Lake Swim and Future Museum

Monday, we had another great day in Linz. After breakfast, we went to a nearby lake to run. I ran a nice little 8 mile route by the lake, through some trails, and along the Danube. When I got back and met up with Carmen and Stina, we decided to sit by the water for a little while. While we were sitting there, we decided to go for a swim in the lake! Stina wasn’t feelin it, so Carmen and I just went. It was surprisingly warm for May, and we had so much fun. There’s a little blue floaty thing in the middle that we swam out to and jumped off of a couple times. After our swim, it started raining literally right when we stepped onto the land. So we put our phones and ipods in our one dry shirt, and started running toward the car. None of us had a change of clothes, and we only had one towel. So yep, the car got a little wet and a little dirty, but we did the best we could. So worth it! When we got home, Carmen’s mom had made us a traditional Austrian meal. All of her cooking is so good!

In the afternoon, we went to a “future museum” called Electronika. We learned about the way technology has reshaped our world, and what types of advances are continually being made. The statistics were pretty crazy! There was a thing that you could connect to your head, and it can create a picture based on your thoughts! It explained all the science of the way that it worked, but I don’t remember it to be honest. Too much science for a study abroad student who hasn’t really studied since last semester! We also learned about the eyes, and I had a retina photo taken. You can see what my retina looks like, as if you were standing inside my head looking into my eye. I must say, I have some sexy retinas! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Salzburg Day Trip

 Sunday, we spent the day in Salzburg. We drove to Carmen’s sister’s house, right outside the city. We ate a wonderful lunch there, salad and homemade lasagna that Carmen’s mom made. Mieta and Wolfgang were great hosts, and their house was so cute! We sat out in the backyard, where we could see the mountains. The mountains there are huge! It was so cool. After every meal, we drank coffee. So after drinking coffee, we talked for a little while longer, and then went into the city for the afternoon.

We shopped for a while in the huge line of tents set up along the Salzach River, and actually bought quite a lot! Stina and I bought Carmen a wallet, because she had been keeping her money in an envelope. I bought a few souvenirs for some friends and family, an awesome backpack, a little skirt, and a small gift for Carmen’s mom for hosting us. Stina and I split the cost of the gift, just a little heart shaped stone with a plant inside, that Mrs. Gnjezda can put in her garden. Carmen also bought matching friendship bracelets for the three of us, which I absolutely love. After shopping, we hit up the ATM because we’d spent all of our money, and then made a pact not to let each other spend a single Euro-cent more!

We explored the city, and saw the sets for the Sound of Music. We saw where Mozart was born and grew up, but didn’t go inside (pact not to spend another Euro-cent). We saw the castle, and just walked around. In the city center, there is a giant chess board painted on the ground, with huge chess pieces. We watched two men playing for a little while, but got bored watching them pretty quick. So off we went, just walking around. I have to be honest, the pact was broken when we kept passing ice cream shop after ice cream shop. It was just too hard to resist! I got one scoop of Cookies, and one scoop of Strawberry, and was a very happy camper. I think everyone knows how I feel about ice cream!

When we left Salzburg, we went back to Mieta’s house to pick up Carmen’s mom before driving back to Linz. On the way home, we stopped at the Moon Lake. It is a beautiful lake with mountains behind it. We got there just as it was getting dark, and took some great pictures! The drive from Linz to Salzburg is about an hour and a half, so not too bad but still really nice for them to take us for a daytrip! Great day. 

Mauthausen Concentration Camp

 view of the concentration camp from the front

 "oven"

 memorial inside the center of the camp

 rooms people slept in

 gas chamber

 on the right, you can see the "Stairs of Death" going up the hill

Friday afternoon, Stina and I went with Carmen to Linz for the weekend. We stayed at her home and met her family, who were all so great to us! The ride to Upper Austria is so beautiful. You drive through forests and huge mountains as you pass through the Alps. Friday night, we went for a little walk near Carmen’s house, walking through fields of open grass, cows, chickens, and a public petting zoo with bunnies, donkeys, horses, sheep, and goats. The sheep was hilarious, his fleece coat was so great. I wanted to borrow just a little to make myself a North Face jacket, but didn’t want him to be cold that night. We went to downtown Linz and saw the city at night. It’s the third biggest city in Austria, with Vienna being the first and Graz being the second. The lights with the Danube River going through the middle of the city make it very pretty.

Saturday morning, we went to the Danube to work out. I went for a 10 mile run, and Stina and Carmen did yoga by the river. That afternoon, we went to Mauthausen concentration camp. It was so horrifying, but I am so glad we went to remember the lives of the people there. Over 200,000 people were sent there during the rule of Nazi Germany. We went inside the bunk houses that the people slept in. They would crowd far too many people inside, with 3-4 people sharing a cot to sleep on.

We went inside the gas chambers, and I started to get sick to my stomach. I was standing inside a room that thousands of people were murdered in. In the room next to the gas chamber, there was a hallway type thing down the center, with open spaces on either side. In the open spaces is where the corpses were thrown. Before they were killed, the people would be marked by a special label if they had something valuable about them, such as gold teeth, which would later be taken. The next room over contained the “ovens.” They burned the corpses inside the “ovens.” A chimney type thing came up from the ovens, and I can only imagine the smell of the area nearby as they continually burned human bodies. I was so nauseous while I was inside that I seriously could have been sick. Stepping back outside, it took a few minutes to catch my breath again. I could picture Nazi soldiers walking by.

The camp was built inside a giant rock quarry. The people were used as slave labor in the quarry. They were hardly fed, and overworked. Whenever they were too sick to work, they were killed. There was a giant staircase going up from the bottom of the quarry, known as the Stairs of Death. On those stairs, thousands of people were killed. They were forced to carry huge boulders up the stairs. At the top, the people were pushed down the stairs, and the boulders were rolled down after them, creating an avalanche taking them down.

We also sat at the top of a cliff, overlooking the quarry. The ledge is rocky, and goes straight down. Prisoners who were killed by being pushed off the cliff were known as “parachutists.” I can only imagine looking down from the cliff and seeing dead, mangled bodies at the bottom.

The camp was enclosed with an electric fence with barbed wire, carrying a charge of 300 volts. Many people were killed as they attempted to escape, and many more committed suicide with this electric fence. For anyone who somehow made it out of the fence, soldiers would come after them with guns and hunt them . Needless to say, not many escaped.

The thing that got me most was the surrounding area. There were homes within sight of the concentration camp, and an entire village 1-2 kilometers away. I don’t know if the people knew exactly what was going on in the camp or not, but they had to have had some idea. If they were to report what was going on, however, they would also be imprisoned in the camp. But I cannot imagine living nearby, and being able to go about my ordinary life, when I could smell the stench of burning human bodies when I went outside. For the soldiers who worked the concentration camps, they were forced to treat the people that way. If they did not partake in the destruction of the Jews, they too would be killed. Kill others in order to save your own skin…

Upon leaving, I was so humbled.

Golden Birthday

Well a lot has been going on lately!  After getting back from Croatia last weekend, we spent the week in wonderful Graz. Tuesday was my 22^nd birthday. I am pretty dang lucky to have some amazing friends who made the day extra special. Monday night / Tuesday morning at midnight, I was woken up by Tugba, Carmen, and Ozlem, who had walked 30 minutes to my dorm with a candle, and woke me up singing “happy birthday.” I was so startled when I woke up, I had no idea what time it was! I realized it was midnight, and my birthday was just starting! I blew out the candle and we chatted for a while, before going back to bed. During the day, the weather was horrible- cold and rainy. But the bad weather couldn’t ruin my day! Tugba and I ate breakfast together and hung out for a while. During the day, I went for a run in the rain. When I was finished, I was about to walk back into my dorm when I saw my bike sitting outside. I was already drenched in water, so I decided to go for a little ride. I biked along the river in the rain, and it was awesome. I had nowhere to be, no idea what time it was, and just rode til whenever I felt like turning around. Pretty great. That night, I went to Carmen’s dorm. I was absolutely amazed at what was waiting for me there! They had the room decorated, with streamers that said happy birthday in both English and German, balloons, and lots and lots of food! They made pasta salad, regular salad, vanilla cake with strawberries and raspberries, and a chocolate cookie crunch cake decorated like a soccer field!  We drank Sangria and had a wonderful night. So much fun! I’m thankful for 22 years of life. Every breath I have ever taken has been a gift given to me by God, the Creator and Sustainer of Life. He has blessed me with 22 wonderful years- how lucky I am  J

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Well yesterday we found ourselves in Plitvice, Croatia, at one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life. We took the bus from Zadar to Plitvice, and the bus dropped us off in a forest. We had no idea where we were, but just got out and started walking. We had called about renting bungalos for the night, but didn't know where they were or even what they were called. So we find this old man, and he helps us out a little. He sends us on the main road, toward the entrance of the national park, which is about 6 kilometers away. So off we go, walking on the road with our big huge backpacks, looking for the bungalos.  We're singing songs and telling stories, trying to pass the time, when we see this old lady on the side of the road. She starts talking to us, and asks us where we're going. After some small talk, she asks us if we need a place to stay for the night. Well, yeah, actually we sure do. She tells us that she rents out the extra bedroom of her home to tourists, and we could stay there for 17 Euros each for the night. We look at each other, look at her, decide she looks pretty trustworthy, and accept the invitation. So off we go again, into the forest toward her home!  It turned out to be really nice. When we got there, she made us tea and we got settled in, then explored the area a bit. The next day, we would wake up early and spend all day inside the national park. 

I can't even explain the beauty of this place. Words can't describe it and pictures don't do it justice. The water is so blue and so clear, you can see all the way to the bottom from far away. There are fish and birds in the water, and waterfalls all around. You can hear the sound of the waterfalls in almost every direction. There are small wooden bridges built throughout the lakes and waterfalls, so that you can hike through. Every time we turned a corner, the whole group would be in awe. Each twist and turn outdid the last. It was truly amazing. 

Traveling to big cities has been really neat, and I've loved going into cathedrals and seeing amazing architecture and fancy buildings. It's the best that man can do. But being outside, at the beach at sunset, on the edge of cliffs with crystal clear water underneath, absorbing the warmth of the sun on my face, I was just in complete awe. That's what God can do, and it tops what man can do every time. Natural beauties of this world totally set my mind on things above. So much detail and intricacy... our God is amazing!

Zagreb and Zadar

Croatia Weekend: May 19, 2012

Well, here I am, sitting on a bus in Zadar, Croatia, about to head to Plitvice. A huge group of people planned to come to Croatia this weekend, but then everyone started bailing the night before the trip. Thursday morning I met with Stina at 5:10 am, to bike to the train station for a 5:57 train to Zagreb. We had no idea who would show up, or what the plan was, where we would end up or where we would stay. But off we went. I was pretty excited when I saw the group of people who decided to show up Thursday morning. The group was me, Stina, Madison, Mindy, Allison, Courtney, Tom, Wilson, Michael, and Chris. Off we went, ready to change trains four times to make it to Zagreb. We picked up Ashton in Slovenia, to make it 11 of us traveling together. After four and a half hours and four different trains, we got off in Zagreb to get some lunch. We went to an authentic Croatian restaurant, where most people ate sausage and home made bread, with a side of onions. The thing I love about Eastern Europe is that it’s much cheaper! My meal was 22 Kuna, which is about 3 Euros. Not too shabby! After lunch, we headed back to the bus station, and took a bus to Zadar. When we got there, we got hounded by all these people wanting to rent their homes or apartments to us. There were two women telling us that we could stay at their houses, and they both talked bad about the other woman. “She lies, she says her home is 1 kilometer from the beach, but really it is about 5. You have to get there by taxi. Mine has internet access, and 11 beds already made and ready to go….” Tom and Michael decided to ride with her to her house to check it out. So off they go, in a car with some random Croatian woman at the bus station. They call us a few minutes later, and tell us that they like the house, but we decided not to stay there anyway. It was too sketchy, and we wanted a hostel closer to the city center.  So the lady comes back, with only Michael. Tom had stayed at the house, thinking we were all coming. We called him and told him to leave. So Tom starts walking to the bus station to meet us. When the lady hears this, she gets mad, because she had been friendly with us and given them rides, and we told him we didn’t want to stay there. But anyway, we ended up stumbling upon a hostel that we really liked, called “Old Town Hostel.” The location was perfect, about a five minute walk to the beach. The streets inside the town were made of the smoothest stones. There were cute little shops, and a lot of touristy stuff. Our first night, we went to the beach and watched the sunset. Zadar is famous for their “sea organ,” which uses the movement of the waves to play the notes. It was so beautiful to hear! There’s also a bunch of glowing discs in the ground, that are made of solar panels. During the day, they charge through the sun, and then use the energy to glow at night. Pretty cool. We went to dinner at a pizzeria. Stina and I shared a veggie pizza for 44 Kuna. Good stuff. We got gelato after dinner that was absolutely delicious. I got one scoop of “cookies” and one scoop of “Kinder Chocolate.” YUM.

The next day, I woke up and went for a run along the beach. So beautiful! It was the high school seniors’ last day of school, so they were everywhere. They were wearing matching t-shirts, parading through the streets, blowing whistles and blow horns, and throwing eggs and flour. Some of them were racing free style through the Adriatic Sea. When I crossed a bridge while running, I saw a group of them swimming under the bridge and a lot of people cheering for them in Croatian. Crazy kids.

Once everyone got ready for the day, we went to the supermarket and got foods to eat throughout the day, then headed for the beach. It was about a 45 minute walk to where we landed: a beautiful stone beach. It was a little chilly, but we laid out anyway. I was much colder than everyone else, of course, so I was wearing a t-shirt and jacket when they were all laying out in swim suits. Then they decided to go for a swim. I wasn’t so sure. The water was absolutely freezing, and I didn’t have a swimsuit on. But how many chances do you have to swim in the Adriatic Sea? So after a little bit of convincing, I decided to go in. I took off my clothes and headed into the water in my sports bra and underwear! I’m gonna be honest, it was pretty dang cold. My teeth were chattering and my lips may have been some shade of blue, but it was so worth it! We took some fun pictures, and swam for a while.

When we got out, we realized that we’d all been stepping on rocks rather than sand, and everyone had cuts all over their feet! I had 4-5 cuts on my feet, and one cut on my hand. Some were worse cuts than others, but we all had them. There happened to be a group of lifeguards near us who were in training, doing tests to be certified. So we called one of them over, to ask for a band-aid. We told them that actually all of us were covered in cuts, and their reaction was hilarious. What the heck have you guys been doing? Stupid Americans! But the people with the worst cuts got bandaged up, and then we flirted with the cute life guards for a little while.  After the day at the beach, we went back to our hostel to shower and change. That night, Stina, Michael, and I went to walk around near the hostel, and stumbled upon this Roman gladiator reenactment. So we stopped and watched, and there were at least a hundred other people watching. Pretty decent crowd. The guys were supposed to be “acting” but one of them was really into it. We were all a little bit afraid of him. He was “fighting” with another gladiator dude, but he gave him a real bloody nose! They dragged the guy away from the stage by his arms, with blood pouring out of his nose! It was cool to watch them yell and growl and shout in Croatian. Pretty fun.

Then we went back to the beach, and watched the sunset again with the sound of the sea organ setting the mood. If I would have had a boyfriend, it would have been so romantic! Sitting at the beach at sunset is proof that there is a God! It is too amazing to have created itself. I believe with all my heart that there has to be Someone who created the beauties of this world! We went to a nice dinner at a seafood restaurant. I wasn’t too hungry, so I just split a pasta with Stina. But a few people got fancy seafood platters, filled with fish with heads still on them, and sea creatures with antennas and arms and claws and eyes. I couldn’t eat something with eyes, but it was fun to watch them try to figure out how to eat it!

This morning, I woke up and ran again, and then went back to the hostel to take a shower. So in our hostel, there were maybe three floors of rooms, and each floor had a bathroom with showers. I go in the bathroom, and think that no one else is in there. I lock the door, and don’t think a thing of it. There’s another door on the other side of the bathroom, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. So I take off my clothes, and am standing right outside the shower, waiting for the water to get warm. I’m still wearing my socks, when all of a sudden I see the handle of the other door start to turn! Someone had been in there the whole time! I’m standing there butt naked, so I have to make a split second decision. I jump into the shower, which is freezing cold, still wearing my socks. You can see through the shower doors, but it’s better than standing outside. I turn around as the person walks by, and throw my socks onto the floor.  Shizaa. Oh well!

Today, we went to the bus station, and the group split up. Madison, Ashton, Stina, and I are headed to Plitvice, to go to the National Park there filled with lakes and waterfalls. Tom went alone to Split, and is going from there to Bosnia. Crazy dude. The rest of the group is going to Zagreb, and then going back to Graz tomorrow. Sad to split up, but I really like the foursome that we have now. All of us like the outdoors, and can stay in Plitvice an extra day if we want to because none of us have class on Monday. We reserved “bungalos” to stay in tonight, which are inside the park. I’m pretty excited about it! Croatia is absolutely beautiful. So here we go, headed to the lakes! More to come from there  J

All Together Separate

All Together Separate (Paradigm)

Can't get these lyrics out of my head....  check out the link to the song at the bottom- good stuff!

“Everybody loves a rose,


But will you be thankful for the thorns?


Love is easy when you're loved,


But do you curse another when you're alone?

Oh, I give my life to You


so I can gain it back again


Oh, I stand solid 
while the paradigm is shifting”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hC92PjTDg8

The Progression of Sin

 As Christians, we are called to holiness. What does it mean to be holy?

Holy: set apart, to be distinct, to be different from those around

1 Peter 1:15-16 “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written, ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”

God is absolute holiness. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty! His holiness is the reason that He can send people to hell and be glorified in doing so. He doesn’t desire to send people to hell, but because of how holy and set apart He is, imperfection cannot enter His presence. (Thank you that our imperfections are paid for by the blood of Christ).

In Leviticus 20:22-24, God is telling the Israelites that they are set apart from the nations, and must act as a separate people, following His laws and decrees.

God makes it clear that as followers of Jesus, we are called to be distinctly different from “the world.” How do we become distinctly different?

We sin against God with thoughts, words, and deeds.  David writes about each of these in his psalms:

Thought: Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Word: Psalm 19:14 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Deed:  Psalm 15:1-2 “Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary? Who may live on Your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart.”

Thoughts lead to words, and words lead to actions.  Because of the constant progression of sin, we have to stop it right when it starts! Our thought lives are so important! If our thoughts are dwelling on the things of God, our words and actions follow.

Thoughts à Habits à Character à Destiny

            2 Corinthians 10:5 “Take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.”

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer by the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

When a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, it is clearly transformed. A butterfly would never desire to go back to being a caterpillar! In the same way, we have been transformed into new creations if we have been born again in Christ. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” As ‘butterflies,’ or ‘new creations in Christ’ or ‘Christians’ for that matter, we are called to holiness. Let us walk in the light of Christ.

God Knows Us Inside and Out

"You are not an accident or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. God prescribed every single detail of your life and body. He determined your natural talents and the uniqueness of your personality. He knows us inside and out, every bone in our bodies. He knows exactly how we were made, bit by bit, how we were sculpted from nothing into something. He planned it all for His purpose. Many children are unplanned by their parents, but no one is unplanned by God. God’s purpose took into account human error and even sin. Love is the essence of God’s character. He made you in order to express His love."

 Now THAT should bring a smile to your face today  J