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

""Oktoberfest"" and Orientation Week

An eventful week!!

So, it looks like I already have a lot of catching up to do on the blog. The only reason I'm updating this now is I start teaching TOMORROW! SO much has happened since I last posted. I also realized I am not very good about taking photos so many of these photos are courtesy of other TAs. This batch has a lot of photos from the other American TA in Villach, Karen.

OKTOBERFEST

So this past weekend I attended the Villacher Oktoberfest. In the past this was originally celebrated to honor the wedding of “royalty” in Bavaria way back in 1810. Obviously since then, Oktoberfest has become famous for being a huge fair full of Bavarian food, large steins of beer, and Tracht (dirndls, lederhosen, and other outfits constructed as “traditional”). Because of this fame which has nothing to do with dead married people any more, a few nearby areas began to hold festivals for a few days overlapping with the 16-day Oktoberfest in Munich. Villach is one of those places, and even titled it “Villacher Oktoberfest.” Villach has it's own festival in late July/early August called the “Villacher Kirchtag”, but why NOT have another excuse for pretty dirndls and delicious beer 6 weeks later?

So naturally myself and some other TAs in Villach and Klagenfurt attended one afternoon

Of course the obligatory tent, large Bier, and Dirndl pic

And now just the Dirndl

Note too, the huge Austrian flag/banners everywhere. There was also a large flag of the town shield/coat of arms. Which seems a little strange (or involves a trip to the museum/asking around as to WHY a severed bird leg).

ORIENTATION

From Monday to Friday this week I was at Orientation. The location, Saalbach-Hinterglemm was supposed to be central for everyone teaching in the western half of Austria.

Above is the map of Austria showing where I am in relation to the camp. It's located IN the alps (my town is south of them) and in the winter is a popular skiing area. Orientation was a LOT of fun and probably the only time I'd get to see so many other TAs in one place at once.

The group was full of characters. Our “teachers” were all wonderful. The one assigned to us was Hans. He loved playing up essentialized “Austria-ness” which was infectious.

Here's Hans walking up the Alps, in Lederhosen, probably yodeling

Though Tuesday was mostly filled with lessons, the other days were full of some interesting experiences.

Wednesday afternoon we hiked up a local mountain. It was pretty strenuous since I'm not used to hiking AT ALL. But it was beautiful and so worth it. There was a little restaurant near the top, where a bunch of TAs played music and danced. All in all it was very gemuetlich.

I also geeked about the cows and sheep (their wool will be mine!!) just hanging out around the mountain

That evening there was also a hired Folk Dancing group. One part of this was the Schuplattler section, invoking a “traditional” dance of slapping one's thighs, and stomping, and hitting one's shoes. There were lots of other dances, and the dancers frequently grabbed members of the audience to go out on the dance floor. Since I was wearing my dirndl, I was probably and easy target. I didn't have my camera with me, so these pics are all courtesy of Karen

I have since done very basic surface research about Schuhplattler. I assumed what we were watching that night had its basis in something very old and variable. But had since been transformed with the expansion of the Austrian Empire, forces of nationalism, AND tourism both generations ago and especially in recent years. Sort of accurate without any specifics, I guess.

Factoring into these strands of reinventing this dance, though, are women and LGBT groups also laying claim to this. There are a few all women groups, when the dance had been previously only for men. Something I had NO idea about was how some members of the LGBT community here have also laid claim to the dance. For instance, in 1997 a group from Munich formed calling themselves the "Schwuhplattler" (Schwuh is sort-of Bayerish-German for gay). I can skip over anthropological gushing and rambling about identity politics, but in short, I think this is the coolest thing ever.

Anyway, here's the website for "d'Schwuhplattler" which also gives a good brief history of the dance and its ever-changing forms and contexts (in English)

http://www.schwuhplattler.de/index.en.htm

I just graduated from studying anthropology, of course I would analyze a dance that only made up an hour and a half of my week =P.

Back on track: meeting the other TAs and people from the program was amazing. Sad I probably won't get to see all of them in one place ever again, but I'll manage. I'm glad it'll be easy to meet up with many of them in my Austrian state, at least + have some people to visit when I want to travel.

I should go to bed soon since tomorrow IS my first day of teaching, and you'll all get a very different sort of blog post very soon. Bis bald!

Time for Exploring!

Hey everyone =)

I'm slowly settling into my new life in Villach, and it's been pretty great so far.

There were a few bureaucratic things to take care of in the beginning, most of which went smoothly, so I had plenty of time to explore new new home.

Whenever someone move to a new town in Austria, they have to fill out a "Meldezettl", basically let the town know they live there. Little did I know, they closed at noon on Friday, my first full day in town. So I will have to take care of that once this is posted. It should be pretty straightforward (I hope!)

Opening a bank account wasn't too difficult either. There's a bank literally across the street from me. I filled out the paperwork (never mind I don't really know financial terms in German that well) and meet with them this coming Friday to get my ATM card.

Getting a phone wasn't too bad either, though a little round about. Getting new, basic, cheap phone at a place called "Handywelt" (Cell phone world) isn't the right place though. Instead I had to go to an office/school/? supply store called "Libro". It was a bit chaotic since it was the first week of school for everyone and it was PACKED with kids scrambling to get all the exact folders and pens for each class. But now I have a pre-paid phone. Another plus is it only costs money (kind of a lot) to send texts or make calls NOT receive them.

Grocery shopping was manageable too. Even though the grocery store, Interspar, near my house is HUGE I somehow remembered enough from my few times shopping to make it out of there alive and with tasty ingredients. Its really nice to be maybe a 2-3 minute walk away, too.

Aside from a wonderful Saturday evening with Megan, a former TA who stayed in Austria, and her Austrian boyfriend and friend, I've been doing lots of wandering around Villach.

And now the fun part...pictures!

Breakfast: Tea, amazing bread, delicious cheese (Bergkaese), SPECK (like bacon but smoked and somehow even tastier)

View from the other side of my apartment. Coincidentally, those mountains also form the borders of Italy and Slovenia. I small a short train-adventure in my near future.

A view of the Hauptplatz, an area that's car-free and has lots of shops, cafes, and all sorts of cool stuff

Part of the Altstadt, the oldest part of town. I WILL check out the Stadt Museum there!

One of my favorite parts of the city so far is that it's on the Drau River, which is gorgeous. There's also (no joke!) a Gail River just a few miles away. 

For my social justice friends: Compare and contrast what you know about Sarasota benches (purposely designed to make it difficult to stretch out/sleep-- or else non-existent) with THESE in Villach.

Visiting Megan, Matthias, and Tom Saturday night was also lots of fun (and full of delicious chili). I played my first game of Risk--and won. Hope to see them again soon and can't wait to meet the TAs coming to town soon!

Arrival in Austria!

I am writing this from a beautiful cafe on the Drau River (one of the few places I've found with Wifi). Aka... I'M IN AUSTRIA!!

Time for catch ups?

I left Sarasota on September 4^th after selling my car. This gave me a week to just relaaaax and spend time with family and do some last minute preparations. It was really great to be able to visit my sister, currently attending school in Tallahassee—especially since I rarely get to spend time with her.

The last few days also involved a lot of repacking: Fitting everything in the suitcase wasn't too difficult, but staying below the weight limit was. And with only a small backpack and purse as extra storage, it was an interesting exercise (and I definitely wore my winter boots on the plane).

My parents took me to the Tampa airport the morning on September 11^th. I am very glad I got to spend some time and say my good byes before heading off through security

Though I arrived on time (in fact earlier than originally scheduled), the flight was a mini-adventure in itself.

I was supposed to fly from Tampa to Chicago to Madrid to Vienna, arriving at 11ish.

About 5 minutes after boarding was supposed to begin, there was a mechanical problem with the plane and they had to change my flight to Tampa-Miami-Duesseldorf-Vienna, arriving at 10:20.

And that plan worked to get me there. My luggage was not so lucky. It arrived today, Saturday. About 48 hours later. Luckily squishing everything in my backpack was a good idea: when I woke up, I had a brand new outfit to wear plus plenty of extra socks and underwear.

After landing in Vienna, I took a bus to a Vienna train station, and then it was a 4 hour trip to Villach. Once in town, the skies greeted me with a double rainbow, which was pretty awesome.

(The double rainbow showed up right after I took this pic, unfortunately)

There my Betreuungsleherin (teacher I'm working under) picked me up from the train station, took me to get a few very basic groceries, helped me get to my apartment, and took me out for a small bite to eat. And then I slept for 10.5 hours.

Stay tuned for more posts about ACTUALLY being in Villach! It's been great so far.

As a quick spoiler, I present to you the view of the city from my bedroom window:

Attempting to Dress like a Grown-up

Starting October 1st, my job overseas will entail being in a classroom four days a week, imparting knowledge and wisdom to impressionable Austrian High Schoolers. One challenging component of this apart from planning lessons and holding a class's attention includes dressing the part.

For some TAs this might not be so difficult. Me? Not so much. My past four years were spent studying anthropology at New College. Its a wonderful public liberal arts college in Florida. I learned a lot, had memorable experiences, and met some fantastic people. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

During my time there I guess I grasped conceptually what sort of power choosing certain apparal can have or project. You can perform gender or index certain groups whether meaning to or not. If I wanted, I can talk to my classes about American school dress codes and all the different ways they intersect discourses of race, class, and gender in the states. (Actually.... now I really really want to do this lesson.)

But actually applying these musings to my own life and projecting the role of a teaching assistant?

Me, my second year at New College. "Special" top courtesy of the school's "Free Store"

That needed work.

Luckily I was fortunate to find a summer job that would help me with just this. For three months I worked at the Habitat ReStore' clothing boutique in my town. In addition to a reliable schedule and enough funds to get me to my first paycheck in Austria, it also gave me access to new (used) clothing. LOTS of it. And a dressing room.

Since summer is my town's slow season, I had some time to try on various outfits and see HOW different clothing fit on me. The clothing from there was also CHEAP. While I didn't find everything there, it gave me ideas on how to prepare. And I ended up still finding most things second hand.

I figured out:
-I don't know how to coordinate patterns yet, so ALL THE SOLIDS
-Lots of neutrals + bold, cool colors is what I LIKE to wear
-Scarves are the best things ever--especially since I can wear them more than 10 days a year
-Sweaters (errr, one so far) + waist belts= definite pulls things together
-I need to wear petite pants AND  tops (especially the more professional ones) as much as possible. Since petite tops are usually only found with higher-end brands, scouring thrift stores is an important skill to have

If any future TAs are stalking this blog, hopefully my recent knowledge can be of use to you.

Now for narcissistic pics of  sample teaching outfits!

A Floridian Learns To Winter

The first time I went to Austria I knew NOTHING about winter in a place that reguarly receive snow. I lived in Florida since I was a baby. Most of the relatives I visited growing up were concentrated in Louisiana and Alabama. In fact, the very first time (and only time before Austria) I saw snow I was 14 years old. It was on Christmas Day in Mobile, Alabama, and stopped after a few hours. Both of my parents had about as much experience with snow as I did.

This is me in November 2008. My thought process at the time:

 Look at me! I got my coat from a cousin who lives in a cold place. I'm wearing my winter shoes (see, they're closed toed!); all set! Wait... it's only November and it hasn't snowed yet!? And snow is wet and soaks through these things!? Crap.

Eventually I acquired some cheap, second hand, or ill-fitted winterwear so I didn't entirely freeze. But now I can safely say I learned the hard way how to survive a winter in Austria. So for anyone moving from life in a warm climate to a place with actual winter for the first time, this post is for you.

COAT

This is the winter coat I plan to bring. It's basic, wool, and will keep me warm. It will also go with the rest of my wardrobe. Coincidentally, the same cousin, Lindsay, also gave me this coat. While warm, it is not entirely weather-proof, so on those days with heavy snowfall, skiing, (or times I get the whim to make a snow angel), it won't be enough.

SKI JACKET

THIS is the jacket for those days. In the winter months, Villach does average a good few inches of precipitate (mostly snow) per month, so it's worthwhile. Luckily, I found and bought this at the store I worked at over the summer for a mere $10, so I can't complain.

FLEECE

This will probably sustain me for a lot of fall and spring. It's lighter than the above jackets, but still warm. In Florida, something like this would have been reserved for the coldest nights of the year.

RAIN JACKET

This was something I knew NOTHING about in Florida but found myself wishing I had my entire exchange (I never actually got one though). A rain jacket. Warm, torrential downpours and thunderstorms that ended as soon as they began were a constant companion of my summers in Florida. Not so in Austria. The rain is cold, and lasts. There's even a German term for this slow (for me), continual rain: Dauerregen.

So, this will keep me nice and dry whether in the summer, or fall or spring over my fleece.

BOOTS

I also learned that winter shoes meant a lot more than ones that were closed toed. And “boots” weren't just fashion boots from discount shoe stores or big box retailers.

In November I bought the cheapest, new winter boots I could find in Austria. They were hideous and were falling apart by the time April hit.

I wish this photo could do their ugliness justice.

This summer, I bought boots before leaving. I bought them online for a reasonable price. Because I have such small feet, my size for many brands was overstocked, which brought prices down even more. These should keep my feet warm and dry, and last MUCH longer than four months.

SOCKS (and gloves)

I used to think winter socks meant two pairs of thin socks. Or novelty “fuzzy socks”. I still don't know what I'm doing sock-wise, so I bought a variety of outdoor and winter socks. Maybe they were a waste of money. Maybe they were the best idea I've had so far. *shrug* I'll find out soon enough.

The socks in the top corner were warm, cozy wool socks, courtesy of my old professor, Gaby. I plan on spending many a wonderful cozy evening in wearing those socks, and making delicious soups.

HAND KNITTED PRETTIES

For those of you who know me, I like to knit. Like, a lot. I am super excited all of my knitted hats and scarves will be useful for more than ten days out of the year.

I also hope this will inspire me to knit even more often, and actually finish all of my projects.

So yeah, a lot more went into dressing warm than I thought. I think I'm (mostly?) prepared.