but a lot happened during that time.

Week 1:
After arriving in Vienna, we (the new staff and families) were given a crash course in how to survive in our new city.  Our amazing coordinator, Tricia Klein, walked us through things such as: how to order a sandwich, what ubahn (subway) to get on in order to go from home to school (and back again), how to register with the government, what should we expect at a grocery store, etc.  All the stuff we knew from home, yet had no idea how to accomplish it here.  In addition to all our new learning, we spent many hours doing my sister's favorite thing...shopping.  Needless to say, I DESPISE shopping and it took very bit of patience I had to keep from going insane during that time.  IKEA is a wonderful place to find new things, except when you are starting from scratch and everything is written in a totally different language.  I actually got to the point where I almost cried in the IKEA parking lot from pure frustration and overwhelmness.  Thankfully God sent me an angel in the form of Chad Elwell.  Chad was buddies with my friends Rebecca and Michael Johnstone, but whenever I went shopping he was always available to help me figure out what things said, where to find certain items, etc.  A BIG thanks goes out to Rebecca and Michael for allowing me to "borrow" their amazing buddy.  On a side note, my buddy, Nicki, is amazing as well and now a very good friend, but she had to teach summer school during our excursions, so I was buddiless during that time.

Week 2:
My second week in Vienna was mainly spent on setting up my apartment (with my new roommate Kristi-Anna who had arrived by this time), new teacher training, more shopping (sad times), and getting to know some of the returning staff.  It was great to be able to spend time bonding with those around me and really start to dive into the culture.  During this week we went on a tour of the city center (approx. 8 minute walk from my apt.).  It was amazing to see all the beautiful architecture and different cultures in this area.  My favorite site was St. Stephen's Cathederal.  Both the outside and inside were BEAUTIFUL.  I took a video of the inside that I will post shortly for all to enjoy.

Week 3:
The third week was the last week before school started.  Much of my time was spent in meetings, organizing and decorating my classroom, and planning for the upcoming school year.  Normally this task brings me great joy and anticipation, but this year I found it harder to accomplish.  Every single year of my teaching experience my family has always helped me get ready for the upcoming year.  From my mom cutting stuff out and helping put stuff away, to my sisters coming down to my classroom and helping in their own special way, to going shopping with my Grandma Romberger for new supplies, the beginning of a new teaching year has always been family fun time.  I didn't have that this year and I think it made it harder to be as exciting about getting ready.  Thankfully the saddness quickly left as soon as I started meeting my kids and getting to know them.

Week 4:
Week four brought about the start of school.  On Monday morning I was up early and nervous/excited to meet my new students.  (In the upcoming newsletter I've added a description of our class, so please be sure to check it out.)  The first three days were half days, so my students were done by 11:50am.  As a new ICSV teacher it was very nice to be able to have some down time after all the stress prior to school starting.  With God's help I was able to survive and succeed the first week of school!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Kinda late, but better late than never

Sorry this update has taken so long to go out.  Since I haven't updated in a while, the post will be a long one, but I'll try to add a lot of fun details to make it more interesting.  :)

Travel to Vienna:

On Saturday, July 31st my parents and sisters took me down to the airport to see me off.  I was SO thankful they were there.  It was great to have my sisters there in order to carry ALL the luggage (4 checked bags, 2 carry-on bags).  Just kidding!  Sara and Amy helped keep my mind off the sadness that comes from leaving home.  They joked and laughed with me the entire time while driving down and waiting to check in all the luggage.  Thankfully I was at the weight that the airline required me to be under.  After checking in we met up with the Johnstones (another family going to work at the school) and spent some time chatting before heading off to security.  The good byes were difficult, but God definitely took care of me by providing others to fly with me to Vienna.

At the airport saying good-bye

Waiting to leave LAX with Justin Johnstone
My flight from LAX to London was rather uneventful.  I had a WONDERFUL window seat near the back of the plane with only one person next to me.  My seat-mate (a younger guy from Hungary) was very nice and we were able to chat a bit during meal times.  I talked about going to teach at a Christian school and he told me that he had just left Hawaii after a work conference on satellites.  One negative part of the flight is that I had a very difficult time sleeping on the plane (out of the 10 1/2 hour trip I might have slept for 45 minutes).  After arriving in London we (the Johnstones and I) sat around the airport for a few hours and eventually met up with the Overby family (another family headed for school).  I don't remember much about the flight from London to Vienna since I slept the ENTIRE 2 1/2 hours.  The one advantage to this flight is being able to sit in the emergency row.  Gotta love the leg room!

Once we arrived in Vienna the lack of sleep really started to affect me.  My brain seemed to stop functioning and simple things (such as remembering names) were no longer possible.  Upon departing the plane we (all 9 of us) made our way to the customs line.  Thankfully everyone had their paperwork and all of us were allowed into the country!


Once we were allowed in it was time to grab our luggage.  Don't know if you remember, but I brought 4 large bags and 2 carry on bags.  Thankfully European airports don't believe in charging people $5 to borrow a trolley, so all I needed to do is put an American quarter into a trolley cart and I was able to place ALL of the luggage on top (sadly I don't have a picture of this amazing feat, but there is a picture of my friend Rebecca's trolley-mine had more stuff).

Rebecca with a luggage covered trolley
After all our luggage had been accounted for (over 35 pieces) the nine of us headed out of the airport and into the welcoming arms of our welcoming committee (4 crazy guys who dressed up in some very interesting outfits...the pictures will say it all).

Thomas in his monkey suit (or is it a bear costume...I can't remember)
Who can it be...I have NO idea :)

Joe Overby and Brian
Once we were picked up from the airport the guys took us to see the school and meet some of the staff.  Sadly the rest of the night was a bit of a blur, but after many hours of traveling I was finally able to get some dinner, gnocchi, and sleep at my "buddy's" house (Nicki's flat).

More to come in the next post...

Special thanks to Michael Johnstone for letting me "borrow" some of his pictures