Orientation Week!

Gruss di!

The epic blogging catch up game continues... (Read to the end... trust me you'll want to)

Last week was orientation week for English TAs.  To my surprise, it wasn't just for Americans but also for Brits, which led to 5 days of miscommunications.

For example: (American=British)

1. Holiday=Festival
2. Dumpster=Tip
3. Tired=Knackered
4. Pants=Trousers (A lot of Americans got weird looks because pants means underwear in British Eng)
5. Fannypack=Bumbag (This is probably my favorite miscommunication ever)

It was a great week meeting other TAs not too far away.  And it was comforting to know, I wasn't the only one struggling to understand people in my town.

Now during our week, we learned many important lessons.  The first being: never trust an Austrian when hiking.

They will tell you it's not very steep; they will tell you you are halfway there; they will tell you it will be easy from this point on.  LIES... ALL LIES.  Walking up a mountain to the 1500 meter mark is never a gradual uphill climb, they have no judgement of where halfway is, and it just gets harder, especially as the air gets thinner.

It was not a fun climb with asthma, especially as the air got thinner; however, once you make it up there and look at the valley... it's so worth all the pain.  See what I mean...

Besides, we needed a way to burn off all the calories from the food provided (which consisted of one food group... carbs).

Another way we burned some calories was at the traditional folk dance night.  I was more under the impression that we were just going to watch the dancers, but it was very interactive and they kept choosing people to dance with them.  It was SO much fun. 

The men even did incredible Schuhplattler dances.  If you don't know Schuhplattler, google it. But you probably do. If you've ever seen men in Lederhosen slapping their thighs and shoes... that's it.  They even got guys from our group involved!  Then they did a maypole dance... Sorry the picture is kinda blurry.  Oh and I think he is just scratching his face (I hope).

Of course we also entertained ourselves visiting the local bar, the Hexenhaeusl.

The witches themed bar, also came equip with a bar game. No not billiards, not darts, not Foosball.  Austrian bars prefer a much safer game for drunk people...

Yes, those are nails and yes that is a hammer.  The point is to tap the nail into the block with the thin end of the hammer. If you hit your nail, you get to go again.  If you miss your nail, the next person goes.  But don't worry, the hammer is connected to a chain.

Anyways, Thursday was our last full day.  So that night there was a celebration.  We learned Scottish partner dances, performed skits and songs for each other and danced.  My group performed the Sound of Music in 60 seconds, which was tons of fun.

Oh yeah... AND I SANG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARIA VON TRAPP.  My life is complete.

Now it's not Maria like Julie Andrews, the movie renamed all the children.  Maria von Trapp is the second oldest daughter of the von Trapp children.  She is the only of the original 7 children to escape Austria that is still alive.  She just turned 99.  Apparently, one of our teachers is good friends with her.  So we called her up and sang her favorite Austrian song and Happy Birthday in English.  She was so excited and adorable.

Told you it was worth it to read to the end...

Pfiat di!

Kristin