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!
So this post has been sitting here half finished for about 3 weeks now... I don't know why I haven't made the time to finish it up, but better late than never! Here's a photo blog about my Christmas/New Years in Germany with my friends. I spent Christmas with the Schulze's in Leipzig, then I went up to visit Micha's family near Magdeburg and came back to Leipzig for New Years. I should say now that this is a strange mixture of pictures...
The Medieval Christmas Market in Leipzig- Basti and I met up and walked around the markets.
We went to church on Christmas Eve after drinking Glühwein and singing carols outside the Schulze's.
The Christmas tree lit by candles and the stars Marie and I made.
On Christmas day we went for a walk through a sculpture park.
I took more pictures than this, but really if you want to see pictures of Leipzig at Christmas you can look back at last year's pictures- it was pretty similar except my parents weren't there this year. The fact that they weren't there made it hard to get in the Christmas spirit- it felt more like just a random school break and not really a holiday- except for the fact that I had 2 Christmas duck dinners.
On the 26th I went up to Magdeburg to meet up with Micha, and stay with his family in Wannefeld. It's rather rural there, and walking around the farm reminded me a lot of Iowa.
In a town near Wannefeld they had this proper fairy tale looking castle- if I remember rightly it was a hunting lodge for some king!
The next day Micha showed me around a bunch of small towns in the area- I took the most pictures in Tangermünde though because it's a gorgeous, well preserved old town. I noticed that in this area of Germany they build a lot with red brick and wood.
This statue is outside the Tangermünde town hall- I can't remember the story behind the statue, but I think it had something to do with Women's rights.
Inside the castle grounds in Tangermünde.
The Elbe River.
I took about 100 pictures of Fachwerk houses because I love the style, but I had never seen the embelishments around the doors like there were in Tangermünde.
More door embelishments- they're supposed to tell a story through the symbols and colors.
We had lunch at the old school house in Tangermünde. They had some interesting furniture in there. You could sit at the old desks, or you could sit on a bed or you could sit in the laundry room (pictured above)- we sat at a booth.
The town hall and christmas tree in the square in Tangermünde.
These statues were inside the watch tower on the castle grounds- they were carved by one guy with a chainsaw.
We went up into the viewing tower that was part of the castle- this is looking up at the roof from the last level of the tower.
Looking down at the castle and the town of Tangermünde from the tower.
That night we met Micha's parents, brother and his brother's girlfriend for dinner at this restaurant. Their specialty is trout- which they raise themselves in the ponds around the place. The building was actually built by a construction company from Poland- they have a very particular way of building log homes, so they brought all their supplies with them to Germany to put this up.
Another specialty of the restaurant is this Schnapps- they bring it in these little pots and light it on fire. You have to let it burn for a minute and then you put it out with a little pan.
The shot 'glass' and the pan used to put out the firery Schnapps.
This one is for all you builders out there- a detail shot of the logs and the straw (or something?) that bind them and fill the cracks.
The fire place with a really great metal mantle piece.
Mario and Micha all excited to dig into their massive fish platter!
Micha's dad had a trout. He was disappointed that I didn't order any fish... but I'm just not a fish fan!
The Medieval style Christmas market was still up in Madgeburg, so Micha and I went for a Glühwein before I headed back to Leipzig.
We went to an opera in Leipzig the night I got back.
The Leipzig Opera- it's not quite the vintage of Opera house that I'm used to here in Austria, but it was nice.
In the theater.
All the fixings for raclette on New Years Eve!
Raclette dinner for New Years- I didn't take any pictures later, I had to watch the fireworks (incase one flew at me!).
So that was Christmas and New Years! Now I'm on semester break- I went into Vienna yesterday to do some shopping and I went to the Haus des Meeres, the aquarium. It was packed with families and small children, and there's really not that much there- so it wasn't really worth it... but now I know. On Tuesday I'm taking a day trip to Bratislava, and then on Wednesday I'm heading down to Graz!
