Wiener Eistraum

We have had a great weekend! Thanks to Jake and Amanda (and Abby), Josh and I had a date on Friday night and went ice skating with our good friends, Edda and Andreas, at the Rathaus. Each year they turn the Rathaus into a Winter Ice Dream (Winter Eistraum). They have two large skating rinks that are connected with different trails through the trees. They have different colored lights on the trees and on the Rathaus. We drank hot chocolate and ate a fresh crepe with whipped cream. It was so beautiful and so much fun! And, I only fell once! That night definitely climbed the charts as the best date ever!

Then, on Saturday, a couple from the Inzersdorf congregation invited our family over to their house for chili and then ice skating. The kids have never been ice skating before, so they were excited. We went to the same place, but they have a special kids section that is free and they offer little penguins to help the kids learn to skate. By the end of the day, all three kids could stay up on the ice without the help from the penguin (for a short time, anyway)! Carli is already asking when we can go back.

Maybe next time I won't do two days in a row of ice skating. This out-of-shape girl is having a hard time walking!

New Look

Yes, you are in the right place. This is still the Hensal's blog. It was time for a new look. It is still under construction, but feel free to click on the "pull button" for some additional fun!

First Report Card

Carli got her first report card on Friday! Well, she got some in Kindergarten, but those were just check marks. This is her first report card with real grades! Here in Vienna they use numbers instead of letters for grading. "1" means an "A" and a "5" is a "F". I'm sure you all can guess what she got.... All 1's!!! Her teacher said that she is "totally integrated"! and that "she has no problems with the language", "She is extraordinary"!
So we decided to take her out to celebrate with some Gelato! She even ordered her sundae in German! We are so proud of her!

Amerika vs. Österreich

No, this is not a blog contrasting the good and the bad of the United States and Austria. Instead, it's about a friendly little international competition known as Davis Cup.

Over the weekend the top 6 Americans (Andy Roddick & Co. as they are affectionately referred to), last year's Davis Cup champions, played the top Austrians here in Vienna in the first round of the 2008 Davis Cup. Because the matches were played here in Vienna, the Austrian team got to choose the playing surface. Naturally, they chose clay which did make the matches longer and more interesting.

My thoughtful wife decided that we should definitely attend this event (the moment I showed her on ESPN that it was coming to town several weeks ago). Tamika and Bart kindly agreed to watch our kids for the day.

So, on Friday Kim and I enjoyed the opportunity to watch some great tennis as Andy Roddick played Jürgen Melzer and then James Blake played Stefan Koubek. While neither Melzer nor Koubek are ranked remotely close to Roddick or Blake, because the matches were played on clay in Vienna they turned out to be close. After 4 hours Roddick finally pulled off a 5 set victory, but only after much complaining and an overall cocky attitude. Blake needed 3 hours to finish off Koubek in 4 sets, but he played one of his best matches ever on clay and even signed autographs after his interviews. Blake has officially surpassed Roddick as my favorite American tennis hopeful.

While I definitely wanted to see the Americans win, I enjoy good tennis and am here to share my love for God and my life with Austrians, so I tried to cheer for both teams. And up behind us was a contingency of "ugly American" fans, so I certainly worked to maintain a different demeanor
during the matches as we sat in the middle of an enthusiastic and somewhat vocal Austrian crowd.

Kim and I, or mostly I, really enjoyed the long day of tennis watching and definitely appreciate Tamika, Bart, and Izabela for playing with our kids all day. (Kim's favorite part was just getting to hang out with her husband for such a long time without the constant demands of her children; I only asked her to get me something to eat and drink once or twice unlike the continuous requests from our children at home.)

Fashing

Here in Vienna they celebrate Fashing. It is a holiday that actually lasts several weeks, but it ended yesterday (Fashingsdienstag). On the last day the kids (and adults) all dress up and have big celebrations. On Monday, Caleb had an Indianerfest where he got to dress up like an Indian and have a big party. A couple of weeks ago, I went to his school with him and we made his costume.



Then on Tuesday, we pulled out the Buzz Lightyear costume from Halloween and he got to wear it to school and have another big party!

Carli wore her Snow White costume and also had a big party at her school. Pretty much, it is Austria's version of Halloween- without the trick-or-treating. The stores are filled with costumes just like in the States. It has been a fun week. The kids have all of next week off of school so they are pretty excited about that too!

It was really nice outside the other day, so we spent all afternoon riding bikes and throwing rocks in the water by our house. Carli and her neighbor friend decided to play Memory on our picnic table in the back yard.

Super Bowl and Commercials to boot

Last night while most people in the United States sat behind their TV to watch the Super Bowl (some 97.5 million people according to ESPN), most people in Vienna slept because the game did not start until 12:20 AM this morning. However, in the Hensal basement, with the help of technology (Slingbox) and my father-in-law, four of us (well, really three - Jake, Ira, Kim - for a half, and I) enjoyed the Super Bowl and its commercials. While the Giants made it a game to remember, the first-time event of watching the Super Bowl in Vienna with great friends (we did miss Brian) made it a special memory I will carry with me for a long time.

Not only did my wife help get ready for the Super Bowl (snacks, house, etc.), she watched part of the first half with us. Even sweeter than that, she dropped the kids off at school and let me sleep later with Cotter (since the game didn't end until after 4:00 AM). I definitely enjoyed the evening and want to thank my father-in-law Mark, the guys, and my wife for making it a great time.