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

Weekend in the Haus

Hey Everyone...

This place is amazing! First of all, my room is really comfortable and has a nice big window. Everyone seems to hang out in the communal kitchens in the evenings to drink and smoke. Its pretty much a big euro-pudding, since I've met people from the following countries: Romania, Sweden, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, and Finnland! They all speak german when they're together, which is great, because I'm actually as good if not better than most of the foreigners. One girl, Sandra, who is from Vienna, is particularly nice. She said my German depressed her, because it was better than her English and she had been studying that for 9 years. Another girl, Nina, let me borrow her pots and pans for a few days until I can get my own. I've been eating bread and cheese, pasta and sauce, and rice and stuff. Oh, and did I mention there's even a sauna? I haven't been yet, because its only open during certain weekday evenings, but I can't wait to take advantage of it!

Yesterday the weather was beautiful, and John let me borrow his bike. I explored all the historic districts of town, and found my school, which happens to be on the opposite end of town on top of the big hill. Would probably take about 30 or 40 minutes to walk to, but there is a bus that will take me most of the way. Once I got up there, I noticed on the map that there was a scenic bike route, so I took that and got an amazing view of the city. I took a lot of pictures, but you'll have to wait till tomorrow when I have an internet connection in my room. I also went to the big palace downtown, which has beautiful gardens, and explored that as well. Next to that there is a big pedestrian zone that has lots of cafes and shops. I was wandering through that when I heard someone call my name, and it turned out to be the other two teaching assistants hanging out at one of the cafes. It was kind of odd being somewhere completely foreign to me and hearing someone yell "Arthur!!"

Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day, since I have to show up at my school for the first time, register my address with the authorities, and open a bank account. Phew!

So, keep checking back for all those photos.. they're pretty amazing, since this is a pretty amazing place!

-Art