Oh my! Salzburg, Austria is breathtakingly beautiful and green! As we drove in our two buses from Munich to Salzburg, the red roofs were a beautiful contrast with the fields of green and yellow. The lake and the mountain view from the veranda of the Schloss is a view I've always dreamed of seeing.
The Schloss Leopoldskren is a history lesson in itself and thus far the food has been wonderful. The main course this evening was Wiener Schnitzel -- nothing like Der Wienerschnietzel (hot dogs) at home! This was a tender, golden fried turkey breast served with cranberry sauce and then we had chicken crepes that were so creamy.
Traveling with this group has been a blast! Rusty is talented at turning the light on the airplane with his hip while he sleeps and Katy has proven to be a stealthy pillow stealer. Dan, there was an empty space in front of me for seven hours ... we miss you, but know that you are where you are supposed to be! Between Michelle and I, this group already hates seeing us come around with the camera (groan)! I am going to get some shots of Julissa to prove that she was in Austria!
Today was a day of introductions and getting to know one another. We have met a tremendous faculty and support faculty and I'm really looking forward to hearing from them throughout the week. This evening Chandelle, Julissa and I had the opportunity to sit with Dennis and Jill Jaehne from San Jose State University in California at dinner. What a special couple that have traveled all over the world and have taken many young people into their lives and hearts. He was such an encourager to the whole group as we introduced ourselves.
Tonight's session was on Ethnocentrism and Maps. How interesting it was to see maps developed of the world from different perspectives - which country was placed in the center, which country was bigger - causing us to consider the perceptions of others and consider the point of view we would use to look at the world.
This is going to be a week of much learning and head spinning for me -- I can tell! A week of introspection.
Dreams do come true! And I'm going to dream tonight sleeping in a horizontal position rather than vertical as we "tried" to sleep last night!
