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If you usually receive a newsletter in the mail and are wondering if you're still on the list because you haven't received a newsletter in a while, don't worry. We haven't sent one out since June. But of course, you already knew that you wouldn't get one for July or maybe August because we mentioned that in the June newsletter. And you read it cover to cover. And then reread it. Just to make sure you didn't miss anything. You are so dedicated! (Actually, I'm not sure that I read it cover to cover, but I'm pretty sure the thing about it not coming for a while was in there.)

If you get the newsletter in the mail and also want to get it in your inbox, just send me an email.

The next newsletter -- both paper and electronic versions -- should go out sometime next week.

Wish list

9.13.07 - Important update: If we're not home, the mail carrier should leave a notice for us to pick up a package at the post office. But with our first three boxes, there was no notice! So, if you send us something please let us know. If you want it to be a surprise, you can wait up to two weeks -- that should be plenty of time for it to arrive. (We haven't had a problem with this since those first few packages.)

I was going to write this yesterday to follow the "what's not in Austria" post, but the deliveries of my niece and our stuff from the U.S. thwarted that plan. If you recall the previous post, you may be wondering whether there's anything you can send us. Or maybe I'm the only one thinking that. In any event, there's always something we can't get in Austria, so here are some things we would really enjoy from the U.S.

Don't feel any pressure to pop something in the mail today. I'm going to place a link to this post on the sidebar so you can refer to it when birthdays or Christmas roll around. This is mainly directed to those who generally buy us presents for such occasion. I'm not suddenly expecting a birthday gift from everyone just because I live overseas. :) Although... never mind.

I've separated the list into "one time" wants and "anytime" wants. If we receive something, I'll update the list. So whether you're going to be making a trip to Vienna and want to pack a little extra or you want to send something our way via post, here are some suggestions.

One-time Wants:
Any of the Nooma videos (You can buy these at Christian bookstores or online at http://www.nooma.com/) -- Except "Rain" (001), "Flame" (002), "You" (015), and "Today" (017)


Anytime Wants (i.e., foodstuff):

peanut butter -- creamy or crunchy (our favorite is the Great Value brand from Wal-Mart and Peter Pan, but anything works)

cream gravy mix with sausage (the kind you would make for biscuits and gravy)

dark corn syrup (like Karo)

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P.S., I don't know why, but I don't like the idea of just posting our address out here. So if you don't have our address, you'll have to ask. There is a link to email me on my profile.

P.P.S., If you're going to send us one of the DVDs for a birthday or Christmas present, please let me know before you buy it or at least before you send it so hopefully we don't get duplicates. I know it ruins the element of surprise, but I can deal with that. If you're going to send a DVD some other time of year, feel free to keep a surprise. I don't expect DVDs to show up randomly all that often. Don't worry about this. If we get duplicates, we know other people who would be happy to take the extras off our hands.

The big delivery

Finally, the delivery we have all been anticipating. After long months of waiting and wondering, we finally caught our first glimpse.

What, were you expecting something else? Perhaps something like this...

That's right! There were two big deliveries today!

At approximately 12:30 this morning (Vienna-time) -- 5:30 p.m. yesterday Arlington-time -- my sister, her husband and their daughter welcomed a new addition to their family. (Just so there's no confusion -- Emmy was born on August 21st in Arlington, TX. However, it was already August 22nd in Vienna.) Here is Amiya with her new little sitter Emmy. I think she's a little nervous about holding such a small baby. And Emmy looks a little unsure as well.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for the day, at approximately 10:30 this morning, the container with all of our stuff we shipped from the U.S. arrived. Unfortunately, when the movers started unpacking it, we discovered that our belongings were at the very back. Well, the back when you're unloading -- I guess it's the front when you're loading. In any event, the movers decided to deliver everything else (for the other three families who moved to Vienna) and then come back to deliver our stuff.

Here it is, all unloaded. Now we just need to unpack.

One of the long-anticipated arrivals is our scooter. As I mentioned earlier, scooters are pretty popular around here. Unfortunately, we're going to have to buy a battery, get it registered, get a license and insurance and some other things before we can drive it, so it may just sit there for a while.

I have long planned to name my scooter (yes, like J.D., in Scrubs), but I haven't been able to decide on a good name. However, after surviving such a long journey, I think it's time that the scooter gets a name. So today I am christening her "Betty." Sure, the name would be a little cooler if Betty were black instead of red. ::Singing:: Whoa, Red Betty. Bam-ba-lam. Whoa, Red Betty. Bam-ba-lam. It just doesn't have the same ring to it. But, it's still a nice name. So here's to Betty! I'm glad she made it to Vienna!

Q & A - Take 2

Here's some more questions that I received:

What kind of things are not available in Austria?

What kind of things can you get in Austria that you can't find in the U.S.?


There are a lot of things that I haven't been able to find in Austria yet. Maybe they're here, I just haven't found them. Most of the missionaries I know in Europe have a list of U.S. goods that they stock up on when they return to the U.S. or when someone from the U.S. visits them. I've found a really helpful blog from a woman living in Germany who lists product substitutes and where to find those hard-to-find items. There's also a British import store in the city that carries some foodstuff from the U.S. in the event that I really need something. But it's expensive, so I'm going to try to avoid buying there, if possible. Some of the things that I haven't found here (or are quite different than what you get in the U.S.) are brown sugar (no soft brown sugar), vanilla extract, breakfast sausage, deodorant (not that they don't have it here, it's just not the same), peanut butter, and cream of chicken soup. I'm sure there's more, but this is what comes to mind.


I haven't really found anything in Austria that I couldn't believe I was able to live without in the U.S. There are at least two things that are available in abundance in Austria that I never paid much attention to in the U.S. Ice cream and chocolate. Two things that I really need, right? If you go to the inner city, you can't take two steps without seeing someone eating ice cream. And I know they're not all tourists. The "eis salons" are always packed. And the chocolate aisle at the grocery store! It's unbelievable. Swiss, Belgium, German -- they've got chocolate from all over the continent.

And in some stores, yes, even chocolate from the U.S.

The secret ingredient

I wasn't going to blog today -- you know, give the faithful readers a chance to catch up. But I couldn't pass this one up.

This afternoon a big rain shower came through, bringing with it lots of cold air. So Brian put on the coffee and I decided we needed something sweet to go with the joe. It was decided that we would make chocolate chip cookies. Now let me explain that chocolate chip cookies (you know, America's cookie) are not quite so easy here in Austria. First, I haven't been able to find chocolate chips even though I've been assured that they do exist in Austria. So we had to cut up a block of chocolate. (This was Brian's contribution.) Next, brown sugar as we know it in the U.S. doesn't exist in Austria. So I had to buy some brown sugar from an import store. In other words, it was quite pricey. On top of that, I haven't been able to find baking soda, so I had to find a recipe that didn't require it.

Despite all of these obstacles, I was determined to make chocolate chip cookies. That's why when I found the dead moth in the flour, I wasn't quite ready to give up on the venture. After all, I had already searched for a suitable recipe, creamed my expensive brown sugar with butter, and had Brian chop a huge block of chocolate. I consulted with Brian and we decided that we would pick out the moth and prevail. (The moth was just in the flour, so it was still intact.) I was feeling okay about the dough. I had sifted through the rest of the flour and hadn't found anything suspicious. I had even tasted the dough and it seemed promising.

You can tell that I eventually found something else, can't you? I mean, you just feel it coming. Well, as I was scooping the dough onto the cookie sheet I found -- are you ready? -- a larvae. Just the thought of it makes me cringe. I don't know why the larvae is so much more disturbing than the moth, but that did it in for me. And since I knew the likelihood of finding a small, white wormy thing in a bag of white flour was slim, I decided to throw the whole bag of flour out along with the cookie dough.

But now here's my dilemma. I bought that bag of flour earlier today, so I know the moth was in there when I bought it. And I bought two bags of flour. That were sitting next to each other in the store. So is my other bag contaminated? Should I throw it out too? Should I buy flour somewhere else for a while? Or switch brands? Am I completely over-reacting? (You can't answer that last one unless you, too, have found a larvae in your chocolate chip cookie dough.)

I sure do wish I had some moth-free chocolate chip cookies right about now.

I heart colorful buildings

Culture shock can make it hard to appreciate the good things in a new culture. When you're missing home, it can seem like everything in your new country is backwards and terrible and everything in your home country is wonderful and easy. To help combat these thoughts, I'm going to write about some of the things I like about Vienna. Hopefully, this will give you a little insight into life in Austria and will help me to appreciate my new home. I won't promise a post on this topic every week, but I hope to do at least a couple each month. Click on the "I heart Vienna" label on the sidebar to see all of the "I heart" posts.

Vienna is home to one of the most colorful and unusual apartment buildings in the world -- the Hundertwasserhaus. I have to admit, I've only seen pictures so far. But I do plan on visiting the building one of these days. If you want to learn more about Hundertwasserhaus, I recommend this page, but of course you can find plenty of info by googling the name.

These pictures of Hundertwasserhaus are from www.foto-julius.at and may be used for free on personal web pages. (©www.foto-julius.at )

Even though most buildings in Vienna do not look like Hundertwasserhaus, it's very common to see apartment buildings and houses painted blue, green, yellow or pink. I guess if you're going to live in a city full of apartment buildings, it's nice that they add a splash of color. Here are some photos of buildings and houses in my neighborhood.

Q & A - Take 1

Wow! I can't believe the flood of email that I've received with such insightful questions. Well, maybe flood is not the right word. Maybe light shower is more appropriate. Or fine mist. Maybe just a fog. But in any event, there are questions in my inbox. (And even if there weren't and I'm making this all up, you could never prove anything!)

First, to address Sharkdog -- You know why you have to wear the collar when we leave. Someone told us that the neighbors would call the police if there was a lot of dog barking. And that someone is one of our neighbors! So really, it's for your own protection.

And now, I think the next question can best be summed up with this clip:



So, what is it that we're doing here? Before I answer, I think it's important to point out that what we're doing here is a new work, not a work-in-progress. I didn't fully realize this distinction until I landed in Vienna. My previous experience with missions was with a work that had been started years earlier and I had a specific task for a specific duration. When we landed in Vienna and no one was there to pick us up, I quickly realized that this experience was going to be quite different.

What does it mean that we're not joining a work-in-progress? I guess it means that what we're doing now won't look like what you're used to. We don't meet together each Sunday. (Right now, we are meeting with the existing congregations and trying to form relationships with the Christians there.) We don't hold gospel meetings or seminars. We don't even have small group or one-on-one studies. That's not to say that we're not going to do these things (or that we are going to do all of them), just that we're not there yet.

Now that I've told you what we're not doing, you're probably wondering what we are doing. The short answer is "settling".

Of course, there's also a long answer. One of our main objectives right now is to figure out how to do things right -- how (and when) to shop, how to wash our clothes, how to use public transportation, and so on. We even have to learn how to take out the trash properly! Also, there are a lot of legal requirements we must fulfill in order to stay in Austria. We're in this for the long haul, so we want to make sure we start off right.

Next month, Brian and I will start language school and start the long road to learning German. Not only do we feel like it's important to be able to speak German in order to reach people on a personal level, the government feels it is important in order for us to live here. When we get our visas, we must sign an agreement that we will study German (language) and Austrian culture and will eventually be tested on these subjects. For at least the next six months, we will spend about four hours a day, five days a week at the university.

I know this is already long, but there is a related question that I would like to tack on.

One question that was asked is whether we are working with the existing congregations and programs that they have established. My answer is, "not right now." During our first two weeks in Vienna we were offered the opportunity to lead Bible studies for African refugees and to teach classes at a private university loosely associated with the churches of Christ. Both of these are good opportunities, but at this time we want to focus on learning German and finding our place in our community. That's not to say that we don't plan on participating in existing programs, just that we want to be careful not to accept a leadership role that will later prevent us from doing the work that we've set out to do.

Keep the questions coming. I promise all of my answers will not be this long.