25 Traumhafte Stunden - Stainach Maturaball

The theme of this year's Maturaball (for the difference between a Maturaball and prom--and more photos--click here) was "25 heavenly hours" because on the night of October 25 we set our clocks back one hour to European Standard Time. I told the students they were so lucky... most people only get an extra hour of SLEEP.

This year, the Stainach Maturaball and the Liezen Maturaball were scheduled for the same day, and there was no way to go to both. The girls at the BAKIP understood when I told them there were boys at the Stainach ball!

The evening officially kicked off with a Polonaise, a complicated formal dance performed by the seniors. The girls were dressed in white dresses with white gloves, and the boys were in suits with blue ties and white gloves. The students selected "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane to begin their Polonaise. Throughout the evening they played songs that reminded me of junior high school dances (Highway to Hell, You're the One that I Want from Grease)

After the Polonaise the students asked their teachers to dance. I was invited to dance by two boys from the 8A class. This is the same class that included me in their yearbook (I nearly cried!) and found me a date for the evening, religious studies colleague Reinhold.

Between the Polonaise and the Midnight Entertainment, I chatted with students, past and present. It was nice to see the students who graduated last spring and to hear what they're up to these days. And everyone, all the students and faculty, looks soooooo different when they're dressed up!

The big difference, of course, from prom is that in Austria, you can drink beer and wine at 16 years old, and the hard stuff at 18. Several bars were set up throughout the building, one serving champagne, one cocktails, one schnapps. Students bought me a Vodka-Red Bull. Can't say as I recommend it, reminds me a little of Dramamine!

At midnight, the seniors performed a skit that they wrote and produced themselves. The premise was that the devil and an angel were vying for the souls of six senior boys. I will have to make a link to the video when they put it up on YouTube. It was really well done, and the ending included three of my colleagues who played David Hasselhof and the Baywatch Babes who saved the day!

Although I wish we could have stayed longer, at 2:00 am (when we set the clocks back) I got a ride home from neighbors in Irdning. Probably for the better, because in the wee hours of the morning the students tend to drink a little too much and do stupid things. And last year, you may remember, I had to take the Discobus with all the drunken students!

So, all in all, it was a lovely evening! And we had Monday off to recover from all the champagne and the time change!

Done by noon!

TGIF! Although I don't usually work on Fridays, I went to Liezen today and discussed American religion and Halloween in two consecutive lessons with class 4a. The past few weeks have been occupied with discussions of the election, Halloween, native Americans and a play by the Vienna English Theater entitled "Virgins." (the theme of the play actually figures into the Republican campaign!) If nothing else, this election is the most entertaining in my lifetime. Next Wednesday we're having an Election Returns party at my school in Stainach.

A week ago today I attended one of the best concerts since I've been in the Enns Valley. It was billed as "Ireland in Steiermark" and featured Irish musician/singer/composer Bob Bales with the Hackbrett virtuoso of Austria, Sigi Lemmerer. You can get an idea of what it was like here on YouTube and here and here. They were phenomenal, and the venue was a room at Schloss Trautenfels Museum, decorated with mythological frescos from the 17th century. Irene and I got to talk to Sigi during the break and after the concert. You meet such fascinating people in Austria!

After a rather chilly start to my stay in September, the past couple of weeks have been very nice with temperatures in the 60-70 degree range and more sun than rain. Winter is coming though -- most of the leaves have fallen in Wörschach, apples have been harvested and the sickly sweet smell of those that have fallen to the ground combines with Landluft (the unmistakable smell of the country) and wood smoke. Orion can be seen peeking over the eastern horizon most nights.

Today is indeed Halloween, and I am heading to a party this evening. But it's not a Halloween party -- a British chef (no jokes!) is cooking a meal for his friends, and I've been invited by the friend of a friend of a friend. It should be fun, and maybe I'll meet more fascinating people! But at midnight, I turn back into a pumpkin and begin writing for National Novel Writing Month.

So you want to write a novel?

If you are a budding author, National Novel Writing Month is coming up in November. Check out www.nanowrimo.org The idea is to write 1667 words every day (about 5 pages, double spaced) and at the end of the month you will have a novel-length manuscript. Of course, it will need to be edited before you publish it, but at least your ideas are on paper! If you sign up, find me under pocketjoey and we can be writing buddies!

The last two weeks

My school year hasn't gotten off to the best start! First I was hospitalized, now I'm fighting some sort of respiratory crud. But I am back at school in Stainach and Liezen, which is a relief!

Despite all that, I have managed to get out of the house. Two weekends ago, I hiked up to the Stallaalm (1450 m) where there was 10 inches of snow! The people who were there before us built a snowman:
On my day off last week, I toured Wörschach, a little town I've ridden through a hundred times on the bus. I took some nice pictures there, especially of the fall colors and the architecture:


And over the weekend I made an apple pie from the apples in Irene's garden. Last night Irene and I peeled and sliced enough apples for two big apple pies and seven apple strudels!

Live from the LKH Rottenmann!

When we last met, I was heading to the Sturmfest in Irdning. I drank two small glasses of Sturm and walked home about 11:30 pm. At 4:30 am I was awakened by the worst bedspins of my life -- it felt like I was on the Tilt A Whirl! I figured it must have been a bad batch of Sturm, and tried to go back to sleep. But every time I put my head down on the pillow, I had terrible bedspins. On Monday I decided to see a doctor. Thus began my foray into the world of socialized medicine!

The doctor in Irdning adjusted my spine and gave me tablets. "If you get through the night without any dizziness, you don't need to do anything. But if you have vertigo again, I am giving you a referral to the hospital in Rottenmann for further tests." Monday I was o.k., but Tuesday I was still having trouble lying down on my right side. I figured I'd go to the hospital on Thursday after school or Friday on my day off. But then I made the mistake of telling my mentor about my ailment. He was so distressed that it could be something serious that he made me go to Rottenmann on my first day of work (coincidentally, the same day my Austrian insurance kicked in).

Funny thing about socialized medicine: In the U.S. doctors assume that you have something very simple; in Austria, doctors want to rule out any serious diagnosis so they put you through a battery of tests. So far I've had blood work, an EKG, spine x-rays, lung x-rays, an MRI, an ultrasound and a contrast MRI. As an American, I'm calculating all the costs in my head and thinking I'm glad I've got Austrian insurance! I met with the ENT doctor and he said most likely my dizziness is due to otoliths. These are tiny crystals in the inner ear which can get dislodged and cause Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). The ENT gave me some exercises to do which should coax these crystals back into place. In the meantime, my symptoms have virtually disappeared. So here I sit, day three of my stay in the Rottenmann hospital. I've had visitors (thanks, y'all!) and Rob brought me my laptop yesterday so I'm back in touch with the world. The paperwork is being processed so I can leave the hospital this afternoon, and I should be able to go to a concert this evening. At least, that's the plan! (UPDATE: Arrived home in Irdning at 4:30 pm Friday, none the worse for wear)