End of 2008

As 2008 draws to a close, we'd like share a bit of what we've been up to recently. The past two months have been busy and packed with lots of great things for us! Some of our more interesting highlights follow...

Thanksgiving:

We hosted a Thanksgiving Dinner for 10 people! We had a nice mixture of Austrians (mostly first-time Thanksgiving-ers) and North Americans (who would have otherwise been Thanksgiving orphans, and we just couldn't let that happen!). In hindsight we should have noticed earlier (say for example, more than 1hr prior to arrival time) that we only had 5 chairs to offer out guests. Oops. This problem was quickly remedied by transporting extra chairs from the Hans-Riehlgasse apartment to ours - via tram. Yes, via tram. We made it despite incredulous stares and comments like (and I quote) "Look! Chairs!! Oh, MORE chairs!!" (We should have sold tickets!)

All of our lovely guests brought a dish while Rebecca Honts and I did the turkey, for the first time, I might add. This included (warning / plot spoiler to all our vegetarian friends) calling a butcher in advance to order said bird (I've never felt so intentionally carnivorous in my life) and picking up the bird which weighed exactly 3 tons (again, trasport via tram) . *Phew* Our turkey turned out well. Thank you, Food Network. Turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, bread, pumpkin parfait, chocolate cake and wine. All in all the dinner was a smashing success.

Snow:
The First Snow in Graz was the last weekend of November. As you can see the roofs were sprinkled white. Although it didn't last much more than 24 hrs, we totally enjoyed it!

View from our apartment: St. Leonhard Church

Advent!

During the month of December we enjoyed our advent calenders. One word: Chocolate. :)

APC in Vienna:

The first weekend in December Thomas and I led a group of 15 teenagers from our church to a national prayer conference in Vienna (APC). APC stands for Autrian Prayer Conference. Guess I don't have to translate that one for you. :) We stayed in a place called the "Schulschiff" (school ship). It's just what it sounds like - a ship converted into a school. It's in the Danube and yes, that's where we stayed. We had a fabulous time and even got to lead some of the teenagers around parts of downtown Vienna (espeically Leopoldstadt - a primarily Jewish area pre WWII) where we learned some of the area's history including certain individuals or businesses and we even cleaned the plaques placed there to recall and honor the Jewish people and heritage. It was a very moving and significant time. We and our teens were changed by this entire weekend.

Bri:

Next came a visit from our dear friend Bri! She was on her way back to the States from Thailand where she had worked for over a year teaching German and English, working with Step Ahead. Though her time was sprinkled by a few needed doctors visits, we had a good time catching up and even hosted a Thai dinner for 6. Bri cooked 2 delicious curry dishes for us all. Yum!

Christmas #1:

Shortly after seeing Bri off at the train station, we had a trip to take ourselves. We visited Tom's family. His brother, Richie, and Sabine live outside of Melk, (you may have heard of the pretty famous Abby there) where we celebrated Christmas along with Tom and Richie's mother. We tried to lend some helping hands in putting together a new furniture piece they'd bought. But since a couple of parts were defective, we weren't able to finish the job. But that didn't keep up from enjoying all the wonderful meals and cookies and treats!! We also enjoyed their Christmas tree and exchanging gifts!

Christmas #2:

Tom celebrated Christmas with his company inside the moutain Schlossberg.

Christmases #3 &4 OR The Best for Last:
Our first Christmas! We celebrated in Graz first on the evening of the 24th in true Austrian style and then on the morning of the 25th in true American style! For those new to the ways of Austrian Christmases: This meant waiting until evening for things to get going: such as gathering around the tree, lighting some type of (to me scary) flamables directly ON the tree, singing AND then opening presents. All this happened after attending our church's Christmas service. This was nice, quite, comfy and cosy. Then on the morning of the 25th we did it the American way...a great big breakfast complete with an egg-sausage casserole and monkey bread (thanks to Rebecca Honts who was also celebrating with us!) Then - while still in our PJ's - we dove into opening the rest of our presents!

Next big shindig is New Year's!!! Let the countdown begin!! :)

Alphorn Concert:

At the end of October I had the opportunity to go to a concert featuring one of the world's oldest instruments: the alp horn (or alpenhorn), as seen below, is what you might easily recognize from Ricola ads. We listened to French horn music (ranging from classical to the Beatles) and also a reconstruction to an instrument which Pythagoras supposedly invented. All this provided a fabulous time for our ears AND at the end, our eyes got a treat as well. We viewed a selection of wildlife photographs taken by 3 professional Austrian photographers.

Fall

October-November! Time for a quick update from the Zillingers! We've been enjoying Fall here. The weather's been great and we've been up to some great things!

In October there was a big lunch after the church service! Thomas and I brought an apple cake (that's what's behind the aluminum foil) and we really enjoyed connecting with some good friends of ours at church.

We enjoyed cake and coffee after the meal! These Austrians sure know how to make good food! Yum!

This is Anne, (former roomate, bridesmaid and good friend) me and Damaris (wonderful woman and pre-marital counselor!).

These a couple of pictures outside of our apartment, where we generally wait for the tram to take us into town.

Back in Austria

After a 3 week trip around the States, visiting family and friends, we've made it safely back to our home sweet home in Graz, Austria.

Jet lag almost got the better of us. Saturday evening we rolled into Graz. Sunday we were able to sleep in until 11ish and somehow managed it through the day without napping. Then Monday came...the moment of truth. We both had to get up for work that morning. My alarm was set for 6:15. Thomas' for 7. We woke up...sorry to say, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, at the ungodly hour of 3 am. In denial, we managed to pretend we were asleep/resting until 5 am. Then we simply caved in. Breakfast it was and an earlier than normal start for the work day.

Besides that, it's been great to be back in Graz. We've enjoyed meeting up with our friends and getting into the swing of things. Thomas is back to work and I have started up a few additional classes this semester. I now teach 2 adult evening courses, both conversational English, in addition to my company courses. It has been really great thus far and I truly enjoy my job!

This semester Thomas and I have also started working with the teenagers at our church. We've already participated in a weekend retreat and also the regular weekly Saturday meetings so far. I am confident that we will have more to report as the year continues!

It is FALL here. And that means PUMPKIN time!!!! Just a little FYI: 'Kürbis' is German for pumpkin. If you go to one of the local farmer's markets you can have your choice of any number of pumpkins and their fixin's. You can get shredded pumpkin, chopped pumpkin...and in any color from orange to green it seems. The list goes on and on, but you get the point. Last week I stopped by one such farmer's market and picked up a small portion of chopped orange pumpkin. I was going to make some Kürbiscremesuppe!!!! (Pumpkin + ...yes, you did just learn that word and now you just recognized it, too! You're a natural!' + cream + soup = pumpkin cream soup!) Together with Thomas and Rebecca Honts we enjoyed a lovely Kürbiscremsuppe, complete with all the toppings: a bit more cream (for good measure), pumpkin seed oil AND pumpkin seeds (did you catch the theme??). It was delicious!!!!

The big day!

March 15th was the big day! We had lots of friends AND family come into Graz for the wedding. It was so great to see so many familiar faces! We only wish we had somehow mangaged to spend more time with everyone.

The ceremony started at 2pm and afterwards everyone moved outside for the "Sekt Empfang" - receiving line with champagne where all the guests were able to greet and congratulate the bride and groom. It was a bit chilly outside; despite the forbodeing gray clouds, we didn't get a single raindrop! Then the real evening got under way.

We started off with a much deserved meal - for guests, bridal party and the happy couple alike - with all sorts of really great Austrian food. We had a selection of soups (my favourite being the pumpkin cream soup!), entreés (Schnitzel, Mostbraten - roast in an apple wine sauce - and a few more good tasting dishes) and lots of salads on the side.

The evening program was next on the list. There was fun for everyone. We enjoyed a funny slide show about the happy couple, watched a personal video from a good friend in Canada wishing us all the best, enjoyed a live performance of a song for the couple. There was even a competitive part of the evening as members of Rebecca's family and Thomas' family competed to answer the most questions correctly about the happy couple and their respective cultures. It was great fun and the prize was a coupon for a romantic evening for Rebecca and Thomas! After a heartfelt speech from the father of the bride, the dance floor was opened. There was all kinds of dancing to follow - everything from the couple's first waltz, to cha-cha-chas, the twist and even a traditional Austrian "Schuhplattler" dance and an American "do-si-do!"

The wedding cakes made a grand entry with sparklers and everyone seemed to be thoroughly impressed! Not only were the cakes good to look at from the outside, but they tasted fabulous on the inside! There were several flavors to choose from - a Styrian inspired cake with apple and pumpkin seed oil (it was amazing!), a tangy orange and a black forest cherry!

Finally, as it came time for the new Mr. and Mrs. Zillinger to leave, the guests formed a long line and on both sides they held candles to light the way to the get-away car!

All in all it was a fabulous day and one we will never forget!

Video Transmission of the wedding

Rebecca and Thomas!