Schmale Strasse

Flight. With Reservations.

2009-08-11T18:58:00.003+02:00

I just got an email from Expedia updating my travel times for this Christmas. I can't wait to get on the plane for the last leg of the trip; check out what kind of aircraft they have slated for it in the picture above. It should be an interesting trip.

An Unpleasant Monday Morning

2009-05-08T17:31:00.003+02:00

Back in December, I was still deciding if I should keep the sorry excuses for cats that I had acquired. The vet said they would come around eventually, but after a month, they still wouldn't come near me or let me pet them. I thought about returning them, like the vet promised I could if it didn't work out. One Sunday night, I set my cell phone alarm for the next morning as usual. I woke up late Monday morning, discovering that my alarm hadn't gone off at all. That was already a bad start to the week. Then I walked out of my room and discovered that despite their lack of opposable thumbs, the cats had somehow gotten into the kitchen and wreaked havoc. They had opened up a Tupperware full of cookies and dumped it on the floor. They ripped open a loaf of bread, but didn't touch the bread--just the bag. And then I spotted a nice ripe piece of poop sitting on the couch, in the kitchen. I started shouting and chasing them out from behind the couch. Marille, with a little more sense, ran out of the kitchen. But Newton ran across the kitchen, jumped up on the counter, and climbed inside the apartment's hot water heater, wedging himself in between the pipes. And when I tried to get him to come out (only his tail was protruding) he just hissed at me. Then, of course, I couldn't get a shower--because I didn't want to fry or electrocute him while he was holed up in there.

So I just left him in there, went to school, late, bleary-eyed, and unshowered, promising myself that when I got home, I was taking them back to the vet.

But for some reason, I didn't have the heart to do that.

More Rube Goldbergs

2009-04-14T17:31:00.005+02:00

Yes, it was time for the yearly Rube Goldberg project. This year they had to do a much more thorough job measuring heights, masses, and calculating the kinetic and potential energies of each object. Most groups chose "pop a balloon" as their task...here is the most video-friendly machine (most of them happen so fast it's hard to see what's happening on a recording). The books fall, turning on the hair dryer, which sends the TP rolling, knocking over a pillar, which releases a ball, sending a ball rolling, which finally sends a car (with a needle attached) crashing into the balloon. On this second one, you can see proof of the power of prayer (listen for one of the students' supplications right as they start it). It worked! Here is a third group who opted to pour out a can of pop for their task.

Stake Out #2

2009-03-16T16:57:00.004+01:00

After my first attempt at luring the cats out of the kitchen failed, I made a strong cup of coffee, and began my next assault. I left food out by the front door--but I surrounded the dish with a square yard of tinfoil, for a warning signal. I once again turned off all the lights, and this time I sat in my bed, silently--listening. And I tied a string from the kitchen door running over to my bed. Only, I didn't have any string, so I had to use long pieces of folded-over packing tape.

The first time I heard the foil crinkling (after about half an hour), I waited about 30 seconds, hoping that whichever cat it was would be closely followed by their sibling. Then I yanked the string, and slammed the kitchen door shut. Racing into the hall, I discovered--nothing. Somehow they knew something was up and disappeared before I started to shut the door.

After that, they became more cautious. I had to wait about an hour and half, in darkness and silence, until I heard any more noises. I was about to drift off to sleep with the string in my hand when I heard it. This time, after the kitchen door slammed, a streak of fur shot past my bed into the living room. Newton raced all around the room and couldn’t find any good place to hide, so he went back in the hall. He threw himself frantically at the (now-closed) kitchen door, dismayed to find that he was cut off from his perfect hiding place. When I came into the hall and turned on the light, he was so terrified that he began throwing himself at the hall closet door, in a futile attempt to get in there, too. Then he climbed up my coats, and perched himself on the highest coat hook like he was sitting on a tree branch. So I pulled him down and shut him in the WC with some food (I figured he deserved some reward after his trauma). Then I turned off all the lights, had a few more sips of coffee, and began the last round.

This time I waited about 2 hours before I heard the telltale crinkling in the front hall. I pulled the string, slammed the door shut, and she was trapped. She climbed up the coats too, and when she saw me, she jumped literally up to the ceiling and landed by the front door.

My first act, once I got them out of the kitchen, was to tape cardboard all over the underside of the oven so that no cats will be going in there any time soon. Then I shooed them into the living room, firmly closed the kitchen door, and settled down to sleep—after only about 4 hours of waiting.

Science Songs

2009-03-11T12:51:00.002+01:00

For a while, I've been hoping to create a parody song for each of the 12 main units we study in physics class. On Saturday, I finished one for "circuits". Today we talked about current, and how it depends on voltage and resistance (Ohm's law). And about Luigi Galvani, who discovered that when he ran a current through a dissected frog, its muscles would still move. You can hear the song I played for them in class today here. No video yet...but you can listen. Apologies to the Plain White T's...

Stake Out #1

2009-03-04T17:27:00.006+01:00

In November, I went to the vet down the street and adopted two kittens. They were found in the country and brought to Vienna, and weren't really used to people (read: feral). The vet said that it would take some patience before they got used to me. Patience was exactly the right word. Or possibly stubbornness.

I named the boy Newton (after Sir Isaac) and his sister Marille (which means "apricot" in Austrian German). I brought them home...and they wouldn't come near me. They would hiss or bolt if I tried to approach them. And after a couple days, Newton completely disappeared. My apartment is not that big, but I couldn't find him anywhere.

That Thursday, after Newton (the yellow one) had been MIA for about 48 hours, I came home and discovered the two of them huddled behind the couch. Being a good, protective brother, Newton immediately bolted into the kitchen. I followed him, a moment too late, and just heard a “thunk” sound toward the stove. I had already searched the kitchen diligently the previous day—there weren’t any good hiding places. So I went over it with a fine tooth comb—behind the couch, beside the fridge, on top of the cabinets over the sink…everywhere. Finally, I got down on my hands and knees. I still couldn’t see any hiding places….but then I felt along the underside of the indentation all the way around the bottom of the cabinets. At just one spot, about two feet wide, there was a 4” gap leading up under the oven. They got in there, and then were able to run around under all the cabinets.

After that (Newton, being a bad example, taught his sister to hide down ther too) I basically didn't see them at all. Whenever I came home, they would be hiding under the cabinets. At night, if I left food in the living room, they came out to eat it. That Friday night I caught a glimpse of Newton staring at me just before he ran back into the kitchen with a full stomach.

Then I decided enough was enough. They couldn’t get used to me if I never saw them. And they were starting to leave little surprises under the cabinets, in a place which could never be cleaned out.

I began a stake-out that Sunday afternoon. I put a chair up on the kitchen counter, next to the stove, and turned off all the lights. I even pretended to lock the front door like I was going out. Then I sat there, up on the counter, deathly still. Nothing happened for about 20 minutes. Then, lo and behold, as I looked down, Marille appeared first, scanning the room for trouble. Her cowardly brother showed his head after she was about 3 feet away from the oven. Then she looked up, and I knew I was sunk. Newton disappeared back under the oven and she followed quickly.

They foolishly thought they had won. But stay tuned to hear about how I got them out.

Upside Down

2008-06-05T14:03:00.002+02:00

We've been studying lenses and talking a bit about the eye in Physics, and I was telling my students the story of George Stratton. He did an experiment where he wore a pair of inversion goggles (they make everything appear upside down) for several days. After a time, his eyes/brain adjusted to the abnormality, and he could function (somewhat) normally. And THEN, when he finally removed the goggles, it took some time for his naked eyes to go back to seeing normally. Here's one of my students wearing the goggles...it's quite an unusual experience. You can make your own with a simple triangular prism...

Making the World Small

2008-05-02T12:29:00.002+02:00

This year I finally made it through G.K. Chesterton's "Heretics", which is an amazing book. You can actually read the whole thing free online at pagebypagebooks.com. But one passage in particular struck me, in a chapter entitled "On Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Making the World Small." Here's one of my favorite paragraphs:

It is inspiriting without doubt to whizz in a motor-car round the earth, to feel Arabia as a whirl of sand or China as a flash of rice-fields. But Arabia is not a whirl of sand and China is not a flash of rice-fields. They are ancient civilizations with strange virtues buried like treasures. If we wish to understand them it must not be as tourists or inquirers, it must be with the loyalty of children and the great patience of poets. To conquer these places is to lose them. The man standing in his own kitchen-garden, with fairyland opening at the gate, is the man with large ideas.

It's nice to live in Europe, and it's nice to go on side trips now and then (my parents flew me to London to meet them 3 weeks ago...it was great!). There are so many things to discover. But the last few months especially, I've been enjoying feeling really at home in Vienna. There's so much to explore and enjoy right here. Here's to settling down, making friends, and getting to know one place well, and to appreciate it for what it is.

Laziness is the Mother of Invention

2008-03-14T23:59:00.003+01:00

The last few weeks, in freshmen science, we've been studying work, power, and the conservation of energy. Instead of a test, they have a project and a paper for this unit. Their goal was to build a Rube Goldberg device (named after a cartoonist famous for creating unnecessarily complicated machines to complete a simple task). Since I've assigned this project for 3 years now, I figured I should build one of my own. I often find myself having to walk ALL the way across the classroom to turn off the front light switch during class...so I came up with a "simpler" way. It might be a little hard to understand what's going on, so first I filmed an explanation of the steps, backwards--and then the machine in action. Also, for a link to one of the best such devices ever made, click here.

Building Bridges

2008-01-29T22:49:00.002+01:00

For the last 2 weeks of first semester, my colleagues and I provided a series of brief science electives--students got their choice. The one I taught was on Design and Engineering, and culminated in a bridge-building project. Their goal was to make the most attractive bridge possible that would hold a maximum weight over a 30 cm gap, using as little pasta and glue (their only materials) as possible.

The results: here's the winning student bridge, which held around 12 kg (that's about 24 lb, for those who don't speak metric). I hate to boast, but I will, by pointing out that the bridge I made held 31 kg (62 lb). OK, no fair, I do have an engineering degree. For all the pictures of bridges (and their architects) click here.

The Sound of Music

2008-01-08T16:11:00.000+01:00

There's a lot of wonderful music in Vienna...and I got to play in two concerts in December. The first was a community band just outside the city...every year they have a concert on the opening day of the local Christmas market (you can just see me in the back). Then on the 13th, our school jazz band (mostly students with a few teachers) got to play in this beautiful baroque cathedral in downtown Vienna. I think the parish priest was a little nervous when we brought in the drumset. It's not the kind of place you typically hear a lot of jazz music, to say the least.

Caroling

2007-12-18T17:18:00.001+01:00

This morning for 1st period devotions, I brought in my guitar and had the students sing along to some Christmas carols...some sacred, some not. I wasn't expecting much sound out of them at 8:30 AM, but they were quite enthusiastic. After one song, they suggested that we go and serenade another classroom (which we did). Let me just say that rarely do I hear such a rousing rendition of "Frosty the Snowman".

Back in the Day

2007-12-12T16:54:00.001+01:00

I had the following conversation with my guitar student (5th grade) today, at the end of his lesson:

Him: I might have already asked you this, but do you watch WWE (wrestling)?
Me: I think I might have seen a little, a long time ago.
Him: Like back in 19-something?
Me: Yes, back in 19-something.
Him: Everybody had mullets back then.

Playing Games

2007-11-27T22:27:00.000+01:00

So, here's a little game one of my friends sent me this week. The physics is pretty accurate; so much so that I'm planning to have my students play it in class later this week. Check out the video here; if you like the game, you can download a simplified version here. (You don't need a Tablet PC to play, either.)

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T11:49:00.001+01:00

Since I've been teaching over here, I have kind of a thanksgiving tradition just before break: I have my students fill up the marker board with as many things as they can think of that they're thankful for. Usually it's pretty interesting to see what they write...

Give Up Your Seat

2007-11-14T18:00:00.001+01:00

In Vienna, like most cities, the public transportation has a few seats reserved for pregnant and nursing mothers, the blind, and the elderly--with a 4-circled sticker indicating which ones. However, some clever soul printed out and slapped on a 5th circle--you can see them every once in a while on the trams. Look closely...

Learning Is Fun

2007-10-25T15:26:00.000+02:00

What are we working on in class these days? I'm glad you asked that. I'll tell you. In freshman science, we've been talking about molecules and chemical reactions recently--so we made rock candy (crystals) in connection with our study. This student's came out better than any one that I've ever seen--it probably weighed about a half-pound. Mmm, sugar.

In addition, since chemical reactions also include oxidization (i.e. fire), we're watching a fascinating NOVA video about a serial arsonist. You can read more about the bizarre case of fireman John Orr here--truth really is stranger than fiction.

Breath Mints

2007-10-08T20:44:00.001+02:00

On Thursday, my juniors were taking a math test. They were just starting, so it was getting pretty quiet when the following conversation ensued:
STUDENT: "Mr. Elwell, are we allowed to have breath mints in here?"
ME: "Yeah, that's fine, I don't care."
STUDENT: "OK."
[then a pause]
"Does anyone have any breath mints?"

Well, I thought it was funny, anyway. For another funny (but unrelated) video of some of our students, click here. It's yet another advertisement for the school's "Senior Store".

9.8

2007-10-03T12:42:00.000+02:00

As a teacher, I make a continuous effort not to "[Take] Fun And Excitement Out of Science", as an article in The Onion once put it. So last week, in our quest to calculate an experimental value for gravity, we dropped stuff off the roof. Some of the students used Nalgene bottles, which, as you may know, are nearly unbreakable and have a lifetime warranty. I say nearly because one of the bottles didn't survive the fall. You can check out a picture of that mishap here.

Commercial

2007-09-25T09:15:00.000+02:00

Some of my students are taking a videography class here at VCS (under the direction of my esteemed colleague and roommate Mr. Klein) and here are the fruits of their labors. Check out this video if you want to see just how funny and talented our students are. It's an advertisement for our Senior Store, which is the snackbar where students and teachers can buy American goodies. As a student once put it, "VCS is a place where everyone talks about American food, even people who have never been to America."

2 Versus 10

2007-09-10T16:48:00.000+02:00

On our first day of meetings this school year, our director read us a story from Numbers 13 and 14. For those of you not intimately familiar with the exact timeline of the 4th book of Moses (that would include me) it's the story of how the Israelites, perched on the edge of the promised land of Canaan, wisely sent 12 spies through the land to scope it out. When the spies returned, they told of a land full of abundant produce...but also containing men who appeared like giants to them. Ten of the spies claimed that they felt like grasshoppers in their presence. Only Joshua and Caleb proclaimed that it was a good land, which, despite obstacles, they could conquer with God's help. (The sad part of the story is that the Israelites listened to the cowardly report of the 10, rather than Joshua and Caleb...and the people were forced to wander for 40 years as a result.)

So our director's challenge to us was to be like the 2 spies, not like the 10. As those two said, it was a good land, and with the Lord's help, they could achieve victory. In the same way, our school is an awesome opportunity, provided by God, to make a difference in kids' lives, but it's not without its own obstacles. We have kids' language barriers to overcome; attitude problems to overcome; home issues including who knows what; and a host of other things. But the spies weren't sinful in bringing back a truthful report; it was their choice to focus on the difficulties that brought them down. That story is a good challenge for me, to focus on God to solve the problems I have here, and to depend on Him to accomplish what he wants me to do. I thought it was a good note to start the year on.

I realize that I'm saying this next bit quite early, but...so far it looks like it will be an amazing year. My students are great; if you want to check out some class pictures and see how incredibly diverse they are, click here.

Summer Flashback #1

2007-09-04T19:14:00.000+02:00

When I was in the States this summer, I spent a week or so visiting out east. While I was in Maine with my old college roommate, he mentioned a house he knew of which sounded so fascinating I demanded that we go and visit it the next day. We called the occupants (who were acquaintances of his) and invited ourselves over; we even got dinner thrown in.

The family, whose name I don’t remember, was running an orphanage in the Bahamas but was forced to return to the States. They didn’t have a house, but a rancher in Florida donated an abandoned metal grain silo to their cause. They took it apart piece by piece, loaded it onto a flatbed and drove it north, and then reassembled it on a new foundation in a remote part of Maine. The result: a 5-story silo house. It’s about 50 feet high and 30 feet in diameter. Most of the levels were one big room, and there’s a shaft in the center for an elevator (still waiting to be installed). They even built a wood deck of sorts on the roof. The entire house was a fascinating experiment in being resourceful with very limited resources. I think my favorite touch was the red, heart-shaped hot tub in the master bath, which they picked up quite cheap from a bankrupt motel.

Check out a few more pictures here.

Schoolyear's Eve

2007-08-23T06:18:00.000+02:00

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

2007-08-19T00:58:00.000+02:00

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.

2007-08-01T12:42:00.000+02:00

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.