Watch out world...Baby Frank is coming!

If you can't see the blue shirt...it says "we're hungry." It was fun to wear it to school yesterday! The we're hungry shirt is 19 weeks, the green t-shirt is 18 weeks. The belly is ever-growing! Watch out world...Baby Frank is coming!

Winter is Coming with Kicks and Punches

The time changed this past weekend, signaling the approach of a stinging winter in Vienna. Ooooh. Bring out the turkeys, cookies and sprinkles, white lights, and presents! I'm ready for the holidays! Really, though, yesterday it was completely dark by 5:15 p.m. in Vienna, and we were shocked but probably shouldn't have been. It has been this way year after year here, but after long summer days our shock is still renewed.

In other news...Baby Frank has kicked its first kick and punched its first punch! I'm pretty sure that over the last few days Baby Frank has begun his or her workout routine that will supposedly continue for the next few months inside the cozy space of my belly. It feels like little hits now and then, and sometimes it feels like bubbles inside. A sensation I've clearly never felt before. Woah. Signs of life. That's really amazing.

Smart Car

We just had a 4 day weekend since it's Fall Break for VCS. Anne and I went to Guntramsdorf - the town where I used to live - and stayed at the International Teams hospitality house. It was amazing weather, inexpensive, and relaxing. Plus - we rented a SMART CAR!! Those things are so cool - and it actually didn't feel cramped or anything inside. It has a sort of manual/automatic transmission.

Anne Frank in Holland

So yeah, Anne is going to leave me for a few days. Sad.
But as I was reading what she wrote, I had a thought. It might seem to you that "Woah!! She's going to Holland just for a conference! Dang, it must be nice to do crazy travelling like that!" Or maybe something else along those lines.

Well, from a European perspective, it's not quite as big of a deal. It's more like saying I'm going to a conference just outside of Denver, Colorado. Cool, maybe. Awesome if you love the Broncos. But otherwise, it's not THAT big of a deal. It's a little more like that for Europe - lots of countries that aren't so big, close together. Oh yeah, and the school is paying for it. :)

So, there's my 2 cents.

National Holiday in Oesterreich

Today is a National Holiday in Austria. 50 years ago today the Russian, American, British, and French occupation officially left Austria and Austria became it's own free republic since before World War 2. It was an exciting day for Austrians. John Foster Dulles was one of the 2 American representatives who signed the treaty giving freedom to Austria at the Upper Belvedere Palace on October 26, 1955. Most Austrians are not particularly patriotic, but today they'll celebrate with a military parade around the city's Ringstrasse, which means Ring Road, and I believe that some Russian soldiers are coming to pay their respects. Chris and I are going to check it out after our work day at school. Congrats to Austria!

Trip to Holland!

Good news! I was asked by my principal to attend a conference put on by the European Council of International Schools with four other V.C.S. staff members in Holland in a few weeks. I'm so excited for this professional opportunity to learn more about international education and bring it back to the others. I will be attending workshops and seminars primarily focused on elementary education, curriculum development, and student learning. The conference is in The Hague, which is close to Amsterdam, and I think we'll have one whole day to check it out, which is fun. Here are some links for those of you who are interested in more information about the conference or The Hague.
www.ecis.org
www.denhaag.com
I'll keep you posted in a few weeks on what I learn:).

Photos from Fall Festival

Fall Festival at VCS

This last Friday was a really fun annual event at VCS...Fall Festival. It's a night when families and teachers come together and we play all kinds of games and enjoy yummy treats from all over the world. I'm loving the international food aspect of living here. Not too long ago I went to an Indian cooking class put on by some Indian moms at our school. Ohhh, yummy. I'm inspired to branch out in my cooking skills.
Anyway, at Fall Festival all the choirs and bands perform, and some elementary kids too. There's a raffle for the Library to earn money to buy German and Reference books, and the prize is a fully equipped Thanksgiving basket. I can't even imagine the value it has, turkey included! We didn't win...bummer. There's also a Student Council Pie in the Face contest, where people put money in jars with teachers' names on them. The jar with the most money in it requires that the teachers whose names are on it get pied! Chris was pied last year, but this year he didn't win. The pies were still extremely funny, though!
That's about it from Fall Festival. I helped paint faces for kids, and Chris roamed around and did security since he's on the Administration Team this year with his new job. It was a really fun night! The photos above are from that night:).

16 week portrait of Baby Frank :)

So we visited Dr. Husslein last Wednesday to get our latest portrait of Baby Frank. Exciting! Sorry the portrait is kinda fuzzy, but here's how to navigate it. The head is at the bottom in the center-rightish area. As you curve around up and to the left, you see the lit up spine. That's really amazing. In another shot we have you can see each individual vertebrae. As you curve up more you get to the butt, then around is the upper leg, and then the shin bone is pointing straight up. I guess it's the left side? Yeah. Another fun fact: Dr. Husslein says that every baby always has something that grows faster so it's bigger through development than other parts. He likes to watch what will be bigger in each baby, and in Baby Frank, the FEET are big! He lauged about it on Wednesday, and told me that this will even out with the rest of the growth by April 1st. Maybe Baby Frank is destined to be a soccer player with fancy footwork? Hope so!

Anne & Sophie

Anne & Sophie on the observation deck at the Donauturm. Sophie was born in Austria, but her mom is Austrian and her dad is Egyptian. He is a missionary full time, and travels to Arabic speaking countries to spread the Gospel. It's a cool thing. Sophie's mom is pregnant with their fifth child, and is due a month before me. Sophie is the oldest of four girls right now. Wow, that's a houseful! Funny story...Sophie asked me to explain sex to her a while ago. She had read some article about it in a church magazine and was wondering why a man might want to force this girl to have sex if he didn't want a baby. It was a really interesting conversation, to say the LEAST. Wow. Fourth graders really think!

Girls:)

These are some third and fourth grade girls on the observation deck of the Donauturm. They were freezing, but they had fun!

Donauturm field trip

My class visited this tower, the Donauturm, yesterday on a field trip. We rode the lift 150 meters to the observation deck and observed a lot of Vienna and the surrounding areas. This tower is just next to the Donau, or the Danube River, that runs through Vienna. The Austrian government requires that all children in school in Austria learn about Austrian history, culture, geography, etc., so we have a special teacher for this each Monday. Her name is Brigitte Condell, and she and her husband actually went to the U2 concert with Chris this past summer. She's Austrian and her husband is Irish. They're great people, and she is completely a volunteer at our school. No money. No support. Just giving. That's it. Oh yeah, there's a revolving restaurant on the top of the tower, and they have a special deal going on now so Chris and I made reservations for Christmas time. Fun!

16 Week Baby Facts

Well...I've been searching on babycenter.com over the past few days, and I've learned a few interesting things about our 16 week old baby.
1. He or she can hear sound now, not just vibrations, since the ears are close to fully developed, so Chris is prepping the iPod with Crispy's hits so the baby can learn early about U2, Lenny Kravitz, Ben Folds, and other of dad's favorite bands.
2. He or she is 4.5 inches long and weighs about 3.5 ounces. Imagine an avocado in my stomach.
3. His or her heart is pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and that's suppose to increase to 190 by month 9!
4. Toe nails are starting to form this week.
I think that's about it for now. I've really loved babycenter.com because they email me and say, "Hi, Anne, you're 16 weeks pregnant. Here are some things you should know this week." Then it is really great to find out about everything from clothes to healthy snacks to birthing videos. I'm not so anxious about those videos, yet:).
We're going to the doctor on Wednesday, so stay tuned for more information about Baby Frank!

Pulling Out My Hair

Not literally. I feel like it some days, though. Uggh. My student teacher has officially taken over my classroom this week, and she'll be fully in charge until November 17th. I'm stuck in this tension between being involved to advise and make sure the kids are still learning and I also need to be disconnected some so Elizabeth can have time to herself, experiment, do it her style. But it's making me crazy. I literally have 4 weeks with NOTHING to do at school. I've been getting jobs from other teachers, making games for them, laminating, or searching for information on the internet, but it's not teaching, which is why I'm here. So I'm stuck, and pulling my hair out. I'd rather be in or out. Not in between. I heard today that's a characteristic of my personality type according to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test. I'm and ESFJ, and something that comes with it is an all or nothing mentality. I'm definitely that. And right now I'm not all or nothing. It stinks.

Picture of the Day

It's been a while since I've done one of these (a Picture of the Day, not a tatoo, silly). Now what you have to ask yourself is:
1. Is this considered a concealed weapon?
2. Do you feel lucky?

Well..... do ya?

Might Sound Boring to you

So, as I'm starting to get used to my new job as the business manager, I'm having a little time here and there that I can work on stuff that isn't urgent. That can be kinda fun for me. One example is that I've changed a couple forms that people use regularly. Usually a few times a day, various teachers and staff come into my office and cash a US check with me. It's a service we do for them to save some time, hassle, and money in exchanging money to Euros. They write a US check to the school and I give them Euros in cash or I transfer Euros to their Austrian bank account. Anyhow, the little form that they fill out to do this is old and confusing. I've fixed it up to make it simple and included the new school logo too. :)
Honestly, that was pretty fun for me to do. There still are another 5 or 10 forms I plan to do in time.

A little more skin than before!!

Visually Speaking

Budapest

I'm probably going there tomorrow with the volleyball team (as a coach). It's about a 3 hour drive to the international school there. But there's a chance the game will be cancelled because of injuries and some of the girls not getting visas to be able to go into Hungary. Citizens of the US have it pretty easy in most countries, but some citizens of other countries have to do a lot of work to be able to go into another country.

I'm kinda hoping I won't have to go, honestly. It'd be nice to get ahead on some projects in the office - wow that sounds so desk-jobish. Hmmm....I guess that's what I have. Speaking of, I've been thinking about working on an MBA. It'd help my with my job, give me good training for whatever in the future, and VCS would pay for it (I'm pretty sure). Seems like IU would be the natural choice - for location and since Kelley School of Business is a top business school from what I've heard. Top of what? Top of the pile of spaghetti? Top of old smokey? Top of the world?

Something like that.

Peeping Toms

So, we've had construction going on to our building for about a year. Some days it's been frustrating - like the days when they seemed to be dropping 50 pound metal bars right above our bedroom at 7am on a Saturday, or when they covered all of our windows with a thick plastic and duct tapped all the edges down. Prison-like? You decide.
Anyhow - one of the funner things about all of this is the fact that they have scaffolding around the entire building. This past week, there have been guys out there sanding the entire building (made of stone I think) and now they're doing painting preparations. The funny part is seeing guys RIGHT outside our windows. Plus we live on the 4th floor and these guys are yelling and singing in Kosovar or Macedonian or some Baltic language.

We are: low on privacy, high on entertainment.

There we go!

So, we finally got the picture to load correctly!
OK, so she's been getting a little more hungry than normal. Snacks are important, of course, but the size of the snacks are needing to be bigger. Interesting thing is, though, that as of her last doctor appointment, she hadn't gained any weight. According to the doc, it's no problem. He says don't eat for two and exercise and almost act like nothings different. He's really laid back and it helps relax us too. :)

14 Weeks

I'm not sure why, but the picture won't load right now. You'll just have to wait and trust me that it looks like Anne has a plate stuck in her belly.

Showing

Anne is.

I'm going to take a picture right now. :)

Solomon's Wisdom

So Chris and I decided to lead a bible study this year for some of our fellow staff. We did this in Bloomington, too, and really enjoyed doing it, so we're taking it on again. So far we've met a few times and we're studying Ecclesiastes. Our goal is to open the Bible, read it, and talk about it. It's just a simple time to come and eat and talk. Honestly, I thought the book was all about wisdom, and how things are meaningless! There is much more to be learned, as we've noticed over the past few weeks. We're also making dinner for them, too, which is a huge blessing especially to those who are coaching high school sports who make it to our place just in time after practice. I LOVE being able to do this for people, and Chris is doing a great job guiding our study through the Bible. Stay tuned for more:).

Letting Go

I'm learning of this process as I watch Elizabeth, my student teacher, take over my fourth grade class gradually. Right now she is teaching Bible and in charge of all the procedural things including lining kids up in the hallway and taking them to special classes like music. Next week, though, she takes over math, and then science and language arts. Then she'll be the full time teacher and I won't be needed anymore. Wow! Part of that sounds really enticing...what will I do all day long? Email many of you! Part of me, though, is already sad at this idea of losing contact with my students even if it is for only a few weeks. Hmm. I'm learning that letting go and letting someone else take over what I thought was "my" domain is harder than I thought. How can I teach Elizabeth to care for those kids' hearts like I do? How can I teach her to be creative and be sensitive to the kids' learning styles and quirkyness that allows them to succeed? These are questions I've been asking myself recently, and I come up with nothing. A healthy tension between Elizabeth and me needs to exist where she can function freely within my classroom boundaries. Yikes! I need to let her fail sometimes, reflect on her progress, make mistakes, and succeed, because someone did that for me not too long ago. It's just a hard thing to watch and I'm not to the point yet where I'm thankful this has come my way this semester. I've been reading Ecclesiastes for the past few weeks on the U-Bahn in the mornings on my way to school, and one piece of wisdom Solomon discovered in his life was that people come and go and are replaced. Such is life, people are dispensable. So how can I do my job well and still know that someone else could and probably will someday do it better than me? Tough questions to ponder. And with Baby Frank coming next spring, I will face this issue of letting go once again on a grander scale. Maybe God is prepping me for the next step. Letting go of teaching, for a while at least, for something He wants me to invest my time into. Wow. That's big. All for now!

Shelley Comes to Town

It was almost as good as Santa Claus coming to town! Our good friend Shelley came to Vienna last weekend. She just earned a Master's Degree in Counseling from Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle, WA, and treated herself to a vacation! We spent a few days in Vienna shopping, eating, and hanging out. She met a lot of our friends here from VCS, and then on Sunday she boarded a train to Switzerland. Bye, Shelley!

The latest Baby Picture

So, this little baby inside Anne's belly is 6 or 7 cm long now. I think that's 3 or 4 inches. Pretty amazing. We saw him/her moving his/her arms and stuff all by him/herself. Wow - that's a pain to type it all politically correct. It's easier to use it until we really know.
By the way, our doctor couldn't tell yet if it's a boy or girl yet.
Next month :)

Windy Words

The US national soccer team recently beat Mexico 2-0 in Ohio. This is matchup between two pretty serious rivals, so you can be sure the smack talk was flying.
The win for the US qualified them for the World Cup next year in Germany, while Mexico has yet to qualify. Even after being shut out, Mexico's coach Ricardo Lavolpe said, "The US is a small team. They play like my sister, my aunt, and my grandmother."

Maybe he should recruit some women from his family since they seem to be good enough to beat his national team.

Back to the 80's

Anne, Andie, and Becky decked out in their

80's outfits for a friend's birthday party!

All Are Accounted For, Sir

This is the 4A gang this year at V.C.S. All are accounted

for, healthy, and ready for a great year:). Today was a

great day, and we're ready to roll!

New Year, New Kids, New Student Teacher

Above you see 6 of my 10 fourth graders this year, and our student teacher, Elizabeth. The first day of school she taught a lesson about maps and did an activity with the kids about where they are from. It was really great! She'll be a great addition to our classroom this fall. The kids are so far great, too. I'm going to need them to be a little louder, though! I'm used to a bunch of boys, so this is quite a change. Hopefully the missing four will arrive soon, too. Selyn has the chicken pox, Rina came today, and Adanna and Maryam are not coming until some payment issues have been resolved. So, my class is ever growing. It's fun to only have a few kids, though. They're so much fun to be around.
Just some background, here's the info from left to right:
Lydia, from Austria
Glory, from India
Elizabeth, from Canada and Sweden
Sophie, from Egypt and Austria
Noah, from the USA
Kevin, from India
Elizabeth, (student teacher) from the USA but lived in Peru and Ecuador for 16 years, so yes, she's fluent in Spanish. Wow.
That's all from fourth grade for now!

First Belly Shot

So, this is the 8 and a half week belly. I'm almost 10 weeks now. It's a little bigger now, but I'm still wearing my regular clothes. Lucky for me! I'll keep updating the photos...stay tuned!

A Picture can be worth MORE than a thousand words...

Well, we can't just leave it at that. :) We have a baby on the way and here are the facts:
The baby is due April 1st (that's not a joke).
We want to find out if it's a boy or a girl whenever the doctor can tell.
We don't have any names yet.
We're going to have the baby here in Vienna.
Anne hasn't been very sick.
Anne doesn't care if it's a boy or a girl, but Chris kinda wants a boy.

How's THAT for good news?!?!?!

New Kids on the Block

This might seem a bit overdue...

On August 1st, 9 new V.C.S. staff arrived in Vienna. They jumped off the plane and have hit the ground running, and just hearing about it takes me back to last year when we did the exact same thing. New apartment, new city, new furniture, new ways of doing EVERYTHING, new friends, new language, etc. You can imagine. But this year their transition has gone amazingly well, and they are all hanging in there. They are all really great, and seem like a really outgoing group. They already love hanging out together and with all of our staff. It's interesting now that we've been here a year. Everything that is new to the new staff isn't new to us anymore, and we're REALLY thankful. Coming back from the U.S. this summer was like going back to your sophomore year of college from a summer at home. We quickly resettled and now feel like we have both feet on solid ground and we know more what we're doing. It's a great feeling.

Too Much Talking!

No, not from my fourth graders, because they haven't arrived yet. I have been the one doing too much talking. Whew! This year, as most of you know, a girl from Trinity International University, Elizabeth, is doing her student teaching requirement in my class at V.C.S. She has been here two weeks now, and we have spent every waking teaching moment together. Wow, there is so much to explain to someone who hasn't taught before. She's eager, ambitious, and willing to take on new tasks, but it's taking all I have to plow through all this information that normally just stays inside my head.
Also this year, since the fourth grade class grew, there is another fourth grade teacher, Tricia. She's from Santa Barbara, CA, and is more experienced than me. Shouldn't she be having the student teacher? Go figure. Anyway, the three of us have been talking, talking, talking so much, and today I hit my limit! Yikes! I need to listen, listen, listen from now on.
So school starts on Thursday, and we have half days Thursday and Friday. The full deal begins on Monday. I'm really looking forward to this year with new students and a new atmosphere. Please pray that Elizabeth, Tricia, and I can develop a good relationship and that the transitions between me and Elizabeth teaching would go smoothly. Thanks!

So, this is us just after the wedding we went to yesterday. Behind us is the Hofburg - the winter palace of the Hapbsburg family that used to rule Austria for a long time. Pretty fancy schmancy, huh?

Austrian Wedding

Anne and I are going to the first wedding we've ever been to in Austria. There's not much time cause we have to get all spiffied up. It's going to be in downtown Vienna right next to the palace where the Hapsburgs lived - in a church that is something like 800 years old. Very cool :)

Later tonight, there is a cookout at school - a back to school party kind of thing. All of the staff will be back from the summer and we'll all get to hang out, officially welcome the new staff, and eat a roasted pig!! Some of the guys are really excited about that - cooking an entire pig on a special kind of grill for that. And......... some of the ladies aren't so excited :)

Just had an idea - I should take a couple pictures of my new office and post them. I haven't really decorated yet, but in time I will. It's been busy learning this new job but I really like it. Now I know my official title - Business Manager. I'm not part of the administration yet, so CFO wouldn't work.

We got 'em!!!!

There's this small but important thing that everyone has to apply for when they stay in Austria for more than 90 days. No, it's not college. And it's not a loan. It's a visa! Well, we applied in February and were told that visas weren't being given out, but since we are Americans they would just overlook us. Maybe a year or 2 or 3 later we could get a visa. That makes life difficult in a few different ways.
Well, we are now a part of the avalanche of people from VCS that are getting their visas. We just got ours today!! That's a great thing and an answer to prayer. There was even this large man just inside the main door of the building where we got our visas that greeted us and asked us what we needed and where to go. He was really nice - and you'd have to know the Austrian culture to know how TOTALLY STRANGE it was for him to do that. Customer service is just not very important here. Plus I've been to quite a few of these buildings and other similar places and there is NEVER someone at the door to help, let alone a friendly helpful one.

WOOOWZERS!!!

Oden

So this is our last night in Oden, Michigan. It's been a great 2 weeks here at the Schindler Cottage. We've gone water skiing, walking, swogging (swimming-jogging), riding wave runners, gone on boat trips, ran in a 5K in Mackinac City, ate tons of good food, slept in, watched a few movies, played bocce on the grass, played pier ball, built the Gynie Gate Bridge, went shopping, etc. The list just goes on and on. It's hard to explain how ultra cool this place is, but it just is.

It's kinda sad that we're leaving tomorrow, but we have a few things to take care of before we fly back to Vienna on Sunday. We arrive Monday morning and I might actually work half a day to keep myself awake. We'll see.
Gotta love jumping from one world/county/language to another.

The Mitchell Street Band

So, I wanted to wait to write an entry about Mitchell Street Band until I heard them with my own ears. My brother, Mike, is the lead singer in this band I've been hearing about for months. The five guys in the band are from Bloomington, Indiana. They have a jazzy rock sound, and they're REALLY GREAT! We've seen them three times, and each time has been awesome. They sing original songs and some covers that you'd recognize but aren't the normal ones. Some Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers, Maroon 5, etc. They're now getting gigs in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, which is pretty amazing.
So I write all this to tell you that they may be coming to YOUR city, and you should consider checking them out.
This Wednesday in Indianapolis, they're the opening band for the Spin Doctors. An old band, yes, but they just came out with a new album that they're touring with I guess.
The last thing I wanted to mention is their website: www.mitchellstreetband.com
Go to it, find out about upcoming shows and get some free downloads of their original songs. Keep in mind that they've made the songs a little more funky now, so it will sound different live. If you go, please let us know how it was, and maybe we can hook them up in your city again. Just a sister trying to make her brother's band more successful...maybe. Enjoy!

Weekend in Bloomington

We just spent last weekend in Bloomington, Indiana, the town where we used to live. We hung out with friends and explored the new things that have arrived since our departure. One favorite thing we did was to visit Jiffy Treet, the local ice cream place within walking distance from our old apartment. Mmmmm, it's the only place that REALLY makes a good chocolate chocolate chip shake for Chris. They use the chocolate sauce that hardens quickly to make chunks of chocolate in the shake. He LOVES it. We loved being in Bloomington, and if we hung out with you there, thanks for making time. We appreciate it, and we look forward to the next visit!

PARTY TONIGHT

So if you're within driving distance of Indianapolis, you should come to a little party we're having tonight. We're going to have dinner (BBQ pulled pork and chicken, some desserts made by Anne, etc!), show a short video of our apartment and school in Vienna, and give you a Leckerbissen (tasty treat) from Austria. Hopefully you like chocolate or coffee because we don't have too many things that aren't chocolate or coffee.

So, we'd love to see you. By the way, this is not any kind of fundraiser, we just want you to have the chance to get a little taste of Vienna and our lives there.

Wir freuen uns auf Ihren Besuch!

More on the U2 concert

Here's a link to u2.com's review of the show I was at. Too bad there's no pictures. But there is on this blog!!

U2 Pictures

Check it out!! I was even closer than it seems in these pictures. My pals doing a little concert in Wien. Shoulda' come with me (that includes you, Kelsey).

WOWZERS!! AMAZING!!

I went to the U2 concert here in Vienna last night along with at least 50,000 other people. It was pretty much unreal. I was about 9 people deep from the very front where Bono was in the middle of the stage so I had a really good view! I'll attach a couple pictures soon.

Down to the O-town

Today we went down south of Vienna to the Oasis. The Oasis is the place Chris worked a few years ago with International Teams. He spent two years helping out refugees who came to Vienna for many reasons from all over the world. I spent a summer doing the same thing, which is how we met. Anyway...

Today we went down there to help with a program they do called Clothing Room. It's basically where refugees come and take a number. While they're waiting for their number to be called, they are served free coffee and tea, and they have the chance to just talk to people. When their numbers are called, they go back to the closet called the clothing room, and they may choose four or five pieces of clothing that has been donated by churches in the U.S., Austrians, and others. After they leave the clothing room, they are given some small goodies that differ each week. Today it was coffee, a chocolate bar, and a small travel bar of soap. They also received some literature about God in their own language. Whew! It's an all day process, but definitely worth it. Often, refugees don't understand why someone would ever give them anything for free. It sparks questions and relationships. That's cool.

So today we helped out. I passed out the coffee, chocolate, and soap, and literature. Chris talked to many African men out on the front porch, and some of the time he helped the men choose clothing appropriate for them. Today was men's day for the clothing room. If I tried to talk to the men, they usually wanted my phone number and asked for a ticket home with me to the U.S. Perfect! I'm not interested. So, I kept my conversations with those guys short.

It's great to be able to help out with a ministry that we don't do every day. It gives the people who do it every day a break. We're happy to help:).

Dance Party for One

Our apartment has hardwood floors, and if you wear slippers or socks, it makes a great dance floor. So, last night I took my house shoes (cheap slippers that everyone has here) and my iPod shuffle, and made my own dance party, just for me. It was so much fun! While Chris fiddled around on the computer, I was danced around our apartment to a variety of fun music and no one heard a thing, except for my singing:). Hehe. I even did the electric slide, and a dance that my old roommates and I made up. I highly recommend this activity.

United Nations

Anne and I and a friend Heidi went to the United Nations European headquarters today. We went on a tour. It's made up of some really funky buildings that all interconnect. Check it out right here.
We got to see the conference rooms where they have the meetings with the 6 main languages being translated in various attached rooms. All pretty cool looking. It seems like the division they are most proud of and is maybe has the most security in the UN there is the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency).
We learned some interesting facts about the UN - how many countries are members (192 I think), the exceptions to that, the rules of some law about not doing atomic testing they they are trying to promote (41 of 44 countries have signed in agreement), etc. That was one of the more interesting facts - that with this atomic treaty thing, that all 44 countries that have the ability to make/use atomic weapons must sign. So the 3 of the 44 countries that haven't signed yet are India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Hmmm.... adds a little more depth to the things going on in international news.

Hey Detroit!!

How does second place feel??

Hoffest

Tonight was the Robertgasse Hoffest...a party in the courtyard for everyone who lives in our building. It was great! The best thing about it was that we spoke German the whole time. This class is really paying off, especially for me. Chris usually does pretty well, but tonight I felt victory!
We met an Austrian couple, Sabina and Hermann, who run a business that works with Austrian schools and sports. They wanted to know all the best places to visit in the U.S. We then talked with a Japanese woman, Junko, who has lived in Vienna for 20 years. She teaches piano at the Vienna Music University, and we gathered that she must be REALLY good. After that we met our Hungarian neighbor, Zita. She is pregnant and due in August. I found out she really likes to run and cook, just like me!
It was really good to be around lots of different people and feel like we really are living here. We're beginning to build relationships with people outside of V.C.S., and learn more about the community in Vienna. That's a really cool thing. I'm happy we decided to stay here most of our summer.
Sidenote: I had another conversation tonight with the Indian guy, Olikara, in my German class. He taught me how to make one of his favorite Indian recipes. I wrote it all down. I'm SO excited. He told me not to hold him responsible, though, if it doesn't work. Hehe:). And, I learned that curry is really a generic word in India, used to describe dishes made with Indian spices. Curry powder is just made up of a bunch of other Indian spices, like the ones I've been cooking with. So, I continue to learn new things each day. How fun!

Lange Nacht der Musik

This past Saturday was the Long Night of Musik in Vienna. It's a night where you pay 12 Euros and you gain entrance into over 100 concerts in the city between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. We ventured out around 7 and first we saw some jazz. We then went on to hear a really loud rock band, and on the way we watched a man playing 27 water glasses with a guitar accompaniment. It was pretty amazing! We then saw four elementary age boys playing stomp-like music on trash cans, ladders, and xylophones. Again...amazing. After that we went to the Wiener Musikverein and heard a concert called "Strings Meet Blues." Aside from the really cool concert hall it was held in, the music was great. We heard Eric Clapton, Jimmy Hendrix, Deep Purple, and other cover music played by professional Viennese musicians. After that, we grabbed some ice cream and heard little more jazz before calling it a night. Whew!

Flip a Coin Game

Tonight we played a new game! Before that, though, I experimented with Indian cooking. I made Dry Chicken Curry, and it was successful! I never imagined how many different spices go into one tasty Indian dish. I went to the Nashmarkt today to investigate. I bought garam masala (a common Indian spice mixture), curry leaves, and turmeric. I also used chili powder, garlic, cumin, and freshly grated ginger. It was so much fun. Our friend Heidi came over for dinner, too. She's here for the next two weeks before her vacation home, so we've been hanging out.

Now on to our new game. We decided tonight after dinner that we'd go to the O strassenbahn stop near our apartment building. We flipped a coin. Heads meant we'd ride it right, and tails meant we'd ride it left. We then rode until the next possible stop where we could switch to another strassenbahn. We then flipped a coin again. Heads we stay on, tails we get off. We did this for two hours in Vienna, and we experienced some new parts of the city! We took pictures along the way. You never know what teachers will do with free time:). Scroll down!

During our journey, we stopped to admire the Votiv Kirche (church) in Vienna.  

Chris is pondering the maps of the D and the 2 strassenbahns during our journey.  

Chris and Heid flipping a coin to decide which direction on the strassenbahn we'll take next!  

In the driver's seat, Part 2

Well, the day wasn't too interesting - except for this one huge gigantic monsterous answer to prayer. There are a bunch of students at our school whose parents work for the Nigerian embassy here. There have been some financial problems with their embassy and they haven't been able to pay a lot of their school bills. Well, I just happened to receive a phone call from the Nigerian embassy today (rookie CFO boy that I am). They said they now can and are paying everything they owe. Let me just say it is a HUGE DEAL and a big answer to prayer for Vienna Christian School. I feel like I just showed up and picked up the phone.

BOOM!

In the driver's seat

So, now that the school year is over, I've had a few days to spend with Gary. Gary is the current CFO at VCS (love those acronyms!) who is training me. Well, on Monday he said I was in the driver's seat while he roamed around and helped me out with questions. Well, he had the chance to leave for the US early, so he did. Today. So today I was truly in the driver's seat. It went pretty well. The highlights were that I bought paint for the guys that are going to re-carpet and re-paint my new office and that I interviewed a potential student and his parents. I just basically talked to them about the financial aspects of enrolling in VCS. I think it went fine - and the dad actually went to Miami of OH and lived in Luxembourg for a while - another Miami of OH connection there (double yay for Anne!).
So tomorrow will continue the adventures of Crispy in the driver's seat. I might even blog about it if something interesting happens.

Mike (3rd grade teacher), Kiseok, Kiju, Kathleen (5th grade teacher), and Anne at our farewell dinner. 

Chinese with Koreans

This weekend we had a great opportunity to have Chinese food with the Kim family. Kiseok and his brother Kiju have been at V.C.S. the past two years because their dad is a diplomat to the Korean Embassy. They recently found out they are moving back to Korea in July, so this was our farewell dinner. Kiseok was in my class this past year, and Kiju was in fifth grade. This was the third dinner this family has taken us out to, which shows their generosity! Things like this are just like a cherry on top of a super tasty ice cream sundae!
Here's just a few of Mr. Kim's jokes...
~We must have fruit tonight, because if not our night would be fruitless!
~Any time you come to Korea, we can have a Seoul Train!
We'll miss his kids...and his humor:).

Paper Airplane

I am reading a book by Max Lucado entitled "It's Not About Me." As I was reading last night I was struck with a powerful illustration that I actually used when communicating my final words to my fourth graders today, on our last day of school.

Lucado posed this question: How are YOU and a paper airplane alike or different? Would you challenge the airplane to a game of one one one? Would you play a spelling game with it? Would you have a spitball contest with the plane?

The answer is of course not, but the point is this. We are infinitely more powerful than the plane, and it has no control or influence over us. We'd beat it hands down.

Lucado then explained that in light of the stark difference between us and paper airplanes, God is infinitely different than us. Why, then, do we try to compare ourselves to Him or what His hand has fashioned? Why, then, don't we seek to just know Him more? Instead, we think of what we can get from Him if we do this or that. How will we fare in this circumstance? If only God would rig it my way.

My whole point in saying this is is to challenge you to meditate on God's power. God is to you as you are to the paper airplane. Make sense?

We can try to compare ourselves to God, or even try to live life without Him, but when the rubber meets the road, we have no chance.

Huts in the Wild

So I'm taking a German class for the month of June at the Deutsch Akademie in Vienna. I am one of two Americans, the other being the 5th grade teacher at V.C.S. We signed up together. The other seven students are from Bulgaria, India, Romania, Hungary, and Sweden. Often the teacher, Eva, asks us to talk to the person sitting next to us in German. So tonight I talked with Olikara, who is from India. He had some interesting things to say...

He told me that the U.S. is the #1 country in the world because we name our winds. When a massive, damaging wind moves across the U.S., the expert meteorologists name it Hurricane Andrew, Typhoon George, you get my point. Olikara says that the reason people in the U.S. do this is because there are already enough people in the country to make it function well that the other people need to have something to do with their time. Hence, they become an expert on something, like meteorolgy, or my favorite, naming wind. He believes that the U.S. draws all the brilliant professionals from the world to live and work because there is opportunity for them to become educated and apply what their skill. I deduct that in most countries, this is not possible, and therefore most people prioritize their time to accomplish daily tasks that allow the country to merely function. Maybe India is this way?

I had never thought of this before Olikara mentioned it tonight during our pause (pow suh), or break, in German class. Is this true? What do you think? I am thankful to be a teacher, and even more thankful that I had the opportunity to pursue a degree I desired. Much of the world is not this way.

Lastly, he told me that the people from years, back, meaning Native Americans, who inhabited the U.S. before the white Europeans took over, don't participate in this phenomenon in the U.S. They're still living in huts in the wild!

Hilarious:).

Tick Shot?

I just received my second tick shot of the season. Yes, tick shot. Since much of Austria is the Wienerwald, meaning Vienna Woods, people are concerned about Lime's Disease here, which is acquired from ticks in the woods. So, as new V.C.S. staff members, we are required to receive this stick in the arm. The tick shots come in a series of three. The first, then the second a month later, then the third a year after that. I'm due for my third next June. For now, I hope I'm protected from ticks!

Nice combo of English and German, eh? 

Here's Anne and some of the other women folk who ran in the half marathon around the lake at Halstatt. Way to go ladies! 

Where'd you go?

To the funny farm.


OK, so nothing's been added recently. No excuses really - just haven't done it. Oh wait, I have a good one, our hard drive broke and had to be replaced. That's actually true. :)

So, we only have something like 9 days of school left! Yipppeeee!! Summer should be great. We're going to take a German class during June, do a few things to help prepare for the new staff coming in August, go to the U2 concert in July, and visit the USA for a few weeks. Most of that time we'll be in Michigan for a family reunion. But there will be a time for visiting but I'm not sure what day yet. Somewhere around mid July when you can come over to Bob and Meg's in Indianapolis, see a few pictures, remember what we look like, and maybe score on a little Austrian chocolate or something.

And since it's bed time right now, I'll just mention the other news - next year I (Chris) am going to have a new job at Vienna Christian School. Instead of teaching I'm going to be the finance dude. I think the official name is business manager or CFO - which sounds pretty big and intimidating. I'm really looking forward to it though. More on that another time.

Guten Nacht

faith comes by hearing

I've recently been challenged by this verse...

Romans 10:17 Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

I want to grow in my depth of scripture so my faith will be strengthened. Then I will be able to see the things that God is doing in my students' lives, in my life, and in the lives of people around me. I've also been challenged to not just read the Bible to "study" it, but to just soak it in. To read and put the pieces together like a huge puzzle that is ever-growing.

Quotes from Fourth Graders

Here are some quotes from my precious fourth graders. They never cease to amaze me with their innocence and vulnerability. I have always only heard of kids saying things like this, but it's real in my class. I believe it now! I just prayed with my good friend Jana this morning that we would have the faith to see the things God is doing in our students, and that he would show us how worth it it is to teach kids about having a relationship with Jesus. Read on...

"God has to have better technology than we do, because our highest thought is not even as good as his lowest." Nathan

"I'm not really sure I'm a Christian. How can I know for sure?" Benedict

"I think that being a non-believer sounds really fun. You can argue and you won't know that sinning is wrong." Kiseok

"I have so may questions about the Bible. It's so weird to believe." Benedict

"I think God doesn't want me to have all the things I want because they might not be good for me." Wulf

I just added a link over on the right called "bruderhof". You might want to check it out. I was just referred to it by some friends here. We've been meeting together and talking about what does it mean to have "church". The people in bruderhof seem to have a very unique and Jesus-centered idea of community. Very interesting. :)

I've joined the dark side...

how about you???

Psalm 115

I just spent some needed time alone with God. It was good because I was reminded that his spirit is always with me. I have struggled with my attitude, feeling overwhelmed, selfish, feeling like I fall short, etc. over the past 8 months. This just felt like a much needed encouragement. I remembered a song I haven't sung in a long time based on Psalm 115. The words are:

Not unto us, not unto us

But to your name be all the glory and the praise

Because of your love and faithfulness

Be all the glory and the honor

All the worship and praise

All our deepest adoration

To your holy name we raise

All reverence and devotion

All blessing and power

Not to us but to your holy name be praise.

Thanks God, for sticking with me.

Not too long ago, Crispy was "Mystery Reader" for the 2nd grade class. He looked like this as he read the book "I know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." They couldn't figure out who he actually was. Yes!!! 

Please Pray

I've been given a great opportunity in a relationship I have with a 7th grade student of mine. It's probably not necessary, but I'm going to call him Ronald instead of using his real name. Ronald is from a Muslim family but has been going to VCS for a few years. He's met with a few different teachers over the years to talk about the Bible, God, faith, etc. Well, he's asked to meet with me recently. Today was the 3rd time, during lunch.

He has great thinking questions, many based on what he's been taught or read about in a booklet he has that compares Islam and Christianity from a Muslim perspective. He asked me to read it over the next week or 2, so I plan to do that. Then we can discuss more things.

Today he also told me that he is stuck in the middle of Christianity and Islam. He hears a lot from both sides, but says he truly wants to know the truth. He also said every time he prays, he starts with asking God to show him what the right way is and that God would show everyone in the world the right way.

So please pray with me for "Ronald" and myself as I read this book and interact with him on these things. Dankeschoen!!!!!

Interesting Perspectives

There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black
1. He called everyone "brother". 2. He liked Gospel. 3. He couldn't get a fair trial.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish
1. He went into His Father's business. 2. He lived at home until he was 33. 3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his mother was sure he was God.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian
1. He talked with his hands. 2. He had wine with every meal. 3. He used olive oil.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian
1. He never cut his hair. 2. He walked around barefoot all the time. 3. He started a new religion.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish
1. He never got married. 2. He was always telling stories. 3. He loved green pastures.

But the most compelling evidence of all--- 3 proofs that Jesus was a woman
1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food. 2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it. 3. And even when he was dead, He had to get up because there was more work to do.

Change of Plans

Well, I'm no longer going to be playing the piano for the musical Seussical. I'm a little bummed because I thought it would be a lot of fun. Turns out that I'm just not experienced in the area of accompanying and playing extremely rhythmic music, like in this musical. There is even more a difference between classical piano and that style than I thought. I'm just out of my league - and it would have taken me way too long to learn all 28 songs. So now, I and a couple other people are looking for a good pianist to fill in. Not so easy. I'd appreciate it if you asked asked God for some help with this. Danke :)

Recognize this shot? Well, I just watched Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock) for the first time. It's a really clever movie. I was hoping to be able to show this to my 9th grade class to help them with their interpretation skills. One problem - I was watching it on a tape that had been copied from TV. Right when the movie was just about over (Judy dressing up like Madeline), the movie cut to some old TV show Simon and Simon. UUUGGHHH! So I just had to look online to see what happened. No one really wants to say what happened on their websites, but I have an idea: First there was Madeline, then there was Judy posing to be Madeline, then it turns out that Madeline never existed. But I don't get how.... somehow. I'd like to see some more Hitchcock. 

Anne and Kiseok had tons of fun at the ice skating rink last Friday.  

Please come!

A HUGE blessing for us is that you all sacrifice your finances and prayers for us over here in Vienna.

Another really cool thing would be if you could come and see what your money and prayers are supporting! I really believe that a short week in Vienna (or anywhere where God's kids are being loved) will open your heart to God's love for people of the world!

If you're planning a vacation for the summer or fall, please think about coming to Vienna. Granted, school won't be in session in the summer, but we can do our best to introduce you to the life we live here and are privileged to experience because of you.

We appreciate YOU and want to share what we do with you. Please bring your family to Vienna!

Free Thinkers

Another Kiseok moment...

I mentioned today how the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years because they wanted to live life their own way and not follow God's way. They made dumb decisions, they kept going away from God. So, punishment came. Life in the desert, wandering, wandering, and more wandering.
Kiseok raises his hand as I finish telling this little story that related to the day's lesson on God's judgment, and says, "Mrs. Frank, those Israelites must have been free thinkers. Just like Abraham Lincoln. I'm reading a book about him, and there was an example when people were asking him if God was real. He was a free thinker."
Then he proceeds to make the connection between sin and "free thinking" and how we can think freely to make our own decisions, and often sin results from that.

Did I tell you I think he's a genius? I just really appreciate all the things he has to share and his sweet spirit about doing that. He's curious, so curious about EVERYTHING.

His parents are not believers, either, so if you think of them, pray for them. Mr. and Mrs. Kim. (I know everyone in Korea is named Kim, but still!) Mr. Kim is a diplomat in the Korean Embassy, and Mrs. Kim does a lot to help out around school. They have two boys: Kiseok in my class and Kiju in 5th grade. Both boys' lives have been changed by this school. They will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus because of what they have experienced here.

Cool? I think so!

Genetics?

During Bible this morning, we talked about the time when Noah's descendants built the Tower of Babel to try to reach God and worship Him that way. God punished them, though, because of their disobedience, by confusing all of their languages from one into many. Imagine in a moment you and the 10 other people you invited over for dinner speak 10 different languages. It may be funny, but it may be stressful, too, and your party may be quickly over. So, as we were talking about this, a question came from Kiseok, a Korean boy, that has been continually coming up in my class......

Kiseok's words:
"I get where all the worlds' languages came from, but where did all the worlds' skin colors come from?"

My students are obviously confronted with this daily, unlike most Americans, because V.C.S. is so international. I couldn't answer his question, but other students tried with answers like, "black people got black because they live closer to the equator." Not quite.
To figure this out, I looked on the internet for some answers. I found out that the answer lies in genetics. Aha! I took a genetics class in college...something good comes from my zoology degree from Miami University!
So I read and printed this article about the biblical history of skin color, and just spent a few minutes explaining to Kiseok a simple punnett square (genetics term). He loved it! He asked more questions, and wanted to keep the article. I think the kid is a genius.

I LOVE this job. Thank you for being faithful supporters so I can do this.

Well, this is really intended for a certain special someone. You know who you are. We saw this huge sign near our place and thought of you. :) 

Orange Party!!

If you want to see pictures of the Orange Party we had in combo with Anne's birthday, CLICK HERE.

Die Unglaublichen

Confused? Well, this is the German title for the movie The Incredibles. Anne and I saw it recently (in English) and really loved it. Clean, funny, and action-packed! I recommend it - and you can check it out right now!

Ready to go! 

Katie is coming! Katie is coming!

Our friend and Anne's old roomate, Katie, is coming to visit us tomorrow! She has been in India for the last year as a missionary, and is on her way home to the U.S. We are SUPER excited to see her and hear about her year there. Yahoo for visitors!

Take the hint....we want YOU to visit, too! We have a room all ready for you!

Long Day

So, generally Friday is pretty fun because we get to wear jeans and most everyone is in a better mood because the weekend is flirting with us. In my 9th grade Bible class, it was good. I mean, I actually had a student ask me a question about Psalm 20 on her own initiative!! That was encouraging. But on the lower side of things, PE was pretty much chaos. I had the middle school boys doing an indoors study hall since there was snow outside and because there is an elementary chapel going on which we would be pretty sure to disturb (where we need to go). So, maybe I made the wrong choice, because I had lots of ignoring me when I spoke, talking to each other, disobeying, punching eachother (in anger more than fun), kicking desks in anger, knocking over shelves with binders and books going everywhere, others laughing at the mad one, ripping papers and throwing things all over the place, etc.
I felt like I was being too gracious probably, but I still gave out 4 or 5 tallies (punishments/warnings), and had a few serious one-on-one discussions.
So, another teacher complimented me on my patience that was around for a little bit of it, but I still was pretty frustrated. I think I was on the edge of just giving detentions out like candy. I'm not sure if I maybe should have done that... there are always so many factors to situations like that, that make it more complicated. History.
Then after all of that chaos, Anne and I got work done after school, ate kebaps for dinner (a turkish gyro thing), and then went to the high school coffee house. It was a fun time of playing cards and talking and line dancing lessons. Well, I opted out of the dancing, but Anne was loving it. :)
After that - the usual ride home on the Strassenbahn and the UBahn. A little walking in the COLD (maybe 10 to 20 degrees F), and then in our apartment and straight to bed and sleeeep. A long day. whew!

Snow in Vienna

It snowed ALL day today! Yahoo! Huge flakes, too. I love watching it out my classroom window. Snow brings different challenges in Vienna, though, than it does in the Midwest. For one, we have no car, so we have to walk a lot in the snow. Secondly, the UBahns and strassenbahns run no matter what, therefore NO snow days. Sad news. Thirdly, they don't really plow here. You plow your own way. It's especially funny when you have to run through snow to get to the strassenbahn before it leaves without you. So, tomorrow I'm breaking out my boots no matter how dumb I'll feel in them. My feet will thank me because I have outdoor afternoon duty this week, which means I stand outside and watch kids play from 3:20 until 3:45, snow or no snow. EVERY kid at V.C.S. loves snow. I think that's cool, only when I'm not on duty. So it goes:).

I just had the 9th graders do an assignment of translating Psalm 1 into another language. For half of my students, they looked at the NIV and translated to their mother tongue. For the ones that English is their first language, they translated into "surfer" or "valley girl" or "cowboy" language. They've been spending a lot of time studying Psalm 1 in various ways, and I'm trying to help them focus a little more on interpretation right now.
I think it went over pretty well and most of the students read it outloud for the class. It was cool to hear the passage we all have been studying in so many different languages - Greek (modern), Shona (Zimbabwe), Malayalam (India), pidgin English, Indonesian, Sinhalese (Sri Lanka), Swahili, and German. I wish you could see some of the scripts that they use to write some of the languages - truly amazing that they write with such intricate and detailed and ornate lines and curls and stuff. Wow! :)

So it seems

that Annie has been quite the blogger recently. Way to go ACF!
I don't want to be left in the weeds - plus I have some things to say.
In just a minute....

Living Hell

You'd never imagine a blog title like this from a fourth grade Christian school teacher, huh? Well, life is not so predictable in Room 104 at Vienna Christian School.
I started a new novel with my class today called Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume. Hilarious book, if you haven't read it. No further were we past making predictions about the book from the cover and title when I asked my class what their thoughts were about having siblings, since the book deals a lot with 2 brothers and their relationship.
Gabe, a boy with a U.S. passport but who has grown up his whole life in Austria, immediately stood up, growled (no joke) and said, "it's HELL, LIVING HELL."
As you can imagine, I was shocked, while the rest of my class howled with laughter. I never expected this to come from his mouth, but in retrospect it might give me an idea of the realities of some kids' households, whether public or private, U.S. or foreign.
It's easy for me to laugh now because my student growled and yelled, but the truth is that Gabe's story is probably common among kids all over the world. Kids need love. That's why we're here.

Islam

This month we've been studying Islam in fourth grade. Interesting because I teach at Vienna CHRISTIAN School. It's part of our Social Studies curriculum, and it's paired with a study of the Middle East. I've been learning just as much as the kids!
We've learned biblical history of the Arab and Jewish nations, similarities and differences between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the five pillars of the Islamic religion. It's been really interesting, but the best part is when the kids begin to think out loud how this religion mixes with what we learn in Bible at V.C.S. and what most of their families believe. Today I was asked questions like....

Did people worship Jesus even though he was just a kid?
Which came first, creation or dinosaurs?
Where do animals go after they die?
Why should the Bible make sense for me if my name is not in it?
Don't Muslim people KNOW that what they believe is wrong?

These questions boggled my mind, but they led to interesting discussions about what means to share about Jesus with Muslim friends of ours, what heaven and hell will be like, and why Muslim and Jewish people don't believe in the New Testament because it makes so much sense to us.

Fourth graders are amazing. I am shocked daily by what they say and how they think about life and God. The other day Benedict asked me if Abraham was the hairy on the in Bible. I think he meant Esau. :)

Thank YOU for allowing me to teach them here. It's my favorite.

In Case

the link to the pictures that we sent in our email didn't work for you, you can click on this below. It should work.

Frank Fotos

Orange Party

Hey!

We're having an ORANGE PARTY tomorrow night for my birthday!

Yahoo! I'm so excited!

Fourth Grade Meets David Crowder

This week in fourth grade Bible we've been talking about how God made man in His own image, which means for them that God knew they would have freckles, be athletic, or have hazel eyes before they were ever conceived, and that when God looks at them, He must see some of himself too.
On Wednesday we talked about David, and how God planned all the days and events of David's life, and we recounted what we knew about David and read some in 1 and 2 Samuel, too. On that same day I told my class that in the Bible it tells of a time when David had such exploding love for God that he felt compelled to remove most of his clothes and dance in the streets while the ark of the covenant was being brought into the City of David (2 Sam. 6:12-16). 2 Samuel 6:14 says that "David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might." As you can imagine, my ten year old studnets cringed at the though of David dancing in his underclothes in public, but after we moved beyond that, I explained to them the reason why. He loved his LORD so much that he was moved to dancing. I want to be like that, and opened the kids to that idea, too.
I then remembered a song by the David Crowder Band that fit this idea, so I brought it in today. The song goes like this...

I will dance, I will sing
To be mad for my King
Nothing, LORD, is hindering this passion in my soul
And I'll become even more undignified than this
Some may say it's foolishness
And it's all for you my LORD

The song repeats these words, and recounts that event I told my class about David dancing. I played that song for my class today, and they loved it so much we played it three times! My day is made when things like that happen. I teach for that reason. To see kids get excited about something true. David danced for God in his underclothes, and hopefully my fourth graders will be moved in that way, too.
Thanks for praying for them, and please continue to pray that God will open opportunities like He did today with that song, and that I will take each opportunity like that to better prepare my students for eternity.

Comings and Goings

Winter is a time at V.C.S. when lots of students come and go. It seems strange to leave or begin school halfway through the year, but it's a reality here in Vienna. Many of the students' parents are diplomats from their home countries to Austria. Therefore, they are not governed by the school calendar so much. This is specifically true for Korean families.
Many Korean families come to Vienna because one of the parents is a Korean judge. Korea has a program where they send judges to other countries for one year to study another country's judicial system with the intention to come back and better the Korean system. This exchange year begins each February.
I have a student who will be leaving V.C.S. February 1st. Her name is Jeong Eun, and her father is a Korean judge. She has learned proficient English during her year here, and she has made friends too. She will go back to Korea in a few weeks, where she will return to one fourth grade class of five in her school, where each class has between thirty and forty students. She told me today that she was sad to think about leaving Vienna and V.C.S.
I believe, because of Jeong Eun and other students, that V.C.S. leaves a special imprint on students' lives forever, regardless of whether they come for one year or ten years. It is truly a place where God is honored and the goal is to prepare kids for eternity along with preparing them for the next grade. Kids frown at the thought of going home each day, let alone leaving for what may be a long time like Jeong Eun. I'm really not joking, either. My students are sad to leave each day, because in this culture lots of kids live in apartments in the city and their friends live far away. There is little opportunity to just play with neighborhood kids like in the U.S.
So, all of this to say, it's sad to anticipate Jeong Eun leaving, but I'm trusting that God will go with her back to Korea, too, and bring new students for us to love here in Vienna.
Please pray for those students leaving and coming, that V.C.S. will hold a special place in their hearts and that they will trust Jesus with their lives because of what they experienced here.

New Units and Hot Cocoa Club

When January comes, it's a great time to begin new units with fourth graders, so this week we've begun many new things! We are studying the Islamic religion and culture along with the Middle East, and we're reading books about how to do and make things so we can then present some new skills we learn to the class. We even have parents coming in to do guest workshops next week. Hopefully this will motivate the kids to do their very best. So that's just an idea of what happens in fourth grade every week.
Just for the month of January as well we have Hot Cocoa Club. This is a time when students can enjoy a warm, fresh cup of hot cocoa from the U.S. if their behavior has been good that week. It's usually on Wednesday afternoons after recess. The kids really love it, but the only missing piece is falling snow outside. Unfortunately, we've only had flurries this year, and that was in November. Shucks. Hot cocoa is still worth it, and it spices up the January blues of being in school with no sight of spring yet.

Vacation

I guess we really took one. I mean, we had just over 2 weeks off for Christmas time, and we didn't write anything on our blog since Christmas Eve. Woah.
Now we're back and fresh into the new year. I guess that's not really such a big deal, cause so is everyone else - fresh into the new year.

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?!?!?!?!