Home again, Home again

After 19 hours of travel, (thanks to two delayed plans), I made it back home to St Paul, then on to Wisconsin. Thanks for all your prayers and support, you have made a huge contribution to my trip, thank you!!! Keep checking my blog for some pictures on their way!

Blessings,
Abi

A cross near the Roman ruins in Vienna.

Interesting park job!

Judenplatz, the former Jewish Ghetto is now home to a memorial.

Karlskirche in Vienna.

The backyard of Schonbrunn Palace.

Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.

and it's entertainment!

Shaving cream spelling.

The road going downhill to to ICSB.

The path paved in potholes.

St Stephan (Istvan), whose mummified hand is brought out yearly for the St Stephan festival in August.

Fisherman's Bastion; my favorite part of Budapest.

Standing above the Danube overlooking the Pest side of Budapest.

Packing up and heading out

So, this is most likely going to be my last post, at least until I get home. It is so strange to think that I have been here almost 3 weeks, the time seems that it has been longer and shorter at the same time. When I got to school today three of the teachers that I have gotten to know during my time here reminded me that it is my last day and that I need to come say goodbye. Ah, the life of an MK, an endless string of goodbyes.

I have gotten used to most aspects of life here. The dogs don't wake me up at night anymore, and I know which fences they are all behind on my walk to school. That does not mean I don't jump when they bark. I like the long showers I can take because my water is heated as it goes. The constant cold has also become a reality. The fact that I can't read the street signs, or billboards, or anything for that matter still bugs me; however, I have gotten used to saying "S" as "sh", "jo napot" and "jo reggelt", and of course the one word I know well, "kosonom" (thank you).

I took Jill out to dinner last night, we had Mexican. It is funny how I have had incredibly ethnically diverse food since I have been here, American, Mexican, Hungarian, Malaysian. On our ride into the city Jill asked me what I was looking forward to most about going home, and honestly besides being with the people I love, there isn't too much I have missed. I suppose give me a few more weeks and I will be yearning for chocolate chip cookies or mac and cheese.

I have been so thankful for my time here, and I have been so incredibly blessed. As I go, I am taking with me lessons learned, many pictures, memories and a broader view of what is important. Thank you all for your prayers and support, and I am looking forward to talking with you all about my trip when I get back. Keep checking the blog, I am going to be posting some pictures from my time here.

Until then... ... ...

Vienna Waits For You

Saturday I spent the day in Vienna Austria, not one of the things that I had originally planned on doing during my trip. One of the teachers at the school, Pam, invited me to go along with her and two of the student teachers to go to Vienna for the day. I was absolutely thrilled to go!!! I was so excited to see another city that I haven't ever been too, and getting a chance to use my German sounded absolutely fabulous!

Vienna is about 3 hours by train away from Budapest, so this meant to catch our 6 o'clock train we had to get on the road about 5. Pretty early, even for an education major...Thankfully Brad offered to drive us to the train station, otherwise we would have been on the road at 4!!! So, early in the darkness of the morning we ventured out for our day. After a 3 hour train ride, a few minutes of sleep and 2 new stamps in our passports, we made it to Vienna.

After we first arrived we had to purchase return tickets for the train, and then we also got tickets for public transportation. I had been reading a guide book for probably an hour on the train so I felt like I had a pretty good idea of how public worked, and what we might want to see during our day.

The first stop on our trip was the Schonnbrunn Palace which was breathtaking. I cannot even imagine living in a palace, especially this one. It has acres of gardens, a zoo, incredible flowers and just walking the grounds made you feel like royalty. We hopped back on the U-bahn (Subway) to get back into the city. We stopped at Karlskirche (Karl's church) next, and of all the churches we saw yesterday, this one was my favorite. It was equally breathtaking, and the years of work that must have gone into this church amazes me.

We went further downtown into the Fussgangerzone, or the pedestrian zone. After our morning of walking we were excited to take a stop at Starbucks. Pam really wanted to stop here, and it was a nice break after a little snowy/icy rain. We had some lunch, and some coffee while we figured out our next plan of action. We decided to split at this point, and Pam and I did some shopping while the guys went to a museum. After shopping we had the biggest bummer of the day; Pam realized she had forgotten her backpack at Starbucks, and after much looking we realized that it was not going to be found. (My German got a lot of practice during this adventure...) Thankfully she didn't have anything crucially important in it, no money, ID or her passport, but her curriculum for her classes, an ungraded test one of here classes had taken, and some books were in it, so that is a bummer.

We spent the majority of the afternoon walking the cobblestone streets, listening to street musicians, shopping and sightseeing. I think the most interesting thing we saw in the afternoon was the Judenplatz, which is in the former Jewish Ghetto of Vienna and is a solemn rememberance to what happened only 60 years ago.

Our day of walking was beginning to take a toll on our energy supply, so for dinner we went totally Austrian and had Schnitzel. We ate dinner at a restaurant called Figlmuller and the kid portions of schnitzel we ordered was falling of the edges of our dinner plates, I'm glad I didn't order the full portion!!! Stuffed and warm we ventured back to the train station and hopped on our train to return!

Overall I loved every minute of my day in Vienna, and I was so happy that I got to take this day trip. Being able to read the signs and speak to people was so fun; a great confidence booster with my German. I am so thankful for all your prayers, and as I wrap up here this week here are a few specific things you can pray for:

• Good closure at the school and with the students
  
• Safety in travel home and good weather for traveling
• Great re-entry into the states and school (my spring semester starts January

The real deal

Today is my second full day of subbing. It has been so fun, yet really eye opening at the same time. I have 6 first graders today, and I am amazed at the energy they have and the mess that they make. One of the things that we did today was practice spelling words in shaving cream, generally a recipe for disaster. After all the rolls of paper towels have been used up, the desks and hands are clean, but there is still a lingering odor of shaving cream in the room. Is there a reason that the teacher planned this for a day that she wouldn't be here??? Because so many teachers and students are away at a conference, things are a little laid back, and a little fun has been thrown in. Right now, my six first graders are laying on the floor watching the ending of Toy Story. I think their teacher wanted them to have some fun while she and the other 4 students in the class were at the conference.

Yesterday I received an interesting call from someone from the American Embassy here in Hungary. At first I am thinking that perhaps I was being sent back to the US or something, but as it turns out my Uncle Milt had this man in youth group when he lived out in San Diego. I was invited to come out to the Embassy and see how everything works, and then go have lunch. So, next Tuesday Kari Mullet and I are going to take a peek inside the Embassy. That was an unplanned but very exciting addition to my trip, and it worked out perfectly since I am only going to be at the school for a 1/2 day on Tuesday.

Since I have been here I have gotten a taste of what it is like to be a single missionary living overseas. As I was talking with one of the teachers on Monday she was expressing a few things that she has experienced since being here, and I could really identify with them. Even though the time I will be here is only short term, I have come to have a greater appreciation and understanding of the life of a single missionary. Keep these missionaries in your prayers.

There is no school this coming friday, so I am going to go out shopping first with Jill, then Kelsey, so that should be pretty fun. I am hoping to get back into the city sometime on Saturday or Sunday, so I'll see if anyone is up for taking me. I have had a wonderful week so far, and I am looking forward to the rest of my subbing. Thanks for keeping me in your prayers. Miss you all!!!

Rewards of a teacher

Today I began my second week at the school. I felt much more used to my environment today as I walked through the doors, and a little less lost in the shuffle. I spent the majority of my day going over lesson plans for all that I will be teaching in the next few days, and I also sat in on some classes and helped out. I was also fortunate enough (wink wink) to fill in for recess duty; which I have found out is one of the things that is not the choicest job. I am on recess duty tomorrow and Wednesday during lunch as well, so I guess I am getting good practice. No fat lips today though, so my recess duty skills are improving.

I met a student today whom I will be helping out the remainder of this week and perhaps one or two days next week with organizational things. I think he has trouble finding the right homework and getting that into his backpack, so hopefully some one on one encouragement will help him get on track with remembering.

One of the best parts of my day today was that after being here a week the students are starting to not only get used to having me here, but they are also beginning to open up and approach me, which is incredibly rewarding. I have gotten several hugs today, and many "shares" from different students. I've realized that these are the most important rewards of teaching; it is these kind of moments that will be remembered years from now.

Castle District

I went into the city yesterday afternoon with Kelsey and we rode public transportation up to the castle district. It was beautiful. The sun was shining, and so the view of the city was perfect. We walked around the cobblestone streets and went into St Matthias (St Matthew) Church. It is pretty incredible to sit in something that is over 400 years old and think of the people that walked the same ground and sat in the same places as you are now. We went out to eat at a fun restaurant, "Leroy", and then went and saw National Treasure (not in Hungarian).

Today, after church, Jill and I went to Auchan, a big grocery store, to get groceries and then we also got some lunch there. I debated for a while in the lunch meat aisle, not being able to read any of the words on the packages, if I should get random meat with white blobs, or without. I opted for without, therefore I have decided that either the meat gets no white blobs, or the white blobs are ground in. Either way, not too much thinking about the white blobs or else I will not enjoy my sandwich quite as much tomorrow at school.

I have appreciated all your prayers, and continually am adjusting every day. I still miss home and the people there, but I am getting more used to life here, even though I still see all the differences.

Some prayer requests for this week:

• That my restful nights would continue
• That all my substitute teaching this coming week will go smoothly and be beneficial both to the students and to myself
• That God will continue to fill me in every way and be the supplier of all that I need

Americanization of the world

I truly saw the "Americanization" of the world last night. It was Jill's birthday on Wednesday, so last night she invited me along with her and two of her friends to go out to eat. Driving into the city shows the stark contrast between the American companies that are quickly spreading throughout the world, like McDonalds and T-Mobile, sitting right next to the traditional European and Hungarian culture. It is so interesting to see. We were planning on going to eat at a Mexican restaurant that turned out to be under remodeling, so we ended up going to the "West end shopping center", no joke that is the name, and eating at a TGI-Fridays. It was really strange eating somewhere that is totally American, somewhere I don't even usually eat at in the US in a foreign country halfway around the world. The funniest thing was that even though this mall was very American style with escalators and stores everywhere, it was all in Hungarian, with stores that appeal to Hungarian people and so many key elements of Hungarian culture intermixed. I guess this shows two things, the speed at which American things are entering other countries and cultures, and how there is still an element of Hungarianess or culture that is kept despite this Americanization. Keep praying for me everyone!!! I am finally sleeping well, which is a huge answer to prayer, but I am constantly in need of prayer and uplifting during my time here, it is so different than the States. Miss you all tons!

Recess Duty

Today, I was on afternoon recess duty so that the Elementary teachers could have their team meeting. I recieved a run down on the rules, one of which included no tackle football. Immediatly after I learn the rules of the playground I looked to my left and see a pile of various arms and legs, so I go over to untangle them. I announced to the boys that there was no tackle football at recess and asked them to all get up and untangled. From the bottom of the pile emerges the football, that is being held onto by a kid with a bloody fat lip...his question? "Why not?" I had to hold in my laughter as I explained to him that it was against the rules. There will always be those kids I guess.

Foggy Morning Walk

Today I had to get to school early to go to the teacher's devotional. When I woke up, at 6:45 (much much earlier than I usually perfer to wake up) the sun was just coming up, but I could already tell that it was going to be an extremely foggy day. Jill's house is located up on a hill on the "Buda" side of Budapest, which is a very hilly area. After I prepared for my day, which included packing a lunch and calling Kari Mullet to make sure I had the directions to the school right, I set out on a venture to the school. I am thinking that in the future I will walk with the Mullet kids, but today since I was going early I went alone. The school is down a valley in Diosd (a little suburb) and so my walk took me down narrow streets at a pretty steep slope. The road I was walking on absolutely cracked me up. As Brad said they are paved in potholes, and it is so true! This road was so uneven and half mud half pavement that I pretty muched walked zig-zag the whole way to a paved road. Much to my personal satisfaction I found the school with no problems, and I was extremely proud of that. I was kind of nervous that I would get lost and never find it on time.

I was introduced officially to the staff today at their devotional. A wife (and former teacher) of one of the current teachers spoke to the group for a while because of some personal medical problems she is having. I am sure any prayers sent her way would be so much appreciated, her name is Libbie. After the devotional I talked to the 2nd grade teacher who needs a sub for Tuesday and Thursday next week because she is going to be gone at a conference. I ended up actually spending a majority of my day in her classroom because I wanted to understand how things go before jumping in with both feet next week. I am also going to be subbing for the 1st grade on Wednesday and also doing the high school German 1 class all three days. The students don't have school next friday, so that should be a nice break, and maybe I will get to see some more of the city. Jill offered to take me out and about on Saturday, and so I jumped at the opprotunity!

One thing I can't get used to is dogs barking. I feel like I should be used to this because during our time in Czech there were dogs barking behind every fence at every house. Still, its a little hard to get used to, especially since Jill's neighbors have 2 that bark probably about 22 hours straight every day. I saw them today on my walk to school, and they are much milder than their bark would indicate. I still need to get over that whole sleep thing, I slept better last night, but not great. Keep praying everyone!!! I miss you all, but it is great to know that you all are behind me and surrounding me in prayer.

Budapest - The Beginnings

Wow, I can hardly believe that I am here. It still seems a little surreal, but yet oh so real at the same time. I arrived on Saturday afternoon after a long (48 hours!) travel experience. By the time I got to Budapest I was more than ready to get off the airplanes. My flight to Amsterdam was delayed and I was really frusterated during the 2 hour wait, but I did get on eventually, and I am here. On Saturday night I hung out with the Mullets (Brad, Kari, Whitney, Kelsey, Peter & Jake) and Jill, the lady I am staying with. It was a little hard staying awake, but I managed and I slept okay that first night.

Sunday I went to the Olimpia Mozi for church. The Free Church that the Mullets go to here in Budapest meets in an old remodeled Communist style movie theater that I had an opprotunity to help remodel. The service was in Hungarian, but they do have English translation available for the English speaking attendees, so I was thankful for that! After church I came back to the Mullets and we hung out, ate lunch, ran errands and then in the evening I spent quality time with the girls. I then went back to Jill's house and proceeded to not fall asleep until who knows when, giving me the worst nights sleep possible. I will recover...I hope. I am not sure if it is the unfamiler surroundings or the jetlag or what, but if you want to keep my sleep/energy in your prayers that would be much appreciated.

Today was my first day at ICSB and I truly had no idea what to expect. I went with the Mullet kids in the morning and after a brief tour by Kari met the Director with whom I had been corresponding. For the students this was their first day back, and so all the hecticness and nerves that you get from that was clear. The first thing was a special assembly that a group from Wheaton Academy was putting on. This group of students is traveling through Europe for 13 days performing different songs and sharing their hearts with different churches and schools. I watched them perform 3 times, at all three (elementary, middle and high school) chapels. After chapels I chatted some more with David Welsh, the director, then had lunch with some of the Elementary teachers. I observed in the German class that I will be helping out in and subbing in next week (the teacher is going to be gone, so I am going to sub!) After the German class I went to the 4th grade classroom and observed and worked with some of the students in that class. The last part of my day I met with the Vice principals of the Middle and Elementary schools. We talked about my goals of being there, what I liked about teachers and through them I got a better perspective of what the needs at ICSB are currently, and how I might be able to work in my short time to help fill and assist in those needs.

I have not had a chance to tour any of the city yet, and I am hoping to be able to begin seeing the city perhaps this weekend, if my hosts have time! Keep praying for me, your prayers will be much needed and are extremely appreciated. Here are some of the prayer requests that are on the forefront of my mind. Love you all, and I would love to hear from you if you get a spare moment. There will be more to come, I promise!!!

1. That I will get good sleep each night and that I will have enough energy to do all that I have to do!
2. That I will be able to build new relationships, and deepen the already existing relationships with people here.
3. That I will be growing every day closer to the Lord and relying on Him for all that I need.
   

The people you meet in an airport

According to the travel plans that I earlier posted, I should be in Budapest already! Instead, I am enjoying the luxary of the Hampton Inn Eagan as I wait to fly out today. My flight to Amsterdam was incredibly overbooked last night (25 people over!!!) and so I offered up my seat to stay behind because my travel plans were so flexible. After calling the people who were planning on meeting me in Budapest and talking to my sister I went for the "bump" (flying terminology). Out of the bump I got to stay in the fine Hampton Inn overnight, and I am being re-routed through Memphis early this afternoon. No complaints about this on my end, I enjoy the occasional adventure.

I was amazed at the interesting nameless people that I met while in the terminal waiting to recieve my new flights and accomodations. One man who is an American who works in Kiev Ukraine gave me 15,000 Hungarian Forint because he wasn't able to change it back! Wow!!! Check out the exchange rate! Another guy missed his 3:45 flight to Amsterdam and was frusterated because he was not able to get on this one and he was on his way to visit his fiancee in Germany. There was another girl about my age who was on her way to Norway to study abroad for the semester and this was her first time flying EVER! What a welcome to air travel. A Turkish woman and I are at the Hampton together, so some kind of strange connection has been made because we both are in the same set of circumstances. Overall, I am excited and ready to travel today! Continue your prayers for safe arrival and for the time I will be there. More to come!!!

Packing for a trip to Hungary is important! I am thrilled to be bringing little "treasures" like peanut butter and brown sugar to missionary friends in Hungary! It reminds me a lot of when we were in Czech! Pray in the next few days for safe travel and arrival of myself and my luggage!

The Parliament Building along the Danube River is a trademark sight of Budapest.