Another rambly update, like I do
Well, this week hasn’t been exciting, but I suppose they can’t all be.
But if you feel like reading all the boring details and other ramblings, feel free!
However, I did get my first mail from America! ladyjoust sent me a copy of Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder. I read it two summers ago and really liked the series, so yay! Yay for English books, specifically, and mail in general.
Tuesday I called in sick to work, and Wednesday I had a weird dizzy spell before noon (on a full stomach and…an adequate amount of sleep), so that was weird. But since then I’ve felt fine, so in the spirit of Austria, I will just blame the weather (which was either rainy or so cloudy and oppressive it might as well have been raining) and move on.
Since this was Halloween week, I got to do a lot of Halloween lessons, which were both fun and easy to prepare. A couple classes got exposed to “This is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which I think was a very educational use of THAT song. Plus it provided the opportunity for lots of new vocabulary. To tell the truth, though, Halloween here pretty much sucks. As in, the tradition just came to Austria about 10 years ago, and it’s nowhere near as popular as it is in the States. Or as commercialized. AND they don’t even have candy corn! I had such a hard time explaining that stuff to my classes, since they had nothing to compare to it. “My favorite Halloween candy EVER” just didn’t suffice, I guess. Treat or treating isn’t THAT popular here, anyway, and the students who claimed they’re going to Halloween parties looked appalled when I asked if they’d dress up for them. Not sure how that makes a Halloween party different from a regular party any other day of the year, but whatever. Last year we went to a party in Vienna thrown by a 2nd year TA (an American), but this year it just didn’t seem like there was much going on, so I stayed in Holla. Plus, I’ve gone to Vienna the past two weekends and kind of needed some ME time - to relax, to clean, to sleep in my own bed, to not be dependent on anyone else, and also to save money, since we don’t get paid for another week or two (officially Nov. 15, but I’m SURE it will come before then. The question is when).
Fall has decided to return to Holla, after feeling wintery for a little while. The leaves are turning, and it’s really beautiful - when it’s sunny, which isn’t often. Apparently overcast is the norm here, which is totally lame, but whatever. I’ll get used to it. If I wanted the sunniness of the mountains, I’d get the snow that comes with it. No thanks! Also, it was daylight savings last Sunday (a week before the US apparently), and now it’s been getting DARK by 5 pm. Not starting at 5, mind you. BY 5. And we’re still 2 months away from the winter solstice. Fun fun fun.
SO I’ve been staying inside. I read The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver this week, which I think I bought a few years ago on Ian’s recommendation. And of course I REALLY liked it, but now it has me soooo curious about semi-recent African history that I am really upset I can’t just Wiki it from my apartment. She’s such a good author, though. So far she’s 2/2 with me, and I would be more than happy to read more by her. But I decided the next thing I should read should be in German, so I grabbed Die Entführung aus dem Serail, since the Volksoper is putting on Mozart’s opera (or Singspiel?) sometime this year. It might be nice to know the story before seeing that.
I’ve also been having the TV on a lot, though not necessarily watching it. It’s just so freaking QUIET in here without any roommates. Currently Das Leben der Anderen, the German movie that won the foreign film Oscar in 2007, is on, which just baffles me - I was abroad when it won that. How is it already on public TV? I suppose it has nearly been 3 years, but still. Man. Maybe they did something special for it, though, since this year (Nov. 9) is the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down, so they’ve been having ALL SORTS of specials related to that.
In another bout of “it’s really been that long?” I think my hair is the longest it’s been since I chopped off over 13” 3 years ago. In November. Not that it matters to any of you, but…wow. How has that been 3 years? It really doesn’t feel that long since I was a junior at Mac, living in the German House, getting excited about leaving the continent for the first time….but on the other hand, it does. I guess that’s life, but all I have to say about that is: WEIRD.
Okay, that’s enough babble for now.
If you want, there are pictures from the pumpkin festival in Zellerndorf in the same Austria album the ridiculous hat pictures are in on Facebook. You just have to get past those. Here’s the link, in case you need it again. I didn’t write as lengthy captions as usual, but I think some of them are pretty self-explanatory.
Random sidenote: Why is Coldplay’s “The Scientist” #7 on the Austrian singles charts? Was it re-released or something? So odd.
But if you feel like reading all the boring details and other ramblings, feel free!
However, I did get my first mail from America! ladyjoust sent me a copy of Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder. I read it two summers ago and really liked the series, so yay! Yay for English books, specifically, and mail in general.
Tuesday I called in sick to work, and Wednesday I had a weird dizzy spell before noon (on a full stomach and…an adequate amount of sleep), so that was weird. But since then I’ve felt fine, so in the spirit of Austria, I will just blame the weather (which was either rainy or so cloudy and oppressive it might as well have been raining) and move on.
Since this was Halloween week, I got to do a lot of Halloween lessons, which were both fun and easy to prepare. A couple classes got exposed to “This is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which I think was a very educational use of THAT song. Plus it provided the opportunity for lots of new vocabulary. To tell the truth, though, Halloween here pretty much sucks. As in, the tradition just came to Austria about 10 years ago, and it’s nowhere near as popular as it is in the States. Or as commercialized. AND they don’t even have candy corn! I had such a hard time explaining that stuff to my classes, since they had nothing to compare to it. “My favorite Halloween candy EVER” just didn’t suffice, I guess. Treat or treating isn’t THAT popular here, anyway, and the students who claimed they’re going to Halloween parties looked appalled when I asked if they’d dress up for them. Not sure how that makes a Halloween party different from a regular party any other day of the year, but whatever. Last year we went to a party in Vienna thrown by a 2nd year TA (an American), but this year it just didn’t seem like there was much going on, so I stayed in Holla. Plus, I’ve gone to Vienna the past two weekends and kind of needed some ME time - to relax, to clean, to sleep in my own bed, to not be dependent on anyone else, and also to save money, since we don’t get paid for another week or two (officially Nov. 15, but I’m SURE it will come before then. The question is when).
Fall has decided to return to Holla, after feeling wintery for a little while. The leaves are turning, and it’s really beautiful - when it’s sunny, which isn’t often. Apparently overcast is the norm here, which is totally lame, but whatever. I’ll get used to it. If I wanted the sunniness of the mountains, I’d get the snow that comes with it. No thanks! Also, it was daylight savings last Sunday (a week before the US apparently), and now it’s been getting DARK by 5 pm. Not starting at 5, mind you. BY 5. And we’re still 2 months away from the winter solstice. Fun fun fun.
SO I’ve been staying inside. I read The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver this week, which I think I bought a few years ago on Ian’s recommendation. And of course I REALLY liked it, but now it has me soooo curious about semi-recent African history that I am really upset I can’t just Wiki it from my apartment. She’s such a good author, though. So far she’s 2/2 with me, and I would be more than happy to read more by her. But I decided the next thing I should read should be in German, so I grabbed Die Entführung aus dem Serail, since the Volksoper is putting on Mozart’s opera (or Singspiel?) sometime this year. It might be nice to know the story before seeing that.
I’ve also been having the TV on a lot, though not necessarily watching it. It’s just so freaking QUIET in here without any roommates. Currently Das Leben der Anderen, the German movie that won the foreign film Oscar in 2007, is on, which just baffles me - I was abroad when it won that. How is it already on public TV? I suppose it has nearly been 3 years, but still. Man. Maybe they did something special for it, though, since this year (Nov. 9) is the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down, so they’ve been having ALL SORTS of specials related to that.
In another bout of “it’s really been that long?” I think my hair is the longest it’s been since I chopped off over 13” 3 years ago. In November. Not that it matters to any of you, but…wow. How has that been 3 years? It really doesn’t feel that long since I was a junior at Mac, living in the German House, getting excited about leaving the continent for the first time….but on the other hand, it does. I guess that’s life, but all I have to say about that is: WEIRD.
Okay, that’s enough babble for now.
If you want, there are pictures from the pumpkin festival in Zellerndorf in the same Austria album the ridiculous hat pictures are in on Facebook. You just have to get past those. Here’s the link, in case you need it again. I didn’t write as lengthy captions as usual, but I think some of them are pretty self-explanatory.
Random sidenote: Why is Coldplay’s “The Scientist” #7 on the Austrian singles charts? Was it re-released or something? So odd.