Pictures from around town

I went for a hike today and got some pretty neat pictures. I posted them on facebook, and you are welcome to take a look even if you don't have a facebook account. Just click here. Oh yeah... and say hello to my little friend. I met him on my hike today. You can see the rest of our "photoshoot" by checking out the rest of my album.

Peas.

broken camera

this one's gonna be on the fly.

a very dear friend of mine just told me that her camera broke. this got me to thinking. if the indians (feather, not dot) were right, and a camera does take a piece of your soul, what happens to that piece of soul? does it transfer to the film, or stay in the camera? even if it transfers onto film, what happens to that piece of soul in a digital camera? what happens when the camera breaks?

i would like to think that when a camera breaks those lil' pieces are given back... but at the same time, i hope my camera never breaks. makes me feel just a little bit closer to everyone ive taken a picture of. not to be selfish. dont want to steal your souls or anything creepy like that. just a hypothetical. think on it.

and... not to impinge on the philisophicalness of this post... but if you have an RSS feed and want my updates delivered to you automatically, check out the toolbar on the right. if you have an RSS aggregator you can read my blog without ever having to visit it... and no, that doesnt defeat the purpose.

What I Like

So, I'm checking out this new gadget where I can share webpages and pictures that I like. Check them out if you want. The links are in the upper right of the page--lime green--you can't miss them.

Skinned Knee

Black Mamba teammates will be happy to know that I'm not letting go of my prodigious volleyball skills while I'm here. I joined a volleyball team last week, and so far it's been pretty fun. We play in a padded gym so you can really dive to make plays, and my knees are the worse for it. Floor burn sucks.

Short and sweet.

Fun and Games with Wiener Schnitzel and in the Schneegebiet (forthcoming)

So... first a little self indulgence (as if a blog isn't already pure, distilled, sickening self indulgence--don't act like I don't know)... I bought a snowboard this week. I happened across a used winter sports equipment sale and looked inside. Very cheap stuff. I got boots, bindings, and a board for 30 euros. It isn't the board I would have picked if I bought new, but selection was a little limited, so I instead let the price tags be my guide. When I went in my goal was to spend less than 50 euros, so getting out for 30 was really a deal. Having my winter transportation (haha) figured out is really making me look forward to 24 inches of fresh pow.

I went to Vienna on Friday and met up with some friends I made in Graz. We had a pretty quiet night, drank some beers, and went dancing at one of the clubs in town for a while. The scene was pretty alternative so it wasn't like being caught in Madison Avenue where all they play are the newest annoying "ultra hits". The club is called Ost Klub and I highly recommend it next time you're in Vienna. They played eastern European folk music in the room we were in, which was actually pretty damn fun to dance to.

Siegi (one of the teachers at the Gymnasium) invited me to her birthday party on Saturday, and I went to that after I got back from Vienna. It was a really good time and I got the chance to get to know some of the other teachers a little better. The party was at another Mostheuriger, and I didn't bring my camera, so... fail. The food at this one was really good, and since it was a buffet-style dinner, I got to try a lot more than I had at the last one. Lots of fun.

Today I went to Mass at the monastery the my Gymnasium is in--there was a pretty well known regional choir performing there, and it was pretty enjoyable to go and listen to the music. Not quite enough to even out the weird factor of sitting in a Catholic Mass, sorry Catholics. After that, we went and got wiener schnitzel at a restaurant in town. Very good stuff that wiener schnitzel--the Austrians really know their stuff when it comes to the finest in pounded, breaded, and fried meat specialties.

Teaching is going really well too. I'm working on a lesson about football (uh, real football, not that weird soccer stuff). I'm going to break in my Wisconsin lesson this week too with a real emphasis on Badger Football, cheese, and of course PBR. Not to say the beer here isn't better than PBR, but after all the memorable nights drinking PBR in college, it will forever have a warm spot in my heart. And on that note, cut to credits!

Mostheuriger

Today I got to join the 8^th class at a Mostheuriger (a restaurant/tavern that serves cold meals and young wine that is made in the region—often in the same building). Mostheurige are very typical in the region that I'm in, and the wine they serve is apple or pear wine—made with fruit from local orchards. The food was really good, but the night was a little weird in that it showed me how little I really understand here. I wasn't able to follow the conversation at all when the students and teacher spoke in the local dialect, so when something funny happened my neighbors had to translate for me. I am starting to recognize the sound changes in the local dialect, but when they talk fast it's still hopeless. Give it time… give it time…

I wish I had brought my camera to the Mostheuriger—it was very cozy and comfortable. I'm going to another one next Saturday though, so I will bring my camera then. I did find this picture of the place online though:

Stiegl and Peppermint Tea

Once upon a time there was a teaching assistant in Austria who wanted to buy some caffeine free tea. So he decided to buy chamomile because it isn't disgusting. But as it turns out, he grabbed some peppermint tea. For many people this wouldn't be the end of the world, but this particular teaching assistant hates peppermint.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the peppermint tea. Probably take it in to class one day and let the kiddies drink tea during the lesson. The worst of it though is that I have 47 bags to get rid of (I choked down 3 cups worth already).

So… here I sit with a Stiegl in hand, rather than a cup of tea. Thank God for Stiegl.

The First Friday (10-9-09)

I'm at the end of the first week, and I still like teaching. Mark that to the win column. I have been to most of my classes now, so I am just about done with my "Introduction lesson". I have a few more classes next week who still need to get to know me, but for the most part I will be teaching real lessons from now on. Some examples are: Globalization, Friends, Tall Tales, and Wisconsin, to name a few. I am also working on a great culture shock lesson. I'm kind of geeking out about creating my own lessons—it's very exciting to have the chance to teach things in my own style, not to mention to focus on what I like.

Now that I've been to both of my schools I can say that I like them both. People have told me to expect the Gymnasium (university-track secondary education) to be very different from the HTL (technical- /vocational-track secondary education). The schools actually are quite different: the HTL has very few girls, and their curriculum focuses less on language; the Gymnasium focuses strongly on language and there is roughly an even mix of boys and girls. Both schools are very nice, and the students from both speak very well. I feel very comfortable in both schools—I can't say that I have a favorite. I am really looking forward to meeting more of the teachers at the HTL though; I have only been there once, so I am not yet as comfortable with the teachers there.

Not completely sure what to do this weekend. I haven't really had a chance to explore Waidhofen yet, so I think I will hike around some more. It's rainy today, so I will cross my fingers for nicer weather tomorrow and Sunday. I really want to see the castle here, and hike up Buchenberg again to see the view of the city. I also checked out a "classic German-Western" novel from the library, and it is really quite good. The author Karl May wrote many adventure novels, but is probably best known for his novels about Indians and the American West. Since Karl May is a big part of German/Austrian culture, I want to read at least the most famous book: Winnetou. So if it rains I won't be at a loss for recreation.

 

Teaching—Take 1

10-6-09

Today I taught my first lessons. Such fun. I really like the teachers I am working with, and all the kids seemed to be very interest in my introduction. Teaching is like acting—if you put on a good show, the audience will love you and participate more. I've got a lot to work on as far as putting on a good show goes, but for a first go of it, it wasn't all that bad.

In all three classes there was time for the kids to ask questions, and I shared a lot of great stories with them. I think that their favorite was a story about me in shopping in Austria. I was in a grocery store getting some essentials, and I was looking at some of the myriad sausage varieties. I knew that I was looking at a sausage in the braunschweiger family (liverwurst), but I was not positive that the stuff didn't need to be cooked first. It's pretty weird shopping here—since everything has a different name and packaging it can be tough to recognize the foods I want. Anyway, I asked a little old lady if she could help me for a second. She jumped about a foot in the air and glared at me like I was a leper, or about to offer her a life insurance policy. I quickly explained that I was not an insurance salesman and that I really only wanted to know if I needed to cook the Streichwurst before eating it. She told me no (which I had already suspected) and asked where I am from that I didn't know that. I told her, and she asked me why I don't know what Streichwurst is. I told her that the US has a dearth of sausage on the market—to which she replied: "Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that. It must have been hard growing up there." I couldn't make this up.

After school I came back home, but left my introduction artwork there. After cursing for a while I went and opened a bank account (so I can get paid) and bought a new piece of poster paper to make a new intro poster. When I got back to Kolpinghaus I started drawing again. Not long thereafter, the headmaster of Kolpinghaus knocked on the door and gave me a full tour of the building and let me in on some of the secrets the administrator conveniently left out. There is a weight room, a shooting gallery, free internet, a bar with a kegeln alley (a game similar to bowling, only the balls are smaller and have no holes), and much much more. For twenty of my two hundred Euros per month a lady cleans my room and empties my trash for me. And for another small fee (twenty to thirty Euros per month) she will do my laundry as well. Pretty nice deal. Added to that, the manager is giving me a bike to use for the year, and outfitted my room with two lamps and a microwave. He also expressed his regret that I spent my money on a pot, fry pan and other kitchen equipment because he had a full regalia of cooking supplies ready for me.

Blogging with a Bottle of Wine

(Oct. 5, 2009)

I'm sitting comfortably at my desk relaxing with a glass of wine, and it seems like the time to start recording. First things first: good wine is damn cheap. There is always a better bottle to buy, but the Chilean sauvignon blanc I am drinking now is pretty good for 1.99 Euros (roughly $2.80 at current exchange rates). It makes TJ's 2 buck chuck (or is it 3 buck chuck?) look like swill. Sorry TJ's. Speaking of libations, the beer is amazing too. A very respectable case (Stiegl—brewed in Salzburg, if I remember correctly) only costs $21. That's even better when you consider the fact that it comes in pints rather than 12 oz. bottles, and that $2.25 (roughly) of it is deposit. I think I fell asleep at the airport and woke up in heaven. Anyway, I digress.

Today was my first day in Seitenstetten working at the Gymnasium. It's tough to get from Waidhofen an der Ybbs to Seitenstetten: to catch the bus that gets me there in time to start work I need to get up at 5:00 am. The bus leaves at 5:43. Still, that was no problem today—I practically sprang out of bed because I was so excited to see what the school would be like.

I got to work very early—even before the secretary. I scared the wits out of her when she came up to the door. After she regained her composure, however, she recognized me and showed me around the school. "Das Stiftsgymnasium der Benediktiner" is loosely affiliated with Catholicism, and is located in the Benedictine monastery in Seitenstetten. Although some monks teach lessons (mostly religion), the vast majority of the teachers and professors are secular. I will rarely interact with the monks as I will mainly be working with English teachers. After getting some of my bureaucracy for the day out of the way (more on that to come), I waited a while in the teachers' lounge for my "Betreuungslehrer" (this is a tough one to translate; it means, sort of, the teacher who I will be working closest with, who I am to go to first for advice, and who sort of acts as my guidance counselor whilst I am here, but even that definition really doesn't explain the meaning fully—suffice to say that there is no translation for "Betreuer" in English, and the closest translation might be something like "care taker" or "liason").

My "Beteuungslehrerin" (feminine of the above) is Frau Elizabeth Zach, a very friendly woman (and informal, by Austrian standards), and I am glad that I will be working closely with somebody so outgoing. She showed me around a little more, touching on some things that the secretary missed, and we talked for a while before she needed to get to work. During this time I also had a veritable hurricane of introductions; I remember only a handful of names. I suppose; however, that I will have enough time to catch up on that later. I did catch most of my English-teaching colleagues' names though. The laundry list is not that long, and I am very fond of everyone so far. In addition to Elizabeth there is Siegi (See-ghee), Markus, Gertraud, and Ingeburg (who I have not yet met… and yes, the Oxford comma was intended here).

I also got my schedule for my Stammschule (main school). I will be at the Gymnasium (or monastery, if you will) on Tuesdays and Thursdays until about noon, as well as every other Friday until half past eight. Since I am working in another school as well, I have a second schedule, which due to Germanic efficiency, fits this schedule perfectly. At my secondary school— a HTL (Höhere technische Bundeslehr- und Versuchsanstalt—don't even get me started—it's basically a technical high school with a vocational emphasis)—I will work Mondays and Wednesdays. Monday I start at 11:00 and get done around 1:00; Tuesday I begin at 8:15, teach for two hours, and then for another hour around 1:00, so that I am done at approximately 2:00. All in all, it's not a bad schedule.

I also observed my first class today (still at the Gymnasium here, despite that small aside). Gertraud invited me to visit her 3^rd form class (equivalent to the 3^rd year in Gymnasium) and to act as her "walking dictionary". It was great to get to hang out in a class and offer some tips to the kids.

Gertraud was also kind enough to give me a ride back to Waidhofen a. d. Ybbs, since bus connections are relatively infrequent. As if this were not enough, a further testament to the generosity of my teachers is that we are working out a plan for me to ride with them from Waidhofen in the morning so I don't have to get up at such an ungodly hour. To say I'm thrilled is an understatement, since I neither expected nor requested this. I will be riding with Prof. Leo Mader and Prof. Lotte Mader tomorrow morning.

After all the excitement at the school I was certainly ready for my day to be over. However, I still had some bureaucratic stuff to take care of. Namely, I needed to report to the authorities that I will be living in Austria, as well as pick up my identification card. The process at the city hall was actually, and surprisingly, very stream-lined; however, getting the paperwork filled out by my landlord was anything but. Living in a dormitory building, there is a management office that is open on weekdays, but when I arrived, there was nobody there and the doors were locked. This was… frustrating. Especially considering it was during clearly advertised open hours. Admittedly, I arrived only five minutes after the lunch hour ended; however, that does not excuse the administrator returning over thirty minutes late. After two other people somehow budged me in line (maybe I look like a dumb foreigner… that's all I have to go on here in way of an explanation)I got my paperwork stamped (in triplicate, of course), and proceeded to city hall, where getting everything authorized and getting my identification card took all of twenty minutes. Go figure.

After all that, I was ready for a stiff drink, which turned out to be some Chilean wine, which brings us back to the present. I'm done typing. More to come. I'm going to finish my bottle of wine, listen to some music, and probably fall asleep with my shoes on. Prost.

-The Old Apartment-

Broke into the old apartment,

This is where we used to live,

Broken glass; broke and hungry; broken hearts and broken bones,

This is where we used to live…

"The Old Apartment"

--Barenaked Ladies

Waidhofen is a great place to live and my studio at Kolpinghaus is as much as I could ask for. The price is right, and it includes room cleaning, an exercise room, a lounge, a bar with bowling, pool, and foosball. There's a bakery half a block away and a butcher less than five minutes away. I can get groceries down the street—probably less than a quarter of a mile.

My studio is street level with two windows. The street is narrow, so I don't have much of a view, but it is a quiet street, so there is very little traffic. The windows are pretty soundproof as well, so I don't have much problem falling asleep at night. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a fishbowl, but I can always pull the shades if I don't want to be spied upon. Most people probably could care less whether they can see into my apartment anyway. Or at least I would hope…

I have a hot-plate stove with two burners, a dorm-sized fridge, a desk, a shelf, an armoire, and a bed. I also have a private bathroom with a shower. So I'm pretty set. I have what I need.

Orientation in Graz

After I went to Hungary, I attended my teaching orientation in Graz. I was really worried that the whole affair would be one cutesy-cuddly ice-breaker after another. Luckily, it was nothing of the sort. We learned some very useful activities that I will definitely employ in class. More importantly, I met some great people to visit across Austria. There are approximately 100 teaching assistants in my region, and I met quite a few from the bigger cities, so I will probably be able to find a couch to sleep on if I want to visit Vienna.

I also got to benefit from 2^nd year teaching assistants' experience. There were five 2^nd year teachers there, and they were very nice and very informative. They also knew the best beers in Austria, so I don't have to go through a painful trial-and-error process to find something worth drinking.

After the four-day-long Graz seminar we went our separate ways. I arrived in Waidhofen about 5:00 pm on Friday. I had no clue where I had to go, and had no way to call anyone. I went to a gas station and the clerk was nice enough to call me a cab to take me to Kolpinghaus—my apartment building. More on my apartment in the next post.

Budapest, Hungary

Before going to Austria I visited Hungary to see my friend Attila, a former AFS student in Poynette (if you don't already know him). Budapest is beautiful, and we really kept ourselves busy seeing the sights and going out on the town at night. There is really so much history there—it seems like every building is between 500 and 1000 years old. The first day we just walked around the city and looked at some of the important buildings. We climbed up a hill to a citadel above the Danube, which had a great view of the cityscape. We also went to the Budapest Zoo, which is simply amazing. Even the buildings in the Zoo are architecturally interesting.

On Day 2 we took a city tour on a "Hop-on Hop-off" bus—one of those bright red double-decker affairs you associate with 50-year-olds wearing Hawaiian shirts and straw hats. (There were plenty of them too.) The bus ride really was awesome though—it gave me the chance to see a lot of the city that I never would have gotten to see otherwise. We also hiked between several stops since we could get on or off any of the tourist busses.

Later in the week we traveled to visit Attila's parents in Veszprèm. Attila's mom is a great cook, and she made some delicious traditional dishes. While we were there we went to the Balaton area, which is on a large lake. Aside from being a beautiful area, there are a lot of mineral water springs there. We also visited the Herend Porcelain Factory in Herend. If you don't know what Herend porcelain is, check it out online. It is beautiful—and expensive! We got to see how it is formed, fired, painted and fired again. It was really quite an impressive tour.

After visiting Vesprèm we went back to Budapest. We went to a club called Morrison's 2 with Attila's friends. Woof! It was huge—you could literally get lost in there. The building must have been half a block in size, and had seven or eight dance music with various types of music, a billiards hall, tables, and who knows what else. I didn't see the whole thing. It harkened back to days of old before Madison went smoke-free in bars. There was a blue haze above the dancers, and in the darker dance rooms you could see glowing cigarettes in everyone's hands.

Moral of the story—go to Hungary if you can. There is enough to do there that you will easily fill a week.