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!