Bratislava adventure!

Yesterday we took a journey to the neighboring capital city of Bratislava, Slovakia. Less then 40 miles separates Vienna and Bratislava to make them the two closest world capitals. The city center is only about an hour away so we jumped on a train in the morning and we were back before bed time.

Three of my students joined us as we explored the city, got lost a few times and almost lost one of the girls (oops), saw touristy things, and ate some Pizza Hut. It was a ton of fun spending time with these young adults, but bittersweet as 2 of the 3 will be leaving Vienna before August. Fortunately we'll be able to do a few more things with them in the coming days. For now, enjoy the pictures...

reading the tourist guide on the train to Bratislava explaining how we would all become a Bratislover...clever, huh.

enjoying the beautifully maintained tram stop...

focused on a game while waiting

on a Slovakian tram

the "new bridge" also known as the UFO bridge for its spaceship-like structure that houses an overpriced restaraunt

The girls waiting to cross a street

A shot of Justin and I attempting to imitate the statue at the top of this monument

a closeup of me looking like an idiot :)

the city center is a very cool collection of narrow streets and alleys

Slovakia hosted last months IIHF World Championships...these signs had cool little caricatures of each nations "mascot" interesting to see how different nations are perceived. Case in point in the next picture...

The US is seen as a bunch of Cowboys.
Crap.
This is what we have to overcome. :/

view of the castle from one of the many side alleys

and again

taking a break in some random courtyard with a fountain

the castle, again.

what a good student...even reading as she walks through a vacant lot.

on our way home after a long day

Comments

Who are these kids at ICSV...

Hi everyone... The first week and a half of school has been absolutely amazing! We have had some great opportunities to begin building lasting relationships with the students that God has brought to Vienna to be educated at the International Christian School of Vienna. Rebecca has been adjusting well to her role as secondary secretary. She is learning quickly the many demands of her new role and is doing quite well in supporting us teachers and the rest of the staff. Rebecca hard at work I have been really enjoying my classes. I have a total of 43 students spread out over 4 periods. The students I have represent 14 different home nations, with many of the students who are "Austrian" are first generation, so they are of other nationalities as well. I have also had the opportunity to begin working with the soccer team...again, many nationalities are represented on the field, truly an international squad. Here are some pictures of the team training at the local club

Almost a Year - A reflective poem by Rebecca

It’s been almost a year since we got on the plane. Knowing that we were leaving friends and family; we would never be the same. What has it been like leaving everything we know? Laughter and tears; sun and snow. Up and down; love and fear. All while trusting God for the reason we are here. Relying on support and prayers from the ones you care for, Though scary, freeing, challenging; it means relying on God even more. I’m so thankful to be part of a team who sees that Christ is our need Whether they can see the impact first hand or not, they have blessed students at ICSV. The students and families are so precious, eager to learn and understand What it means to love the Lord with all their hearts and to follow His command. At times I feel so left alone and wondering why God has called me here But then I talk to a student, or go to a school event, that’s when it all becomes clear. God never said life would be easy or even how we think it might be We just need to rely on Him, as He

Clowns and Hospitals

Many of you might remember the 1998 film starring Robin Williams that chronicled the early career of Hunter "Patch" Adams. He began using humor as therapy in his sessions and opened a free hospital in West Virginia. Here is a clip from the film... Fast forward 13 years to a hospital in Vienna, Austria...to a children's surgery ward. As we were sitting talking with some visitors we noticed Justin had more visitors... They proceeded to hand out musical instruments; here's the problem...this was less than 12 hours after Justin's surgery. It really hurt him to laugh at this point...and he still felt horrible After that nonsense, the clowns made 2 more appearances; once when they delivered lunch, and once later in the day when we had our friend Tom Mason visiting. Tom is a fellow missionary serving as a pastor at a local church and a teacher at ICSV. He is also a amateur magician. Pictures of him doing tricks have found their way onto this blog

Johnstein!

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