Halloween Weekend: Wine Country and Vienna

Griaß di!

So due to Austria being a Catholic country, I had a 4 day weekend for Halloween! Yay! But no one really celebrates Halloween here, so I spent the time adventuring.

My friend invited me to her family's home on the other side of Austria for the weekend, and so our story begins...

First up was the Wachau. It's the famous wine growing region of Lower Austria (the province I was in). They are also famous for their Apricot Blossoms (think D.C. for Cherry Blossoms). Unfortunately, being there in the Fall, everything was starting to die, but regardless it truly was breathtaking.

 The Wachau. Vineyards with Duernstein in the background.

 What a beautiful sight!

 Taking a stroll along the Danube.

 Hogwarts? Or a fortress in ruins...

 The most popular photo of the Danube. Aggstein fortress with the river.

 Through the looking glass...

Across the Danube to Duernstein. The castle on top of the hill is where Richard the Lionheart was held captive for over a year.

It was quite the Halloween adventure. While touring the ruins of Aggstein, I saw two little knights fighting to protect the fortress and a witch preying on young children (some kind of show). But Halloween wouldn't be complete without a party. Since not many people here dress up, I just wore a Halloween shirt. The party was in a large tent outside that you could smoke in! Needless to say, the smoke at one point built up to the point where I could barely breathe and see. Definitely not used to this, and I hated reeking of smoke afterwards.

But the party itself was fun! Although the DJ didn't start playing good music until midnight. Also for the record, "Who Let the Dogs Out," "I Like to Move It, Move It," and the Baywatch theme song all played. What amazed me the most is how drunk people were at 10 pm before the party even really started! People pre-gamed so hard that they could no longer stand up, but they kept drinking and security did nothing! I was told if they threw people out who had too much to drink, there would be no one left. It was a curious Halloween indeed, but still a lot of fun.

Trying to understand dialect...

We didn't stay too late, because the next day was a Viennese adventure! While I've been to Vienna before, there is so much to see that it definitely takes multiple trips.  It was so nice to be in a bustling city again, and definitely the pick-me-up I needed. It reminded me again why I love Austria so much, and wanted to come here in the first place.

 State Parliament

 National Art Museum

 Outside the Natural History Museum. The elephant statue is of Suliman (Suleiman in English). He was adopted by the Hapsburg Archduke Maximillian II in Spain and brought to Austria. Suleiman is named after an Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, and was the first elephant that Austrians had ever seen. He became a national treasure, hence his memorial statue.

After putzing around Vienna a bit, I became determined to find the national treasure that I most desired to see, but last time failed to find... the Prunksaal (State Hall). The Prunksaal is a library, but not any old library. It is a maze of old books surrounded by frescos and gold leaf. Some of the photos below may look a bit familiar to you. That's because the Prunksaal is one of the two libraries that the Beast's library (from "Beauty and the Beast") is based on. The other is also in Austria, the Admont Abbey library, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will get there before my time is up here. Nevertheless, finally seeing the Prunksaal was a dream come true. This is my heaven...

From the entrance looking straight back.

 There are hidden rooms behind the bookcases!

 The magnificent fresco in the center of the library. I stood here looking up for at least 5 minutes.

The center of the library. 

 From the back looking forward. Look at the amazing symmetry.

Moral of the story. When I was a kid, I could care less about the Prince, I wanted that library.  Now that I've seen it, I want it even more. A man can sweep me off my feet not with roses, not with chocolates, but with books. Specifically old books. The Prunksaal just smelled of knowledge, and I wanted to jump the barricades and leaf through all the leather bound books.  To any potential suitors reading this, I will automatically say yes if you propose to me in this library. That is all. I think I've geeked out enough for one day.

 The State Opera House

Happy as a clam basking in all the glory that is Vienna.

As you can tell from how enthusiastic I was, I had a great Halloween weekend.  I finally saw blue skies and the sun, after too many gray and dreary days in Saalfelden. I fell in love with the countryside, pretended I was at Hogwarts, and finally realized a life long dream (while as long as I can remember watching "Beauty and the Beast"). Austria is full of amazement and wonder, and this trip reminded me of that.  Come gray skies or snow, it will not deter me from exploring the hidden gems of this country.

So I leave you with that...

Pfiat di!

Kristin

Teaching in Austria

Griaß di!

So the number one question people have asked me is what classes are like. I only teach 13 hours a week, but every other week I have a different class. Basically I have 24 classes, so I've experienced many different classroom environments.

What's the number one question Austrian students have for an American? "Are house parties really like in the movies?" "Are college parties like in the movies?" Actually kids, they are even crazier sometimes.

I teach in 3 different schools. One is a technical school, so it's mostly boys. The second is a business school, which is mostly girls. And my main school is a normal high school with focus on sports and languages, so my classes are mixed.  In each school, I have a very different experience depending on the class. Sometimes graduating classes don't talk as much as students in the Sophomore year!

However, as in all schools, there are some stellar students and some students who could care less. I try to make my lessons as interactive as possible, because just sitting there taking notes is boring. But the same lesson works with various degrees of success in different classrooms. This year is certainly teaching me to be flexible, go with the flow, and adapt to the environment. Good life lessons overall.

I also learn an amazing amount of vocab in the classroom as I try to translate things for students struggling for a word. Of course, I have also learned a lot about myself as well.

The greatest moments in the classroom? I have three. One is my students telling me America gained its independence from Britain after World War II. The second is when one of my boys told me, "Your eyes shine brighter than the stars." Boys in Austria think they have as much game as boys in America.

The greatest moment ever though is playing the Austrian "national anthem" for students aka Edelweiss. The horrified and puzzled looks on their faces says it all. Most Austrians have never even heard of the Sound of Music, let alone seen it. Explaining the American stereotypes for Australia Austria has been a great way to bring greater cultural awareness in the classroom.

And while I'm on the subject of the von Trapps, below are some of my favorite Maria moments from a hike I begrudgingly went on behind my school.

 The hills are seriously alive with the sound of music

 The castle behind my school, my dorm and my town :)

 Basking in the sun of a glorious day

Why do I have a fear of heights? I think these depictive memorials of people being impaled after falling off the side of a mountain don't help my case at all.

Pfiat di!

Kristin

I am a horrible blogger... aka October catch-up

Griaß di!

So much has happened in the past two months, that I find little spare time to relax, let alone to blog. I apologize for my lackadaisical efforts, but I promise to enlighten you to all I have learned thus far.

We can begin with my greeting. You may notice it's spelled differently from last time. Well that's because Austria has it's own unique set of greetings, spellings and pronunciations, which has not failed to confuse me these past few weeks. I discovered I had been spelling and pronouncing this typical Pinzgau greeting wrong. Whoops!

I am starting to gain a better grasp on Austrian pronunciation, but still sometimes, I find myself tuning out people and shutting down my brain. It's really stressful and actually physically hurts to try to listen to dialect think of the High German translation and make sure I understand what's going on, whilst keeping up with the conversation. It's much easier just to go into sleep mode, which I consciously have to avoid.

It's actually been an issue here just staying up because I live in one of the foggiest regions of Austria. By foggy I mean sometimes I can't even see the mountains or trees outside my window. The sun is completely blocked out, which means, my internal clock has been thrown off. I'm told though that with the snow in Winter, the sun comes back. Let's hope so...

Where'd the mountain go?

Anyways, to try to keep my energy up, I have been discovering Saalfelden. Below are some of the fun things I found.

Outside a cafe

 Outside the Catholic Church

 World War II memorial in the Church gardens

 St. George slaying the Dragon with the Rathaus in the reflection

 My favorite building... it's actually a bank

Go Stags!

Pfiat di!

Kristin