Schoolyear's Eve

Well, tonight's the last night of summer. The students were around school this morning for registration, which always adds a nice jolt of energy to the last-minute preparation...school's way more fun when there are actually students around.

Just a quick addition to what I wrote last time--in all the business with the flight change, I ended up leaving my Austrian cell phone on the plane. So, I had to get a different one, with a new phone number (but my Skype and land-line numbers remain unchanged). If you don't have my new number and want it, e-mail me.

Gotta go to bed so I can wake up and teach kids.

Good News Bad News

Good news: the right engine on the 767 worked.
Bad news: the left engine didn't.

Thus began my trip back to teach for a third year in Vienna. We were flying over Lake Michigan when the captain announced that we had to make an "unscheduled landing" back in Chicago. We started turning around, and landed about an hour after we took off. The announcement was a little creepy, I must admit. But the landing was without event. So I ended up getting back to Vienna on Sunday, a day late, after my flight was rescheduled with British Airways (instead of Austrian Airlines).

We had staff meetings all this week, and I met a lot of the new teachers. (The school usually turns over about 30% of its staff every year; this year we have 12 new staff members). Yesterday I finally buckled down and started planning lessons and decorating my classroom a bit. In addition to my usual 9th grade physical science, 11th/12th grade physics, and 11th/12th grade precalculus, I get to teach my favorite subject in the world, freshman geometry. Anyone else who was once in Mr. Samide's geometry class at Wheaton North knows at least one good reason why I became a teacher.

I'm anticipating having the dream (nightmare, rather) that I usually have in August about this time: I'm at school, my classes are about to start for the first day, and I have absolutely no idea what my lesson will be. Thankfully, that doesn't generally happen in real life.

The students start school on Thursday...

F.A.Q.

Q: So, what country are you living in again? Australia?
A: Austria.

Q: G’day, mate! Let’s put another shrimp on the “barbie”.
A: I said, AUStria.

Q: Where are your students from?

A: All over. About a third are from the Americas, about a third from Europe, and about a third are from Asia and Africa.

Q: What language do they speak over there, anyway?

A: German. But many people speak English; if you ask an Austrian on the street if they speak English they'll usually say (even if they are fluent) "a little".

Q: What language do you teach in?

A: All of our students learn in English (except in German (or Spanish) class. That means, thankfully, that I don't need to know the German name for the law of conservation of momentum (der Drehimpulserhaltungssatz).

Q: Do you wear, like, Lederhosen and stuff?

A: No.

Q: How big is your school?

A: This year we have about 200 students (K-12), and our staff (including teachers, admin, support staff and part timers) is about 60 people.

Q: What subjects are you teaching?

A: This year, I have freshman science, pre-calculus, physics, and that most noble of all subjects, geometry.

Q: Are your students awesome?

A: Yes.

Q: How are you paid/compensated?

A: Since the school started, the teachers (and administration) have been supported by God's provision through the generosity of family, friends, and churches back home.

Q: What is the mission of the school?

A: From our mission statement: to glorify God by providing high quality academic programs, in the English language, for our international student population. See our website (below) for more info.

Q: That sounds great. I’d like to be a part of it. How can I help?

A: There are many ways. I always need prayer. Let me know if you'd like to receive email (or snailmail) updates on prayer requests and other things. Also, I'd never turn down some encouraging mail or a package containing delicious goodies. I love to have visitors and introduce them to the school and my life here. And, if you are interested in giving to me (or the school), please email me.

Q: How can I contact you, anyway?

A: If you need my phone/address, please email me -- chadelwell [AT] yahoo.com.

Q: Why did you write your email address in that weird way?

A: So that I won't get any more spam than I do already.

Q: What Christian/missions organization are you working with?

A: Resourcing Christian Education, International--they're dedicated to providing missionary teachers for international schools.

Q: Does the school have a website?

A: Yup--take a look: http://www.viennachristianschool.org/. RCE has a website, too: http://rce-international.org/

Q: Are all of your students Christians?

A: Our school was started 20 years ago just for missionary kids (even now, we have quite a few of them). Now, any student is welcome to attend; we have Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, and some other faiths represented in our student body.

Q: Is it true that you have the first 100 digits of π memorized?

A: Yup.

Q: Do they have Dunkin’ Donuts in Vienna?

A: Sadly, no. The nearest ones are in Germany (yes, I have been to many of them). No Taco Bell, either.