Melancholy gladness

You know that feeling you get when you graduate highschool, or your last day at camp, or when you listen to a really sad song that somehow makes you happy? Sweet sadness, I guess you might call it...? Our dearest Stephen, whose name I just found out I've been spelling incorrectly since I met him, is off to Ireland without concrete plans of moving back to Vienna. Also, it's Christmas time and I'm without my brother or dad and many of my closest friends. On the other hand, it's nice to know I have such wonderful people in my life, even if they aren't in Vienna. I've also met some truly wonderful people here, and although Stephen is off, I still have many lovely people here for whom I could not be more thankful. :-)

 Anyways, I'll leave it at that because I'm of the opinion that you should be celebrating the holidays with family and friends instead of sitting in front of a computer, so I'll just leave you with a few photos and a "merry Christmas." And if you're really itching for some good reading, which you won't find here, go read Holidays on Ice outloud by the fireplace with loved ones. You're better off doing that than reading my blog. :-)

Amused by Jeannine at brunch

hey cuties

Probably talking about something important

The man usually behind the camera

That sign says don't bomb Vietnam. I promise. 

Harry Potter-like elevators at Rathaus

Kirsten being proud of her egg, rightfully so.

"Friends are important." 

Not enough people take this to heart. These guys do. Happy holidays, friends!!!!

A Lack of Munchkins in Munchen

Yes, despite the name, I did not see a single munchkin in Munich (auf Deutsch, Muenchen). Not to despair, though, it was quite a wonderful trip nonetheless!

My adventures began before I even got to Munich, thanks to the fact that trains can be absurdly expensive here. So instead of taking a train, I did a ride share with 4 lovely Austrians. I rode with them both there and back, and was pretty lucky with the group; they all made for interesting conversation and seemed quite willing to put up with my haphazard German.

Once I was in Munich, I met up with Alex, whom I was there to visit afterall. He took me to a fabulous vegetarian restaurant, where we filled up on very tasty and beautifully presented food. Yum. Thanks,Alex, for putting up with yet another veggie meal involving tofu for me. :-)

We had a great donation-only tour of the city the next day. Bingo. It's a pretty interesting city since it incurred so much destruction during WWII. Therefore, a lot of the buildings that seem ancient are (relatively) newly restored. You would never guess that this city was about 90% destroyed not even 100 years ago.

After the tour, we met up with Celil, who I've had plenty of contact with over skype since he dated Julie (BFF4EVR!!!) while she was abroad, but I've never actually met in the flesh. What a cool dude. Together, we romped around a gigantic Christmas market, which was admittedly overwhelming for me, and later went to a bar where we met up with a friend from California who is also back in Germany now.

I have to admit, my favorite part of the weekend probably took place in the cafe where Alex and I met Celil, before Celil arrived. I got my fill of exactly what I've been missing since coming to Europe... To our benefit, the wait staff was being quite slow, and thus left an almost completely untouched piece of topfen cake sitting at the next table. Being hungry and also low on funds, I suggested to Alex we snag it. He laughed, I laughed, I asked again. We went back and fourth like this a few times, until I finally just got up and took it. We both scarffed a few delicious, free bites, and returned the mostly eaten cake back to its rightful table before the waitress caught us.

It seems like a pretty simple, and perhaps disgusting story. But that's just it: I feel like people here play by the rules more often than not. Everything runs on time, everyone stays within their limits. Of course this is a generalization, and I've met several people who don't fit this description here, but it's the overarching feeling I get from the culture. And that's why, even though I had to stuff the few giant bites down in big gulps, that cake may be the best I've ever eaten. Now, I can also go back to appreciating the benefits of the more rigid lifestyle I've found in Austria.

Disclaimer: I did not contract Hepatitis in the course of this trip.

bird houses at the overwhelming Christmas market

Rathaus in Munich

Celil and me (at the cafe where the cake stealing took place)

I guess my food habits might not be that hygienic...

Yes, there were people surfing in the river. In winter.

Memorial at Geschwister Scholl Platz. 

What sound does a turkey make in Austria?

And oh, it's been another month gone by! Christmas markets are open, chestnuts are roasting and gluehwein is flowing.

In the past few weeks I've continued on with my adventures in Austria: a weekend excursion to visit Crista in Krems, which included a visit to a heuriger (a restaurant type of place where they produce everything they serve in house, including, and most importantly, the wine). Six of us then proceeded to cram into her modestly sized room for some zzzs that turned out to be more restful than expected.


Thanksgiving was last week, so I taught my students about the festivities and black Friday, and had them make their own cartoons. You'd think I was at a school for comedians rather than farmers. Since I was a little homesick for America at the time, it was pretty great to have the Austrian students get into the holiday a bit. Incidentally, I found sweet potatoes without really looking for them on Thanksgiving day, so I had Jeannine and Stephan over for sweet potato grilled cheeses made with cheddar that Jeannine's sister brought from Ireland on her visit. Nom. Also, the day before Thanksgiving, I met a girl at the train station on my way to my school in the boonies. Turns out, she did an exchange year near Conway when she was 16! She invited me over to her parent's place, where she was visiting for a day, after I got off work that evening. What hospitable and fun people! When it comes to kindness like that, Vienna is a bit anemic, so it was wonderful to have such a lovely encounter, especially the day before Thanksgiving.

We let Stephan believe that we were doing a proper Thanksgiving meal on Friday, while we were actually plotting his surprise party, complete with party hats and kazoos. Who cares about some pilgrims and turkeys when you have a wonderful buddy's birthday to celebrate!?

Of course, we've made many a trips to Christmas markets, which are a group of outdoor stalls that sell Christmas decorations, delicious food, and mulled wine or alcoholic punch. Bundled up in your warmest clothes, you go to these markets, browsing the stalls and clutching your mug of aforementioned drink, timing the speed of drinking just so that you keep your hands heated on the mug, but manage to drink it while it's still warm enough to toast your insides. Austria is worth visiting this time of year solely for the Christmas markets. Each one has it's own specialities and personality, so it's fun to hop from market to market soaking up the different vibes.

Christmas market!

Stall at a Christmas market

Jewelry at a Christmas market

Puppets at a Christmas market

Ornaments....guess where?!

Yes, those are indeed leather bowties

Fortunately, my month has been filled with cute dogs. This is one of them.

How to drink mulled wine

Breakfast in Krems! Daaaang

Krems at sunset

Smooches

Guess who won?

Our sleeping situation in Krems minus Crista (bed spot) and me (sleeping bag spot) 

Happy birthday Stephan!!

Jeannine graduated, so I gave her a trophy, as you do.

Also, I'm sorry to say, I don't know what sound a turkey makes in Austria. Stay tuned and perhaps I'll find out by the time I make my next post.

What's the craic?

I've returned from my travels to Ireland.

What a lovely country. With lovely people. And funny words.

I spent the week in Galway, a university town about 2 hours from Dublin. I knew it would be a good week the moment I arrived: smiling faces everywhere and a bus driver who was delighted to have a nice chat with me before we departed. This would never happen in Vienna. Jeannine and her sister, Raffaela, picked me up from the bus station, and thus began our week of shenanigans.

I got to see a fair amount of the countryside on the not so rainy (and even sunny!) days. On my first day, we took a long walk along Salt Hill, a beautiful shoreline walk right in Galway. We also took a day trip to Connemara where we saw some beautiful lakes, a castle and plenty of sheep. In fact, I morphed into a sheep myself... Ireland is a magical place, at least on Halloween.

GAME TIME!
Guess which of the following is a false statement:
In Ireland...
...Condoms were illegal until the 1980s
...Sheep are ferried in boats to very tiny islands to graze
...I met 3 charming leprechauns at the end of a rainbow

Yeah you guessed it... There were only 2 charming leprechauns, and they were both taken. Bummer.

Anyhow, I got to meet all of Jeannine's friends who were just as amazing as she told me they were! I have to give a special mention of Raffaela, though, who gave up her bed and home for us, and never once made me feel like I was putting her out. Thanks so much! I think the main reason I love Ireland so is for the wonderful people I met there!

Gallway

Fairy tree/fence 

Happy Woody, sad sheep

Bo peeps and their sheep

Um, seriously? I'm still in shock... 

The Waltzing Cowboy

Oh boy, life is good. Let me tell you about the last month of it...

After getting back from the Czech Republic, I went to Graz for the teaching assistant training where I met some amazing people. Hence the reason for my busy-ness...! My roommate there was Jeanine, a lovely, vibrant Swedish-Irish bubble of life, with whom I've been hanging out almost daily. In fact, I am going to Ireland with her for a week on Wednesday! But more to come on that after the fact...

Because my afro dance skills won't do me much good at a ball, which I really want to go to, I've signed up for ballroom dancing classes. With army men. Which ends with a ball at Hofburg. The classes are with one of the most prestigious dance schools in Vienna, and the men have to wear their military uniform. It's a bit uptight, but no one said anything when I had to wear cowboy boots to the first lesson due to a lack of a proper dancing wardrobe here.

As for my job, I certainly can't complain, but it's also not quite what I expected. One of my schools is a college, where they are learning actual content in English, rather than learning English, so it's hard for me to play a proper teaching role. I get treated a bit like a student, because the students are the same age as me, but  as long as I embrace the fact that I'm getting paid to be a college student (and don't have to do the homework or take the tests!) then it's all peachy. I'm going to start an English club there, so that I can get more involved and hang out with the students, who seem pretty swell. My other school is literally a castle in the middle of nowhere. Despite the 2 hour commute, I absolutely love it. It's an all-girls boarding school for agriculture and nutrition, and the students are eager, well-behaved and appreciative of me. Not to mention, I get to actually teach, which, turns out, I love. Who knew?


Instead of babbling on, I'll just post some pictures now and let you make up stories as to what I've been up to.

Filled up with free cheese and chocolate samples at a slow food fair in Rathaus

Jeannine!

This is Dave. What a charmer.

One of Stephan's hundreds of shots

Brunch at Jeannines

Outside the military museum

This is Erol. Now doesn't he look snazzy? All dressed up for Beethovens 9th at Musikverein

Slut walk wien signs