December 9

       Is this really happening? Seriously, I feel like I'm in a dream. I'm in Vienna! Right now, I am chillin' on a really comfy couch in the living room of a charming American-Austrian family, listening to the pendulum on the wall clock tick just slightly off beat, looking at the cozy Christmas tree in the corner, and soaking up the musical atmosphere with the piano, mini harp, and music stand all within 10 feet of me! As I have been planning this trip, I keep thinking, "What am I doing? This is crazy." When I start to ask myself why I'm making all these plans to go to Vienna, I immediately stop and ask "Why not?" instead. I'm finally here after a very full day.
       This morning I had class which was mainly a waste of time. The Xerox (is that how you spell it?) machine in the music department was broken, so our lecturer had to make up something on the spot. She ended up rambling on about musical terminology for 1.5 hours. I don't blame her for my boredom. I think I'm just getting fed up with things like this happening all the time at this crazy school. Plus, I had a lot of other stuff on my mind, like transportation for the rest of the day. After class, I finished an essay, turned it in, and then grabbed my stuff to head out. Somehow I managed to squeeze my way onto the shuttle bus in the middle of student rush hour at 1:30. At Oakwood Station, I grabbed a few things at Tesco, got some Euros at Western Union, and then hopped on the tube. After changing over to another line 15 minutes later, I learned that the train station I planned on using to get to the airport was closed for the day. What are the odds? I had to rework my route to Gatwick Airport, and I arrived in the boarding area just 10 minutes before the gate closed! So much for planning on arriving early. I didn't even have time to pee.
       In all the rush, I ended up having a chocolate bar and a granola bar for lunch. I zoned on the plane as I sat next to about 5 rowdy foreign guys (probably in their 20's but acting like toddlers). I just hooked up to my iPod and slept or pretended to be sleeping so I could avoid any conversation with them. The flight went quick, and I found Sarah (the lady I met in Greece) quickly when I walked out of the airport. She brought two of her kids to form my welcoming committee, and they gave me to car tour of the city between the airport and their house. I can't even remember all the awesome stuff they pointed out, but I do remember that there was SOOOO much of it! Famous stuff here, a famous building there, you know, same old, same old.
       We arrived at their house where I met the rest of the family. They have a total of 4 kids and a golden retriever. What a charming place! The kids were super nice and chatty, the 2 girls especially. They are all between 8 and 16 I would say. Sarah kindly fed me some leftovers because I was starving by then, and I spent the rest of the evening hanging with the family as they did their evening reading and prayer session. It was precious. Sarah graciously hooked me up with some books on Vienna and some ideas of what to see. So now, here I am, still on the couch, but yawning a little to much. I think it's about bedtime. What a day. Thank you for all your prayers!

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would let God's purpose unfold while I'm here. I know He's got something up His sleeve because the circumstances behind this whole trip are too unusual for only ordinary things to happen.