To B or Bust!

It seems the last two weeks have just flown by!  It seems like I've been busy constantly, and my last 3 weeks here won't be any different I'm sure.

I'm glad that my flatmate Erin and I went to the Römertherma, but I don't know if I would go again.  It's quite a bit smaller than other Thermas I've been to, so I'm not sure its worth the 9 Euro for 2.5hrs at night.  If we had paid another 6 Euro we could've also had access to the Saunas, but that seemed too expensive for us.  Since we were there at night there weren't too many people there, so it was very relaxing and pleasant.  I still have yet to go to the Strandbad (beach pools), but it's in the plan for some warm afternoon soon.

On May 1st Erin and I went to Bratislava for the day.  It's only an hour and a half from Baden, and as it's a small city it was quite doable to walk around in the old city center and up to the castle.  Luckily they have the Euro there, so we didn't have to change any money, and there were lots of outdoor market stands selling pretty, cheap jewelry.  So we did a fair bit of shopping while wandering around the city.  We also had a very good lunch at a restaurant on the main square.  Erin went with more traditional Slovakian food- Oxtail soup and the Slovak version of Käsespätzle (but it was creamier and with bacon).  I opted for the burger, because the description was so good and it met my expectations.  It was a very juicy burger (something hard to find here in Austria) with a spicy garlic sauce, gouda, and of course lettuce onion and tomato. 

For more details and pictures click here.

This past weekend Erin and I went to Budapest for 3 days (well really 2 days in the city and a 1/2 days travel on either end).  It was a great little weekend trip, Budapest is a very cool city with a lot of history, culture and flavorful food.  The city is certainly doable in 2 days, but I think it would also be easy to spend a lot more time there!  The Hungarian language and money are a bit difficult to deal with, luckily we could get on with English or German most of the time.  In fact our first night there (after drinking a Magners hard cider) Erin and I only spoke German the rest of the night, which was funny, but also good practice for us both!  The money is just hard to deal with because of how many 0s there are, and the conversion rate isn't easy to wrap your mind around (or at least not mine considering I don't have a mind for numbers!).

The only real problem we had was right when we got to Budapest.  The guy, George, who was the landlord for the apartment we had booked (at 10 Euro a night) told us that the apartment was actually double booked, and so we'd have to stay in a different apartment.  On the walk to this apartment we talked to him and he seems like a really nice good guy, he told us that where we were going used to be a hostel, but it closed and now he was getting it fixed up to be a hostel again.  He warned us that the place was a bit of a mess, but that they were going to clean it all up and it would be ready for us by that evening.  True to his word when we got back after dinner there were no more beds piled in front of the bathrooms or along the walls, everything was clean and all set up nicely.  Because of the change and 'inconvenience' he only charged us half price!  The place that we had originally booked was in a nice area, with a few restaurants around and close to public transport, the place where we actually stayed was in a student neighborhood.  It was great, the street we were on was full of restaurants serving all different kinds of food from all around the world, and all at student prices for the most part!

For more details and pictures click here.

Today I booked my train tickets to Bregenz (I only go to places that start with B these days it seems!) for this long weekend.  My hostbrother Steffen is going to pick me up there and I'll be spending a few days with him in St. Gallen, Switzerland.  Can't wait!  

Observations in Ö

Well I guess it's about that time again...

The view from the Pfaffstätten vineyards of Baden (and the shadowy peak of Schneeberg way in the distance) 

Since the weather got nice here I've been busy going on hikes, hanging out in parks, meeting up with friends, going to Heurige, you know, the usual.

The view from the Ruine Rauhenstein of Baden and the valley.

It's my last month here, and it's going to be pretty full!  Tonight Erin and I are finally going to go check out the Römertherma (thermal baths and saunas), tomorrow we're going to Bratislava, on the weekend we might go up to Schneeberg (the highest mountain in Niederösterreich), next week we have a long weekend so we're planning on going to Budapest, the weekend after (also long) I'm going to Switzerland to visit a friend... so you get the picture!  There are a ton of days off in May (I have two days of work this week, and two next week) so it's gonna be a good time.

One of the many flowering trees in the Rosarium/Dobelhoffpark 

A while back I said that I was going to write a post on my observations on some of the oddities of Austrian's and Austrian culture, so here it is:

1. There are two things that are important for Americans when it comes to Austria- it's NOT Australia (or Germany for that matter, and anyone who asks me "How was Germany?" can expect an exasperated answer), and next to no one here has heard of or seen The Sound of Music. 
2. Don't expect people in shops or grocery stores to be super friendly and chatty like they are in the states- this is especially true in larger cities, and not so much here in Baden.  
3. EVERYTHING IS CLOSED ON SUNDAYS.  Erin and I call this Sunday-pocalypse because the world could have ended and you wouldn't know since it's Sunday.  The only people who are out are all the Nordic walkers in their specialized Nording Walking outfits (they have expensive, special, matching outfits for any possible activity).
4. Everyone here dresses in more layers than seems necessary.  A friend of mine says that Austrians like to stew in their own juices, which is kind of gross, but in some cases it's noticeably true.  They have a saying that there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, so I guess that explains that.
5. Austrians love their paperwork! You couldn't cut through the bureaucracy here with a NASA space laser, instead you have to slog endlessly through the different offices in different buildings with incomprehensible opening hours.  None of the government offices are open past 12, except one day of the week when they have afternoon hours, but each office has a different afternoon that they're open.  Plus you have to figure this all out in the first week you arrive, which is also your first week of classes or work, good times!  At least here in Baden the ladies in the offices I've had to deal with have all been pretty nice, Graz was a different story.
6. Punctuality isn't really all that important here, at least not at school/university.  When I was in Graz my exchange student friends and I would usually show up for class 5 minutes early or so, the Austrian students would trickle in slowly, usually about 5 minutes late, and then 10-15 minutes later the professor would show up.  In school here when the second bell rings it's another 5 minutes before the teachers leave the teachers room and slowly make their way to class.
7. It's not rude to stare at people here.  This happens most often on/while waiting for public transportation, but really it can happen anywhere people might be standing/sitting around or waiting for something.  It's not that I don't think that we Americans stare at people, but usually if we get caught staring at someone we look away, and here people just keep right on staring!
8. Austrian's favorite hobbies include smoking, and complaining.  One of my colleagues told me that Austria has the majority of Europe's smokers, and I believe it.  It'll be another 50 years before this country goes smoke-free if it ever does! All the bars and restaurants are supposed to have smoke free areas, but most places don't have real walls and doors that separate the two so it's everywhere you go.  I know a lot of people complain, not just Austrians, but I hear the same complaints from all my colleagues, and usually one after the other, so I notice the complaining more here than I ever have before.  For example, since it got rather warm in a short amount of time I heard some version this (in German or English) at least 10 times last week Friday, "It's nice to finally have some nice weather since winter was so long, but it just got too warm too quickly, it's practically summer now and I just don't like it."
9. There are a lot of old wives tales that people here believe in pretty strongly.  It seems that no one here gets sick from germs, instead it's because you didn't wear socks/stockings/nylons/tights, or you walked around barefoot at home, or you went outside with damp hair, or you had the window open for too long, or you didn't open the window for long enough... The list goes on...

All that being said I've really liked living here, and I'm going to enjoy my last month and take advantage of all Baden and the surrounding countryside has to offer before I fly home.  I'm sure I'll miss all of this when I'm gone.

The rest of Easter Break

So here's an update on how the rest of my wintery Easter Break went:

The egg shaped brownies were OK, they didn't end up tasting like vinegar, but since they were box brownies they also didn't really taste like brownies.

A half pealed brownie egg.

On Wednesday last week I went to Schloss Schönbrunn- a castle on the south side of the city. When it was built it wasn't in the city at all, it was a hunting lodge (If I had a hunting lodge like Schönbrunn I would actually consider hunting...).  They had an Easter Market on there, much like the typical Christmas Market, except everything was egg shaped.  Another big difference was that the Easter market was actually snow covered! I've never been at a snow covered Christmas Market because the last two winters started late (and this one just won't end!).

Snow covered Easter Market decorations outside Schönbrunn

I had never been inside Schönbrunn, I've been all over the grounds numerous times, but this was my first time going inside the castle.  It was really beautiful! There's some great architecture and artwork, plus you can see/hear a lot about the daily life of the Habsburgs.  Unfortunately you can't take pictures inside the castle, and two of the most famous/expensive rooms were being restored.  I would really recommend the Schönbrunn Imperial tour to anyone, whether visiting or living in/near Vienna.  That holds especially true for anyone who's interested in Maria Theresa, Kaiser Franz Josef I and his wife Elizabeth.

On the audio guide they talked about quite a few members of the Imperial family besides the big three, but Maria Theresa is the most interesting to me.  She had 16 children with a husband whom she loved very much, and she ran the Austrian Empire like a tight ship.  Of course Franz Josef and Elizabeth (Sisi) are the most romanticized of the Habsburgs, and they were the last significant ruling couple.  Maximilian gets a few mentions- he was Franz Josef's brother, and he was Emperor of Mexico for a few years before he was executed.  Bet most of you didn't know that Mexico had an Austrian Emperor!  Kaiser Karl I and his wife Zita also get a few mentions, as he was the last Kaiser and he refused to give up his title after WWI so they had to go into exile. He was only the Kaiser for 2 years though, so he didn't leave much of a mark on the palace like M.T. and her children.  Anyway, the Habsburgs were a pretty interesting lot, and they had some great houses!

The next day after coffee with a friend I went wandering about Vienna snapping pictures in the melting snow.  Anytime I wander around Vienna I always end up at the Naschmarkt for scarves, chocolate and a good variety of food!  I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat, because I always get falafel, but I also wanted a spinach and cheese Börek.  I decided I'd get both- one to eat while I walked, and the other to bring home and have for dinner (and then some meals of leftovers).

My Falafel, humus and cheese filled sweet/spicy peppers from the Naschmarkt- I got quite a few tasty meals out of them! 

For Easter weekend I stuck around Baden.  When the snow melted I went walking through the grey vineyards and I had a nice relaxing weekend.  I did some more Easter crafts- dyed/decorated hard boiled eggs, and then I made deviled eggs (which are called Russische Eier- russian eggs in German). It snowed/rained off and on all weekend, but it never really stuck or lasted long.

Walking through the Vineyards while it was snowing

 On Tuesday I went to see the Spanish Riding School Morning Exercise, which turned out to not really be worth it...  It was two hours long, and apparently they weren't practicing the 'School Above the Ground' which are the horses that do the jumps and things.  They didn't even really do many of the on-the-ground tricks that they show you on TV screens in the lobby.  It was just two hours sitting in a cold stone room watching people ride around on horses.  Occasionally they would do one of their special walks/steps.  However, the tour was worth while! We learned about the different kinds of training they do, the horses lives, we got to go into the stables and into the Winter Riding School (the room where they do their exercising and performances pictured below).

Since the fall of the Austrian Empire the horses no longer come from Lipica, Slovenia, which is how they got the name of Lipizzaners, but from Piber in Steiermark, Austria.  They're born rather dark in color from dark grey to red/brown, and as they age they get lighter in color, although some of them actually never do turn white.  It's been said that the Spanish Riding School will fall if they don't have a horse who never changed color (and they've always had at least 1 dark grey or brown horse).  They begin training at 3 or 4 years old, and they start performing at the age of 10.  Most of them perform until they're 21 or so, and then they go into retirement either back at Piber or at the training farm north of Vienna.  Every year the horses go on vacation to the training farm so they get to spend some time riding/running/living outside.  The stables in Vienna don't have many windows/ways of getting fresh air and natural light, so they now use special lights that simulate sunlight to help keep the horses happy and healthy.  They also have a bunch of horses who are allergic to dust, so there are now special stalls built in the stable courtyard for those horses and they have all sorts of special things in their stalls to keep down the dust.

Each rider at the school has between 5 and 8 horses (each horse only has 1 rider), and if I remember rightly they train for 6-8 years before they begin performing.  They only opened the school to women in 2008, so right now there are 3 women there training, none of them perform yet.

I stole this picture from Google, since we couldn't take pictures during the morning exercise. 

Between the exercise and the tour I had 3 hours to kill, so I went to the Sisi museum in the Hofburg.  Really it's like 3 museums in 1: The Sisi Museum, the Imperial Silver Collection, and The Imperial Apartments.  It wasn't nearly as good as Schönbrunn.  The silver collection was interesting to look at as I walked through, but the audio guide was really long, and I couldn't take standing looking at the same room of dishes for as long as my ear was being talked off.  The Sisi part was a bit too dramatic, plus they had covered up most of the walls and the original architecture of the palace with this dark blue wall cover, and it was pretty dimly lit, so there was a pretty oppressive air to the place.  By the time I got to the Imperial Apartments I'd had enough of hearing about how depressed Sisi was, and how her depression effected Franz Josef and their children.  I mean the poor guy was head over heals in love with her from the moment they met until he died (20 years after her), and she could hardly stand to be in Vienna!  And he worked like crazy for the empire, so he was almost always in Vienna.  Their first daughter died at the age of 2, their only son killed his lover and then himself, they had two other daughters who outlived them, but not by much.  All in all, a rather tragic Imperial family who's story has been rather romanticized by literature, theater and film.  (That being said I do love the Romi Schneider Sissi films, they're so sweet).

On Wednesday when I woke up to go back to school there was an inch or two of slushy snow on the ground again! It snowed off and on all day, and it seemed like no one was out clearing the streets or the sidewalks at all.  I'm so over this snow/winter thing, it's time for spring!

Besides the snow, and the 3 day school week it's been a pretty normal week.  Last night I went to a very small theater in Vienna with one of my colleagues from the HAK.  We saw a two person play that was a bit of a thriller (a man kidnaps a woman and locks her in his basement out in the country- what could possibly go wrong?).  The actors were really good, the guy did an especially good job conveying his insanity/outsider/loner tendencies through the way he talked, his facial expressions and his body language.  It's called 'The Collector' apparently it's based on a book that's worth reading (according to another English teacher that was there).

Living life in the big Ö

So it's been more than a month since my last post... oops! I've been trying to figure out what I've been doing for the past month... and I guess the best answer I've found is simply living.  Between teaching, tutoring, having an English Stammtisch with Erin and our students, and meeting up with friends there hasn't been a ton of free time, or terribly interesting things to blog about.

One thing that happened at school was the Intercultural day at the HAK (business high school). Classes and groups of students prepared food, presentations and booths about different countries, languages and cultures.  I, of course, worked with a class on creating an interactive USA station... which hardly anyone checked out in the end, but I had fun with the group of students and I was proud of the work they did. The following are some pictures of different booths:

Russia

Albania-Kosovo

There were a number of countries downstairs as well.

The American corner- in the banner of flags hanging across our booth Wisconsin was missing! 

Turkey (they had really good food- of course!)

At the end of the day they filmed a Harlem Shake video- this was the beginning.

And this was the end with everyone in strange costumes.

A lot of students asked me to take part in the Harlem Shake video... and I always said no!  Most of them didn't even know that Harlem was actually a place in the USA, and that the Harlem Shake is an actual dance move, not just air-humping while dressed in some weird outfit. I showed the class I did the intercultural project with this video as a reason why we shouldn't participate in the HAK-shake video:

As far as I know none of them were in the video- most of them either left when filming began, or they were standing with me on the balcony watching everyone else.   Here's the HAK-shake video:

During the opening ceremonies I talked about my impressions of Austria and things that I've found strange/funny here that natives wouldn't notice- so look for a blog with those observations coming up soon(ish, maybe). 

In Other News:

It's now Spring/Easter break, and I decided to stick around the Baden area.  It's been a nice relaxing vacation with some day trips into Vienna and making Easter crafts.  We've actually had cold/snowy weather, which is disappointing since it was sunny and warm just a few weeks ago!

Tuesday evening was my Easter Craft time.  I decided instead of doing the typical hard boiled route I'd blow out the eggs, and after I dyed them I drew designs/patterns on them with Sharpie.  For anyone interested in doing this I've got a few tips-

1. A tip I stole from some other blog- use a corkscrew to poke the holes in the eggs for blowing them out. Then use a toothpick to make sure the membrane is punctured and to make 1 hole bigger.
2. I like to use a small segment of a straw to blow out the innards... not sure if that serves any real purpose, I just think it's a bit easier, and then I don't have to kiss eggs. ;)
3. Use a fat tip Sharpie- it'll go quicker!
4. Draw with Sharpie first- then dye them (it leads to fewer colored fingerprints on the eggs)
5. Use the innards to make a frittata (except don't ask me how to do this, while I've made successful frittatas in the past the one I made on Tuesday wasn't very good and wouldn't come out of the pan)
6. If you plan to do what I did next make sure you rinse the insides of the eggs out... good luck not messing up the dye! I did this by dripping hot water into the inside of the egg with a straw, putting fingers over both holes and shaking vigorously. Leave them to dry for quite some time (I left mine overnight, but I don't think that was strictly necessary). 

On Wednesday morning I decided I'd fill the eggs with brownie batter and bake them (another idea I got from a blog).  It turned into a super messy project... I had the wrong kind of plastic bags for making a good pastry-bag type thing, but I eventually managed to get all the eggs filled without making the 'big' holes bigger.  The other problem was that I couldn't really see how full the eggs were, and I didn't know how much the brownie batter would expand.  I knew from the website that they should be about 3/4 full and they would still run over a little bit.  Once they were full I made little aluminum foil nests for them and put them in the oven.  They made a huge mess with the amount of overflow and kind of ruined the dye job... and since they were dyed the brownie bits I pealed off the outside had an awful vinegar aftertaste.  As of yet I haven't tried one of the eggs... I suppose I should do that!

The eggs after being dyed, drawn on and rinsed out. 

The eggs overflowing in the oven (the brownies came with a paper baking pan- so there wasn't much clean-up!)

If I did this again I think I'd skip dyeing the eggs.  I'd blow them out, soak/rinse them in salt water for 30 min (as per the other blog's instructions), decorate them with sharpie, fill them (it would be easier to see how full they are without the dye) and bake them.  The baking and then cleaning the extra brownie off the outside didn't change/ruin the sharpie at all.

Some things I'm not sure how to fix- batter leaking out of the little hole on the bottom, there was one egg that, despite baking for 40 minutes, was still 1/2 uncooked, and some of the eggs (after overflowing) cracked their shells. Overall not a terribly successful experiment... but at least they were just box brownies, so no huge loss there if they're not worth eating.

More about my week later, this blog is long enough!

Playing Catch-Up

Well as it turns out I didn't go to Bratislava.  I considered all the events that were going on and decided that I should push it to another weekend...

I did go down to Graz to visit my friend Lea (Elizabeth in the normal world, Lea in Waldsee), see the city that I love, and go to the Bauernbundball (Farmers Guild Ball).  I remember posting this last year about how I could see myself living there, and it's still true.  Every time I'm there I just walk around admiring the beauty of the city and wishing I could be there more often.

The Uhrturm (clock tower) on the Schloßberg (castle hill) at night.

 I must have a hundred pictures like all of these in Graz, but I couldn't stop myself from taking pictures! Plus this is probably the best camera I've had while there.

Kunsthaus Graz (art museum), otherwise known as the Friendly Alien.

Murinsel- a manmade island that has a cafe and amphitheater on it. 

Murinsel/Schloßberg on a sunny February day.

 The weather was pretty amazing for February so I spent all day wandering around Graz snapping pictures and enjoying the sun and bit of warmth.

The Murinsel and Kunsthaus Graz.

With the lovely weather I could see the mountains from the Schloßberg!

Looking up the stairs on the Schloßberg to the Uhrturm.

Lea and I ready for the Bauernbundball- Tracht (traditional dress) required! 

There was a Trachten fashion show that included these guys wearing Tracht bike outfits! They also did some pretty impressive unicycling on stage. 

The whole line-up of Dirndls, Lederhosen and general Tracht

After the fashion show Andreas Gabalier performed- as you can see in the background he's the Volks Rock n' Roller.

Andreas Gabalier is pretty much the definition of a Steirer Bua (Styrian Boy), he sings in the Styrian dialect, plays accordion, dances around in Lederhosen.  Here's the song that he's most well known for- I sing a liad für di (I sing a song for you)

If you're into it (or you want to hear something with more English) you can also check out the theme song for the Skiing World Championship held in Schladming, Austria this year: Go for Gold (in the video there are some really cute pictures of Andreas- plus the lyrics).

The Bauernbundball was a lot of fun- I had never realized how good men look in Lederhosen, and Dirndls are pretty flattering for women too.  The only bad thing was in the club area people didn't return their glasses/bottles to the bar... they just dropped them.  So the dance floor was covered in broken glass, and Lea and I both got glass in (or through) our shoes.  There were also over 1,000 people there, so we never did meet up with my friend Domenica who got us the tickets.

I came back from Graz on Saturday (Feb. 9th) so that I could prepare my lessons for the week and get some rest before the craziness of Fasching (carnival) kicked off.

On Monday Erin, her friend Chris and I had tickets for the Casino Redoute, which is the biggest/craziest ball in Baden.  Last year I heard a lot about the Redoute from my students who showed up for school drunk and still wearing their suits, so I decided I had to check it out this year.  I'm glad that we went, but I don't know if I would go again.  It's really a ball for all the high school aged kids in/around Baden, so I saw a lot of my current and former students.  I think they were all happy to see Erin and I, but it's a bit strange drinking around them (or seeing them drink even though it's legal here)- plus drinking/partying/staying up late on a Monday night when there's school the next day is strange.  I don't work on Tuesdays, but even so my body/schedule was messed up for the rest of the week.

The main ballroom in the Casino.  I'd never been inside before, it's a rather grand place!

Erin, me and Chris.  A Redoute is a masked ball- hence the masks on our heads.

Roomies! I gotta say, we're looking good!

In the club at the Casino Redoute with some of my students from last year (except the kid in blue... I don't know who he is).

 We had planned to go to the Fasching parade on Tuesday afternoon, but Chris had made plans to head into Vienna, and Erin and I were too tired to be bothered.  It was also rather cold and snowy, unlike last year, when spring started on Fasching.  According to friends who were there we didn't miss anything!

On Friday our week of events went on! One of Erin's students, Natalia Kelly, was in the Austria rocks Song Contest to pick Austria's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.  Erin and I went to the ORF studios to see the show live with a bunch of Erin's students (and some of my former students).  It was really great, I've never been to a live TV show before and we had some choreographed crowd dance moves and we had to clap our arms off!  Each of the 5 contestants had to perform a song that had won a previous Eurovision contest, and then they each performed a song of their own that would represent Austria this year.  They were all decent, but of course Natalia was the best and she won!

Before the show started.

 This is the winning song- Natalia Kelly, Shine.  

On Saturday night Berndorf had their Maturaball (the last event of a never-ending week).  It was held in Hirtenberg this week, which is in the middle of nowhere!  Luckily a colleague of mine had 2 spots in her car for Erin and I, otherwise I don't know how we would've managed getting there and back.  I wish I had taken more pictures at the ball because the 8th form did a really great job of decorating.  The theme was 50's, so there were pictures of 50's stars all over, records, and a handful of people in 50's outfits (besides the Matura class).

The traditional opening dance, performed mostly by 6th-7th formers.

The traditional dance kept being interrupted by the 8th formers doing their 50's dances.  It was very entertaining and well done!

Erin and I got a lot of stares for dancing in the club area, but we had a lot of fun, and the students got a good laugh out of it.  We were ready to go home when our ride was at 1am,  I heard from some students on Monday that they were there until 6am on Sunday... there's no way I could've managed that after the exhausting week I had.

I guess the week doesn't sound so busy here as it really was, but having classes the week of Fasching is nearly pointless.  The students seemed to be drunk/hungover/sleep deprived all week, plus my inner clock was all messed up coming off vacation and the Monday night ball.  It did lead to some funny moments in class... but this post is long enough!

In other news it's now absolutely official- I won't be able to get a 3rd year here in Austria.  The chance was small that I'd find some way... and really I was a bit torn about staying here longer or coming back to Wisconsin for a few years (until I get the itch to move back to a German speaking country and get my masters or get a job at an international school or whatever).  So for now I guess I'll be looking for a job in the Midwest come September... let me know if you hear of anything!