The strudel wouldn't fit in the envelope...

Well I suppose it's about time for my weekly blog post...

The Kurpark in Baden last weekend

Earlier today I thought about writing a reflection on the past 9 months, and then I realized that if anyone wants to know how the past 9 months have been they can go back and read through them all (or you know because you've been reading all along, so why bore you?).  I'll sum it all up by saying that it's been a really good year, full of new life, language and teaching experiences.  I'm sure I'll repeat that sentence more than a few times when I go home in 2 weeks.

It's becoming more and more apparent how little time I have left, and when I think of the things I didn't do this year I get a bit sad, and then I remember- I'll be back next year!  I've written up some goals for myself for next year, and since I'm documenting them here hopefully I'll accomplish at least some of them!

• Learn English Grammar (I really need to be able to explain why things are what they are in English...)
• Sit in on some German classes at my schools
• Speak more German (this is my own fault... I get lazy and switch to English with all my co-teachers)
• Do some German independent grammar and vocabulary study to keep up/expand my skills
• See more new places (Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, oh and Berlin)
• Buy a bike for exploring more of the area around here

This week was a good one at my schools.  I've started telling some classes at Gainfarn that I won't be there next year, I haven't told all of them because I usually forget, but they'll figure it out in the fall, and I don't think they'll really mind.  On Wednesday at Gainfarn we had a Teacher Trachten Tag (Tracht is traditional clothing including, but not limited to, Dirndl and Lederhosen).  It was pretty fun, there were about 12 of us dressed up in various types of Tracht, I got lots of compliments from teachers and students on my Dirndl.  

Most of the teachers who took part in Trachten Tag (there are a few missing)

Next weekend I'm heading up to Erlangen to visit one of our former exchange students (my only Gastschwester, all the others were boys), so this was my last weekend in Baden.  I went in to Vienna to buy some gifts, and further my scarf collection... which has officially gotten a bit out of hand (good thing that some of them will also be gifts!).  I spent Saturday wandering around Baden soaking up the sun and checking out the festival that was going on... I thought it was supposed to be about wine, but I didn't see much wine around, just a bunch of different stages with not a whole lot going on around them... so who really knows what that was about!  Today I went up into the vineyards around Pfäffstätten for a hike on the trails.  I wanted to go up to the top of one of the hills where there's a look out platform, but true to form I got lost and spent about an hour wandering various trails through the woods that never went up to the top, so when I found one that went back down towards town I followed it home.

Hiking back down into town through the Vineyards

In other news I'm once again pissed off at my bank at home (The International Bank of Amherst) for their utter lack of International-ness.  I tried to order some clothes, an iPod (to replace my missing/stolen one), and my dad's birthday present from sites in the US, to be shipped to my parents house in the US, and of course the stupid card didn't work because my computer and I are not physically located in the states.  Worst system of banking EVER, I really don't understand WHY it doesn't work, according to them it should work... but it doesn't and I fully intend to go there when I get home and repeat this rant to them face to face.

Lastly (but not least!) I want to say Happy 60th Birthday Dad!  Your card is in the mail, and your present will be shipped soon (if I were a bit more on top of things they'd be there sooner and there wouldn't be strudel remnants on the card...).  Love you!