Winter in Vienna and Prayer

Updated class photo...isn't 5th grade awesome???

Dear Friends,

Thank you all so much for the continual outpouring of prayer and love that hold me up daily here in Vienna.  I'm in my 8th month living here in Europe and every day is a new lesson, a new blessing, or a new adventure.  I can't claim that I'm an expert (just ask anyone about my German) but I can claim to love being here, and to know that I am doing what God has called me to do in the best way I know how.

For those that follow me regularly, you are probably aware that the reason for my radio silence recently has been because my computer developed a heretofore unknown type of rare computer cancer (okay so I dropped it over Christmas break) and the hard drive became nearly useless from January until it bit the dust unceremoniously at the end of February.  I got to experience the many joys of learning how to ship a package here, and wasn't entirely sure that I sent it to the right location until I got to pick up the dear little troublemaker just last week.  I picked it up at a tailor's shop.  It was under a sewing machine.  Yeah...long story...

So now, here I am, still alive!  I've missed updating you regularly and have lots of pictures to share of things that have been going on here in Austria lately!

January:

A fourth grader pauses for a moment to encourage me to join her
on the paths

     Okay this one is especially fun and harrowing for fellow teachers from the states and moms who want to picture this...Every January-February ALL of the ICSV elementary students (and students from all over Austria) take 3 or 4 half day field trips to the Rathaus to go ice skating!  And we're not talking small ice rinks....we're talking two GIGANTIC rinks connected to each other by a maze of intricate high speed paths that students can chase each other and play tag in.  So we take all of the students (yes including the kindergarten) on public transportation, get their ice skates on, and send them zooming out on to the ice!  Thankfully there is a learning area for the younger kids...but it's a ridiculously fun activity that is actually a required part of school here in Vienna.  And very fun!  I discovered that I'm not as terrible at skating as I thought too :-).  And, most importantly, I can now officially report that no students were harmed in the making of these memories!

Two of my students...being themselves the student on the right
is the one who is from Mauritius!  That's the new
country I learned about this year :-)   

Third graders stopping to say hi!

5th graders are kings and queens of the ice rink of course
Three continents are represented in this picture!

The whole 5th grade troupe with their fearless leader

February:

Jerry teaching the kids a silly song.

Spiritual Emphasis Week came upon us!  Jerry Jacoby and his wife Mackaela came to visit us from Michigan.  They have been coming to ICSV to minister to students for over 10 years and their heart for these kids is amazing.  They present skits, songs, and stories to the kids in a way that is very engaging and they never forget a name.

Jerry with his "son" Popcorn the chicken

Another great thing that comes out of Jerry's yearly visit is a family concert every year.  He invites all of the families of our students and the community of Vienna  to come share in a concert where he presents the gospel.  And it goes over GREAT!  At the end of the week Jerry explained the gospel to the kids and many prayed with him to receive God.  Praise the Lord!

Singing songs with Jerry

A beautiful 3rd grader modeling her Hanbok

March:

After Energy Break (a fantastic invention which America should totally consider for the sanity of all involved) spent exploring Vienna we returned and celebrated International Family Fun Night.  This is a great tradition where parents from ICSV get together to create rooms that educate students about different countries that the student body comes from.  This year you could visit Korea, Brazil, Ethiopia, or the Netherlands.  After stamping your passport at each room families were able to enjoy a potluck dinner downstairs full of treats from all over the world. The best part of this evening is the opportunity to show respect for and learn about where our students come from.  Many students wear traditional clothing from their country.

One of my very favorite 2nd graders in traditional Iranian garb.
She just started learning English this year and is doing so well!
She also recently asked for a Persian Bible she can study.

America was also represented this evening...gansta style ;-)

Ethiopia!

America and Japan!

  

All in all it's been a very busy time full of learning, sharing, and new experiences.  I could add hundreds of other pictures and stories, but I've been told that sometimes less is more so I'll move to prayer requests :-).

Prayer:

     - ICSV could really use prayer and support at this time.  We have so many fantastic kids and teachers and are poised to grow in so many ways but fiances are a huge part of the picture.  Please pray for wisdom and blessing in the administration as they work to keep ICSV financially healthy and growing.  Our financial manager compares a mission to a vine growing on a trellis.  Our teaching and the things that we do with our kids are the vine.  We are working to grow and minister for God.  But without a well structured trellis this wouldn't be possible.  

     -  On the same note, I am in prayer to be fully funded entering into my second year here.  ICSV is certain of my calling and so is supporting my being here but I am burdened by the prayer that I would be able to raise more support going into this new season so as to support the healthy ministry here at ICSV.  If you would like more information about how you can be a part of this please feel free to email me (abrown1429@gmail.com) or just check out the links above for more information on supporting me.

     - ICSV is also hiring for several positions next year.  Pray that the right people to be led to the school and for wisdom as the school makes decisions.

I love you all and am praying for you in your ministries at home!  May we all continue to be where God has called us to be, following his leading in our lives and learning and growing in him more and more every day.  If there is anything specific that I can pray for over and for you please let me know!

Love,

Amy 

Happy (Disgustingly Belated) New Year!

I have discovered something about blogging...it's very much like the diary  that you swear to yourself that you'll keep religiously as a kid after just reading Little Women or an American Girl book (Tom Sawyer never kept one I promise).  You have a super dedicated stretch of awesome meaningful entries wherin you name your super cute journal and write all about how annoying your brothers are...and then after roughly 2 weeks you get distracted by life until inevitably a year goes by and you once again rediscover your "beloved" diary sitting under an old report card covered in a layer of dust.  This reinvigorates your love of diaries and you're off again to repeat the cycle.

Now here I am after a stupendous (and incredibly busy) December and an equally whirlwindesque January coming back to my beloved blog and discovering to my horror how inexcusably abandoned the poor little guy has been.  My profuse apologies must be offered and now as I gasp for breath after the past two months of sprinting I once again solemnly swear to uphold the sacred cycle of blog updating.  Not so much for myself but for all of you who are reading and praying for me.

The hard part is deciding where on earth to begin after missing two solid months of updates (well...2 months and two days but throw me a bone here).  Do I talk about our 5th grade theatrical debute in Christmas Chapel featuring the 10 plagues of Egypt, Isaiah, the Nativity, and the Boom-de-yada song?  Eh...pass...

Do I share about saying goodbye to Vienna for a few weeks on December 22nd to fly home for Christmas? If I did I could talk all about seeing my former Open Door elementary students perform a sneak preview of Aladdin, tea with some amazing girls, being treated to lunch by dear friends and students, opening presents with my family, mourning the death of my cousin's unborn child, ringing in the New Year, apartment visiting....oh dear...that topic is beyond overwhelming.  Let's just condense those whole two weeks into the above paragraph and summarize with the following statement:  Being home was amazing, two weeks is an incredibly short amount of time, and I can't wait to stop back in during the summer to see everyone that I couldn't see this time.  There.  Sorted.  Now back to Vienna...

Fast forward to January.  Said goodbye to my first student who went back to South Korea.  Realized just how heartbreaking life is when you are living in an international community.  Thought about writing some dark poetry about it.  Instead began a poetry unit with my 5th graders.  Turned them into "The Wreck of the Hesperus" fans.  Yay!  Accidently also turned them into Edgar Allan Poe fans...oops...

Okay so what do I really want to take a minute and focus on?  I think it'll be something that James (our school superintendent and my pastor here in Vienna)  brought up in church this past Sunday.  Well okay he brought it up and my mind kind of just ran with it.  As many of you know I'm a somewhat absurdly huge Chronicles of Narnia fan, so I appreciated when he brought in an illustration from the book "The Horse and His Boy".  James was talking about how sharing the gospel with others is so crucial to the faith but that everyone has their own journey to God and that one of our toughest jobs is to know how to play our part in their story and to be sensitive to where they are at.  He used Shasta's conversation with Aslan as an example.

Bildunterschrift hinzufügen

Shasta is the main character in the book and he has had a rather rough journey to Narnia throughout the story, constantly prodded along and herded by a seemingly vicious lion as he and his friend Avaris travel.  At this point in the story it is revealed that the lion has been Aslan, the Christ figure in the books, the whole time.  Aslan had been engineering all of the seeming misfortunes in the book to guide Shasta to the plan that Aslan had for him the whole time.  This revelation and the good work that Aslan had worked in Shasta changed his life.  After the conversation however, Shasta turned to Aslan and asked him why Aslan had scratched his friend Avaris, making it so that she could not be with him on this stage of the journey.  Aslan turns to Shasta and explains, "My son, I am telling you your story, not hers.  I never tell anyone a story other than their own."  He later tells Avaris the same when she asks what became of someone whom she'd hurt.

We're all on a journey.  We all have a story.  God is working in all of our lives in magnificent ways weaving our lives into a beautiful tapestry wherein he uses our strengths, hardships, fears, triumphs, failures, hopes, and despair for his glory.  We don't always know why God is working our lives in the way that he is, and why our stories are so different than our neighbors.  But what God promises is that he will work all things together for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose.

My call and ministry in this season in my life is to be here, in Vienna, a part of the story of the children and their families that I am so blessed as to encounter.  Please pray that in this new year I would remain sensitive to God's timing in their lives, the doors he is opening, and the way that he is allowing me to enter their stories.  Pray for financial security for the school so that this ministry can continue, for sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and for energy and life.  Pray that I and all of the rest of us here are continuously reassured by God of His call and direction in our life especially in the hardest times much as Shasta was reassured by Aslan.  And help pray for wisdom to know what to say and how to say it to students and parents as the need arises.  I will be praying the same for you all in your journey!

Love,

Amy

Funny Fifth Graders :-)

Happy Thanksgiving recovery week!

     It's so exciting to be in the Christmas season here in Vienna!  The city is lit up, the Christmas markets are open, and the magic in the air is palpable.  This also, of course, means that the students become sillier and sillier!  In the interim while I prepare a more thoughtful (ha) blog update I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite papers...

First...a glimpse into elementary school chapel.  The video link below was used as part of an ongoing mystery about Mr. Chopstick's (a finger puppet chef) search for peace.  I haven't laughed so hard while taking pictures before in a LONG time.  The kids are big fans.  

The two papers below are spelling/vocabulary word stories written by two of my fifth grade boys.  They are so absurd and yet strangely well done I had to post them for you so that we could chuckle together ;-)

Once upon a time there was a magnificent fat guy.  His essence of life was to eat.  He had animosity against his neighbor Bob.  They lived in a commonwealth of Tunisia.  They had controversies over Balderdash stuff.  Once they were fighting about the Cherry Coke flavor when suddenly Big Foot stomped next to them.  He told them to stop fighting about superfluous stuff.  And told them how unauthorized you are to talk about this, and the essence of life is to help each other and love one another!  This should be an ubiquitous state.  And with that he ran back to the woods.  And the fat guy and Bob were stimulated and became friends and watched Skyfall together.

Once upon a time, there was a guy named I Don’t Know.  He had to do a strenuous task:  telling a lawyer his name.  He was commendable because he won a baseball game.  So he went to the lawyer’s magnificent office.  He said, “What’s your name?”.  The guy replied, “I Don’t Know.”  “Okay.  Let me try again”, said the Lawyer.  “Don’t speak balderdash.  Really, what’s your name?”  The guy shouted, “I don’t know!”  “That is a superfluous statement!”  Now there was a controversy between the two guys.  “I swear, if I don’t get your name, I’ll be ubiquitous and ask your name everywhere you go!”  The lawyer now had animosity towards the guy.  “I told you one hundred times!!”  The guy was now going to show his true essence.  (He is a really bad guy when he gets mad)  “That’s it!  I’m going to get you in a conveyance and I’m going to blow you up!”  The lawyer exploded.  But before he can say another word the guy killed him.  Because he was the Hulk.    

I'll write a more detailed update later but for now I hope you had a little chuckle!

Love,

Amy

This week in the world of 5th grade

Happy November!
     Christmas is just around the corner and thanksgiving is just at the end of the week and life at school and here in Vienna has never been busier!  It's all full of good fun, hilarious escapades, conferences, lice infestations, and every now and then finger puppet investigations.  For this blog update I thought I'd just give you some highlights of what we've been up to here in the 5th grade :-)

This is a picture of (part of) the 5th grade.  As you can see we are a very serious bunch of learners that spends a lot of time at our desks dedicatedly focused to our tasks at hand.  Okay so...we do a lot of learning but we have a lot of fun too!
     Last week we started reading "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien during our read aloud time and I am happy to report that this group is progressing steadily in their Tolkien addiction.  An important part of any child's education of course ;-)

Oh, by the way...we were also attacked by LICE last week at school!  Thankfully everyone emerged alive, but it was probably a totally sane and not at all over the top decision on the part of my roommate Sarah to wear a shower cap all day as an extra precaution.  Note: she also used her shower cap as an object lesson about the passover.  I kid you not.  The lice would pass over her head because she had covered herself with the shower cap.  This is how she thinks.  I love it. 

  

Even though we couldn't sit in our beloved couches all week and our pillows are under quarantine we found a way to soldier on!  We've started book clubs for our next novel unit and students are broken up into reading groups specializing in "Bunnicula", "Shiloh", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and "The Phantom Tollbooth".  We are reading experts!   

Recent conversations were had about the ridiculousness of American idioms after the group of students reading the Phantom Tollbooth came across the expression "Money doesn't grow on trees".  Also the official interjections of the 5th grade lately are "Calloh!" and "Callay!" after studying "The Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll.  Also realized that no one has any idea of what an adverb is.  Oops.  

Learning about culture in our Social Studies class.  We have created imaginary countries and are now populating them with people that have shelters, food, traditions, holidays, and beliefs of their own.  Mostly everyone wants to create treehouses.  Had to explain that you can't have a treehouse if your country is one gigantic desert with no actual trees in it.  

Continuing our book buddy adventures with the 2nd grade students!  This week the 5th graders wrote mad libs for the 2nd graders to complete with them. The second grader to the left with the striped shirt loved his so much he insisted on taking it home with him to show EVERYONE.  The 5th grade author to the left was quite overwhelmingly proud.  

 THe best thing about book buddies is that the students can work together in a safe environment.  Many of my 5th graders are English language learners so sometimes it's actually the second graders that help them with hard words!  They themselves are teachers though, especially two girls that are working with 2nd graders who literally just began learning English this summer!

 Chapel happens every week.  My roommate is in charge of teaching about the Fruits of the Spirit. Somehow this has spiraled into a crazy adventure of a finger puppet on the lookout for a missing pizza recipe.





 
This is Mr. Chopstick in his best detective gear which Sarah and I may or may not have spent an hour completing.  For a huge laugh you should check out the album of his adventures looking for his pizza recipe on Facebook!

 Finally, had a great message from a pastor about remembering to take a Sabbath and to be refueled.  To that end some of the staff members including myself went on Saturday morning for a hike in the nearby town of Baden where we played in some ancient ruins and enjoyed nature.

So thankful for all of your prayers!  Love and miss you all :-)

Love,

Amy

Wow it's so hard to believe that it's already October!  In some ways it seems that I have been here only for a few days while in others it feels as though I have been here forever!  One thing is for certain...every day in little ways God confirms that this is the place that I have been called to and this is the purpose that he has planned for me!

We have been learning and having so much fun in the 5th grade and I am so thankful for each and every student and the unique challenges, blessings, and opportunities they bring to my classroom and to me.  There are struggles (how do you differentiate math when you have some students ready for high school algebra and some still learning number sense?) and blessings (prayer time is so amazing when each child shares their heart for the country that they come from) and every single student teaches me something every day.


Last week the 4th and 5th grade students greeted the ambassador to Kosovo when he came to speak at ICSV.  They were able to share with him two songs praising God!  They did a fantastic job and were very excited to perform!

The Ambassador (on the left)

The 4th and 5th grade choir :-)

We have also been loving the opportunity to get to know the second graders better through an activity called "Book Buddies".  Every Friday we are visited by the second grade class and each student has a special buddy that they talk and read to.  It's so cool watching them help their buddies.  We also got to visit the second grade art show on Friday (see goingunderthmercy.blogspot.com for pictures of that event!) and present award certificates.  Take a look at the book buddies below!

The fifth grader on the left has a brilliant imagination.  He's from Hungary
and he recently wrote his book buddy from South Korea a fantastic story
about a ship wreck!

I'm so proud of the fifth grader on the right!  Her parents are missionaries from America and her
buddy is an adorable Iranian girl who just started learning English this summer!  It's
a challenge helping her to understand the book but this awesome girl is up to it!

My super sweet cuddly Dutch student loves helping her buddy (from the Philippines) 

Mauritas, America, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia all sharing a couch and learning
together!  These girls are all so sweet.  

These girls are so sweet.  The fifth grader on the right has a heart of gold.  Pray
for wisdom as I help her with reading and writing.  She didn't begin school until
second grade due to a teacher's strike in Zimbabwe and so she needs a lot of
help learning to express herself!

The boy on the left is one of the most caring student's I've ever met.  He works very
hard in reading and writing and comes to life when he has the opportunity to help others.

The awesome boy on the left is the star of half of my funny stories.  He's brilliant and very funny
and is always up to something interesting with the Hungarian boy at the top.  His buddy
is very mischievous and you can read all about his adventures in my roommate Sarah's blog.  

I'm so excited to share pictures with you of my students!  I can't post their names along with their pictures but I'm excited to tell you stories about them and share what we are doing!  

One more funny story (I WISH I had pictures!)  On Friday I received a package with lots of American goodies inside from my parents.  The kids were losing it with cheers when they saw each treat (seriously if you ever want to do something fun and nice you can send us American candy...it's like gold here!).  But the real exciting moment was when we took the ABSURD amount of bubble wrap and laid it all over the floor after pushing our desks out of the way and then had a 2 minute popping party!  It was adorable (and loud) and we laughed very hard!

Thank you all so much for your prayers!  These kids come from a lot of backgrounds and some of them have situations in their countries or families that are out of their hands.  It's such a blessing to be able to pray with them and intercede for them.  This week as you pray could you pray for their countries and families?  They come from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Hungary, The Netherlands, South Korea, America, and Austria.  We covet your prayers!!!

In Christ,

Amy

First Month of School

Hello Friends, Family, Prayer Warriors, and Casual Stalkers ;-),

Wow, I can't believe that on Monday I will have been TEACHING at ICSV for a whole month!  This is a totally insane realization.  Even more insane was my realization that it's been three whole weeks since I last updated you on what's been going on!  Don't worry, I've given myself a stern smack on the back of the hand and a judging look in the mirror so I've paid for my error.  There certainly has been a lot filling up my time.  So, following the pattern of my last blog update I've decided that rather than trying to bore you to death with every minute detail, I'm just giving myself another time limit.  In that time limit I will share as much with you as possible.  Does that sound fair?  Not that you get a choice.  I'm kind of the queen of my blog so I get to do what I want ;-).

It is currently 11:22.  I officially give myself until 11:50.  That way I can get some pictures in.  Ready...set...go!

School Life!

Alright so I've been getting to know all of my students very well, and they are an awesome group of kids!  As I've mentioned before they are from nine different countries.  In some ways teaching at an international school is very similar to teaching in America in that kids are kids no matter where they are from.  I'm still breaking up Dodgeball related drama, giving spelling tests, and working through the hardships of math...but in some ways it is a very different challenge.  One of the major challenges is that most of my students are speaking English as their 2nd or 3rd language which means that teaching grammar, reading, and writing is a big challenge.  Four of the students are still in ELL classes which means that they are still mastering a basic command of the English language.

Another major challenge is the wide ranges of educational backgrounds that my students come from.  I have one student who is from a country in Africa (sorry can't post specifics until I have permission) and who didn't get to go to school until second grade because her teachers were on strike.  In the same classroom I have several students from Korea who have had heavy math emphasis throughout their education.  So sometimes class can be challenging because the student's prior knowledge is so wildly different.  (i.e. some still learning how to round while some are dividing with 2 digit divisors and thinking it's too easy).

Yet another awesome challenge with these students is teaching them about the Bible.  Imagine sitting in a room with 16 students (I added one last week) to talk about God when some of them have missionary parents, some have never heard of the Bible, and some are from different religions!  Just this Friday we had a great conversation because they get to put their questions about God in a box and we wrestle through them.  One of the questions was "How are Christians different from Catholics?".  We got to wrestle through this together with the help of a girl in class who is Catholic.  The students then wanted to know if Islam is similar and our Muslim student shared his background, then a student from South Korea piped in with information about Buddhism!  So awesome!

I can't post pictures of the students right now because we don't have photo release rights (and some students can't have their pictures posted regardless) so I'll just share a few pictures of one of our assignments where they had do define their vocabulary words with pictures :-).

Caption: Man: Trash that dog poo-poo!
Girl: Sorry!

Defining the word "Skeptical"

To "Attain"

A lab activity where the students attempted to use reasoning
skills to "Save Fred"...Fred was a gummy worm.  

Personal Life....

Sarah and I moved last Wednesday!  Yes that's right we are FINALLY in our real apartment!  I don't remember if I shared this last time but we have had quite the nomadic trip!  We started out in temporary digs and then had a shower related water problem and had to move to two different friend's apartments to live on couches and wait for our apartment to be ready.  Well...now it is!

We've been working hard to fill our apartment and turn it into home but it's a gradual process!  I am not fully prepared to reveal our magnicifent apartment in all of it's glory because it's just not up to par yet but I can give you sneak peeks!  We have begun to accumulate some basic items through the help of the school and friends (like a table, couches, etc.), and have been shopping for some other neccessities to make the apartment feel more like home.  But we are still waiting for a few more SLIGHTLY important items...like beds...and a washing machine.  We have been truly impressive women in putting together these items, but I am sad to say that we were outsmarted by a curtain rod during one of our assembling parties!

Sarah and I prepare to assemble a gifted wardrobe
(we succeeded) 

Bought some apartment necessities!

Shopping is a lot more challenging when you
have to get everything home on a bus or
train

The collection of secondhand eclectic tea cups has made us very happy!

Next week's challenge is painting!










Spiritual Life...

God continues to be so gracious and awesome in helping me to transition to my calling here in Vienna.  I am lifted up by my friends and family at home in prayer so powerfully that I have really been able to settle in and be used by God.  Another blessing is the great community of teachers at the school who are so willing to help and encourage me through the whole process!  Truly I am blessed!  I know that there will be times of frusteration, loneliness, or sadness in the months to come but please help me to pray my way through them!

Here's a few prayer requests if you wouldn't mind...

*  That our visas come through!  We are still waiting to be "official" here in Vienna!  It's taking a longer than usual amount of time for our visas to be processed so please pray that there are no issues.

*  For my students and their families - that God would create windows for ministry in their lives and that I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading so that I can minister to them.

*  For the school as they make some important decisions in the next few months that could potentially help the school to grow even more (more details later)

*  For continued energy, joy, and health :-)



Love you all and miss you like crazy (if you are at home) or love that you are here with me (if you're in Vienna)!  Please keep in touch and let me know if you have any questions about things!

Love,

Amy

I'm still alive!

Hello All!

I must start first by apologizing for my tardiness in updating my blog.  The past few weeks have been insanely busy and filled with totally story worthy moments that I have neglected to share because I've been so busy living them and preparing for this week, the week that these past months have been all leading up to...the FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL!!!!  Wow what a whirlwind!  I don't know how on earth I can begin to share enough without being a long winded bore (still possible) or writing until my fingers fall off (and I could really use those working on lesson plans this afternoon!).  So I'll settle for telling you as much as I can in...hmmm what's a fair length of time.  Fifteen minutes you say?  Good agreed.  Clock starting....NOW!

Okay so before school began I spent the week prior in All Staff orientation and in preparing my classroom.  During this time several of us elementary teachers were something of a running joke because we were staying every evening until 10 or 11 at night.  But all of you reading this who ARE elementary teachers must surely agree that while a behavior flip card chart certainly LOOKS simple...the silly thing took probably three hours and 15 copy jams to work out so while your room looks sensible in the end it took you an absurd amount of time.  Side note: Thank you to my amazing principle Amanda Howard for leaving the 5th grade classroom (she taught last year) amazingly well organized so that I walked in to a great room!  So anyways here's the end product before it was invaded by children:

It took me three tries to hang this silly alphabet.  It was ridiculous!

So that's my classroom!  Note that I have window cling plants instead of real ones because I am a certifiable plant killer.  It's sad but true.  Also for those of you looking at this and going..."my WORD she has a huge classroom!"...you're right!  I do!  I have the biggest classroom in the school and my windows open out so it's the coolest room as well.  I've tried to enjoy my room with Christ-like humility as I enter smaller and warmer rooms but I may or may not casually drop into conversation the fact that I could fit two regular rooms in mine ;-).

When school began my room was invaded by 15 of the best kids in existence who I have immedietly fallen in love with!  They're from nine different countries, one of which I actually had to look up on a map because I had no idea that it even existed.  Seriously people I'm pretty sure that countries have been sneaking onto the map while I wasn't looking because I'm usually very good with geography!  Some of my students are fluent in english (4 are American children of missionaries) but conversely there are 2 that are just learning English.  I've learned that I have to speak slowly and clearly (ha!) and use lots of examples and illustrations.

Sharing the gospel is an amazing privilege as well!   Some of my students are from countries that don't allow the gospel to be preached openly and at least one is Muslim.  It's already creating really amazing conversation openers.  I so appreciate all of your prayers that the Holy Spirit would guide me and create openings into their hearts!

Here's a pic of the entire elementary school on our first day assembly:

8 Minutes left and so much more to say!

In our personal life there has been much amusement as well...sooo since time is running low here's a highlights version:

*  Sarah and I (my roomate) spent an entire saturday morning people watching from our window onto the courtyard.  We discovered that we may or may not be Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window and that Bathsheba lives in Vienna now.

*  Our house meister came to our door one evening at 10pm and knocked on the door until we opened then walked right in and started taking apart our bathtub and demanding tools.  He spoke no English.  I was ridiculously confused.  I resolved to learn German immedietly.

*  We had to move out of our apartment.  New one isn't ready yet.  Currently crashing at other people's places!

*  When we moved it was like an evacuation drill.  I have no idea where anything is that I own.  Sarah made sure that the plants survived.  I was unaware that I own so many things.  The aardvark made it okay.  

*  Have met amazing people and am making friends for life.  So grateful for the people that God has placed in my life and so excited to see our relationships bloom and grow!

Two minutes!  Time to wrap up!  I can't wait to share more about my mistakes, triumphs, lessons, and growth in the classroom.  Your prayers mean the world to me and I'm so excited to follow you all as well!  I'm so blessed to be here doing what God has called me to do and can't wait to follow him farther. 

 I feel like Lucy stepping through the wardrobe...when I was little I opened every closet door to try to escape to my own magic world but didn't know until now that my Narnia is here in Vienna and the magic I was looking for was God's call in my life!  

Love you!

Until next time (drat 1 minute late...)

-Amy