Cracking Fingernails??

Here is a recent conversation between me and one of my students:
Andrew: (Said with a lot of excitement) "Hey Miss Brunker, guess what?"
Me: "What Andrew!"
Andrew: (Said with even more excitement) "I finally taught myself how to crack my fingernails!!"
Me: (said with much concern and trying not to laugh while trying to figure out what exactly he means) "Wow, Crack your fingernails! Doesn't it hurt?"
Andrew: (said with a remorseful face) "Yes, it does pain me."

So, after saying this Andrew proceeds to pop his knuckles. It was then that I figured out what exactly he meant and it was quite cute!

A ransom note??!!

So I (Carrie) learned a hard lesson today! I set my keys on the counter in the teacher kitchen while I was warming up my lunch. Well, I forgot to go get them immediately and when I remembered to go get them they were gone. I knew that I did not go anywhere so I was wondering where in the world my keys would have gone. I was even thinking of sending out an e-mail to all of the staff. I was stressed out because we were told that if we loose our keys we have to pay 200 Euro per key as everything will have to re keyed. Since I have four keys on the key ring I was really concerned!!! While I was pondering what other steps I could take to miraculously find the keys, a cute little Primary (Kindergarten) girl came into my room and handed me a ransom note! This put my heart at ease and made me laugh pretty hard. Here is what the note said: "Dear Miss Schreffler, We have found something very valuable. If you want them back you must take us to recess 5 minutes early on the next day you have duty . . . OR ELSE! What say you? PRIMARY CLASS

Well, with a note like that from my friend and her class I couldn't say no. I will gladly take them out 5 minutes early to recess. It is the least I can do! I am relieved to not have to pay for new keys. This stressful time ended quite nicely with a lot of laughs, my keys found, and a fun story!

A song that touched my heart. . .

This last weekend was staff retreat weekend for all of the VCS staff members. I was quite uncertain about it since I did not know what to expect, but it turned out to be just what I needed right when I needed it! It was refreshing and uplifting. During worship times we sang many, many wonderful songs but one in particular touched my heart and soothed my soul. The song is called He's Always Been Faithful by Sara Groves. Here are the lyrics. I hope they touch your heart just as they did mine. Enjoy

He's Always Been Faithful
Artist: Sara Groves

Morning by morning I wake up to find
The power and comfort of God's hand in mine
Season by season I watch Him, amazed
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
All I'm in need of, His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me

I can't remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can't remember one single regret
In serving God only, and trusting His hand
All I'm in need of, His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me

This is my anthem, this is my song
The theme of the stories I've heard for so long
God has been faithful, He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end
All I'm in need of, His hand will provide
He's always been faithful, He's always been faithful
He's always been faithful to me

A very cute kid!

So, I (Amanda) have three students that go to ELL (English Language Learner - Class). In this class they are learning about things around them and are doing it all in English. The third graders are learning about farms and all of vocabulary that goes along with a farm. One of the lessons was about songs that center around farms like Old MacDonald, The Farmer in the Dell, and one that I cannot remember the name of. The ELL teacher (Leslie) and I did not know what that song was but Frank (one of the students) said he could make it up. So below is a video that I captured of Frank singing his version of this song. I tried not to giggle too much so my digital camera wouldn't shake a lot.

Eggenburg, Austria

We went to Eggenburg, Austria to see the walled city. They were also having an historical festival that reminded us of a sort of Renaissance Festival. My favorite part was walking on the wall. It was pretty cool. We also ate waffles with zimt und zucker (cinnamon and sugar) and schokolade und banane (chocolate and banana). I also spoke with a lady who was at the Gutenberg area. It was pretty neat to speak with her. She was extremely nice and she even said she is a huge fan of the States. It was fun talking to her and telling her about why I teach at a Christian school and why I am in Vienna. Here are some pictures of Eggenburg. The wall
The city from the top of a hill
Amanda walking on the wall

We found out this was an oxen being roasted. Everyone said it was wonderful. I didn't try it but it looked like good pot roast.

Bratislava, Slovakia

On Saturday we went to Bratislava which is in Slovakia. It is about an hour drive from Vienna. There they were having a festival celebrating the coronation of the Hungarian King. They were reenacting it for all of the visitors. It was wonderful once you got past the heat. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy.

Apparently this a famous statue to take a picture of in Bratislava. Every tour book I saw had a photo like this on the cover and there were many people taking a picture of it!

All of the actors and actresses were dressed in authentic clothing. It was pretty neat to see.
We followed the procession from the castle to the town square where the crowning ceremony was being held.

We were watching the 30 year war reenactment and Whitney was posing for us in this photo!

The guy in the middle is the newly crowned king!

Back to School Night

Friday, September 5 was back to school night. I was stressing about this but it turned out to be the best back to school night I've been to. The parents were all very respectful and they were completely interested in what I was telling them. I only had one family not show up so it was a complete success!!

Amanda, Carrie, Leslie, and Melissa M. all dressed up and ready to go!