Culture Talks

So, I’m back in Graz for another work week after an indulgent 4-day Easter weeekend in Bad St. Leonhard.  I managed to avoid church all weekend, but still witnessed some ‘religiousness’ at the Easter fire when the roasary was recited by all of Andreas’ family.  And then… fireworks!

The Easter fire was held at Andreas’ grandparents’ farm, where we all partook of Easter ham, beer, and schnapps until around 1 am.  It seems that Austrians are always very interested to watch me try a new kind of schnapps for the first time- I assume to see the pained expression on my face after a tiny sip.  That night was no different, but everyone enjoyed my (translated) one-liner after recovering from the sip (see the title).

The next morning we started the day (noon) with more eating (an entire fried trout- you had to cut the head off and pull out the bones yourself!!! Andreas did mine for me) and then we hunted for chocolate-filled Easter baskets in the garden (mine was behind a shrub).

Sunday night Andreas’ sister Petra had an early birthday party with her 3 girlfriends, which provided many more opportunities for eating (raclette) and drinking (champagne).

This weekend Andreas and I spent in Bad St. Leonhard with his family- it was a lovely time, very relaxing.  I had a very exciting time this morning (Sunday) where I went to church with his parents for the Palm Sunday mass.  Despite the fact that it was freezing cold, I really enjoyed the experience.  We started off gathering with the rest of the town in the main square, everyone carrying pussy willows (rather than palms) and followed the priest + marching band procession up a long hill to an old church where mass was held.  Although I didn’t understand much during the mass, it didn’t seem to be that different from other masses I’ve attended.  So, here are some explanatory pictures from our day:

We each got a (handmade) bouquet to carry wit
h us during the procession

Church clothes

Today is Monday, and I’m back to work after a full weekend break.  I’m starting a company course today, teaching level 4 to executives twice a week.  I’ve been doing level 2 so long that it will be nice to teach a slightly higher level finally.  The weekend was really relaxing (for me).  Andreas was studying during much of it, but we had some nice coffee/dinner outings here and there.  On Saturday night Andreas and I hosted our friend Dimi for Mexican food night chez us.  Then Saturday and Sunday I did some shopping (on Sunday it was window shopping) and a lot of reading.  I finally got a subscription to the local library, so I can take my pick from all 35 of them.  Fortunately they have a pretty good John Irving collection, so I should be ok for a while.

Sunday night (after a day of sitting in the park, sun tanning and reading) Andreas and I got all gussied up and went out for dinner at an Indian restaurant I had discovered earlier in the day.  Although expensive, the food was quite delicious.  And although my and Andreas’ feet were murdering us by the end of the night (new shoes), we looked pretty good.

This week is another one full of teaching, and then Andreas and I go back to his parents’ house on the weekend.  I’m looking forward to breathing some clean air and seeing some mountains again, neither of which you really have the luxury of in the city.  Next Monday marks the start of Andreas’ 3-week Easter break, wherein we will take a little vacation to some as of yet undecided location.  The weekend after that, the Moms and sis come. 

So right now, I’m feeling good and comfy here.  I’m missing home a bit more these days- I think feeling disconnected with not having the internet here (YET) or a landline.  It will be nice to be in touch with people again on a more regular basis. 

And, Andreas insisted that I include a picture of me enjoying some delicious Austrian wine in one of our beautiful new wine glasses, purchased with some gift certificates I "won" at the Lutz during his microphone job last weekend.

I realize that it’s been a while since I updated here, but apparently having a ‘real’ job keeps one pretty busy.  I’ve been working at Berlitz for about a week and a half now, so my impressions are more or less formed.  It’s difficult, but I’m really enjoying the challenge.  It’s amazing what different levels I’ve had to teach, and people’s different ways of understanding the same thing.  Sometimes it’s incredibly frustrating, and it all just comes down to exaggerated facial expressions and big arm movements to get the point across.  I think the most difficult part is to stop the students from translating everything from German into English- sometimes you have to be tough (which I’m not always so good at).  But I’m learning a lot about myself and about interacting with others- I still have a little ways to go though.

Tomorrow I do my first out-of-school lesson.  I’m teaching a doctor and his 9 year-old son at their house!  The man’s wife (also a doctor) ordered just a couple of lessons to see how it would go- they are both at level one, so we might just stick to ‘My name is…’ and counting to 10.  I’m excited though- I think it should be fun to work with a family (as long as neither has any weird power issues where one always has to be better than the other… I’m sure not though).

So far the last couple of weekends have been spent in Graz just relaxing, however last weekend Andreas had a shift working at what I call the ‘microphone job’.  This is an on-call job with a furniture (Ikea-like) company called XXX-Lutz (XXX doesn’t mean the same thing here- it just means extra, extra good).  On this day he has to run a sort of game-show type game where ‘prizes’ (junk the store couldn’t sell) are hidden in different drawers and every half an hour a new game is played and the contestants win a drawer prize.  Sometimes a 5 or 10 Euro gift-certificate is won, but mostly candles and puzzles and key rings…  Anyway, Andreas has to stand on the gound floor with a microphone, enticing people to come down and play, as well as reading various advertisements from the Lutz flyer.  By the way, the money at the end of the day really does make it worth it. 

And in more exciting news, my mom and sister will be coming to visit me soon!  The date is set for April 26th, so will book some time off work and we will travel around the Austrian countryside (driven by Andreas, of course…I’m not really friends with the stick shift yet). 

Andreas at his microphone job

His lovely assistant

Well, things are still movin’ and shakin’ here in Austria.  My training is officially done and now I’m apparently ready to be a real teacher.  I’m not too sure about that… it’s all quite daunting at the moment, especially having seen how good the experienced teachers at Berlitz are.  I get to sit in on one lesson, and then they throw me into the lion’s den soon after.  It will be the first ‘real’ job I’ve ever had though, and it will be kind of fun to tell people that I’m a teacher.

Otherwise things have been ok.  The training has been great for meeting other English-speakers, even though it feels weird to be speaking so much English in a German-speaking country.  Still though, it’s a relief.  Andreas and I have hung out with a couple (an American & an Austrian) who also just moved to Graz, and in our neighbourhood, actually.  They are planning a wedding (nothing fancy though, ie: no guests) in the next couple of days so that he can legally work here.  I’m sure that’s not the only reason, but if you’re not an EU citizen, you really don’t have many other options.

A guy from my Berlitz training, Richard (from South Africa), was highly critical of the meatiness of Austrian meals, especially at restaurants.  Last night at a Chinese food restaurant with Andreas, I ordered a chicken stir-fry, but what I got was tons of chicken surrounded by some bean sprouts and a few carrot-slices and some green beans (not even any broccoli!!).  It’s just so tempting to stick with the delicious meat here, so I’m trying to make a concious effort to involve the veggie contingent more in my new life here.

Things are mostly good here- In some ways easier than I expected, but in other ways harder.  I’m still learning how to be a girlfriend and a partner and a roommate all at the same time… that might just be the last piece of the puzzle to fall in place.  It’s exciting and scary all at once, but worth it I think.

Well, I’m not going to lie, it’s been a big week.  On Wednesday I started my Berlitz training with 5 other native-speakers (from the US, South-Africa, Austria, and Ireland).  It’s pretty intensive, and the days are long, but I also am finding it pretty stimulating… I’m pretty sure that by the end of next week I’ll feel ready to start teaching.  I’ve met some other really interesting people both from Salzburg and Graz- it feels good to be making some connections. 

Andreas and I just spent the weekend back in Bad St. Leonhard and are headed to Graz tonight.  It’s been kind of a whirlwind trip- yesterday at 8:30 am was Andreas’ band practice, followed by his sister Petra’s graduation at 2, uncle Sepp’s 40th birthday party at 6, then best friend Armin’s 30th birthday party at 7:30.  So as you can imagine, yesterday was chock full of a lot of eating, drinking, and socializing.  Although the English was scant at Sepp’s party, quite a few people spoke English at Armin’s, which was a lot more comfortable.  But I’m learning German, I swear!
Anyway, next week will be mostly training for me, and Andreas is getting back into his Physics program at school, so things are starting to settle into one of those routines that I love so much.  And on a side note, I got my first cell phone!  Here it’s called a Handy, and it is just that.

Me & Andreas at the party

Horn-playing at the party

Living room

Living room (2)

Living room (3)

Kitchen

Kitchen(2)

Bedroom (not finished yet)

Bedroom (still not finished yet)

Bathroom

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.