2010....

let's say it has started off cold, very cold, and yet, amazing!

After returning to Vienna to "normal life," it was time to get back into the swing of things. I am loving my students and school, but Andrew has also been doing a good amount of substitute teaching. My assistant had to be out of work for over a week, so my students had both Mr. & Mrs. Leckie as their teachers-and they loved it! Aside from that, Andrew has been assisting in the elementary library and office and he's getting pretty good at doing Read Alouds with the classrooms, shelving books, and answering phones. He has also been busy coaching basketball and tutoring. Recently he has traveled with his team to Frankfurt and Budapest for tournaments. Even with his busy schedule, Andrew is still the chef and lunch maker in the family and still taking great care of me.

I started taking German classes at the University of Wien, so again I am a student at UW. Between teaching in English all day and having english speaking friends, I have not been able to embrace the German language. In hopes to prevent the blank-stare-look I often have when asked something in German, I hope to learn some survival phrases besides my ability to order food and drinks at restaurants. I have also started a running group with some friends and it's been nice to meet other people with similar interests. Andrew and I are going to do the Vienna half-marathon in April and I signed up for the Berlin full. Berlin has always been a dream marathon of mine. Recently for my birthday, I traveled an hour to Sopron, Hungary with 5 other girl friends to go to Wabi spa. The spas in Hungary are pretty extravagant and are very reasonably priced. I was able to get my hair cut, a facial, massage and my train ride there and back for less than it would cost for just a hair cut in Vienna. Thanks Georgia for my birthday present-a trip to the spa!! We made a fun trip out of it and know that we are going to make this a habit.

Last night we went to the IAEA Ball at the Hofburg Palace. This is a ball put on each year by the UN and what an event it was. With 5,000 attendees and the such an elegant venue as the Hofburg Palace, it was quite the spectacle. We were surrounded by ball gowns and tuxedos, while moving from ballroom to ballroom in a palace that holds an incredible history. We got to watch as the debutantes performed for the first time and watched entertainment from around the world. There were around 8 different dance rooms to go to playing a variety of music and dance styles. The balls stays open until around 4 or 5 in the morning and as we left around 3 am, we watched the older people out-party us for the night. In the winter around Vienna it is ball season and it blows my mind when I see people still dressed in ball attire at 9:00 as I am meeting my running group in the morning. The Viennese love their balls...

This upcoming weekend starts our stretch of visitors coming between now and May. We have 12 confirmed guests coming before the summer and possibly more! Next week is ski week and we have a break from school. This Friday Sarah Affolter gets here and we leave for Carnival in Venice. Sunday Nikki is here and we'll all explore Vienna and then make our way to Satlzburg and get in a little skiing.

Until next time...