Life in Deutsch

Guten Abend! (Good Evening!)

I've been wrestling through German this week, learning the past tense, different forms of verbs and about the whole concept of time. I really enjoy my class and my awesome teacher, Frau Doller (pictured in middle).


She is a native Austrian, is 24 and really cares about us a lot! I really appreciate how she enunciates and repeats things and most of the class is interactive. She speaks only in German but is very careful to make sure we all understand. Most of the class is interactive: when we learn a new concept, she'll ask us questions using the concept and we respond. It's great! Please pray for me as I continue to study and understand. Language is so critical and I really want to communicate effectively to the people here! Also pray for the different students I meet- On Monday I'm going out to coffe with a girl from the Czech Republic and our team is having a student from Britian over to our house for dinner on Wednesday. Pray for God's grace and love as I make new friends and that I will be a loving and truthful witness of Jesus Christ.

This is my class (3 Americans, 3 Turks, 1 from Thailand, 1 from Romania (not pictured)! We dressed up for "Fashing"- the big "party day" before Lent begins. It's a really big deal here- there's parades all over a nd all the people who work in retail dress up in costumes. We just had a little fun in our class, but unfortunately for the rest of the country, this is a day where everything goes- basically where you binge on everything wrong and then repent on Ash Wednesday and then go into 40 days of fasting different things. Please pray for the Austrians at this time, as religion is more of a focus and topic of conversation. Pray that they would hear and experience the relevance of the Gospel of Christ!

No word on our visa situation...please continue to pray that all 8 of us would be approved to stay in Austria for the duration of our Global Internship! There are places outside of the EU that we can go (the Operation Mobilization team has many contacts), but I do believe God has called us to Vienna will keep us here!

*love

The Underground

Hallo. :)

It's cold. Wet. Snowy. And my brain is overloaded with German!

Last Friday I went to a cultural event with my school, the Deutschakademie, to tour the "underground of Vienna." I went with a group of 20 students (most of whom were in the upper classes of German) and that was probably the largest range of cultures and people I have ever been with! At one point I was speaking with a girl from France partially in French, partially in German and then a guy from Britian translated some with his Brittish accent! Then a man from Panama and another from Iran joined the conversation-- quite interesting!!!

We first got a short history lesson of what we were going to go tour (which was mostly in German, so I really didn't understand a whole lot!) then we got to go see what we learned about!

Most of our time was spent at Michaelerkirche, one of the oldest cathedrals in Austria, dating back to 1220! It was stunning!

After touring the sanctuary, we then went underground to the crypts! Quite interesting...upon entering the basement we were notified that we were walking on layers and layers of bones and dirt! Old and ornate caskets lined the halls, some of them open revealing mummified bodies of ancient people who once walked the earth. I realized I don't think about death too often, but in being overtly confronted by it, I was intrigued by the question...."where are their spirit's now?" Such a strange thing, death is. Sobering and empowering to live with the true and real perspective in mind: eternity with God.

Ich bin mude!

Hallo!

Day 3 of "Deutsch Academie." My head's swimming a bit but I'm getting the hang of it! I have class from 12-3 (so that's 4-7 AM CTS!) and by the time hour 3 hits it gets pretty intense. For those of you early birds, I'd appreciate your prayers for that time! There are 10 people in the class: 4 from Turkey, 1 from Thailand, 1 from Singapore, 1 from Romania and then two of my teammates and myself. It's really cool! I'm enjoying getting to know my classmates and also my teacher. She's great!

Other than school, I've been trying to adjust to a new routine. Something that a teammate of mine shared with the team as we met last night was that he really sensed that God was saying for us to "stop resisting grace" and "let go of your understanding of how things should work." I feel very aware that God is so much bigger than the plans, agenda and expectations I have. I'm wrestling and struggle to find the ryhthm of how to live my life. There's still so much that I don't know, but the one thing that I know for sure is that I want to be about the One Thing: loving God with my all. It seems like things get harder and messier before they get better, but I won't be disuaded! Please pray for the leading of the Spirit and that I would be filled with the knowledge of God. I want to know Him and His ways and give Him what He desires the most: my love.

Until next time... Auf weidersehen (goodbye and take care!) :)

The Phenomenon of the Wiener Cafe

Question: what is something intriguing about Vienna that shows up often in varied ways and is something I could document during my time here?

Answer: Cafe's!

Austria is known for its coffee, it's relational and laid back culture (people take coffee break seriously here- at 10:30 on the dot everyone drops their work for a 15 min-30 min enjoyable coffee break; often the same happens in the afternoon) and its sumptuous delicate deserts. As I encounter these wonderful places during my time here in Austria, I thought I would share them with you!

May I introduce you to

What a lovely place! It's located in the Innerstradt (inner city) of Vienna by the Stephansdom (one of the tallest cathedrals in the world that is oh, so beautiful!) and has been around since 1911! It has an elegant yet casual feel with a 50's flavor. I found a short review on it that, from my firsthand experience there tonight, described it more than adequately well:

"Solemn-looking waiters sport classic bow-tie garb at this expansive cafe on the Ring. Still, in spite of a few old school traits, Pruckel is not one of the stiffest stars in the Viennese firmament. The much-loved cafe attracts a vaguely arty clientele who look like they're pondering some conceptual conundrum."

I got the "Special Pruckel Eiskaffe" which was fabulous! It was espresso, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream with a waifer cookie on top. I was very pleased. :) Even the "frou frou" coffee here isn't as sweet as in the US (they also don't have artificial sweeteners here) but it has a rich flavor that I really appreciate.

I highly reccommend this cute cafe and look forward to returning (hopefully with some new friends from language school that starts on Monday!). Check out Cafe Pruckel's website here.

I hope you're enjoying your coffe today as well. :)

:::thus ends review number ONE of the Phenomenon of the Wiener:::

...until next time :)

*love

A Sampling of My time in Austria so far...

This is Linz! It's the 3rd largest town in Austria and is about 2 hours away from Vienna. My team and I spent the day here, visiting the Operation Mobilization team that is based there and learning from them about the Austrian culture. We also got a tour of the city, which is beautiful! Hitler actually grew up outside the town of Linz, and when he came to power this city was one of the first that he renovated.

Team time! We meet together on Tuesday nights for dinner, Bible study and prayer. We had an awesome time of communion together this night as well.

House-mates! The girls have a flat, then Judika (far right) lives in the upstairs of the house and Gordon and Judie Holiday (left of Judika) live in the basement. Judika is an artist from Germany and the Holiday's are from Australia. They're great!

Spending some time at our site leaders house: Robert and Ulla Suhonnen. What an incredible couple! They've done an excellent job of welcoming us into the country, teaching us the ropes (from where to shop to how to separate your trash to the spiritual climate) and being amazing hosts! We enjoyed time in their beautiful backyard eating moose and Norwegian cheese. :) They also have a sauna, which has quickly become a team favorite place to relax!

Street art! On Sunday's there are lots of street artists and performers downtown. Fun fun!

The Weisel! This is a fast train that we take into Vienna. I ride trains many times a day!


A cool castle that you can see outside the window of the OM office. It's so cool to be in a place that's been inhabited for so long and has such a rich history.

Our house! I like it. :)

That's all for now!

Suzie Homemaker

I'm really enjoying my time in Austria!

Yesterday I had a wonderfully restful day-- took the train to Vienna Christian Center for church and was challenged with the topic of FAITH. Faith is like a muscle that needs working and exertion and challenges in order to grow. I'm ready to lean into this workout!

I got to spend the rest of the afternoon in a cafe, journaling reading and processing the time I've had here so far with God. The snow was falling out the window and I was filled with delight with the Lord, with life and with how God has brought me here! He truly is a God who does immmeasurably above and beyond all we could ever ask for or imagine!

Later on, my dear friend and teammate Emily joined me and we shared what's been going on in our lives and had a really awesome time of prayer and listening to God, then praying into what we heard Him tell us. God is so alive!

Today after some devotions at the OM base with the team, my teammate Nicole and I headed back to our flat to start a day of ministering to our team through cleaning the house and making dinner! It's been a good day. :)

Please keep in prayer for the visas for our team. We've submitted all our documents and done all we can do, so now we just pray and wait on the Lord! Please pray for the officials who will be considering our requests to stay in the country for an extended amount of time and that God would give us favor.