update number twentysomething

lets rock this.

I got back from Salzburg snowboarding on Saturday. It was a really good week. I got to know some of the non-English teachers at the HTL (technical highschool) a lot better, which is really neat. I have been at the HTL one day since then and I feel a lot more welcome knowing more people. It was a late ice-breaker, but one that was needed (which is not to say that I was uncomfortable before--its just better now).

The place we stayed at in Saalbach (in the Bundesland -state- Salzburg) was really nice. It was full board, (4 meals a day for teachers and all people from WI named Rob). The food was really delicious, and gave a chance to enjoy some of the traditional Austrian delicacies like wiener schnitzel. It also provided a full range of pasta with meat sauce for lunch. Can't be 4 star meals every time. Luckily it was always delicious.

Snowboarding conditions were great the whole week with the exception of Friday morning. From Sun-Thurs it was sunny and warm, with fresh powder on Sunday from a Friday night storm. The weather got progressively warmer, so the powder hardened up, and got harder to ride as more and more people made tracks in it. The slopes were comparatively good though, despite the warm weather turning some of them at the bottom of the mtn to mush. On Friday morning we got a snowstorm (summit) and rainstorm (valley) which made riding pretty miserable. But it stopped about 1:00 pm, and we went back out at 2 for some fresh snow. The hills were empty--I guess the bad weather demoralized quite a few tourists--so it was a great last day. Without a doubt the best snow conditions of the whole week.

The night program was pretty good--I went out with the teachers after students' curfew twice, and that was pretty enjoyable. One night we went to a ski party bar called the "goat's stall". Uhh, what happens in the goat's stall stays in the goat's stall. (hint: it involves strippers. and the median age of the clientele was 37. Quite the experience.)

Spring seems to have sprung in Waidhofen. (To quote Garrison Keillor though, "March is a transitional month. It is the month God invented to teach people that don't drink about hangovers." Basically what I am trying to say is that I am going to try not to be discouraged when we get another 12" of snow next week sometime. /-: ||)The meadows are starting to green up and the snow is disappearing rapidly from even the north slopes. I went for a hike a couple of days ago and started a new resolution--to pick up after other people more. It was kind of an epiphany moment. It was a typical blustery-but-warm March afternoon, and a plastic shopping bag came rolling down the street toward me like a tumbleweed. It would have been irresponsible to let it blow by, so i picked it up and then i decided to pick up all the trash that I came across on the hike. My basic rules for the project are that I am going to pick up all the trash that isn't gross (no poopy toilet paper, no used... uh... well, you get the idea). There wasn't all that much to pick up, but I came back with a half a bag. I deposited the contents of the bag in their intended receptacle (if you aren't following me here, it's a trash can, and I guess that also means I am picking up after you...). I kept the bag for further use, and I keep in my coat pocket. Another part of my resolution is to not be disgusted by the quantity of trash that I am picking up--its not a drop in a bucket sort of exercise. The point isn't to clean up the world--my goal is to clean up the areas that I frequent for my enjoyment alone. So far so good.

Beyond that... lets see... one of the teachers from the HTL offered to give me an oven that he doesn't use anymore so that I can start baking and enjoy the full range off cooking that I am coming to miss. I think I will be taking him up on that offer. The mere thought of a chocolate chip cookie makes me homesick. Homesickness hasn't been a problem so far, but I do really miss some simple foods like good hamburgers, cookies, pie, casserole, baked chicken, and so on and so forth. And its not weird that I don't miss the people--in this age of internet, I have really been in pretty close contact with most people. But I haven't had a hamburger since September '09.

still haven't gotten around to uploading salzburg pics from my week snowboarding, but i'll get there. most of the pictures turned out to be the boring landscape shots your retired neighbors bring back from RV vacations and insist on showing you as a slideshow in their living room while you try to melt off the couch, onto the floor, and flow unnoticed out the crack beneath the door. the rest are of my students. there are a couple cool ones, but because of the general unremarkable level of quality, it may be a while before I work up the motivation.

lastly, if you are looking for a good book, I recommend "The Book Theif" by Markus Zusak (Austrailian author). A very engaging read.

prost.

The Best Wurst... and all about a load of Krap-fen.

On my way back from teaching today I stopped at the butcher to get some sandwich meat. I decided to be a little adventurous and try something new, so I asked the butcher what he would recommend. He asked what I like, and I said that I like just about everything, I just don't know what things are because everything in America has a different name, if we have it at all. He thought for a while, and then asked me if I wanted to try something really different. I agreed immediately. He sliced off a piece of some weird-looking thing called Press Wurst. It's like nothing else. It is chunks of meat and vegetables pressed together and bound in a vinegary gelatin. But its delicious. I am glad I asked the butcher for a recommendation, because I never would have tried this on my own. Here is a picture of it ready to eat back at my house.

Yesterday was Fasching here, which is the Austrian equivalent of Mardi Gras. Many of the students at school were dressed up, so I took my camera to all my classes and got some fun pictures. The students made me promise to make it clear that they don't always dress like this... so... let me iterate: This is not an accurate representation of the average Austrian student's fashion taste. This is an improvement on the average Austrian student's fashion taste.

I also got to try a traditional fasching dessert, the krapfen. It is very similar to the Bavarian jelly filled donuts we are familiar with, but they are filled with apricot jelly instead of the normal strawberry. Very good. Now I can say that I ate a load of krapfen!

Check out the pictures:

This Saturday I am going snowboarding at Saalbach in Salzburg. I'm going on this trip with the HTL, and it seems like the school is going to be covering most of the costs! I'm really looking forward to it, especially since a lot of the students are younger, and I haven't met them before. It should be a pretty good chance to get to know some of the teachers and students a little bit better. This is where Saalbach is:

Stay tuned for an update about snowboarding when I get back next Saturday.

Photo Albums

For all those who are not facebook inclined... here is my Rome Album.

And here is my Snowboarding Album

Un Americano a Roma

Have you ever noticed how when you are walking down the street at night, mostly alone, you will invariably be followed by somebody slightly faster than yourself? Unfailingly they gain on you while you wait, in a cold sweat, for them to grab you from behind and demand your wallet. And, of course, they don't pass you because they are only walking -slightly- faster than you, so for them it would take an uncomfortably long time to pass. This only adds to your anxiety, and as you glance over your shoulder with mounting trepidation, you slow down imperceptibly in the hopes of letting them by you. At first they don't notice that you have slowed, until they see they are within 3 feet of you. They they assume they must have unknowingly accelerated, so they slow down too. And all that is going through your mind at this juncture is that they can only be waiting for a nice dark spot in which to mug you. You contemplate a hare-like sprint for safety, but then decide that is silly, and stop in a street light and quarter-turn to them so you can be ready for anything. They stop, look at you funny, and walk on. So it goes.

To address the topic implied by the title of this blog, I did just get back from Rome. Lina and I went together and had a really nice week. We flew with RyanAir, a British discount flight service, which thankfully got us there in one piece, and even thoughtfully delivered our luggage to the same airport. Flying with them really isn't so bad--it got us there and back for 100 euro less than it would have cost with on other planes, and in half the time it would have taken on the train (including travel time to and from airports, and waiting time at the gate). At the same rate, however, they should really consider branding themselves with the slogan "If you paid any more to fly with us you'd never fly with us again!", or perhaps something comforting along the lines of "Discount flights at prices you won't believe can defy gravity!*" (*usually...).

We stayed at a rather pleasant hostel, in the way that hostels can be pleasant, which is to say not at all. Really it wasn't bad. We had a private room and a bathroom shared dorm-style with three other private rooms. They included breakfast and dinner in the price. All in all it was quite nice, even if the window could not be opened to let in some fresh air and the heat was jammed on high.

Rome itself is huge, which I guess is why people say, "Rome wasn't seen in a day," or something like that. We went to the Fontana di Trevi, the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, the Sistine Chapel, and saw a lot of other attractions. The best part of the trip though was just getting a chance to hang out and relax. Coffee in Italy is all it's cracked up to be, and they have a delightful take on hot chocolate that is thick and creamy and is what you would expect if you took a high quality dark chocolate bar and melted it into a glass. And the food... well... it warrants a paragraph unto itself.

I actually went the whole week without having a pizza because I am of the firm belief that pizza is a uniquely American phenomenon, even if it was developed by an Italian-American. The pizza that Rome now serves is an adaption of our pizza, which was indeed an adaption of a sauceless cheese bread with toppings that was once served in Italy and has now apparently died out. To my great relish I stuck with pastas. And they did not disappoint. Nor did the table wine at the restaurants. A liter of red or white for 6 euro? Sign me up for one of each, please. And on the by, I discovered a simply amazing appetizer. Please make sure you are sitting when you read this. Honeydew melon topped with prosciutto parma ham. It is wonderful. Please, reserve judgement on this one until you have actually tried it. You will not regret this experience. [Edit: Prof. Court of UW-Madison fame informed me of the following, and I quote:

"Mr. Schultz: I really must protest! Pizza is not American. I won't belabor the point, but it is Neapolitan. American pizza, in fact, was originally made by Neapolitans who settled on the eastern seaboard who sold it in the streets from baskets perched atop their heads to workers who could not go home for the mid-day meal (hence the contemporaneous evolution of the hoagie, sub, grinder etc.). Pizzerie started when the kitchens that developed to serve the ambulatori trade evolved into restaurants. By the time either happened the Pizzeria Port' Alba had been open for more than fifty years! Port' Alba opened its doors before mass immigration from southern Italy, c1830, long, long before pizza was ever tasted on these shores. My advisor Carlo Poni was from Ferrara, arriving in New York in 1938 and he at pizza for the first time and loved it. He too was convinced that Pizza was American even after pizza arrived in northern Italy in the late 1950s. He did not know that pizza was not American until he traveled to Naples in the mid 60s and was shocked to know that by then modern pizza was 130 years old.

Ah, Prosciutto e Melone!!!! One of the only sweet and salty things that Italians eat anymore. Been eaten for four centuries at least; certainly not a gourmet novelty."

Thanks Prof. Court for your correction!]

And on the last day, while we were waiting for the bus to the airport, we broke down and ordered a pizza. Not what we expected, but that is our fault for deviating from the beaten path. We ordered a pizza caprese (which as you know, means fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, and olive oil). This was served as a baked pizza crust with the above ingredients served fresh and cold as toppings. Actually rather good, if a little gloopy and wonky.

Anyway, I have not gotten motivated to upload photos, but when I do I will post a link to the facebook album here so you can see them all.

Got to go--my spaghetti is boiling over. Oh Rome.

Snowboarding at Hochkar and upcoming niceties

Hello dear readers,

Spent Sunday snowboarding with the Oberstufen ("oh-bear-stew-fin", upper classes--isn't learning German fun?). We went to a mountain about an hour from Waidhofen called Hochkar. You can use the google to see where it is if you are interested, but if you just want to see pictures, you can also take a look at my facebook page--all the good ones and some of the not-so-good ones are loaded. I even overcame my inherent laziness to rotate most of them so that up is up. For some others you will have to tilt your head, but that's how life is sometimes. Sometimes things are clear the way they are, and sometimes you have to alter your perspective a little. Consider it a public service.

Snowboarding was awesome. It was a day made by God for winter sports enthusiasts. The snow was fluffy and perfect, the sun was shining, the temp was hovering a degree or so below freezing, and in the valleys below us there were clouds obscuring everything, which made it feel like we were snowboarding on a wintery island in a cloud sea. (Warning, swimming in cloud seas is not advised. Danger, cloudsharks.)

We got there before the sun crested the mountains, and the moon was in the sky by the time we boarded the bus. I ate some delicious schnitzel (pork that has been pounded thin, breaded, and fried--in case you've never had the pleasure) for lunch, and after a hard day on the slopes we had a beer in one of the chalets. Quite an adventure.

To change the subject, let's reflect a moment on the glories of blogging. The greatest part, as many have probably elucidated before, is that the blogger can start, stop, continue, stop again, drink, eat, listen to music, pause to go shopping, come back, type in his underwear, etc, all of which the bloggee remains blissfully unaware of. I am not blogging in my underwear (currently), but I did just make a small excursion to the store to buy a bottle of wine before they close, and I was amazed to see that it is snowing. It is one of those slow, light, fluffy snows that glistens in the street lights and somehow makes the air seem colder. And speaking of snow, we got about 4 inches last night, which was kind of nice, since our meager helping of frozen precipitation was quickly melting and being carried down the watershed in its inexorable route to the sea. So... again... winter wonderland.

Before I wrap things up, I thought I would mention my trip to Italy (again, or for the first time, I am no longer sure). I'm leaving for Vienna this Friday, and Saturday night I will fly out of Bratislava and get to Rome around 11:30. We're staying at a youth hostel, and should be pretty centrally located, which is a good thing for sure--but Rome is a big city, and a lot of the sights are kind of far apart, or so I have been told. So that means good exercise!

I am really looking forward to a nice relaxing trip, and a good professor friend of mine gave me some recommendations on the right wine to drink and some good places to dine, so hopefully that will give me a leg up while I'm there. Don't expect a lot of pictures of monuments, but I will snap some pictures of the action while there, you can be sure. I will write a full report when I get back, and if you want to see pictures of the sights, you can follow along in a travel guide from any library--seriously. My professor friend made a good point that unless you are a professional photographer with a professional quality camera, you can't replicate the quality of the pictures in a travel guide, so why bother? Take pictures of yourself having fun, and if you want to reminisce about the Colosseum, look in Frommer's.

Hope all is well! 'Til next time!

the peppermint tea rap --or-- why i no longer pity myself

I am not sure if I ever mentioned my dislike for peppermint or the story of accidentally buying a whole box of peppermint tea in any of my previous posts. I could go back and look, but that would take about 30 seconds, and would therefore would be far too time-consuming. So instead I will take the next minute to retype (or not) said story. Far less tedious for you to reread something than for me to actually take the time to look for something. This wouldn't be a problem if I tagged my topics. Oh blogging.

The long and short (okay, mostly long) of it is that I wanted to buy some tea without caffeine in it, and I thought I picked up a box of chamomile tea, but in reality it was peppermint. So, being the stubborn mule I am, instead of giving away the 50 (50!) bags of hated, despised, disgusting peppermint, I decided to drink it as punishment to myself. Oh the horror of drinking peppermint tea, and how I hated my miserable existence more and more with every sip.

Time passed...

Today I made yet another cup of peppermint tea, and realized that it has become palatable. What a shame, I was really getting into the pity(tea)parties I was throwing for myself. Now I am faced with the choice of pitying myself for coming to tolerate (if not crave) peppermint tea or just leaving the pity out of the party. Oh cruel fates. Anyway, I think that somebody more talented than me should make this into a rap. It would be an instant classic on MTV, and the soon-to-be-famous rapper would also be a soon-to-be-MTV-cribs star. Think about it. Do it.

In other news, I have applied officially to teach a second year at the same schools. I will find out for sure if I am accepted in April. So that's exciting.

Figure 1:

Also, I don't know if you have heard the rumors that I met a girl in Vienna. This has been floating around on the interwebs for some time now, and I am here to say that this is in no way true, as you will be able to observe for yourself in figure 1. The girl next to me is not named Lina and is not in any way acquainted with me. Just kidding. But I thought I would show yall who I am going to see in Vienna so often.

The bi-weekly post... :D

Again, been a while since I've updated. A lot has been going on and I have been really busy. It hasn't been very exciting business though. My trip through Germany ended well, and although I had a great time everywhere I went, I was really glad to get home. Berlin was really great over New Years--we went out to a club and danced our way into 2010. Hamburg was great too, really relaxing as compared to my other stops.

Since being back I have kinda gotten back into the swing of the school year. I have all new students at the technical school, so if I want I can recycle lessons. I am sure I will do that to a certain extent in the coming weeks, but I still have some really fun ideas that I didn't get to implement last semester. At the gymnasium I am teaching the movie "The Princess Bride," which is awesome. I'm talking about it in context of cult films--and I know it's not a cult film the way that... say... "Serenity" is, it still fits the definition, because people in the mid 20's to early 30's are still in love with the movie, and basically everybody else on the planet has forgotten about it. Anyway, the kids love it. Next week, the exciting conclusion... :)

Tomorrow I am going to a fancy dinner party at a friend's house. Everybody is getting all spiffed up, so it should be pretty fun. I haven't put pictures up for a while, so I will bring my camera and maybe even post some of the pictures if we do anything appropriate. ;)

Sionara for now!