Culture Talks

So, Andreas and I are well on our way to being totally moved into our new
apartment.  The moving happened Saturday afternoon with the help
of Andreas’ parents (and a rented truck) and Dimi, a friend of
ours.  It only took us two trips, but the loading took a bit
longer than I had expected.  I guess lugging heavy furniture down 5 flights
of stairs (although some fit into the tiny elevator) takes a while.  But
everyone pulled their own weight and we got it done.  Andreas’
mother was a godsend and stocked our kitchen full of dishes, pots &
pans, cutlery, and most importantly, food.  This was particularly
helpful given that the next day was Sunday, and in Austria, everything
closes for the day of the Lord. 

It’s nice to have had the time to set everything up before I start
working, so it’s already starting to feel like a real home.  We still
need a cabinet or shelves here and there, but basically things are
where they need to be.  The neighbourhood is a little (3 minutes)
outside of the downtown, on the other side of the Mur river, but on a bike it’s like notime.  I had a test run with my new bike this morning with Andreas for his first day of school.
I nearly died once or twice (also nearly killed a couple of people),
but I think I’ll start to get the hang of it soon.  I’ll have to,
because it’s certainly the cheapest form of transportation around.

And, on a side note, the review I wrote for ascent has been put online, so feel free to take a perusal.

So, I’ve been an Austrian resident for coming on 15 days now, and things seem to be evening out a little.  I finally left the apartment alone the other day, went grocery shopping, clothes shopping (expensive, but fun to look at), and did some general browsing.  Yesterday was the first round of job interviews at language academies, both of which were generally positive, but left me with “we’ll call you if/when something comes in”.  It’s the sort of thing where they let you know when they have a class that needs teaching, and if you’re good, they give you more.  The pay is amazing (~20 Euros/hour), but the hours are spotty.  Also some offer no training at all, and require you to plan all your own lessons, which, as a beginner, was pretty daunting to me.  So, I had an interview with Berlitz today, which I hear is the Cadillac of language schools, and by the end I had the job!  The pay isn’t as good as the other places, but the hours are regular and there seem to be lots of them. 

Apparently it’s a good thing that I don’t speak German because all of their trainers are native speakers, and there’s a no-translation policy, so everything has to be done in English, even when you’re teaching 3 year-olds.  They seem to have some pretty systematized guidelines for teaching (The Berlitz Method), which I’m kind of glad about- I think it will be a good way to start.  Berlitz also has a policy about not allowing their teachers to work for other schools, but hopefully they will provide enough hours so that it won’t be a problem.  It also doesn’t rule out private tutoring, which I hope to do some of. 

But first comes moving day on Saturday.  Andreas’ parents are coming up to help, as well as a friend of his, so we’re hoping to get it all done in one day.  It looks like I will be the forewoman on this job, as Andreas is cramming for a big Physics exam on Wednesday.  I’m looking forward to that though- I think I enjoy being the boss sometimes ;-)  New apartment pictures to come.

Panoramic spa view

Relaxing in style

Terrified

Just got back from a luxurious 2 days at
the spa with Andreas. Although I still
found myself suffering from culture shock, a bit of jet lag, and some mean PMS,
we still managed to enjoy ourselves. The
spa consisted of several heated outdoor pools filled with some kind of
sweet-tasting (mineral?) water, as well as a section called ‘saunawelt’ (or ‘sauna world’, for us
non-German speakers), which we didn’t visit until our second day there. Well, much to my surprise, in saunawelt everyone was totally
naked. Everyone. Apparently Europeans know all about this
tradition, but to my prudish North-American sensibilities, it was quite a
shock. Andreas and I teamed up together
(The Bathing Suit Team) to fight the power, and relaxed, all suited up, in the
steam bath full of naked people (side note: it was cute that whenever one
leaves, everyone else says ‘auf wiedersehen’ to them) but we were soon informed
by an employee that nudity was not in fact optional. But we were done for the time being anyway,
so it didn’t matter. But we both had a
hankering for a sauna later in the day, so after much stalling and nervousness
on my part, we decided to just go for it (when in Rome) and strip for the steam
bath. To my tremendous relief, it was
empty, and the end of the night, so all the fretting was for nothing (as most
fretting usually is), and we had a great steam.

 On the way back to Bad St. Leonhard, I took
some steps towards integration in Austrian society. I drove a stick for the first time in Austria
(and only the 3^rd time in my life), and was pretty successful. I didn’t make it to the autobahn, but did get some good practice (and learned why it’s bad
to downshift from 5^th to 2^nd gear). Secondly I got some good German practice when
I had to ask some nice fellas in a restaurant where to find the bathroom (I
only had to repeat myself once).

 Overall, a good weekend. To do on Monday: find a job.

Andreas, me, and his friend Thomas

Me, Andreas, and a white wine spritzer

Petra (Andreas’ sister), Chris (her boyfriend), Anita, and Markus

Anja, Andreas, and me

The tail end of raclet: Andreas’ mother, father, Anja & Markus