Welcome to Taurenhof

25.09.05

The breakfast buffet at Haus Linder wasn’t quite as grande as I was familiar with in Switzerland. Simply buns with ham, cheese or jam and beverages. Angelika waited on our needs, which was unexpected and very kind.

Some people had a lot of luggage that wasn’t likely to fit into a locker, Josh was even packing a snowboard. We scrapped our plans to go to Hellbrunn and headed directly to school in Schladming, determining that we could always return to Salzburg one of these days. The unfortunate part was that I wasn’t able to receive Jackie’s email or contact her, so she was stood up two days in a row. Sorry Jackie :’(.

We met several other Taurenhof people on the train to Schladming. Arriving at 1 pm, we had plenty of time to settle in and meet many more of the 69 students attending. This place is so nice — there’s even a little “bistro” with chairs and games, and a covered glass patio. The town is a fair size, but still not too big.

Some people have a lot of roomates, but I’m just with one. Our bedroom even has a large desk and a sink — score! I arrived before Manuel, and went with the top bunk. He is from Germany — and my “chores” are related to recording lectures, with Steffen, also of Germany. I’m glad that I will pick up a little German culture, and perhaps even some of the language. Most of the students are from Canada (30) and the United States (23).

Supper was superb, and had an Austrian authenticity. I had the opportunity to talk with Martin, the principal of the school, he actually grew up here in Schladming and has been at Taurenhof for 8 years. The evening was very informal, with introductions, one worship song, prayer and some basic information on our stay.

Martin also talked about Mary and Martha, being busy for Jesus or just sitting at his feet. Which makes me think about some of the projects I’d like to do on the side while at school — perhaps they should wait. First to listen at Jesus’ feet, and then if not too busy with everything else — maybe work on some web site projects.