of christmas

I’m on a train!  That means extremely detailed blog post! I’m currently about ten minutes to the Arlberg, heading west towards Zurich and have been on the train for about 3 hours now.  I’m deep in the alps with wonderful wintry countryside views.

The past week has been fantastic.  Last weekend I was in the Tyrollean alps in a small town called Fulpmes, staying with a fellow PNWerner/Teaching assistant.  We are not that rare of a breed I’ve come to find.  Rachel hails from Eugene and went to the University of Portland.  We of course have a couple friends in common, because it’s a small world.  Duh. 

She lives at a rentable mountain chalet/youth hostel called Doug’s Mountain Getaway (Doug makes a mean crocheted head band).  That means that sometimes she has a room, sometimes she doesn’t.  When I showed up there was a “Russian Invasion” going on, meaning we had to share a room with a youth-hostel employee and answer MANY thick Russian accented-questions: “Heff ewe heffer beeeen tu Moss-cow.”  

Terrifying? Sometimes.  Entertaining?  Highly. 

Fulpmes is just a bus ride away from Innsbruck and on Sunday we spent the day at the Christmas Market overlooking the city. And, I bought a snowboard!  I sadly didn’t get to see much from the inside of Innsbruck, but I think I would have a hard time living in such a severe valley, only having sunlight directly on me for about a quarter of the day.  SAD. I’m happy to live in a somewhat more exposed valley.    

But, the mountains scapes are unbeatable: 

It was good to check it out though, because I was thinking of reapplying for the program for next year in Innsbruck at the only ag. school out there.  But, now I’m happy to stay put in Elixhausen. 

That’s right!  I had to fill out paperwork this week to put in my application for an extension.  This by no means means that I am for sure staying for a second year.  But, I can only do one more year right now, never again.  Plus, it never hurts to have options, which I learned the VERY, HARD way.  Last, I love my school and teachers so much I just think I have a lot more to learn about education and agriculture.

So, that brings me to what I have been learning!  This week I got to attend the afternoon practical work session with the forestry class.  They were learning to cut trees with hand saws (we start chainsaws in January).  I’m also going to a few slaughter houses next month and was invited on a variety of class excursions.  On January 7th and 8th I’m going with a class to Heidelberg (which is so convenient because my friend Teddy lives there!) and then 3 grades are taking buses to the Schladmig Night Slalom ski race on the 28th :)  It shall be an experience? 

This week was also my last week of teaching leading into winter break (which now with this trip to Heidelberg is going to be three weeks long--like I didn’t not work enough already?).  So, we talked a lot about Christmas and sang carols.  Did I mention I went caroling (Anklöpfen) with a class?  We yodeled, farmers invited us in for schnapps and cookies and hey!  2 of my students can play the accordion (technically the Ziehharmonika is different than the accordion, but you get the picture).  

On Thursday, the 5LW (oldest class, Agriculture based, LW means Landwirtschaft) invited me to their christmas dinner celebration.  This involved many spare ribs, knödel, heublumen beer (which was NOT good) and did I mention knödel?).  They are sweet kids, they like to talk to me, I like to talk to them, but they all hung out on their cellphones and smoked outside a lot.  Typical teenagers :)  

Last, on Friday I went to my school’s concert .  I thought this was supposed to be a christmas concert and part of it was, and was lovely.  My students played in a band that was as equally as good as my middle school band (we were good for our age, right?).  But, can I quickly say that adolescents and clarinets do not mix well.  So. much. squeaking.  

But, then the concert took a turn for the bizarre?  First, good bizarre: more accordion, harps, yodeling, harpsichords, etc.  But then they sang a happy birthday song to jesus in English.  and if you know anything about german speakers and the word birthday... it becomes something like boerseday or buthday. Kind of painful and awful.  Why not something classic?  

Stille Nacht anyone?  

Oh Du Fröhliche?  

Oh Kommet Ihr Kinder?  

ANYTHING.  

Not a crappy birthday song for jesus! 

Don't you know that jesus doesn’t want you to sing bad songs, he wants classic german christmas carols.  sheeesh. 

For goodness sake Stille Nacht was written just ten minutes from my school!  

Then, it got even worse when a four person band dressed in flannel and leather (I have never seen these students before, maybe they are students?) sang more english songs.  Granted the girl’s voice was okay, but she kept smiling coyly which made me SO angry for some reasons and she did that diva hand things which is also annoying.  AND THEN she sang stand by me.  Really?  Is this a reference to god standing by you?  

Okay..... but why not something CHRISTMASY.  

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CHRISTMAS CONCERT.  

I EXPECTED CHRISTMAS.  

Needless to say, I was more than slightly disappointed on the note if left on... BUT a 14 month old baby named Magdalena found me and could not get enough.  She crawled right up next to me and then we danced and clapped and boogied until the concert was over.  She was adorable, had a huge head, and lots of drool.  But she could understand klatschen and tanzen, so it was pretty fun.  

Ah!  It’s 11:00 a.m. and I’m on the side of the valley where the sun is just ever so slightly peaking over, it’s absolutely breath taking being on the other sie of the Arlberg and on towards Switzerland.  Today I am training through all of the alps.  all of them :) 

Now, I hope you enjoyed this little run-down and that you are all listening to as many christmas carols as possible and eating candy canes for me (you know they don’t exist here, right?).  Oh!  And don’t forget the Muppet Christmas Carol!! MUST WATCH. 

Merry merry, tivis tam tame (that is not German, it’s Katy)

Christmastime in Austria

Today is the second Advent, bless you all!  My students taught me this lovely song, in celebration of this time:

Wir Sagen Euch An Den Lieben Advent

This means that the christmas season is in full swing!  What might this include in Austria? So far, school Christmas parties, concerts, caroling, Christmas markets, Glühwein, baby Jesus, snow, St. Nikolaus and of course his whip-yielding companion: Krampus.

It's been quite an adventure since the first advent, especially teaching.  My students have been telling me bundles about how they celebrate (actually a very sneaky tactic in getting my students to talk for the entire class period).  My favorite has been explaining to them how scared I am of Krampus and asking them what I should expect.  Who's Krampus?  Here's the rundown:

Krampus accompanies Nikolaus on the 6th of December.  All the good children, if they recite a poem or song receive a chocolate, peanuts and satsumas.  The bad ones?  They receive a good whipping from Mr. Krampus and if they're lucky, he snatches them up in the basket and takes them away.  Here are some friendly greetings from the beast:

This is my own Krampus photo from the Linzergasse Krampuslauf on the 6th

Terrifying right? Well, in real life these look like monsters, some of the little guys look like Ewoks, which is almost more frightening.  They run down the street with giant bells on their backs, which have an eery ring to them and snatch you form the crowd, mess up your hair, and whip you with horse tails or switches.  It's all rather exciting and really awakens this primal fear inside.  Fun fun!

Christmas markets are your standard collection of huts filled with Austrian goods: sweaters, roasted nuts, leather goods, decorations.  My favorite stands are the food stands.  In Hamburg and Vienna (for some reason not in Freiburg or Salzburg) they don't have Potato puffs, rather, they have baked potatoes (not as delicious).  So, I stick to mulled wine or cider.  Another delicious treat is Kaiserschmarrn, or scratched pancake with powdered sugar and apple sauce.  I recently went to the Christmas market at the palace of Hellbrunn outside of Salzburg.  It looked like this!  

Part of the Water Tricks at the Palace

the windows are the advent calendar! 

For some reason google added the twinkles and the snow, but it's a fun addition to a rather twinkle-less blog.

This week I'm baking cookies with a teacher, going caroling with my class and am headed to Innsbruck for a snow shoeing session.  

For those of you who were as concerned as myself about spending Christmas alone, the Schwarzenbachs in Switzerland have opened up their ever-open door to me and the Christkind will be visiting me there.  Because of course Baby Jesus flies through your window on Christmas Eve to decorate the tree.  

Box of Tea Reads My Mind

Well, the amazing weather could last only so long.  This past weekend was spent in Germany by the Königsee on Jenner (6,000 feet), which is a small little mountain good for hiking. Monday was nearly 70 degrees and I spent the day riding around the city. 

Today, in the world of real fall weather, it was gray and cold and I couldn't believe how much it effected everyone.  

In class, I've been teaching Halloween, which, in my opinion (always right), is fun! We are watching parts of the Nightmare before Christmas, and learning about Stingy Jack and Jack O'Lanterns and watching a hilarious short film called The Life and Death of a Pumpkin.  Sadly, it was not only my students who were exhausted and excruciating to deal with, but after school I came home and took a two hour nap.  I felt completely weak, had all of the vitamin D been suddenly sucked out of my body? AH! 

Luckily, about two weeks ago Linde (whose name is short for Analinde, how pretty!) gave me a variety box of organic tea.  I can't tell you how many different teas are in here, but it seems no matter what my mood, the box knows how to accommodate.   Today, I was rummaging around searching for something to help my blah and voila:  Kutz-Kutz!

Right?

For my sake, the teas are all labeled with English translations which this time just said Stormy Weather. Now how on earth can Kutz means storm and weather?  Research commence! 

As it turns out, kutzen is the Austrian verb for husten which means to cough.  So, the Kutz-Kutz tea is the best tea for a wintry, gray, cough-filled day.  While I do not have a cold, the mixture of sage, camomile, elderflower and peppermint is really putting a pep back into my step.  Ha, see what I did there?! 

Now, did I strike your curiosity yet?  Have I not yet discussed the Austrian dialect I'm currently dealing with? 

For starters you always greet people with Grüß and some other word: Gott (God, very formal), di (you, less formal), euch (you all).  You can also say Servus which is hello and goodbye, a German Aloha!  And lastly, for goodbye: Pfiati/ Pfiat di (for one person) and Pfiat euch (for many people) which is a shortened version of Behüte dich Gott, which translates to something along the lines of God protect you, or God be with you.  I just think that is very pleasant and it sounds wonderful when spoken: LISTEN HERE!   

There are many MANY differences to standard Germany, but I'll leave that with you for now. 

Have a wonderful week and Happy Halloween! 

Pfiat euch! 

Autumnal Adventures

I got paid!

Such a feeling of relief and independence.  I actually saved up enough money (not to say that many people didn't help me save money by NOT charging me rent :) THANK YOU MAMZ )... to survive on my own for an entire month!  Mind you, there are many initial costs (particularly to fly over here).  But I did it!  And I even paid off my credit card and everything. 

*Big Sigh of Relief*

So, what does an ETA (english teaching assistant) do, once paid?  

THEY SPEND THEIR MONEY.

I go to pay off Seesee, my bike, (a teacher lent me the money initially) and then I planned a trip with a fellow ETA to Slovenia. 

The train to Slovenia is a mere 4 hours from Salzburg, without a single connection -- easy peasy. 

We chose Bled, because of it's natural beauty and hiking options and BOY was it worth it. 

After checking into our B&B on Friday we headed out dinner at a very disappointing restaurant called Chili's which was filled to the brim with Americans.  We split an appetizer and it was dismal.  

Saturday started off on SUCH a better note when we went to breakfast at the MOST adorable cafe Slovenia has ever seen.  

We then headed off to the Vintgar Gorge, which was only a short country walk away.  I couldn't believe once we got there that people actually take a bus or drive.  Such a beautiful walk there and in the gorge.  WARNING.  You may or may not believe that the pictures I took were real:

We then walked back, showered and headed to the Medieval village of Radoviljca, just a couple km. away.  There were were told to wine taste and have dinner.  We took a short tour of the town and then headed to Sodek, a little wine library.  We had a flight of 5 Slovenian wines, but our Sommelier, Monica, was so fabulous it took us 3 hours.  We chatted with her about all sorts of things, about her various careers, about Slovenian language and about all the drunks that hassle her in town :)

Then, we headed to dinner and ATE. 

Monica suggested to try some buckwheat mush with old milk.  Sounds delicious, no?  I opted out, but got the farmer's vegetarian plate which offered a lot of buckwheat options.  Buckwheat mush, Sauerkraut, and a variety of dumplings (made of buckwheat) filled with cheese.  We had dessert after and headed back to Bled. 

Our last day was spent hiking around the lake to get the best views.  I think we succeeded:

We headed home and so started a new school week!

Luckily, on Tuesday I was invited on a hike with an english teacher and an animal husbandry teacher to go to the Untersberg.  The Untersberg is a magical mountain with many legends.  We hiked for about 2.5 hours up to the top and saw sights you would not believe!

But take a look for yourself:

I went to track practice last night and am now recovering from a beautiful day of teaching, tutoring, running, biking and catching the falling leaves.  It was truly a BEAUTIFUL day. All in all, I'm staying busy and am thinking about having a relaxing fall-oriented weekend.  Any costume suggestions??

-Nelly

  

Erntedankfest & Frauenlauf Mattsee

Some very bizarre things have occurred in the past few days.

First, there was the "Erntedankfest" which is a very, catholic form of Thanksgiving.  In thanks of the harvest, the church has a special mass and then people eat a lot of food.  As a boarding school, all the students celebrate this festival in the school and then have a feast.  At the service, all the students and teachers dressed up in "Tracht" (think lederhosen & dirndl) and there was singing (in English?) and a band and communion.  This was bizarre because 1) I am not catholic and do no know what you are supposed to say to the Priest when he says x, y, or z.  2) Even if I knew what to say, I wouldn't know what to say in German.

Nonetheless, I stood out very obviously.

This is very different from my experiences in Switzerland and Germany which are only half as catholic as the Austrians appear to be...

The meal was delicious (deer and boar were the meet of choice) and I sat near all new people, many of whom did NOT know I was the new English assistant and assumed that I understood their Salzburgerland dialect (pssst, I DON'T)... but I did get offered the chance to participate in the tractor driving class so PERK!

The next day I went on a hike with two other assistants.  We headed up the Gaisberg which was a HIKE. I was surprisingly out of breath, but the view was worth it. It had snowed the night before so it was a little chilly but the surround mountains were in full view!  Sadly, my phone died so this is all I have to show of it:

Today, I travelled to the end of the bus-line: Mattsee.  Mattsee is a lake town (see = lake, you pronounce it "say") in the Salzburger lake region.  

The weather was AMAZING today, sunny, clear warm and perfect for a 5k.  It was a women's only race and I took second.  

(a bit of the Mattsee)

(Running on the path)

This was an odd experience as the prizes were bizarre.  The race-swag was pretty awesome in general: chocolate, bread, water, a towel, gum, magnesium tables.  Post-race goodies included copious amounts of Red Bull (native to Salzburg) dozens of cakes and baked goods, bananas, apples and FREE MASSAGES!  I took advantage of it all.  

Then, the award ceremony took place.  I received a trophy for being the first in my age-group, a medal, a bouquet, a gift certificate to have breakfast at the castle in Mattsee (mind you second-place in the 20's age group got a hair straightener, which I needed :/ ), and best of all....

a prom dress?

I kid you not.

This is by far the most absurd and strange gift to have received.  Not only is it hideous, but it DOES NOT fit and I had to take the bus back from the race, so yeahhhhhhh.

I returned home and because it was so beautiful, I had to take Seesee out for a fall spin. 

Seesee (short for Sursee) is my new vintage road bike with shimano everything and mustache handlebars.  

It's love.  Here is a picture of our adventure today :)