ABroad In Austria: New Year, New Adventures!!

   Six weeks goes by pretty fast, so for those of you that have checked for updates, sorry I've been slacking. It was an eventful Christmas season in Salzburg. We had lots of snow very early making it quite idyllic, and also quite cold, for my first real winter in 4 years. I have had to re-learned the value of layering and of wearing extremely unflattering puffy down coats.
   December got off to a pretty busy start when I took on teaching AP Literature while one of our teachers is out on medical leave. I can honestly say I NEVER thought this would be in my future, but so far its been very challenging and yet extremely enjoyable. The kids are whiny, manipulating, hysterical, and gracious all at once I've been given the liberty to do with the class what I choose, and fortunately walked in to the beginning of East of Eden, one of my favorite books from high school. I also made many trips to the Chriskindlmarkt throughout the month, here and in a neighboring small town, St. Gilgen. In case you weren't aware, Mozart is a pretty big deal in this area of the world, so in remembrance of the anniversary of his death Mozart's Requiem is performed at the Kollegienkirche each year from 11:45 pm-12:30am on the night of December 4th. A few of us went, and I have never been so cold for a 45 minute performance in my life. One of life's lessons over here has been that when a church is many centuries old, rather than those baby church's we have at home, they don't heat them. Makes sense, central heat didn't exactly exist in 1707. Seems that we were the coldest 5 people in attendance. I'm not sure how the musicians were able to function, but from what I could hear through my hood and scarf, it was gorgeous. The month of culture continued with a night at Winterfest, expected something like Moulin Rouge but actually got an evening of utter crap. We then continued with a night at the Salzburg ballet to see a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, which was very enjoyable and made for a wonderful evening.
   Winter break started on December 17th and I was on a flight home the next day. The 10 days went by faster than I imagined, but I think I managed to see just about everyone, except distant friends in Texas, and even get a whole day of Christmas cookie baking in!! Everyone always asks what I miss most about home, expecting some sort of food, American amenity, etc, but honestly it's having a kitchen, and stores that are open a bit longer than 9a-6p. I had enough time to make trips to Cleveland, the local findlay establishments, and Youngstown during the time home.
   Just before the New Year I headed back to Salzburg to meet up with a great group of friends, including my friend Amy from Texas, to have a European NYE 2011. We headed down to the Dom to listen to the band and see fireworks for most of the night, despite the weather, which turned out to be not too miserable. My camera and self respect may have ben thrown out the window with 2010 as a few too many drinks were on the menu for the night. But, I guess, what else is a new year's celebration for, than a kindly reminder for how to behave better in the upcoming year. The rest of the weekend events included sledging in the night (probably not the brightest idea;) ) but fun and adventurous nonetheless, Joe's new year goulash, the Sound of Music tour, and the obligatory "we have guests in town so we're going to the Augustiner" Sunday evening.
   Amy and I set off on our own to enjoy some winter exploring in Vienna, Cesky Krumlov, and Prague. Fortunately the temperature improved dramatically from our first night in Vienna to the last night in Prague. In Vienna we took in some culture and went to an evening show of Mozart and Strauss, complete with a bit of operetta and waltzing. Cesky Krumlov was our next stop, recommended first by my mom, and then pretty much every other person I've talked to. To me it seemed like the Cinque Terre of the Czech Republic. We went to the smallest restaurant ever, only 4 tables, and no other patrons, but the food and service were fantastic.

    We caught a morning bus to Prague, because somehow the bus is faster, and cheaper than the train, and arrived at our hotel around noon. I 100% recommend the Mosaic House if anyone is traveling to Prague. Except for the challenging showers the rooms were great, bar area fun, and location convenient. We tackled just about every spot on our list in the two and a half days we were there including some local restaurants, beer halls, and more churches to add to the list than we could count. I found the city to be utterly amazing. It almost seemed unreal, in the way Venice seemed unreal, except it seemed like a livable city. Only one building on the Old Town square was damaged in WWII, and at that just a short time before the official end of the war, which definitely maintained the cityscape, especially compared to Vienna or Munich. The first night we walked from above the Prague castle all the way back to our hotel which was by far my favorite part of the trip. I love roaming the streets of a new city, you get such an intimate look at the attitude and atmosphere, and as the lights come out at sunset its enchanting. After visiting in the dead of winter I'm eager to go back in warmer weather to see how the greenscape changes the feel.
   School started today and all the hopes of the kids being on their best behavior were thrown promptly in the garbage as soon as first period started. I guess its only natural that the kids are excited to be back at school to chat with their friends and not focus on Chemistry class when they have a sub! In other news, I got accepted to USC's online Masters in Teaching program, so this summer I'll be headed back to Ohio to get started on the coursework that will take me through next May. Pretty excited, especially at the thought of having a carefree, financially broke summer at home, which hasn't happened since I was 18!!
   My resolutions for 2011 include keeping this a bit more up to date, with more, yet shorter, updates. Help keep me on track with the friendly reminders you've been sending me! Happy 2011 from Salzburg!!