I was supposed to fly back to Austria last Friday. However, neither my family nor I were quite ready for me to leave, so we changed my ticket to allow us five extra days together. Little did I know that God had big plans for these extra days. Part of my time at home has been about visiting friends and family, but part of it has been work, because I have to raise $2,000 in monthly support. Yesterday I was about halfway to that goal. However, this morning at church, Pastor Olson wanted me to share a specific story that I had told him about one of my students. Considering that I wasn’t even supposed to be in the country, it was amazing that not only was I there, but I had a story to share that fit in perfectly with the sermon he was preaching. After I shared, Pastor Olson called on the congregation to think about supporting me. I had to send my dad home to get pledge cards because so many people decided to join my support team. God is amazing! I thought I was just spending a few extra days with my family, but He had much bigger plans. Plans to keep his promise that if I’m obedient to His calling, He will provide and provide abundantly.
Yesterday I went to a memorial service for Danny Davis. As people shared memories of Danny, there was one phrase that I heard over and over, “Danny made me feel like I mattered.” What a great legacy to leave! It made me reflect on my own interactions with people. So often I rush through conversations, or listen half-heartedly, or interrupt with my own drama – even when I know that someone is struggling. How many times have I missed opportunities to love someone well because I was being selfish? How many times have I missed opportunities to make someone feel like they matter because I was in a hurry? This is my new goal. Knowing how selfish I am, this is going to be a tall order, but I think it’s a goal worth setting.
Yesterday I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (insert sigh here) I won’t give anything away, but I will say that I’m grateful to J.K. Rowling for giving us closure on all of the story lines. The story feels complete and that is fantastic.
I don’t like change. I’ve known this about myself for a long time. Yet it amazes me everytime I begin to struggle with it.
This past week, I have realized for the first time that it’s not all change that I dislike – it’s just those changes that I don’t have control over. I enjoyed moving to Austria and the adventure that was involved in that decision. That’s not to say that there wasn’t fear and doubt involved in that change, but it felt more like a decision I was making than a change that was happening to me – a change completely out of my control.
Right now I’m struggling through what I think I’m going to permanently dub “The Summertime Blues.” Every year I struggle with depression for a part of the summer. Sometimes this depression lasts for merely a couple of days, sometimes it lasts the whole summer. Obviously different life events affect this, but the common theme, I think, is that summer brings about huge changes that I have no control over.
This summer I am in the US with my family for one month. The changes out of my control are:
*friends, students, and co-workers leaving Vienna to move back to the States
*my job responsibilities changing
*being separated for 4-12 weeks from friends
*getting adjusted to being around my family only to have to say good-bye for another year
*realizing that life here really does go on without me (evidenced by the marriages and births that took place while I was gone)
I think the biggest thing about the summer is that my whole world comes to a screeching halt and then, for a short time, I step back into the world I used to know. As soon as I get reacquainted with that world, it comes to a halt and I return again to my other world. I feel pulled in two directions.
I’ve been talking to God a lot about this. Why is it that I struggle to the point of tears with something that so many other people just take in stride? How can I explain to those around me what it is that I struggle with without them thinking I’m completely insane? How do I find a way to cope with the emotions that overtake me everytime there is change that’s out of my control? Most of all, why can’t I leave it in God’s hands for real and trust that He will take care of me and work all things for His glory?
Maybe one of these summers I will learn the answers.
For the last few years, there is a Film Festival in the Prater during July. Older films are featured here and many of them are black and white. This year’s theme is science fiction and they’re showing everything from The Forbidden Planet to Star Wars on the big screen.
I caught two films while I was here: the first was Alphaville which was French with German subtitles. I had a little trouble following this one even though I got the basic gist of it. The fact that the main character was an American portraying many of the accustomed stereotypes was quite amusing.
Tonight I saw Westworld, which was written and directed by Michael Crichton. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Westworld is part of an amusement park where people can pay top dollar to spend a few weeks in the Old West. It is populated by highly sophisticated and life-like robots that have all the functions of a normal human beings. Patrons can even go so far as to shoot and “kill” these robots in realistic gunfights without fear of harm. Everything is going fine until the robots start acting strangely…cue sinister music.
Both nights were perfect for outdoor movie watching under the Riesenrad.
So I’ve now finished year 2 of my 3 year Master’s program, and am enjoying a couple of days to myself in Vienna before I head back to the US. I enjoyed my time in Plymouth hanging out with friends from last year and learning a few things in my classes. Though the weather was mostly cold and rainy, there were a few pokes of sunshine and even some really nice days the last week when I was holed up in my room trying to finish all my work. I’m already looking forward to next year.
One thing that I noticed upon exploring the summer scene in Vienna is that things are a lot cheaper here. I normally wouldn’t have noticed, but living in England for a month I got used to thinking about prices being double in dollars. For instance, if I bought a value meal at McDonald’s for 4.5 Pounds, I was really spending $9 on a meal. In Austria, if I spend 4.5 Euro on a McDonald’s meal, it only costs me $6.25. What a savings!
So I’m looking forward to being back in the US for a few weeks where I don’t instinctively do math in my head to think about how much I’m really spending on something….or cringe when I figure it out.
For those of you interested in what kinds of things you might produce in the 2nd year of a Master’s program in educational technology, here’s a little sampling of a podcast I made….about podcasting.
[audio http://www.msu.edu/~kleinm11/year_2/klein_podcast.mp3]
Enjoy!
For the second straight year the VCS staff played in a coed Austrian softball league. It’s a good thing we were playing for fun, because we only managed 2 wins on the
season. It was a bit disappointing of a season, but it was great to get out on the field and swing the bat and throw the ball around.
The second picture is me taking some warm-up swings in the on deck circle where I am allegedly sticking my tongue out in a Jordan-esque manner.
Enjoy more pics from the softball season here.
Wicked Header By Klein
This year we played the first VCS Staff/Alumni vs. Student game. The students won in penalty kicks, which is just as well because they got to stick it to their soccer coach who is a goalie by trade.
Pictured is me scoring one of my many goals with a wicked header from midfield. Or at least that’s how I remember it. I also took a ball to the face at some point during the game, so my memory might be a little sketchy.
More pics from the game can be found here.
