A Very Merry Life

Well, it would seem that I have let the past three weeks slip by without updating anyone on my adventures. So, instead of getting all the details, I will just give you a brief summary of the more interesting experiences:

1.       Mauthausen Concentration Camp:

This wasn’t necessarily the most exciting or fun experience to have, but it was definitely an experience that I am appreciative for. One Saturday looooooong ago (at least it feels that way now) some other, most North American, students and I piled into a big bus and drove about two and a half hours away to Mauthausen. During WWII this was the biggest concentration camp in Austria, and it had 49 subcamps. We were fortunate enough to have a guided tour through the camp and because of this, I learned much about the camp and WWII in general. I don’t need to go into specifics, but it good to remember that the camp affected the whole community. Although citizens could try to ignore what was going on, it would have been impossible to remain completely oblivious. And with a concentration camp within 15 or 20 miles of every person’s home across all of Europe, the effects were devastating. But even with this continual presence, officers and neighbors did a great job of ignoring the pain and suffering taking place in their backyard.

Inside of the camp was a memorial set up for every country to use. Although it didn’t work out this way (there are now memorials built by every country right outside of the camp), there is still something to be learned. On the memorial was written (in Latin) this phrase: From the fate of the dead, the living learn.

I do not want to blindly ignore what went on 60 years ago I do want to learn from the past and learn from this opportunity that I had to visit this concentration camp. And after visiting the camp, I began to think about freedom. For the prisoners at the camp, freedom must have been a touchy subject—something that gave false hope or generated a weak and pitiful laugh. But for me, freedom is something that I take for granted. As a US citizen, I have freedom of speech, press, religion…Freedom, freedom, freedom! I so easily accept these freedoms as my own and yet, I am so often hesitant to find my freedom in Christ. This is the ultimate freedom I could ever attain, and yet I am so afraid of accepting this gift. But at the concentration camp, I realized how blessed I really am to be living the life I am—to be at Bible school in Austria—and I realized how much I take for granted.  So, this is my challenge for myself and for you…where do you place your freedom? And are you willing to learn from the fate of the dead?

 



 

2.       Krampus:

One strange Austrian tradition that you may have heard of is the Krampus. Every year around the middle of November, Austrian men adorn themselves in costumes that are very demonic looking. One night in each town (they travel around) there is a huge parade in which they show off their costumes and masks. But one other crucial element t the Krampus are the whips they carry around with them to beat people with. And yes, this actually happens. It all started when some men decided they needed to punish children for bad behavior just as St. Nicholas rewards them for good behavior. They don’t always hit you when you are near them, but basically if you show signs of fear, they will follow you and hit you with their whips. I went to the parade in November and was, of course, super freaked out, but I thought after that night it would be over. Turns out that many men in the towns keep walking around for weeks, all the way until Christmas.  So the Krampus are just something I am learning how to live with.

 

 

3.       The next Saturday we did not have an outing and it was snowing quite hard, so naturally one of my roommates and I decided to go on a nice long hike. We didn’t really know where we were going, so we ended up being out for six hours and tromping through all terrain (snow, mud, rivers, farmland, highways, etc.) to two different nearby villages. It was so wonderful to once again make it out into God’s glorious creation. We also had a marvelous time eating snow, singing, finding strange Narnia creatures, deciding where we would one day live, looking for imaginary castles, and peeing in the middle of fields. Until, that is, our hands and feet almost froze off.

4.       The next week I was able to accompany Canada’s top U-19 biathlon racer to the shooting range and try shooting for the first time. It was quite the experience (and certainly not as easy as he made it look) but it was still fun! And of course after real shooting we had to have a photo shoot!

 

 

5.       The next weekend was extremely busy, but it all started off with the opening of Planai, the World Cup ski mountain from last year. Overnight, the size of our little town of Schladming tripled as people from all over the world poured in to attend the concert and drink TONS of beer. Oh yeah, and ski! The concert was a famous German band named SEEED. It was fun to listen to, from behind the fence, and it was so crazy to have that many people surrounding our little school. It was also crazy to see just how much alcohol was consumed. The next morning they were still cleaning up from all the partying that went on that night. This was also the only night that the doors were locked in our school, as drunk people have been known to wander in in past years.

6.       The next day, Saturday, our school took a trip to Salzburg to see the Christmas market. On the way, a few people pointed out spots from where the Sound of Music was filmed and then the whole bus broke out in “The Hills are Alive.” It was so fun! Once I got over the fact that we were in the town where the Sound of Music was filmed, I was able to fall in love with Salzburg for just being Salzburg. We wandered around the market for quite some time looking at all the Christmas decorations and cozy sweaters and everything else. Then we ducked into a beautiful old church that was right in the middle of town. There were five organs just in the one church! We also went down into the catacombs to have a look. It was a bit creepy, but it was a nice excursion. We wandered around the market a bit more and I bought a DELICIOUS pretzel. Yum! We walked up to the castle and looked around for a while. It was fun to see Salzburg lit up at night…and it was so nice to be in a decent sized town again! Schladming can be a bit small at times… Then we ran back down the hill in order to catch an “unforgettable experience” that was happening in the market. It turned out to be trumpets playing on different rooftops around the market. It was very neat and an overall fun day! I am so excited to be able to go back after school and look around a little more. While I was there I finally felt like I was in Europe. I hadn’t necessarily felt that while in Schladming since it’s so small. But I loved the feel of Salzburg—the Christmas market, the decorations, the narrow streets—everything was just so fun!

 

 

7.       The next day Teanna and I decided to go sledding! We put on all of our warmest clothes (which doesn’t consist of much..haha!) and grabbed some garbage bags and cardboard and headed up into the mountains. We climbed up and slid (or rolled, in my case) down maybe three or four times before other people came to join us. It was so much fun and we were going so fast with our homemade sleds! After a couple hours I was absolutely soaked and I couldn’t feel my fingers and toes at all, so I decided to head in. But then I had the brilliant idea to go night sledding down Planai! So we headed back and got all warmed up again. But later that night we climbed up Planai and then slid down the Black Diamond hill. It was the fastest and scariest sledding I have ever done. All the lights were on us and we didn’t even need our “sleds.” We were going SO FAST down the mountain. It was so amazing!

8.       This same day as the sledding, we also sang in the Schladming Christmas market. We just sang a bunch of Christmas songs, and so we invited a bunch of other Tauernhof students to join us. It was a really nice time! We also started off by having a flash mob to kind of draw attention to ourselves. It was very exciting!

 

 

9.       This Saturday Teanna and I again decided to go on a hike…only this time we had to tromp through knee high snow! It was so exhausting, but it was well worth it. We found a trail that was called the Ramsau Marathon and decided to follow it for a bit. We ended up back in a beautiful valley in this cute little community. We went to a restaurant and got delicious apple strudel and hot chocolate! Well worth the hike!

 

 

10.   These past weeks we have had amazing lectures as well.

 

Peter Reid (director of the German Torchbearer school) – Colossians

Rob Whittaker (director of English Torchbearer school) – Personal Evangelism

Toby (local missionary) – Philippians

Murli (from India) – Spiritual Formation

 

It has of course been a time completely filled with thoughts of faith and growth and such. I have thoroughly enjoyed the lectures, but I am beginning to feel that I am ready to live my faith and not just continue to build up knowledge.

11.   I almost forgot about Thanksgiving! Even though there are only ten or so Americans here, the kitchen staff still prepared us a delicious Thanksgiving lunch. At supper, all the Americans decided to sit together and one girl from Wisconsin even made us all little mini apple pies. It was such a wonderful day, but it sure did make me miss my friends and family!

 

 

Living in Austria has been quite the adventure! I have learned so much about myself and God and different cultures as a result. I have only a week and a half left in Europe but I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here at all!

 

Miss you all and hope you are well!

Austria is the hammer!

These past weeks have been filled with adventures and lessons learned and people met, but I think I will just share a few highlights from them:

Last week the speaker who came was John Allen from Scotland. I thought he was an absolutely wonderful speaker and I really learned a lot from the things that he said. He spoke about Ecclesiastes and Daniel and he covered a lot of ground in each lecture so it was good that he talked 100 miles a minute! I didn't really follow much of Daniel; it was mostly historical and I don't necessarily find history to be "the hammer" (I'll explain this later). But Ecclesiastes was much easier for me to take in information from (of course, I mean…it is a wisdom book). I loved the lessons about the seasons of life and all that goes along with it.

  

Two weekends ago was travel weekend and my plans were to go to a hutte in the mountains with ten other people and hike around in the Alps. My friend Kim and I were put on meal duty so on Thursday we headed to the grocery store to shop for the weekend. Who knew how much food you had to buy for eleven people...especially with five boys! We also had the added challenge of not having a refrigerator, since the hutte had no electricity. After stopping at the third (and last) grocery store in town we had all the food we would need for the weekend! We threw it all in the back of the car and got ready to leave the next morning for the hutte!

One of my roommates, Rebecca, also went to the hutte for the weekend, but our other roommate Teanna was headed to Prague. They left at 4:00 in the morning on Friday, and Rebecca and I ran outside and yelled goodbye to her from our balcony. Then we went back to bed, and got up in time for breakfast and then packed up for the hutte. I was very skeptical about going; I was tired and felt like I needed some time alone, and all I really wanted was to curl up in my bed at home and watch a movie. But God completely dashed all of my fears and hesitations the minute that I got there...it was so incredible!

We drove up to the hutte (only twenty minutes) in Samuel and Ruben's cars. Ruben's car was a little sketchy to drive in, and we ended up getting out and walking up the last hill so the car could make it. But everyone arrived safe and sound. Once we got to the parking area we all grabbed everything we could and walked the last 300 feet or so to the hutte. We ran inside and immediately fell in love. It is the cutest little cabin I had ever seen! It is super tilted and there are only little windows so it was really dark inside. But it was so cozy and homey and wonderful. There was a neat well inside the hutte (that doubled as our refrigerator--no electricity) and three rooms, plus a kitchen. The room "upstairs" (up a really rickety ladder) was a girl's room and also one of the rooms downstairs, and then the boys were in a downstairs room and one slept on the couch in the kitchen. I absolutely loved our little room off of the kitchen. The kitchen had a big table and a couch and the stove had to be heated by a fire, but it kept the room super warm.

The little kitchen and dining room!

Part of the upstairs room of the hutte. 

More of the upstairs room.

My room off of the kitchen!

The first day we all got settled in, made some pizza dough and then went out on a shorter hike. We went to two different huttes and had beautiful views from each. Then, to get back to our hutte we crawled through the forest, down into the valley, over a river, and up the other side of the valley. It was quite the adventure, but it was fun! After this hike we starter preparing dinner--calzones made over the fire. They were SO GOOD, with homemade dough, tomato sauce, cheese, salami, peppers, and mushrooms. Then we ended up just sitting around the fire for hours, singing and roasting s'mores and making bread on a stick (just bread dough that you wrap around the end of a stick and then put whatever inside--chocolate, nutella, jam...). It was delicious! After a long time of singing and laughing and eating we headed to bed. Hearing the candle blown out right before bed was such a beautiful way to end the day.

Glorious view from the first hutte.

The start of the hike on Friday afternoon...our first adventure!

Group photo from the first hutte.

Hiking down into the valley without a trail.

Continuing on our journey back to the hutte.

The next morning I got up around seven and went outside to read. The mountains were so glorious from my rocking chair on the porch of the hutte.  The air was so fresh and the morning was so peaceful…it was a perfect way to start the day! Eventually I went inside and helped prepare breakfast. At eight we woke everyone up with our theme song from the weekend:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otXGqU4LBEI

That day, Saturday, we decided to go on a long hike up to the peak of a mountain. We couldn’t quite make it due to the snow and the potential for avalanche, but the view we had was incredible.  It was a difficult climb to the top, but on the way down we were able to slide down the snow for a ways, so that made it a little easier! It took the majority of the day but was completely worth the effort.

When we came back to the hutte, we all just did our own thing until dinner—reading, journaling, playing guitar, etc—it felt like a little family and it was so fun! Then we had dinner, which was Penne with pesto, mushrooms, peppers, and cheese. So far we had done very well with the amount of food that Kim and I had bought for the weekend. Then we played games around the table and went on a little night hike. 

The next morning it was raining and snowing, and all of us slept in a bit. Then we had a big brunch, but there was so much leftover food that Rebecca and I said we couldn’t leave the table until all the food was gone. We started playing a drinking game, but instead of drinking when you lost you had to eat something like chocolate cake or milk or cereal or something. It was rather miserable actually, but a good memory. It just wasn’t so fun when we all thought we were going to throw up! 

After this we packed up and started for home! It was a wonderful weekend and I am so glad I had the opportunity to spend more time in the beautiful Alps. 

Only the beginning of the hike!

Climbing up to the peak of the mountain.

We were all getting a little tired on our hike up.

We finally made it to the top!

Kim and I at the top of the mountain!

Rebecca and I at the top!

Beautiful panorama of the peak we were attempting to climb.

Climbing back down.

Beautiful snack break!

This past week not much happened...on Thursday my outreach group went to the Old Folk’s Home and sang to them. It was my first performance in a choir and I thoroughly enjoyed it! We were supposed to interact with the old folks after, but since none of them spoke English, I just wandered around listening to all the German.

Yesterday the Saturday outing was to a small town named Hallstatt. It was one of the first civilized cities in Europe and the first of the salt mines to be discovered. It was a rainy day, but we still had fun walking around and looking in the little shops and cafes. We also went on a little walk up to a waterfall which was nice. Hallstatt was ranked up with the Pyramids and the Great Wall of China on things to see around the world. I don’t know if I would go far as to say that, but it was a cute little town. And I counted around 90 Chinese people there, so it definitely was a tourist attraction.

One of two churches in the little town of Hallstatt.

My roommates and I after our little walk to the waterfall.

Jasmin, Emma, Kim, me, Rebecca, and Anne in Hallstatt.

Interesting fact: 

In German, if something is really awesome, you say it is “the hammer” and if you have a song stuck in your head, you would say you have an “earworm.” 

Wunderbar!

It has been decided that there are three things to do in Schladming: educate, exercise, and eat.  Throughout the past two weeks I have been doing some combination of all three and enjoying every minute of it!


Education:

The lectures have been absolutely mind-boggling. Two weeks ago, Ridge flew in from California to speak to us about the Ten Commandments. He presented the commandments in a way I have never thought about before.  Here is a quick summary of the main points:

            Commandment #

1.      We acknowledge in God what is true about no other…He is to be held in awe and fear

2.      The difference between images that come from our imagination rather than revelation is those images limit our view of God

3.      God is HOLY, so don’t drag Him into our mud

4.      The day to refocus on God, to serve others, and to reaffirm that there is something more to life than what we have now

5.      Our faith is only as good as the behavior that expresses it

6.      God wants us to protect the sanctity of life

7.      “I will be true to the promise I made to you and to the one who gave you to me.”

8.      We are to be content with what we have. Also, do not embezzle what is God’s…TITHE

9.      When we lie we are connecting with Satan; we are speaking his native language

10.  When we covet we are placing these things over God; we made this thing our idol. We cannot love both God and things. Keep your life simple. Fix your eyes on Christ 

Last week, Derek came from England to enlighten us on the Holy Spirit. This was a very interesting and often controversial topic; our theme verse for the week was Ephesians 4:3 “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” In these lectures we covered a lot of ground, discussing who the Holy Spirit is, what he is like, how he brings us to Christ, how he makes a difference in our lives, how we can go wrong with the Holy Spirit, and of course the topic of spiritual gifts with a specific look at tongues and prophecy.  It was a full week, but I felt like the most important point that Derek was trying to get across was being filled with the Spirit is a daily occurrence. We constantly need to be seeking more of him in our lives. In doing so, we will be more aware of the sin in our own lives and the need to fix it. In other words, the Holy Spirit will make us increasingly unhappy with unholy living.

This week, the speakers are Sam and Joan Fiore from Milan, Italy. They came to speak to us about missions, and I am very much looking forward to what they have to share.

Another important part of the education here at Tauernhof are the outreach groups. I joined the musical outreach group. In this, we learn songs (many of which are in German) which we then sing in hospitals, elder care centers, and churches. Tonight we had a dress rehearsal for the outreach groups, and it went well! It was my first performance in a choir and I enjoyed it so much!


Exercise:

Hiking is the number one activity here in Schladming, and so far I have not found a hike that has disappointed. Last weekend we went on short hike up to a hutte (big surprise). It was a steep hike through thick forest, but every once in a while the trees would break and we had this amazing view. 

 

After the steep climb, we made it to the ridge. Above the tree line, we had a glorious view of the Dachstein, a glacier mountain.  We climbed down a little ways into a valley and found ourselves at yet another adorable hutte. This food had been raved about though, so I of course had to try it!

 

 

 

The small hutte at the bottom right of this picture is where I will be going for travel weekend in two weeks....so exciting!

I absolutely love the culture here in Austria and the high emphasis they put on enjoying God's creation.  Last Saturday, my roommates and I woke up early to catch the sunrise at the top of Planai, the mountain right behind my school. It was one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen.

The river of clouds is covering the towns of Schladming and Haus. Not only were we able to see the sunrise, but we were able to get an amazing view of the full moon on the other side of the mountain at the same time.

 

AND, my roommates and I got our picture by the "I love Milka" sign...our favorite chocolate bar!

Every Wednesday afternoon is sports afternoon. Last week on Wednesday it was cold and rainy, but I signed up to play football (soccer) anyway. We decided on going to the full-sized clay pitch rather than the miniature turf pitch and it turned out to be the best decision. We had a blast running through inch deep puddles and sliding all over the place. We were all covered in clay by the end of the adventure but every bruise, scrape, and stained article of clothing was worth it.

All in all, the exercise here is absolutely wonderful. I love to see God's incredible creativity while exploring the Austrian Alps.

 

Eating:

Luckily Austrian culture is so keen on exercise because the food here is also amazing! For breakfast we usually enjoy yogurt and granola (sometimes even nougat filled chocolate cereal) and bread. Really delicious and fresh baked bread. With nutella. And coffee. It’s the best meal of the day.

Lunch and dinner are switched in this country, and so at lunch we enjoy a delicious and HUGE meal. Every day has been different so far and every day the meal gets better and better! We usually have traditional Austrian or German dishes, but every once in a while Lotar (the main cook) switches it up. In the middle of October (I know…crazy) we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving, which was delicious. And today our wonderful speaker Joan cooked us an authentic Italian meal!

For supper we have leftovers and sandwiches--just something light. At first the North Americans were having trouble adjusting, but I think we are all starting to understand this new way of living.

In addition to the amazing meals prepared at school, I have found that the ice cream here in Schladming is divine, and I have made MANY ice cream runs with friends.

I am thoroughly enjoying my life in Austria, which makes it hard to believe that I am already a third of the way done! Time is passing me by way too quickly, but I am trying to make the most of every day!

If I had to sum life at Tauernhof up in one word, I would have to choose…glorious.