la vie en France - c'est beau

I am still having a lovely time in France. Alice's family is really wonderful and they have been feeding me all sorts of French goodies. The other day I went into town with Alice and her mother. Alice had an appointement to get her hair done and her mother had to go to work in Cyrillus, a clothing store. So, I had a few hours on my own to wander around taking pictures, drink some coffee, and do a little shopping. My basic French was good enough to get me through the day and get everything I needed. In the evening we went out for some drinks and catch up on each other's lives, which was really great. I saw a long island iced tea on the menu at one bar, so I decided to order it. The bartender had to call someone and ask a question in order to make it. The result was rather unorthodox, with about half of the drink consisting of coke! Then he said "if it's too bitter, let me know and I'll add more cola". Right. I think they missed the point of that one... I should know better than to order American cocktails in Europe because it never works out right!

Yesterday was also a lot of fun. I went to Ikea (Alice's parents needed a few things to complete their new Ikea kitchen) and then to the grocery store. In the evening, we were invited to dinner with the former neighbors and still friends of the Gondry family, so I got to experience the culinary wonders of yet another French family. This couple has two children, Marine and Vincent, ages 6 and 8. The kids were happy to demonstrate to me that they can count to ten in English. Well done! The dinner was the most interesting part, as it consisted of about 5 courses of appetizers. The first was a martini glass filled in layers- first guacamole, then a sort of tomato salsa with scallops, and some sort of herbally flavored cream cheese on top. It was very interesting to have such a Mexican seeming concoction with seafood in it. After that there were little pieces of bread with all kinds of unidentifiable things on top that were also très deliceaux. My favorite came towards the end though- Have you ever seen a prune with a piece of bacon wrapped around it baked in the oven? Neither had I!!! All that and about 3 glasses of Champagne later, I was enjoying myself but beginning to miss Austria, where I am actually capable of fully participating in a conversation. French is hard, but I suppose that I've studied German a good deal more and that makes a huge difference.

Today looks like another adventure in the making. I neglected to mention earlier that I am in the heart of the Burgundy province, which I a sure you are all aware is quite famous for cuisine and wine. Alice's friend Caroline (also from Dijon) and her American husband Connor are in town for the holidays, and they are coming to pick us up for a wine tasting tour of the province. Watch out Burgundy, here I come!!!

In France

Hello Everyone!

I've arrived safely in France, and so far I have some mixed impressions of the place. I will try not to let this awful French keyboard influence my opinion too much! For an example, I will type "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" as I normally would on an American keyboard: "the auick brozn fox ju,ps over the lqwy dog:" Right; so, slow going on this computer. On my flight, I sat next to an elderly French couple and decided to practice my French a little by talking to them. I explained that I am an American living in Austria and that my German was much better. They were very friendly. The husband went on a long diatribe, which, from what I could understand, was complaining about how the younger generation has no respect for Americans. He said he was 84 years old and had lots of respect for our country because of WWII. They helped me find the train station in the airport once we landed. Then, the impression got a little worse. I went to buy my train ticket, and the clerk was typically snobby and answered my carefully prepared (and not incorrect) sentence in English. Also, there was dog shit smeared all over the floor in the station, and the restroom had a sign saying it would be closed for the next 15 minutes. Not exactly what one wants to hear after several cups of coffee on an airplane, and such things simply do not happen in the German speaking world. The TGV was fast and effective, but not as nice as the ICE high speed trains in Germany and Austria. Those are always impeccably clean and modern. The French version was kind of stinky. No matter though, I made it to Dijon to meet Alice and her parents. They are very friendly and wonderful people. They took me on a little auto tour through the city, which looks beautiful. It has 200,000 inhabitants and lots of pretty old buildings. Alice's family just built a new house last year, and it is very nice. They gave me my own bedroom, with a real double bed!! That makes it a true vacation to me, since I've never been a fan of twin beds. Alice and I will venture into town today, and I'll be sure to take some pictures. You will have to wait until I am back in Austria to see them though, since my camera cable is still there. I've pretty much had it with this keyboard, so that'll be all for now. Hope you all had a lovely holiday time and all that rot :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I love christmastime! Everyone is in such a good mood, and tomorrow is my last day of teaching before the break. I have been doing lots of lessons on Christmas in the United States, which is a little bit different. This being a wholly Catholic country, (about 85% of the population is Catholic), there are many traditions that come along with that, like the Advent candles, and St. Nikolaus early in December. St. Nikolaus is sort of like Santa Claus, but on the 24th Austrians are not visited by Santa Claus, but rather the Christ Child himself brings the gifts! The tree doesn't go up until the 24th, (brought by Jesus, of course), and that is also the day they open the gifts.

I came home from school today, found a letter from my mother in the mailbox and a package from my Grandparents in the office. Hooray! I took my loot up to my room, and about 3 minutes later came a knock. I said "Moment!!" and opened the door. There was no on there, but rather a laundry basket with red ribbons wrapped around it and a card attached. I laughed. I yelled down the hall: "NINA!!! I know that was you!!! You can come out now!!!" I heard a giggle from her room, and she said "Scheiße!!" and appeared. She had seen me doing my laundry using my suitcase to haul it to and from the basement, so she got me a laundry basket. I thought that was very sweet!

Hope my beloved masses are enjoying the season as much as I am :)

Yours Always & Holiday Greetings-

Arthur

Monkeys Emasculated

Showed up at the Gymnasium today, all fresh and ready to teach my worst monkey-class, the 4th form. Just as I walked in, Andrea said "Ah! There you are. I just left you a voicemail. I have to leave right now. You'll be on your own for the 4th and 7th forms." To this I replied, "Um, I brought some comic books.... should be no problem..." "If they get too noisy, there's another professor next door or threatening to send them to the Direktor should do quite nicely." Right. Luckily I still had an hour to drink some coffee and collect my courage. The 4th form is notoriously difficult to control, even though Andrea is always there sitting in the back and helping me scold them. My plan for the day involved lots of Calvin & Hobbes, but I began by explaining to them very clearly that I would be VERY angry if I had to seek the help of another teacher to control them.I had some overheads of some of the best cartoons to demonstrate and explain the premise of the whole thing, and I got some volunteers to read out loud the parts of Calvin, Hobbes, the mother and father, Susie, etc. After that, I split them into about 5 groups and gave them each a book. I told them to find a comic strip they all really liked, and then describe it. First, the setting & surroundings, then the characters, then the plot. Also, I had them write why they chose this specific comic. Of course, group work is always a bit noisy, and that's fine as long as they stay on task. So I wandered around the room asking them questions and explaining vocabularly and helping with sentence structure, etc. But, once it was time for the groups to present their little summary to the rest of the class- they didn't want to get quiet again. I raised my voice. Everyone got dead silent except for one girl. I walked up to her and yelled "EXCUSE ME!!!! IS THIS LESSON INTERRUPTING YOUR CHATTING???"

They all got serious after that.

I reigned the classroom.

It felt good.

party party

Me at the Fachhochschule Christmas party with Nina :)

A Day In My Eyes II

Ready for another photographic adventure? Here we go:


This is definitely not my favorite time of the day.


I had enough time to walk today. In the snow.



Just the sight of the train station along the way. As you can see, the trains that run through Eisenstadt on the regional (read: middle of nowhere) line are miniscule. Just one diesel powered car/engine combination thing!


Just another sight along the way. Peter rabbit had best avoid this garden. Check out the skull above the gate!



Ah, here's my destination. The Höhere Technische BundesLehrAnstalt. Usually just abbreviated to HTL, although it says HTBLA on the wall. A nightmare of 1970's architecture.



First things first: A cigarette with my colleagues in the teachers' lounge.


"DO NOT FORGET YOUR CLASSBOOKS (This is a service provided by one of your forgetful colleagues)"


The students in the schools here are not allowed to wear their street shoes. They have to change into slippers when they come in so that the floor doesn't get so dirty. Hence the funny sign here. Teachers, thankfully, wear their street shoes.


Austrian students are required to stand up when the teacher enters the room as a sign of respect. I love it!


Finally on my way out... to the:


Grocery store. And then:


In bed, relaxing with a book. Ahhhh.

That's a typical day for me. Hope you enjoyed!

A Day In My Eyes I

I finally got a new battery charger for my camera. I decided to make a sort of photo-diary of my day. I didn't take as many pictures today as I would have liked to, but I was in the Gymnasium today and the opportunities didn't present themselves as much as would be the case in the HTL. So, here's what I have for today. I'll do it again tomorrow in the other school, hopefully with a few more pictures (including the classrooms).

Haircut

I got a haircut today. I just sort of went in and said "please make my hair shorter", and I came out with a style known as the 'fauxhawk'. Indeed.

Christmasy Eisenstadt Nights

Conversations, the Future, Sweeping Generalizations

Sorry to all for the reduced frequency of postings. My life has developed a comfortable rhythm to it, meaning that I am no longer filled with new impressions and observations to share with my beloved masses. However, a sense of belonging and comfort are certainly nothing for me to complain about. I've decided to do everything I can to stay here as long as possible. I told the Direktor of the Gymnasium of my intention to apply for a second year as a teaching assistant, and he was very encouraging and readily agreed to write a recommendation for me. After that, I'm considering going to an Austrian or German graduate school to become a full-fledged teacher or professor. I talking this over with Sandra, she noted that I must really be in love with Europe. (I'm sure of you back home can confirm this). She then noted, however, that it is difficult to make sweeping generalizations and about entire continents. I countered that some things could certainly be said, such as 'Europeans are more environmentally conscious than Americans'. She replied: "Well, the French and Italians aren't so great about it. The French throw all of their nuclear waste into the ocean". I noted that the United States has a few nuclear power plants, but the great majority of our electricity comes from coal-fired plants. She was shocked, saying "Das ist aber so... hinterweltlich" (That's so.... third-world). She also said, "Doesn't that pollute the air? There's so much CO2 in the smoke from coal!" I explained that the power plant closest to Athens was about an hour away, and the wind blows in the other direction (I think- correct me if I'm wrong). Austria, with its law against nuclear power, seems to get almost all of its electricity from Wind and Solar plants, which power a well-utilized railroad network in addition to everything else. So, there's my sweeping generalization about two continents. Say what you will, but I love it here and really don't want to come back. Sorry to disappoint everyone back home, but I am following my dreams and it feels great. Of course, I am an American and nothing will ever change that, and I do have a certain degree of pride in that. There are definitely some very good things about the US, but in my perspective they seem to be outweighed by the bad, especially in this day and age.
Speaking of American-ness, I was feeling fat and lazy and went to McDonald's again. This time I noticed a new menu item that was highly un-American: baked camembert. Vivé la France.

New Years Plan: France

It's official- I just booked a flight to Paris on the 26th of December. I decided to fly because the train is actually more expensive for some odd reason, and I found a very reasonable flight. That, and it takes only two hours instead of 17. So, I'll be flying into Charles de Gaule, and then I will take the TGV to Dijon. TGV stands for "Train à Grand Vitesse", which means "Train of Great Speed". These are world famous trains which reach a top speed of 186 miles per hour. The ride from Paris to Dijon with the TGV takes about an hour and thirty minutes according to the SNCF (French National Railways) website. The regular trains take about an hour longer. My reason for going to the mustard capital of the world is to visit my dear friend Alice during her holiday. Her name is pronounced ALL-EECE. I knew her as a student at Ohio University, but she now lives and works in London. But, her parents live in Dijon, and they said I was welcome to come stay with them for awhile over the Christmas holiday. I did meet them when Alice graduated from OU, and they were very nice people, although they don't speak English. I have been brushing up on my French with my little phrasebook, since I hear the French are rather unwilling to speak foreign languages. As long as I make it through my train trip and arrive in Dijon, everything will be fine though since Alice is quite competent in English and can play the translator. I am very happy that I will be ringing in 2006 with one of my best friends in France!

Another Turkey Day Pic

Here's me making the pie crust with my makeshift rolling pin.

thanksgiving in the studentenheim

We had a turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce, bread, wine, wine, wine, and some more wine. I even made a pumpkin pie! That bottle of wine you see in the picture was my rolling pin for the crust! Dinner was great, very wonderful night... but now I'm hung over and its 8:19 AM and I have to go teach. Hooray! at least its friday.

Taxi Pfluger Saves the Day

What a day! I woke up late (whoops), and rushed through my morning shower and promptly called a taxi. There are several taxi companies in town. The most popular is "Hallo Taxi", since they advertise a lot, but they really suck. There have been a few times that we've called them to go out in the evening and have to wait for 30 or 40 minutes before they come. So, in my state of hurry, I called Taxi Pfluger. The guy showed up just as I was coming out the door, and he took one look at me and said "Did you oversleep?" Thankfully, he was the coolest taxi driver EVER. I said "Umm, if you take a right here, and drop me off at the pedestrian zone through the public gardens... it's much faster". He was like "OK! Give my your taxi card!" So, he stuck the card into the reader while driving zealously through the back roads and passing semi-trucks and tractors at what most definitely was an illegal speed. I must say, it was my best commute ever! I rushed in the door, and was in class 2 seconds behind the teacher, so it worked out perfectly. If you ever come to Eisenstadt, Taxi Pfluger is highly recommendable.

One entry after the other....

Björn wrote a nice entry on his Blog about the games we play in the Studentenheim. We all look completely silly playing, thanks to the post-its on our heads. The idea is that everyone writes down the name of a person or thing and then sticks it on someone elses forehead. Then we go around asking yes/no questions to determine who we are. The sticker on my head in this picture says "Osterhase", meaning "Easter Bunny". Nina said I would have to come up with something evil for Gabi, so I wrote "Verkehrsampel" (Traffic light) for her! I remember my brother Eric coming up with this one years ago while playing "20 Questions" in the car on a long road trip. We all had a hell of a time figuring out what it was, so I thought I'd spread the love on to poor Gabi! By the way, I'm impressed with your photgraphy Björn! Keep up the good work, and maybe E-mail me larger versions of the files!

It's Snowing! Not only here, but also in Hungary

Seems like Sundays with Alexandra are becoming something of a tradition. She called me up yesterday and said "Monika and I are planning to go to Hungary for lunch tomorrow, want to come with?" Of course I said yes! She came and picked me up at 11:30, then we went to get Monika. She teaches religion and choir at the HTL, and she is also very cool. She's the one who asked me about the lyrics to an Aretha Franklin song a few months ago. Apparently, the first day I was there, I asked her if she was the Direktorin, which she is still laughing about today! She found it very flattering. So, an innocent and happy mistake :) Now there is a running joke that we call her Frau Direktor. I was hoping to get a stamp in my passport at the Hungarian border, but the control just waved us through quite unceremoniously. We went to a nice restaurant about 3 km from the border, where I think every customer was an Austrian. Of course all of the waiters speak German, and being on the border, you can pay in Euros as well. The currency of Hungary is called the Forint, and something like 240 Forint equals one euro. Of course Hungary is cheaper than here; haircuts, cigarettes, and some other things are about half the price. After leaving the restaurant we went for a quick auto-tour through the city of Sopron. It has a big city feel, and Monika described it as a mini-Vienna. All of the signs on the businesses were in Hungarian and German, and I think half of the cars there had Austrian plates. So, a true border city. I think I will have to go again the next time I need a haircut. Monika showed me where the train station is, and the hairdressers is about 2 blocks away. Then we went back to Monika's (through the border again)and had some coffee and sweets and listened to some music until about 6 o'clock. Her neighbor across the street is an old spintster that watches everything she does through the window, and sure enough she stared at us all as we got out of the car. Konstantin, the 10 year old, amused himself by spying back on her. He says he wants to be a policeman when he grows up, and needs to practice his spying apparently. A and M also told me a lot about their last English assistant, a chap named David from Wales. They said he was great at the beginning of the year, but towards the middle started show up late and unprepared all the time and looked completely tired. They said they didn't know why at first, but then found out that he was juggling at least three girlfriends in Eisenstadt, Vienna, and the Czech Republic! They all found out about each other and he had a hard time with it. I told them that this would not happen with me. Despite his laziness and tendency to be unprepared, he managed to stay for a second year. They also said that my German is better now than David's was after two years of living here. Normally they speak English with the assistants, but they said I was a rare exception in that they feel as though there is no need to speak English to me. Hooray! Therefore, all of these stories and anecdotes have been directly translated in my head. Good exercise for me!
I'm also aware that Thanksgiving is coming up. We assistants in the area are planning to meet up in the Studentenheim and make a turkey on Thursday. That should be lots of fun. Also, Ludwig in Vienna said he's planning a party for the weekend. The festivities carry on despite the distance.

Bis zum nächsten Mal meine liebe LeserInnen-
(Until next time my dear readers-)
-Arthur

Sonntag schön.... Montag Überlebt

"Beautiful Sunday.... Lived through Monday"
Sunday was very nice. One of my favorite teachers from the HTL, Alexandra, invited me to lunch at her house. She made a delicious Lasagna (although of course not as good as yours Mom :-), and did all sorts of nice things. First, she picked me up, then made some coffee, loaned me some books and films, and I played the German kids' version of Trivial Pursuit with her and her 10 year old son Konstantin. It was a wonderful day to spend a Sunday, and her teaching resources proved to be very useful in my lesson with the 4th class today. The little brats apologized to me for behaving badly last time, and they did a little better this time. For my second lesson, I actually got lost and was late to class. How embarassing! I've been here for seven weeks, and I can't remember where all the classrooms are. Ug. Monday. So, I lived through it, came home and took a nap, and woke up at 5:30 to discover that it's dark already. Blah.
Thanks to all for sending me so many emails recently- sometimes the box is (English.... how does one say "ständig"?? *thinks*) PERPETUALLY empty and other times it overflows. So ist das Leben (such is life).
Until next time....
-Herr Professor Cornwell :-P

A Picture

Gabi snapped this picture of Sandra, Myself, and Ines in the kitchen. Don't we look happy???

Furthering my Education....

Hanging out at the Studentenheim, my friends are constantly talking about their marketing professor. The class is held in English and taught by a Czech woman who doesn't speak any German. They always complain about how she is impossible to understand, and that she doesn't understand anyone who can speak English well- only the people who have very limited capabilities of expression in the language. Being the troublemaker that I am, I decided I had to find out for myself. Yes, I woke up at 8:00 today, specifically to go to a Marketing lecture at a university I'm not even enrolled in. I met Sandra, Björn, Gabi, and Nina outside the Heim before their class. They are all eagerly awaiting this blog entry. So, going into the class, I noticed that European lecture halls have a different feel to them, just like I had seen in films. They are all very vertical, such that you have to climb steep steps and each row is substantially higher than the one before it. People started sifting in, looking bored and tired, and the professor wouldn't start until more people arrived. Niko the Finn came in and looked at me funny and said "What are you doing here?". The prof waited for about 10 minutes before starting up the computer and starting her lecture about branding. She did indeed have a very thick accent, but she was nice enough and I found her vocabulary to be sufficient. There were definitely a few funny moments though. For example, she was talking about how a company can be named after the founder's family, which can be good because it has the ring of a personal promise. "Buttaaa.... if your name means something bad... do not name a company this". At this point she wrote the word "Death" on the board, and the crossed it out. What?? Who is named death??? She went on, talking about how a corporate name should be easy to pronounce and the same across borders. I decided to mention an exception to her, the fact that the grocery store chain "Aldi" (German) is actually called "Hofer" in Austria. As Sandra predicted, she didn't understand a word I said. Looking around the classroom, everyone was playing solitaire on their laptops (Gabi!! I saw you doing that! And no I won't let you copy my notes!!), reading magazines, talking to their neighbor, or doing a crossword. Of course the situation was funny and all, but I did begin to feel a little sympathy for the poor teacher.... She did seem nice enough after all... and that certaintly can't be easy for her. Of course, this is speaking from the new-teacher-myself perspective. Also funny: I signed my name on the attendance list, which will probably cause some confusion in the main office. WHO is Arthur Cornwell??? Björn said I should go to the office later and ask for a certificate proving my attendance (A Bestätigung- one gets one of these for almost everything in Austria... like crossing the street, for example. OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration....). Everyone thinks the situation was very funny. Good times.

Stayin' Alive

Today was a pretty good day, all things considered. My activities in the 4th level class went over well, although the class is difficult to control. Being the younger ones, they always want to test their limits. Afterwards I talked to Frau Professor Soleder about it, and said that I have a hard time being strict because it simply isn't part of my personality. She urged me to channel the darker side of my personality. I think I can do that :) The next lesson was lots of fun, because the 7th level class is very intelligent and engaged. They had asked me at the beginning of the year what my favorite band was, and if I could share some music with them sometime. I devoted my entire lesson to two Cake songs: "Dime" and "Palm of your Hand". They really loved it and we got plenty of discussion out of it. I was planning to have them write a little mini music review at the end, but they talked about it so much that I actually ran out of time! That was wonderful.... normally I feel like I'm grasping for things to do at the end. Still feeling the need to stay active, I decided to go ice-skating after class. They have a nice setup at the Sportzentrum, with two outdoor rinks. The rental skates were a bit expensive, and they were also too narrow and the arch too high. Ouch!! I had lots of fun there, but some blisters to show for it. I think I've decided what I want for Christmas: Mom and Dad, send me my skates!! They're in a box in the basement. That's all I want. Seriously. Well, that and maybe some crunchy Jif.

Vacation Over!!

Hello All...
I've been spending my Sunday trying not to get depressed about the gray weather and the fact that I'm really starting to feel quite homesick. Yesterday I felt melancholy all day and sat in my room doing a lot of nothing until Sandra rang and invited me to go out with her and the gang. I decided that was probably a better alternative than staring at the ceiling, so I agreed. We went to a new place called CEBU, which is a funky little cocktail bar that looks like a tiki lounge. And guess what I found there.... a real American-style gin Martini!! It was delicious. Also, its a lot more comfortable than Mendez because the music isn't so loud that you have to scream to have a conversation. In Mendez I find myself saying "WAS?????" a lot of the time. I think I have a new favorite locale. Well, that was yesterday... and today is Sunday. I was starting to feel blue again at the beginning of the day, so I decided to take a proactive approach and go for a nice long recreational bike ride. I went over to the next village, called St. Georgen, which was very quaint and pleasant with its old buildings and lots of tractors and smoke coming from the chimneys. I also swung by the swimming pool just to check out the hours, and probably would have gone back for a swim if I hadn't had so much to do in preparation for tomorrow. In theory, exercise and physical activity are great antidotes to depression. I did feel better after my ride. Back home I had to read and correct about 30 essays on the topic of "My Ideal School". Correcting essays is so strange... I now have a deeper appreciation for all of my German teachers that had to read our crap homework and try to evaluate it fairly. Some of them were very amusing, particularly the kid who proposed a "heavy-metal school". Oh my. I've just got all my lessons in order and tidied up... so hopefully I'll be able to go to sleep early enough to have some energy in the morning. Those kids are gonna have lots of fun tomorrow, gosh darn it. As for me... I'm hanging in there.

Ikea-fication

Since I finally got paid, I made a trip to Vienna with some of my wonderful new friends in order to make a trip to the big blue and yellow Swedish superstore. I was supposed to catch a train out of Eisenstadt at 06:53 AM and then meet Stefan in Bruck an der Leitha, but unfortunately overslept and woke up to a telephone call from a quite perturbed friend saying "WO BIST DU???". He informed me that the next train left in precisely 25 minutes, and that I had better hurry up. I rushed out the door like mad and flew with the bicycle to the train station. I caught the train, so it all worked out pretty well. Finally met up with Stefan, had some coffee, wandered around the shopping streets, checked out the parliament building and imperial palace, met up with some more friends, went a museum exhibition about Austrian Architecture since 1945, and then finally caught the blue and yellow IKEA bus. Yes, Ikea has a free bus that takes people from downtown Vienna to the shopping city, which is about a 30 minute drive when traffic is good. I managed to buy all kinds of nice things for my room, such as a new duvet cover, some knives, a French Press, coffee mug, blanket, some live bamboo, and an ironing board. I managed to get all this for €53! I love Ikea!! Of course, hauling all that stuff back in the train that evening was a bit of a challenge, but I managed. And now my room is Ikea-fied, and as you can see from the photo, much more "gemütlich" than it was before. I will have to resist the temptation to make another trip!

I love Catholic Holidays

Well, I have a week of vacation.. yes that's right, a whole week, for All Saint's! I know I should probably get some serious travelling in, but I've opted to be a little more boring and make trips to the cinema and swimming pool instead. I do plan to spend at least a day in Vienna though. Sorry I haven't been writing as much as earlier, but the newness is starting to wear off as I settle in more and more here, so therefore the motivation to write is a little less. However, I'll try my best to keep up. Last week I had a wonderful dinner with Sandra and her boyfriend Björn. It was a sort of interesting thing called "reclatte", which involves something similar to a hot-plate with little mini-frying pans that go underneath the heat. One takes little pieces of bacon and wurst and cheese and cooks little bite sized thingies one at a time. I told them I had never seen such a thing, and Björn commented that it was probably too slow for the Americans. He's probably right. I of course wanted to return their hospitality and invited them to have stir-fry with me tonight, which we did, and it was good. They also read the blog, and we had a very funny talk about the toilet thing. To Grandpa- They all thought your advice was brilliant :).

An Ode to my Toilet

My toilet is a special thing... it is always ready to take care of my evacuatory needs. One thing that is commendable about European toilets is their water saving features. Note the two buttons placed on the wall above. The small button uses a minimal amount of water, and the larger button provides a little more force. Are these for #1 and #2? I daresay yes, but it isn't precisely clear. Of course, some toilets veer into the extreme of water-saving technology with something I call the "poop-deck". These types have a flat, dry, surface... which can be rather unpleasant before flushing and require a good brushing after each defecation. Luckily, mine is not of this sort... and is constructed of a traditional bowl that contains just enough water to cover the poo, praise the lord. I remain, as ever, eternally grateful to modern plumbing.

Bird Flu?

OK... not to get everyone worried or anything... But I received the following email from the American Consulate in Vienna today:

During the past several days the media have reported extensively on Avian influenza, commonly referred to as "bird flu" or Avian Flu in English. Austrian ORF radio reports that Austrian officials found a dead swan on the Hungarian side of Lake Neusiedl (Neusiedlersee). Hungary's chief veterinarian officer, Miklos Suth, said Austrian officials gave the swan to Hungarian health authorities for Avian Flu testing. Test results are expected in a few days.
The U.S. Embassy reminds American citizens in Austria that information about Avian Flu, including suggested precautions, is available in the U.S. Department of State's "Avian Flu Fact Sheet" located here, which was updated on October 19, 2005. The Fact Sheet includes links to Avian Flu information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Embassy urges all Americans in Austria to monitor these websites as they are updated with current and
accurate information. The Austrian government has an emergency plan for Avian Flu and has been screening poultry for the Avian Influenza virus since 2003. All test results to date have been negative, and the most recent occurrence in
Austria was in 1946.
In the event the Austrian government suspects an Avian Flu occurrence, the Austrian emergency plan will go into effect immediately. The plan includes the appointment of national, regional or local crisis centers, the investigation of animals, the lockdown of affected farmyards and regions, the vaccination of poultry stocks, and standard operating procedures for officials and veterinarians as well as directives for veterinarians, farmers, and the population at large.
For more information about Avian Flu, you may also wish to refer to the
following websites:

Word Health Organization: frequently asked questions about Avian Flu

Centers for Disease Control: general information about Avian Flu

Austrian Foreign Ministry: information about Avian Flu (English)

Austrian Foreign Ministry: information about Avian Flu (German)
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad
should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs
Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide
Caution, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy is located in the Marriott Building, on the fourth floor of Parkring 12a, in the First District. The Consular Section can be reached through the embassy switchboard at (43)(1) 31-339. The website is located at www.usembassy.at

Note: Neusiedlersee is 20km from Eisenstadt.

oh... my... god...

Well, today is Nationalfeiertag, and Austria is celebrating 50 years of the second republic and their freedom from Nazi Germany. Of course we all have the day off... so last night John and I decided to go hang out in the Buschenschank again. That's where we met these two old spitfires! They're both named Maria, so we have to call them "little Maria" and "big Maria". Little Maria is absolutely hilarious!!! That's her... the blond one with the coat that looks like a garbage bag. She kept buying us round after round of wine and telling stories about her canadian relatives visiting her and how one of them was soooo fat he had to have bricks under his bed, etc. She tried to hook him up with a woman, be he told her he only loved men. She thought this was hilarious. Let's just say that it was very... interesting evening.

Photos for the Masses

OK, OK... I know you all are craving constant entries from me, as I have gotten a few emails and comments wondering what I'm up to. I must admit that my weekend was rather non-eventful, mainly focused on no-money activities such as sitting in my room listening to Radio Vier and reading a book entitled "Die Symbole Österreichs: Zeit und Geschichte in Zeichen" (The Symbols of Austria: Time and History in Signs). So, I am now more informed about the meaning of the coat of arms on the flag and so on. Of course I also put together some lesson plans. Friday is my absolute least favorite day of the week, because I have my two worst classes back to back. The first one is totally lazy and they don't ever want to speak or do anything at all, and I have to jump around and be crazy to get them motivated, which is no easy task at 8 am. Then, directly after that, is my class with 28 monkeys. They will not shut up and are totally distracted and impossible to control. They would not listen to me, so I yelled "OI!!!!" very loudly, which only made them laugh. The teacher had to intervene by banging a chair on the floor. Not so much fun for me. Next time I will have to put on the stern teacher act and maybe slam a book down on the table as I remember my 6th grade teacher doing. I hate being stern, but I need to define that line of control I suppose.
So, today is Monday, and the weather is absolutely wonderful, since its about 60 degrees or so and the sun is shining and the leaves are starting to change colors. I took advantage of the oportunity by taking a nice long bike ride and bringing the camera along. Unfortunately, I realized today that I cannot find the battery charger for the camera :(, so it may be awhile before I can post more... I'm going to try calling the hotel where we had the orientation seminar, which is the last place I remember seeing it. Very frustrating. Nonetheless, I still had some juice left, so here we go:
I have found that the shortest way to get to the HTL is to take this little gravel road along the railroad track. A nice handy little shortcut, but I must say it reminds me a little bit of Chauncey, except there are vineyards instead of trash everywhere.
As I ride along this gravel road and look to the left (north), I can see "downtown" Eisenstadt beyond this vineyard. As you can see, it has gone fallow for the autumn.

This is also a very common sight within the city. House, house, house, vineyard, house.... you get the idea. Also note the prevalence of bicycle lanes. Here, bicycles come standard with fenders, generator powered lights, baskets, kickstands, and chain-guards. This is because they are not considered to be a piece of recreational or exercise equipment as they are in the States, but rather a viable means of everyday transportation.

And to think I was so dissappointed to be missing the leaves changing colors in Athens... lo and behold, they do that here too!! This is the hill behind the Gymnasium, where all of the teachers (and students!!) go to smoke cigarettes.

So, after my long ride, I was very happy to make it back to my supa-style Studentenheim. This is the lobby, I walk through here everyday on my way out. Very chic, no? Ok, I hope that makes you all happy for the time being... if I have any more epiphanies, I will be sure to record them here. Until next time...
-Art
P.S: I'm sure all of you brilliant readers are aware that if you click on the pictures, you get a larger version. Ciao!

What's a "Buschenschank" in English???

I had a wonderful afternoon diving into the local culture yesterday. John, Bridget, and I got together to explore the local "Buschenschanks", which is a traditional autumn happening. Since this is a wine growing community, there are many local families who have their own private wineries. The government allows them to open their residences 3 times a year to sell their wine to the public free of tax. You can tell where such places are by the bush hanging from the door (hence the name). This is definitely where the locals hang out. Since the harvest is just in, these places are open at the moment and we got to taste the new vintages. We were welcomed by the locals, and some drunk carpenter guy talked to us for a couple of hours. I had four glasses of wine, and it only cost €2,60, which is what one glass normally costs! I guess the tax-free thing really helps. After getting somewhat toasty, we took Bridget (the English girl) back to the Studentenheim to show her around and take her in the sauna, which was a great deal of fun. They're all planning to go back today, since the carpenter guy invited us back for his birthday. Could be dangerous! But, I was in bed at 10:30, and now I'm awake at 8:00 and getting ready to go to school. What a cool place this is!

Getting Colder

The weather here has started to get chilly. I also just got a bicycle, so I've been sporting the scarf and gloves when riding to school. The commute is so much better now, and I don't think I will end up getting a car simply because the money could be used for better things, I think. I also hear that the snowplows are very effective, so it shouldn't be a problem in the winter. And, on particularly snowy days, there is always the City-Taxi. Today I divided my students into groups and had them look through copies of the Athens News and make lists of things that they found interesting or strange. It was really cool, since they were all very interested and since Athens is such a peculiar place, we had plenty to talk about.
Fun factoid: I assume many of you are familiar with the show "Pimp my Ride" on MTV, where they take people's old crappy cars and, well, pimp them, with sound systems and DVD players and fancy paintjobs. Well, they absolutely love that show here, so much, in fact, that there is a low-budget German version called "Pimp my Fahrrad" (Bicycle). It is absolutely ridiculous, they take people's bikes and add silly streamers and bells and things. So very strange.
My thoughts are becoming more and more germanified, so much that I have actually been dreaming in German. I also bought a radio alarm clock, which is really cool because now I can listen to funky german musik and hear the news and weather. About half of the stations are Austrian, and the other half Hungarian, since I'm so close to the border. It seems that the best music is on the Hungarian stations, which is unfortunate, because I would rather here the German language. Either way, its a good way to wake up in the morning. I made it to my 8:00 class this morning fresh and ready, thanks to the Red Bull I had for breakfast. Did you know Red Bull is three times stronger here? It is an Austrian product, by the way. They can't do it that way in the US because it violates the drug laws! It says it has 32mg of caffeine per 100ml, and the can contains 250ml. I'm not exactly sure how that works out... but I think its way stronger than coffee. Cheers to stronger Red Bull.

Where All the Naughty Children Live

I have been having a pleasant weekend in Eisenstadt. I went out with all my new friends last night, which was great, because we're only getting closer. The best story of the night was about a local taxi driver. The city taxi only costs two euro, so it is a very popular option for going out in groups. Once you get four people in a taxi, it only costs 50 cents to get to the bar. Well, as you may know, our address here is known as "Campus 2". One of the taxi drivers in town always calls it the "Krampus", which is very witty. Krampus is an Austrian/German Christmas tradition, and it's sort of the anti-santa day. Some guy that works for the devil comes every December 6th to find all the naughty children and beat them with sticks or something like that, as far as I understood it. So, everyone thinks that this particular taxi driver is quite funny. The preffered locale for young drinkers is called the Mendez, and it has a sort of Cuban theme to it and is actually quite large and usually crowded. So, this town isn't entirely boring. So, I amused myself, and made it safely back to Krampus :)
I know I haven't been posting many pictures, so I took one of the sun setting outside my window and of the technology center next door.





Tomorrow I don't have to teach, because there is an information day for teaching assistants. All of them that work in Burgenland are coming here to Eisenstadt. I don't know exactly what they're going to do with us, but I'm looking forward to it because it will include the French, Italian, and Croatian assistants as well as the English speakers. Need to catch up on my rest so I can be energetic for the week.

Freitag is a super Tag

Despite a horrible bout of insomnia last night, today has been wonderful. Of course, the day didn't start off so well, since I only got about four hours of sleep. I did, however, wake up with plenty of time to get to school. Once I got there, I was quite dismayed by the fact that they were out of coffee. I learned that the teachers are the ones who buy it and bring it in, so next week I plan to make my own contribution. The first lesson, another one on Ireland, was really no fun at all. The kids were all really tired, and so was I, so it was kind of like pulling teeth to get them to talk. The teacher chewed them out for being lazy, and later explained to me that this is her least favorite class because they are always despondent. After that, I had an hour free until the next lesson, and I was quite happy to discover that the coffee machine had been refilled. This is where the day starts to get better! So, I had about four cups, and went to the next class. This group was much more energetic, (and so was I!), and I was giving a lecture on the American school system. I am much more knowledgeable about this than Ireland, and I think the kids find it more interesting as well. After school, I went to meet my second translation client. John, the other TA, referred me to him, since he feels his knowledge of German isn't sufficient enough to be of any help. This one is a man named Stefan, who is a 45 year old engineer. He has been employed in the construction industry ever since he graduated high school, but recently decided to return to a technical university to further his education. He has to give presentations and write essays in English about architecture and engineering. I helped him for three hours with his homework, and my experience at RVC Architects really came in handy here, since I know how to use phrases like "construction management", "sub-surface conditions", "short-listed", and things of that nature. He and his wife and two children live in a beautiful house that they built by themselves about 10 minutes outside of Eisenstadt. They were all very friendly, and I earned 50 euro! Not only that, but it sounds like he will be in need of my services on a regular basis, and I will be meeting him again tomorrow. Very good news to a poor soul like me, and I actually enjoy the work because I feel as though it not only improves his English, but my German as well. For example, I learned that Austrians do not say "Backsteine" for "bricks", but rather "Zwiegel". Good to know, because up until now I have been explaining Athens architecture to my students by using the High German rather than the Austrian word. Silly little words like that are often easier to translate rather then explain in the classroom... although I usually do say a little piece about clay coming from the ground and being backed into bricks. Thank god its Friday! Going to relax for most of the day tomorrow.

Almost Late

Drank too much last night, showed up at school five minutes before my class after practically running through the city. Looks like I'm getting back to my old ways again! Must be careful. The Direktor apparently trusts me enough to teach alone, because that's what he had me do. It was actually kind of fun because the students open up a little bit more when their regular teacher isn't sitting in the back of the classroom with them. I used a very nice little piece called "Party Cries in Ireland" by Mark Twain. The drug lesson went over OK as well, and we even sparked up a good debate about drug testing in schools. Some were against, and some for, so it was very lively and productive.
I have been in contact with my dear french friend Alice, and I hope to be able to go visit her in Dijon this winter. She works and lives in London, but will be coming home for Christmas. I met her at Ohio University when she was a graduate student, and we were housemates for awhile. I met her parents when they came to Ohio for her graduation. She writes "I think my Dad still remembers crossing your path in the middle of the night on the way to the toilette in the nude, like you do, on 123 North Lancaster Street..." Tee hee!! Her poor father... he doesn't even speak any English. Her mother is also very nice, and ironed my pants for me! Can't wait to see them again!

My lesson was taken over by the police!

Interesting thing that happened today- I went to teach one of my lessons, but I couldn't. There was a policeman there with a laptop, and he was giving a presentation to the class about drugs. The teacher had not been told that this was happening, so I had to go in and sit down and listen to the Austrian policeman talk about how "drogen sind schlecht, mkay". He took the entire hour. So, I only got to introduce myself very briefly, and I said "I'll be back". This cause an uproarious laughter, which really confused me. Later, the teacher explained that the kids though this was so funny thanks to that movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Then it all made sense! At least they understood me, I guess.
There was a little shindig here in the dorm last night, and I had a lot of fun and made some new friends. There is a girl named Sandra that I have hit it off with very well. She and her boyfriend are driving to Hungary this weekend to go shopping (cheaper stuff there!), and they invited me to go along. Hooray! It will be much less daunting for me to venture into eastern Europe when accompanied by friends. And I won't even have to buy a train ticket!
That's really all I can think of to write at the moment... but I am proud of myself since I have been writing something almost every day. Now, all of you readers need to post some more comments or send some more emails so I know that I actually have an audience :)
-Art

Work at the HTL- finally

So, I had a nice day at the HTL. I went in at 10:35, as promised, and met with all the English teachers in the lounge. They all argued about who got to have me in their lessons and when. They ended up compromising such that I go with certain teachers one week, and then others the next. It was rather amusing, but kind of complicated. There is a German teacher at this school who was very excited to meet me. Apparently she did an exchange program in Minnesota when she was 19, so she was very conversational with me. She also teaches the choir class, and had a rather amusing question for me. She asked me to explain what "Sock it to me" means, since the class is singing "RESPECT" by Aretha Franklin. How exactly does one explain that? I had to say that in the context of the song, it means "Give it to me", in reference to the respect. But, then I also had to explain that to "sock" someone is to hit them. She was confused. Come to think of it, so am I. I love you Aretha, but your lyrics don't make any sense in this case!
My contact teacher, Sonja, is super nice. I really really like her! I found out today that she is pregnant. She told me when she asked me to carry the projector upstairs. So cute! I think she said she's about 3 months along or so. It should be interesting, since I will be here for the rest of her pregnancy. I wonder if I'll get to meet her baby! Her class was very friendly and pretty interested. I think they have been the first ones to laugh at my jokes. Overall, the HTL seems to be more laid back than the Gymnasium. It's a damn good thing too, since they don't have any free coffee here like at the other school.
I got mail today! Hooray! One piece was a letter from the Ministry of Education stating my official salary and the fact that I'm in their system. This is good news because it probably means I will get paid on time. The other was from the Ohio BMV, a packet of forms for replacing my drivers' license from abroad. I had contacted them by email, and they were astonishingly efficient.
Food! I went to the grocery and I bought some mixed-grain organic bread. The loaf weighs an entire Kilo, and I think it could probably be used as a deadly weapon in case of emergency. My weak butterknife is hardly the tool to cut it with either- a chainsaw would be more appropriate. But damn is it good bread! I also managed to find some pesto (yum!) to go with my chicken and pasta. So, I've been eating better since my little adventure at McDonald's.
Anyway... it's back to the HTL tomorrow for another round of introductions. Looks like Wednesdays are going to be busy, starting at 8 am. Until next time....

A Brand New Week

Well, happy Monday to everyone. Mine has been good so far... first thing in the morning I went to the HTL to see if I could finally figure out my schedule there. I found my contact teacher, but she said she didn't have the time she thought she would because of the new schedule and the fact that she had 5 minutes to make a 10 minute walk to the other building rented by the school. She explained that they had too many students and not enough classrooms, so they rent another building elsewhere in the city. I walked with her for a ways, and we got to chat and she seems extremely friendly. She told me to come back again tomorrow at 10:35 and meet her in the teachers' lounge. After that I had plenty of free time, so I decided to walk up to the Gymnasium and continue my love affair with the coffee machine and prepare some things for my afternoon lessons. I gave two lessons today, one to a 4th level (12-13 year olds) and one to a 7th level (16-17 year olds). I kept the young ones busy by drawing my family tree on the board, explaining about everyone's professions and hobbies, and then asking them to write their own family tree. This prompted lots of good vocabulary questions, so I think it was quite useful. This was a particularly rowdy bunch, so I'm glad I had Andrea with me to keep them under control! The 7th level class was a bit calmer and more advanced, so I divided them into groups and made them read different sections of the Wikipedia entry on Athens, Ohio, and report back to the class. They were a lot of fun and a very bright bunch of students.
This Thursday I am supposed to do a lesson on Ireland and another on drugs. I was planning to use an A-News article about the Alexander School District drug testing policy. I spoke to the teacher about it, and she informed me that one of the students that had graduated last year had been found dead of an overdose in Vienna, and that one of his siblings was in the class. Jesus christ. What am I supposed to say to that? Is this silly drug testing thing even an appropriate topic? I'm not quite sure how to handle this one... But I will come up with something. As far as Ireland goes... I'll just have to do a bit of research.

I went to... ug... McDonald's

Well... I hate to admit it... but I did. You see, the thing is, grocery stores in Austria have very limited hours. They're open from 8-6 on weekdays, 8-12 on Saturdays, and not at all on Sundays. This is a national law designed to protect workers from their employers, ostensibly to make sure they get to have some free time and can go to church on Sunday. That's great for the workers, but bad for me... since I slept in on Saturday I missed my opportunity to go to the store and buy some fresh bread, cheese, and käsewurst. But, there was that bastion of American convenience right around the corner: McDonald's. I must admit that I haven't even been to one in the States for many years, since I've always been very anti fast food and would much rather have gone to the Farmacy in good old Athens OH and picked up a turkey and havarti sandwich. Anyway... it was either cheap plastic food or starving, so I went in and ordered a "McChicken Maxi-Menü" (umm, combo meal, that is). Really, there are only 2 differences between a European McDonald's and an American one. #1: You do not get any ice in your soda here. #2: You don't have to take your tray to the garbage. They do that for you. Other than that, its exactly the same... dirty fat people and screaming children and all that stuff. It felt kind of awkward... like I had stepped back into my own country. I wondered if the people eating here considered it to be exotic and foreign... that's kind of how it felt to me. Weird. I'm going to make sure to go grocery shopping this Friday and stock up on the good stuff.

First Week in Eisenstadt

The first week has gone off without a hitch. On Friday, the Direktor told me that I was not at all a typical American and seemed much more British to him. To this I replied "Das halte ich für ein Kompliment!" (I'll take that as a compliment). That was pretty nice. The technology guy created a login for me to get into the school's computers so I can print out my lesson plans and stuff. The funny thing is that he made my login "ASS" as an abbreviation for "assistent". I don't think he has any idea what this means in English. I though about saying something, but I decided to just let it go. At least it makes a funny story, and might make me chuckle on an early Monday morning. Last night all of the English TA's in Eisenstadt met up for dinner and drinks, and that was a lot of fun because we could all exchange stories about our students and schools, and try to figure out what the nightlife of Eisenstadt is like. The answer: Abysmal! Tiny old man bars with noone in them. The cocktails are very expensive and small, so the only cost effective way to drink is to stick to beer. At least the beer is good. I also took my camera into town with me, so I have a few more pictures to share:




This is the street called Haydngasse, named after the famous composer who came from this little town. The house with the little flags sticking out is where he lived for twelve years, and it now offers a permanent museum display. I didn't go in, I just thought the street was kind of charming.




This is the pedestrian zone in the center of the city. This is where one can find most of the restaurants and shops. The monument here is called the "Pestsäule", and it was built in 1713 as a plea to the three holy spirits + Mary to save the people from the "Pest" (the plague, that is).
I am very happy that it's finally the weekend... I plan on taking it pretty easy and sleeping in as much as I can. I'm sure I'll have plenty of adventures to write about next week, since I'll be starting at the HTL. Something tells me that school will be an entirely different scenario than at the Gymnasium. Hope you all are enjoying the weekend as well... keep on reading and I'll keep on writing! -Art

Car?

There's a 1986 diesel Peugeot hatchback in the paper listed for €300, and I got an insurance quote of about €35/month. Very tempting!!! There's also the possibility of leasing... which might be practical in that I wouldn't have to worry about selling a car back. In other news: I have a translating job lined up for Saturday. I'm happy that I am able to find ways to supplement my income! I might also start offering tutoring for my students. I hear the going rate is about €17 per hour.

Guess who's waking up early every morning?

Me!

I keep having these terrible dreams about oversleeping and losing my job and being sent back to *eek* Athens!
Then I wake up and realize that it's 6 am and I have 30 minutes until the alarm goes off. Classic.

Job going well... I met the Direktor (principal) of the Gymnasium today, and he was very very nice. He also happens to teach the highest level English class, which I will be going to at noon (praise the lord!) tomorrow.

I feel like my English is getting worse... since I practically never use it outside of the classroom. For example, the title of this entry. Should that be who's or whos? Damn grammar! Not to say that its any easier auf Deutsch....

The iPod makes my morning walk much more tolerable than one might imagine.

In other news... I found an iron for only €8. Now I can come to work with a crisp shirt!

I went to the sauna tonight... this place is so pimp!!

Have a drink in Athens for me...
much love,
Art

First days in school

Hey Everyone...

My first couple days as a teaching assistant has gone well so far... I'm still trying to set up my schedule and stuff. All of the teachers seem really nice, although the Gymnasium is a bit more conservative. Unfortunately it looks like my schedule will kind of suck, I was hoping to get either Monday or Friday off, but the way it looks now I'll probably have Wednesdays free. My contact teacher says she tries to give assistants 3 day weekends so they can travel, but we have to work with the way the English classes are set up. I have absolutely no schedule at the HTL yet. I went there, and they said they're making a brand new class schedule next week, so I have to go back Monday to figure out what's going on there. On Monday I went to a 3rd year English class, where all of the students were about 12 years old. That was kind of awkward since they couldn't speak much yet and I had forgotten the display adapter for my laptop (I was going to show them pictures of Athens and stuff). Nonetheless, everyone has treated me well and the teachers have all insisted I call them by their first names and in the informal "du". Tomorrow I'm going to a 6th level class, and I'm going to be sure to bring my display adapter for the projector this time!! Money kind of sucks... especially since I've had to buy some pots and pans, sheets, and things like that. Everyone I talk to is always astounded at my language skills, and they invariable say, "You speak such good German" and they give me a bewildered look and ask "How???". This makes me feel good.
The commute really sucks. It's about a 30 or 40 minute walk, and the busses are completely crappy and impractical. Everyone keeps asking what I'm going to do in the winter, and they usually recommend that I lease a car. I wish. Probably too expensive, and I lost my driver's license (AGAIN) at home. I don't know, maybe I'll ask at the embassy in Vienna if it's possible to get a replacement. Used cars are very cheap here (you can get an 80's VW for about 300 euro or so), so the idea is very tempting.
There's a girl on my floor that I think has a crush on me. She let me borrow her pots and silverware so I can cook. After making a nice meal of chicken curry, rice, and broccoli, she said "Ein Mann der kochen kann!! Heirate mich!!" (A man that can cook! Marry me!). She's so friendly I hate to rain on her parade... sheesh it makes me feel awkward though. Hopefully I can buy some silverware soon and return her stuff.
Mom- Got your package today! Thank you so much! Sorry the second one with all the books and stuff costs so much to ship... I didn't think it would be that expensive... The powerpuff-girl booties are extra special.
Until next time...
-Art

Fotos von Eisenstadt