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Thank you for your prayers.

So, I live in a Jewish neighborhood...

This is a shofar not to be confused with an alarm clock!

For those of you who do not know Carrie and I live in a Jewish neighborhood.  Normally a person doesn't even notice this, but this morning I did.  Shortly after I woke up I heard a noise.  I initially thought it was extremely loud bicycle breaks squeaking but it simply didn't sound right.  I then looked out of the window and noticed a teenage-ish girl who was learning how to blow the shofar.  She looked horrified that she could not do it and I am sure it didn't help that she saw me shut the windows.  I felt badly but I simply couldn't handle the sound when my head was still cloudy from sleep.  In case you were wondering, it took her about an hour and she finally made the beautiful sound that a shofar is supposed to make!  Congratulations young lady it sounded wonderful.

The faces of 3rd grade

The reason we're here...

During the first week of school I had an interesting conversation with one of my second graders. I told the kids to get out their Bibles for our Bible lesson. This was quite exciting for all of my kiddos as it was the first time we had used our Bibles. (The first time they use any of their new school supplies is always very exciting for kids this age!)

Everyone reached in their desks and got out their Bibles. Then, I had many exclamations of what to do next. However, one of my students new to VCS (from Mongolia) raised his hand and said, "I don't have a Bible." I was a bit confused as I thought that he had bought one from the school office. So, I looked in his desk, and low and behold, there was his Bible. I told him, "Yes, you do have a Bible." He looked in his desk and said, "Where?" It was at that moment that I realized that he didn't know what a Bible was.

So, this is why we're here...to not only show our kids what a Bible is, but to share of God's love that is written inside.

A precious moment...

Here is a cute conversation between me and one of my students:

Grace: "Hey Miss Brunker! I have a surprise for you!"

Me: "Um, am I going to like the surprise?"

Grace: "Yeah"

Me: "Is it a good surprise?"

Grace: she paused and then answered (which made me wonder) "YES!"

Me: "Okay, what is the surprise?"

Grace then proceeds to give me the biggest hug I received all week! This was a wonderful surprise and I told her that she can give me that surprise anytime she wants! She said okay and happily skipped away! Isn't that cute? I thought so! I am blessed to teach these wonderful kids from all over the world. They brighten my day on an hourly basis!!

We're not quite sure

Neither Katie, Carrie, or I could figure out what this is. We found it at Merkur (a large grocery store here in Vienna). We have come to the conclusion that it is in the pumpkin/squash/gourd family. It is very interesting and huge! We think it was about three feet long and it kind of resembles a huge zucchini on the outside and a pumpkin on the inside.

If the shoe fits....

If the shoe fits wear it! Well today one of my students and I discovered that we wear the same size shoe. Nope her feet are not incredibly large. Mine are just incredibly small. Shoe size: US 6, Europe 36, Korea 3 as I found out today! Can you tell which shoe really belongs to me?

A few faces of VCS

A fly on the wall in the third grade classroom...

So, have you ever wondered what amazing things happen in the third grade classroom at VCS? Well, today is your lucky day! We usually do fun activities like measuring the length of a room in shoe units and then make a class graph. Then we do some not so fun things like try to convince Miss Brunker that we are not good readers! It doesn't work! I know that they are all good readers! ;) There are also times when we have interesting conversations that lead to hilarious comments from 8, 9, and 10 year olds! Here was the comment from the other day when we were talking about how I am adopted. This was stated with sheer confusion on the face of the voice. "Miss Brunker, (insert pause here) so, how did your fake parents find you?" I've never thought of my adoptive parents as "fake" parents but to an 8 year old apparently it made sense! Haha! I tried not to burst out laughing as I was asked this!