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!