Meine Klein Welt

Flashback #3 – Vienna Orientation

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newstaff

One of my new jobs this year was being in charge of Vienna Orientation. Vienna Orientation is the first week that new staff spend in Austria. We get to help them move into their apartments, find their way around town, learn how to grocery shop – basically get oriented to Vienna. In the past I’ve been a buddy for new folks, which is a lot of fun, but this year I got to be responsible for planning our outings, getting all the paperwork together, scheduling speakers, etc. It was a bit less one-on-one time, but I got to know each of the new staff instead of just one or two, and that was great!

kahlenberg

Our first outing was a trip up to Kahlenberg. Kahlenberg is a mountain (hill if you’re from Colorado) overlooking Vienna. It’s a great place to visit on a clear day because you get a view of the entire city. I loved going here my first year and seeing just how big Vienna is.

grinzing

After visiting the lookout in Kahlenberg, we rode the bus down to Grinzing for dinner. We walked around a bit because it’s just a really cute town. 🙂 Then we had dinner at a Heuriger called Figl’s. Yummy!

Other staff got to take them on trips to the Naschmarkt and a tour of downtown Vienna. Luckily we had nice weather for most of the week!

Of course, it wouldn’t be summer without BBQs. We had several BBQs at various places to give everyone a chance to get to know one another better. It was a great week!

bbq

Flashback #2 – Florida

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Most of our time in Florida was spent indoors because it was pouring rain pretty much the entire time we were there. On one of our last days Matt’s parents took us to the beach, and thankfully, it was beautiful!

beachcollage

Flashback #1 – Fourth of July in Philly

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Yikes! I’m a bit behind on the blogging. 🙂

We spent the Fourth of July weekend in Philadelphia. What a perfect place to be for this particular holiday. When we landed at the airport we saw a group of people who were there to meet a soldier returning home from Iraq. The group pulled up to the curb in a procession of old cars and motorcycles all sporting American flags. Then they lined the stairs next to the escalator and prepared a great welcome for this soldier. I was really moved by the fact that a group of people would take the time to make sure one of our soldiers was welcomed home in style. I asked if I could take pictures and was told by one of the larger men there that I could and if anyone gave me any trouble to punch them in the nose. Luckily, I didn’t have to do that.

airportcollage

On the Fourth, we walked around downtown Philly for awhile. We went to Independence Square and discovered that it was the celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday. They had all kinds of people dressed up and sharing information about life in the 1800’s. Of course, there was also a group of protestors there. Matt wouldn’t let me go over there because some guy was wearing a shirt that basically said Jesus is OK with hate. Jesus is not OK with hate, and I think that man needs to know it, but Matt kept me on the other side of the street, so I didn’t get to tell him.

lincolncollage

While we were in Philly, we of course had to go to a Phillies’ game. The game was actually on the Fourth of July, so they had a pre-game program to honor veterans. They rolled out the biggest flag I have ever seen! It was a really fun time.

philliescollage

One of the things I love everytime I go to the east coast is getting to see lightning bugs. We don’t have these in California, and I am completely fascinated by them. Matt caught a couple for me to get pictures of, but getting pictures of them actually lit up is a little harder. I’m going to keep working on that next time I’m there.

lightningcollage

Smells Like Grandma

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Ringelblumensalbe

This is a cream my physical therapist gave me to rub on my scar.

Ringelblumen are Marigolds.

This cream is supposed keep the skin around my scar from drying out or something like that.

Tricia also claims that this cream makes me smell like her grandma.

I think I’ll take that as a compliment.

Young Man, Pick Yourself Off The Ground

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YMCA_Week3

So here’s week 3. I am now seeing a physical therapist once a week, so having some consistent care and advice is very helpful. Please continue to pray that my recovery process goes smoothly and quickly.

For comparison, Week 2 followed by Week 1:

YMCA_Week2YMCA_Week1