A long walk

I had a chance to rest this weekend and while it was hard for me to rest, I was able to take a full day on Sunday and enjoy the outdoors.  I walked along the river, up the mountains, and just enjoyed a slower day.  As I walked along, I stopped to listen to the river, sat on benches along the path and read, and just spent time reflecting on God's goodness.  It had been raining and cold for two days, so the sun and warmer temperatures felt great.  I passed several people and used my Austrian dialect to say good day, which is 'Gross Gotte,' which means greet God and everyone uses it here. And I loved the sound of the river flowing, it was so calm.  As I went at my own pace, I even noticed a small snail snoozing on a leaf. 

While I don't often get days like this, I'll remember the sound of the birds chirping, the smell of the pure air, and most importantly, the fact that God knows what we need even before we ask.

Exporing Austria

Elka, Ahsley, and Sharon under an umbrella in the rain in Bad Ischl, Austria

There were a few older student here this past week and I got to know Elka and Ashley, neighbors from Germany.  Elka is 49 and Ashley 29.  They stayed through Friday, so they invited me along to see a small town in Austria called Bad Ischl.  We went in Elka's car and drove about 1 hour and 30 minutes away from Schaldming.  It was nice to see the landscape by car.  Once in town, we visited Kaiservilla, where the emporer of Austria, Franz Josef and his wife Elizabeth, or Sissi, made their summer residence.  We toured the grounds and the home.  Most was original furnishing and very intricate.  We even saw the document where Franz signed the document that started world war I.  When we went outside, it was pouring, so we quickly found a cafe and had tea and very petite and scrumptious desserts.  After this, most of the shops were closed so we headed to dinner at a nice restaurant nearby, after getting a recommendation.  While I love the food at Tauernhof, it was great to be able to order off the menu:  asparagus mouse with salmon, spinach rolls, and vanilla bourbon dessert.  We chatted away most of the day, and I thoroughly enjoyed this.  They invited me to Germany and said that I would love their little town called Woerzburg.  Ashley said that her and her husband have road bikes and that I could borrow them and ride around town and to nearby vineyards.  Hmmmm...maybe I'll extend my stay. 

Speed Hiking

Emily and Sharon at the top of the Gutenberg hike

I was in the mood to get a good workout on sports day, so I decided to go on the speed hike with the cook Lota (pronounced Low-ta).  He and his wife are from Germany, but have been at Tauernhof for 2 years -- he as the cook and his wife Ana as the main person in the office. They are both so nice. Only one other girl, Emily, went on the hike with us. She's 17, but she and I became fast friends early on because we both have short blonde curly hair. We decided that she would be my little sister while we were here. She's so sweet, hugable, and just real. She's also in great shape. I heard legends of Lota's ability, but I wanted to try it. So I went hiking with two very fit people.

We went by car to Bernbirg, which is across the valley from Tauernhof. We parked by some beautiful houses and then started on our hike. Right off, the we hiked a good incline. They were ahead of me rather quickly, but I kept up a good pace behind them. The plan was to walk to the top of the mountain on the ridge. It would take us 1.5 hours to hike up and about an hour to hike down. As we started the climb, I noticed a sign stating how long it will take to get to the top. The sign said 2 hours and 14 minutes. So we were really going to have to move to get to the top. We hiked up pretty quickly to a spot where we could look back and see the valley. We continued on our hike and after about 20 minutes walked over the top of the treeline and the terrain became quite rocky with low brush. I had never hiked this high before. The stone path got narrower as we hiked up the hill. Lota was ahead of Emily by some distance and Emily ahead of me by some distance as well. I saw Lota come check on me at one point and asked how far it was to the top. I thought that he said 5 minutes (his English is hard to understand at times). Great, I thought. Wrong. I continued to hike the rest of the way up the side of the top of the mountain on a zig zag path which was covered with big boulders. We were up so high that there was snow.

As I continued on I kept thinking that the top was going to be any minute. I was challenged by the constand uphill hike and rocky ground. When I was very tired and alone, I came across some sheep on the hill. This of course made me smile. I was really high up at this point and here were these sheep literally in the middle of nowhere. All you could hear was the slight wind and the sound of one of the sheep who had a bell on its neck. They were really cute, especially the little baby one. I continued on and kept climbing up the winding path and couldn't believe how high up that we were going. Fortuneately, the paths are well marked here, so you just keep looking for the Austrian flag. On this trail the flags were painted on the rocks. After a seemingly long time, I saw Lota and Emily. They had only been waiting 10 mintues for me. We sat at the top and just soaked in the view. As Lota pointed across to the mountains on the other side, I realized that we were as high as the mountains that we were looking at. Lota pointed out the highest mountain in the area. We enjoyed a drink, snacks, and Lota gave thanks to God by praying in German. It was a bit cool up top, so after we fully rested, we headed back down the mountain. Easier than going uphill, but it was very technical. You needed to really watch your step so that you wouldn't slip on the stones, but it wasn't too bad. And Emily was kind enough to walk down with me and Lota stayed with us for awile. Emily and I had a very nice talk and arrived at the bottom of the hill exactly one hour later, for a total hike of 2 hours and 40 minutes.  What a hike.

Slipper Run

Women making "hausschuhe," or slippers

We've had a couple free afternoons the past two days.  While I've really enjoyed the new teacher and topic of Christ as Life, I've been grateful for the down time.  And this afternoon, we ran for wool slippers in a nearby town.  While I was expecting a shop, it was actually in this woman's house.  We walked in her front door and off to the right was her shop.  There were two woman making slippers from sheep's wool that they had pressed and dyed.  The woman said it took about 45 mintues to make a set of slippers.  Speaking of sheep, I can't get over the fact that every day you'll see sheep grazing on a hill.  And most often it's a ski slope.  You'll look up a the ski slope and see brown dots and a few black ones as well.  For some reason it just makes me laugh.  Only in Austria can you see sheep grazing on a ski slope.  As for the slippers, I'm the proud owner of pair.

"Mountain" Biking

Kate, Dani, Sharon (me), Megan, Steph

While the topic for lecture this week was "spiritual endurance," I think that this week was filled with more physical endurance.  Kate and I went on a hike on Monday and the route that we chose went straight up, but as usual, the view from the top was spectactular.  On Wednesday, I chose boxing for my sports day.  I heard that it was a challenging workout, so why not?  Little did I know that I would be training for 2 hours.  We did about 1.5 hours of workout before trying boxing.  This was optional, but I tried it with one of the younger, sweet girls.  But she was tough!  It was so awkward for me to throw punches.  I'm not sure that I'd have to try the actual boxing part again.  But I enjoyed Tobi, the instructor who works for Tauernhof. 

And today, we went on a mountain bike ride.  I mean a mountain bike ride.  I went one other time at home, so this was only my second true mountain bike ride.  That was one thing that I wanted to do here -- to see the area by bike.  I was not disappointed.  Tobi and an older student in the class, Denis, were the leaders.  We got a few tips on technique and then we started out -- apply 70% to your front brake and 30% to your back brake.  Very helpful.  We road along the street until we came to the path.  This was a wider track and beautiful, but extremely steep.  I had to stop a few times and so did the others.  And it kept going up and up and only improved in incline slightly.  We got to a stopping point and travelled along a mountain road for a bit.  We all needed the recovery. 

Then we headed up a single track through the woods.  Tobi gave us a few more tips on riding uphill.  Pull your elbows down and have the center of your body forward over the chain.  By applying the technique, the uphill wasn't so bad.  It was the downhill on a single track that was tough.  At times, we rode along the side of the mountain with a long drop to the right.  In that moment, I didn't have time to be afraid, you just did what you needed to do.  Once on more level ground, we split up into two groups and I chose the easier route.  I can't imagine what the harder route was like.  As we headed along a road to the next path, this was one of my favorite parts of the route.  We were essentially road riding through the forest with views of the mountain.  At a brief stop, Denis reminded us to enjoy the ride, that we all need to see all the splendor that God created if we would just focus on it.  But too often we rush or let others rush us.  It was a good reminder.  We headed up to a cabin and stopped to eat our packed lunch.  This is when we looked around and saw pine trees, mountain flowers and mountain views and just sat there in awe.  One of the girls and I looked at each other and said, "we are really mountain biking through the alps" (see picture above).

I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the journey.  It didn't get any easier, it was still single track, but it we were riding through the forest, little yellow and purple flowers covering the ground and it was absolutely peaceful.  You could hear the leaves rustling slightly and you could actually hear the sound of silence.  As we rode along, those more experience in the group helped the others.  We rode over a few two plank bridges, around trees, over tree roots, and rode along a small river.  After 3 hours, mostly riding uphill, we had a nice long downhill and headed back to town to return our bike rentals.  It was the best 7.20 Euro that I ever spent.

Cleaning the "hut"

So, I had my first work day today.  Our assignment was to clean a cabin, or "hut" as they call them, in the mountains.  The cabin belongs to a family that lets Tauernhof use it during the summer and fall.  Andy, one of the construction workers m and a native of the area, took seven of us to the hut.  Everyone kindly asked each other if they get car sick when we picked our seats.  I said, "no, I don't" and got in the third row. Andy got in the vehicle introduced himself and said, "It's about 40 minutes through the mountains so just relax and enjoy the ride."  Lovely, a nice ride through the mountains.

We headed up some winding roads at what seemed like a faster than usual pace.  About 10 minutes into the ride, the three of us in the back looked at each other and I started to feel a little queasy.  So, we opened the window and I kept thinking that we'd almost be there.  The roads got more narrow and winding.  I think it's the first time that I recited the verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" in a car ride.  The only thing that I can compare it to was a road that we took once to my grandparents house when I was younger, and never took that road again because it was so winding.

We arrived at the hut and I felt very green.  But the ride really was spectacular through the upper mountains.  The cabin was just like "Little House on the Prairie."  Dani, my roommate looked at me and said, "why don't you get some fresh air for a bit," noticing my green color.  After I took in some fresh air we promptly went to cleaning the cabin.   Before this, we got a quick tour and the cabin was all wood, no insulation, and mattresses on boards.  This was really remote.  No electricity, but running cold water.  There was even an room where they split wood and there were a lot of tools in this room as well.  Dani and I cleaned the loft area containing about 10 mattresses in one room.  The others cleaned the remaining bedrooms, the dining area, the bathroom and the basement.  The cabin isn't used in the winter, so it had been sitting for 6 months.  It was mostly dusty with cobwebs.  But we shook out the mattress and everythig else. 

Dani (Germany), Sharon/me (USA), Spencer (USA), Ana (Germany), Steph (Germany), Whitney (Macedonia), Elizabeth (USA), and Andy (Austria)

After about one and a half hours we had the place cleaned from top to bottom.  As we sat down for a snack of fresh milk from the farmer and some baked desser, Andy told us more about the cabin.  It used to be used for farmers, called an "alm" in German, for making cheese from the milk. The farmers used to bring their cattle up and this was the way to preserve the milk.  They no longer use it for that, but just for Christian camps.  I must admit it was pretty rustic and pretty remote. I thought of how much I appreciated my little twin mattress in Schladming.

On the ride back, I kindly asked Andy to drive slower and sat in the front.  While it was a much better speed, one of the girls looked green when we got out of the van back at Tauernhof.  We laughed so hard as we thought about the ride being worse than cleaning the cabin.  Makes for good memories anyway.

Roommate night

Tauernhof, where I live and the home of the roommate night

While I am just have one roommate, Dani, other students have up to 8 roommates.  So there is this event where some of the girls will hold a "roommate night."  They buy chocolate, talk, dance, pray together and just hang out.  When you're 17, 18 and 19 years old, this is what you do.  I laughed when I talked to Dani about this and suggested a "roommate morning" in which we get up early, go to a local bakery and have tea.  I can't stay up much past 22:30 (or 10:30pm) let alone be social after this.  But since I've been here, I've had the opportunity to talk to several of the younger girls (under 23-years-old) about life, boys, and other relevant topics.  It's been such a blessing. 

So, word got out about one of the conversations that I had and the advice that I gave, so one of the girls invited me over to their room to hang out and talk with them.  This was during a roommate night.  Now, remember, roommate night usually starts at 10:30pm.  But thankful for the opportunity, I agreed.  Luckily our lecture let out early and I headed over at 9:30pm.  This was nothing that I could have expected.  I listened to the various topics and then we got into conversations about what's challenging in life today, about being a young Christian and even what would be good/bad about being in an Amish community.  The conversation flowed and I was thankful to be able to listen to their challenges and talk about life.  It was 11:09pm when I left.  While we didn't get into too many topics, they invited me back.  What a privilege to be involved in their lives.  I am so grateful for this part of my experience here.

Soccer game

Last night we watched the soccer team, Sportsreach from England play against the local Schladming team.  They played in wet weather which meant that we watched in the drizzle, but it was fun to to be able to cheer on team Sportsreach.  And even though the weather was damp, I've never watched a game with such a beautiful backdrop.  While we had to head back to attend the evening lecture and didn't see the end of the game we found out that team Schladming won 10 to 3.  They'll be playing 10 games over two weeks which will be physically challenging, but they are glad for the opportunity.

Out of my comfort zone

So I have these moments where I say to myself, "I can't believe that I'm living in Austria."  So much about this adventure is out of my comfort zone:  living overseas, learning to speak German and actually speaking to people here, playing sports that I haven't played in years, hiking in dense forests, and learning to slow down.  Today, we praticed for our outreach assignment.  I am in the singing group that will be visiting hospitals and churches.  For some reason, I saw the part about going to hospitals and kind of glanced over the singing part when I signed up.  Now I am in an alto in a choir, but it's great fun. We're learning songs in English and in German.  Since the last time that I sang was in tenth or eleventh grade, I had to ask one of the girls to remind me how to read a few of the notes.  "Which is higher, B or C?"  But here, everyone is so open and understanding because we're all new at something here.  We'll be practing several times a week so that we can sing the songs in English and German without looking at the sheet music. 

Practice for our Singing Outreach Group

From left to right: Dan (Whales), Simon (Germany), Denis (Romania), Blake (Canada), Sharon/me (USA), Maddy (USA), Candice (Canada), Naomi (USA), Dogmar (Romania), Trish (USA), Rachele (Canada), Whitney (Macedonia)

We had one of the girls who speaks German go through the German version with us.  German is hard enough without singing it to music, but we get better with each time that we practice.  As part of the alto section, we practice even outside of the group practice because some of the alto parts are quite difficult.  Who knows, this may re-kindled a desire to sing once I get back home.

Bis spater (pronounced bis schpater).  Or see you later. 
 

Sunday at a Cafe

After a long but fruitful week, it was nice to get up to a brunch.  After brunch, the soccer players visiting from England invited us to their Sunday morning service.  We met all of them as the coach introduced each of the players.  Then two young men gave their testimonies on what life is like for them now that they are Christians.  And the coach, Graham, followed with a very powerful sermon on Mark 5, where a man was possessed with legions, but when he met the power of Jesus, he was transformed.  And I talked to the coach afterwards and I learned more about their ministry called Sportsreach.

Cafe in Schladming with Nat

After service I met Nat, one of the two resident assistants, for coffee at a local cafe in town.  There are cafes open on Sundays, but no grocery stores or other stores.  It's nice really, because then everyone is more apt to relax or spent time with friends.  Nat is from Australia and first went to Tauernhof over 10 years ago, then stayed on as a nanny for the director, Hans Peter Royer.  She's been back several times since as a member of the staff.  In Austrialia, she's a school teacher.  Right now, though, she's taking a year off to be on staff at Tauernhof.  She's my age so we had a lot in common and talked for several hours.  It's so common here to spend time over a cup of tea or coffee.  In fact, in talking with my roommate Dani, she said that it is very common in her small town in Germany to meet for coffee on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon or even to spend a whole evening during the week with friends.  I could get used to this kind of fellowship.

Salzburg and the Sound of Music

We finished up a week of lecture with a social night last night.  We played a tournament of volleyball.  For some reason, I signed up to be on a team, even though I hadn't played in over 20 years.  I played with a few of the girls that I've come to know, along with a young man named Christoph.  They name our team the "Spikers," ironically.  I had a ball playing even though we didn't win the tournament. 

Salzburg

So today, I headed into Salzburg with several of the students on a trip that the school organized.  I had a chance to talk to one of the younger, very sweet girls on the bus trip and she asked me a question that really made me think about the response.  She asked me, "what do you wish that you knew at my age?"  Oh, boy.  But I was able to be honest with her and she seemed to really appreciate the insight. 

We arrived in Salzburg around 10am and a few of us headed up to see the castle.  The views from there were spectactular -- you could see over the entire city with the mountains and the river as the backdrop.  After this, we walked along the river and started to visit the locations where parts of the Sound of Music were filmed.  Several of us wanted to go on a guided tour for the Sound of Music, but the timing didn't work out, so we went around town to see some of the sights ourselves.  I think that the gardens were the most beautiful spot (almost made you want to sing 'doe a dear'), but we also saw the church pictured in the movie.  And I felt like I was on the set of the movie.  For the rest of the day, we walked around the narrow curved cobblestone streets.  There were tiny shops and cafes everywhere that we went.  At one point, we listened to a street performance with accordians and a couple dressed in traditional Austrian garb.  At that moment, I realized very distinctly, "I'm in Europe."

After a day of walking, my calfs are sore and we're all very tired.  But I can see why Eurpeans are so fit.  I can't wait to visit another city. 

Euganda youth choir visits

Sharon and Sharon

Yesterday, we had a nice surprise during lecture where we listened to a very lively and talent group of Euganda students since and perform Christian songs.  As we listened to them perform and watched their faces light up, it reminded me of my time in Haiti.  The children come from such little means, but their faces are full of the joy and love of proclaiming God's goodness.  We danced with them as they taught us a few songs and we even had a chance to talk with them afterwards.  I couldn't help but hug them because they are just so dear. 

I talked to one of the young girls in the choir and once she found out that my name was Sharon, she ran and got another girl in the choir whose name was also Sharon.  The young Sharon ran up to me and hugged me so hard, so happy that we had the same name.  She's 11-years-old and has been travelling since February and will return home in May.  She wouldn't let go of me for some time as I chatted with her.  I enjoyed every minute.

Apotheke

The internet has been out for almost three days and I feel like so much has happened in that time.  We have lecture, sports, meals together and even attended lectues at night.  There is a lot packed into the schedule, but it feels well-rounded and there is time to study and just spend time in reflection.  As for the past few days, I've had a few new experiences.

On Sunday, I spent the day resting. Partly because everything is closed on Sundays in Austria (Dani, my roommate says that foreigners practically starve becase they don't know this) and partly because I started to get a bit of a cold. While a day of rest helped, I decided to get something for it. I talked to Katherine in the kitchen, a young German woman, and said that I wanted to get some medicine for my symptoms and explained them. She understood what I needed and asked me, "do you want to go to the Apotheke?" "Yes," I replied very proud of myself for knowing that this was a pharmacy. I learned this word and other common high-German phrases by listening to tapes for about a month before I left. I checked them out of the library and looked past the fact that they were cassette tapes. So, when I arrived in Schladming on the first day of class, I practiced on Kerstin (from Germany). "Guten tag Fraline," I said. My roommate was nearby and they laughed and said,  "Fraline? No one uses Fraline anymore." Ah, the tapes were a bit more ancient than I thought. But when I need to make them laugh, I call Kerstin, "Fraline." And she laughs.

So, after I explained that I needed some sinus medication, the girl in the kitchen said, "ask for Kiefer/Stirmhohlenentzundung." Um, could you write that down for me, bitte (please)? So I headed to the Apotheke, checking at the corner store on the way, but quickly realized that they only sell medication at the Apotheke. At the Apotheke, I asked for the medication, and the young pharmacist gave me tablets and said, "take 3 to 6 a day, these are very good." When I showed my roomate Dani the box, she said that she had taken them before and that they were good. I confirmed that I heard the dosage correctly and she said it is no problem to take a lot because they are plant-based, not medicine. I was even happier about this.

We've had three days of class with a new teacher, Rob Whittaker from the Capenwray Torchbearer school in England. He's teaching on 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy and is starting off by explaining the history and context so that we understand when, where, and why the letter was written to Timothy.   These instructors are so interesting.  They teach, the're fit, well-travelled, and can relate to all ages.  In fact, we went on a hike with Rob this afternoon.  And he and Hans Peter Royer, the teacher last week, who is also the director of Tauernhof, went paragliding yesterday.  Being here does certainly make you more adventerous. I may wait a bit to go paragliding. : )

Church in town

We have church at school at 7:30pm, but I wanted to go to the protesant church in town.  So, I walked over with a young man, Bastian, from Austria.  He lives about one and a half hours away and said that his youth group often gets together with the Schladming church youth group.  On the way, he said that he was looking forward to church because there would be a youth choir.

We walked in to a full church and most were dressed in the traditional attire that you would think of when you think of Austrian wear.  It felt like I stepped back in time.  The men were wearing brown leather shorts with green knee socks and gingham blazers.  The women and girls wore the traditional white puffed-sleeve blouse with a traditional dress that looked like an apron.  Most dresses were gingham print.  The youth choir sang songs in English and they had beautiful messages about trust and faithfulness.  Bastian said that it was confirmation, that's why there were so many people and youth up front.  I didn't know that the Protestant church had confirmation, but Bastian said that they still do it here. 

While I didn't understand but a word or two of the serman, the congregation seemed to enjoy it.  Bastian said afterwards, that it was a good sermon about not just saying that you're a Christian, but truly living out the life.  After the service, I talked to two young boys and they showed off their English with, "good morning" and Albert introduced himself.  Many of the children were so adorable in their garb, with many of the girls having braided hair or flowers in their hair. 

Albert, a young boy at church

After service, Bastian said that all of the congregation was dressed in the traditional attire because of confirmation.  As we walked back, Bastian said that his father started a service where he organizes trips to Israel for churches.  Bastian travelled to Israel and his parents go their often.  When I asked him what it was like, he said that is was really great to be on the mountain where Jesus gave the sermon on the mount. We walked back to Tauernhof and I enjoyed a much needed day of rest.

Hiking

Today is our free day.  Kerstin, Esa (pronounced EE-saw), Kate and I decided to hike some of the trails on the mountains behind Tauernhof.  Another organized group drove to another hike, but we stayed closer to school because Kerstin needed to catch a train back to Germany in the afternoon to become the Godmother of her 6-month-old niece. 

At the top: Sharon, Esa (from Germany), Kerstin, and Kate

We looked at the map and decided to head up towards Planai, a famous ski area in Schladming.  How hard can a hike be?  Oh my, I had no idea that we would literally be hiking up very steep mountain faces.  The first 25 minutes of our hike felt like it was straight up to God.  And the air is different here because we are at a higher altitude, so it's easy to get winded -- and that I did.  It was nice to be with Esa and Kerstin because they are both experienced in hiking.  The trees are marked with the Austrian flag, but at times, it looked like we were in the middle of the forest, but we'd always find our way.  There are several different paths and you can choose choose as you hike along.  Once we got to the top of the mountain, I caught my breath not only because we had such a challenging hike, but it was simply stunning. 

We continued on and I thought that we were off the trail, but Esa and Kerstin found the path and we continued on.  We went up, down, and crossed over ski slopes.  There were still patches of snow on some of them!  In the middle of our trip when it wasn't so steep, we were able to talk.  Esa spent 7 months in Israel helping the mentally and physically disabled before coming to Tauernhof. She went to church on Christmas in Bethlehem and said that it was amazing.  She is headed to Tanzania after this for a few months to continue helping the disabled.  We also talked about the differences between denominations in Canada, the US, and Germany -- over 90% of Austrians are Roman Catholic (not to be confused with Catholic, which really means the church) and many Germans are Roman Catholic as well.  We talked more about the different denominations but felt a common bond between us.

The way down was challenging because it's very steep in spots and at points, you're walking down a ski slope -- we did a little salem walking so that it was easier on our knees.  At one point we passed a stable of horses on a road and a big house built into the hill.  It looked the home for the Hobbits.  Really.  As we headed back to home, it was 3 hours later.  I am so tired but never felt more at peace by just hiking in God's creation.  I can't wait to try other paths.

Barbeque

It's sunny and 70 degrees today.  I went for an early morning walk through some side streets in town.  I stumbled upon a bakery and there must have been 20 or more different kinds of breads and pastries.  The bread here is amazing.  When you talk to the Germans or Austrian natives, bread -- whole grain, dense, but tasty breads -- are a staple in their diet.  We have it with every meal.  So, I continued on my walk and on the way back, I passed several groups of children going to primary school (about 6 through 10 years of age).  They are all chattering in German, ready to start school at 7:30am.  I headed back for breakfast after reading on a park bench for a bit.

A typical breakfast is a fresh bread or pastry, yogurt, granola, juice.  Today, we had fresh croissants.  Oh, so good.  Then there's always three bowls of cereal to eat with plain yogurt.  Usually muesli and two others.  And there's always tee and kaffee.  Dani and I have been searching out mugs so that we can take a cup to go (some habits die hard).  We have a break during lecture around 11am and have a piece of fresh fruit and tee and kaffee.  For lunch, it is a hot meal, like pasta, salad, and dessert.  All very fresh and very healthy.  But today for lunch we had a barbeque.  Not your typical barbeque.  They prepared fresh salads, like cucumber, carrot, cabbage, and of course German potato salad.  Then there's the sausages, all different varieties.  And fresh bread.  For dessert, we had ice cream.  In talking to the German and Austrian students, they would call an ice cream shop an 'ice dealer.'  And I learned that when something is really delicious they say, 'lecker.' 

Barbeque lunch

For dinner, we have a hot meal, like tube pasta with peas, beans, ham with olive oil and fresh spices, or spaghetti with cheese sauce, or even rosemary potatoes and meatloaf (the guys say that it's the best that they've had).  Or we've had pinapple pizza and ham or even leftovers.  Tonight we had camenbert cheese rounds with pomegrante sauce and leftovers.  And there's usually a salad that's prepared with a light oil dressing and boston bibb lettuce.  For dessert, there is something light like a pudding salad with fresh fruit and light cookies.  In my opinion, it's all very gourmet.  And we eat in two dining rooms with about 6 to 8 people at a table, making coversation more intimate.

Soccer

We learned about the outreach that we're doing in the communitý this morning.  Most likely, I'll be headed to visit the old folks home (as they call it) and the mentally handicapped.  In the afternoon we played team sports -- Wednesday afternoons are set aside for this purpose.  We could choose from hiking, speed hiking up one of the ski slopes, soccer or boxing.  I decided to play soccer.  I haven't played soccer since high school and I think it was just once.  About 16 of us played for over 2 hours.  But I wasn't the only one that hadn't played, though, and we had many Europeans on our team.  The German players were especially good.  There are students here from Germany, Great Britan, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.  While we worked hard and I felt a bit new to the game, I think that I will play again. 

On the way back from soccer, I spoke with one young man from Germany who left his Engineering job right before coming to Tauernhof.  He may go into disaster management or something else.  I've met a few people here who have done this and would like this time to see what will be next.  I am glad to have company in this regard.  Who knows what direction we will head after two months.

The route to the soccer field.





Adjusting

From left: Dani (my roommate), Kerstin (pronounced CARE-stin, from Germany), and Kate (from Ottawa) as we walked through town this afternoon.

Today we had our first lecture on the book of Revealation.  It's quite the adjustment to sit in class, but the teacher, Hans Peter Royer, did well keeping our attention though a careful explanation of the first several chapters.  And it's an adjustment to meet so many people and try to remember their names.  I've met and talked with many of the 68 students here. But I can't remember all of their names.  When then meet me, some  ask how old I am and usually think that I am 30-years-old.  Being the oldest student does have it's advantages, though.  While everyone received a daily duty, like cleaning bathrooms, floors, and cleaning the kitchen, I received the duty of being the one that the students will see if they have questions about the washer and the dryer.  Julia, who gave me the duty, said that the younger students needed the discipline of working, and that she gave me this role just so that I would have a duty.  I think I have it down -- washing soap on the left in the drawer, turn to 40 degrees, close the door and then insert the coin. I can handle this.

The other adjustment is being with many people 24x7.  But it's so interesting talking to the students because many of them when to other bible schools before coming to Tauernhof, so they have these interesting stories of their travel through Europe between semesters (most had 4 weeks to travel).  My roommate, Dani, came from Germany on "holiday" since she graduated in December.  Her husband could not get away from his job, but they liked this arrangement just fine.  I enjoy spending time with her and we get along quite nicely.  She is glad to be here to practice her English for her training to be an English and Italian language teacher.  So she asked me to help her get better.  At night, I practice some German with her and she helps me get better.  Boy, German is tough.  She says to me, "it's not very beautiful sounds."  I'm learning to place my tongue on the roof of my mouth and utter more air-like sounds.

There's even small adjustments like the beds.  I looked for the top sheet my first night, but there was none.  I thought that maybe the school was trying to save money.  So I finally commented about this to Dani. And she said that in Germany and Austria, they just have a blanket covered by a duvet.  She said that when she has visited Italy she noticed that she had a top sheet, but she doesn't always like it because she said that she feels trapped when the sheet is tucked in to tight at the bottom; she likes the freedom of just a duvet on the top.  We laughed for a bit because I knew what she was talking about (several American hotels are like this!).

It's even an adjustment with the computer being in German.  The operating system and the pages default to German.  You should have seen me trying to uploadthe pictures that I have.  I finally had to ask Dani to help me because I couldn't figure out how to open them in Picture Viewer.  Even signing on to enter this blog is in German.  And the strangest is the key board -- the z and the y are reversed in location, and things like the delete key and end key are in German so you have to figure it out.  And much of the punctuation keys are in a different spot.  So as I tzpe this it would look like this if I tzpe the waz that I tzpe at home.

While there have been many differences, what is the same, and comforting, is very genuine people who love God, who want to learn how to know Him better and serve Him more.

First day

I slept well and seemed to have adjusted to the new time zone.  It was amazing to look out the window and see the Alps.  The morning was a bit cold, but then we just had to walk downstairs to get breakfast.  It's so nice to have meals prepared for us.  There are a few duties that we participate in around the school, but nothing very taxing.  After breakfast we received an orientation, explaining the cirriculm:  3-4 hours of lecture, study time, outreach on some days, small group time, and we're required to log at least 4 days of fitness each week, which can include hiking, swimming, mountain biking, volleyball, and a number of other activities.

We hiked 2 hours after lunch in the mountains behind the school.  Just spectacular views, including the 'sheep on the hill' scene that you'd picture of the Alps.  The picture above is from town just as we were walking up the hill.  We'll also go on other adventures as time permits.  For now, I'm headed to study.

Arrived Safely in Austria via seat 1C on Austrian Air

[Note: no pictures yet until I can get them uploaded - it's different here]

I am safely in Austria.  I had no trouble getting to Toronto, but once in Toronto, there was a problem with my boarding pass.  After patiently waiting I finally received my boarding pass.  I asked for an aisle seat and the flight member said, "you won't be disappointed."  With that I boarded the plane.  As I boarded the plane, I noticed that all of the women attendants wear all red and a blue scarf (including red tights and red shoes).  When I sat down, I said to the gentleman next to me, "these are really roomy flights."  And to that he said, "this is first class."  I couldn't believe it.  I received a four course meal, a hot towel, a massage chair, a comfort care kit, and was able to lay completely flat and sleep 5 hours on the 8 hour and 25 minute flight to Vienna.  What a blessing.  I even received a good breakfast. 

In Vienna, passport control let me through even though I didn't have a boarding pass.  Once in Sazburg, I took the bus to the train station.  The bus dropped me off, but I had no idea where to go since all of the signs were in German.  I headed down a flight of stairs, but there was absolutely no one there and the information desk was dark.  I only slightly panicked knowing I only had a 25 minute window until the train left.  I found a sign saying that Graz (direction of Schladming) was on platform 5.  I asked one young man how to get there and he pointed back upstairs and said,"upstairs and straight."  So I did that but no obvious signs.  I asked another person and they directed me.  When I arrvied at platform 5, the sign did not say Graz.  Asking another person, they assured me that it would appear shortly after the last train departed.  Whew.  I did get on the train safely and met a few other students going to Tauernhof.  People have been generally very helpful here.

By train, the view was spectacular.  It's like out of a movie.  Rolling green hills, little cottages, cows in green pastures, and a castle.  We arrived at Schladming a hour and a half later and met a few more students headed to Tauernhof.  After a 20 minute walk through downtown, we found the school thanks to a kind guide and a German speaking student in our group.  And downtown is simply charming.  Like a picture out of Holland.

After being greeted by a few of the staff, we toured the main building and the other rooms.  I'm in the main building with the dining facilities.  I'm in room 1. And I only have one roommate (there can be up to 6 in a room).  Danny is from Germany and speaks very good English.  She is in her late 20's, married, and is studying to be a teacher. I practiced my German on her and she is helping me.  So, maybe I will know German after all. 

I'm headed off to dinner, and very thankful for a safe journey.  Tomorrow class starts.