Yep. That's what she said. Last night, her last night of freedom before starting school again, she was walking up the stairs, very slowly. I asked my little melancholy friend what was the matter. Her response was just as the title of this blog implies, "I feel like it's the end of the rainbow!" I'm guessing this is her 6 year-old way of saying reality has hit. School is starting and a brand new way of life is getting ready to begin! More on the Austrian "First-Day-of-School" Mania ... and yes, I mean MANIA! All students who attend first grade are considered royalty. Not really, but judging by the number of onlookers it would appear that way! It is customary for children to receive a "schule tota" which is a big cone filled with school supplies, candies and other goodies. Everyone brings one to school! You get your picture taken with it, you save it for school pictures and keep it as a memorial to your childhood. It's a really big deal! Then, parents, grandparents, neighbors, aunts, uncles, friends, mailmen ... all escort the first grader to the classroom. No joke, it was so full of adults you couldn't stir people with sticks! I've taken pictures of the ocean of people just to prove how crazy it was! I thought it was a K-Mart fashion shoot. One could barely see the classroom over the light of flashbulbs and the glare of video cameras! And, here's the best part, the first day of school only lasts ... are you ready ... ONE HOUR! So, hoopla, cameras, lights, then ... home! It was fun and the backdrop for all this activity is an old, really old school that looks like something the character Madeline (the french orphan) would attend. So charming ... iron stair rails, marble stairs, yellow on the outside ... so cute. Chris and I started language school today. We could be the parents of every single person in our class ... enough said! This week we had old fashioned buttermilk pancakes and homemade chili. It was sort of our American twist to the Austrian fall. The weather is cooler and crisper and perfect for walking. It's a very popular sport right now, wandering. In the stores you can find walking shoes, walking sticks, walking jackets, walking hats, walking pants ... it's a national past-time. There are trails all around the outskirts of Vienna as well as plenty of walking paths inside the city. As Chris and I walked at seperate times yesterday, we were both struck by the fact that mere months ago we were walking about in our neighborhood in Norman, Oklahoma, praying for the opportunity to be in Vienna. God continues to show us His faithfulness!!!