Brazil Day 7 (Wednesday)

Day 7 (Wednesday)
Howdy Family and Friends! Another great morning to get up and go! Today was a travel day though as we travelled with Thiago and Gabi’s aunt Amelia over to Buzios a city near Rio where there are lots of beaches and people are used to going there during the summer. We left Rio and passed through the Rio-Niteroi to get there. This is a very long bridge that we crossed over the ocean on.

First stop it was at Geriba Beach where we ate pastel de queijo, comparable to a cheese filled bread that is fried and coke to drink. We swam in the ocean here and the water was a teal color. So pretty! The sand was reddish in color! After that we drove to a beach in the same city called Joao Fernandes beach. The water here was a very pretty teal blue but the sand was much more coarse and full of gravel in some ways.
We had lunch at a restaurant called Cleopatra and ordered Brochette Misto , which is a mixed kabab.

Instead of eating the food off a stick, it was served on a silver platter. Another interesting thing was this: A man was walking around selling wooden jewelry boxes and sugar pots. I really liked how they looked and asked him what he priced them at. He said anywhere from 15-45 Reals. Of course, I bartered with him and got it for 25 Reals. But...to make it better, I also asked him to sign it for me.

He was really shy but he did and I took a picture with him. If very dark Brazilians could blush, I am sure he was! When we were done we went back to the car and we stopped at a café and had a Brazilian dessert called Acai. I loved it! We mixed in bananas and granola.
After that we went to another beach city 40 minutes from Buzios called Cabo Frio where we went shopping on the street called Rua dos Biquinis which stands for Bikini street. That is what it was full of --bikini shops and other swim suit shops. A few T Shirts shops were scattered in there as well. We purchased a few shirts and then made our way back to Rio. Try as we might, we could not keep our eyes open after the sun went down.
After arriving back in Rio, we got a taxi and made our way back to Amelia’s home for a delicious dinner cooked by her husband, Jose. It was hamburger without the grease drained and diced green olives mixed in. You then take this mixture and eat it over mashed potatoes. It was very good and filling. We also had traditional beans and rice! So good!!!!
At the table was probably the second best part of the day! I sat next to what I call the Crazy Uncle Jose!

He thinks I need to learn Portuguese and I say he needs to learn English. We teased back and forth in our native languages for the remainder of the meal and kept the rest of the table in stitches! A fun time had by all!
From our travelling Brazilian picture window to yours, have a great day!

Brazil Day 6 (Tuesday)

Day 6 in Brazil (Tuesday)
Howdy Family and Friends! Another relaxing day here in the city of Rio! Since Thiago has class in the morning, we slept in again feeling refreshed! We had Brazilian doughnuts for breakfast. Mine had a chocolate filling and Dave’s was just a round doughnut that had cherry bites on top. They are solid though. They also put a powdered sugar on them. Different from the American doughnut.
After Thiago got back from school, we went and had lunch with Gabi at a restaurant called Fagulha.

It’s comparable to the USA steak buffet, but instead of gorging yourself, they weigh your plate each time you go through! We still enjoyed some of our new favorite Brazilian foods though!
After lunch we caught the taxi over to Thiago and Gabi’s college where Gabi had afternoon classes. We also saw the American Consulate. The lines for people waiting to get their visas were very long. We snapped a picture in front of the building very quickly before finding out that was not allowed. They say it’s against the American rules to protect the building…interesting information!
From there we toured on foot around the middle of the city. Thiago pointed out the building where his Aunt works as a lawyer, where he is completing his internship, the courthouse, and many other places. We ended up at the ocean and caught the Rio-Niteroi Ferry to the other side. It’s about a 20 minute ride from one side to the other. After arriving in Niteroi, we went to Icarai Beach and went swimming in the ocean. While we were swimming, we found many seashells. Dave was out playing in the waves and stepped on “something” so he kept his foot on it until he could go down and pick it up. When he did, it was a hermit crab! What a find!

Today we tried coconut water for the first time. Straight from the coconut—very different, its like a sour/sweet taste. The first original taste is sour but the aftertaste is sweet. A sip was enough for me! We also saw a man who was building a sand castle on the shore. It was ornate! Thiago said usually there are several of them working on the beach.
As the sun went down, we made our way back to Rio, back to his home but not before stopping at a McDonalds to have supper! Yes we had to try McDonalds. We had stopped by for ice cream earlier in the week, but this time we were going to try a meal. The fries and Big Mac are the same, but that is where the comparison stops. The sandwhiches are different. I had a hamburger with a slice of pepperoni and Dave had a chicken bacon onion sandwich. They were really good! The biggest difference was the size of the buns and the freshness of the bread. We ended the night with ice cream and a walk to our first ride on the subway.
We went down several escalators to the subway and rode to Thiago’s neighborhood. We didn’t realize just how tired we were until we tried to move to the door as the subway was stopping. We looked rather funny waddling around grabbing on to anything we could to stay upright. We exited the Subway and then had several blocks to the house. On the way, we found a cow expo that had the Olympic theme. Reminded us of the Burwell Longhorns!
From our tired but fun Brazilian picture window to yours, have a great day!

Day 5 in Brazil!

Day 5 in Brazil!
Howdy Family and Friends! For the first time since we arrived in Brazil we got more than 4 hours of sleep! We slept in today until 10 a.m.! After waking up, as we were packing up our luggage, I caught my cmarea by accident and knocked it to the floor. Unfortunately this was enough to make it not work anymore so I am stuck with our backup camera and ipod for pictures. It's horrible because the megapixels and quality are very poor!

After we were out of our room, we went shopping around our hotel while waiting for Thiago to get out of class. At 1 p.m. we met up with him at the hotel and hailed a taxi and went shopping. Our first stop was at the mall. We ate at the Botafogo Praia Shopping Center in a restaurant called Spoleto. It’s a pasta restaurant where you choose your pasta, then your sauce, then eight different ingredients! It was delicious! We ate outside where the pigeons joined us! After one customer finished his plate, the pigeons enjoyed the leftover contents of his plate!

We shopped the mall for a while and then at 3 headed to the Botanical Gardens. We saw beautiful flowers of all kinds, monkeys and birds. It was relaxing to walk through there. The best part was watching Dave get a drink from the water fountain...a lady who was spitting out a stream of water. But, when you get a drink, it looks like you are kissing the fountain!

We then hailed another taxi and took a longer ride to the New York City Center where we shopped. It had a lot of American shops and restaurants, but was very expensive! We did find iced coffee though--at McCafe (aka McDonalds!) Not only did they have a lot of shops, they were fully decorated for Christmas! Beautifully decorated trees with lights were already on display! It is so hard to even think about that because outside its 80 degrees!!!
After about 2 hours of this, we went to a Pizza Restaurant called Frontera and had our fill of pizza, but not without lessons on how to eat it first! I thought eating pizza was just like in America, pick it up with your fingers and enjoy, but nooooo! You must use your fork and knife. The first thing you do is cut off the crust and place it on a small plate in the center of the table.

That is considered waste and you don’t eat it because it cuts down the amount of food you can consume! Anyway, this pizza restaurant is like a buffet, but once again they bring the pizza’s to you! They have all kinds of pizza that we don’t have in the USA. All the meats, cheese, garlic…you name it, they have it. But my favorites were the dessert pizzas. The first they brought around was chocolate pizza. It’s like chocolate fondue on pizza crust! So delicious! Then we had, chocolate pizza with m&m’s, chocolate pizza with strawberries,

a fruit pizza—guava with cheese (it sounds bad, but it was very yummy! Not a salty cheese, but a sweet cheese!) So many yummy choices! We left full as pigs but very happy!
After supper we caught the subway back to Thiago’s aunt’s home where we stayed up until the early hours of the morning catching up on facebook and blogging, chatting and enjoying each other’s company!
From my very yummy chocolate pizza Brazilian picture window to yours, have a great day!

Day 4 in Brazil!

Day 4 in Brazil
Howdy family and friends! After just a short nap consisting of about 3 ½ hours we stopped by the Assembly of God Church in Petropolis and took a picture.

We then arrived back in Rio at our hotel and changed clothes to board the tour bus to see the sites of Rio. We were able to meet Antonia—a girl from Brazil who is wanting to be a foreign exchange student. She was a great help throughout the day.
Our first stop was to the Christ statue.

To get up the mountain, we boarded a tram and about 15 minutes later we arrived. We were able to not only see the Christ statue but the city of Rio and the many beaches. While we were also there, several Children were getting baptized by the Catholic priest. In between baptisms, the priests came out and sprinkled holy water on people while blessing them. As I stood back and watched, I was amazed how quickly people flock to them for a sprinkle. I, on the other hand, got a picture with one of the priests!

On the way back down the mountain, we wanted to make sure we boarded the tram that held the Samba school so we could enjoy more music. They were right in front of Dave and I and then one of the drummers handed me the noise shaker! He wanted me to be a part of the band! It was so much fun!

Once down the mountain, we boarded our bus again, but not before getting a picture at the tiniest Hard Rock Café in Rio. The bus drove us around the Carnival site, the Chapel of Santissimo, and the Soccer stadium. We found some street sellers selling hats. Originally they wanted 25 Reals for each one but I love to barter and I talked them down to 10 Reals per hat! SCORE for me! I actually did this twice today! The other reps were jealous of my bartering skills and wanted me to go with them to barter!
Finally we arrived at Cocurtio (Sugarloaf). We ate a delicious lunch here before going all the way to the top of the Sugarloaf. Dave was not too sure of this ride as he doesn’t like heights, but I loved it. He would have been content to sit on the floor! You could see for miles the city of Rio and the ocean. As we were preparing to go back down Dave and I spotted a little trail and took off on it—only to be followed by my boss, Georgina. She yelled, “Wait up you two! Where are you going now?” (She claimed that she had to supervise us but in all actuality, she didn’t want to hear about another of our adventures, she wanted to participate in it!) The trail took us a quite a little way down the mountain. It was beautiful! On the way down though, Dave decided the window wasn’t such a bad place to be and was right there at the front of the car watching everything!

We boarded the bus one last time to make our way back to hotel and decided that we were going back to the ocean to go swimming. For almost two hours we played in the ocean waves before going to the street market to barter for more souvenirs. As we made our way back to our hotel, we stopped by Copacabana Palace to see what it was like inside there…priceless!
Supper tonight was on our own for the first time since we arrived in Rio and we found this quant little restaurant on the corner one block from our hotel. We didn’t understand one bit of the menu but ended up with some great food. I had a roast beef sandwich that had a pepperoni stick bored into the middle of it! Delicious! Dave had steak/ham/egg sandwich on one piece of bread. Very yummy! I couldn’t finish my sandwich because it was so big so I asked for a to go container—they brought out a Tupperware like container—and then charged 1.50 for it! Crazy! I washed the container and am bringing that puppy home! Overall a great day! From my Brazilian bartering picture window to yours, have a great day!

Day 3 in Brazil!

Day 3
What a day! It all started with an early morning—around 7:30 when me met with Thiago and his Aunt Amelia. We piled into the little car and headed off to Petropolis. We struggled to stay awake because there is so much to see and do here! The ride was only around an hour, but it was enough down time to put us to sleep. Petropolis is a beautiful city! There were more houses and ornate buildings than in Rio. It is a very old city that was settled by German immigrants. Brazil was once under Imperial rule. Our first stop was the Christ viewpoint. Our second stop was the hotel casino Quitandinha which is built in German style. It is the second most famous hotel in the country. It was built in 1944 and many famous people have stayed there.
The next stop was to the chocolate store! One word for the store--YUMMY!!!
From there we went down to the historical district and went to a very unique museum. The emperor built a summer house and now is a museum on the Emperors life. The interesting thing is that all the floors are hard wood, so you have to put on these special slippers over your shoes so that you don’t scratch the floor. Then they tell you to “glide” across the floor. I think it’s their way of getting free labor from tourists so they don’t have to clean the floors.

This pace is surrounded by beautiful botanical gardens. From here went walked down what the Brazilian’s call the “most expensive street in Petropolis.” This is street that has the house of the princess and the legislature on it. We also went to the summer home of the President and went on a small tour through the President’s summer house. Nothing like Camp David at all! First of all, they let you tour it and second of all, it only had two guards! Time was getting short so we headed to the car, but not before we saw a goat pulling little kids around and the house that belonged to Brazil’s version of the Wright Brothers.
We went to Thiagos’s uncles home and had a traditional Brazilian meal of beans and rice with BBQ sausage and breaded chicken and beef. It was incredible! Tastes nothing like what we have in the USA. The lunch ws enough to make our eyes very heavy (or it could be the fact that we are averaging 4 hours of sleep or less and we were exhausted. We laid down for 15 minutes and then it was time to get dressed for the wedding.

A Brazilian wedding...Words cannot describe what it was like but we are going to try. It was in a huge cathedral where the Emperor was buried. Usually weddings are dress up occasions, but this was over the top. All the guys were in suits or tuxes and the ladies were in formals. The problem is that the bride was 1 hr 15 minutes late. It is acceptable for the bride to be late, it is expected. But according to Sonia, this was too late. There are a lot of unique things different about a Brazilian ceremony. The bridesmaids all stand to the back instead of going down the stairs and the parents stand next to the children during the ceremony. The Mother of the bride also holds the Bride’s bouquet! After the couple is married, then they take pictures of the couple and family in front of the crowd. When she finally marches down the aisle, it is the Pomp and Circumstance Recessional! That was interesting too!
After the ceremony we had a 40 minute drive to where the reception was. On the way we passed an Assembly of God church that was having service. It would have been great to stop, but we didn’t have time. It looked like fun!
The reception was at Itaipava Castle with valet parking and a guest list to get inside and yes, our names were on it!!!! Once inside there was almost no way to describe what you saw. There were brigadeiro chocolate treats everywhere—of all flavors.

We were seated in a glass reception hall behind the castle with huge red rose arrangements on every table. They continually brought hors d'oeuvres and drinks around to us. There was no getting up to get your food. They would give you a little napkin and as you held the napkin they would place the food on the napkin. Everything from tiny baked potatoes with Cheese inside of them to breaded shrimp, crab cakes, little pasta rolls--it was an incredible combination of food. As we were eating, we heard the Samba school arriving—which also signified the start of the party!—around 11:30 p.m. This is like a drum line but with much more flair and energy. They were the winning Samba school from carnival 2011 and they went to the dance floor and performed a little concert. Everybody was packed in there to see them and then the 2 carnival dancers showed up. Wow is all I can say! During this time the mother of the bride called me out from the crowd and drug me out to the center to meet the bride and all the cameras and video people were there to capture this on tape. It was wild! Something I will NEVER forget!

After I finally got away from the cameras it was time for chocolate! I grabbed one of everything I could find. WOW!! IT was awesome! I love my chocolate and I got my fill!!!!!!! (I did have to take my extras and put them in a napkin to take with me though!)

About 1:30 we left the reception (it was still going strong!) and made our way back to Thiago’s home. When we got there it was 2:30ish and we finally crawled into bed about 3. After a short nap, we got up at 6:30 and headed back to Copacabana and to our hotel. What an amazing day!!!! From my Petropolis/Brazilian wedding/reception picture window to yours, have a great day!

Brazil Day 2!

Brazil Day 2!
Howdy Family and Friends! Greetings from Brazil! Today we woke up around eight in the morning (five our time) and had breakfast with the other area reps downstairs in the lobby of our hotel and then it was off to meetings to discuss STS information and changes that will be happening next year. We also met the General Manager from Sweden STS. It was a great time!
Following our meeting, we enjoyed a lunch of Filet Minion or Grilled chicken with a lemon juice sauce and rice and French fries. I had the chicken and Dave enjoyed the steak. It was almost 2:30 when we finally sat down to enjoy the lunch though!
When that was finished, we were allowed to go out on our own. Dave and I went shopping in the tourist areas of Copacabana and ended up at the beach of the Atlantic Ocean. The sand was so nice and warm on the feet and the water was so cold!!!! But after walking in it for about 5 minutes, the feet got used to it! Some of the waves splashed clear up to our waist and almost knocked us over!
Like youngsters in love, we drew in the sand with a stick our names and the date! (See picture below!) While we were there a pigeon also decided to follow me wherever I went. He must have thought I had something good to eat! Too bad for him!

On the way back to the hotel, we went into another grocery store just to look around and found the most interesting meat counter we have ever seen. The meat is laying on ice and you “paw” through it to decide what you want…and then around the corner, the fresh fish are laying on the ice staring at you just waiting for you to choose them! Quite a site to say the least!

About 4, we met up with Thiago again and headed to a much nicer mall where I scored a pair of Brazilian flip flops—very comfortable! We also enjoyed some Brazilian ice cream and then headed back to the hotel to meet up with the group to go out for supper and to a Bossa Nova!
We all piled into taxis around 8 p.m. and headed to the Veloso Bar where the famous song "The Girl from Ipanema" was composed. It was written by a man with the name Vinicius de Moraes. Tonight's performers included a very talented man play the guitar that I am holding below! What an honor! He came up to me and said, “Here, would you like to try it?” **I think my brother Jon would be jealous!** So of course we took pictures with it instead!

After finally getting our meal about 10 p.m., we enjoyed music late into the night! We left the Bossa Nova early and headed back to our hotel! We got very lucky and caught Grandma Busch online so we were able to chat with the kids and then my Brazilian and Swedish/German girls were online and so I skyped with them as well! Overall a fun day to be had! But, the clock reads 2 a.m. (only 11 p.m. back home) and we are leaving our hotel to go to Petropolis tomorrow with Thiago to take in the sites there and a Brazilian wedding! From my Brazilian Picture window to yours, have a great day!

Brazil Day 1!

Day 1 in Brazil!
Howdy Family and Friends! We have finally landed in Rio de Janerio, Brazil! After spending 26 hours in airports and airplanes, we were met by Eduardo with an STS sign welcoming us to Brazil!
Our journey started off in all reality on November 1 at around 7 a.m. It was a day full of activities and then finally packing around 11 p.m. that night. Why so late? Well, that’s just how the day went. After spending over 5 ½ hours in the dentist office for me due to complications and adverse reactions to some of the procedures, it was 7:10 when I finally got home. Such fun!
At 3:00 a.m. we left our home to head to Grand Island to catch the first of three planes. A quick stop to Wal-Mart to buy batteries and run through at McDonalds, we arrived at the airport—before the employees!
We checked in our bags and began our journey. Our very small flight took off at 7 a.m. and we landed in Dallas, Texas at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport! But instead of taking us to Brazil, we again boarded a little bigger jet and headed to New York, La Guardia Airport. After arriving there, we had to collect our luggage and then make our way over to John F. Kennedy International Airport 12 miles away! A nightmare you say, we agree. The Foundation booked our tickets without reviewing them too closely. Oh well, new territory to discover and in a limo none the less!

After a nap in the airport next to our concourse during the nine hour layover, we finally boarded the plane. We watched Mr. Poppers Penguins and ate a delicious chicken and pasta dinner . Of course our eyelids were quite heavy, but sleeping on a plane is not necessarily the easiest! Luckily, Dave and I had 3 seats for the two of us and I could stretch out across them. The next thing we know, we were waking up to breakfast being served and trying to fill out customs forms written in Portuguese!
After disembarking the plane ,we were met in the airport by security guards who said, “Brazilian’s here. You foreigners, over there.” What a greeting to say the least.

We made our way through the line,got our passports stamped and retrieved our luggage.
We then boarded a bus with 4 other people and drove through the slums of Brazil and heavy traffic to our airport. I would love to tell you where we are, but I haven’t got a clue how we got to where we are. But I will tell you about the traffic we encountered! The taxis and buses like we were on move through traffic as though they own the streets. They have 4 lanes of traffic clearly marked but in all actuality, there are six lines of cars! The motorcycles drive the lines between the cars and honk as they pass you by. On certain streets when you are stuck in traffic, people work the streets with pop, fruit, candy and all sorts of snacks to sell you. We were told when you saw these people working the streets, the traffic was really jammed and plan on being there for a while!

After arriving at our hotel, we found our room (803) and tried to figure out how to turn lights on! Go ahead and laugh, but as you walk in the door you must insert your key into another scanner and that turns on everything electrical in your room! That took us about 5 minutes to figure that out. When we did, everything from the TV to the A/C turned on as well as every light in the room and bathroom! The only thing that didn’t turn on was the water!

At noon we met up with Thiago (our foreign exchange student from 2006-07) and his Aunt Amelia and we hopped in a taxi and headed to the Brazilian BBQ restaurant Porqui which translates to ‘Big Pig’! While Thiago lived with us he continually talked about his beloved Picanah—which would be similar to Prime Rib only much, MUCH better! At this restaurant, when seated, they give you a circle that is red on one side and green on the other. After going through a monster salad bar that had everything from fish to sushi, to heart of palms, cheese blocks, breads, pastries, rice…I could go on, it was simply amazing and colorful! I didn’t know a carrot could look like a flower!!!

Then the magic happened! We turned our circles over to the green side and 5 waiters circled our table and began to offer meat after meat after meat! Chicken, chicken hearts, leg of lamb, a pig—yes a pig that was cooked and then you picked out your cut right at your table, picanah, our favorite thanks to Thiago, filet minon, you name it, you had it! Then after stuffing yourself like a pig (maybe that’s why they call the restaurant what they do!) they came back and offered dessert! Not just one or two choices, but 10 choices! Simply amazing!
Our next item on the agenda was to tour with Thiago’s family. While we had great fun doing that, Dave and I were exhausted. We came back to our hotel around 4, and fell into bed waking up just in time to meet the other reps that are here and have appetizers and drinks with them on the top of our hotel! What a night to say the least. After this was over, Dave and I went for a short walk on the town and found ourselves at McDonalds for ice cream and then a 24 hour grocery store because we were told not to drink the water here. What an interesting day. From my Brazilian picture window to yours, have a great day!

Foreign exchange spotlight on Henriette Pedersen Rogne!

Howdy Thedford Residents! Welcome to another view from a far off place known as Norway and the home to foreign exchange student Henriette Pedersen Rogne! Henriette is 17 years old and is a member of the senior class at Thedford High School. At home in Norway, Henriette's favorite subjects are English and Physical Education. Besides attending Upper Secondary School, Henriette spends her time working in a cafe called No. 3. She also enjoys working out at the gym where she participates in yoga/Pilates, goes spinning, or runs on the treadmill! When she was younger, Henriette also took Tae Kwon Do and graduated at age 11 with a Black Belt!
Travelling the world isn't something new for Henriette though. At age 11, she attended the Children's International Summer Village in Indonesia, Jakarta for 3 weeks where she met with other students and leaders at a school. But when comparing her education there are many differences! For her, the biggest difference between Thedford High School and her school at home, Gjovik High School, are the amount of people, the classes/subjects, the teachers, and almost everything. The school at home has approximately 1200 students, and 70 teachers. Every class last for 80 minutes, which means they only have four different classes a day. The first year (11th grade) students don’t get to choose their classes and the schedule is different every day. Henriette stated, " I feel that I have a better relationship with my teachers here in the U.S. than in Norway, because the school is smaller and it is therefore easier to talk to them. Right now I would have been in 12th grade, but when I go back I will still have one more year left before I graduate."

Not only was the educational system different for Henriette, but coming to Thedford was as well! "It is a lot smaller than the town I come from. I thought I came from a small town (population of about 28.000) before I got here, which proved me wrong! I didn’t like it at the beginning, but now I love it! I love that everyone knows each other, and everyone is friendly to one another. At home I usually hang out with my friends, boyfriend and family, and even though I don’t do any sport, I love to work out on my own. I also love living with my host family, the Haumann’s, they’re the best host family I could ever ask for!"

From a picture window in Norway all the way to the US of A, Ha en flott dag, Thedford!

Foreign exchange spotlight on Lorena Noé-Nordberg

Howdy Friends and Family...Travel with me in your mind to the country of Austria this week as we meet foreign exchange student Lorena Noé-Nordberg! Lorena is from Baden, Austria and is sixteen years old.She was bom on October 12th, 1994 in the capital of Vienna, Austria. She is living with host parents Ruth Quinn and Rocky Fliegel in Thedford, Nebraska!
Lorena chose to become an exchange student because she always wanted to go to the USA and as she says, "Then there was a great opportunity to stay here for ten months, so I took the chance!" Lorena said, "I really like to learn about another culture and I enjoy meeting new people, learning from them and experiencing a lot of new things. ln my free time I prefer to play the electric and acoustic guitar but unfortunately not like Jimi Hendrix. I also really like sitting on the bed trying to play new songs, to meet my friends and to listen to music- favored Pop and Rock.
I love travelling a lot!"

Lorena said that a big difference between Austria and her new home here in Thedford is definitely the school. In Thedford she is in the 12th grade, but in Vienna it would be like the tenth grade. "I attend school in Vienna where I go by train and subway and so it always keeps me on the go. My school is difficult to describe but I want to try: It lasts five years (l am in the second grade) and it is a business school which finishes with a diploma and from the third grade, the sector I've chosen is focused on social work. At this kind of school you
also get an education in cooking and serving in hotels, etc. But I don't want to catch such a job. I have some special subjects but also "normal" ones like German, French, History, Music and Physics, and of course Math- I hate it. My favorites are Geography, English and Physical Education."

Lorena has enjoyed her time here so far. She stated that one other difference from Austria to Nebraska was that "people here are not harried but helpful and nice--what I really appreciate!" From our second spotlight view on Lorena and a look through her picture window to yours, have a great week!

Foreign exchange spotlight on Nian Zhan!

The first foreign exchange student spotlight is on Nian Zhan. She is one of two girls living with Rocky Fliegel and Ruth Quinn. Nian comes all the way to Thedford from Shanghai, China. She decieded to be an exchange student because the western culture and customs are quite different from her country and she wanted to experience the U.S. culture. Nian said, "There has been a lot of changes in my life indeed .I've never been to such small place with only about 200 people. China has a great population. Everywhere is full of people. In here I can't see anyone on the street sometimes. Most Chinese people live in the apartment, but everyone has a house in Thedford. The environment here is better than my hometown. There's a lot of grass and tree and I enjoy here."

If Nian was at home this year she would be in "Grade 11", but at Thedford High School she is a member of the senior class. "The schools in China and in U.S. have few things in common. My high school has about 2000 students. 40 students form a class and we stay in one classroom all day while the teachers go to different classrooms.We have 8 classes a day, the same in Thedford. Our maths,chemistry and physics are more difficult than here and we have plenty of homework to do."

The STS Foundation is excited for Nian and all the students and welcome her to Thedford!

Missions Bike Ride Day 6...From Grand Island, NE to Columbus, NE

Today we rode from Grand Island to Columbus! This was supposed to be a light and a rather easy day!! Ha Ha Not really!!! We ended up riding into a head wind most of the day!!! It was brutal. We traveld 72 miles and averaged 17 miles an hour. It was a hard fought ride, but it had it's memorable times as well. Around half way Dale Ackerman, Jon Millier and I decided to stop playing games and get serious. We started leaving stops a little early and pushed pretty hard. It paid off, we pulled out in front and hung on to the lead until we reached our destination. Two times we had to wait for the support vehicle to catch up to us because we were making such good time. We even missed the church and went two miles out of our way! I am sore and tired, but it was an enjoyable and memorable day. Tomorrow is our last day and we finally get to ride some hills!! If everything works out right I will enter the 500 miles club tomorrow. Presently there are 4 of us with 410 miles and tomorrow we will be riding close to 90 miles. I may have to circle the parking lot a few times, but the plan is to get there. Thanks for all your prayers and support. I am looking forward to coming home tomorrow!!

Back on the home front, I had the awesome opportunity to stay with Dave and Jon last night! Although their 630 am wake up call was not my favorite, I watched them depart on the 6th leg of their journey to Columbus...watching them leave on Monday was hard, but today was just as hard if not harder! Luckily, I was able to go back to the hotel and sleep in until 945 and then Garage sale my way back to Burwell!
The Busch boys spent their day at a Royal Ranger PowWow over in Taylor and didn't get home until 630 tonight--very hungry and tired none the less. A nice break for them (and for Jalise and I) but we were sure glad when they arrived home in the bus! And of course the night was topped off by a win in the Husker Nation! From my very tired, yet very excited view out my picture window to yours, have a great night!

Missions Bike Ride Day 5, from Lexington, NE to Grand Island, NE

Hello all!!! Only 2 days left.
Today we rode into Grand Island and it was quite a ride. We rode 82 miles and averaged 17 miles an hour into a light and moderate breeze. Overall it was a good day. I was in a bit of a mood and either rode by myself and then led the pack for 27 miles towards the end of the day!! It was a lot of fun. Our group grew by 3 and tonight another 2 gals joined us for the final 2 days! Tomorrow we are looking at a 60 mile ride with the possibility of adding some extra to hit the 500 mile club!! Tonight I was the given the racer award because they say I just don’t know when to stop!! Hey, my motto is “Shifting is overrated!” I had a comical conversation with some of the guys that if I didn’t need to start, I wouldn’t need my lower gears, maybe I could find a someone to push me to get started and then I can just let er rip!! The highlight of my day was being surprised by Jen at the Hotel!! It was a nice surpise to open the door and see her and Jalise standing in the hallway! Thanks for all your prayers.

Back on the home front, after getting the boys off to school and making sure they had all their luggage packed for their weekend pow wow for Royal Rangers, Jalise and I tried to get out the door as we wanted to surprise Dave...unfortunately, it just didn't go as planned. The best part of my day though was receiving a rose today for my flower arrangement! It is absolutely beautiful!

Finally after lunch, Jalise and I headed out to Grand Island. We arrived in town and the bikers had already gotten to the hotel. I had asked Toby if he knew what room Dave was in and he thought 128...so of course I knocked on the door only to be greeted by Jodi Banzhaff...ya, so not Dave. Luckily, just at that moment, Dave called me and I asked him where he was and what room he had gotten. He then said he was on his way to the mall so Jalise and I scooted back down the hall and as he walked out of his room, there we stood. It was the best to see the look on his face and surprise him!

I was able to spend the night with Dave and Jon and my parents were also able to come down with my Grandma Miller for the little get together that the church had. Fun times! We enjoyed some swimming after that and of course then got some much needed rest.

From my very happy picture window view that included Dave and Jon in it to yours, have a great day!

Missions Bike Ride Day 4...North Platte, NE to Lexington, NE

Day number uhhhh I have lost track!!

Today was a brutal day. Our destination was 60 miles away. Which would seem like a light day except we rode into a pretty strong head wind most of the day. There was a group of 6 riders that lined up and we were a riding machine. We would each take a turn of one mile in the front and then coast to the back and resume our position in the draft. Once we were established this worked really well. We rolled at a pace of 16 to 19 miles an hour. It is amazing how a draft can drastically lesson the difficulty of the ride. It was fun to be a apart of. As we got closer to Lexington we were totalling mileage and we were thinking we were going to be a little short of the 500 miles in Omaha so 4 of us turned back around and rode 14 miles with the wind to Cozad. We rode there partially because that was the way the wind was blowing and also because they had a bike shop there. Let me tell you if you ever need a good bike shop there is a great one in Cozad. For us four our mileage totalled 74 miles with an average of 17.7 miles an hour. It took us around 4 ½ hours of total ride time.
At our closing rally I was given the drafting award for my ability to tuck in behind somebody and make them pull me. I also was given a small license plate that says “2 FAST 4U” I atttached this to the back of my helmet in case somebody tries to pass me. Ok--maybe it just looks cool there!!! Tomorrow we have another big day we are riding 84 miles to Grand Island. Wahoo!! right now it looks like the wind will be blowing across us and that is ok. Thank You for all your prayers!

Back on the homefront...today was one of those days that when the alarm clock went off I could have just kept sleeping! So could the boys! I think everyone just laid there listening to their alarm clock going off for a few minutes before crawling out of bed.
Today, Jacob decided to try fishing--he caught the clothesline quite nicely! I on the other hand was not impressed as I reeled in his catch!

Shortly after supper, Jalise found a pen and colored herself with it while I was skyping with Dave...oh joy! Such fun for me! She looks great in stripes--really!

From my great stripped catch to yours, have a great day!

Missions Bike Ride Day 3...From Big Springs, NE to North Platte, NE

Day number three
Today was an interesting day! We needed to make up 20 miles due to some arrangements we had made with lodging and it was decided that we would just ride an extra 20 miles after we arrived at North Platte. The wind looked like it was not going to be a factor, boy were we wrong. It turned and blew us to North Platte. We rode 70 miles in 3 hours (ride time) and averaged 21 miles an hour! It was insane! At one time I was chasing my brother in law, Jon, and Dale Ackerman. My speedometer said I was doing 30 miles an hour on the flat and I was having a hard time keeping up. We had so much fun! Overall it was a good day. If it wouldn't have been for one flat tire and the support van getting the keys locked inside along the road it would have been perfect. This was one of the times we finished before the support van. Yeah us!!! Brian Korell and I hoisted his bike in the air at 70 miles and made an archway for the riders to ride through. It was perfect. Tomorrow we head to Lexington. We pick up a new rider in the morning and we loose one after the ride tomorrow night. We are praying for favor with the wind tomorrow!! Thank you for all your prayers.

Back at home on the home front, the view from my picture window was filled with more laundry (it never ends) and spending the day on the phone working with STS students and then over in Ord at the office...such fun other than getting home an hour later than planned! It was also the first night for the boys to go to Awanas at the Baptist Church--oh and did I mention that the majority of my day I felt sick to my stomach??? Yep, never more glad to see "Pastor Pillow, Brother Blankets, and Sister Sheets" tonight...as that is where I am blogging from!

From my comfortable view looking out the picture window of my bedroom to yours, have a great day!

Missions Bike Ride Day 2...From Kimball, NE to Big Springs, NE

Day 2
From Pastor Dave:
Today was a rough day. We were looking for 90 miles and the forcast was calling for us to head into a pretty stiff wind. We started out with some spicy biscuts and gravy and hit the road flying!! Today I tried something new. I started in the back of the pack and took some time to visit with the riders as I made my way to the front. It was quite an enjoyable adventure. Once I got to the front, it was time to get to work and start covering some ground. Unfortunately, we moved a little too fast and arrived at our lunch destination an hour early. Oh well! It was an enjoyable time relaxing at the Sidney church. They served us burritos on home made tortillas and it was awesome, but we had a mission at hand. Big Springs or Bust!!! And Bust it was!!! I was pulling into a stop and as I was getting off the bike, I fell down!! Not one of my finest moments!!! Then a group of 5 of us formed a draft pack and for around 30 miles we averaged around 18-20 miles an hour. (3 of the 5 are pictured above. My brother in law, Jon, Dale Ackerman, and myself.) That was great until we got to Chappel and decided due to the threat of hills we disbanded and headed out on our own. I really struggled on this 9 mile leg. I just couldn't seem to get going. I couldn't catch anybody and going down hill I had to work to get any speed, I eventually was getting passed by people and even in their draft, I couldn't keep up. At the next stop I was standing by my bike and I realized it wouldn't roll, even if I tried to push it. AFter some research I found that my back tire had slipped and was rubbing on the frame. Oh how frustrating, no wonder I was having a hard time going, it was the equivilent of somebocy holding the brake while I rode. After that was fixed, I wanted to go and go fast and I did, until I realized my front tire was going flat!! GGGRRRRRR!!!!! Pull over and fix a tire and now I am dead last and the support vehicle is following me with her flahsers on!! (Not where I want to be!!)) Time to kick it down and make up some ground!!! I caught back up to the pack and had the priviledge of racing one of the support vans down a hill at 37 miles an hour. What a rush. We ended up riding 90 miles in 5 hrs and 15 minutes (actual riding time). IT was a blast! Tomorrow we have a lighter day as we ride to North Platte. Thanks for all your support and prayers...

Back on the home front the view from my picture window was a little windy today outside but a great day to catch up on the laundry, go for a nice walk to get the mail and then grill out! Yes, believe it or not, I can cook when I want to...

This morning I had a visitor at 9:30 a.m. who came bearing a yellow flower and a note from Dave! Yesterday, when we got home there was a vase of leaves on the table with a note from him...which was rather interesting...so will see what tomorrow brings!

After a yummy supper of grilled chicken and green beans we headed out for a 2 mile bike ride around Burwell, and then a SKYPE date with Dave. It was some of the best medicine ever taken! From my picture window to yours, have a great week!

Missions Bike Ride Day 1...From Pine Bluffs, WY to Kimball, NE

Howdy Family and Friends,
This is Day 1 of the Missions Bike Ride 2011. For the next 7 days, Pastor Busch and I will be posting about our view from the bicycle and maintaining the bachelorette post at home with 4 Busch Kids!
Today, Monday Sept. 5, 2011 Pastor got in the vehicle and started the long ride at Grand Island where my brother Jon Miller started his morning off in Omaha! They drove all the way to Kimball, Nebraska recounting war stories and bragging about past accomplishments. Of course this was not to be a day without eating at the famous Tacos y Tortas in Lexington (a camp favorite…but a first for Dave and Jon). Riders were picked up along the way and finally got to the motel in Kimball and rode from there to the border as the wind was at their backs. Pastor said, “We had been told that the road was flat and for the most part it is, but the air is much drier than it is around Burwell. I made the mistake of not grabbing my chap stick before taking off for the first ride. But the ride went good—uneventful and we made it safe to the Wyoming border 23 miles later. And of course I have a minor cough but this year I am much better equipped with all sorts of medicine!
Tomorrow is downhill most of the way. We are supposed to drop a 1000 feet in 80 miles and we are all praying for tailwinds! “
Back home from the picture window at my house, life is back to somewhat normal minus one very missed Daddy! Tears were shed by the two youngest Busch Boys this morning as they watched their Daddy ride away a church van with their Uncle Jon. We got back to Burwell about 3:15 p.m. and spent the rest of the day playing outside. We enjoyed a picnic supper of leftovers and boys were in bed by 8:15. Tomorrow is a brand new day though…from my much quieter picture window to yours, have a great day!

Busch Boys Turned Loose at Burwell Elementary School...

Howdy Family and Friends,
It’s hard to believe that another school year is already upon us! Where did the summer go? None the less, it’s here and I am not ready! This morning, I sent the Busch Boys off to school. Yes, all 3 Busch Boys headed out the door to Burwell Elementary School. Jacob as a 4th grader, Caleb as a 2nd grader and Isaac as a Kindergartner!
It’s hard to believe as I sit here writing this blog while looking at their baby pictures that they are where they are. Shouldn't I be sitting on the couch cuddling with them? Watching them coo and smile back at me?
Each year, I write a note to the boys in their notebooks that they will find when they open them for the first time and as I wrote Isaac’s, it was hard to keep the tears from flowing. His letter included the following excerpt:
“I can’t believe that today is your first day of Kindergarten. Are you sure you’re old enough? The calendar say you are, but in my head there’s no way!!!” I remember two years ago saying the same thing to Caleb as he entered Kindergarten and four years ago as Jacob embarked on his first day to Kindergarten at Thedford Elementary School! Where oh where has time gone??!!
As I watched them take off for school from the front sidewalk, the boys excitedly talking about what they were going to do and Caleb telling Isaac all about what to expect in Kindergarten, I saw Jacob stop his bike and come flying back to me. I knew he hadn’t forgotten anything! He jumped off his bike, took my hand and said, “Mom, I know your sad today because we are leaving you to go to school, but I love you.” He gave me a quick hug and off he went…and so did my heart!
Don’t get me wrong here I am excited for them as they start school, its just hard to believe that the Busch Boys are headed to school. (Just because the ol’ calendar says they are old enough sure doesn’t make me want to let them go!)
I want to leave you with this quote (and thankfully I am not at this stage yet). "A child enters your home and for the next twenty years makes so much noise you can hardly stand it. The child departs, leaving the house so silent you think you are going mad." From my first day of school picture window where its way too quiet to yours, have a great day!

Church Camp Day 1 of Sr. High...

Howdy Family and Friends! Well, I have survived the first day of Sr. High camp here at The Crossing at Lexington! Overall uneventful other than moving into M 13 where I will spend the next four weeks of my life and of course reconnecting with old friends!
After a yummy supper of pizza, it was time for evening service—a highlight of coming to camp! Worship was definitely louder and more upbeat than what I am used to, but none the less exciting! The speaker drove home a point to me though. He said, “Worship happens when you make a commitment to serve others.” I had never really thought about that side of it. Then on to the preaching of the Word…phenomenal! Don’t get me wrong…I am married to a Pastor, and he can bring the Word, but tonight was just about one little word—“BUT”.
So often times I find myself wanting to push things through quickly so that I can get them marked off my to do list! Although I have good intentions, it may not be God’s timing! The statement was said, “Waiting on God now prevents lots of hurt later.” Once again my thinker started thinking, “How many times have I done something on my own time and not God’s?” I want to pursue my dreams and goals and just go! Go! GO! Instead of waiting on the right time. But yet again the speaker threw another curve ball at my thoughts and said, “Its not about living my dream, its about living God’s dream!” Wow! What is God’s dream for me? Am I doing what He has planned for my life? But then of course the devil wanted to get his two cents worth in and of course said planted thoughts in my head about how this couldn’t happen.
At the end of the service, I just wanted to cry. So many thoughts and emotions had welled inside me and I felt lost! I prayed and just sought the Holy Spirit to move in my life, to restore my passions and breathe fresh energy into my spirit.
After some much needed time alone with God, I felt much more at peace with life—but still wanting to pursue more of God—to touch the throne of His grace and mercy! As the service concluded, Pastor Toby got up and restated an earlier comment the speaker had mentioned and its this, “There’s a big mountain in my life that needs to move and it’s my ‘but’t!” (IF you don’t understand the punctuation, the sermon was titled “BUT” and the extra “t” that is on the last quote is to encourage me (or you) that the only mountain in your way is yourself!
From my first day of camp picture window to yours, have a great week! PS (Get up and do something about your relationship with God!)

Letting Go...

Howdy Family and Friends! It's been 3 days since I put my foreign Busch girl on her plane back home to Sweden and let me tell you, I miss her. Never did I imagine that I would get that close to her. First of all, I have had exchange students before...although they were all boys, it was not this hard. Julia Nielsen came to live with us in Burwell on July 27, 2010. We picked her up in Kearney late at night and her first meal with us was an ice cream treat from Coldstone...I saved the receipt (Why? I don't know!)

Her first weekend was spent with a house full of friends she didn't know for the Rodeo weekend in Burwell. She rode the church float with us and attended Rodeo that weekend. I can only imagine what she thought!

From there, she got involved in school and meeting other friends and branched out a little from our home and soon enough started living a fun filled life! And now, here it is the time has come and she has gone home.

When we arrived at the airport (late of course) at 6:15 a.m., the airline threatened not to let her on the flight. Being the person I am, I kindly (STERNLY) informed the lady that she was a foreign exchange student on her way home and she had to be on the flight. Needless to say, things moved quickly and the next thing we knew, Julia was on her way home. No lengthy goodbyes, nothing. Nothing more than a quick hug goodbye and tears flowing freely from our eyes.

When I got home, I walked into Julia's room and of course her smell was still there, along with a few personal items that she couldn't fit into her bag. With tears still freely flowing down my cheeks, I grabbed her bed and let my frustrations out and moved it before collapsing on it and just crying.

Since she has gone home, I have been able to SKYPE with her twice which has been great but her room echoes and I absolutely don't like it. With each day, it gets easier, but I miss her terribly!

From my teary eyed picture window to yours, have a great week!

Christmas In Heaven

I came across this song and even though the Christmas Holiday is "over" according to the calendar, it doesn't have to be over in our hearts and lives. As I sit to write this, my daughter has been gone for 10 years now and my Grandpa for 3. Each year the pain is a little easier to manage, but I still wonder about what life is like for them. Shortly after my Grandpa passed away, I wrote a letter to him that was posted on here. Now this song has once again brought up more questions that someday I will be able to not only ask, but find out myself. Merry Christmas Rebecca Jalise and Grandpa Miller...