Gaming Tour and Remembering a Special Valentine Today

Twenty years ago today, on Valentine's Day, my grandmother passed away...I can't help but wonder what she would think of her great granddaughter or about this adventure Adam, Charlotte, and I are on this semester.  Would she have wanted to know every single detail?  Would she have wondered what my teaching in a different country would involve?  Would she have shared advice from her own teaching days?  Would there have been any stories of her relatives having once upon a time traveled these parts?  Many of the students went to Ireland just prior to coming here in January.  Grandma's family was from Ireland so I suppose it's not too much of a stretch to wonder about that last question!

So, I'm going to write this one as if she were able to read this!  Grandma was a devout Catholic and very much loved members of the religious so would be tickled to see Charlotte excitedly wave hello and greet each of the fours TOR sisters here or the two friars who also take up residence here at the Kartause.  She would probably beam with pride if she saw Charlotte dressing up as a nun earlier today when she placed a handkerchief on her head as her "veil".  From day one, she has taken a liking to the members of the religious here which has been endearing to see at such events like the local tour we had during the beginning of the semester.

One of the activities during Orientation Week (that was two weeks ago?!)....this semester is just flying on by....we were able to participate in a quick walking tour of Gaming where we are calling home for the spring semester.  However, before meeting up with the rest of the walking group, I had to swing by my faculty office.  Charlotte enjoyed the photo opportunity as she liked looking at her reflection in the glass door!

She has also been enjoying when we eat in the Mensa where the students eat.  Here she is drinking milk out of the "big girl" mug.  Check out the outlets behind her!

I don't think this view will ever get old!

Snoozing during one of the orientation talks.  I was grateful the room right outside the large classroom where the entire student body was gathered had this comfy couch for her to nap on as she began nodding off shortly after the talk started.

And again....

She was more alert during the walking tour in the brisk air.  If you look closely, you'll see the looooong line of students walking by the edge of the trees.

I absolutely cannot get over how clear the water is here!  It has been wonderful being able to drink the water straight from the tap!  This is a river that runs all the way from Vienna to here but it's so clear and clean!!

The walking tour culminated with mass at the Parish Church in town.  So far all the masses we have attended from here to Vienna have been private masses with our beloved friars officiating!

Exterior of the Parish Church

Another view of the Parish Church

As we exited church, snow began falling!

We made it home just in time to host Fr. Jonathan for lunch.  In Austria, the big meal is at lunch time rather than at dinner time so when we host friends for a meal, it is usually during the midday meal!

During the first couple weeks of being here, I read the book, "Stars, Stripes, & Edelweiss:  An American Family Braves Austrian Living" by Mark & Niki Kalpakgian.  A nun who had lived here for a couple semesters had recommended this book last fall when she learned we were going to be in Austria this semester.  Mark, a former Student Life director, and his wife share their views of what it was like to live here.  There were parts of the book I thoroughly enjoyed and other parts that rubbed me the wrong way.  The tone of the book was, to me, at times a bit condescending.  I felt that there some parts in the book that could have been written in a more gentle or loving manner.  However, I did learn a lot about where we're calling home these days through reading this book and it has spurred some good conversation with some of the folks who have been here longer than Adam and me and who also knew the authors.

Here is some of my favorite information from the book out of Chapter 4 that discusses the Kartause which is the name of the monastery where campus is.

Across the street from our townhouse, a mere stone's throw away, stands the Kartause, an artistic, cultural, and religious jewel of lower Austria.  Kartause is the German word for "Charterhouse" or monastery of Carthusian monks.  Today, Kartause refers to both the church and the entire complex where the monks used to live, work, and pray.

The Carthusians are a Roman Catholic religious order of cloistered monastics.  The order was founded by St. Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns.  The name Carthusian is derived from the Chartreuse Mountains of the French Alps where St. Bruno built his first hermitage.  These religious spent most of their day in prayer, contemplation, silence, reading and writing, and some manual trade.  Carthusians are also famous for their Chartreuse liqueur, their joy, and their simple, peaceful way of life.

The Kartause has a rich and marvelous history.  It was constructed in the fourteenth century, in 1330 under the patronage of Hapsburg Albert II and his wife, the duchess Johanna von Pfirt, a descendant of Charlemagne.  At that time many European rulers invited religious groups to construct monasteries attached or close to their royal settings.  These religious would support the sovereign on a variety of levels and offer intercessory prayer for the nation.  The Kartause was one such place, at least at the time of its construction.

For 450 years the Carthusian monks of the Kartause in Gaming spent their lives in prayer, work, silence, and meditation.  Their way of life ended abruptly when the Austrian Emperor Joseph II issued a decree in 1781 announcing the suppression of all the contemplative monasteries in his lands.  He disbanded any "useless" religious community that did not provide a tangible service, such as teaching or a hospital, to the empire.  Thus, throughout the empire, the monks were scattered and the vast lands sold off.  For many years the Kartause remained uninhabited and fell into disrepair.  Many of its artistic treasures were carried off to neighboring parish churches or sold.  Eventually ownership of the land went back to the state and private investors bought off portions of the sprawling monastery.

The church of the Kartause remains a Hapsburg burial place:  the remains of Duke Albert and his wife, Johanna (the two who started the Kartause in 1330), as well as their daughter-in-law, Elisabeth are still buried underneath the church.  There are also numerous Carthusian monks buried in anonymity around the Kartause grounds and in the neighborhood.

Along with monks, emperors, countesses, and dukes, the Kartause was also the residence for occupying Russian troops for ten years during their occupation of Austria beginning in 1945 after World War II.  

As they used the church for a horse stable, they nearly destroyed the magnificent structure if it hadn't been for Divine Providence.  With its checkered history has this ethereal mix of royalty, sanctity, turmoil, and divine appointment.

While this book is not the place to discuss its rich and magnificent history, the Kartause contains architectural, spiritual, cultural, historic, and artistic jewels of both Austria and of Europe.

In addition to its magnificent history, none can doubt the beauty of this place.  There is a peace to it that is beyond understanding and words.  Standing under its famous red roof and dominating Gothic spire, it's as if time stops and you are in a different world.

Today the Kartause has been restored and renovated by the bold vision and determination of Architect Walter Hildebrand who risked his finances, time, and reputation to save and preserve this historic gem.  [We are currently staying in his old trophy room and guest quarters!]  Presently, the Kartause is home to the Austrian study abroad program of Franciscan University of Steubenville and the Language and Catechetical Institute.  It is also the former home of the International Theological Institute.  While the majority of enrolled students are Americans from Franciscan, others come from all over the world to learn English and study Catholicism.  The Kartause is also home to a four-star hotel, restaurant, and microbrewery.  In the summer months it sponsors the famed Chopin Festival and is a destination for weddings, concerts, hikers, and retreats.

The Kartause church is one of our favorite places and is open 24 hours a day for prayer, worship, and adoration.  When we go in to pray, we can still feel the prayers of the monks of old reverberating off the walls and filling us with a deep sense of calm and serenity.

The courtyard outside the church is impeccably groomed and imbued with roses in the summer months. Gothic arches are everywhere and on a starlit, brisk winter evening, you can feel the very heavens reach down and touch you with beauty, vastness, and mystery.

Behind the Kartause is the old prior's house and historical museum that holds many artifacts, documents, and pictures from the centuries that tell of the historical and cultural importance of this renowned but seemingly forgotten place.

Across the church courtyard is a large room that now serves as a classroom for the study abroad program.  Adjacent to the classroom is a library, computer lab, and the former hospital area that is now housing for hotel guests and study abroad students.

In the winter months, the grounds are bedecked with alpine snow in pristine, white beauty.  Walking out our back door at home, one immediately faces the front of the church and its grandiose spire points into the heavens never ceasing to remind of us of how lucky we are to be here.  Needless to say, we feel overwhelmed that this is now our home, my workplace, our church, and the center of our community.

While many say that Austria is a crossroads or main thoroughfare between East and West, it truly seems that the Kartause is in many ways a microcosm of this reality.  Rarely a week goes by without some famous or remarkable visitor traveling through.  It is a place that continues to surprise us as it welcomes guests from all over the world.

Looking back, after all the amazing places we have traveled throughout the world, Gaming and the Kartause are among our very favorite.  The Kartause has a special place in our hearts and we will cherish the central role it has played in shaping us, inspiring how we look at the world, and for all the amazing memories that have occurred here.

Much of what the authors shared in that chapter is echoed by Adam and me.  The church is quite the sight as we walk back from the grocery store and get closer and closer to the majestic building.  I love seeing the snow covered Alps surrounding us on all sides each day!  It has been amazing living and working in the same small community here.  I've really enjoyed spending time with the families and new friends here not to mention how wonderful it is to work with the students and get to know them on an entirely different level.  So far, I've been able to help with small group advising during orientation, have gotten to know students on our day and weekend excursions, served on a panel for Women's Ministry last night, and have begun leading a prayer small group with seven students.  This past week has also been the first week of accompanying the education students to their field placements at local schools which has been amazing (and tiring) to do.  

The final chapter in the book I referenced sums up how I'm feeling pretty well:

Prince Nikolaus of Lichenstein speculated that the prevalence and preeminence of pilgrimages was one of the contributing factors to the European Union.  With the diversity of peoples traveling, praying, and struggling together, they naturally gained mutual respect, understanding, and ultimately, love.  In former times, they had it right:  they knew that good things often take a journey with much sacrifice on the way.  Even today, his words resonate in our hearts.  How true:  to walk together, to talk together, to sing and pray together is to form a union, a bond, and a friendship.  

This has been our experience.  We left corporate America on pilgrimage to Austria.  We gave up our car, house, and many of the comforts of American life.  We left the heart of American consumerism for the foothills of the Austrian Alps.  

We know we're where we are supposed to be for this semester and it's been an honor to pray the intentions many have shared with me in such a beautiful place not to mention on the various pilgrimages we have been blessed to take while here.  One saint I need to research more whom I've been wondering about in prayer is St. Bruno!  Here's a funny story about this new to me saint.  A few days before we left Ohio, my twin, his wife, and their three small boys met up with us to celebrate a belated Christmas.  Since about 3.5 hours separates us, we met somewhere in the middle.  My brother coordinated it all and told us where to meet them.  We would up going to a convent where Christmas displays and model trains were still set up for the children to browse.  It turns out that this very place is where several students from my school go on retreat!  After exploring there, we headed to All Saints Brewing for lunch followed by mass at a nearby church that was named.....you guessed it, St. Bruno!  I remember commenting to both Mark and Adam that I didn't know much about the saint and it's not a common name for a church.  Then, fast forward to our arrival here, and on our first day here, during the tour of campus, I learned of St. Bruno's role within the order of monks who resided here.  Yes, I will need to learn more about this figure who popped up in Pennsylvania and now in Austria for me!  ;) 

St. Bruno and St. Valentine, pray for us!  Love you Grandma!

  We went out for pizza as a spur of the moment Valentine's Day dinner after a looooong week.  The pizza parlor gave us these pretty pink flowers as we exited the restaurant!  What a nice surprise and Charlotte was especially pleased that they were pink (as was I)!

Trying to capture a family photo by the river..

Charlotte was happier and more willing to smile once she broke free from the stroller!  Home Sweet Home (for now) is behind us at the end of the road.  This was also the least amount of snow we have seen on this promenade walkway since our arrival one month ago.

Day Trip to Melk Abbey

This is one of my favorite pictures from this semester and was taken during our first excursions at the start of the semester!

On the Sunday after the students arrived, the whole campus took a day trip to Melk Abbey. This was our first excursion and excitement was in the air.  The buses were so comfortable and we felt as if we were traveling in luxury...until we got to the winding road that climbed up the mountain just before our arrival.  More than a few children on board got motion sickness but quickly recovered once we departed from the buses.

Are we there yet?

Melk Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey located above the town of Melk, Lower Austria.  It is positioned on a high mountain that overlooks the Danube river that happens to connect the Wachau Valley.  According to Wikipedia, Melk Abbey contains the tomb of Saint Coloman of Stockerau and the remains of several members of the House of Babenberg described as Austria's first ruling dynasty.

Upon our arrival, we were ushered into the restaurant where our entire group was served a delicious warm yummy buffet style breakfast.  I was too busy eating to take pictures other than this one of Fr. Seraphim interacting with some of the children.  One of the families who is here from Steubenville with us has five boys seven (or six?) and under so for this first excursion, our family rode on the same bus as them.

After breakfast, we were able to take in some incredible views of the Danube River and Wachau Valley from the balcony at the rear of the restaurant.  It was on this balcony that I connected with a friend of the lovely student who stayed with us this past fall! She remembered us and offered to help us with Charlotte this semester.  She just happened to have availability during the two mornings Adam and I are in class together, too.  Praise God!  It was such a huge relief knowing we had a helper lined up as classes would be starting by the end of the following week and this had been one of my biggest concerns!

It's a beautiful thing to see members of the religious interacting with the families and children here.  Charlotte gets so excited when she sees her friends during mass or out and about on campus.  

Here is some history from Wikipedia:

The abbey was founded in 1089 when Leopold II, Margrave of Austria gave one of his castles to Benedictine monks from Lambach Abbey. A monastic school, the Stiftsgymnasium Melk, was founded in the twelfth century, and the monastic library soon became renowned for its extensive manuscript collection. --- It was in this esteemed library that Charlotte came running over to us after one of the college students had been holding her.  As she came running over, a wet spot appeared on her brown pants...and got bigger and bigger as she approached us...!  She had leaked through her Pull Up as she ran across the carpet in this library full of history!  Oh no!  I immediately scooped her up and held her in mid-air as Adam and I looked at each other with horror on our faces.  What do you do?!  There was no public restroom in this old room.  The tour guide was about to take our group on to the next part of the tour.  It was too cold to change her outside...so we did the only thing we could do.  We changed her in the stroller while trying to keep the leaking wet pants off the carpet.  Thankfully, the diaper was only wet as Adam and I tag teamed to get the dirty diaper replaced with a clean dry one.  Charlotte found the whole exchange quite amusing and was soon bounding her way back to her college friends as we navigated our way to the next part of the tour with everything hastily tossed into the bottom part of the stroller...whew!  

What a unique color of building!

This is when Charlotte's love affair with trying to pick up alllllll the tiny pebbles to give to her new college friends began.  It's a favorite pastime of hers when we go on trips now.  The college students were none too eager to take these prized pebble offerings from her. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of the semester thus far....doesn't it look like a toy village with small moveable buildings?  I just love it!

Notice the change in Charlotte's pants compared to previous pictures thanks to our library wardrobe change.  ; )

More from Wikipedia: 

The monastery's scriptorium was also a major site for the production of manuscripts. In the fifteenth century the abbey became the centre of the Melk Reform movement which reinvigorated the monastic life of Austria and Southern Germany.^[3]

Today's Baroque abbey was built between 1702 and 1736 to designs by Jakob Prandtauer. Particularly noteworthy are the abbey church with frescos by Johann Michael Rottmayr and the library with countless medieval manuscripts, including a famed collection of musical manuscripts and frescos by Paul Troger.

Due to its fame and academic stature, Melk managed to escape dissolution under Emperor Joseph II when many other Austrian abbeys were seized and dissolved between 1780 and 1790. The abbey managed to survive other threats to its existence during the Napoleonic Wars, and also in the period following the Anschluss in 1938, when the school and a large part of the abbey were confiscated by the state.

The school was returned to the abbey after the Second World War and now caters for nearly 900 pupils of both sexes.

Since 1625 the abbey has been a member of the Austrian Congregation, now within the Benedictine Confederation.

In his novel The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco named one of the protagonists "Adso of Melk" as a tribute to the abbey and its famous library.

Among its alumni was the nineteenth-century Austrian dramatist and short-story writer, Friedrich Halm.

Melk Abbey is also the metaphorical climax ("a peak in a mountain range of discovery") of Patrick Leigh Fermor's autobiographical account of his walking tour across pre-WW II Europe in A Time of Gifts, which includes a description of the abbey at that time. ^[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melk_Abbey

All the exploring, making of new friends, and walking tuckered her out and she slept peacefully the whole way back to campus.

Even though the sun was peeking through the clouds, it was not enough to dissipate the fog you see behind us.  Below the fog was the Danube River!

Our view at breakfast!  Dining among the clouds!

Old Scents, New Memories

When packing up for this semester away from home, I took advantage of the opportunity to organize the bathroom closet the day before we left the United States.  I brought over with us an assortment of small shampoo and conditioner bottles, half used lotion and unopened shower gels, and three small containers of perfume without much thinking about it.  In my efforts to try to finally get through the small dispensers and avoid packing heavy full sized amounts of these toiletry items, I actually packed some pretty nostalgic scents!

In the last two weeks, there has been such a feeling of satisfaction of going through and using the small items that had moved around with me during the last couple moves (i.e., from NC to PA then to OH then from the house I rented my first year in Steubenville to the first home Adam and I shared as man and wife).  It feels as if I'm purging and cleansing myself of "extras" even though it seems minor as they are just travel sized items from hotel stays, stocking stuffers from Christmas gifts over the years, and so forth.  I can already feel the impact of living with a minimalist attitude and I hope to bring that back to the US with me when our time here is complete.  There is no need to have three bottles of bubble bath in the closet or have five hair gels.  The grocery store is one traffic light from our house and we make multiple runs in a month.  Those items will always be within easy reach and I really want to try to reduce clutter which I would think will be easier to do after having had a semester of using the same things over and over...that is what I predict anyway!

No matter the time that goes by, some things don't leave you and for me in the last couple of weeks, this has taken on the form of scents and I'm grateful to have the sense of smell.  You may be laughing but I dated a guy once who couldn't smell.  He had never been able to smell, I kid you not!  In thinking about the parts of our body and ripple effect strengths or weaknesses of our body parts can have, we heard in today's second reading from 1 Cor 12:  12-30:

As a body is on through it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one Body, so also Christ......But as it is, God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended....Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety, whereas our more presentable parts do not need this.  But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another.  If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.

So we hear that all parts of the body work together...where there is one lack or weakness, another helps to compensate for it perhaps or may also be weak.  There are so many ways to interpret this and many usually think of how we all, collectively make up the Church.  We all have unique callings and gifts to bring to the table.  We should recognize the value in others and serve and help others who may be less fortunate and this is all true.  However, I couldn't help but think of the above passage in a different way.  Everything is placed within us for a reason...for a purpose...for an intention as God created us.

Yet I'm left wondering what does that mean when it comes to weaknesses, deformities, disabilities, missed pieces of the puzzle?  Is it because I'm a special educator I'm wondering these?  Is it due to personal lived experiences?  Why would God intend for that weakness?  Why would He design our bodies in that way?  Why are some born with all and some born with less?  Is it to recognize talents and gifts in other ways?  Am I more of a visual person due to having hearing loss?  Would I not have been in to detail as much as I am otherwise?  Would someone who is nonverbal have more of an impact on others in his or her life as a result of living life in that way than had he/she been able to communicate via spoken language?  Do others in the life of someone with paralysis appreciate their own mobility that much more due to being around the individual with paralysis?  Perhaps eyes are opened more due to the influences of their own weaknesses or being around others with their weaknesses...

This section in particular resonated with me today:  Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety, whereas our more presentable parts do not need this.

What does this mean??  Looking at my body and thinking of weaknesses, I automatically default to the fact that I no longer have a womb...no longer have a uterus to be the weakest as it is nonexistent thanks to being taken away so suddenly after Charlotte's arrival into this world.  Is the uterus all the more necessary because of our desire to want to have a large family?  It can't physically happen through me as we had planned...am I surrounding that part of me that is no more with greater honor?  One could say yes when considering how much grief and despair losing it has caused me.  Is my staying stuck on this sad fact causing me to treat this weak part with being fixated on how it should have been...how the right thing would be to have things be the way they were when I could conceive and bear children??  These thoughts were swirling around in my head as we stood up to listen to the gospel.  During the homily, Fr. Jonathan, who knows nothing of my story, uttered the following words:

"Some of us might be sad inside
but we are still called to celebrate/proclaim the Good News!
Today is a day to rejoice!

Allow joy to radiate from your life today. 
There are so many reasons to be sad yet we are called to rejoice (anyway)!

Be filled with joy and strength.  Let your face be formed by the joy of your heart.  Ask the Lord to transform the obstacle or whatever is bringing you sadness in your life."

Well, if that isn't a charge to get up, brush the dust off, and keep moving forward in spite of weaker parts of you, or what you perceive to be weaker aspects to you, then I don't know what is.  Sooo, it may seem trivial but back to the sense of smell...I have been extra thankful these last few days for it due to my quickly packing of three nostalgic scents without really meaning to when prepping for this semester!

I have been using a small bottle of my favorite perfume from when I was in 10th grade (no, the perfume was not that old but I had purchased it when I came across it recently).  During my middle and high school years, when I had first switched to public school and no longer needed to wear school uniforms, I was an avid shopper at The Gap.  The store had also sold perfume and one scent, in particular, was a favorite of mine.  "Dream" is hard to describe but has a unique scent all its own.  Here is a description of it that I found online:  Launched in 1995, floral perfume of freesia and osmanthus.

Well, I just finished that small bottle the other day.  So out came another tiny bottle of perfume left over from Adam's and my engagement.  The tiny blue bottle of "Forever Midnight" from Bath and Body Works had been a by the cash register purchase as they were on sale at a $1 a pop when I was shopping for antibacterial handsoaps and small lotions to put in the wedding bags I made for family and friends who were part of the wedding party.  I wound up using that small bottle of perfume when I flew back and forth from California during our engagement and during our first two Christmases out there when pregnant and when taking Charlotte out to meet her West Coast family for the first time.  The perfume had been left behind in my suitcase so I stumbled upon it when unpacking the suitcase here in Austria.  There was hardly any left but wearing it the last few days reminded me of those first couple flights to Adam's home.  I used up the last of that perfume yesterday.  It was a great scent as it lasted all day but was not overpowering at all!  I think the best way to describe it is vanilla musk but not a strong sweet vanilla but more of a woodsy subtle scent of it.  Amazon, however, describes it this way....and is selling a teeny tiny bottle of it for $48!?

Midnight: the hour of undeniable chemistry. A spark of sensual Plum Nectar ignites the thrilling heart of Midnight Jasmine and Vanilla Orchid, velvety florals that bloom sexiest after dark with a hint of seductive spice. The final rush of intoxicating Caramel Liqueur creates the ultimate collision of fragrance and passion.

This morning, I remembered that at the last minute, I had packed an oil that had been in the bathroom closet "just in case" I would run out of the perfume.  Well, two weeks in, here are are!  This particular scent goes all the way back to upper elementary school when I spent some time with Aunt Maureen in Provincetown and Cape Truro, MA which is part of Cape Cod.  She and I stumbled upon an oil called, "Rain", that my Mom also grew to love.  Off and on from the mid 90s throughout high school, Mom, Aunt Maureen, or I might have a roll on perfumed oil of that scent buried somewhere in a purse or a bookbag.  Since it was an oil, it lasted forever since a little bit went a long way.  This is a description I found online of it:

Rain Perfume Essence is a crystalline fragrance derived from nature itself with notes of green clover, lily of the valley and sheer musk create a sense of fresh, renewing clarity, and unity. 

Once I didn't go back to Cape Cod for summer trips on a regular basis, I figured that the days of "Rain" were gone....until I found the scent at a small "hippie type" shop in Harrisburg!  My friend, Nick, knew I liked the scent and ended up picking up a bottle for me once as a small gift after I had moved away from Harrisburg and that's what is now currently in Austria with me.  So, each morning when I put a dab of that familiar scent in this new community and land, I am reminded of the kindness of friends and great memories with family at the beach.

I wonder if I will eventually associate a scent with where we are and decades later when I catch a whiff of it, if it will take me back to right now?!

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!! :)