Family Visit

So... this post ended up longer than I planned. I hope you still enjoy it!

Wow—what an amazing meeting of different parts of my life.

For those of you who don't know, my mom and sister were able to visit me in Austria over Christmas and New Years. They landed on the 22^nd of December and left January 3^rd. On that interval we got to do so much—it was absolutely wonderful.

December 22-23: Exploring Vienna

(not-yet) bright and early on the 22^nd I took a 5:30am train to meet my mom and sister in Vienna. Villach is a good 4 hours by train away from Vienna, so visiting the city was not something I easily do often. I got there with plenty of time to meet them at the airport and show them around.

It was so great seeing them both again, since the last time we saw each other was in September, and (if my current summer plans work out) I may not see them again until Late July. Vienna is not “my city” and possibly never will be. I have some acquaintances there and have visited a few times. Given our short time there (and jetlag on their parts), we mostly stuck to a few touristy sights—which we all enjoyed.

December 24-26: Christmas in Villach

We got in late the night of the 23^rd to my current town of Villach. It was great for me to show them where I lived and what I did here. We saw “my” river and “my” cafe, not to mention the Christmas markets still in full swing those last days.

For Christmas Eve we all went to a beautiful midnight mass in one of the churches just a few minute walk from my house.

Christmas Day was quite wonderful—the other American teaching assistant Karen joined us! We cooked enough delicious food for the four of us, and Karen brought some dishes to complete the meal. We also bonded, conversed, and laughed over a rousing game of Cards Against Humanity, one of my Christmas presents. Definitely a Christmas I will remember.

 

On the 26^th, we had time for a lovely lunch at my mentor teacher's house. It was great that my family and her family could meet each other. Of course the food was also quite delicious

December 26-28: Back to where it all began.

Shortly after lunch we hopped on our train(s) to.... Altmuenster!

For those of you who don't know, I spent August-January of my exchange year in/around the beautiful town of Gmunden. Our language camp was also in the next town over, Altmuenster, where I met Maggi for the first time almost 5 1/2 years ago.

We saw lots of sites that I have known for years. We watched the swans glide across the Traunsee, their aggression kept well-hidden beneath an air of noble grace. We visited a park and the See Schloss Ort, free of any hotels, despite what Austrian soap operas will have you believe. We saw the inside of the Altmuenster church—where memories of teenaged choirs, “Silent Nights”, and old and new people alike melded together for me.

Ceramic objects were also somehow a theme of the visit: from a visit to the, Gmunder Keramik factory to a stunning toilet museum (yes) to the plates we ate off—whether at the grocery store cafeteria I spent my time between classes or at cozy, locally-run restaurants in Altmuenster.

To me, however, the place that stood out the most was still our first evening and last morning in Maggi's apartment. In addition to my own saga of gross misunderstandings, nativity, and growing up in all ways imaginable, that space as seen many amazing stories. Just talking to Maggi, those walls (complete with original art from her daughter) have seen the beginnings of love stories and development of unbreakable friendships. The rooms have served as a sanctuary, a gathering place, and a space to share secrets. It is a space loaded with meaning and significance for so many people. The fact that my mom and sister got to meet Maggi and spend time here was one of the highlights of the trip

December 29^th and 30^th: To Hallein and Salzburg

Though my journey from Altmuenster to Hallein (well, Oberalm) was first by car, we took the train along a similar enough path. Like nearly five years ago, Elisabeth picked me up and welcomed me so warmly into her home.

After lunch and visiting, my mom, Jill, and I explored Hallein. Elisabeth dropped us off at my old school and we followed my beautiful walk back to the train station passing flowing brooks (the weather was unseasonably warm), centuries-old buildings, cobblestones, and narrow passages and alleys (the graffiti, “sex” written in large blue letters in one tunnel, was just as unfaded as five years ago). We made a pit stop at the main church, and the house where the composer of the music for “Silent Night” lived.

The walk was such a flash of memories—the restaurant where I ran into my history teacher who adored me; the little sign for picture frames, a new word at the time; The book store where I window shopped waiting for my train; the ice cream store I ran to the moment it opened in spring. Even if mundane they still meant something. Those walks always felt very solitary in the past. Experiencing them with family was something new, exciting, and still surreal.

After our walk Elisabeth drove my family up one of the nearby mountains—somewhere high enough so one could see snow on the ground. It was the most snow my mom and sister have ever seen—even if it was old and gross by my standards. The evening was filled with socializing. I always thought that my mom and host mom's easygoingness and independence reminded me of the other. I often pictured them meeting, and it was finally happening.

The 30^th began bright and early with a train ride to Salzburg—where we would go all out and be the ultimate American tourists: we had book three places on the 9:30am Sound of Music tour.

[look at all the]

That internet meme is probably more famous in Austria than the movie itself. Most people I knew who heard of the movie disliked it on principle. I never would have done the tour on my own because of this. However I'm secretly glad I could use my family as an “excuse” to hum along to the songs and revisit some interesting sites. It was also a great way to see Mondsee, another lake in the Salzkammergut (that also has some cool much older archaeology going on).

For part of the afternoon I let my mom and sister do some touristy things while I wandered a bit and spent time with a friend who worked at a youth hostel.

Our evening was spent doing the other stereotypical spending-time-abroad-in-Europe activities. My host brother joined us for a late night of Kebap eating, “Irish Pub” frequenting, and a race to catch the last train back home.

What a day!

31 December

When we got back to Villach that afternoon, Jill and I were exhausted. We napped while my mom got to explore more of Villach. Then we switched places.

Jill and my New Year was spent at a gorgeous and delicious mountain top restaurant just outside of Villach. We joined some of my international friends and acquaintances here for a very cozy and fun New Years celebration—complete with seeing all the fireworks shows in the valley and dancing. We didn't get too crazy, though, because we had some big plans for the next day.

1 January—a whirlwind trip to Venice

Fun fact: Villach is just 3.5 hours from Venice by train. A few days before we decided to take advantage of this. I had already seen Venice, but of course my mom and sister didn't. We were only there for a few hours, but had some time to wander through the windings streets, gaze at the canals and gondolas, and make it to San Marco's square. We even caught a view of the Grand Canal just as the sun was setting. Our journey back to Villach was an adventure in itself. From the bus that didn't exist, to the inability to buy tickets to Villach in the train station, to very rapid Italian rants on the train at midnight, we definitely got a full experience.

Early on the 2^nd my mom and sister hastily packed and took an early train back to Vienna—making it just in time. It was such a wonderful visit. Finally, a few weeks later, I am just beginning to process how these worlds collided. For sure it was an unforgettable visit =)

Preparing for Christmas

(Warning: my English is getting a little strange. I speak a lot of German + hear almost-English at work all day long. Let's see how it will sound in May)

So... the Christmas season in Austria is basically Awesome—whether you're religious or not. And this year since I'm not in school, my December is not marked by end-of-the-semester papers and finals which is pretty nice.

For those of you who don't know, my mom and sister are arriving in Austria TOMORROW!! I am so excited and can't wait to show them everything! I'm so grateful that my grandmother and late-grandfather were able to make this possible. I'll have a lot to say about all the wonderful things we do together, so today's the last day I have to discuss some things I did before they got here:

--Went to Christmas concerts in Villach and Spittal (a more mountainous town of about 16,000) where 90% of the songs were in German, and most of the texts they read aloud were in Carinthian dialect

--Passed by the Villach Christmas market nearly every day on the main street. Each stand sold something different: from hats and mittens, to baked goods, to incense, to homemade dolls.

--heard lots of Italian at said Christmas market stands, since lots of Italians liked to go visit Villach's Christmas market

--Gluehwein at the Christmas markets: mugs of warm spiced wine + heated tents + music = wonderfully cozy

--Visited the ice skating rink just off the main street.

--Readings, concerts, and karaoke at my favorite cafe (I think I spend much more time there than in my own, mildly creepy living room)

--Baking American-style cookies

--Eating other people's Austrian cookies

--A Christmas party with my teachers IN the school. The teachers' room was transformed into a buffet area, and every time I looked up, my table was refreshed with a new bottle of wine.

--Gaping at the few Santa Claus decorations, all of which were sans reindeer and mostly had him up against the window staring inside...

A Reason the German Word for Nightmare Translates to Alp Dream

So, this post is only about two weeks behind—hooray.

One fascinating and somewhat terrifying tradition I experienced here was Krampus.

On December 6^th in Austria and elsewhere in Europe, Saint Nicholas visited the houses of all the good boys and girls and brought them small gifts—usually chocolate. The day (or now days) before that, something else happens—the bad children were punished by creatures known as Krampus.

These creatures really are the stuff of nightmares:

(source: theatlantic.com)

This creature in some form of another, has been a part of Alpine folklore for over one thousand years, and has accompanied Saint Nicholas since the seventeenth century. Within Austria, this tradition was taken much more seriously in the more mountainous regions, especially Tirol, Salzburg, and to an extent Carinthia—my region, not as much around Vienna (we'll see what tourism and some sort of performance of an imagined authenticity does to this—if anything).

One way that people engaged this tradition of Krampus was to make or wear completely handmade Krampus costumes.

The masks were often handcarved from pine wood and could cost several hundred Euros alone.

(source: the atlantic.com)

The hairy/furry bodies were often made from over a dozen goat or sheep skins, take days to produce and also cost a few hundred Euros.

Many of them also had really large bells attached to the back of the costumes that would ring loudly every time the Krampus walked, a forboding warning of a monstrous creature nearing ever closer.

My observations/experiences:

I first came across Krampus during my first visit to Austria in August 2008 at our language camp. The instructors told us about this tradition, and pretended that in Gmunden, people even dress like them in August to scare away tourists (not really true). Joke was on us when they had their friends dress up and run after all the exchange students in the language camp's basement—unforgettable

Then, later in December I went to my first Krampulauf.

(Altmuenster Krampuslauf, December 2008)

In this Krampuslauf, it was basically a parade where dozens and dozens of people dressed as Krampusse walked past. If you were near the front, they reach at you to mess up your hair, hit you with sticks, throw flour on you, or other actions.

According to some people I talked to both this time and in '08, these parades were really safe and tame—almost too much so. The Krampus were not allowed to do such things to really really small children, and there was plenty of police presence to make sure the Krampus (many of whom had several drinks before beginning the parade) didn't do anything too crazy. Each Krampus also has a number on their costume, so if they did anything really inappropriate you have a way of finding out who it was.

This year, I also went to two Krampuslaeufe—one on a Friday night in Villach, the other on Saturday in Klagenfurt. It was pretty fun. In Villach one took my hat and made me chase it, and another hit my leg hard enough for me to feel it a good while later. Some of the TAs and I pretended to flirt with them, which was also fun and silly.

I knew about the Krampus tradition in other pars of Austria. I heard stories from very rural areas (including where my host grandmother lives) where Krampus stormed the schools and scared kids so bad they passed out. Places where wearing 3 pairs of pants (including ski pants) was sound advice. But do I feel like I missed out? Not really.

In Vilach and Klagenfurt, I was not really a tourist. Attending a Krampuslauf was a social event—not a tourist attraction. I was participating in my community's event, no matter the scale. Perhaps I didn't yet know any people behind the masks, but could tell my students in the crowd did. This was my way of celebrating Krampus, grounded in a specific time and place--not some abstracted, timeless Krampus "tradition". And it was wonderful.

Now.... for all the pics! (Klagenfurt ones taken by Karen)

from the Villach Krampuslauf, the lights in the back are our ice-skating rink.

Me, Donatella (the Italian TA at my school), and Marie (the French TA at my school)

Little kid Krampus in Villach

British and American TAs and Krampus in Klagenfurt

Krampus and Fire in Klagenfurt

Some of the images/extra research taken from:

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/12/krampus-saint-nicholas-dark-companion/100639/

November Weekend Getaways

As I got ready for my time teaching in Austria, there were a lot of things I had to keep in mind. One of which was the rather strange pay schedule. Unlike most jobs in the United States, my paycheck came once a month instead of every two weeks. Another issue with the program was that most assistants don't receive their first paycheck until November 15^th. Our teaching contract+ filling out all the paperwork starts on October 1^st—but for October pay info to be processed it needed to be turned in in mid-September. So once November 15^th rolled around, lots of TAs all around the country received two months salary all at once.

^ That was basically my life some weeks ago. It was great. Even better? The 15^th fell on a Friday

Since I finally had money, it was time to do a little travel!

Bamberg, Germany (November 15th-17^th)

Luckily in my time here, I already made a few solid friendships. Two of the people I spend the most time with are Stefan and Karen.

Karen is another American TA who lives in Villach. She's great for rescuing me from my landlord's laundry habits (long story) and accepting my obsession with knitting

(us—watching a Norwegian knitting marathon show)

Another friend here is Stefan. He moved to Villach about a year and a half ago from Germany, and has been instrumental in me meeting other new-ish people in Austria outside the group of Tas.

Stefan is from a little village near Bamberg and wanted to go back for the weekend, so he invited me and Karen along!

It's about a 5 hour car trip from Villach to Bamberg (8 hours by train) which we filled with lots of singalongs.

We stayed at his parents' house. They and Stefan's sister were super nice and welcoming.

That Saturday Stefan went to visit some of his old friends while Karen and I explored the city. It just so happened that one of Karen's good friends also lived in Bamberg, so we hung out with her and she showed us all around the city.

I have to say, it was VERY different from what I'm used to in Austria. Bamberg's influence was stronger centuries before Austria's was. In fact, at one point in time Villach belonged to the diocese of Bamberg. I definitely made an effort to take pictures of the Michaelsberg Monastery, something I remember learning about in one of my old professor's classes.

Even though Bamberg has about the same population of Villach now, it certainly seems much bigger. Maybe because this part of Germany is much more densely populated? Who knows? Anyway, great city; I wouldn't be opposed to tagging along with Stefan again.

Vienna, Austria (November 22nd-24^th)

While Bamberg for me was a place of new people and new sights, Vienna was all about nostalgia.

I had visited Vienna a few times before during my exchange year

And did some of the touristy sights. So this time I was able to go to ones I missed at a more liesurely pace.

More importantly though, it was super nostalgia. I got to meet up with all sorts of wonderful people!

I got to meet up with Amelia!!

Amelia and I were great friends all through New College. She put up with me when I first got back to the States and wouldn't shut up about Austria. So this marriage of New College+ Austria was a long time coming.

While we were both indecisive and terrible with directions, we still managed to see some good sights including the Modern Art Museum (where only AFTER I left did I realize how much fun it would be to screw with people and sit and start knitting in the middle of the exhibit halls),

The Natural History Musuem–with the Venus of Willendorf! Also, me nerding out way too much about HOW knowledge was represented in the museum—both the older parts and newly renoved parts. *Heterotopia-gasm*

Plus Amelia taking us to a ballet—3 Euro for standing room—not bad at all.

Not to mention a bunch of Christmas markets+ Gluehwein

Another part of my visit included finally meeting up with classmates from exchange! While I saw my host families last time I traveled around Austria, I didn't meet up with any classmates. This time I got to meet up with Eva for most of the afternoon and Petra for some of the evening. A lot of fun catching up—seeing what changed, what didn't and just having that time to hang out. I never thought my New College and exchange parts of my life would be so neatly reconciled, but there you go.

And I'm looking forward for a few weeks from now when I'll be BACK in Vienna—meeting up with my mom and sister!

Life in Austria: Teaching

So, I knew I'm pretty bad about writing blog posts, so hopefully this next series of posts will make up for things. Now that I've been here almost two months, I want to write a series of themed posts about my “life in Villach.” This post will be about teaching.

So what are they paying me to do anyway?

I am employed here as an English teaching assistant. This means I go around to different Austrian classrooms and present lessons and activities on various topics. The main goal of this is to engage the students and get them to talk and communicate in English.

I present almost no grammar lessons and am not responsible for grading any tests or assignments. The techers are also always present in the classroom, but usually don't interfere. Some of the topics I've talked about include:

-Diversity in Florida

-Halloween

-Fracking

-Discussing an assigned play

-Discussing assigned articles

-The American school system

Though it was a little difficult at first figuring out if something was too boring/difficult/confusing, I feel like I caught on pretty fast as to what worked and what didn't. Occasionally a lesson will work GREAT with one class, and just okay with another.

Planning the lessons has also been a lot of fun. I end up going on internet research tangents about stuff I'd never look up otherwise. I also learned just how many different ESL resources there are out there.

Who are my students?

I am one of the lucky TAs who is only assigned one school. I teach thirteen hours a week. Some classes I have every week, and a few I have every other week. So, all together I am assigned 16 different classes. I've met over 300 different students, so, unfortunately I have almost NO chance at remembering more than a few names.

I teach at a Gymnasium school which means it is a high school more geared toward academic study at a university. Some other types of high schools students can attend include a HTL, one geared toward architecture and engineering; a HAK, geared toward business; a Tourismusschule, geared toward tourism and hospitality, among other types.

Age- and grade-wise my students are between 14 and 18, their grades equal to that at an American high school. The numbering system is a bit different though:

5^th form= 9^th grade

6^th form= 10^th grade

7^th form= 11^th grade

8^th form= 12^th grade

At the other types of high schools the numbering system is still different, and many students attend high school for 5 years instead of 4 at other schools.

Other “fun facts” about School

-The students all take the same classes together, and have their own classroom for most subjects. The teachers move around instead. This means each class really has its own personality, since the students have been together for so long.

-Since teachers don't have their own classrooms, they all share a Konferenzzimmer and have a spot at a table where they do lesson planning. Students aren't allowed in.

-Students have to wear house shoes, or slippers, inside.

-They don't have the same classes everyday. Most subjects are 1-3 times a week. The students' days also end at different times every day

-There's no real cafeteria. There's a place to buy sandwiches, pizza, salad, fruit, etc during the 5 or 15 minute breaks between classes, or during free periods. Some students also leave campus in the afternoon if they have several free periods to go home (if they live close) or to the nearby supermarket or Kebap restaurant

-There are no “school zones” students pick which school they want to attend. This means a few people commute from really rural villages—or even from the next town over. The other American TA's flatmate attends a HTL, lives in dorm-style housing during the week, and goes home on the weekends.

-Classes also have some pretty epic field trips. One class I didn't meet until my third week teaching because they were in London for over a week.

A Long Weekend Trip Down Memory Lane October 9th-14th

I have a feeling I will me pretty “meh” about blogging, and even worse about adding photos, so bear with me. The catch-up posts might be long and rambly too. Many of the photos here are actually from my exchange year....

This past weekend I had a very long weekend which lasted essentially from Wednesday afternoon to Monday evening. Thursday, October 10^th was a holiday in my state to celebrate the Volksabstimmung. On this day in 1920, a mostly ethnically Slovene part of Carinthia decided to formally join Austria instead of Slovenia. Carinthia also designated Slovene as a minority language, which is kind of cool (though it seems very few people, except more recent immigrants actually speak the language)

Friday my school STILL had classes but I don't teach on Fridays

The students had off Monday. Why they didn't attach this to Friday I don't know, but not complaining about an extra day off for me

SALZBURG

I spent most of my time in/around Salzburg. Many of you know I spent January 2009-July 2009 of my exchange year outside of Salzburg and LOVED it. It was the first place I really went out on the evenings and the first time I felt like and independent and confident adult (never mind at 19 I was still on my parents dime).

Now I live about 2.5 hours away by train, which means it's definitely somewhere I can only visit on weekends. At about half an hour outside of the city, I started passing other places I frequented and felt emotionally overwhelmed. I could not believe that after 4 long years I was coming back! (Those feelings of disbelief waxed and waned the whole weekend).

I stayed with the lovely Maddy and Amy in the city for two nights, and went out to one of my old hangouts, an Irish pub in the middle of the city.

The next day was great just for wandering around the city. I swear I spent a solid 6 hours walking my old paths, letting the memories come back. In my exchange year I also spent a lot of time hanging out at a youth hostel. Thursday afternoon I was able to make up with the guy running the place for the first time in YEARS. He was one of the first people I saw again from my exchange year again and who knew some people I did. Surreal.

HALLEIN

The actual town I lived in was a small village called Oberalm, right outside of a town called Hallein. Hallein is one town where I attended school. It turns out that one of the TAs this year is the assistant there! So I got on the 8:15 train to the Hallein Bahnhof to relive the walk I took so many dozens of times before.

Two old pics from my walk to the train station to school.

Something exciting about the walk this time, though, parts of Austria got their FIRST SNOWFALL OF THE SEASON! So there was snow. The entire walk there. It was pretty surreal. Wish I had my camera on me.

The school time was a little awkward, though. I remembered about 4 teachers, and only 1 was still there. Not to mention that all of my classmates graduated and were elsewhere. I still found a school photo of all of them, though, so I spent way too much time staring at that.

A few days before I left for my long weekend, I emailed my host mom but she wasn't able to write back. She was such a wonderful, welcoming host mom. It helped that she trusted me enough to allow me to go out and make my exchange the best experience it could be.

So even if she didn't answer, I was going to make a meet up happen. I knew where she worked and decided just to... show up... after visiting my school and see what would happen.

Sure enough she was there! Like most of the trip, it was unbelievable seeing her again. We went out to lunch, and I spent Saturday night/ Sunday morning at her house catching up. This is where I learned

-Her flat looks almost exactly as I remember it

-Except for one of the only new things was a Christmas card I sent them a few years ago

-My host brother is so grown up!! How is he 18?!

-My host nieces and nephews aren't toddlers anymore!

-My exchange wasn't a long dream after all

-She was on a years-long quest for the spice mix, Tony Chachere, and I helped her find it

Kitchen from my last night of exchange, July 2009. Not too many changes =)

So yeah, pretty much the best vacation down memory lane. I'm definitely visiting several times before I leave Austria

Me leaving "my" train station after a wonderful visit

GMUNDEN: Sunday-Monday

I lived in a different part of Austria from August 2008-January 2009. This is what I'm calling my “bootcamp” part of exchange. It's where I learned a LOT of German, life lessons, and confronting extreme shelteredness and social awkwardness head-on. It wasn't exactly fun most of the time, but possibly one of the most valuable and emotional places/times of my life. In fairness, too, the region is BEAUTIFUL.

I was back again to meet up with someone very near and dear to me, Maggi. She was the woman I stayed with in December '08 when things went horribly wrong with my host family. Her presence always seemed so full of life, joy, and love. She, more than almost anyone I know, gave me an appreciation of the beauty of the everyday, of the home.

Maggi!

Me, at Maggi's house--just like old times

It was such a relaxing, quality visit. We visited her daughter's gallery, went to the swan-filled lake, got ice cream, and had visits and conversations in her house that I've been needing to have with her for months.

just the view from Maggi's balcony; no big deal.

SO MANY FEELS!!!

After our visit, it was time for a 4 hour train ride back to Villach for another week at school. But, I will be back. And this time, I won't wait 4+ more years.

What a Wonderful First Day!

Today was AMAZING! And not just for teaching. It really was an awesome day filled with so many new, exciting things.

This morning before class even started (8:35 for my first course) I had to go and pick up my residency permit card. I got to the right office at 8am, signed for the card, and went about my day. I felt extra smug picking it up on the day the US Government shut-down started. The Austrian State/Province/District I'm in is paying me, HA! Anyway...

I had already go to my school on Monday to take care of some bureaucratic stuff. I had received my schedule. It turns out they were able to get Fridays off for me! I also got my key and met most of the other English teachers. So this morning I walked in feeling somewhat prepared—but still nervous.

I had prepared the same powerpoint and class activity for all levels, just because it was the firt

The first class I taught was the 5^th years (same age as 9^th graders in America). They haven't had as much English but it still went pretty well.

The next two classes were 8^th years (12^th graders in the American system). Both fun and interesting to work with but VERY different ways of acting as a whole.

I at least feel confident I can be a pretty good assistant, so that's good.

Some observations or differences about the school system for my readers. I already experienced the school system at the Gymnasium, so most of this is review for me but some differences are:

-Different high schools for different education tracks. But most of them end with a special diploma, a Matura, which opens up many jobs for a lot of people.

-Each class of students has their own room, and teachers move around throughout the day (the classes still have a sort of “homeroom teacher” though)

-No cafeteria, but instead a small place to buy snacks and sandwiches

-Required subejcts are usally done for students around 1 in the afternoon, and they have some electives a few times a week (at least at the Gymnasium)

-Classes aren't every day. My students will have English either 2 or 3 times a week

-Teachers all have places at tables in a large Konferenzzimmer. Since I knew about this before it was kind of awesome being on the other side of this sort-of forbidden place for me

-Back in my day, students didn't try to friend their teaching assistants in high school. Then again, back in my day Facebook wasn't as ubiquitous....

After teaching I was surprisingly tired and napped. I figure it'll be like this the next week or 2.

My evening was also somewhat productive. I was able to meet up in-person with another Austrian I'd been taking to online for a while. It was GREAT! I had tea and we got to speak in German the whole time. Hopefully I can get to know his friends and start to form some semblance of a Villach-based social life.

And right after the meet up, I received a perfectly timed phone call from Maggi!!

For those of you who don't know, Maggi was one of the most amazing people I've ever met. We met during language camp of my exchange year and I stayed with her for most of December and part of January when things didn't work out with my first host family.

Sorrynotsorry for the off-centered crop. It's for reasons (including at least SOME of the landscape must be in the pic)...

Anyway, she called to invite me to stay with her over the weekend! I CANNOT WAIT to meet up with her since it's been over 4 years now... and possibly about 3 since we've even heard each other's voices. I know a lot has changed for both of us in that time. Gah, she was so central (in one way or another) to connecting so many parts of my life over more than half a decade, I'm getting all emotional!

Anyway, what this means for you guys is pictures of a different, VERY beautiful part of Austria

So to sum everything up awesome about today:

-First classes going well!

-Meeting new contacts FROM around Villach

-Plans to reconnect with a pivotal person in my life