Christmastime is here

and so are the Luginbills :)
It's been fun hanging out with Anne's family the last few days. And they've been flex, living in an apartment with us for this time. But it's not too cramped.
So, we were going to go to a castle tonight for a Christmas eve service in German - but we opted out of that just a couple hours ago. It would take about 45 minutes - an hour to get there, would last 1.5 hours in German (not so good for some of us that speak no German), and public transportation basically doesn't run anymore past 12:30am. So, we've decided to stay here.
We just ate a yummy dinner that Anne made - black bean casserole (except it was pinto beans), thanks to Mom for the recipe. Now, I'm not sure what we're going to do - maybe watch a movie, maybe open the "family gift".
Meg has done an impressive wrapping gifts - but we're waiting to have our Christmas until the morning of the 25th. Austrian tradition is to do that on Christmas Eve.

OK, so Fröhe Weinachten to all of you!!! (Merry Christmas/Happy Christmas)

Guess Who's Coming To Town?!?!?!?!

Nope - it's not Santa. It's Bono! He and his musical gang (AKA U2) are almost for sure stopping in Vienna to put on an amazing show in the first week of July!!! I'm super excited - want to join me? It's going to be at the Ernst Happel Stadion which is only a mile or 2 from where I live!! Perfect walking distance so I don't have to try to ride the bus or something along with 50 to 70 thousand other people. 

Looky here!! It's our Christmas tree! There's even a few presents for some of our lucky viewers. All you have to do is swing by our place to pick it up. See ya then. :) 

Wierdo, I guess

Anne and I were just riding on the U-Bahn (subway). There was an older couple sitting across from us and he was looking at me in the "normal" Austrian way. Just kind of observing me - not a big deal. I was checking him out too, cause he had this interesting ear warmer thing on with a big Edelweiss flower on it. After 5 minutes or so, he said a few things to his wife which I didn't try to understand. I just noticed he had a strong Viennese dialect - which is very different than the "high German" taught in schools in Germany and Austria.
Then, 1-2 minutes before we were getting off, this guy started talking to me. Honestly, I couldn't understand really anything he was saying. Normally, I can pick up 50-75% of what people say, and at least a little if they speak the Vienna dialect. But with this guy - gar nichts (nothing at all). He started getting more and more worked up with whatever he was talking about and then was talking to me and Anne. He wasn't asking us questions, but just kept right on talking while his wife just ignored the whole situation. It became sorta funny because he just kept right on going eventhough we said nothing - just sorta nodded our head like we understood. After all that, there was a lull in his talking and it was time for us to get off the U-Bahn, so I said to Anne that we needed to get off (in German). We got off and I don't know if that guy even knew that we didn't understand what he was saying at all.
Anne and I were sorta stunned and wondered what he was saying. I told her that the only words I picked up were "explosion" and "Russia", and maybe something like "down here". He seemed pretty upset about whatever that was - maybe something to do with WWII, since Russia occupied Austria then and supposedly were not nice to the Austrians.

Maybe that whole story was boring to you, but it sure was amusing to us. :)

Why do they argue?

Those 7th graders - well not all of them... but it sure is frustrating when they do. They have little logic, and what logic they do have they over-use. Then in this case they refuse to listen and interrupt over and over. Uuuuggghh.
Ok, so that's my frustration for the day, but it's Friday and I have a couple days off! Tonight is the elementary Christmas program at VCS, and it's bound to be entertaining. Anne is leading the 3rd-5th graders in reciting Luke 2 with hand motions. :)

An Indiana Minute

Whew! I just returned home about an hour ago from spending the quickest weekend of my life in Indiana! I went home last Thursday for my friend Heather's wedding in Indianapolis. Heather and I have been friends since high school, so it was great to be a part of her big day. I stayed at my parents' house and ate a yummy Dairy Queen heath bar blizzard in my few minutes of non-wedding free time. I also hit Target, Old Navy, and the grocery for a few goodies we miss. And I saw all of my grandparents. Cool. Ooh, the blessings of America. I realized, too, how thankful I am to have the opportunity to live in Austria and teach kids, which I LOVE. Despite the things that are different and annoying, I'm excited to be back in Vienna. I think I'm moving out of the major part of the transition experience that has plagued us over this first semester. Sometimes a dose of home is good medicine. So, overall it was a great weekend, and I'm happy that I don't have to board any airplanes for a long time!