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!!

NYE 2011 Crew!!!

Cesky Krumlov

Where is everyone?!? (in the smallest restaurant ever)

the Castle

Just off the Charles Bridge in the Little Quarter 

View of the Charles Bridge

We ran from the Krampus in the dark, snowy night!

So to be honest, Nichole and I did not encounter the Krampus on our late night, snowy walk tonight.  But, Jan and I did have a run-in when we were out on Friday, and I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit scared.  As the story goes (thanks to my research on the ever truthful Wikipedia, yeah right) the Krampus accompany St. Nicholas around the countryside visiting the families.  The Krampus are responsible for punishing the bad kids with minor forms of torture, and may even carry them away, while St. Nick rewards all the good children with gifts of nuts, fruits, and candies.  Around Austria, leading up to the Feast of St Nicholas on December 5th, it is common to have Krapmus runs, which I hear is like a parade of Krampuses, or Krampii, thoughts?  They go around "beating" and "whipping" the townspeople that attend the gathering.  They also make the rounds at the local bars, getting successively drunker, scarier, and more annoying.  I have a minor scratch and bruise on my arm from one sitting on my lap and my arm encountering the spike on its back.  Fun times for sure.

This week also brought our first real snowfall with accumulation.  I've bought my skis and ski outfit, so I'm ready to go skiing this saturday for the first time out!  Hopefully the snow continues falling in the mountains.  Nichole and I did venture out tonight after the kids went to bed because it was so peaceful, in stark contrast to a normal day inside the school walls.  We saw some wildlife, well really just a single jackrabbit.  But, thats more jackrabbits than I've seen in my whole life.  Because of the lighting and the snow we failed to get a good picture, so you just have to take my word for it.  We capped off our walk with a few perfectly made snow angels in front of the school!

We were blessed to have a "headmasters holiday" (surprise day off) as we wrapped up the first trimester on Friday.  Thursday night, in lieu of a typical Thanksgiving, we had a great replacement with an all-school awards dinner downtown at the Sternbräu.  The kids got all dressed up and had a great time, as did the staff.  Naturally we capped off the night with some glühwein at the Christkindlmarkt, which finally looks perfectly festive with a coating of snow!

It's a Winter Wonderland at AISS

Christkindlmarkt!!

Surrounding the Markt they had 3 wind assembles playing Christmas music on terraces. You can't see them though.

Hotel Sacher all decked out 

Krampus!!!!

and here he's whipping a bartender, lovely.

Visiting the Wieners . . . .

Today I went to Vienna, or Wien as we say here in Austria.  But I'm sure you've already figured that out, so I shall stop stating the obvious.  It was a great culmination to a pretty fun filled week!  On Monday Elizabeth and Vanessa arrived all the way from Findlay (sort of, but really Columbus, via Budapest) and we went out for a decent dinner and drinks for our typical monday night shenanigans.  I say decent only because it was All Saints Day which apparently means the whole city of Salzburg closes and we could only eat after going to the THIRD restaurant on my preferred list of possibilities, naturally the company was much better than decent.  I got to see the girls again Wednesday, after a bit of a bus direction mishap on their end not thanks to the lady at the Jufa, we thankfully met up at Hotel Stein for a friend's birthday.  It was great to reconnect with fellow Findlay-ites and see a couple familiar faces!

So, back to my trip to Vienna.  I hitched a ride with the soccer team to their tournament at AIS-Vienna, to save a few bucks and be a top class freeloader.  The 45 minute trip into town from the school was relatively painless, until I got off the U Bahn and realized I really had no idea where I was going.  The free map from the TI center was about as worthless as they come with more detail than your average atlas road map (only later, at about 11pm did I realize there is a more focused "Old City" map on the other side, whoops).  After walking about the block a few times I eventually made it to the NaschMarkt, which is by far, THE BEST open air market I've been too so far.  I wanted to buy everything . . . . you name it, it was there!  I settled on a single sweet potato and can't wait to cook it up here at school in the measly microwave.  Not to be forgotten is my other purchase that was eaten on the spot, delicious green olives stuffed with some sort of sheep's cheese.  On Saturdays the markt has the addition of a flea markt at the far end, and if I didn't live in a 10 x 10 dorm room, or just completed the biggest purge of personal belongings ever, or eventually have to move everything back across the ocean, I would have been tempted to buy everything.

I continued on through Vienna under the guidance of the always informative Rick Steves.  His self guided walking tours are amazing and took me to the major sites inside "the ring."  The highlight would have to be climbing the 343 circular stairs up the south tower of St. Stephens Cathedral.  Only recently have I discovered how dizzy circular stairs make me, and how terribly they mess with my depth perception on the way down.  It was a great view of the city and awesome to get above and away from the scaffolding that is currently surrounding the church.  The Hofburg Imperial Palace was really impressive, but unfortunately I missed the practice time of the Lippizaner Stallions in the morning.  One question though, why is it called the Spanish Riding School if its in an Austrian palace?   The rest of the tour took me past the Opera House, down through the shopping streets, and into the nicest "public" WC I've never been to.  In a previous life it was a swanky Wine Cellar.  Now its a bathroom with mahogany doors, fancy tile, and fixtures; no big deal.  Clearly though it costs 50 cents.  Other highlights of the day include: the best kase krainer I've had so far, seeing the Advent Markt before its all set up so I know where to go right away next visit, and passing through one U-Bahn stop 5 times because I continuously was lost for the first hour I was there.

After my adventures I was able to catch the boys last game, the championship, of the tournament.  Unfortunately they lost, but they had a great day of games to be proud of and brought home a 2nd place trophy to add to the trophy case that I'm pretty sure we don't have.  I guess its got to start somewhere!

Thank you Rick Steves, as always, the guidance was amazing.  And with that, its bedtime over here after a long day and an even longer week. My survival was made possible by the morning light courtesy of daylight savings time coming a week early in Europe.

(I had a hard time being selective with the pictures, so there are a few more than usual!)

a view from the top of the 343 stairs

Opera House 

Cupcakes are even a trend in Vienna!

St Stephen's Cathedral

The plague memorial

The only view of the Cathedral without scaffolding

Hofburg Palace

Rick forgot to mention what this was called, but its pretty 

The former wine cellar turned WC

Victorious!!

Its almost November?!?

Hohenschwangau

Things have started to settle down a little around school and Salzburg as we all get a bit more settled in the routine of the school week and weekend adventures.  Earlier in the month I traveled with the girls volleyball team to Budapest for a 4 game round robin tournament to act as the fill-in coach.  We had a great day, despite the fact that I've never played organized volleyball, and the girls won all four games and even said I knew exactly what to say at all the timeouts and team chats!  I guess those beach volleyball leagues in the 'Saw paid off for something.  It seemed like the longest 30 hours I ever spent traveling somewhere.  We departed after school, got stuck in a 2.5 hr traffic jam outside of Vienna and checked into our seemingly creepy, rustic hotel sometime after 1 am.  When we got moving early the next morning we were pleasantly surprised that the cabins were surrounded by the gorgeous hills and early fall colors just outside Budapest.   We played our 4 games, hopped on the bus, picked up the boys soccer team, and headed back to Salzburg. What was left of the weekend, Sunday, was spent on serious relaxation and recover.


Two weeks ago another St. Jude friend, Brian, was visiting Munich.  I met him on the train and we traveled to Füssen to visit the castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.  It was the coldest and rainiest day I think I've had here, but it was gorgeous anyway.  The colors of the trees were at their peak and we even got to try the first tastings of glühwein this season!  The castles were very impressive, especially Neuschwanstein that was only lived in for 172 days before the King died, and was not completely finished.  It did however have its own replica grotto built just outside the King's chambers as a tribute to the grotto of Venus, atleast I think its Venus.  By definition, I think this would be classified as extravagant!  It was a great day trip, only 4 hrs from Salzburg on the train one way;)  We had just enough time to walk around the streets of Füssen to find a nice local place for dinner.  It was the best Jaeger Schnitzel I've had!

Glühwein

Last week was fall break for the school, so after turning in midterm grades the kids headed off to Paris and I flew back to the States.  It was an unexpected trip, but my Gramma Virginia gave us a bit of a scare with some pretty serious Pneumonia so it seemed like the right decision.  It was nice to be home for a few days, amazingly saw a lot of family, enjoyed seeing the pup, and even got some good ole American shopping mall time in with Kelly!   The readjustment has been a bit hard this week as I've gone from a 10 pm bedtime to now after midnight!!  I was greeted by the first snow of the season on Monday while taking the train back from the airport.  I woke up from my nap and thought I was still dreaming since the fields were completely white!  It looked like a wonderland, but quickly dissipated as I got closer to the city.  Monday night we had beautiful white puffy (and wet) flakes but by today its back into the low 60s, which is unseasonable.  The weather seems a bit like the MIdwest!  The mountains are getting snow though, and its there to stay. Ski season and the Advent Markets are just around the corner and I can't wait!!

Neuschwanstein

Cousins in Ohio

View out my bedroom window!

"Prost" to Oktoberfest 2010 and other weekend adventures!

It seems I have gotten a little lazy the last two weeks with keeping things up to date, so thank you Pat for the friendly reminder:)  It has been a fairly busy couple of weeks with Oktoberfest going on in Munich, the school sports teams getting their first games under way, and some other things around Salzburg.

Last Sunday I joined Sarah, a former work and Texas friend, in Munich for Oktoberfest.  Once we got over the stress of snagging a table we met some great people throughout the day and got into the swing of things by dancing on the table benches to some good ole Bavarian music and drinking songs.  I had to head back at a reasonable hour Sunday just as things started to get rowdy, but luckily I hopped a train back up Monday to meet two coworkers, Jan and Nichole, to pick up where Sunday left off.  For those of you that have never researched Oktoberfest I want you to think about the largest State or County Fair you've ever been to.  Now, replace the animal barns with beer filled buildings.  That's Oktoberfest.  There's a main drag, rides (including a ferris wheel and roller coaster which we definitely tested out), and "fair food."  The tents were even more crowded Monday evening it seemed, so we were pretty damn lucky to snag a table with some nice Dutch guys near the stage.  The band even delighted us with some classic American tunes.

This week I also went to my first Austrian movie theater.  Every couple of weeks they have a "special secret sneak peak" so you go, buy your ticket, then find out what the movie is once it starts.  Louie and I decided to be adventurous and go for it.  We were intrigued by the selection of "Moon."  Its an English flick with one main actor, voice over for a robot done by Kevin Spacey, and takes place on the moon, which I'm sure you guessed.  Neither of us would say that it was bad, in the end, but we also wouldn't recommend you see it at the theater.  

Sort of behind our school is a large brewery called Steigl.  They have railroad tracks through the property for efficiency, their own extensive herb garden, and a large yard for the horses to graze.  I said "Why does a brewery need horses, unless they are the Budweiser Clydesdales?" Silly me, they have a horse drawn beer cart that they use to deliver beer to the local customers in the area.  Pretty awesome.  Another place I went Saturday, Raschhofer, even makes a special brew, with lower alcohol content, for their cart drivers so they don't get too drunk while drinking and driving the cart around.  These Austrians like to think ahead.  Raschhofer also features round tables that spin (channeling the teacups from the fair) and have a stand for a keg right in the middle.  It was the perfect spot to celebrate birthdays of three coworkers.

The last new Austrian adventure was watching another coworker play in his baseball championships.  I never expected I would be sitting at a ballfield surrounded by the Alps in Schwaz, Austria.  The fans could learn a thing or two from the drummer at Jacob's Field, but other than their noisemaking abilities, it was a great day for baseball!  This weekend was capped off outside while I explored Mirabell Gardens, used for some of the city scenes in SOM, and hiked up and around Kapuzinerberg for some amazing view of the city.

Things I saw while lost on my Eurobike!

My Euro Bike!

Salzburg Alstadt ("Old City") view at night from Hotel Stein

Well I finally fulfilled Euro-dream #2 and went out and bought a Euro Bike last week complete with two baskets, a bell, fancy energy efficient lights that only come on when you're riding, and most importantly the girly step through styling I haven't had since my first purple bike with pink hearts.  Dream #1 was the simple process of moving here;)  The freedom it offers compared to the bus is fantastic and the bike lanes here are generally pretty easy to navigate.  Saturday I rode from the mall where I picked my bike up into town and then down the lake path and onto Hellbrünn Allee to go check out Hellbrünn and the Sound of Music gazebo.  The poor little thing is stuck in a corner of the park, and you can't even go inside and recreate you're own 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen' moment, but it was worth it anyway.  The grounds are beautiful, with the most amazing playground I've ever seen, and the weather was the most perfect day we've had since I arrived.  I also got to enjoy the night view of the city from Hotel Stein twice this week, and have had more than one "I really LIVE here" moments.

On Sunday the Dom was having a celebration for a good growing season so all of the locals were dressed in their dirndls and lederhosen for mass.  There were parades, marching bands, and most loudly, the fortress cannons were shot off multiple times.  While at mass a woman behind me said something in English about the lack of order for communion(basically we were a herd of cattle pushing to the altar and only the priest and deacon were giving communion.  It was similar to the Vatican on Easter, but then I thought it was an anomaly due to the crowd, but apparently its the European way.), and it turns out the couple was from Medina, OH.  It seems that no matter how far you travel from home there are always connections, making it truly seem like a small world.  Today I found out our IT guy went to school for a year at BG where he met his wife (from Canada).  Back to my sunday adventures . . . in need of a bit of relaxation I had packed my Kindle and headed for a bench on the river, stopping only for some delicious apfelstrudel.

It's been a great week at school with lots of bike trips into town, our first day of gym class at Rif Sportscenter where the Austrian Olympians practice, and my first 2 health classes.  I decided I'm going to start showering and looking nice for gym as we watched the whole Austrian National Soccer team head out for practice:)

The weather is back to being gloomy, chilly, and intermittently rainy so I'm not sure what this weekend will hold around here.  I've realized that posting pictures on facebook has become a bit of a spoiler, so the process might change eventually.  Check back and see!  I miss everyone,  but mostly, I'm not gonna lie,  I miss sweet little Ramsey, as this is the most dog friendly place I've ever lived, you can even take them to the mall!

Three billy goats Gruff

Settled In

New Coworkers

Our dirndls are by far our best purchase ever!

Trudy's favorite view on the hwy

New Coworkers Part Deux

Morning view in Altausee outside the Bierzelt

Please pardon the huge pictures and lack of efficient formatting, but I'm still attempting to learn how this blogspot system works!  Its been a week and I'm almost settled in Austria.  Its pretty unbelievable that I actually live here, especially when looking out my room every morning at the incredible view of the Untersberg Mtn Range.  My room is tiny but sufficient and brings be back to college, just a bit.

We started work this past week, but kids just started arriving yesterday.  I'm teaching a girls section of health, gym, assisting with Environmental Science, and finally, and most importantly, telling kids they're faking sick when they try to get out of tests and projects.  I've found rather quickly that my lack of German language skills is rather annoying, so tonight my studies begin!

This past weekend Gena and Chelsea were still in town and we ventured a little southeast to the small town of Altaussee for their "Altausseer Bierzelt," translated to  . . . Altaussee Beertent.  Simple and to the point.  Also, we loved it!  We were just a BIT afraid while I was attempting to drive stick up the giant curvy mountain in the pitch black to our guesthouse, but survived long enough to enjoy some tasty beers and chickens the following day.  On Sunday I ventured to Konigssee, in Germany, with a coworker to check out the gorgeous lake.  It was a pretty huge tourist trap, but the view, which reminded me of the norwegian fjords, minus the ocean, was worth the little walk up the hill.     

It has definitely been an exciting first week and I'm sure its going to continue . . . . though, I might end up broke while trying to enjoy it all!