Really Wish this was a Two-Year Stint

Well, the title pretty much says it all.  For me, anyway.  Why, you ask?  We are just getting the hang of this!

I'm writing this at the end of a great Father's Day (more on that below or later).  And this weekend we've really had a few "I wish we would have had these experiences earlier!"  So, that's really added to my feeling of that it would be great to have one more year to REALLY have a good time.  But as most of you know, if I don't show up for work on Aug. 15, I owe a year's salary.  So, we are going back on July 17 (and truth be told, Grace and Henry are ready to go home and Sue is there or heading there).

Ok, so the experiences I was referring to.  On Friday morning, as Sue took in Grace and Henry, a mother from Henry's class came up to Sue and asked if she had been contacted about going to a classmate's house to make gifts for the teachers.  Sue said no, but she left a message on a phone number to say that she'd bring Henry after school.

The "graduating" kids were there (about 10 of them) and there were four moms (including Sue).  Sue said that the other moms were very nice (two spoke very good English), they fed the kids lunch, they made a couple of gifts, etc.  And though Sue thought this was going to be 1 hour, they were there all afternoon (until 4p).

Soon-to-be-graduates from Munzgrabenstraße Montessori Kindergarten

It was really nice and Sue definitely had that the feeling that if she would have made this contact earlier it would have been easy to call them up to ask for advice on things (that we were usually flying blind on!).  I guess the point here is that no one has ever said anything to us in English and we've felt a little isolated (and very clueless, most of the time!).  And on a related note, Henry now has a little pack of kids that he plays with and sees him for what he is, a really good kid and easy going.  And if you are interested, his "girlfriend," Matha, is the girl in the back row, far left.

Grace whoops it up with her 3C classmates!

And then, as it just happens, we had a similar type of experience with Grace's school this weekend.  Saturday was Grace's school's Summerfest.  It started at 10:30 on cloudless blue sky sunny day.  It may have reached mid-80's by the time we left at 2:30p.  Anyway, the entire school participated in a music/dance number to kick things off.  They chose a song in English (as Sue pointed out, this is an easy way to practice English for the students) and it was a country line dance.  Nice to know that's what they think of American culture :-)

The focal point of the event seemed to be the inner-school Fußball (soccer) tournament.  It was pretty exciting with Grace's class beating one of the other 3rd-grade teams and then winning a shootout (easily) with the other.  They advanced to the 3rd/4th grade match final and were defeated in a shootout.  Given that we've been following the Euro Cup the past week, we are now legitimate soccer fans!

But the nice cultural experience was had by me this time.  They needed volunteers to work at the festival and Grace's class was responsible for the drinks tent.  I spent a couple of hours taking orders for drinks, telling them how much it cost, making change, etc. -- all in German!  It was a personal accomplishment and I'm sure I didn't fool very many people, but it was great practice to say the same things over and over again.  My only real failure came from pulling drafts from a just-tapped keg of beer -- I need a lot more practice at that!

Too bad you can't see the kegs behind me in the drink tent.

After all that activity, we met friends at our in-town Buschenschank and had a great meal (but sat in the sun for another couple of hours).  In fact, it was so hot there that I didn't have any red wine.  I had a couple of Radlers, the drink of choice for Sue and I when we are hot.  It's 40% beer and the rest lemonade and they are quite tasty!

Creative artwork on our deck:  "I <heart> U, Dad."

Ok, so I'll end this (more than a week later!) on Father's Day.  What a great day it was!  I slept in AND went for a run (usually it is one or the other).  While I was stretching before my run, Grace came upstairs and cleaned up WITHOUT ANYONE TELLING HER TO DO SO!  The run was great -- clear blue skies for my view from the top of Schlossburg.  And when I came home, I received some nice presents from the kids (and not too much to take home :-), including some nice artwork on the deck (there's a good story that goes with this *).  Sue then made me french toast and bacon (my favorite breakfast).  We took it easy until the afternoon (we had a bit of activity yesterday!), but made it out for ice cream and a little stroll in the afternoon.  I cooked a very nice meal (yes, cooking without any rush IS a joy!) that we all enjoyed and then we played some games after dinner.  We even were able to call my Dad and Sue's.  Both were doing well ... in fact, all is well :-)

Russ

* A good story that I won't be able to communicate:  The week before Father's Day I came home and I heard the kids playing down in the courtyard.  It was a bit unusual as they rarely do this and I looked down on them and asked, "whatcha doin'?"  Henry replied, rather defensively, I thought, "we're playing with rocks!"  I thought that was such a funny thing for him to say/be doing, that I commented on it to Sue.  But I didn't give it any more thought, even during the week when I saw them washing the rocks.  And now, with Father's Day artwork revealed, Sue said that before sending them down the kids were worried that I might "catch them" getting the rocks for this project.  So Sue said, "just say that you are playing with rocks."  Henry knew his line!

Time is flying now!

Time is really starting to fly now.  It's been a couple weeks since I last blogged and I'm amazed at all the things that I could blog about.  So, though I always hope for a short post, that rarely happens.

Watch out, kids!

The weekend after Sarah and Beth left we spent a day celebrating Carlo's 9th birthday.  Carlo is the son of our good friends, Loulou and Renato.  He wanted to spend his birthday with Grace and Henry and his family treated us to a day at Styrassic Park, a dinosaur park whose name plays on our state's name, Styria, and the geological period made famous by the movie, Jurassic Park.  The life-size dinosaurs were impressive and the interpretive signs entertaining (it is hard to translate between German and English).

Carlo shares the "birthday seat" with Grace and Henry.

The obligatory, beautiful church shot!

That Tuesday I headed to Maribor, Slovenia for a day trip.  The University there invited me to give seminars on my two major research areas (warehouse design and the Physical Internet if you don't follow me on Twitter :-)  As I blogged back in the fall, Slovenia has a lot going for it and I'm sure in 20 years, they will be well positioned to have that "European lifestyle" that most people recognize as being a better balance than the US lifestyle of "go, go, go!"  Oh, except for some US politicians that find it a great idea to bash Europeans, but that's another story!

The weekend after that was a nice long weekend (Th-Sun) for the Saint of Corpus Christi.  With four days, we planned a get away to Schladming, Austria.  Schladming is where I went back in March with a couple of colleagues for a working ski trip.  The whole time there I felt guilty Sue and the kids were not there, as the place was so setup for families to have a good time.  So, with the mountains beckoning to be climbed, a 4-day weekend, less than 100 euros to go by train (1st class, no less!), we were all set.

Real life interfered though.  On Wednesday Henry had to go to the doctor and we got the diagnosis:  strep throat.  Highly contagious and yes, by Thursday morning (planned departure day), Grace had a full-blown case as well.  But as Thursday was a national holiday, we couldn't get Grace to the doctor.  We started giving her the medicine, but now Henry wouldn't have enough to last the weekend (and Grace didn't have nearly enough).  So, looking at the calendar, we decided to cancel our trip and spent Friday morning at the doctor's office so that Grace could be properly diagnosed and on the path to recovery quickly.

We love you ÕBB!

Side note:  No questions asked, the train company refunded all but 2 euros per person on our train tickets (we could have used them in the next year for no penalty!).  And the train company is making money while the airlines continue to lose money even though they gouge you every chance they get.  Hmmm ... ever wonder why folks actually *enjoy* train travel and think highly of the companies?

With both kids on the mend with multiple doses of antibiotics in them, we decided to rent a car on Saturday and take them to a water park.  It seems we were not the only ones with that great idea on rainy day -- it was pretty busy.  But even so, we enjoyed our time, with the kids hating to leave so that we could get them home for a normal bedtime routine (they were still technically sick after all).

Lots of Educational Displays and Fun Activities

Sunday was Vatertag (Father's Day) in Austria (one week ahead of the holiday by the same name in the US).  But with a long weekend planned, and then sick kids, we decided to celebrate on the "US Father's Day" weekend.  But anyway, we went to the Children's Museum in Graz and the kids enjoyed showing me around (I didn't go with them the last time they went) and rolling down the cushioned stairs (see video below).  I hear I need to come back on a non-rainy day, as there as some REALLY COOL outdoor exhibits.

This past week I had a trip to Vienna.  I met with the colleague that hosted me a couple of months ago to talk about getting her involved in our Physical Internet Initiative and then the next day gave my Physical Internet seminar at another university in Vienna (this one is more prestigious, but don't quite have the resource level).  The trip was interesting as I went across the Danube River for the first time and saw the "high rises" of Vienna (it's so different than the inner city).  But I also had lunch in one of the many garden districts that were put in place a long time ago to provide a respite for the bad air of an older Vienna.  I didn't have a camera with me and couldn't find a good picture online, but if any image comes to your mind when you hear the phrase, "English Garden," then you can imagine what I'm talking about.  Add to the garden a very small house (that until recently could not have electricity or heat so that you couldn't live it in year round) and you've got the picture.  We ate at a little restaurant in the middle of the district and it was quite lovely.  The other highlight of the trip was the train ride each way -- it is just so beautiful a ride.

Ok, so if you are keeping track, this heads us into the present weekend.  But really, there are quite a few things this weekend to talk about, so, I'll shut this post down for now and post another one soon, I promise!

But a special note to Jerry and Larry -- Happy Father's Day -- we love you!

Russ

Sarah's visit with her traveling pal, Beth

Sarah, Russ, Beth, Henry, Grace

We had the joy of hosting Sue's sister, Sarah, and Sarah's best pal, Beth.  They arrived on a Friday (just a wee bit jet lagged and cramped after sitting in middle seats in the middle section of the plane to Europe!), spent the weekend with us, traveled most of the next week, and then spent another weekend with us before heading back on Monday morning.  The visit went really well and we realized how much more we know about Graz and Austria than when Sue's parents, Jerry and Liz, visited us way back in late September/early October.

The first weekend was all things Graz.  We toured our favorite spots, which now include the Dom Church, the double staircase, Hauptplatz, Eggenberg Castle, Schlossberg, etc.  We gave Sarah and Beth plenty of opportunities to walk off that jet lag.  We also went to our local buschenschank (see prior post) on Saturday night and even Sommelier Sarah was impressed with the wines of Austria.

On Monday, the ladies, including Sue, took the train to Vienna.  It was a short visit, but Sarah and Beth wanted to see the capital city and enjoyed one its neighborhoods pretty close to the city center.  Unfortunately, I was leaving on a trip Tuesday morning (read a prior post about my trip to Romania), so Sue had to catch a train back Tuesday in time to pick the kids up from school at noon.  I really wish it would have worked out for Sue to spend more time with her sister on a mini-vacation.

Sue with Beth in Vienna (courtesy of Sarah)

Sarah and Beth also left Vienna on Tuesday, but instead of heading back to Graz, they took the afternoon train to Salzburg.  Salzburg is a beautiful city and Sue and I thought they split their time right -- more time in Salzburg than Vienna.  And we were convinced of that when Beth told us that her favorite movie of all time was "The Sound of Music."  And yes, they went on the Sound of Music Tour, which in addition to being a good time (complete with singing on the tour bus while watching the movie!), took them all over the region to see various sites of the movie.  Made me jealous we haven't gone on that tour yet!

Salzburg (great pic, Sarah!)

Friday morning found Sarah and Beth on a really early train back to Graz (6a!).  Why did they leave so early?  Well, it was so that they could spend the afternoon with the kids, of course!  Oh, and weather permitting, we were hoping to go to the wine region to show them the real countryside and what's become our favorite buschenschank.  As you can see below, the weather was good and so was the company and the wine.  Our friends Loulou and Renato (and son Carlo) were our travel buddies Friday night and Saturday.

Loulou, Sue, Sarah, Renato, and Beth raise a toast!

The beautiful countryside and vineyards (courtesy of Sarah)

Saturday morning was spent shopping.  Russ and Sue were doing the weekly shopping and Beth and Sarah were picking up gifts and souvenirs to take home.  That gave us the afternoon free to visit the Zotter chocolate factory and the castle nearby (see an earlier post about these).  It was another beautiful day and the kids played well together throughout.  We stopped at a local restaurant for dinner that worked out much better than I thought it would (inside joke!).  We got home late, but everyone thought it was just a great day.

Our walk up to Schloss Riegersburg (courtesy of Sarah)

Sunday we went to Schöckl, our local mountain (it's about 3000 feet or so above Graz).  It was the first time we'd been back since September, our first outing of our stay here.  The mountain was gorgeous, the weather cooperated with intermittent sunshine, and we were able to show off our views of the Alps to the north (which are really spectacular).  Most of us even rode what we now refer to as the "luge" (I can't recall if it was Sarah or Beth that coined that name for he cart on track "ride" at the top of the mountain).

The view from Schöckl (courtesy of Sarah) -- yes, that is snow on the mountains in the background

And so, after lunch in St. Radegund below Schöckl, we headed back to allow time for Sarah and Beth to pack, me to finish packing a big box of winter stuff for Sarah to take back with her, and dinner.  I dropped them off at the airport in the morning and they traveled home in an uneventful fashion, much happier with both of them in aisle seats :-)

Russ