What a Wonderful Life!

This week at Tauernhof has been quite the whirlwind! On Monday we had a lot of orientation, and a group of us students took a walk up to a waterfall and a small village at the top of the hill. It was absolutely gorgeous and I was able to capture a couple of pictures!

View of the Alps from the small village

View of Schladming...my home!

Starting on Tuesday we had our first lecture. We were taught by Eis (pronounced Ice) from Holland. He is quite engaging and I have enjoyed learning from him. We have been studying the book of John, and through that the topics that have stood out to me most are the idea of being second and keeping faith in my heart instead of letting it go to my head. I have really enjoyed these lectures with Eis, and I am lucky becuase he is coming back next week! We also learned this week about outreach groups. For this, we split up into groups and go out into the Schladming community and share the good news. There were many different options to choose from, but I ended up choosing the group that will go to the hospital and sing to the patients. I'm not sure what prompted me to join the singing group, but I suppose we will see how it goes!

On Wednesday we had afternoon sports, so I went with a small group of Tuaenhof students to the local pitch. There were a few local kids there so we asked if they wanted to play with us and, of course, they did! So Julia (pronounced Yulia) was on my team. She was a darling little seven-year-old who spoke only German. I wish that I had been able to communicate with her, but it was good motivation to learn a bit of German for the future.

Today was my first Saturday outing! A group of us went on a hike to the Giglachee Hütte and then ended up summitting a 2500 meter mountain in the Alps called Steirische Kalkspitze! It was absolutely wonderful. In Austria, there are many hüttes that are located all around the Alps. Here, you can stop and have some delicious homemade food and drink, and have a nice break with a gorgeous view. We stopped on the way down the mountain and enjoyed Kaiserschmarrn, a DELICIOUS dessert that is kind of pancakes with powdered sugar and applesauce on top. It's so good, and it was even better after I climbed to the top of the mountain. I noticed that hiking in Austria is a bit different than hiking in the states. There are absolutely no switchbacks...you just walk straight up the mountain. The air is also much thinner and I was panting the whole way up! (It's not because I'm out of shape or anything...) But it was absolutely amazing to see God's handywork in another half of the world. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. The mountains went on and on and on, with rolling green hills and steep rocky peaks with snow still on them, it was incredible.

This is the view from the top of the mountian. It looked like this from every direction...So. Incredible.

At the top of every mountain in the Alps, there is a cross!

I have been having the time of my life, and it has only been a week! I am so thankful for this opportunity!

Here are a few more interesting facts I have learned about Austria:

-The size of the computer paper is just a tad different.

-Women wear their engagement ring on the left hand, and then both men and women wear wedding rings on their right hand.

-The bells in the church steeple will go off at any time and for any length of time.

-All doorknobs are difficult to open, and none of them are the same!

Missing you all! I am so excited to have more adventures to report!