Austrians love bread

Austrians eat a lot of bread. That means there are many different kinds of bread, and in general it is very cheap. A bag of 10 rolls costs less than 10kr and as does a 1kg loaf of dark bread.

School books old and new

We had a laugh the other day when we found one of my father's old school books. Apart from the size and colour of the book the tasks students had to do and the style of writing has remained the same.

School work from 1955 vs schoolwork 2016

Laternenfest film

Here is a short film to give you an idea what the Laternenfest was like.

Ich sehe Nebel!

Nebel = Fog. One phenomenon that we have noticed here is that it can get really foggy. Quite often there is a blanket of fog during morning hours and late evening. Sometimes it is so thick you can't see more than 50m.

Compare the two pictures taken from the same window on two different mornings

Laternenfest

Living in a catholic country, and with our middle son attending a catholic preschool, there are some new celebrations and holidays for us to experience. A few weeks ago the focus was on St Francis and the harvest celebration. Last Friday we experienced celebrating St Martin in "Martinstag". The children had made beautiful "Laternen" and sang many songs. At the end they slaughtered Martin's goose and we all ate a piece. Don't worry, it was just cake!

An unusual feeling

A couple of weeks ago I preached in my parents' church in Graz. It was the first time preaching in that particular church. It was the first time I had preached in German for 15 years. It was the first time I was streamed live, filmed and recorded. It was the first time I had to preach the same sermon twice in consecutive services on the same day. And - it was the first time preaching in another church other than our "home" in Sweden, now that we had moved. It was very emotional and I really felt the loss of moving away from a warm and supportive christian fellowship into the unknown. It takes time to build trust and friendships of the quality we've had the privilege of enjoying the past 11 years.

All Saints

All Saints is a public holiday in Austria - so we went on a family outing. We took a local train a few stops, to then walk a few kilometers back to our starting point. A little detour gave us plenty of time to admire the autumn colours and mild weather. At one point I had to carry our youngest. After a short while he said happily: Dad, I'm helping you work out because you get to carry extra weight!

A short film from the day