All good things...

Ultra Refined :-)

You're going to have to pardon me.  I'm going through that thing that all teachers go through at the end of a school year.  That crippling cacophonous mix of conflicting emotions that signal the end of a year spent completely immersed in the lives of a group of children.  You'll have to give me an extra special dose of grace for my nostalgic reminiscing because I'm experiencing for the first time the "agony and the ecstasy" as it were tenfold as I experience it for the first time at an international school.  

My students...fantastic, brilliant, wonderful, challenging, and unique as each and every one of them is...are moving on.  Some of them will put up with me harassing them for hugs in the hallway for years to come...but some of them are leaving for parts unknown to far flung corners of the world and I know that I'll never see the again.

Did it matter?

Did those lessons count?

Did she actually learn how to convert measurements or was that an utter failure?

Will he keep writing?

Will she still be reading voraciously?  

Did I mean anything to them?  

Will they remember me? 

These questions and more rattle around in our brain with each final hug and hurried goodbye.  They run out of your classroom and into the next chapter of their lives and we as teachers are left completely drained.  Emotionally, physically, existentially (ha!) we are like balloons with all the air let out.  

And we love it.  

We love it because even though we may never know the answer to those harrowing questions we know that somewhere, to someone, it has made a difference.  And we know that even if that is not completly true...that these students have made a difference to us and in us.  At the close of every year it's we who learn the most lessons and who change and whose hearts grow more and more.  I have been a teacher for five years now.  A piece of my heart is carried in the growing bodies of over a hundred different amazing children now.  

To each of them...thank you.  

I've used this quote before and I'll use it again (you really can't stop me from where you are anyways)..."No one is told any story but their own."(C.S. Lewis).  I am grateful beyond words for the students that keep in contact.  I get pretty near giddy at the prospect of catching up with and emailing and chatting with my former charges and hearing about what they are up to and their current struggles and triumphs.  

But I'm at peace with the stories that I will never hear the final chapters of.  Because I know that these hearts are in God's hands and that it is only through God's grace and wisdom that I was a participant in a chapter or their own fantastic unfolding life.  

So goodbye to my new old students.  You enter now into that special place in my heart where we can be friends forever even if we never meet again.  You are forever in my prayers and my dreams for you are big.  

And to the teachers that shaped me into who I am today...thank you.   We may never bump into each other but if we ever do I would love to tell you all about what you've done for me.

And so here ends another chapter in my journey.  A year of firsts and lasts and tears and joy.  Of holding on and forming bonds and letting go and saying goodbye.  I can't wait to return to America to tell those of you praying for me about all that God is doing...and I'm so sad to leave behind my family in Vienna even for a short while.  

Don't we serve a great God?

Annnnnd.....pictures to reward you for dealing with my emotional end of the year teacher nostalgia fest!

The epic reading tent of 2013

Book Buddies smiling very maturely 

Reading in the tent

Pre-Water War!

A very refined group!

Varying levels of jump roping ability

Wonderful Korean student who invited me to dinner this week!

Yearbook signing as serious business!

Future Harry Houdini leaves for Korea today :-(

Nigerian friend on the last day!

The blonde club!

Salt Dough Maps!

They Say that a picture is worth a thousand words...

So if a picture is worth a thousand words...perhaps if I post 20 or thirty pictures it will be worth a novel?

I think this a theory worth considering.  The majority of my blog post today will attempt to prove this theory. However, quick actual update first.  We are two and a half weeks away from the end of the school year!  This induces in my heart mad panic.  I'm excited, I'm overwhelmed, I'm heartbroken, I'm tired...it's a lot to work through.  I'll post again soon about all of the school and personal happenings that have been going on in the past month...but before I do that I'd really like to share what I've been working on for the past three months!

I have been privledged to work with a great group of high school and middle school students on a production called "Reserve Two for Murder" which I directed - produced this Friday and Saturday.  It was a BLAST to work with the students and also represented the first time I've directed a high school production solo.  What a fun time!  It was a learning experience from beginning to end but I really truly have been blessed to work with these fantastic young actors and actresses and cannot wait until we get to work together again next year.  So below I thought I'd share some pictures from the show for all of you to enjoy!

Getting 40's faces on :-)

Hair and Makeup :-)  Split between myself, Sarah, Christine, and out alternating curler queens Bea and Jess!

Obligatory trip to Spar in costume

Reserve Two for Murder is set during the opening night of a very terrible play...during which the author and star is murdered!  (the unsuspecting victim is on the left, the young star on the right)

Another "actress" in the show within the show

He's Dead!!

The Audience is Suspect!

Luckily we have some detectives in attendance tonight (it's 1943 of course)

Mrs. Thurston Allen is a VERY old patron of the theater!  Don't mess with her!

No one escapes!  (Lots of audience interaction!)

A second victim!

Putting the pieces together!

The murderer unmasked at last!

The Brilliant Cast Assembled!!

Cast Party!

I was enormously blessed to work with such amazing, talented students!  One of the perils of an international school is, of course, that I'll lose more than HALF of them next year!  Pray for those that are going on to new adventures and for those that will be here next year for a new show together.

Well...now you know have a bit of a window into what I've been up to this last month!  I hope to write again soon now that life is a bit calmer :-)  

Love you all!!!

Amy

What up April??

Disclaimer:  I have a very definite stream of consciousness situation happening at the current moment.  I take no responsibility for what takes place in this blog update from this point onward.

Fact:  I have been singing "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever know" non-stop at school today.  To my kids, in line, in the lunchroom (to an unfortunate 3rd grader without the commonsense to stand elsewhere while waiting for the microwave), walking down the street...it's pathetic really.  But it's made me feel all "number-themey"  (that's a word now).  So I hereby christen this tragically photo-lite update number oriented.  Ready?  OK GO!

14...   There are 14 cast members in the weird-tastic murder mystery:
         "Reserve Two for Murder".     

        Seniors all the way down to 5th grade, from Nigeria to India and
         representing everything  from MK's to Muslim students.  These
         students have a special place in my heart now because I'm
         DIRECTING A PLAY!!!!  Hooray :-).  We're really getting to
         know each other  now and will be having a cast party tomorrow for
         fun.  Pray for a great show and awesome relationships and for
        opportunities to share Christ.  

321.. Approximate number of times that my students bashed their heads
        onto tables, groaned dramatically or yelled out loud and passionate
        displeasure at the customary system of measurement that we have 

        had to learn the basics of.  Cries of "THIS MAKES NO SENSE"
       and "WHO WOULD CREATE THIS???" ran rampant.  When we
       finally went back to metric there was cheering and a wild round of 

        applause.  The above paragraph was not an exaggeration.  Also
        teaching inches, pints, miles, and tons to a group of students used to
        metric is an uphill battle.  Sample:  Me:  "Okay so we measure in 

        pounds....pounds is abbreviated "lb". (cut to a room full of mouths
       gaping open in horror and revulsion).  One student:  "This.  is.  stupid."
       ...on some days I can't help but agree.  

2...  Dead Chickens!?!?!  Yeah...it's sad but true...we were making chicken
       mummies in Social Studies.  The impermeable stability of the ziploc bags
       was overestimated.  There was leakage. And great smell.  And a lot of
       green chicken.  Experiment indefinitely postponed....

15... Notecards???  Yeah I decided to teach my kids how to write a baby
         research paper complete with notecards and a thesis statement.  HA!
        They are doing really well and I've become an expert on some new
        topics like:  "Ethiopia in World War II", "The Bermuda Triangle",
        "Mary Slesser",  and "Mauritius".  Ardith Enlow and Skip Rhodes
        if you are reading this I have an enormous new respect for you now ;-). 

20... STARS!  My class just earned their last good behavior star.  And by
       earned I mean ingeniously exploited a loophole in their ability to
       purchase certain items with "Brown Bucks" and split the exorbitant
       price of extra stars among themselves in order to obtain the stars 

       without actually enduring the good behavior.  Curse them and their
       amazing critical thinking skills!   

1... Beautiful new baby!  A very dear friend welcomed a new baby just
     a few weeks ago...one month early...while in Germany!  Thank God
     for a safe and healthy little girl and for the awesome gift of new life.

30?? Instructional Days left of school.  I might die of a heart attack.
      The chances of my spontaneously bursting into tears at the thought
       of being separated from my students is very real at any given moment.  
       Also all vestiges of sanity have very nearly run out.  We were in the
      middle of a memory verse test today and ten of us started attempting
       to recreate a whirling dervish from Turkey.  Yes I did say "us".  

8... Weeks until  I'm back in AMERICA!!!  ACK!!!!  I'm very excited to
      be coming home for the summer to visit!!!!  Prepare yourselves for the invasion...

Did you make it all the way down here???

Good!  You're a trooper!  And now for an important message:

As mentioned in the above section:  I will be coming home for the summer :-).  One of the very important things that I am very dedicated to doing is reconnecting with all of you that have been praying for and supporting me this year (and those who are interested in knowing more in order to do so).  I'd like to tell you all about what God is doing in Vienna and I'd also like to let you know how you can pray for and support this ministry next year.  

One of the ways that I would LOVE to do this is by meeting with families, churches, groups, and friends to share.  If you would like to schedule a get together or if your church or group would be willing and interested in hearing about what is happening here with ICSV please let me know!  You can reach me personally at abrown1429@gmail.com  Prayers and financial support are a huge aspect of what sustains me and the school here and I so value all of you and how you hold me up!

In Christ,

Amy

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