Deus Ex Machina, or He Who Provides Pancakes will be Hailed as a God

So I realize I haven't actually posted much on this blog about teaching in Austria. It has mostly been about living in Austria, and traveling in Italy, and the like. WELL... I suppose the blog has to live up to its name at some point. So I am going to tell a quick story about a game I came up with for the class that turned out to be a lot of fun.

I needed a lesson for my 4th class, and I wanted to something easy and fun. I thought on it, and decided that tea story writing would be a fairly good idea. Being creative is fun, and it would be exciting to see what the students come up with. The question then became how to organize the activity that would prevent an awkward division of labor.

My idea was to make cue cards that the students would receive randomly, each with a word, phrase, or sentence on it that they would have to incorporate into their story, no matter how absurd or ill-fitting it was to the plot that they already had. It also gave me the power to be creative--since the story writing would progress in rounds, I could change the rules of play each round as I saw fit. I called the game Story Snake since we would be piecing the story together with a long string of cue cards.

The students really got a kick out of the game, I think. They had to think on their feet and discuss how they could make cards fit. I really got a kick out of it too, because I could be "mean" to the students by changing fundamental rules midgame to keep them on their toes. The stories were very random... some groups were able to incorporate the cue cards better than others. But that was to be expected.

After class I was thinking about how I could improve the game (mechanics--laminated cards instead of paper ones; different general themes, e.g., fantasy, mystery, or sports; and improvements to the rules, when the following occurred to me: the whole thing sort of works like a Greek play. The stories are completely random, and the plot is driven by the introduction of unanticipated and illogical characters and conditions. The Latin term for this is deus ex machina (literally: "god from the machine"--but a better translation might be "god that we make"). This refers to the penchant in Greek drama to resolve conflicts through the intervention of a god, king, or other character, that has not been previously introduced into the story (or alternatively, has no logical motivation to intervene). It is basically the "easy fix" of literature. God snaps his fingers and all is well in the world. Think Shakespeare's As You Like It. Anyway, I named the game Deus Ex Machina and now part of the lesson is a quick lesson about what this means. Learning Latin in English class from a guy who can't even consistently remember that the word Latin needs to be capitalized. Who would have thought?

In other teaching news, I am making pancake breakfasts for the graduating classes. So far I have done one breakfast (actually it was a full American Style Ordeal complete with scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, o.j.... too much work), and I will be doing at least one more. It's a lot of fun to have breakfast with the kids and just chat rather than having to actually teach something. It is a nice way to... I guess connect... even though it happens in the last class we have together. I guess maybe it is a graduation present of sorts. It is lots of fun anyway.

I guess that's all for now. Good night and good luck.

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day everybody!

I spent the last week banging the environmental drum and teaching Austrian students about Earth Day. For the most part students seemed really interested and excited to talk about ways to reduce human impact on the environment. The things they liked the best were things we can do without changing our lifestyles. It turns out we waste a lot of energy--energy that we can save without doing anything radical like spending thousands on a solar energy system.

We had a lot of great discussions and came up with some goals that the students promised to think about for the rest of the year... hopefully they will stick to it! If nothing else, their parents will appreciate the lower utility bills.

I am even taking one class out to pick up garbage around town--a real Earth Day activity that US school kids will be doing around the nation today.

Finally, I wanted to mention/comment on a response I got from a particular student. He said, "I don't think it's important to do anything for Earth Day. It's not like what we do makes a difference." I think this attitude is really common and very understandable. I feel like this too, sometimes. However, if you actually think about this attitude, you quickly see how sad it is. Speaking hypothetically, even if global warming is natural and not caused by people, there is no reason to handle our environment as if it is a disposable good. As the saying goes, "Don't shit where you eat." Why would we want to throw trash where we walk, live, or drive? And if somebody else throws trash where we walk, live, or drive, why wouldn't we want to pick it up? If you can't convince yourself it makes an environmental difference, then at least clean up out of egotistical self interest: a clean neighborhood is a beautiful neighborhood, and a beautiful neighborhood has higher property values.

Every bucket, --even the bucket that is our in-need-of-a-good-spring-cleaning environment-- is filled with individual drops. If you refuse to put your drop in the bucket and never do anything to reduce your impact on the environment, then it is your fault that the bucket never fills up. Just sayin.

Hopefully you are all participating in the festivities today by doing the two most important Earth Day related activities:

1. Taking Action.
This is going out and doing something nice for Mother Nature that you normally wouldn't do. It can be picking up trash in your neighborhood or along a country road, putting up bluebird houses (ask the landowner first--he/she will say yes--especially if you are going to maintain the houses in the future), or installing a compost bin for your veggie scraps.

2. Make Some Goals.
This means taking a look at your impact on the environment and making goals to reduce this impact over the next year. A lot of things require a lifestyle change, but don't despair! There are a lot of things you can train yourself to do that make almost no noticable change on your day-to-day life. The only place you will notice these changes is on your utility bill! Most people can easily cut their utility costs by 15-20%.

The following are some things I talked about with my classes to save energy and help the environment. They are all things you can do without a big lifestyle change.

• Pick up trash when you go walking. Walking by litter on the street is just as bad as putting it there yourself.
• Use a cloth shopping bag. Bringing your own bags when you go shopping makes a huge difference, both in the energy cost of disposable bag production and in our environment and landfills. By number (not by volume) 10% of all trash found in the ocean is a plastic shopping bag. I guess having your wild-caught Alaskan cod pre-packaged is an advantage for some people?
• Turn off lights you don't need. If you aren't in the room, the light can just as easily be off. The idea that turning the light off for 10 minutes actually uses more power is a myth. The reality is that if you are going to be gone for more than .2 seconds, you are wasting power by leaving the lights on.
• Don't leave appliances on stand-by mode. Unplug appliances if you can, or turn off power at the switch. Otherwise your appliances are still sucking current. (This really does suck up a lot of power--a TV that is turned off is still sucking power from the outlet. The same goes for your computer, DVD player, and even your cell phone charger whether or not it is charging your phone. According to Wikipedia this cleverly coined "vampire power draw" amounts to up to 10% of your electricity costs. Want to cut your electric bill by 10% next month? Kill vampire power draw.)
• Shower, don't take baths. Ok.. Ok.. everyone knows this. But how about taking a "navy shower"? Turn on the shower long enough to get wet, then turn off the water to lather up and scrub. Then turn the water back on to rinse. Maybe you dont want to do this every day (I love a hot, relaxing shower too), but doing it for 50% of your showers will still save buckets of water. It's not that bad, trust me.
• Buy green energy. Call your electrical company and see how much more it would cost to buy 100% of your electrical energy from wind or solar power. Often it is less than $5/month more. If you do this and kill your vampire energy draw you will probably still be saving money. True capitalists will love this--vote with your dollar and make a difference!
• Buy local and seasonal products. Lower transportation costs (and less pollution) and lower production costs for something out of season (Strawberries in January? They don't even taste good, and they were either grown expensively in a green house or shipped up from Mexico. Neither one makes me hungry).
• Buy things with less packaging. Why pay for decoration that you are going to throw away when you get home? Envision that all that extra plastic and cardboard sitting in a land-fill rather than decorating what you are buying. It will end up there soon enough.

Lastly... really... I'm just about done... If you want to learn a little about the history of Earth Day (A Wisconsin holiday, I am proud to add), click here. You can read US Senator Gaylord Nelson's (WI) recolections about the founding of Earth Day.

Every day is Earth Day!

In which I go to Munich, and then to Venice for one day

In my last post I forgot to mention that I traveled over the Easter holiday. I ended up getting 2 and a half weeks off for Easter, which was unexpected (more on that later). Originally, I planned on having roughly a week and a half off: the Friday one full week before Easter to the Tuesday after Easter.

During the week before Easter I went to visit an acquaintence in Munich. I had never been there, so it was really exciting to see the city. It was pretty, but rather snobbish, I felt. It was very different from Vienna. Especially different was the open air market, which is comparable to the Farmers' Market in Madison--a yuppy affair. Don't get me wrong--I love the Madison Farmers' Market--but let's be honest. The tired and the poor don't go there to go shopping, and you are paying for quality. The market in Vienna is different. It is crowded and loud with stands packed together like cigarettes in a box. There are people hawking everything from vegetables to exotic fruits, meat, cheeses, clothing, and souvenirs. On Saturdays there is even a lovely flea market. The Vienna market is much more... vibrant.

I also got a chance to visit the famous Hofbrauhaus in Munich. It is one of the famous Bavarian beer companies, and if you are interested in trying it out, it is available in Madison as well. You can find it in the Essen Haus, and in some stores (bottles labeled HB). The beer in Bavaria is really some of the world's best. And I won't fib--I drank my share of it while there. It goes particularly well with a BBQ we found. Luckily the weather was conducive.

Back in Austria I visited a teacher and her family for Easter. Easter isn't all that different in Austria. The Easter Bunny hides Easter baskets, and the family sits down for a nice big dinner together. I left feeling like somebody should roll me home! It was really nice to have the chance to enjoy Easter as a family get-together, and I am very thankful that I was invited.

On Easter Monday I accompanied the 5th class (15-year-olds) on their trip to Italy. We went to Triest first--a very Austrian city in Northern Italy. In fact, it was modeled after Vienna. There we saw Castle Miramar, which was built by Maximillian von Habsburg (of executed Emperor of Mexico fame). After Triest, we traveled to Treviso to spend the night. Treviso is a small, cozy city about 40 minutes away from Venice by train.

We spent the next day in Venice--it is as beautiful as people say. It is also as full as tourists as I feared. After about an hour dodging through crowds and keeping my hand on my wallet at all times (pickpocketing does occur) I felt ready to thoroughly throttle the next person who bumped into me. Stressful tourists aside, Venice is completely worthwhile, and you could easily spend a few days taking in all that the city has to offer.

We spent the last day in Vicenza, which is about a 90 minute bus ride from Treviso. It is another quiet city and has a lot of buildings designed by the famous architecht Andreas Palladio, including the oldest modern theater in Europe.

Not including the 18 hours of bus travel in 3 days, it was a very nice trip. Northern Italy is worth seeing...

Anyhow, when I got back from Italy on Wednesday, I found out that my teachers didn't need me in class on Thursday. Instant weekend. Nice surprise.

The episode in which Rob talks discusses non-drying water, stalkers, and curling

My shower is wet. It's been that way for over 48 hours. The floor is covered in water. It won't dry. It JUST WON'T DRY GOD HELP ME I'VE TRIED E V E R Y T H I N G! I am running the fan non-stop, and when I'm not running the noisy fan, the bathroom door is open to circulate air. The shower head is not dripping. I'm at the end of my wet rope. I could dry the floor with a towel, but in the name of science, I feel as though I need to let evaporation handle this one on its own. I think the problem might be that my apartment is so humid. No need for a fog machine here, folks. It's an asthmatic's dream. And opening my windows doesn't help much either--it has been raining continuously for the last 72 hours, so outside is wetter than inside (God's small blessings are the best blessings). So... we are officially on SHOWER WATCH (dun dun dun) to see if I have raised a new breed of evaporation-resistant water... I will keep you updated as events unfold.

Tonight I am going to have a beer with a guy who met me at the train station. He needed help with the ticket machine, and I kindly obliged, being the mild-mannered midwesterner that I am. Woe are the unforeseen consequences of R.A.O.K.'s. He followed me to the train platform, and then sat next to me on the train for the next 30 mins. Like a little lost puppy. Apparently he is 17 years old, goes to a vocational school in Waidhofen, and doesn't have any friends. That last part is really no mystery to me, because that is usually the consequence of not having social skills. One follows the other--that has been my experience. But he sort of badgered me into giving him my cell number and we decided to meet up for a beer. The beer summit was planned day before yesterday, and yesterday he called to ask me how my day was. And what I had done all day. (Worked.) And what I was doing right then. (Cooking) And what I was cooking. (Soup, I said, which was a half-lie because it seemed easier than explaining that I was eating delicious left-over chilli.) What kind of soup? (*sigh* Chilli.) Oh, what is chilli? (Soup.) How do you make it? (It has meet, red beans, onions, and tomatoes in it. Very good.) Wanna know what I'm doing? (Not really. [Spoiler warning, that didn't keep him from telling me]) The call ended with him reaffirming that we were still meeting for a beer. We had just made the plans the day before. Woof.

And here is the kicker. He just called me again. While I was writing the above. I mean to say--when I started the above, I didn't know that I would be writing this paragraph. He called to make sure we were still going to meet up. That's 55 mins from now. I hope he doesn't rape me and kill me because he just might be getting a little attached. I don't have the patience to play psychologist/friend (in that order, because folks, that's the order he needs them in).

Anyway, on a less mean-to-innocent -(most likely)-harmless people who don't know I'm blogging about them, I played in the Vienna Curling Championship over the weekend. 'Twas a six game round robin, and we ended up taking fourth. It was a really fun weekend, and I am thinking about joining the club now so that I will have the chance to practice regularly and play in some more bonspiels. They play in Budapest, Bratislava, Kitzbuhl (Austria), and in different cities in Germany--so it should be fun.

And... I suppose as an afterthought I should include this little teaser. If you have enjoyed the blog so far this year, be sure to tune in next year to see how my adventures proceed. I applied for and got an extension for my position. I will be back teaching in Seitenstetten (the Catholic Gymnasium) and a different school in Waidhofen--this time a business school.

Anyway, I know it's been a bit since my last report. I will try to be more timely with the next one.

So it goes (parenthesis episode!)

First, an UPDATE:

Hanna and I are friends. We went for a ride to Amstetten (~60 km, or in American, 40 mi round trip) today. After tuning up the bike, she rides really really well. I also love the bike path to Amstetten. It goes through small European towns and forests, with just enough hills to make it fun without making it a pain. There are plenty of nice little cafes to stop at in Amstetten (or at any point along the way) to enjoy a cup of coffee. And, best of all, if your rebellious bike stages a coup, the path is never far from the train tracks, and the your mean distance from a train station is never more than 5 km (if you read the last post, you know I'm no stranger to pushing my bike that distance). Luckily I didn't need the train.

Second, an UPDATE:

I mentioned previously that I was planning on curling in Vienna. It was really fun. We play on a hockey rink that is thoughtfully zambonied (Google spell check says I can't use that as a verb--well I say watch me). As you can imagine, though, the Zamboni doesn't take all the scratches out of the ice, which reduces a sport which has been romanticized as "chess on ice" to little more than a "craps shoot on ice." Not that I am complaining. Casinos wouldn't make millions of dollars a year running craps shoots if it wasn't fun. Similarly, curling on a hockey rink proved to be quite pleasantly diverting. The people were both typically and atypically friendly (typically friendly for curlers, atypically friendly for Europeans). And they invited me to come play in a bonspiel with their team in April. Curling rocks.

Third, an UPDATE (isn't there something nice about continuity?):

The Wizard of Oz was really great. The whole theater was filled with kids. I felt like it would have been hard for an adult to follow if they didn't already know the story--but it was perfect for kids. I'm sure everything would have been perfectly clear to a 6 year old. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch an episode of Dora the Explorer). I liked it because I knew the story.

And finally--some real news:

I am returning to WI on 5/28. I am looking forward to seeing all yall.

Hannelorre blows her top

In a moment of weakness I bought a bike. She is beautiful, but temperamental. Perhaps she is crotchety in her old age, or it could be that she simply hasn't warmed to me yet; whatever it is, she likes to cause trouble for me.

I have been thinking about buying a bike for a while now--spring has been in the air, and I miss the wind in my face and the trees flying by on the other side of my aviators. Not being able to explore the miles of hilly highway around Waidhofen is what finally broke me, and I started looking for a used road bike. Last weekend I got in touch with an elderly woman named Hannelorre who was selling her Puch Clubman road bike for a reasonable sum. I met with her, inspected the bike and quickly rode off a happy customer. That's when the trouble started.

It really hasn't been anything too tragic. It could happen to anybody--but I take it as an omen of a passionate but stormy relationship between Hannelorre (my bike--named after the original owner) and myself. First, I had to buy two tickets for my bike to get it on the train. Apparently, the ticket they sell in the ticket machines is not valid on inter-regional trains--there is no mention of this on the machine. I checked. Thoroughly. The train conductor said, "Yeah, sorry, that seems to happen to everybody." Gee, no kidding? Perhaps that's because the ticket machine sells a "Day Ticket for Bicycles" without any description indicating it is not valid on some kinds of trains. Just a hunch.

After getting back to Waidhofen with Hannelorre in tow, I took her out for a spin. I rode about 4 blocks to volleyball practice, and then on the way back, Hannelorre tried to kill me. If you want to be technical, I suppose the van driver who pulled out directly in front of me tried to kill me. But either way, somebody (be it bike or man) wanted me dead. It was, of course, a misty day and Hannelorre's steel rims were wet. This did not help her ancient brake pads grip the wheels to bring me safely to a stop...

**SPOILER WARNING**

...I did not die, however. Luckily I have cat-like reflexes, and was able to swerve to my right (behind, not in front of, the speeding-through-a-clearly-visible-stop-sign van). Not watching for bikers is bad for your karma, and I hope that as a result of this driver's negligence: a) his socks get wet, and b) nobody talks to him at parties. (Both are fates worse than death.)

The latest case of bicycle rebellion happened today. The weather is nice and springy so I decided I would go for another ride--to help Hanna (her nickname) get to know me. I rode 6 km to a nearby village and then turned around to enjoy the downhill coast back home. I am quite certain I got no more than 150 m into the return trip before the sidewall of the front tire blew--with a very impressive hiss--leaving me to hike 5,850 meters back.

This weekend I am going to thoroughly tune Hannelorre up. New brakes. New tires. Gear adjustment. True the rims. Tighten the brake levers. Oil all the moving parts that need oil. And if she doesn't catch one of my fingers in the chain, preventing me from ever typing again, I will report on how she rides after a tune-up.

curling and the yellow brick road

Heading to Vienna tonight--not just for the usual reason, but also because I am going curling! I got in touch with a curling club from Ottakring and they invited me to come practice with them. Rock on.

I am also going to the Wizard of Oz with Lina, which is really exciting. I can't wait to see what it is like in German. My friend Andy also has a friend in Vienna this weekend, visiting from Georgia, so it should be action packed in the city.

Spring is on hiatus again here--after the nice weather a week and an half ago, the continued dreariness is wearing. It is snowing right now. But I distinctly notice that the snow is half-hearted. Almost like Winter recognizes that this is just a token effort.

I'm on the market for a bike--I decided that I need to make the investment. I can't stand walking, and those nice days and alpine hills just SCREAM "bIkE RidE!" So wish me luck on finding something that fits my expensive taste that is in my humble price range. :)

Got to cut this short--train whistles will soon be blowing!