We almost have the apartment finished, so we decided to post pictures of it! If you would like to see the Vienna abode, click here. 
Friday, October 12, 2007
The Apartment
We almost have the apartment finished, so we decided to post pictures of it! If you would like to see the Vienna abode, click here. 
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Long Night of Museums and more...
So, we decided this week that since we have a car, we were going to start acting like Americans again and go grocery shopping for the ENTIRE week. It w
as getting a little old having groceries for a couple of days and then going shopping again! So, we made our mass list of groceries for various recipies, and we headed to the Naschmarkt, the farmers market that covers 20 blocks. We can get all our produce and meat there for a relatively good price...and we know it's fresh. I have to say, this was a little stressful for me because with these guys, you have dollar signs tattooed on your head if you speak English. When we went to the flea market when Brian and Kristi were in town, not once but twice did they quote us a higher price than what was posted after they spoke to us. How's that for equality? Anyway, they are very persistent little stinkers because they are in competition with approximately 200 other vendors! So, we are being shouted at in German and samples are being shoved under our noses and I'm seeing weird things like octopuses for sale and all I can think about is getting out of there as quickly as possible! So we finally stopped at a couple of the larger vendors and bought a mass supply at those. We did have a small error in calculating how much strawberries were, and we ended up paying 10 euros for them (around 13 dollars), but otherwise we did ok! I also learned that when we are going to shop for spices, be sure to look up the German word for it....who would have guessed Ginger was Ingwer? However, since we are able to drive now, we also got to go to a supermarket a little farther away that was a LOT more like what we were used to in the States. It is a very large store called Mercur, and they sell things like Oreos and Dr. Pepper, so Jeremy was in Heaven!
On Saturday, I went to an event in Vienna called "Lange
Nacht Der Museen, which translates into "Long Night of Museums." This is an event that happens once a year where you can get into all the museums in Vienna (around 100) for the price of one (12 euros). I LOVED this because you got to see a lot of things you normally wouldn't pay for! I went with my friends that teach at the Vienna Christian School, Sandi and Liz, and we had so much fun. First we stopped at the Belvedere Palace for an art exhibit that is mainly known for its display of Gustav Klimt's works. He is probably one of the most famous Austrian artists, and he is well known for his painting "The Kiss."
Next off we headed to the Albertina for another art exhibit which was featuring Picasso and Monet. Now, I'm not a huge art buff, but it was pretty awesome seeing actual paintings made by these guys! I mean, people decorate their dorm rooms with posters of these, and I got to see the originals! What's also interesting is they aren't even protecting them from people all that well. There are no rails or glass covering them. I could have walked right up to one and touched them with chocolate on my fingers! I didn't though because I value my freedom outside of jail. I was able to sneak some photos once the guards passed me...yay, for cell phone cameras!
After that we headed to the Staatsopernmuseum to learn about Jeremy's workplace Unfortunately, the entire thing was in German, so I could only look at the pretty pictures and costumes. It did make me feel special though when I was walking through the orchestra section of it. I let everyone know in English that my husband is in there! Lot of good that did, huh?
On Sunday, Jeremy and I decided that we would drive to church for the first time! I was really excited about it because the church we are currently visiting is about an hour away via public transportation. However, in the car, it should only take about 30 minutes. Well, what we learned from Sunday is you should always take a practice drive before you go somewhere important. After driving around for an hour and a half and a LOT of U-turns, we finally made it to the church. But, since we were 45 minutes late, we were a little embarrassed to walk in. So, we made yet another U-turn and headed home...which only took 30 minutes. So, after two hours of driving in a city that basically scares me senseless, I came home and took a nap! I feel really bad about it, but I was literally praying the entire way there, so I'm sure God will forgive us this time!! I think this also confirmed we are buying a Navigational system for the car!
as getting a little old having groceries for a couple of days and then going shopping again! So, we made our mass list of groceries for various recipies, and we headed to the Naschmarkt, the farmers market that covers 20 blocks. We can get all our produce and meat there for a relatively good price...and we know it's fresh. I have to say, this was a little stressful for me because with these guys, you have dollar signs tattooed on your head if you speak English. When we went to the flea market when Brian and Kristi were in town, not once but twice did they quote us a higher price than what was posted after they spoke to us. How's that for equality? Anyway, they are very persistent little stinkers because they are in competition with approximately 200 other vendors! So, we are being shouted at in German and samples are being shoved under our noses and I'm seeing weird things like octopuses for sale and all I can think about is getting out of there as quickly as possible! So we finally stopped at a couple of the larger vendors and bought a mass supply at those. We did have a small error in calculating how much strawberries were, and we ended up paying 10 euros for them (around 13 dollars), but otherwise we did ok! I also learned that when we are going to shop for spices, be sure to look up the German word for it....who would have guessed Ginger was Ingwer? However, since we are able to drive now, we also got to go to a supermarket a little farther away that was a LOT more like what we were used to in the States. It is a very large store called Mercur, and they sell things like Oreos and Dr. Pepper, so Jeremy was in Heaven!On Saturday, I went to an event in Vienna called "Lange
Nacht Der Museen, which translates into "Long Night of Museums." This is an event that happens once a year where you can get into all the museums in Vienna (around 100) for the price of one (12 euros). I LOVED this because you got to see a lot of things you normally wouldn't pay for! I went with my friends that teach at the Vienna Christian School, Sandi and Liz, and we had so much fun. First we stopped at the Belvedere Palace for an art exhibit that is mainly known for its display of Gustav Klimt's works. He is probably one of the most famous Austrian artists, and he is well known for his painting "The Kiss." 
Next off we headed to the Albertina for another art exhibit which was featuring Picasso and Monet. Now, I'm not a huge art buff, but it was pretty awesome seeing actual paintings made by these guys! I mean, people decorate their dorm rooms with posters of these, and I got to see the originals! What's also interesting is they aren't even protecting them from people all that well. There are no rails or glass covering them. I could have walked right up to one and touched them with chocolate on my fingers! I didn't though because I value my freedom outside of jail. I was able to sneak some photos once the guards passed me...yay, for cell phone cameras!After that we headed to the Staatsopernmuseum to learn about Jeremy's workplace Unfortunately, the entire thing was in German, so I could only look at the pretty pictures and costumes. It did make me feel special though when I was walking through the orchestra section of it. I let everyone know in English that my husband is in there! Lot of good that did, huh?
I was also able to sneak a picture of some of the awesome costumes!
Then we went to the Schatzkammer where all the Austrian crown jewels are kept. It was very cool to see so many glittery things! And look, I was able to find my tiara again!
On Sunday, Jeremy and I decided that we would drive to church for the first time! I was really excited about it because the church we are currently visiting is about an hour away via public transportation. However, in the car, it should only take about 30 minutes. Well, what we learned from Sunday is you should always take a practice drive before you go somewhere important. After driving around for an hour and a half and a LOT of U-turns, we finally made it to the church. But, since we were 45 minutes late, we were a little embarrassed to walk in. So, we made yet another U-turn and headed home...which only took 30 minutes. So, after two hours of driving in a city that basically scares me senseless, I came home and took a nap! I feel really bad about it, but I was literally praying the entire way there, so I'm sure God will forgive us this time!! I think this also confirmed we are buying a Navigational system for the car!
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Past Week & Our First Visitors!
On Sunday (Sept 23), we visited a new English speaking church. It is called International Chapel of Vienna and it meets in the Vienna Christian School facilities. It was a smaller group (around 70-80), but we really enjoyed it! The worship service had a praise band, and it was pretty good. The service was led by a British guy, which was quite interesting! First of all, it was the first sermon I've ever heard with a British accent, and he used phrases that we had NEVER heard of. Once, he told us that, "I know as much about that as a chocolate teapot!" What?! I've never heard of a chocolate teapot before, but I'd sure like to find out where to get one! However, his sermon was actually really good, and I think Jeremy and I will be visiting there again! Then on Monday (Sept 24) we were able to pick up our new car! I was able to navigate the city a little better, and I wasn't as scared as before. Luckily no small children got run over and the car is still intact!! It was still nerve racking sharing the road with trams and buses, but I feel that after several more attempts, I'll be zipping around like I was always here.
Gassing it up for the first time
The next night, the AWA also had a social for the "newcomers" to Vienna. I really enjoyed getting to know these other women who are experiencing the same things I am. Most of the women are here because their husbands have come to work at the United Nations which has a headquarters in Vienna. I'm really trying to befriend some of these ladies so they will get me Triscuits at the UN commissary!
Thursday morning, I headed back to the AWA office for the beginning of a weekly Bible study. I'm really excited about this because not only will I be meeting with them every week, but I'll really have something in common with this small group of women. It seems like a tight knit group, and I have been missing the fellowship and insight of a weekly Bible study!
After the Bible study, I decided it was time to practice driving again, so we made a trip to Ikea. It was wonderful being able to make purchases and just walking outside and putting them into a car. It's quite difficult to carry pillows, plants, and giant canvas paintings across town in a tram! And once again, I made back home without any mishaps!
Thursday night was an eventful night because we received our first visitors from America! It was Brian & Kristi Gleason from the Dallas area. They both went to church with us at Prestonwood, and I worked with Kristi in the music department there. Brian plays saxophone and was in the church orchestra with Jeremy. Brian had to make a trip to Germany for work, and they decided to hop on a plane to come see us while they were in the area!
The Gleasons and Wilsons at Schonbrunn
The Hundertwasser House
The two Kristis shopping at the Naschmarkt
It was so much fun getting to experience Vienna with people who had never been here before. When we saw all these sights before on our own, we were here for Jeremy's audition, so it was a LOT more relaxing this time around. We even got to experience some new things like the Hundertwasser Haus, the flea market at the Naschmarkt, and Demel Chocolatier which was amazing! On Saturday night, we all went to see "Tosca" at the Opera House, and of course, it knocked our socks off. I think we may have also hooked Brian on the Nintendo Wii (sorry, Kristi). We were so sad to see them go this morning, though we may have worn them out with the endless sight-seeing! Just to let you all know, they said our guest bed was fabulous, so start booking your Vienna vacation at the Wilson Inn!
For more pictures of this trip Click Here.
Driving the new wheels
Gassing it up for the first timeA few weeks ago, I joined a group called the American Women's Association to better acquaint myself with some of the other expatriate women in Vienna. Only about half of the members are actually American as they try to reach out to all English speaking women. They have lots of interesting activities planned throughout the year, and on Tuesday, I got to do something very unique. We went to the Volksliedwerk and spent the morning learning about Austrian Folk Music. It was very interesting hearing the different styles of all the areas of Austria! Everything from Polkas to Waltzes was played, and I even got to try my hand at yodeling. Luckily, no video is available of this event!
The next night, the AWA also had a social for the "newcomers" to Vienna. I really enjoyed getting to know these other women who are experiencing the same things I am. Most of the women are here because their husbands have come to work at the United Nations which has a headquarters in Vienna. I'm really trying to befriend some of these ladies so they will get me Triscuits at the UN commissary!
Thursday morning, I headed back to the AWA office for the beginning of a weekly Bible study. I'm really excited about this because not only will I be meeting with them every week, but I'll really have something in common with this small group of women. It seems like a tight knit group, and I have been missing the fellowship and insight of a weekly Bible study!
After the Bible study, I decided it was time to practice driving again, so we made a trip to Ikea. It was wonderful being able to make purchases and just walking outside and putting them into a car. It's quite difficult to carry pillows, plants, and giant canvas paintings across town in a tram! And once again, I made back home without any mishaps!
Thursday night was an eventful night because we received our first visitors from America! It was Brian & Kristi Gleason from the Dallas area. They both went to church with us at Prestonwood, and I worked with Kristi in the music department there. Brian plays saxophone and was in the church orchestra with Jeremy. Brian had to make a trip to Germany for work, and they decided to hop on a plane to come see us while they were in the area!
The Gleasons and Wilsons at Schonbrunn The Hundertwasser House The two Kristis shopping at the NaschmarktIt was so much fun getting to experience Vienna with people who had never been here before. When we saw all these sights before on our own, we were here for Jeremy's audition, so it was a LOT more relaxing this time around. We even got to experience some new things like the Hundertwasser Haus, the flea market at the Naschmarkt, and Demel Chocolatier which was amazing! On Saturday night, we all went to see "Tosca" at the Opera House, and of course, it knocked our socks off. I think we may have also hooked Brian on the Nintendo Wii (sorry, Kristi). We were so sad to see them go this morning, though we may have worn them out with the endless sight-seeing! Just to let you all know, they said our guest bed was fabulous, so start booking your Vienna vacation at the Wilson Inn!
For more pictures of this trip Click Here.
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