Winter Has Come to Wien!

Winter officially arrived this week with four to five inches of snow blanketing the city Thursday night. This made for much excitement and fun at recess on Friday. The fifth graders rolled a gigantic snowball that was nearly as tall as them! It took all their muscles to continue rolling at the point this photo was taken.

Science Class

At school, we've been doing a science unit called Food & Nutrition. In the first lab activity, students tested the amount of fat in common foods by spreading a one-gram sample on brown paper. After two days, we observed our food samples and measured the size of the grease spots on the paper.

In our second investigation, we learned that yeast is an indicator of sugar in food. Here students tested samples of cereal to determine which cereals have the greatest and least amounts of sugar. And the low-sugar winner is...cheerios.

Fall Colors

The fall colors are at their peak. Here's the view from our apartment.

Very Scary Party

Two staff members from school threw a Very Scary Party around the time of Halloween and All Saints Day. Sandi and I went dressed as very scary chefs who had a bad cooking accident. To our surprise, our costumes took the prize in the "Most Original" category!

Fall Break in Prague

For Fall Break weekend, I took a bus to Prague to visit a friend I made this summer at my orientation training. Sheila (center) and her roommates took me to a Czech restaurant on my first night there. After dinner, Sheila and I walked across Charles' Bridge and up a hill near the embassies where we enjoyed a great view of Prague lit up at night.

Sheila and I visited the royal palace where the Czech President lives and works. At noon, we observed a very traditional changing of the guards ceremony. Notice the trumpet and drum players in the second-story windows of the palace.

The Astronomical Clock is a famous sight in the center of Prague. On the hour, the clock chimes and the two doors at the top of the clock tower open to reveal a procession of the twelve apostles. The Astronomical Clock dates back to the 15th century!