When the Time didn't Change

There have been a lot of holidays happening lately. Wednesday was Halloween. yesterday was All Saints Day, and then last Friday was one as well, National Day, which celebrates Austria's declaration of neutrality in 1955. I cannot believe it is November already--wow! wednesday I was on door duty: I greeted the trick-or-treaters and gave out candy. Here the say, "Sweets or sours!?!" I didn't see any spectacular costumes and there weren't that many kids that came by, but it was still pretty fun.

Last weekend the ladies of YAG had a girls night!! I was looking forward to it all week since I hadn't been at church or seen any of them the previous week. Plus it was the night of the time change, so we were getting an extra hour--perfect! We indeed had a lovely time of fellowship. Oh my...there was a lot of eating and talking and sharing and growing friendships. There were the token pair that stayed up almost until dawn talking, so that is a sure sign of success. I decided I wanted to bring some Oreos and PB for the event, because what is a girls' night without it!? Many of them hadn't tried it before, so I was excited for them. I didn't hear any complaints, so I think most people liked them.

I left Andrea's about two hours before Bible study to just walk around a bit and think and pray. After sharing some things, it got me thinking a lot about the future. Part of the reason for my coming to Austria in the first place is to try and figure out what I want to do next. A grad program or a job or something else...I really don't know. So, I went to Stadtpark and found a good spot up against one of the bridge railings. I just stood there. I watched the pigeons and black birds fight for crumbs and the perfect bits for their nests. I took in my surroundings and began feeling overwhelmingly blessed. Oh wow...God is so so GOOD! He gave me this sense of peace about the future. I know He has it all sorted. I have faith that He is going to show me the way, like He always does.

I left the park and got to the church a little bit before 1pm, when Bible study starts. There were still lots of people gathered out in the lobby area, where we've been meeting lately. Hmmph. That's sort of odd. I rang the bell for the conference room to see if anyone was up there. No answer. "Okay," I thought, "I am early, and usually people are regularly late for things here...so I'll walk a bit more and come back."
I walked and walked and then came back. Still people there. I went inside the lobby, but I didn't see anybody I recognized. It was all people from the other church that meets there, so I suspected. Hmmph. I was hungry, and there was one bakery open up the other street. I thought surely by the time I went there and came back it would be after one and people, the right people, would be there. False.

I finally decided to call somebody to check and see if we were still having Bible study.
"Yeah, but I won't be there for another 30 or 45 minutes."
"Oh okay, well it's already 10 after one."
"No, Sarah, you're early. It's only 10 after twelve."

What? But my phone says it's one. Lies.
I didn't know that I needed to manually change my phone. All my phones back home changed automatically, so why shouldn't this one too? Ha. Ha. If it wouldn't have been just barely above freezing out, I would have been fine with my little mishap, but it was indeed pretty chilly. Plus, I had already been outside for a good couple of hours already. What to do? I sat at a little park, ate my snack and cappuccino from the bakery and made the most of the 45 minutes I still had to wait. Oh, and I also changed the time on my phone. I will remember this for the spring time.

When time tricks you...sad times.

What else better to do that to take photos of my surroundings to waste a little time

This is actually a nice wee park close to the church next to a tiny little museum.

They still write all over public picnic tables here too...

First time wearing the wrist warmers I knitted myself. I must say that I am quite pleased with them. I like that I can wear mitten underneath them if my fingers are getting too cold ;)

At about 12:45, I had had enough and headed back over to the church. As I walked in, I saw one familiar face and instantly felt better. She had been "early" too, so we had a good chuckle. Anyway, the rest of the day was lovely. During the service I sang in the praise band for the second time, which was great. After the service the YAG had a little pow-wow of a meeting. We are planning to do some pretty sweet sounding stuff that I am well excited for; Thanksgiving may or may not be one of those oh so sweet things ;)
Upon leaving the church, a few friends and I decided to spend a little more time together mainly because I still had an hour to kill before my train, which is becoming quite the common occurrence. We went to the Donau Zentrum, which has a large food court on one floor. We stopped at the Burger King and my friend ordered her food. I started to really have an appetite for a milkshake, so I just decided to get one. Then, about two minutes after I ordered and paid for it, I realized that I was actually really hungry. I ordered a small hamburger.
This is official documentation: on October 28, I had my first hamburger since being in Austria.
I almost didn't even realize it!
Even though it was Burger King (where else to get a hamburger than from the king himself, right?), it was delicious and I felt homesick. My friend shared some of her fries with me, and it was absolutely marvelous. Wow. Now I really want to make hamburgers!! Awh, what a great end to the day.

I can tell I'm really starting to feel more at home here because I don't feel the need to take pictures of everything I do and everywhere I go. I guess I should stop being lazy because I think I would have like a picture of me and that hamburger. Ha.

Well, time goes on...

~Sarah <3

Books Unintentionally Left Behind

I realized I never posted pictures of the other books I've finished so far. I don't want to leave any of them  out...they all deserve a photo slot :) 

So I started this one during the summer, but it was the first book I finished here in Austria.

The third book I finished

Also, if you have any book suggestions, please pass them along!!

The Walking Tour

The past weekend I walked a lot.
Well, not the whole weekend, just Saturday.

Mikal and I decided to meet up and see where the day would take us. We had a few ideas, but the first stop was Billa (a grocery store) because we were quite hungry. This was actually a serious point of discussion. You see, we are both trying to be very careful with our spending, so we wanted to choose the best way that would insure saving the most cents. We thought, for a few seconds, about just going to a bakery or something for a snack, but we reasoned, correctly I believe, that getting food for now and later would be better. We bought a fresh loaf of bread, deli meat, bananas, Almdudler -which is a ginger-ale like drink native to Austria- and chocolate chip cookies (American style). Plus I restocked my chocolate store, which is becoming a biweekly occurrence.

We ate sitting down on this little path with weeping willow trees all along the sides; it was so pretty. It also happened to be, in my opinion, a perfect fall day. The air was crisp, it was sort of sunny but sort of cloudy too, there was a hint of mist in the air but no actual precipitation. And you didn't need a coat. Ahh, it was great. After we were satisfied enough for the first time around, we just started walking around. Eventually we found the forest and took a route that I have run before. As we entered, we saw signs with florescent borders, but we weren't sure what they said. Good thing I (usually)always carry my dictionary with me. It said rescue dogs. Cool. There was some sort of training going on for the K9 unit, so we heard barking periodically as we walked. Cool. I really do love this forest. It has all sorts of ascents and descents as well as clearings and smaller less traveled paths as well. But one of the neatest and most appreciated things about it is the benches. Okay, don't get too excited; they're not exquisitely designed or embellished benches. They are just normal wooden benches with green steel legs and arm rests. I just like the fact that they are there. For when I decide to use them for reading, journaling, taking photographs from, or for thinking or praying or just for being. I don't know...they're just nice. I have yet to pass by anybody sitting on one yet, but when I do, I know I'm going to smile at them.

Whilst in the forest, we decided to take a journey to Sonnberg, a little village about three miles from Hollabrunn. One of our friends lives there, and he happens to have an apple tree in his yard. Mikal had gone there to pick apples once before, and had the idea to do so again since baking was an option for something to do later. Apples naturally need to be included in any baking venture since...'tis the season :)
After stopping by our respective houses and swapping handbags for backpacks, we headed out for our hour long journey, or so we estimated. En route to the village, we passed lots of fields, some already plowed and some still planted. Mikal stopped at one, thought it was potatoes, bent down to check but came back with an inconclusive result. After more walking, we came again to a plowed field. I glanced down, and there were a lot of rocks that quite keenly resembled potatoes. I bent down, picked one up, and sure enough, they were potatoes! Mikal had been right about the other field too. There were also a few different types of wildflowers that I'd never seen before; those kept my attention. We finally made it to Sonnberg; with our few little stops to pick flowers and play in the dirt, it did take us an hour to get to the edge of the tiny town. There were also a couple apple trees along the rode into the town; we tried to climb them but were unsuccessful. The limbs were a little too high and the bark too slippery. Bummer. But not too despair, for there was a whole tree waiting for us! There were a lot of apples already on the ground as well, which made things very easy for us. Since we were baking with them, it was okay if they were less than perfect. Our host offered us tea after we filled our bag with apples, which we gladly accepted. Then he drove us back to Mikal's. Lovely.

We finally made it!!

The apple trees we tried to climb were a little ways back on this road...on the right.

Awh, Sonnberg, you are cute :)

We planned on making apple bars, so we started washing the apples and getting everything ready. Then Mikal realized we didn't have any eggs. Here we go again...another three quarter of a mile walk to a food store and back. It was worth it though as we got a couple other things to supplement or supper, which were delicious compliments. The apple bars didn't turn out exactly as planned, but they were far from inedible!! We enjoyed them once they were finished, along with some white wine. We made spritzers as well, but to spruce them up a bit we added Holunderblutensaft (elderflower syrup) to them. Oh my word, They was so good! It was then time for a movie, and The Patriot was decided on, after which we both felt proud to be American along with a mild disliking for the British. That's saying something for me, since I love the Brits! We watched a couple episodes of Friends to end the night on a light note, which was good.

Then on Sunday, we celebrated Elena's birthday with both sets of grandparents. It was a lovely time! We enjoyed a delicious lunch and cake prepared by Andi and Elisabeth. Naturally, Elena was beyond excited: She got her "favorite wish," a Nintendo DS, along with other very nice things. She came into my room later in the evening and was showing the the Nintendo...prrrrrreetttty cool. I had no idea it had a camera!!?!/? But I guess what electronic/battery operated device doesn't have a camera on it these days?
Then even later, I got to add two more familiar faces from home to the ones I've gotten to see here from Austria! Thanks, Katie and Emily!

Alas, friend and family time = lovely weekend :)