Our Semester Abroad = Austria in Spring 2019 = part 1 of ??

One of my goals for myself while in Austria is to get back to blogging on a somewhat regular basis.  I relished this last week of being able to take the time to get settled in with Adam and Charlotte while getting acclimated to what life will look like for the next couple months.  I just noticed the date and it is so odd to think that four months from today we will have woken up in our own home since we fly back on the 21st.  I am most certainly not wishing away time at all...it just blows my mind to think of all that is going to occur between now and then...all the countries and cities we will hopefully visit....all the class discussions we will have...the relationships that will continue to grow and form...and no doubt, the impact that this place will have on us individually and as a family.  I pray God will work on me and use me as He sees fit during my time here!  

So without further ado, here is a day by day reaction to the first week of being here.  Obviously, I won't be able to do this once life picks up and goes back to its regular speed with the start of the new semester but I hope to still carve out time each day to reflect, pray, and write as I intentionally did the last several days in the months to come...thanks for reading my rambling thoughts!

Tiny traveler the night before we departed the United States!

January 13 and 14

Getting a lot of people watching done during our five hour layover in New Jersey!

·        We had an uneventful trip to Austria leaving around lunch time on Sunday and landing in Vienna on Monday morning.  Perks of the trip were eating my first meal on my first “fancy” plane and watching Charlotte’s joy as she watched a movie in German.  After watching it 2.5 times during the 8 hour flight, she began telling us what the movie was about which was cute to see.  The dinner was a yummy BBQ chicken and filling pasta with warm rolls, salad with a tangy vinaigrette dressing, and strawberry yogurt with white chocolate shavings on top.  Adam and I were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves seated in the middle of the plan in the row with three seats so that we could all stay together. 

This was prior to taking off from Pittsburgh before settling in for a nap after take off during the first leg of the trip!

·        Charlotte slept through the first leg (1.5 hour) of the flight from Pittsburgh to New Jersey.  In fact, she remained asleep even after we landed so we let the other passengers leave the plane before us since we had a five or six hour layover ahead of us.  Many of the passengers commented on how cute she was and how they wished they could fall asleep like that.  Then, as Adam pushed Charlotte out in the stroller, she woke up and began enthusiastically blowing kisses and waving bye bye to the others waiting for their luggage as if she were a celebrity.  One passenger even stopped as he walked by us and said to her, “You made my day!”  This was a fun way to start our day of traveling!

Notice Charlotte is sitting on my bright pink coat and the scarf?  That was drenched in pee by the time we got off the plane since I didn't realize she had leaked through her diaper....oops!  Lesson learned...change the diaper and don't use my own jacket as a pillow/blanket when the airplane has one it provides you.  I definitely couldn't wait to wash the clothes and get a shower after that unwelcome smell following us off the plane.  Yikes!

Hard at work coloring using alllll the colored pencils from the airplane attendant.

Look, Patrick!

·        As we took off in the second plane, Charlotte excitedly exclaimed, “Going to see Hershey & Dusty!” that immediately brought tears to my eyes. 

Taken the night before we left...I miss these pups soooo much!  Charlotte asks for them every other day at this point.

<3

We were less than 12 hours from leaving home and she thought we were going home to her puppies.  *Sniff, sniff*

·        A fellow rotating faculty member greeted us at the airport once we obtained our luggage.  It was so nice seeing a friendly face as we stepped foot on land so far from home.  Two hours later, we pulled into a place that was new yet familiar thanks to the many pictures (and videos) we had seen of the Gaming campus in the years leading up to this semester. 

·        Within the first half hour of being brought to our apartment, we met the director of the program, a professor, two administrative assistants, and the dean of faculty who stopped by the door to introduce themselves and say hello!  Then, the wife of the Student Life director brought us a warm lunch of rice, mixed veggies, and pork stir fry.  It was so welcomed as we realized just how  very hungry we were since we hadn’t eaten since the hearty dinner served on the plane the previous night.  Dessert of brownies AND milk chocolate covered Oreos was enjoyed and gone by that night…too good not to save!

·        As I began to unpack and work to get settled in the apartment that afternoon I realized I had left my cell phone in the van!  Yes, my brand new phone that was a Christmas gift that had been activated two days prior to flying to Austria was nowhere to be found!  Two different people looked in the van for it as the van had been taken to the mechanic’s after dropping us off and the report came back that the phone was not in the van!  All ended well though when the phone was, in fact, found the next day by late afternoon.  I knew that I would have to make do without my cell in its usual capacity given that we did not purchase an international plan and are just keeping our phones on airplane mode to avoid charges but having to do without the phone for the first 24 hours in a new country without having touched base with loved ones back home was not quite the way I had envisioned starting our time abroad! 

·        Liz, the wife of the fellow rotating professor who is also here this semester, came by and helped me figure out how to work the washer and dryer and decipher ingredients at the local supermarket (everything is written in German!).  Again, it was so nice to see a familiar face in this new town and I appreciated her kindness in showing me some of what she has already learned by being here for a month already since she and her family came prior to Christmas.

We were SO thankful for the toys someone had thought to have at the house for Charlotte to play with and she wasted no time diving into them the first day we were here!

  

This is the huge pile of snow just outside our front door from the snowplows clearing the parking lot in the courtyard.  Apparently, it had snowed a lot a few days prior to our arrival!

Front door...Charlotte keeps calling this apartment her castle and I can see why she would think that with some of the features of the home!

View from the kitchen window - - the entrance to church is to the right!

This is the Trophy Room.  Apparently the architect lived here and kept all of his trophies, statues, and animal heads in this room.  I'm grateful that it doesn't look like that now and instead will serve as our formal dining room and office.  This is the only room that gets Internet reliably in the apartment so it is a shared office space for Adam and me.

Living room (and home of the toys!)

Another view from the kitchen window.  It was so neat to still see some of the Christmas decorations and lights around here!

Cooking and baking have been a challenge using all new foreign appliances but we're getting there!

Excuse the unmade bed but this surprised me!  The beds are made up of smaller beds pushed together!

 ·        The people here at the study abroad program have been so welcoming and kind!  There’s a real sense of family here in that everyone seems to genuinely watch out for and take care of one another even though they come from totally different areas of the world.  It’s beautiful to see and feel this harmony!

January 15

·        Tonight marks the second day of being here but we’ve already had a playdate with a family who lives in the same area of the Kartause as we do.  They have four young boys and a beautiful home in which they hosted us for a delicious Thai lunch with salad and ginger dressing!  As we wrapped up our meal, we received a report that Charlotte is “good at fighting” from the boys as the children had excused themselves from the table and were playing in the play room while we continued eating.  After lunch, the family who is also here from main campus stopped by for a play date at the neighbor's house where we had dined so Charlotte had three more little boys to play with while the adults chatted.  Toward the end of our visit, Charlotte got a bloody nose…but not from one of the seven boys!  She wound up smacking her face on the floor when tantruming thereby giving herself a bloody nose.

·        This morning began with the dean of faculty greeting me at the door this morning to give me the tour of the campus.  It was really neat to hear some of the stories about the history and how this campus came to be.  More than once I thought, I wish Adam were here to hear this as the history unfolded through the dean’s conversation.  Hopefully when we have lunch with them tomorrow he won’t mind repeating some of them for Adam!  I am also excited to share an office with an English professor I have not met yet and to get more familiar with the classrooms in which I will teach in the upcoming days as I work to get settled in work-wise.

Classes are held up and down this hallway.

One of my classes will be taught in this space (see above and below)..it's such a big space for only six students!

Entryway to the Library

More of the library/study spaces

Two of my classes will take place in this classroom (including the class where Adam will be my student!)

January 16

·        I was able to unpack my 28 lbs. of schoolwork in my office today!  I will be sharing my office with an English professor who works here year round and am excited to get to know her.  Here is another perk!  The office is literally upstairs above the apartment where we are staying!  This is my shortest commute yet….Walk upstairs to my office and walk across the courtyard to where we teach and to go to mass!

This photo is taken from the doorway of one of my classrooms looking out over the courtyard toward the office and home...what a loooong commute.  ; )

·        Today’s lunch was held across the street in one of the townhomes at the dean’s home.  He and his wife, along with their two elementary aged children, were very sweet and welcoming.  They served us salad, rice, and chicken in a yummy pesto sauce….and lemon beer!  It was sooo good! 

Javier is from Columbia and Bea is from Hungary.  I still can’t get over how welcoming and friendly everyone is here and am so appreciative of everyone’s hospitality as we get settled.  I’m also extra grateful we came when we did so that we can get over jet lag, grow accustomed to our surroundings, and become friends with one another before the arrival of the students.

·        After lunch, we walked to the grocery store as a family to pick up a few items.  The refrigerator in the apartment is small which means more frequent trips to the grocery store but with the walk being a flat one, it is enjoyable and nice to get fresh air as we do so.

This was the first time I saw this view of the Kartause!

The sun sets pretty early here...by 4 or 4:30pm it seems.  The walk to the center of town where the grocery store and other small shops are is a nice flat one!  Charlotte calls this sidewalk the snow tunnel because of the snow on either side of the walkway. Hehe!

January 17

·        We had our first faculty/staff meeting today during which I was able to meet most of the other faculty/staff.  Everyone comes from so many different backgrounds and countries so there is a lot of diversity to experience while here!  After hearing a little more about what the others are involved with I’m even more excited to participate in Women’s Ministry as a mentor, to assist with Ministry to Moms, and to get a little more involved with the ELISA program with the education majors! 

·        The day ended with a ladies’ night in one of the townhouses across the street to celebrate a birthday coming up this weekend!  The women were so open and inviting even though I am new.  It must be hard for them to open themselves up and be vulnerable with one another time and again as new people enter their midst.  It would be so much easier to just stick with the “core” group of women but I’m grateful that they didn’t and are open to having me join them for their semester bible study!

·        I also bumped into a former student today!  I had seen her during my tour of the campus the other day but didn’t get the chance to speak with her until today.  She is only here for a few days before going to Slovakia to be a missionary. 

January 18

·        This morning, I was able to join the coordinator of the ELISA program at an open house that was held at one of the partner schools. 

It was wonderful to interact with the teachers, students, director, and others who had made time to attend the open house.  The director even thanked the university, secretary, and me by name which was completely unexpected but neat!  It was also the only part of the presentation that I understood since it was spoken in English and not German.  ;)  Oh, another highlight was when a woman came up to me and asked what I was studying and if I was an undergraduate or masters student.  J  Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the students as they communicated with me using the English they were learning to speak in their classes.  One of the students even had hearing aids in both ears which prompted a conversation with one of the teachers about what special education looks like in the school (she said there was no need for it since the student did not need accommodations as nothing was wrong with him….which reminded me of some of the interview responses from my dissertation study).

·        After talking with one of the teachers, we brainstormed some ideas to incorporate in the lessons the education majors will carry out with the students at that school from the content area reading class I teach.  By the end of the conversation, we were all excited by the possibilities that lay before us.  We also spent a significant time meeting with and talking with the religion teacher at the school (the school is a public school) and the possibility of his coming to our campus to be a Teachable Moments Workshop speaker later on this semester!!  Teachable Moments is a series of workshops I created on main campus that is held once a month and I’m thrilled by the possibility of maybe having one here for the Austrian students!

This is a government building that used to have some sort of connection to the Kartause (can you see the resemblance in building design?) in the next town over from where we are.

I want to go inside this church next time!  It is supposedly a pretty light pink everywhere since it is called St. Mary Magdalen!

·        After dinner, and a grocery run at a larger grocery store (German form of Aldi) thanks to the generosity of the coordinator’s car, Adam, Charlotte, and I took a walk to the shoe store in town so I could buy fashionable but functional boots for work.  My regular gray snow boots just weren’t professional looking enough for me to feel comfortable wearing them to class and I’ve been secretly wanting black booties for a while.  So I purchased my first Austrian souvenir from the shoe shop that doubles as a post office across from the grocery store that is a five minute walk from us!  The coolest part of this little excursion is that the store workers had toys on hand for Charlotte to play with when she grew fussy and the woman helping me had a sparkly green bracelet on with a tiny cross and picture of Jesus & Mary on it!!

January 19

·        This afternoon we were invited to join the Director of Student Life and his family for a Mexican lunch of chicken tacos, guacamole, and chips that was delicious!  Charlotte really liked playing with the fancy Barbie dollhouse the oldest child, Ellie, shared with her and was particularly drawn to playing with the baby once he woke from his nap.  It was wonderful getting to know this family and I look forward to returning for the weekly women’s book study that will start there in early February and Adam enjoyed talking about football while there.

·        Once we returned home, we were surprised to see people gathering for a wedding at the church that is right next door to our apartment.  Charlotte and I enjoyed peeking out the windows and ohhing and ahhing at the women in their long dresses and fur stoles as the men carried the trains of the dresses so they would not drag in the snow. 

I am really curious at the custom or traditional event that happened when all these people walked from the church to the entrance with glasses in hand for cheers and toasts before rushing back to the church.  I'll have to look it up to try to figure out what they were saying or doing!

·        The rest of the day was spent using the oven for the first time to prepare for when we’ll host ten RAs for lunch on Monday.  The oven is smaller than I’m accustomed to and only has one wire rack meaning I have to plan out when and what I’ll bake when preparing multiple items. The knobs are in German but after consulting family and friends and experimenting, I was able to successfully bake a Crazy Chocolate Cake (for the gluten, dairy, and nut free folks), prepare some Classic Buttercream Icing to spread on top of the cake pieces, prepare and broil meatballs, and bake an Olivia’s Buttermilk Pie.  The last item involved making my own buttermilk, making my own Bisquick, and doing without baking powder.  When I was at the store with the local yesterday, she shared with me that there is no baking powder in Austria.  I also learned that there is no vanilla extract in liquid form but rather vanilla sugar in powder form so I’m extra curious to taste the desserts with this different form of vanilla than I’m used to on Monday!  Additionally, there are no frozen meatballs in the freezer section and of course no Bisquick as the preferred way around here seems to be made fresh and from scratch.  A couple hours later and two dishwasher cycles later, I was able to pull out the second load of laundry and call it a night just as the music from the reception next door began to die down from the wedding.

·        Thanks to a friend loaning us a baby tub, Charlotte was able to really enjoy her bath/shower (shath?) tonight!  The previous two times I had given her a shower, she cried her way through it.  Thankfully, tonight she was full of giggles and glee as she played with her favorite bath ducky and bubbles!

January 20

·        This morning was the first time we went to mass since arriving here.  We literally live right around the corner from the church.  Our kitchen and laundry room windows look out at the front door of the church.  This was Adam’s and Charlotte’s first time in the church.  Adam really liked the style of it but we both agreed that it was a bit too echo-y or noise reverberated throughout the church a bit too much.  The music was lovely and I could have sat there and listened to the singing all day.  After mass had ended, we were able to meet the RAs who had landed last night.  It will be fun to catch up with them at lunch tomorrow as we host them!

·        I spent some time today meditating on the Gospel in which Mary says, “Do whatever he tells you”.  I couldn’t help but think about how what we’re doing here in Austria is a reflection of that.  We are trusting in God that we’re where we are supposed to be right now.  Our needs are being met and we will hopefully be able to act as instruments of God in ministering to and teaching others during our time here.  I hope that every interaction with those I encounter here will be positive and that growth of some kind will occur whether it be academic, spiritual, or personal.  I am so excited for the students to arrive and to experience this campus with both familiar and new faces from Ohio and beyond!  I will have at least one transient student who will be here from good ol’ California!  Who knows?!  Maybe by the end of the semester, he will opt to transfer and attend Franciscan in Ohio!

Below are more snapshots from our first couple days here!

  She found a new stage!

Looking for Austrian clothing!

Taking a break from looking for clothing!

Throwing snowballs is fun!

Future dancer??

January 21

·        These next few days have a certain air of expectation and stillness to them.  Students will soon be milling about campus and weekends will be full with trips and tourist activities as soon as classes begin by month’s end.  However, before that happens, the RAs are in the midst of training and orientation will follow for all the students next week.  We had the honor of hosting the students for lunch today. 

·        The RAs hailed from all over the US (TX, MD, MA, AL, OH, MI, RI, and CO - - I can’t remember two other states - - and they loved interacting with Charlotte who was eager to soak up the attention from them. 

·        One of my favorite parts of this afternoon’s gathering with the nine guests was when we participated in something something I do with my classes.  Once a week, I will pull out my prayer journal and reflect on a snippet of the Sunday gospel with my students then ask them to apply it to the class content or education in general.  The RAs’ background and majors ranged from Theology to Writing to Education to Business so I knew we would have a variety of perspectives over the snippet from John 2:5 – Then she said to them, “Do whatever He tells you” – which led to some great discussion on control, letting go of it, and trusting in God. 

·        The students seemed to really enjoy the food and fellowship which made the work spent preparing for it all worth it!  Some even went back for seconds which made me feel really good!  I told the students that it was the first time we used the oven and that it was a test run to see how my cooking would turn out using other ingredients or trying to make something from scratch when I was accustomed to using frozen or premade ingredients!

Charlotte giggled and giggled so much during their visit!

January 22

·        I was able to connect my technology in the classrooms where I will be teaching today so I feel a little more prepared for the first day of classes.  I was also able to engage in some lovely conversation with the Spanish professor who is interested in having an education student help her teach English in the local Kindergarten class.  I am excited by this possibility to provide yet another embedded field experience for one of my classes if this idea takes hold!  The professor is from Slovakia but knows Slovakian, Spanish, German, and English!!  She has published research on teaching methods and strategies when teaching students a second language so I’m very interested in reading more about her work.  We engaged in discussions on Noam Chomsky, Nativist theory, language acquisition devices, early childhood, and teaching this morning that was so invigorating and affirming of the work we do!  I can’t wait to look at her research and to share some of her articles and work with my students via a quick guest speaking presentation we are planning for this semester now!

·        After this morning’s training, I was able to print some papers for the first week before going back home to pick up Charlotte and take her to a play date with Ellie, Francis, and Isaac.  It was great chatting with Courtney while Charlotte got some energy out of her system with her new friends!

As much as I'm enjoying being here, I'm grateful for the work that is keeping me busy since I

miss our family!  However, advisees are emailing me, pairings for Students Serving Moms are

happening, and of course the usual beginning of the semester prepwork has me moving along

when not tending to family or home needs.  It's hard when I think about the fact that we are in

an entirely different country than they are.  Thankfully, video chats and online communication

through What's App (a free app that works on wifi for calls and texts), we can still "see" one

another!  

So there it is…we’re creating a new normal as we go and in a way, this is the calm before the storm….the whirlwind of activity that is!  Students are arriving by the day, classes begin here next week, and soon we will be traveling to new places when not busy with schoolwork!  How exciting!!

 As I think back over this first official week, I am brought back to the readings from this past Sunday:

"There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit; there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same Lord." ~ To one is given from the Spirit the gift of utterance expressing wisdom; to another the gift of utterance expressing knowledge, in accordance with the same Spirit; to another, faith, from the same Spirit; and to another, the gifts of healing, through this one Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the power of distinguishing spirits; to one, the gift of different tongues and to another, the interpretation of tongues.  But at work in all these is one and the same Spirit, distributing them at will to each individual.                             

This passage always makes me think of how unique we all are.  We all have something different to bring to the table and can serve in a way only we can.  I have seen that time and again this past week as new relationships are being formed and new connections are made.  I can’t wait for the semester to get underway!! :)