On Thursday I met up with three teachers from Berndorf and the Spanish TA at the Heurige across the street from my apartment. I was surprised at how cheap everything there was (especially the food), and also very good! We had a good evening of chatting, eating and drinking locally. It was nice to bond and socialize with some colleagues outside of school. Even though Berndorf is more remote and sometimes difficult to get to/get back from I feel more connected to the school. I feel like I know more staff there (or at least I talk to more of them). I also have more of a chance to get to know my students there since I'm only with 6-8th forms (Sophomore-Senior) and my schedule only changes once a month.
The Innenhof (courtyard) of the Heurige across the street.
Friday I wandered around town checking things out. They've already put up the christmas decorations on the streets and in shop windows. I thought we started early in the US (usually after Thanksgiving, although I know some places/people get a jump on it earlier), but they've got us beat! I don't think they've turned the lights on yet, but I'm sure it'll happen soon. There are also huts going up in the lower Kurpark for Baden's christmas market. It might even open this week- I've heard that many christmas markets in Niederösterreich (Lower Austria) open on Landespatron-Leopoldi. Leopoldi is Saint Leopold's day; he happens to be the patron saint of Niederösterreich, and schools are closed to honor this holiday. The church and national holidays certainly are a bit strange, especially when they fall in the middle of the week, but I'm not complaining!
A lovely Christmas display.
On Saturday I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and went for a hike up on the hills above Baden. It was a really nice day with the sun shining, so I had my jacket tied around my waist. All the Austrians I came across were wearing what I consider to be winter jackets, many were also wearing hats and gloves, so I'm sure they thought I was crazy. Instead of coming back to the Kurpark on one of the many trails I decided to take the road back down into town, since it went through a part of town I'd never seen. The houses were nice, and I noticed one with very old stonework- above the door it said it had been built in 1906. In the US if something was built in the early 1900s I would consider it quite old and historical, however my reaction here was different. When I saw 1906 I thought, "Well that's not old at all!" It's strange what being surrounded by buildings much older than that, and a history that goes back to the 800s does to your perspective of time. I mean the ruins here were built in the 1100s, and they're still standing! Of course the fact that I'm reading a book about the Habsburgs might also have something to do with my perspective on time and the history of Austria.
Yesterday evening was also the Matura Ball for Berndorf, but they hold it in a hall in Bad Vöslau. The Matura Ball is sort of like our Senior Prom in the US. The 8th form plans it all out, many of them end up working shifts selling tickets, taking tickets, pouring drinks etc. They also do the set-up, decorating and clean-up, so all the teachers are expecting the 8th form to be absent Monday. The Matura Ball is definitely something more formal than our Prom! First there's an opening ceremony, where the members of the 8th form have a choreographed dance; it was really fun to watch, and pretty impressive that they could pull it all together with everything else they have going on. At this ball they had two different dance areas- one with a band and ballroom style dancing (where all the tables and chairs were too), and a disco (dance club) in the basement. I've never been to a ball before, and it was interesting to see (and experience myself) the men very formally asking women to dance, and then escorting them back to their seat when they're done dancing.
I danced the first two dances with the Direktor (Principal) of Berndorf. I don't really remember where/when I learned to Walz, but thank god I had a quick review of it at Waldsee with Otto this summer! My Walz skills aren't bad- whatever the other dance we did... I never really got the hang of it. I also danced with another colleague later in the night to the big hit from Dirty Dancing- Time of my Life. He's probably older than my dad, and I was having a really hard time not busting out laughing at the song. I spent most of the evening either down on the ground floor chatting with students, or in the disco. I was surprised at how willing the students were to talk to me, I thought they would be too intimidated and think that they could only speak to me in English. Many of them did start with English, but in the end we all just spoke German. It was fun for me to really be able to talk to them! When I was down in the disco I danced with a group of girls who I see in their usual English class, and their elective English class, so I know them a bit better than most of my students. They're pretty goofy, and we had fun trading silly dance moves.
Sadly I don't have any pictures from last night. I'll be getting some from a few other teachers, but my camera decided that after working well (not perfectly- but still working) for a week that it was done. It started doing its annoying shake again. I tried the reverse engineering trick that worked last week, but it seems that was a one time fix. After some testing I can still occasionally get a clear shot, but mostly its blurry. Enjoy the video example from my busted camera!
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