Ended up getting about 4 inches of snow last week. My balcony was covered. The mountains were beautiful and it felt like a fantasyland. This weekend, the snow melted a bit. The mountains still are covered, but it feels like fall again instead of winter. I miss fall, so I would love to actually have fall! I really wish I could go to a cider mill..... cinnamon-and-sugar donuts and cider.... mmmm!
Last Wednesday, I learned how to shoot a crossbow! It was a parent/teacher event, so I was the only "young person." One of the parents said I look like a student, and I was like "Oh, I'm the English Assistant" ha! After I sat for the whole evening, listening, trying to discern what people were talking about, the director asked me if I understood anything. I laughed and answered, "No." I really am starting to hate the dialect around here. I can hear there is a pattern, but I have yet to decipher it... What makes things worse is every city in the Salzkammergut has their own "special" dialect, so I have to deal with different dialects, too. Anyway, I was quite good for a first time shooter. My partner, who was also a first-timer, and I got 5 place out of 10 places, so that's pretty good, eh?
Teaching has been quite good. I'm glad that I'm enjoying it. Teachers usually give me a topic to teach on, which is helpful, and usually I can use the lesson again for another class because I teach two of the same level, usually during the next week. For example, for today, I didn't have to plan anything because I'm teaching classes that I made lessons for last week. Nice.
Frankie visited again this weekend! It was great to see her! She finally got an apartment, so I'll be visiting her next week. Exciting!!
And while BA has been quite lovely so far, I really need to get out. I'm going this Friday to Bruck an der Mur, 2 hour train ride away, for a girl's, Emilie, birthday party. A lot of the other assistants will be there, so I'm really looking forward to it! From there, I hope to go to Ljubljana, Slovenia on Saturday. Andrew suggested I go to Ljubljana - he said it's really beautiful, so I'm excited! I'm 98% sure I have Monday the 26th off, so spending half a day Saturday, Sunday and half day Monday in Ljubljana should be perfect! Hopefully someone else at the party will travel with me, I'm sure it would be much more fun with a friend! But I'm going to go anyway because I just need to get out of this city. I'll be traveling for the next three weekends, so it'll be awesome!
Something else I'm quite looking forward to: NaNoWriMo. Have you ever heard of it? It's short for National Novel Writing Month and it happens in November. The goal is to write 50,000 word of a novel in the month. The quality doesn't matter - the goal is just to get a 175-page first draft of a novel written! I'm so looking forward to it! I think writing with a deadline, or a goal, will really help me get something written. For those of you that don't know, my only, consistent life-goal has been to become a published novelist. I'm excited and already outlining an idea.... :)
OK, well....Happy Monday.....?
Cheers,
Alaina
ps, ONLY 60 FREAKIN' DAYS UNTIL I FLY HOME FOR 3 WEEKS FOR CHRISTMAS! yeeeeah, that's right! That's NOTHIN'. The next three weeks are going to fly, because I'll be traveling and has stuff to look forward to! Wooo!!!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Weird things that I miss right now...
1. Late night/all-night study sessions/paper writing in the dude, the fishbowl or the ugli. Accompanied of course by non-stop Pandora and probably Hot Tamales, Sour Patch Watermelons and/or Arnold Palmers.
2. There was a second thing, but I accidentally payed attention the Sarah Silverman Show in German (and I really hate Sarah Silverman, so I don't even know why it is on), and now I have forgotten it. But I'm sure I will miss it again in a day or two, so then I'll share.
2. There was a second thing, but I accidentally payed attention the Sarah Silverman Show in German (and I really hate Sarah Silverman, so I don't even know why it is on), and now I have forgotten it. But I'm sure I will miss it again in a day or two, so then I'll share.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...
Yesterday, it started snowing. This wouldn't be so shocking if I hadn't been wearing t-shirts last week. Nothing stuck to the ground, but there was a contast snow/slush/rain/hail mix falling out of the sky. Listened to Christmas music as I ate my breakfast. Despite the weather, I went to the park after school to take some photos of the snow. The mountains were covered in it and shrouded in clouds and mystery. I got home from the expedition, turned on all the radiators in my apartment and made some tea. The German news showed a major car pile-up in Northern Germany. I checked outside just before I went to bed - no accumulating snow (but some form of liquid was still coming down).
Fell asleep (and woke up) with some very strange in-between reality-and-dreams thoughts, but I couldn't tell you now what they were for the life of me. Showered, made breakfast, finally looked out the window - one inch of the cold, beautiful, white stuff. I was shocked. And it was still coming down. Finished getting ready and trudged my way to school in the onslaught. All of the teachers in the staffroom were talking about the urgent need for snow tires and the morning's harrowing journey to work without them. Students were late, (blaming their parents tires) and in the 2nd hour, the firehouse alarm kept going off, which caused the students to speculate at the nature of the emergency. One girl shared that there was a suicide on the train tracks yesterday outside Bad Mitterndorf. During the break, I learned that the emergency was in the direction of Grundlsee and was invited to learn how to shoot a crossbow (I think...) this evening with teachers, parents and students. I sure hope I'm not on anyone's "hit list" yet.
Today, I taught about the American school system, interviewing for a job and Feminism/the Glass Ceiling. Really enjoyed all of it, and realized I had a lot more to say about high school than I thought. The students in the "interviewing for a job" class are sweet and quite sharp. In the Feminist class, the boys-in-the-back-of-the-room had more opinions on the topic than the quiet-girls-in-the-front, but I was glad to let them share because they did make some valid points. The teacher now wants to read The Feminine Mystique. One boy asked me if I want to be a manager when I'm done teaching in Austria, which actually made me wonder why all the professions I aspire to are female dominated. I think/thought that I'm quite the emancipated woman, but what does this say about me? Society? - these are thoughts for later, I think. Also realized I'm not too good at explaining things. Hopefully this is a skill that comes with time and practice.
Each time I think the dialect is getting easier to understand, someone comes along and shatters my hopes. I was sitting in the conference room today, drinking a coffee with some other teachers. I never really partake in conversation (I throw in a laugh and a smile here and there), but I mostly just listen and try to discern, so that is what I was doing. I had no idea what one woman was saying everytime she spoke. Previously, I hadn't had trouble understanding her, but today? Oy.
Well, it's still snowing, only outlines of mountains can be seen in the distance and I have to teach in 9 minutes. I'm already obsessing about/craving my daily grilled cheese for lunch (ha.) - almost there!
Until next time.
Cheers,
Alaina
Fell asleep (and woke up) with some very strange in-between reality-and-dreams thoughts, but I couldn't tell you now what they were for the life of me. Showered, made breakfast, finally looked out the window - one inch of the cold, beautiful, white stuff. I was shocked. And it was still coming down. Finished getting ready and trudged my way to school in the onslaught. All of the teachers in the staffroom were talking about the urgent need for snow tires and the morning's harrowing journey to work without them. Students were late, (blaming their parents tires) and in the 2nd hour, the firehouse alarm kept going off, which caused the students to speculate at the nature of the emergency. One girl shared that there was a suicide on the train tracks yesterday outside Bad Mitterndorf. During the break, I learned that the emergency was in the direction of Grundlsee and was invited to learn how to shoot a crossbow (I think...) this evening with teachers, parents and students. I sure hope I'm not on anyone's "hit list" yet.
Today, I taught about the American school system, interviewing for a job and Feminism/the Glass Ceiling. Really enjoyed all of it, and realized I had a lot more to say about high school than I thought. The students in the "interviewing for a job" class are sweet and quite sharp. In the Feminist class, the boys-in-the-back-of-the-room had more opinions on the topic than the quiet-girls-in-the-front, but I was glad to let them share because they did make some valid points. The teacher now wants to read The Feminine Mystique. One boy asked me if I want to be a manager when I'm done teaching in Austria, which actually made me wonder why all the professions I aspire to are female dominated. I think/thought that I'm quite the emancipated woman, but what does this say about me? Society? - these are thoughts for later, I think. Also realized I'm not too good at explaining things. Hopefully this is a skill that comes with time and practice.
Each time I think the dialect is getting easier to understand, someone comes along and shatters my hopes. I was sitting in the conference room today, drinking a coffee with some other teachers. I never really partake in conversation (I throw in a laugh and a smile here and there), but I mostly just listen and try to discern, so that is what I was doing. I had no idea what one woman was saying everytime she spoke. Previously, I hadn't had trouble understanding her, but today? Oy.
Well, it's still snowing, only outlines of mountains can be seen in the distance and I have to teach in 9 minutes. I'm already obsessing about/craving my daily grilled cheese for lunch (ha.) - almost there!
Until next time.
Cheers,
Alaina
Sunday, October 11, 2009
And it stoned me to my soul
My first week started and ended and passed quite successfully. In all, I enjoy being in the school, the teachers are alright and the students are cool (at least, I think they will be once they warm up to me a bit). Although, I was quite happy when I busted out of there on Thursday afternoon, done for the weekend!
Friday, I slept in late and bummed around in the morning. I keep getting more and more mail and on Friday, I got a postcard from my friend in Berlin, a package from "Visit Florida" with travel brochures in it and my pin number for my bank account! All quite exciting! So then, I started cleaning my place, which took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it looked good and then I went shopping for the weekend supplies! I got lots of good junk food- perfect for a girls only weekend!
So, Nichol got to BA around 5:45, and I met her at the station. I gave her the little tour from the station to my apartment, then we dropped off her stuff and went around the town. It was getting a little dark, but it was a nice evening, so it was really nice to walk around. I found some places I had never seen before, maybe because I was feeling more adventurous with an "exploring buddy." I found the gym, the museum, a book store, the library and a DVD rental place. Excellent! Now I have some exciting ways to spend my evenings...
Frankie arrived around 8, and that's when the party really got started- ha. We were all "pre-loading" (as the German word for "pre-gaming" translates to) and chatting about our first weeks. We got all dolled-up to check out the local disco and left around midnight. We weren't exactly sure where Salzhaus was located, but we followed the oh-so-convenient event lights (can't think of the actual word?) shining into the night sky and found the place, right around the corner from my school! For a Friday night, the place was dead. We waited outside as Frankie finished her cigarette and had a laugh at this guy who had passed out on the parking lot ground in the fetal position...hmm, strange. He eventually got up, took out a cigarette, and moved to go inside. However, he didn't quite make it, as he somehow managed to pass out, cigarette in hand, in the doorway. Wow, hilarious and somehow I was impressed at how he managed to do this! Frankie went over to offer him a light and wake him up, and then we all went inside to the bar.
Us ladies ordered some drinks and our pal who likes to pass out in inconvenient places came over to sit with us. Turns out, his name is Mike and his father lives in Morocco and Mike lives in the town over, but comes to BA/Salzhaus on Friday nights although the club is shit (all according to him). Anyway, we all have a drink then Mike goes off somewhere and we all go to the dance floor (seperate from bar). Turns out, Mike had disappeared to the ladies restroom, because Nichol spotted him coming out of there....
But, we find a spot on the dance floor, order some more drinks and just dance, dance, dance. The place is still quite empty and the crowd is a little shady. Mike comes over every so often and then just says, "Später" (which means "later"). Eventually, we get him to introduce us to his friends, but they for sure weren't interested in us, so we decided to get a pizza and leave. Now, getting a pizza was a hassle in itself. I speak to the order-lady all in German asking her what kind of pizza they have, how much it is, etc. and since it was the end of the night, all we had left was change, so we take a minute to count the change out. She starts getting pissy and started making horrible comments to her Austrian coworker about us and how she was going to rip us off, but Nichol told her off (I missed all this because I'm counting out change). So, we get our pizza finally and leave and then Nichol tells us this story and I was quite upset. All the way home, we complained about this girl and the dialect in Austria, which none of us can understand. Then, we ate our pizza and went to bed.
The next day, Saturday, was spent gossiping/chatting, reading Cosmo, eating and watching movies/TV. We decided to watch Center Stage (Frankie was blown away that us American spell center with an -er instead of -re) and ate delicious cheese (we are all cheese fanatics). So we pretty much did nothing all day, which was fine by us because it was raining and we were all just lazy and tired from the week/the night before. We went to bed early-ish because we were all quite tired and Frankie and I talked a little bit more in bed (we shared my bed, while Nichol curled up on the couch).
Sunday, we awoke and had tea. We hung around for a couple of hours and at 12:15 Nichol left and then Frankie got a ride back around 1 pm. Since then, I've been relaxing, listening to music and daydreaming about my next travels, which I can't complete until my first/next paycheck on November 15th.
Anyway, it was a great weekend and although we didn't do much, it was great to do nothing with other people! Plus, I really enjoy Frankie and Nichol's company and we are all quite similar. I'm glad I finally checked out Salzhaus, even though it left a bit to be desired ha. I can't wait to go to Vienna to visit Nichol (she's a 10-minute, 2 Euro train ride outside of the city) and shop, shop, shop, go to a ballet and celebrate her birthday (Nov. 6/7/8)....although the shopping and ballet may actually have to wait until after Nov. 15th when we get paid. Also on the 6th is a reception for all of the US teaching assistants, so it'll be a fun weekend.
Today is rainy and cool and it is now definitely fall in BA. Last week, it was sunny, warm and beautiful, but now the leaves have started to change, the mountains are constantly shrouded in clouds and it's getting cooler. Additionally, it's supposed to snow up in the mountains this week- something I'm not sure I'm ready for. I keep hearing about winter and skiing, and while I think it'll be comparable to winters in MI, I'm getting nervous haha. But it shouldn't be too bad (I keep telling myself).
Alright, well time to really get to work with lesson planning. And I think I'm going to cook some pasta- I'm quite hungry!
Love to all!
Cheers,
Alaina
Friday, I slept in late and bummed around in the morning. I keep getting more and more mail and on Friday, I got a postcard from my friend in Berlin, a package from "Visit Florida" with travel brochures in it and my pin number for my bank account! All quite exciting! So then, I started cleaning my place, which took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it looked good and then I went shopping for the weekend supplies! I got lots of good junk food- perfect for a girls only weekend!
So, Nichol got to BA around 5:45, and I met her at the station. I gave her the little tour from the station to my apartment, then we dropped off her stuff and went around the town. It was getting a little dark, but it was a nice evening, so it was really nice to walk around. I found some places I had never seen before, maybe because I was feeling more adventurous with an "exploring buddy." I found the gym, the museum, a book store, the library and a DVD rental place. Excellent! Now I have some exciting ways to spend my evenings...
Frankie arrived around 8, and that's when the party really got started- ha. We were all "pre-loading" (as the German word for "pre-gaming" translates to) and chatting about our first weeks. We got all dolled-up to check out the local disco and left around midnight. We weren't exactly sure where Salzhaus was located, but we followed the oh-so-convenient event lights (can't think of the actual word?) shining into the night sky and found the place, right around the corner from my school! For a Friday night, the place was dead. We waited outside as Frankie finished her cigarette and had a laugh at this guy who had passed out on the parking lot ground in the fetal position...hmm, strange. He eventually got up, took out a cigarette, and moved to go inside. However, he didn't quite make it, as he somehow managed to pass out, cigarette in hand, in the doorway. Wow, hilarious and somehow I was impressed at how he managed to do this! Frankie went over to offer him a light and wake him up, and then we all went inside to the bar.
Us ladies ordered some drinks and our pal who likes to pass out in inconvenient places came over to sit with us. Turns out, his name is Mike and his father lives in Morocco and Mike lives in the town over, but comes to BA/Salzhaus on Friday nights although the club is shit (all according to him). Anyway, we all have a drink then Mike goes off somewhere and we all go to the dance floor (seperate from bar). Turns out, Mike had disappeared to the ladies restroom, because Nichol spotted him coming out of there....
But, we find a spot on the dance floor, order some more drinks and just dance, dance, dance. The place is still quite empty and the crowd is a little shady. Mike comes over every so often and then just says, "Später" (which means "later"). Eventually, we get him to introduce us to his friends, but they for sure weren't interested in us, so we decided to get a pizza and leave. Now, getting a pizza was a hassle in itself. I speak to the order-lady all in German asking her what kind of pizza they have, how much it is, etc. and since it was the end of the night, all we had left was change, so we take a minute to count the change out. She starts getting pissy and started making horrible comments to her Austrian coworker about us and how she was going to rip us off, but Nichol told her off (I missed all this because I'm counting out change). So, we get our pizza finally and leave and then Nichol tells us this story and I was quite upset. All the way home, we complained about this girl and the dialect in Austria, which none of us can understand. Then, we ate our pizza and went to bed.
The next day, Saturday, was spent gossiping/chatting, reading Cosmo, eating and watching movies/TV. We decided to watch Center Stage (Frankie was blown away that us American spell center with an -er instead of -re) and ate delicious cheese (we are all cheese fanatics). So we pretty much did nothing all day, which was fine by us because it was raining and we were all just lazy and tired from the week/the night before. We went to bed early-ish because we were all quite tired and Frankie and I talked a little bit more in bed (we shared my bed, while Nichol curled up on the couch).
Sunday, we awoke and had tea. We hung around for a couple of hours and at 12:15 Nichol left and then Frankie got a ride back around 1 pm. Since then, I've been relaxing, listening to music and daydreaming about my next travels, which I can't complete until my first/next paycheck on November 15th.
Anyway, it was a great weekend and although we didn't do much, it was great to do nothing with other people! Plus, I really enjoy Frankie and Nichol's company and we are all quite similar. I'm glad I finally checked out Salzhaus, even though it left a bit to be desired ha. I can't wait to go to Vienna to visit Nichol (she's a 10-minute, 2 Euro train ride outside of the city) and shop, shop, shop, go to a ballet and celebrate her birthday (Nov. 6/7/8)....although the shopping and ballet may actually have to wait until after Nov. 15th when we get paid. Also on the 6th is a reception for all of the US teaching assistants, so it'll be a fun weekend.
Today is rainy and cool and it is now definitely fall in BA. Last week, it was sunny, warm and beautiful, but now the leaves have started to change, the mountains are constantly shrouded in clouds and it's getting cooler. Additionally, it's supposed to snow up in the mountains this week- something I'm not sure I'm ready for. I keep hearing about winter and skiing, and while I think it'll be comparable to winters in MI, I'm getting nervous haha. But it shouldn't be too bad (I keep telling myself).
Alright, well time to really get to work with lesson planning. And I think I'm going to cook some pasta- I'm quite hungry!
Love to all!
Cheers,
Alaina
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
I've been waiting for this moment all my life
Hey all! It has been a lovely week so far!
The first day of class, Monday, wasn't TOO exciting... It actually started out horrifying when my lead teacher actually kicked me out of the first class of the day and left me with absolutely nothing to do for two hours saying, "I'll meet you in the staff room at 9:50." Hmm. I actually started to read the history book that I had brought along, which I was going to use for the US map in case I actually was going to teach. Anyway, eventually one of the other English teachers found me and helped me out, which was I so thankful for! She showed me around the school a little more, introduced me to some people and got me a key to the building/conference room/bathroom. I taught one class and then ran outta there hoping to get my Meldezettel and pay my rent. The internet told me that the office was open until 2:30, but when I got there at 12:10, the guy was already gone, so I had to leave my stuff and come back the next day. So, since I couldn't get the Meldezettel, I couldn't get a bank account or my residency permit that day. I bought some food for lunch at the grocery store and went back to my apartment to relax. I awarded myself with a nap after a "long day." I woke up, cooked some dinner, watched some American-sitcoms-dubbed-in-German, emailed and such and then went to bed around 11. Bad Aussee- always thrilling!
Tuesday was a much better day at school and was actually a really awesome day in general. I taught a bunch of classes with my "Intro to Alaina/Michigan" lesson (haha) and some classes were good, some were bad. I taught what was a 5th form class (about to graduate, supposed to have really good English) and I was astonished at how bad their English was. But some classes were a lot of fun! It was a good day, in general. I left school and went to go do all my official stuff. I got my Meldezettel and residency permit (which I had to pay 110 Euro for grr) but of course the bank was closed for lunch. So I did some hardcore grocery shopping for the week (something I always enjoy) and then went back to my apartment. To my surprise, HILARY'S PACKAGE HAD ARRIVED! I was so excited I exclaimed and ran up the last flight of stairs. In it were a batch of Emi's famous cookies (still fresh), half of a BFF necklace (aww!), the new Cosmo (w/ Megan Fox on the cover), a sweet mix CD and a pumpkin candle holder (my only Halloween decoration!). It made my good day much much better! Especially the music- something about new music is just so great. So, I got ready to go out again to the bank. It was a bit confusing at first to figure out where to go, but I figured it out. I got led into the office and this CUTE Austrian is sitting at the desk. His name is GERHARD- how great is that? To make a long story short, there was some flirting and when he handed me his business card, he wrote my account number on it and said (in German), "And this is my cell phone number" and I laughed and said "Ooh" and then he said just kidding haha. ....then he gave me his business card again right before I left and said "If you need anything I'm always here" ha. So maybe I'll see him around Bad Aussee again. After that, I walked out of the bank, sent some postcards and it was raining a little bit but to my delight there was a rainbow!!!! I had to walk around the little park and enjoy my amazing mood. After that, I went back to my place, took a nap (waking up at 6 am is really getting to me!), woke up, ate dinner and some cookies hehe, watched TV then went to bed around 11.
Today I woke up and cooked a breakfast burrito with 1 scrambled egg, cucumber, green onion, tomato and parmasan cheese. DELCIOUS. And it was also a good day in school. I went to 4 classes and, again, really enjoyed one of them but the rest were OK. One class wouldn't speak any English and wouldn't shut up. Grrr. But then I went home and cooked the most delicious grilled cheese I have ever had in my entire life. It included red pepper, tomato, cucumber and green onion. Yummmmmmm. Then I took a nap (I'm going to try to break this habit next week....) and just been hanging around. Now, I'm watching Catch Me If You Can in German and relaxing. I don't have class tomorrow until 9:55, so I think I will sleep in a little tomorrow :). Sounds nice! Then Friday is freeeeeee and Frankie is coming this weekend! I keep getting told to go to Salzhaus (the disco in BA) on the weekends, so I'm excited to check it out haha.
Soooooo the dirt on my school- I am teaching a 3 different schools: HLW (a technical school or business and tourism), HAK (a technical school for business/industry) and BORG (I thought it wasn't a "real" Gymnasium, but I guess it is). I tried to go into the school without any preconceptions (thinking the BORG kids would be better in English)....but it turns out they really are. The HLW/HAK students aren't as excited about English, but some classes are. So I guess I can't generalize..... But, whatever. Some classes are really good about speaking English to their teacher and to each other, but some I am constantly saying: "ENGLISH ENGLISH" - mostly because I can't understand a word of German when their speak in their slangy dialect. Punks.
Anyway, in the conference room there is an automatic coffee machine and I'm in love. It's great being able to just press a button and get coffee haha and for free! (You had to pay 40 cents at the school we taught at in Graz haha). All of the teachers are really friendly and they feel the need to remind me that two the assistant in previous history have fallen in love in BA and still live here. Ha. I speak about half English, half German with the English teachers, but if I speak in German they will switch. I've been told a few times that my German is really good, so I'm happy about that :).
And I'm starting to feel really at home and comfortable here in BA. I like the school, the teachers and students seem pretty good and I'm starting to get a feel for the city. Most excitingly: I have found the GYM and the LIBRARY! I haven't been to either, but I know they exist, so I'm quite excited. The gym is only 210 Euro for 6 months....so that's pretty awesome. And I'm pretty pumped to try out the disco! Hope it's worth it :). The only thing that I don't like about being here is missing everyone and everything from home :(.
Hmm....so what else? I think that's about it for now.
Hope all is well!!!
Love, Cheers,
Alaina
The first day of class, Monday, wasn't TOO exciting... It actually started out horrifying when my lead teacher actually kicked me out of the first class of the day and left me with absolutely nothing to do for two hours saying, "I'll meet you in the staff room at 9:50." Hmm. I actually started to read the history book that I had brought along, which I was going to use for the US map in case I actually was going to teach. Anyway, eventually one of the other English teachers found me and helped me out, which was I so thankful for! She showed me around the school a little more, introduced me to some people and got me a key to the building/conference room/bathroom. I taught one class and then ran outta there hoping to get my Meldezettel and pay my rent. The internet told me that the office was open until 2:30, but when I got there at 12:10, the guy was already gone, so I had to leave my stuff and come back the next day. So, since I couldn't get the Meldezettel, I couldn't get a bank account or my residency permit that day. I bought some food for lunch at the grocery store and went back to my apartment to relax. I awarded myself with a nap after a "long day." I woke up, cooked some dinner, watched some American-sitcoms-dubbed-in-German, emailed and such and then went to bed around 11. Bad Aussee- always thrilling!
Tuesday was a much better day at school and was actually a really awesome day in general. I taught a bunch of classes with my "Intro to Alaina/Michigan" lesson (haha) and some classes were good, some were bad. I taught what was a 5th form class (about to graduate, supposed to have really good English) and I was astonished at how bad their English was. But some classes were a lot of fun! It was a good day, in general. I left school and went to go do all my official stuff. I got my Meldezettel and residency permit (which I had to pay 110 Euro for grr) but of course the bank was closed for lunch. So I did some hardcore grocery shopping for the week (something I always enjoy) and then went back to my apartment. To my surprise, HILARY'S PACKAGE HAD ARRIVED! I was so excited I exclaimed and ran up the last flight of stairs. In it were a batch of Emi's famous cookies (still fresh), half of a BFF necklace (aww!), the new Cosmo (w/ Megan Fox on the cover), a sweet mix CD and a pumpkin candle holder (my only Halloween decoration!). It made my good day much much better! Especially the music- something about new music is just so great. So, I got ready to go out again to the bank. It was a bit confusing at first to figure out where to go, but I figured it out. I got led into the office and this CUTE Austrian is sitting at the desk. His name is GERHARD- how great is that? To make a long story short, there was some flirting and when he handed me his business card, he wrote my account number on it and said (in German), "And this is my cell phone number" and I laughed and said "Ooh" and then he said just kidding haha. ....then he gave me his business card again right before I left and said "If you need anything I'm always here" ha. So maybe I'll see him around Bad Aussee again. After that, I walked out of the bank, sent some postcards and it was raining a little bit but to my delight there was a rainbow!!!! I had to walk around the little park and enjoy my amazing mood. After that, I went back to my place, took a nap (waking up at 6 am is really getting to me!), woke up, ate dinner and some cookies hehe, watched TV then went to bed around 11.
Today I woke up and cooked a breakfast burrito with 1 scrambled egg, cucumber, green onion, tomato and parmasan cheese. DELCIOUS. And it was also a good day in school. I went to 4 classes and, again, really enjoyed one of them but the rest were OK. One class wouldn't speak any English and wouldn't shut up. Grrr. But then I went home and cooked the most delicious grilled cheese I have ever had in my entire life. It included red pepper, tomato, cucumber and green onion. Yummmmmmm. Then I took a nap (I'm going to try to break this habit next week....) and just been hanging around. Now, I'm watching Catch Me If You Can in German and relaxing. I don't have class tomorrow until 9:55, so I think I will sleep in a little tomorrow :). Sounds nice! Then Friday is freeeeeee and Frankie is coming this weekend! I keep getting told to go to Salzhaus (the disco in BA) on the weekends, so I'm excited to check it out haha.
Soooooo the dirt on my school- I am teaching a 3 different schools: HLW (a technical school or business and tourism), HAK (a technical school for business/industry) and BORG (I thought it wasn't a "real" Gymnasium, but I guess it is). I tried to go into the school without any preconceptions (thinking the BORG kids would be better in English)....but it turns out they really are. The HLW/HAK students aren't as excited about English, but some classes are. So I guess I can't generalize..... But, whatever. Some classes are really good about speaking English to their teacher and to each other, but some I am constantly saying: "ENGLISH ENGLISH" - mostly because I can't understand a word of German when their speak in their slangy dialect. Punks.
Anyway, in the conference room there is an automatic coffee machine and I'm in love. It's great being able to just press a button and get coffee haha and for free! (You had to pay 40 cents at the school we taught at in Graz haha). All of the teachers are really friendly and they feel the need to remind me that two the assistant in previous history have fallen in love in BA and still live here. Ha. I speak about half English, half German with the English teachers, but if I speak in German they will switch. I've been told a few times that my German is really good, so I'm happy about that :).
And I'm starting to feel really at home and comfortable here in BA. I like the school, the teachers and students seem pretty good and I'm starting to get a feel for the city. Most excitingly: I have found the GYM and the LIBRARY! I haven't been to either, but I know they exist, so I'm quite excited. The gym is only 210 Euro for 6 months....so that's pretty awesome. And I'm pretty pumped to try out the disco! Hope it's worth it :). The only thing that I don't like about being here is missing everyone and everything from home :(.
Hmm....so what else? I think that's about it for now.
Hope all is well!!!
Love, Cheers,
Alaina
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Tick tick tick tick on the watch, life's too short for me to stop
Oh man! Tomorrow is the biiiig day! I'm a little nervous and a lot excited, but at this point it's just like "I want to get the first day done!" and then it will all be easy. OK, well maybe I have to get past the first week for it to be easy, but you know what I mean! :)
Last night, I had a dream(/nightmare?) that I got into school, my teacher put me in front of the class, and I didn't have a lesson planned and all of the kids were bored and just staring at me. And I was trying to talk to them and tell them about myself and they didn't like it at all. Then, I went to the next class, and they were even worse because they were just talking to each other and totally ignoring me! In my dream, the whole time, I was thinking, "This isn't how they said it would go at orientation!" hahaha. Ohhhhh dear, let's hope it goes better than that!
I'm kind of afraid I'll just get up there and be like "umm, umm" the whole time. But I guess if I'm prepared, it will be good! And even though I'm not sure if I'm actually teaching tomorrow, I have planned a lesson. It's more for students who have had about 3-4 years of English, so I hope I don't have to teach the 18 year olds or the really young ones....but I think the youngest in my schools have actually had about 3-4 years of English...so we'll see! I kind of feel like my teacher said I'd be observing the first few days, but I don't remember. I would like that. Especially because I have no idea what my schedule is and I have no real supplies- it'd be cruel to make me teach tomorrow. Maybe just introduce myself, but nothing more. EITHER WAY- I'm prepared! :)
BUT! Frankie is coming this weekend and we are going to go to the disco! Yesss, I can't wait! I haven't been there yet, but it's the only one in BA, so I'm bound to run into my students. And Frankie, too, since there isn't a Gymnasium in BA and she teaches in one in the town over. So it should be quite exciting.
But for now, I'm watching Ocean's 13 in German (no Star Wars on tonight haha) and I'm about to drink a glass of wine so that I can fall asleep soon. I'm not really nervous right now, but I know when I lay down, I'll start thinking a million different things and then on the walk to school tomorrow I'll pretty much be crying out of nerves haha. It will be weird because the students will all be walking with me, but I don't know any of them yet, so it'll be kind of awkward...
Anyway, time to relax. I hope everyone is doing well. And please wish me luck! I need it :)
Cheers!
Alaina
Last night, I had a dream(/nightmare?) that I got into school, my teacher put me in front of the class, and I didn't have a lesson planned and all of the kids were bored and just staring at me. And I was trying to talk to them and tell them about myself and they didn't like it at all. Then, I went to the next class, and they were even worse because they were just talking to each other and totally ignoring me! In my dream, the whole time, I was thinking, "This isn't how they said it would go at orientation!" hahaha. Ohhhhh dear, let's hope it goes better than that!
I'm kind of afraid I'll just get up there and be like "umm, umm" the whole time. But I guess if I'm prepared, it will be good! And even though I'm not sure if I'm actually teaching tomorrow, I have planned a lesson. It's more for students who have had about 3-4 years of English, so I hope I don't have to teach the 18 year olds or the really young ones....but I think the youngest in my schools have actually had about 3-4 years of English...so we'll see! I kind of feel like my teacher said I'd be observing the first few days, but I don't remember. I would like that. Especially because I have no idea what my schedule is and I have no real supplies- it'd be cruel to make me teach tomorrow. Maybe just introduce myself, but nothing more. EITHER WAY- I'm prepared! :)
BUT! Frankie is coming this weekend and we are going to go to the disco! Yesss, I can't wait! I haven't been there yet, but it's the only one in BA, so I'm bound to run into my students. And Frankie, too, since there isn't a Gymnasium in BA and she teaches in one in the town over. So it should be quite exciting.
But for now, I'm watching Ocean's 13 in German (no Star Wars on tonight haha) and I'm about to drink a glass of wine so that I can fall asleep soon. I'm not really nervous right now, but I know when I lay down, I'll start thinking a million different things and then on the walk to school tomorrow I'll pretty much be crying out of nerves haha. It will be weird because the students will all be walking with me, but I don't know any of them yet, so it'll be kind of awkward...
Anyway, time to relax. I hope everyone is doing well. And please wish me luck! I need it :)
Cheers!
Alaina
Friday, October 2, 2009
With two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard
Hello!!! It has been a journey and back and SO MUCH FUN! I've gone from Bad Aussee to Innsbruck to Freiburg to Neuchatel to Graz and back to BA. Everything was awesome!...and in my last post I wrote from Graz, early Sunday morning.
After updating my blog, I went for a walk around Graz. I crossed the bridge into the Altstadt and got some cell phone credits. Really, it was nothing too exciting but I got a feel for the city. I went back to my hostel, got my room, and tried to contact Jordan, one of the guys from the program that was in the hostel, too. At first, it didn't work too well, so I just took a nap and a shower, woke up and felt a lot better! I again tried to call Jordan, but still didn't work, so I went to get a pizza. I brought it back to the hostel and as I was sitting outside eating it, Jordan showed up with Alysha! We met, started talking, and then some Brits came outside (Frankie and Corrie) and then we went on our way. We found a really nice Irish pub, Flann O'Brien's, and sat outside talking and drinking some beer for a couple of hours. Very nice! Then we went back to the hostel and got some sleep because orientation started the next day!
So we woke up Monday and ate breakfast, very exciting. We went around the city for a bit, found another Brit at her hotel, and then went back to the hostel to pack up for the orientation. We took a taxi across town (there were 7 of us with all of our luggage) and checked in at the nunnery (convent), where we'd be staying for the week. Some people were staying up at the Schloss (castle) so they took a bus up there. Immediately, we started meeting millions of people. It was slightly overwhelming, but we were all just small-talking. At 5:30, we took a bus up to the Schloss for dinner and "opening ceremonies" or whatever. Nothing too exciting, but we met everyone! It was a little hectic.
We took the bus back down to the convent and then Frankie and I met some other Brits (Nichol, Dan and Rich) and we all went out for drinks at a pub down the road from the nunnery. All of the Brits are so nice and hilarious! I learned that mostly all of the Brits are in Austria on their required year abroad (if you study a language), but some of them are graduated. We just chatted over some beer and when the bar closed at midnight, we started to make our way home. However, we just so happened to run into an old man, Heinrich, on the street and he pulled us into his bar. He started pouring us wine and trying to dance with all of the ladies. There was an old man, Wolfgang, sitting at the bar and he tried to tell us he was 28 years old. After a while, it started to seem even more shady than it really was and we got outta there. It was fun, but a little creepy haha. We all parted ways and went to bed.
The next day, I woke up nice and early for breakfast. At 8:30 am, the bus took us all up to the Schloss for a day of seminars. Let me tell you, that 20 minute bus ride up to the Schloss everyday, really early, after drinking, was HORRIBLE. Anyway, we didn't learn anything too exciting day 1.......but the lunches and dinners were delicious! My group, group 2, was really awesome and all of us got along pretty well. Our teacher, Elisabeth, was really fun and helpful!
Anyway, Tuesday in the evening we went on a little tour around Graz with Austrian students. The city is actually very, very beautiful! We ended at Jakominiplatz, which is a major bus and tram stop. We had received 10 Euro for dinner in the city for the night, so we (a big group from group 2...too many to remember who exactly) decided we of course needed to get Döner (a delicious Turkish version of a burrito) and beer. We sat at this bus stop, like true locals, for a good couple of hours drinking beer and just talking. We made our way, once again, to the Irish pub to watch some "football", because some Brits/Scots from our program walked by and we tagged along. The pub was packed! Colin (a second year teaching assistant) and I decided that we both needed to use the bathroom and get another beer (but not an expensive one from the pub), so we walked all the way back to Jakominiplatz to use their 20 Euro cent bathroom (super cheap!) and get a beer from the Döner place. We then walked back to the bar, Colin left and I hung around with people for a while. Eventually, Colleen, Luke and Mike left, and I left with them. Apparently, I was loud and talking a lot, haha. But it was fun.
The next day was little rough/long but we all made it through haha. The day was kind of nice because we learned a lot of fun games to play with students and the Brits taught us all about British slang, which had us laughing and sounding British for the rest of the week (examples include, "Safe, bruv!" and "Brrrrrap!"). We divided up into groups and planned lessons for the next morning, when we would be going into Graz schools and doing our first lesson!!
So, we took the bus back down in the evening and had a little Q&A with some second year assistants, Lizbeth and Colin. I sat in the back with the Brits and some beer and got a little rowdy, as good Brits in the back row do hahaha. I went to the Hauptbonhof with Nichol to get her something to drink and schlep some beer for Rich and then we all drank in the basement of the nunnery (which is actually a chapel), which created a lot of Fritzl jokes (a major joke of the entire week, too) and it was weird to be drinking in a chapel. But it was fun.
Thursday we all woke up super early to go into our schools. Rich, Luke, Justin and myself went to the Akademisches Gymnasium (a school with kids from 10-19 years old) and we observed a class of 14/15 year olds, 3rd year English. It was pretty interesting and Austrian students are actually quite different than English ones....but I'll get more into that when I start at my own school. Then, we taught our own lesson with little 10/11/12 year olds, their 2nd year of English. They were so precious and we played a kind of game with them comparing England and the US. So much fun! I had a really great time in the class and it made me super excited to start Monday. When we asked them who lives in the White House, they ALL went "Ooobaamaa!" hahaha it was so funny! I was actually going for "the President" but it was so cute that they said Obama. :) Anyway, the lesson went really well and it was so fun!
Then, we all had two hours free to do whatever we wanted. First, we hung out at a cafe and then I went back to the convent with Joy, Luke and Justin and we checked out email and relaxed a little. We left a little late to get the bus back to the nunnery (we had to do it on our own) and it was a little hectic. First, we saw some of our students from earlier in the day, so we chatted with them auf Deutsch. Second, Elisabeth told us the wrong bus stop to get off at (but we ended up getting off at the right one) and then we had to climb the "mountain" up to the Schloss in the sun. Joy and I kept talking about Anita Dall, the woman who works with Fulbright who is our coordinator/email contact/etc. etc. We were quite excited to meet her that afternoon after lunch!
Anyway, we all finally made it up the mountain and for lunch. Then.....we met Anita! She pretty much just went over all of the paperwork that we have to take care of, so it was kind of boring. At the end, I cheered her name and all the Brits outside in the courtyard heard it haha. We broke off into groups then and did a kind of feedback and wrap-up survey. Then we had dinner and it was time for the impromptu talent show segment and "closing statements." Dan, Luke, Rich and I (all Brits, except for me-duh) all sat in the back with a bottle of wine, which Fulbright so genorously provided for us. The Brits pointed out that everyone who volunteered their talents were American and it would have been un-British for any of the Brits to get up. They had a picture slide show, and I was unsurprisingly in none of the pictures. Then we all mingled for a couple of hours with wine. I introduced myself to Anita and it was fun. Then Colin sang some German opera for Justin, Rachel, Dan, Luke and myself (he's really good!!!) and then we took the bus back down to the nunnery. Dan, Peter, Justin and I went on a hunt for beer and then a big group of us ended up drinking again in the basement chapel. I went to bed pretty early because it had been a super long day.
Next day, aka Friday, aka today, I woke up, packed and ate breakfast. Everyone was saying bye and it was pretty sad, but I'm pretty sure I'll see a lot of them again (mostly everyone I met is placed in my state- Steiermark- and the farthest away is really not too far because Austria really isn't too big). Frankie and I waited around until about 11 to go to the Hauptbonhof (because we didn't know our train only went every 2 hours and we missed the 9:38 one) and then we got on the train. We talked the whole way to Steinach-Irdning, which was my stop, and it was nice. She is living in Schladming, which isn't too far from Bad Aussee (it costs on 6,20 Euro for me to get to her city and vice versa). The train ride was nice and it felt really good to get back to my apartment. I saw one of my landlords on the street and we talked for a little. I think he speaks most always in dialect, or at least always with a strong accent, and I noticed it was easier for me to understand him! So I think I'm getting used to the dialect/accent :)...hopefully!! Anyway, I went grocery shopping, cooked some food, put a movie on my computer and then accidentally took a nap haha. Now I'm just chilling, watching TV and relaxing. (I'm watching Star Wars: A New Hope in German, and it's funny because now I've seen at least part of all of the "new" ones and now this one- I think the Austrians are obsessed with Star Wars.)
All in all, the week was a lot of fun! Thinking back through it and writing it all down makes it seem really, really short but we did A LOT! I met so many Brits, and they are all hilarious. The Americans are pretty great, too!! It's kind of cool to think that we all came together for a week and now we are scattered across Austria, all doing the same thing. It makes me feel better to know that I'm not alone :). And I'm really happy that I have a friend really close by, (Frankie in Schladming). I already can't wait for my November paycheck, which will be about 2.000 Euro! It'll feel good to have some money haha. I'll definitely go shopping and take a trip maybe to Vienna or something. We joked a little about having a big payday party, but most of me hopes it actually happens :) haha.
This weekend, it'll feel good to relax and get ready for next week! I don't really know what I'm going to do yet, but I guess I should start planning some "getting to know you" lessons haha. I really want to find a hacky-sack or something like it here in Bad Aussee because we used one in our lesson in Graz and it was really helpful!
Anyway, I'll be keeping you all well updated next week because it's going to be a really big, exciting and busy week! :)
Hope you all are doing well and I miss you all!
Love,
Cheers!
Alaina
After updating my blog, I went for a walk around Graz. I crossed the bridge into the Altstadt and got some cell phone credits. Really, it was nothing too exciting but I got a feel for the city. I went back to my hostel, got my room, and tried to contact Jordan, one of the guys from the program that was in the hostel, too. At first, it didn't work too well, so I just took a nap and a shower, woke up and felt a lot better! I again tried to call Jordan, but still didn't work, so I went to get a pizza. I brought it back to the hostel and as I was sitting outside eating it, Jordan showed up with Alysha! We met, started talking, and then some Brits came outside (Frankie and Corrie) and then we went on our way. We found a really nice Irish pub, Flann O'Brien's, and sat outside talking and drinking some beer for a couple of hours. Very nice! Then we went back to the hostel and got some sleep because orientation started the next day!
So we woke up Monday and ate breakfast, very exciting. We went around the city for a bit, found another Brit at her hotel, and then went back to the hostel to pack up for the orientation. We took a taxi across town (there were 7 of us with all of our luggage) and checked in at the nunnery (convent), where we'd be staying for the week. Some people were staying up at the Schloss (castle) so they took a bus up there. Immediately, we started meeting millions of people. It was slightly overwhelming, but we were all just small-talking. At 5:30, we took a bus up to the Schloss for dinner and "opening ceremonies" or whatever. Nothing too exciting, but we met everyone! It was a little hectic.
We took the bus back down to the convent and then Frankie and I met some other Brits (Nichol, Dan and Rich) and we all went out for drinks at a pub down the road from the nunnery. All of the Brits are so nice and hilarious! I learned that mostly all of the Brits are in Austria on their required year abroad (if you study a language), but some of them are graduated. We just chatted over some beer and when the bar closed at midnight, we started to make our way home. However, we just so happened to run into an old man, Heinrich, on the street and he pulled us into his bar. He started pouring us wine and trying to dance with all of the ladies. There was an old man, Wolfgang, sitting at the bar and he tried to tell us he was 28 years old. After a while, it started to seem even more shady than it really was and we got outta there. It was fun, but a little creepy haha. We all parted ways and went to bed.
The next day, I woke up nice and early for breakfast. At 8:30 am, the bus took us all up to the Schloss for a day of seminars. Let me tell you, that 20 minute bus ride up to the Schloss everyday, really early, after drinking, was HORRIBLE. Anyway, we didn't learn anything too exciting day 1.......but the lunches and dinners were delicious! My group, group 2, was really awesome and all of us got along pretty well. Our teacher, Elisabeth, was really fun and helpful!
Anyway, Tuesday in the evening we went on a little tour around Graz with Austrian students. The city is actually very, very beautiful! We ended at Jakominiplatz, which is a major bus and tram stop. We had received 10 Euro for dinner in the city for the night, so we (a big group from group 2...too many to remember who exactly) decided we of course needed to get Döner (a delicious Turkish version of a burrito) and beer. We sat at this bus stop, like true locals, for a good couple of hours drinking beer and just talking. We made our way, once again, to the Irish pub to watch some "football", because some Brits/Scots from our program walked by and we tagged along. The pub was packed! Colin (a second year teaching assistant) and I decided that we both needed to use the bathroom and get another beer (but not an expensive one from the pub), so we walked all the way back to Jakominiplatz to use their 20 Euro cent bathroom (super cheap!) and get a beer from the Döner place. We then walked back to the bar, Colin left and I hung around with people for a while. Eventually, Colleen, Luke and Mike left, and I left with them. Apparently, I was loud and talking a lot, haha. But it was fun.
The next day was little rough/long but we all made it through haha. The day was kind of nice because we learned a lot of fun games to play with students and the Brits taught us all about British slang, which had us laughing and sounding British for the rest of the week (examples include, "Safe, bruv!" and "Brrrrrap!"). We divided up into groups and planned lessons for the next morning, when we would be going into Graz schools and doing our first lesson!!
So, we took the bus back down in the evening and had a little Q&A with some second year assistants, Lizbeth and Colin. I sat in the back with the Brits and some beer and got a little rowdy, as good Brits in the back row do hahaha. I went to the Hauptbonhof with Nichol to get her something to drink and schlep some beer for Rich and then we all drank in the basement of the nunnery (which is actually a chapel), which created a lot of Fritzl jokes (a major joke of the entire week, too) and it was weird to be drinking in a chapel. But it was fun.
Thursday we all woke up super early to go into our schools. Rich, Luke, Justin and myself went to the Akademisches Gymnasium (a school with kids from 10-19 years old) and we observed a class of 14/15 year olds, 3rd year English. It was pretty interesting and Austrian students are actually quite different than English ones....but I'll get more into that when I start at my own school. Then, we taught our own lesson with little 10/11/12 year olds, their 2nd year of English. They were so precious and we played a kind of game with them comparing England and the US. So much fun! I had a really great time in the class and it made me super excited to start Monday. When we asked them who lives in the White House, they ALL went "Ooobaamaa!" hahaha it was so funny! I was actually going for "the President" but it was so cute that they said Obama. :) Anyway, the lesson went really well and it was so fun!
Then, we all had two hours free to do whatever we wanted. First, we hung out at a cafe and then I went back to the convent with Joy, Luke and Justin and we checked out email and relaxed a little. We left a little late to get the bus back to the nunnery (we had to do it on our own) and it was a little hectic. First, we saw some of our students from earlier in the day, so we chatted with them auf Deutsch. Second, Elisabeth told us the wrong bus stop to get off at (but we ended up getting off at the right one) and then we had to climb the "mountain" up to the Schloss in the sun. Joy and I kept talking about Anita Dall, the woman who works with Fulbright who is our coordinator/email contact/etc. etc. We were quite excited to meet her that afternoon after lunch!
Anyway, we all finally made it up the mountain and for lunch. Then.....we met Anita! She pretty much just went over all of the paperwork that we have to take care of, so it was kind of boring. At the end, I cheered her name and all the Brits outside in the courtyard heard it haha. We broke off into groups then and did a kind of feedback and wrap-up survey. Then we had dinner and it was time for the impromptu talent show segment and "closing statements." Dan, Luke, Rich and I (all Brits, except for me-duh) all sat in the back with a bottle of wine, which Fulbright so genorously provided for us. The Brits pointed out that everyone who volunteered their talents were American and it would have been un-British for any of the Brits to get up. They had a picture slide show, and I was unsurprisingly in none of the pictures. Then we all mingled for a couple of hours with wine. I introduced myself to Anita and it was fun. Then Colin sang some German opera for Justin, Rachel, Dan, Luke and myself (he's really good!!!) and then we took the bus back down to the nunnery. Dan, Peter, Justin and I went on a hunt for beer and then a big group of us ended up drinking again in the basement chapel. I went to bed pretty early because it had been a super long day.
Next day, aka Friday, aka today, I woke up, packed and ate breakfast. Everyone was saying bye and it was pretty sad, but I'm pretty sure I'll see a lot of them again (mostly everyone I met is placed in my state- Steiermark- and the farthest away is really not too far because Austria really isn't too big). Frankie and I waited around until about 11 to go to the Hauptbonhof (because we didn't know our train only went every 2 hours and we missed the 9:38 one) and then we got on the train. We talked the whole way to Steinach-Irdning, which was my stop, and it was nice. She is living in Schladming, which isn't too far from Bad Aussee (it costs on 6,20 Euro for me to get to her city and vice versa). The train ride was nice and it felt really good to get back to my apartment. I saw one of my landlords on the street and we talked for a little. I think he speaks most always in dialect, or at least always with a strong accent, and I noticed it was easier for me to understand him! So I think I'm getting used to the dialect/accent :)...hopefully!! Anyway, I went grocery shopping, cooked some food, put a movie on my computer and then accidentally took a nap haha. Now I'm just chilling, watching TV and relaxing. (I'm watching Star Wars: A New Hope in German, and it's funny because now I've seen at least part of all of the "new" ones and now this one- I think the Austrians are obsessed with Star Wars.)
All in all, the week was a lot of fun! Thinking back through it and writing it all down makes it seem really, really short but we did A LOT! I met so many Brits, and they are all hilarious. The Americans are pretty great, too!! It's kind of cool to think that we all came together for a week and now we are scattered across Austria, all doing the same thing. It makes me feel better to know that I'm not alone :). And I'm really happy that I have a friend really close by, (Frankie in Schladming). I already can't wait for my November paycheck, which will be about 2.000 Euro! It'll feel good to have some money haha. I'll definitely go shopping and take a trip maybe to Vienna or something. We joked a little about having a big payday party, but most of me hopes it actually happens :) haha.
This weekend, it'll feel good to relax and get ready for next week! I don't really know what I'm going to do yet, but I guess I should start planning some "getting to know you" lessons haha. I really want to find a hacky-sack or something like it here in Bad Aussee because we used one in our lesson in Graz and it was really helpful!
Anyway, I'll be keeping you all well updated next week because it's going to be a really big, exciting and busy week! :)
Hope you all are doing well and I miss you all!
Love,
Cheers!
Alaina
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
