Meet the Fifth Grade Class!

Martina, Ms. Stevens, Laura, Anna Maih, Samantha, Maika, Nidette, Immanuel, Timothy, Evan, Patricia, Genevieve, John, Nipun, Jericho, Yun Ju, Seong Ok

A Sad End to Frenchie

While most items I shipped to Vienna arrived in good condition, my bike was not so fortunate. Despite being well packed, it looks like it might be bent beyond repair potential. Here's to my Peugeout, affectionately nicknamed Frenchie. It had many happy rides in Madison, Minneapolis, and Saint Paul. It was well loved and will be missed. Tributes to loved vehicles run in the family - to see my brother's farewell to his Astro minivan visit bennycben.blogspot.com and click on February 2006 under the archives section. While Frenchie's end might not compare to that, I'm sure she was heroic to the end and I'd be remiss not to publicly share my sadness at the loss of my dear bike.

Trip to Grinzing

The new staff at school enjoyed a trip to Grinzing, on the edge of Vienna, where we got a beautiful view of the downtown area. On our way back, we ate traditional Austrian food for supper at a lovely restaurant called Figls.

The Container Arrived!

The container has arrived and the items that the new school staff members shipped from the States are here! A large group of school staff, students, and volunteers came to help us unload the container. We had two hours to get the boxes unloaded, but completed the task in only 15 minutes with an impressive show of teamwork. Here's our principal, Mr. Pitotti, moving a heavy box from the truck while I stepped back to catch the action in a photo. I'm looking forward to unpacking and having a touch of home here in Vienna.

Willkommen

Welcome to Vienna! The flights went smoothly, the luggage arrived, and I even caught a few hours of sleep on the plane. Some school staff members met me and other new teachers at the airport when we arrived. They packed all our suitcases into the school van and brought us to school for lunch and our first tour of the building. It was an exciting afternoon of reconnecting with the new staff I met this summer at PFO and meeting returning staff members for the first time.