Hello!
Just a quick update for all of you:
I am here now in Eastern Austria, spending the next 2 1/2 weeks with my grandma and my mom! We are celebrating Christmas Eve together, and on Christmas Day I'll be with my grandma from the other side, which is exciting. I have never in my life spent Christmas with that side of the family, so I am looking forward to it!
In the past few days I picked up Sophi (my younger sister) from the airport and dropped her off at her place of work, at a hotel in Schladming (Central Austria). She is working as a maid/kitchen helper. Next week we are going to spend a night at the hotel and visit her, just to make sure she is doing ok ;)
I have many plans for the Christmas holiday- doing activities and spending time with family and friends. I am also enjoying this time of not worrying about school work and being responsible for myself, I have passed that on to my mom and grandma- how nice!
At the beginning of January I head back to Innsbruck, for a few days and then school starts again!
So I wish you all a merry, merry Christmas.
Take time to relax and think on the real reason of Christmas, that Jesus was born on this earth, to be a Saviour for us all.
Frohe Weihnachten und ein Guten Rutsch im Neues Jahr!
Alles Gute und Liebe,
Until after Christmas!
Love,
Christi
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
More about Christmas...
Hello all,
Here is a quick little update! It was my last day of school today, so I am officially off for the holidays! Tomorrow evening I leave for Salzburg, to spend the weekend at the house of a friend, who has offered me a place there for the weekend. She has offered to show me around Salzburg and give me a real "Austrian" experience. Instead of all the "typical touristy, Austrian things" she has offered to take me to some places that aren't so typical. We'll see what that means!
Then on Monday morning I head over to Eastern Austria and will be picked up from the train station by my grandma, MOM and SISTER! Yeah! Did I mention that I am so excited! It will make this break in the semester so good- and I really need it. For some reason I am so exhausted from this semester so far- which is interesting because it has really not been too difficult (except this morning when I had to face an exam for my Mediation course- that was taught in German- so of course I had to write the exam in GERMAN! It was hard!) Anyways, I don't know what it is, maybe it is the full responsibility of not living at home, which is a first for me! Maybe it's that even though I am settling in, there is that constant feeling in the background that I am going home kind of soon, it's a lingering feeling.
With Christmas I have also been a little bit sad, because my entire family isn't together this year. I love my family so much, and it has been hard, thinking about Christmas without them. I was thinking about it so much lately, but then this...
We had a prayer breakfast this morning with OeSM, there was a common theme in my group of suffering going on in families, and the grief that comes with that, especially at Christmas. And suddenly it occurred to me in a new way what Christmas means.
Get this:
For so long we have watched movies and read stories about how families are all trying to come together for Christmas. There is this typical image of family sitting around the table for Christmas Dinner, or gathered around the tree.
Don't get me wrong, this is a huge blessing, and something to be so thankful to God for.
But there is a stronger reality: That there is so much brokenness in this world and broken families, where for some reason, they aren't together at Christmas
But get this: A baby was born. His mother was rejected by society for becoming pregnant outside of marriage. She has been travelling for several days on the back of a donkey, to come to what? A barn, where the most comfortable place to lay down was hay. She had her baby boy with no help of doctors or nurses, bringing him into a society where the king had so much power a year later he demanded all baby boys be killed!
Jesus wasn't born in a perfect setting. He was born into a place that was also full of brokenness and grief.
Jesus didn't come to the world, so that we can celebrate it each year by gathering around a warm fire all together drinking hot-chocolate.
Yes, it sounds dramatic, but the truth of Jesus and what he represents is so much MORE dramatic! There are no words to express the feeling of pure, and complete joy that comes with knowing that with the birth of Jesus would come a life full of promise for each of us.
I know this message does come up again and again, but let's truly be brought closer to Jesus through Christmas this year.
This is how I experienced it, and hopefully will even more through out the rest of Christmas.
Isaiah 9
The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.
You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and it's people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder.
For you will break the yoke of their slavery
You will break the oppressor's rod,
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
Love you all and Blessings for this Christmas season!
Christi
Here is a quick little update! It was my last day of school today, so I am officially off for the holidays! Tomorrow evening I leave for Salzburg, to spend the weekend at the house of a friend, who has offered me a place there for the weekend. She has offered to show me around Salzburg and give me a real "Austrian" experience. Instead of all the "typical touristy, Austrian things" she has offered to take me to some places that aren't so typical. We'll see what that means!
Then on Monday morning I head over to Eastern Austria and will be picked up from the train station by my grandma, MOM and SISTER! Yeah! Did I mention that I am so excited! It will make this break in the semester so good- and I really need it. For some reason I am so exhausted from this semester so far- which is interesting because it has really not been too difficult (except this morning when I had to face an exam for my Mediation course- that was taught in German- so of course I had to write the exam in GERMAN! It was hard!) Anyways, I don't know what it is, maybe it is the full responsibility of not living at home, which is a first for me! Maybe it's that even though I am settling in, there is that constant feeling in the background that I am going home kind of soon, it's a lingering feeling.
With Christmas I have also been a little bit sad, because my entire family isn't together this year. I love my family so much, and it has been hard, thinking about Christmas without them. I was thinking about it so much lately, but then this...
We had a prayer breakfast this morning with OeSM, there was a common theme in my group of suffering going on in families, and the grief that comes with that, especially at Christmas. And suddenly it occurred to me in a new way what Christmas means.
Get this:
For so long we have watched movies and read stories about how families are all trying to come together for Christmas. There is this typical image of family sitting around the table for Christmas Dinner, or gathered around the tree.
Don't get me wrong, this is a huge blessing, and something to be so thankful to God for.
But there is a stronger reality: That there is so much brokenness in this world and broken families, where for some reason, they aren't together at Christmas
But get this: A baby was born. His mother was rejected by society for becoming pregnant outside of marriage. She has been travelling for several days on the back of a donkey, to come to what? A barn, where the most comfortable place to lay down was hay. She had her baby boy with no help of doctors or nurses, bringing him into a society where the king had so much power a year later he demanded all baby boys be killed!
Jesus wasn't born in a perfect setting. He was born into a place that was also full of brokenness and grief.
Jesus didn't come to the world, so that we can celebrate it each year by gathering around a warm fire all together drinking hot-chocolate.
Yes, it sounds dramatic, but the truth of Jesus and what he represents is so much MORE dramatic! There are no words to express the feeling of pure, and complete joy that comes with knowing that with the birth of Jesus would come a life full of promise for each of us.
I know this message does come up again and again, but let's truly be brought closer to Jesus through Christmas this year.
This is how I experienced it, and hopefully will even more through out the rest of Christmas.
Isaiah 9
The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.
You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and it's people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder.
For you will break the yoke of their slavery
You will break the oppressor's rod,
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
Love you all and Blessings for this Christmas season!
Christi
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
To Hamburg and Back
Since the last time I wrote, it has begun to look even more like christmas! Since Sunday evening, it has been snowing on and off- this is a big contrast to the last week, where the weather was so warm that trees were budding and blooming! Imagine- blossoms in November! Innsbruck is known for the ‘Föhn’, a warm wind that sweeps through the valley. And then suddenly, the temperatures decreased and it snowed! It is always nice with the first snow (when you are quite sure it’s going to last the winter), when everything is clean and white, and it’s not too cold yet, so the snow is fluffy...
It reminds me of Canada.
Which I have been thinking a lot about lately. It is going to be a very different experience to be away from home for Christmas, the first time in my life! Until now it has always been my family together, at home for Christmas. This year, we are all around the world (Literally, we are divided among three countries, plus being in Nova Scotia v.s. being in B.C. is LIKE another country away!) It will definitely be something to adjust to for me, but I have something to look forward to. Not only do I have my extended family here in Austria (which includes all of my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents) but my mom and sister, Sophi, are coming to Austria in 2 weeks!
I am so excited!! My mom is coming for 2 ½ ish weeks, and Sophi is coming to Austria to work for 3 months! Can you tell I am excited for school to break and for Christmas holidays to start?!
Until then, I will be continuing here at school, and of course, filling my time with other, exciting things too. Like 2 weeks ago, on Sunday, I got to sing on the worship team at church! It was a lot of fun, and it was great to be part of the team, doing something I love. We sang quite a few songs with English text, which was handy, but I didn’t know any of them- surprising! It’s funny that I have now been introduced to this great English band, while in Austria!
This past weekend I also had the chance to go to Hamburg, with my cousin and her parents. The invited me to travel with them for the weekend. So we met in Hamburg and toured it, as well as another city close to Hamburg, called Lübeck. In both cities, there are big Christmas markets, and a lot of Christmas events taking place. Lübeck, is not a small town, but it is very old looking, and something that you might imagine comes out of a storybook. All of the buildings are made out of red-brick, and there are many canals and bridges. The Christmas decorations on the city also add to it’s ‘magic’.
In Hamburg, on Saturday night, I got to go see the musical, ‘Tarzan’, and it was amazing! The musical has been showing there for four years, so they have had time to make it the best it could be, and it was! Not only was the singing and acting really good, but the special effects were so cool! Throughout the entire show, they used rope swings and harnesses for the monkeys and birds and chase scenes. They really used the entire theatre as their stage. In the second scene, when the monkeys first appeared, they suddenly swung down above our heads! Out of ‘nowhere’ they came, dancing and swinging around. It was so cool, and as an audience member, I really felt into the show, because it was happening all around me! It was definitely the highlight of the trip for me- and to be around my family again was also wonderful!
It reminds me of Canada.
Which I have been thinking a lot about lately. It is going to be a very different experience to be away from home for Christmas, the first time in my life! Until now it has always been my family together, at home for Christmas. This year, we are all around the world (Literally, we are divided among three countries, plus being in Nova Scotia v.s. being in B.C. is LIKE another country away!) It will definitely be something to adjust to for me, but I have something to look forward to. Not only do I have my extended family here in Austria (which includes all of my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents) but my mom and sister, Sophi, are coming to Austria in 2 weeks!
I am so excited!! My mom is coming for 2 ½ ish weeks, and Sophi is coming to Austria to work for 3 months! Can you tell I am excited for school to break and for Christmas holidays to start?!
Until then, I will be continuing here at school, and of course, filling my time with other, exciting things too. Like 2 weeks ago, on Sunday, I got to sing on the worship team at church! It was a lot of fun, and it was great to be part of the team, doing something I love. We sang quite a few songs with English text, which was handy, but I didn’t know any of them- surprising! It’s funny that I have now been introduced to this great English band, while in Austria!
This past weekend I also had the chance to go to Hamburg, with my cousin and her parents. The invited me to travel with them for the weekend. So we met in Hamburg and toured it, as well as another city close to Hamburg, called Lübeck. In both cities, there are big Christmas markets, and a lot of Christmas events taking place. Lübeck, is not a small town, but it is very old looking, and something that you might imagine comes out of a storybook. All of the buildings are made out of red-brick, and there are many canals and bridges. The Christmas decorations on the city also add to it’s ‘magic’.
In Hamburg, on Saturday night, I got to go see the musical, ‘Tarzan’, and it was amazing! The musical has been showing there for four years, so they have had time to make it the best it could be, and it was! Not only was the singing and acting really good, but the special effects were so cool! Throughout the entire show, they used rope swings and harnesses for the monkeys and birds and chase scenes. They really used the entire theatre as their stage. In the second scene, when the monkeys first appeared, they suddenly swung down above our heads! Out of ‘nowhere’ they came, dancing and swinging around. It was so cool, and as an audience member, I really felt into the show, because it was happening all around me! It was definitely the highlight of the trip for me- and to be around my family again was also wonderful!
Well, I must be going back to class now,
Have a wonderful day!
Christi
Have a wonderful day!
Christi
+1172.JPG)
-TARZAN-
+1174.JPG)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)