Wishing everyone "einen guten Rutsch!"

That's the Austrian way of saying, hope you slide safely into the New Year!

Got back to Irdning yesterday after spending Christmas in Lienz (Osttirol). My friend Annemarie's father was the warden of the prison there, and she grew up in the Rathaus, which is the focal point of the main square. It is also the focus of the Christmas Market, and features a giant Advent calendar, with the artworks for sale by auction. Pretty cool idea, eh?


Austrians celebrate Christmas on December 24. The shops are open until about noon, and there is a whirlwind of activity since everything will be closed for the next three days. Everyone in Lienz was doing last minute shopping, or hanging out on the main square drinking Punsch and Glühwein. We had coffee and cake, a light dinner, and gift exchange at Annemarie's parents house. The next day, December 25, we had a turkey dinner at Annemarie's brother's house (note the big bread dumpling and red cabbage on the plate in the background. This is NOT your typical turkey with all the fixins!).

After those bread dumplings, we had to go for a walk! So we bundled up and went to the National Park Hohe Tauern. From left to right, Andreas (friend of Erich and Antonia), Antonia (wife of Erich), Erich (Annemarie's brother), my friend Annemarie, my friend Kurt, me, Andreas (Annemarie's son):

The landscape was awesome! It even snowed!

On the 26th, I drove back to Vienna with Kurt and Annemarie. We did typical Vienna cultural things like go to the theater (Shakespeare's Measure for Measure at the Burgtheater!) and a musical revue (Rum and Coca Cola: The Story of the Andrews Sisters). Plus, I got to cook for my friends, and we played a lot of games (Würfelbingo is our current favorite... I can't understand why they haven't produced an English version!!)

Now I'm back in Irdning, and preparing to go out and watch fireworks tonight at midnight. Thanks everybody for your kind words about the blog... I'll try to keep up the good work!

Wishing you all

JOY, LOVE, and PEACE

for 2008!

Advent

Dear Friends and Family,

Advent greetings from upper Styria! I've been busy the past couple of weeks going to Christmas markets and getting used to cold and snow. Above is a picture of Pürgg, a very romantic town very close to my home in Irdning. I went to an Advent Market there a couple of weeks ago, where they had craft demonstrations and sales. They also had the obligatory "chestnuts roasting on an open fire."

Everywhere there is mulled wine and Punsch (any hot fruity alcoholic drink with fresh fruit) to wash the chestnuts down with. In Vienna last weekend, I drank lots of Punsch at a Christmas market with friends Kurt, John and Christina (not pictured). And I had Schilcher Glühwein which tasted just like Sturm and strawberries!Then I went to the Austrian Open Air Museum (Freilichtsmuseum) in Stübing. They had all sorts of crafts and also folk music and poetry readings in original 18th-19th century houses. Lots of mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, Krapfen, gingerbread to eat too! Here, a veteran lace maker shows a young girl how to make lace:

And here a club for the preservation of Austrian dialects reads Peter Rosegger! Check out the Herrgottswinkel (household shrine) in the right top corner!
P.S. Today is my name day, and the birthday of my friend Marilyn!

Sledding!

I am slowly becoming an Austrian. Yesterday, I went sledding, something I haven't done since I was probably twelve. But it was sooooo much fun! I can't wait to go again!

Snow! Part Deux

That's me today in the garden in front of my apartment. Check out those boots!

Krampus Run in Schladming

So a little more about Krampus parades in Austria. On Saturday Rob, Caitlin, Drake (from North Carolina) and I went to a Krampus run in Schladming. We took the train there and knew we'd have to come home on the Disco Bus. When we arrived in Schladming, we were surprised to discover that it cost €6 ($9) to get in. Once we got in, we got a pretty good spot near the end of the parade route. It was much more crowded than last week's parade in Stainach, and while there were more Krampuses in general, they weren't as varied and were much more brutal than the previous week.

Like any parade, the audience lines the streets. But there is always a barricade because otherwise Krampuses would rush into the crowd or the spectators would mess with them. And the one thing you don't want to do is mess with a drunken Krampus!

...especially if he's carrying a bundle of switches!...

...or breathing fire!But we had a lot of fun. We all got switched pretty good. We then hung out at a couple of bars until the Disco Bus came. More than 120 people were waiting for the 1:10 am bus, and when it arrived there was a huge crush of people, most of them drunk, who by God wanted to get on the bus. Once the crowd surged so forcefully I was thrown to the pavement and the bruise I have looks like I got hit with a softball. Needless to say, next time we're just going to rent a car!

Thanksgiving

The Upper Styrian assistants united in Liezen for Thanksgiving. Caitlin (from Connecticut) has a big apartment there with a proper kitchen, although four of us preparing food at the same time was a tight fit! Each of us prepared different foods: Ash (from Scotland) made the StoveTop stuffing which Caitlin bought in Paris (?!). Rob (from Ohio) was in charge of the turkey schnitzel, our only concession to Austrian cuisine. Caitlin made potatoes and pumpkin bread. I made something resembling my grandmother's scalloped corn, and brought the cranberries (known as lingonberries here). We also had wine, beer, and schnapps. Caitlin invited her 84 year old neighbor (who rightly but bluntly pronounced the potatoes "cold") and her landlord, who gave her advice on how to keep the pumpkin bread from sticking to the bottom of the pan. But everything tasted GOOD and that's what's really important.


Afterwards, we played Bingo Dice, which is a board game we've become quite addicted to. At the end of the evening we waddled home to our different corners of Styria. The only thing that was really missing was leftovers and FOOTBALL!

Thanks for the care packages!

Hi everyone! I arrived home today to find a care package with Annie's, warm toe socks and Jello mix (from Des Moines, Jello Capital of world) from my friend Robin. My parents have also sent me two care packages, one with all sorts of City High memorabilia and one with a quilt made by my great grandmother.

We're getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Upper Styria; a bunch of us are getting together Thursday in Liezen. Our one concession to Austrian cuisine is turkey schnitzel, instead of a whole bird (I thought we could try deep fat frying one in peanut oil like they do in Louisiana, but that idea... like the domestic turkey... didn't fly!)

P.S. Happy Birthday, Ed!

Krampus Parade

Well, now we know why Austrians don't celebrate Halloween... they've got Krampus parades!

Krampus is the satanic companion of St. Nicholas (yes, Santa Claus). You can read more about Krampus here. On December 5, Krampus-Spiele will be played out all over Austria. Actors playing St. Nicholas and Krampus will visit children in their homes, and ask them if they know how to pray. St. Nick will reward children who pray with a satsuma. If they can't demonstrate that they can pray, Krampus will pound their toes with a hammer. This used to happen at Krampus parades, but there were so many injuries that now they just whip bystanders with horsehair whips. Sounds like some sort of hold-over Roman ritual to me!

At the Krampus parade this evening, there were over 400 people dressed in Krampus costumes (plus a few St. Nicks and angels). Somes "krewes" had floats like the one above, and it was pretty much like a Rammstein concert (or like I imagine a Rammstein concert would be!) with music, smoke, and pyrotechnic effects. The masks are amazing, and most of the costumes are embellished with giant bells on their back sides and chains. The basket is, I think, also for naughty boys and girls.















At the end of the parade, there was a fireworks show (I LOVE fireworks), then Rob and I walked back to Irdning via the Gallows Path. Next week there's a Krampus parade in Schladming and we're getting a group of people together to go. As Rob said, "That's probably the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life!"

Photos I should have posted long ago!

Hello, y'all! It occurs to me you haven't seen my landlady or roommate yet. So here's a picture of Irene and Rob on one of our many outings during the fall:

This is the view of Irdning, the town where we live, from the Gipfelkreuz (cross at the peak of a mountain):


I also didn't mention All Saints Day. I had a five-day weekend, because November 1 is a national holiday (Austria is very Catholic and even the public schools have a crucifix in the classrooms) and my school decided to take Wednesday and Friday as free days as well. The Austrians have only recently begun to celebrate Halloween, so that week I talked a lot about trick or treating and politically correct costumes in the U.S. (for those of you not in Iowa City, children are discouraged from dressing up as a witches because it is offensive to real witches!). The concept of T.P.'ing someone's house seemed to give my students all sorts of ideas!

There are a lot of traditions connected with All Saints Day in Austria, including Allerheiligen Striezel, which is a braided brioche loaf with raisins and Hagelzucker, big chunks of sugar on top. These goodies are then served with tons of butter, fresh from the Alm (mountain pastures).

That evening I joined friends to go to the cemetery. On All Saints Day, everyone goes to the graves of their relatives. There is usually a service in the cemetery in the afternoon. After dark, everyone returns to see the red votive candles lit on every grave. It is quite an impressive sight (not my photo). We also reminisced about our friends and family members who had died during the last year:

SIT VOBIS TERRA LEVIS
Nikki Gillam
Danielle Parks
Joan Koch
John VanGilder

The last couple of weeks

Hello all! Sorry to be so quiet, but things are settling into a routine. I will tell you a little about the Stainach Matura Ball (my camera ran out of batteries... you can see photos here) and about my first big weekend in Vienna.

STAINACH MATURA BALL - in contrast to the ball the previous week in Liezen, the students danced a Polonaise to Led Zeppelins "Stairway to Heaven." This actually makes a lot of sense, because the theme of the ball was Gods and Heroes from mythology. At midnight they staged a parody of Greek mythology: Paris eats the apple he's supposed to give to Aphrodite, and the heroes have to figure out other ways to please the Gods -- played by the teachers who were at the ball.

The Mandl twins (Leo and Max) played Castor and Pollux;Hector and Achilles had a dance-off in 1920s fashion; Circe turned Odysseus' men into various animals, but eventually love won out... led by six guys in Cupid costumes, complete with tutus and blonde wigs! The evening was a tremendous success, except I had to go home on the Disco-bus. Imagine, if you will, me on a bus with 70 drunken teenagers at 2:00 am. Yikes!

FIRST WEEKEND IN VIENNA - Although I had a sore throat most of the weekend, I had a wonderful time! I rode up to Vienna on Thursday and stayed with my dear friends Kurt and Annemarie. On Friday I went to the musical, Rebecca, with the sixth form students from Stainach. We had read Daphne Du Maurier's novel last month, and this was the big reward! The musical is in German and it goes at breakneck speed (unlike the novel). The character of Mrs. Danvers was a huge crowd pleaser, especially at the end when she crossed the stage in flames as Manderley burned. The sets were AMAZING! Here's the website. Make sure you look at the photos!

On Saturday we celebrated Kurt's birthday with friends Gaby, Artur, Doris, Vassily, Ernst and Annemarie's son Andreas. I was in charge of hors d'oeurves and made guacamole (der? die? das?) and Verone's Olive Cheese Balls. Annemarie made pork loin, coconut rice, and fried plantains, which she learned from one of Kurt's former students from Colombia. She also made Sacher torte and tiramisu for dessert. And there was lots of wine...

I did a lot of shopping while I was in Vienna. On Friday I bought new winter boots (photo to come -- they've got to be seen to be believed!) and not a moment too soon! Over the weekend while I was whooping in up in Vienna, it snowed 15-20 inches in Irdning! What a homecoming!

My first ball!

These are just five of the girls who make up the graduating class at the BAKIP in Liezen (a BAKIP is a school that trains kindergarten teachers). This weekend they had their equivalent of prom - a Matura ball. All the girls wore white dresses, the only guy in the class got to wear a "Smoking" - tuxedo. To start, the girls and their dates performed a Polonaise, a very complicated and beautiful dance:

At midnight, the students performed songs and dances from the musical, Chicago. They are SOOOO talented!

Oh, and I bought a ball gown so I'd fit in somewhat. After all, the Stainach Matura Ball is this coming weekend!

SNOW!!

Every morning I take a picture from my window. This is what it looked like when I first arrived in September:This is what it looked like last Friday:

And this is what it looked like on Sunday!

On Saturday I went to meet some other English assistants in Liezen. We missed the last bus from Stainach to Irdning and had to walk 45 minutes in the snow at 9:00 pm. But it was beautiful! Sunday morning I spent in the garden watching the birds feeding in the snow (including the charming long-tailed tit--not my picture):

I also picked a still-fresh apple off a snowy tree. It was so cold and crisp and sweet -- I'll never forget it!

First Care Package has arrived!

And we've learned some very valuable lessons!

1) If you send me anything liquid, please put it in a ziploc bag (or two... or three!). Otherwise I might end up with wing sauce on my Rolling Stone!

2) The list of suggested items are just that: suggestions! I don't need one person to send me everything on the list. Things that I have more than plenty of: Annie's, Zatarain's, peanut butter, marshmallow fluff.

3) Thanks Ed! You're a dear!

Dachstein Glacier

Yesterday I was invited to go with a group of teachers to see the sunset from Dachstein glacier. I met my colleagues at 4:00 pm in Schladming (home of the night-time slalom races you may have seen on television). We took a bus to the gondola station (1700 m): Do you see that tiny little building at the top of the central peak? That's the mountain station (2700 m). If you do the math, that means we are taking a sort of ski lift 1000 meters -- without any supports! I confess, that when I saw what was going to happen next, I was pretty apprehensive! -- hence, no photos on the way up the mountain. But here's the view from the top, looking back at the gondola station (this picture was taken from the enclosed control center):At the top, we got a tour of the mechanics and physics of the thing. Then we entered the interior of the glacier, which is only about 90 meters thick (and receding every year). They have an "Ice Palace" carved into the glacier ice, and you can see all of the different layers of ice from hundreds of years. I didn't get any good pictures inside (I was too busy trying to stay upright on the icy passageways) but you can see some good pictures here:

When we exited the Ice Palace, we scurried up the hill to watch the sunset:

Oh, and that little "hill" in the middle of the frame below? That's the Grimming, the huge (?) mountain that dominates the skyline of Irdning (see right).
After the sunset, we had dinner in the restaurant, and glided down the mountain in the gondola after dark (not quite so scary!). It was incredible to see all the lights of Schladming below us. Then my colleagues and I went to a pub and drove back to Irdning, arriving about 11:00 pm.

Excuse me... is this MY LIFE?!

My Weekend

I climbed a mountain! Not just any mountain, but one that said you had to be an experienced climber or with an experienced guide. My guides, Franz and Eva, grew up here. Take a look at the pictures, and then try to imagine ME climbing to 1984 meters!

Sturm!

Just so you know I'm happy and well, here's a picture of me drinking Sturm, the newly fermented wine! Join me in toasting a successful first week!

My new job!

Reliable access to the Internet is a wonderful thing! Just one of the perks of my new job. I "teach" four days a week, three days in Stainach and one day in Liezen. Stainach is 10 minutes away by bus, and 45 minutes if I were to walk. Liezen is 25 minutes away by bus, and the school will help me with transportation costs (another perk!). School starts at about 8:00 am and I am done by 1:30 every day. AND I have Fridays off! (Another perk!). Next week, the school is sponsoring a trip to the Dachstein Glacier to watch the sun go down, and I've been invited to go along (perk!). So, yes, I suppose there will be bad days, but right now I'm very happy with my decision to come here!

Almabtrieb