Snippets and Subtle Observations

These, clips from my thoughts and perceptions of this new environment, are in no particular order...

Pumpkin patches where the harvest looks to be plenty
A quail and his other quail friend running through an already harvested field
Contiguous rolling hills, both big and small, neatly spotted with [farm]houses and barns and designed in rectangles of different colors yielding evidence of precision, hard work, and dedication
Walking home from the train station on sidewalks made from asphalt rather than concrete is a task; they are much more uneven and seem to always bring out one's clumsiness, nearly tripping him or her in the same three spots each day. Additionally, there are some significant gaps between the bricks on some of the pedestrian zones, so one has to be mindful of one's feet more or less all of the time.
When the train is already mostly full but a few empty rows remain, is it better to sit in an empty one and take a chance at being "picked" by someone else or just snatching a free aisle seat and "picking" your own seat buddy?
Fields of dried out sunflowers, drooping their heads as low as their spine allows, waiting to be pulled out of their misery by some kind chap with the time and maybe some gardening gloves
Window sills are nearly always lined with potted plants, seemingly in homes and office buildings alike
A grande Caramel Macchiato, when an American is missing a signature beverage and familiar coffee shop experience from his or her life, will cost him or her 5 Euro which is about $6.50; it will do him or her well not to make a habit out of this, that is if a strict budget is involved.
The German language is difficult to manage. The word order and sentence structure seems to change constantly, and there are so many Austrian dialects it is unbelievable. 
McDonald's still has really good and inexpensive coffee, the only difference about the McCafe experience here is that one has the option of purchasing gourmet desserts along with their drink, like at any other nice cafe in Vienna.
Bicycle riders have their own lane and corresponding light in the cross[walk] areas of mostly all intersections.
It seems that most of the ice cream here is Italian in appearance and taste, which should not be complained about.
Bread is thicker and harder, but it always tastes delightfully fresh.
Food has less preservatives in it, so it is best not to have left-overs.
People actually ride their scooters in the train stations...why not, right?
Smiling, usually to yourself, at someone on the train as you watch as he enjoys the same experience you do: Turning on your iPod, scrolling through and smiling as you pass by, but sometimes choose to stop at and have listen to, an artist, album, or specific song that, at that particular moment, called to mind some event or person significant enough to be associated with which ever one it was. It really is fascinating to be human.
Houses are not painted in only blah, boring colors; there are pink!!, blue, purple, green, yellow-pale and nearly florescent-, etc. house here. I was told by a knowledgeable 7-year old that they, "just like to blend in with the nature more here;" I liked that answer a lot.
A home's garden, i.e. back yard, here is nearly always fenced in and usually very what I would call 'busy.' Busy in the sense that a painting or photograph can be 'busy.' They are full of plants and trees, grills, garden houses, close lines, tables and chairs, and a great many of them contain pools, even small in-ground ones. It is sort of like the family's own little oasis; it's really nice. Someone had an apple tree in their garden...lucky!

Well, I'll stop there for now. Thanks for reading, and thank you for the support, love, and prayers.

~Sarah

You Mean Soccer Right?

Today was the start of the second week of my German course at the DeutschAkademie. I am happy to report that I did not end up in a different country on my way home today and that I still am very much enjoying it the course. We have a really good group of eager (at least I think so...hope so too) learners and an awesome instructor! The rest of last week was spent walking (a lot of walking) around Vienna with new friends from the course, taking photographs, and practicing some major self control. All of the clothing shops and bakeries and chocolate shops are just calling my name; they all want what little money I have!! I have let myself go in a few of them to browse, but I have not purchased any unnecessary things. Because, if you will recall from a previous post, the grey shoes and the postcards I bought last Monday were both indeed necessities.

I have walked along the Danube Canal and both the old and new parts of the Danube River. I have eaten lunch sitting and chatting with a friend in the Museums Quarter. I have been inside the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna) multiple times, and really everything else that Vienna is "famous" for I have merely seen from the outside.

The "Blue" Danube River

Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna)

As I mentioned before, I have had Wienerschnitzel, and today I had my first Apfelstrudel (Apple Strudel). I had some time to wait in the train station before heading back to Hollabrunn for the evening, so I stopped in Felber, one of the chain bakeries here, and enjoyed the delicious apple taste. Since I had no one accompanying me, I don't know if it was a "good" one, but it most definitely tasted delicious and was "authentic" enough for me at this point.

Today felt like summer. It was in the low 80's and I believe that a similar day is forecasted for tomorrow as well. However, I think tomorrow will be the end of the shorts and tank tops weather. Wednesday is calling for rain, and from then on dear Mr. WeatherBug is telling me the temperature will drop significantly as well. Walking around in a sundress and going back and forth from wearing your sunglasses on your face and as a hair piece is nice in the warm sunshine, but I must say that I am ready for the Autumn season. I am ready for layering and jeans and hoodies (I hope they wear those in combination here...if not, I'll start a trend) and dresses and leggings and scarves and hats. Always the scarves and that hats! Ahh, I just love Autumn.

I will share one of the many highlights of last week. I was talking with my German instructor and she asked me if I was in to football and if I'd like to go to a game with her sometime.
"By football you mean what us silly Americans call 'soccer' right?" I reply.
"No, I mean real American football, guys hitting each other and stuff," she said.
No way?!?! Who would have thought I would meet an Austrian girl who properly enjoyed the sport enough to attend a game. Apparently there are two decently well know club ("professional") teams in Austria: the Danube Dragons and the Vienna Vikings. Who knew? This news had me all riled up and excited as I had been eagerly awaiting September 5th, when the Giants (my team) would play the Cowboys.
{An aside- yes, I know they lost. However, we are the greatest underdogs that ever lived, so I'm not worried. Eli, you're great!}
We went on to chat about the sport, how we both think it's great, and opinions about different players. Oh, it  truly was lovely. Needless to say, I am well excited to attend a game once the season starts back up in October.

Finally, yesterday I attended the International Chapel of Vienna (ICV) again in addition to the Young Adult Group's (YAG) bible study prior to the afternoon service. It was really really great. I met more people from the YAG and had very encouraging and uplifting conversations. I was reminded by the sermon just how awesome, big, and everlasting our God is. He exists outside of space and time and has left us all we need to know about receiving and living life to the fullest measure: through Jesus Christ. The Bible is the only truth to be relied on one hundred percent and it supports itself time and time again. Did you know that twenty seven percent of the Bible is what they call predictive prophecy? I didn't before Sunday, at least I hadn't recalled it. That means that over one quarter of the entire book is prophecies that were told and described in great detail about things that would happen hundreds of years after they were told, specifically and most importantly, about Jesus. What He would do, who and where He would from, and how He would die...it's all in there. Twice- once in the prophecy and once by the people who recorded it's actual occurrence. Amazing. Wow. That just makes me really excited and assured of the fact that God has known what's up from the very beginning of time. Even down to knowing what's up with me!! Hard to truly comprehend, but that's why it's called faith.

I could go on and on, but I just said goodnight to the girls, in a made-up-on-the-spot rap song, and that means I should start doing a few other things as well. The first being improving the rap skills that I do not have. Noch nicht (yet).

Until the next time,

~Sarah

First Day of School

This past weekend was lovely. It included multiple late nights/early mornings, new friends, lots of laughing, and great conversation. It also happened to include my first actual trip to Vienna :)

On Sunday, one of my new friends drove the other au pair and me into the edge of the city, we parked, and then started our adventure on the U (Underground metra system). We missed several stops and had to do a bit of back-tracking, but we eventually found our first destination: the International Chapel of Vienna. I'd heard about this English speaking church from my family's previous au pair, so I've been eager to check it out since the moment I've been here. It was a nice service, and I am looking forward to going next week.

After church we grabbed dinner at Cafe Falk where I had my first Wienerschnitzel!! It was delicious and filled my tummy to satisfaction. We walked around a bit after that, got some lovely Italian ice cream, and sat in on part of the mass at the Stephansdom to top off the night. My first thoughts of the city were quite positive. The only negative part was that it was mildly smelly. However, I think that had a lot to do with being really close to the river not to mention there were a ton of people about. Nonetheless, that fact does not make me think anything less of it. It is merely part of a first impression; the other part being that it was beautiful, the small sampling of it that I tasted.

Wienerschnitzel mit Pommes Frites und Salat und Coke Zero. I ate all of it because I was so so hungry!!

We sat outside the restaurant, near Kagraner Platz, and had a lovely meal together :)

This morning I went with Andi on the train to Vienna for my first German class. The DeutschAkadamie is located in a tall building shared by many other offices and companies, so I headed up to the 3rd floor and looked for my name on the sheets posted on the bulletin board. Room 329A- thank goodness my name was there! It is a small class of ten people with one instructor, who is the same age as me, which I wasn't expecting. It was a really good first day though, and the instructor is very good as far as I can tell. Afterwards, two other girls and I went for a coffee and talked for awhile, which was really really nice. I was hoping to meet some people through the course, so this is a good start. After the coffee, one of them had to go, but the other one didn't have anywhere to be for awhile so we just walked around. She took me along more of the "famous" Vienna pathways and streets, we rode a Strassenbahn (streetcar), and went into some shops. Not surprisingly, the first thing I bought was a pair of shoes. But don't worry, they were on sale and really cute :)

She finally needed to get somewhere, so that left me on my own. I was indeed quite hungry at this point, so I stopped in a bakery for some lunch. Think of pizza bread with only tomatoes and cheese but on better tasting bread than in the US...so so yummy! I walked around, snapped some photos, bought my first round of post cards, and decided to start my journey back to Hollabrunn.

Andi told me what train I needed and the times it left the station, and I was in perfect timing to take the 4:02pm train home. It pulled out of the station a couple minutes early, so I thought, great, off to a good start. I even recognized the first few stops from the way there in the morning- perfect! I wasn't sure how long it would be, but I knew it was a bit less than an hour to get back. The train keeps stopping and going and eventually I'm the only one left in my section of the train and I still haven't seen or heard the stop for Hollabrunn. Eventually the announcer says the name of a stop, quickly adding the fact that this also happens to be where the train ends. What?!

I find my way to the station, and immediately realize that all the writings on the maps and the signs are not in German. There's some weird accent marks that I definitely know are not German. I go up to the ticket clerk, asks if she speaks English to which she responds with a finger pointing to the international services clerk. I go in to a very dimly lit reception area, ask for English with what was I'm sure a very pleading look on my face and finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Am I still in Austria?" I ask.
"No," she says. "You're in the Czech Republic."

Yep, that's right...I'm in the Czech Republic. Great. I somehow managed to take the wrong train to a whole different country. Don't get me wrong, I do want to go there, but I didn't think that was going today, not to mention the way it happened. She was helpful and luckily the exact train headed back the way I had come was due in about ten minutes. At this point all I could do was laugh as I found my seat and got out my book to read.

"Oh well, sometimes take a wrong step and end up in totally different country. Not to worry, trains go both ways."

My first glimpses of the Czech Republic from the train.

The train took me all the way back to Vienna, and I tried the same thing again. Providentially I only had to wait about twelve minutes for the 7:02pm train to arrive and (hopefully and please, dear Lord!) take me back to Hollabrunn. I double, triple, and quadruple checked the time and the platform number, had a chat with Andi on the phone, and felt like I'd sorted it out. Either I looked like I knew what was going on or the fact that he heard me speaking English, but this guy came up and asked me if the train I was getting on went to a certain place. And I could say for certain that it did because know I know how to correctly read the signs! Woo hoo. Alas, I made it home...only three hours later than originally planned.

The girls ask, "Why are you so late?" Haha...only if they had been there. Oh my.

My German homework is done, and I shall now hope to dream of journeys where I get on the correct trains.

Cheers!

~Sarah