Meine Klein Welt

Saying Goodbye: My Classroom

August 1, 2012 by Matt

After a lengthy layoff, I’m back to the blog. I’m sure you’re all very excited. Yay!

Today I begin a short series of goodbyes. After 10 years of living and ministering in Vienna, it is bittersweet to leave. Part of leaving well is saying goodbye to some of the places I’ll miss.

Goodbye Computer Lab

Goodbye computer lab. Room number 207. My home away from home for the last 10 years. Goodbye nice green chair with your perfectly formed six-pack abs, much like my own.

Goodbye carpet that created its own static, providing ammunition for teenagers to zap each other and their computers. Goodbye windows that open, a novelty in our school building.

Goodbye desk that is surprisingly clean in this picture, and goodbye swiveling lights attached to the wall. Goodbye projector that beamed a decade’s worth of demonstrations, videos, and projects.

Goodbye to my room, tucked away in a corner obscured by stacks of chairs, across from the boys bathroom. Goodbye blue plastic swivel chairs. Many students have sat in you trying to resist the urge to roll or spin. Some succeeding. Most failing.

Goodbye classroom where hundreds of students listened, talked, prayed, typed, learned. Thank you for being a place where my students could gather. Without you my life would not be touched by those I sought to serve everyday.

You are no longer my room, but I will always remember fondly the time when you were.

Filed Under: Austria, icsv, VCS, vienna christian school

Tiergarten Schönbrunn

June 21, 2012 by kleineklein

As part of our Vienna bucket list, we’re visiting some of our favorite places. Today we went with our dear friends to the Tiergarten Schönbrunn (Vienna Zoo).  This the oldest zoo in the world, and it’s a truly beautiful place. I’m so glad we decided to go early because by midday the heat was pretty unbearable. I was even more tempted than normal to jump in and swim with the penguins! Mollie made sure we were there in time to see them feed the sea lions. That was awesome! Then, we found the albino peacock, the coolest animal in the zoo. It was showing off it’s plumage. So, so cool!

Tiergarten Schönbrunn

You can see more photos here: Tiergarten Schönbrunn

Filed Under: Austria, Friends, Life, vienna

Letters from Vietnam

January 18, 2012 by Matt

Our letter from Vietnam

So, yeah, this is a new one. In case you’re having trouble reading it, that stamp does in fact say “Missent to HO CHI MINH CITY.”

People have mistaken Vienna for Venice and Austria for Australia, but I don’t know that anyone’s ever mistaken Vienna for Vietnam. Sure, they have plenty in common. They both start with ‘V’. They both, um, have, um, you know, um people?

Yeah, so not much in common it turns out. In the US Post Office’s defense, the sender did neglect to write Austria in as the country. I’m not sure it’s that great a defense, though.

In any case, I’m glad this Christmas letter’s incredible journey ended in our mailbox.

Filed Under: Austria, humor, vienna

Haus des Meeres

January 9, 2012 by kleineklein

On Friday we took a trip to the Haus des Meeres with our friends the Stocketts.

Haus des Meeres

The Haus des Meeres is Vienna’s aquarium. It’s built in an old Flakturm, which I think is an awesome way to redeem a not so awesome thing.

We got to see lots of fun creatures.

Haus des Meeres

We also got to watch an amazing sunset from the roof. You can walk all the way around the turm, thus getting a 360 degree view of Vienna. Beautiful!

Haus des Meeres

We finished our visit with a rousing game of Peek-a-Boo. Pretty great day all around.

Haus des Meeres

 You can see more pictures here: Haus des Meeres

Filed Under: Austria, Friends, Life, vienna

Bleigiessen in der Silvesternacht

January 4, 2012 by kleineklein

New Year’s Eve in Vienna is something that we are going to miss greatly when we return to the States. There are fireworks, and fun hats, and Gluehwein, and a fun little tradition called Bleigiessen.

New Year's 2012

Bleigiessen is a game that is played after the toast on New Year’s Eve. Each person melts a small piece of lead over candle flame in a special spoon. The pieces of lead are in the shapes of things that are considered good luck or are associated with New Year’s Eve: mushrooms, bottles of Sekt, pigs, gold coins, clovers. Once the lead is melted, you drop it into cold water. It instantly cools into a new shape.

New Year's Eve 2012

After the lead cools, you must decide what you think it looks like. Each shape is supposed to tell you what kind of luck you’ll have in the new year. We decided that our lead took the following shapes:

A: Drache (Dragon) – Victory

B: Jagdhorn (Hunting Horn) – Great luck will come to your house.

C: Quelle (Natural Spring) – You will have enviable health.

D: Geweih (Antlers) – Do not gamble when the stakes are high.

E: Elefant (Elephant) – You will need to have thick skin in your professional life.

This is a bit like opening a fortune cookie, but a lot more interactive.  We hope that you all had a great New Year’s Eve!

Filed Under: Austria, Life, vienna

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 11
  • Next Page »

Subscribe to Our Blog


Recent Posts

  • For the Love
  • Grief is Sneaky…So is Healing
  • Adventures in Baby Feeding
  • Happy Birthday!
  • I Need the World to Know

Visit Our Other Sites

Ein Kleines Foto
Ein Kleines Education

Copyright © 2025 · eleven40 Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...