Hope you enjoy the Spring semester vid i made!
http://vimeo.com/25725302
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Austrians Dominating Ski
The reason that makes Austria so enjoyable during the winter is with out doubt...SKI. No surprise there! Austrians truly live and breathe ski. Even if they aren't ski enthusiasts, it's likely the know how to ski. Although this was my first year to learn, I must proudly admit that I'm a natural! It must be in the Austrian blood from my Oma and Opa ;) to fully live ski season I bought a pass for the whole region of Carinthia..Although it wasn't cheap (about 520 Euros), I went skiing about 30 times this winter. So most of my weekends and some afternoons during the week were entirely dedicated to ski.
My favorite things about skiing in Austria
APRES SKI, of course. Being in a mountain hut with corny alpine dance music, Austrian beer, and racooned face skiiers couldn't be any better. If you throw a retro neon purple ski onesie, Aperol, and free bunny helmet ears, and night skiing it intensifies all of this fun. I can't wait for next year already!
Ski Events: It's all about the wave flagging, cheering, fireworks, meeting friendly people on the train there. This January I went to the 4 Schanzen Tournie with my Finnish friend Sarah and Sean after we had a reunion with my Danish friends in Copenhagen. We had an absolute blast! Thomas Morgenstern, who is also from Carinthia, ended up winning the whole event! Everyone was in very high spirits and the fireworks were going nuts!
The Spa: Well, after living the rough life of skiing all day, the Kaernten TAs are pretty infamous for hitting the spas afterwards.
A Few School Experiences
School Ski Trip: Nassfeld
So if you have already read or see any of my pictures, I've become a ski fanatic. I wouldn't negate you if you said I was bound to end up falling in love with an Austrian skiier. Anways, my trip with the students to Nassfeld, the biggest ski resort in Kärnten, for a week really gave me that push of confidence to start skiing faster (much more fun!). Every day we would have breakfast at our pension which was on the Italian side of the resort, eat breakfast, and go ski at 9 oclock. Lunch at 12 followed by cappucino then we went skiing again at 2 and would stay out until 4pm. The teachers would then scoot off to enjoy their free time before dinner at the hut nearby enjoying a little bit of Apres Ski. Dinner and games with the students (about age 12) came later and then once they were sent to their rooms the teachers would enjoy yet another Jause (snacks of bread, cheese, speck (ham), pickles, etc) at 12 a.m. I was exhausted and stuffed every single night! Because I also went skiing with friends on the weekend, I had a full 10 days of skiing in a row! Now that's a record!
School Ball:
In Austria it's traditional for the schools to have a ball for the graduating class in honor of them passing their Matura (the big test at the end of the year). Usually the ball starts off with them performing a few waltzes in white gowns and the boys in tuxedos, while family and friends watch. The rest of the night is very spirited as you could imagine. I had the honor of serving champagne! My students were very impressed.
Thursday Girl Talk:
Although I get along with most of my students, there is one group of very intellegent, sweet, and very funny girls who asked if we could have a conversation hour after school. Because they are so fun, this is a joy for me! If it's weather permitting we go outside with some snacks and chat about life, travel, family, futures, and of course boys. They honestly remind me of how I was at their age. We all have similar interests and perspectives on school and life in general. A few of them also love skiing, tennis, Roger Federer, and furry animals so we all hit it off. They're like a group of 8 little sisters I've never had before! Two cousins in particular wish I would marry their uncle so I would then be their Aunt! haha I'm honored to say the least...and from showing me a picture from their fancy phones, he's pretty cute!
So if you have already read or see any of my pictures, I've become a ski fanatic. I wouldn't negate you if you said I was bound to end up falling in love with an Austrian skiier. Anways, my trip with the students to Nassfeld, the biggest ski resort in Kärnten, for a week really gave me that push of confidence to start skiing faster (much more fun!). Every day we would have breakfast at our pension which was on the Italian side of the resort, eat breakfast, and go ski at 9 oclock. Lunch at 12 followed by cappucino then we went skiing again at 2 and would stay out until 4pm. The teachers would then scoot off to enjoy their free time before dinner at the hut nearby enjoying a little bit of Apres Ski. Dinner and games with the students (about age 12) came later and then once they were sent to their rooms the teachers would enjoy yet another Jause (snacks of bread, cheese, speck (ham), pickles, etc) at 12 a.m. I was exhausted and stuffed every single night! Because I also went skiing with friends on the weekend, I had a full 10 days of skiing in a row! Now that's a record!
School Ball:
In Austria it's traditional for the schools to have a ball for the graduating class in honor of them passing their Matura (the big test at the end of the year). Usually the ball starts off with them performing a few waltzes in white gowns and the boys in tuxedos, while family and friends watch. The rest of the night is very spirited as you could imagine. I had the honor of serving champagne! My students were very impressed.
Thursday Girl Talk:
Although I get along with most of my students, there is one group of very intellegent, sweet, and very funny girls who asked if we could have a conversation hour after school. Because they are so fun, this is a joy for me! If it's weather permitting we go outside with some snacks and chat about life, travel, family, futures, and of course boys. They honestly remind me of how I was at their age. We all have similar interests and perspectives on school and life in general. A few of them also love skiing, tennis, Roger Federer, and furry animals so we all hit it off. They're like a group of 8 little sisters I've never had before! Two cousins in particular wish I would marry their uncle so I would then be their Aunt! haha I'm honored to say the least...and from showing me a picture from their fancy phones, he's pretty cute!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Winter in Austria
Although I expected this, I've had a long drought of blogp posts since being here. Technically I've hardly written any. This I do apologize for! But please let me explain a few high lights of the Winter season in Austria.
I'll begin with the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Flying back to Austria from a brief celebration with my whole family and visitng my brother, Andrew, and his family, Christy and Eden (and since January a new baby boy!)in Madrid, I already missed my family but had an adverturous evening to look forward to! On the tiny Air Dolomiti airplane, which succeeds in giving you a fancy mousse or couscous type salad, complimentary champagne, and espresso within 45 minutes time, I happened to sit next to a lady who had just come from an English/foreign language conference. She insisted that I also request a glass of champagne with her as we watched the sun starting to set on the snowy Alps. I arrived back into Klagenfurt and planned to spend the rest of the day with my other TA friends who were celebrating Thanksgiving and were planning to visit the infamous Krampuslauf in good spirits. As the turkey was gone, the mashed potatoes were being licked off their plates, and the apple pie was nowhere insight but rather in full tummies, I was simply happy to see their faces and celebrate the beginning of a new season...Christmas!
The rest of this infamous Saturday evening was dedicated to the Krampuslauf. If you are not aware of what this exactly entails, I will try to explain it but must mention that it's also something you have to experience to get the full affect! Krampus is a part of an old Austrian/German tradition called St. Nikolaus Day, which is every Deceber 6th. Although the official date is the 6th, it's traditional that children get a visit from St. Nikolaus on December the 5th and receive either sweets for their good deeds or a few threats from St. Nikolaus's companion, Krampus. Krampus is essentially a very frightening little devil who looks like he dwells in the caves of the mountains all year long. So, a Krampuslauf is a run/parade through the city full of all the Krampuses from all the villages in Carinthia. In small villages and towns, like Feldkirchen and Hermagor for example, they have no hesitation to attack adults and small children with their bundles of twigs! See, very scary! Thankfully my first Krampus experience was experienced behind metal barriers on the streets so they couldn't come tackle us. With that said, I did get a few whips but it didn't matter as we were warm, happy, and excited with the company of each other, the spectacle of the event, and lots of yummy Glühwein!
Glühwein could possibly be one of my favorite things about the Christmas season in Austria...during Christmas there are stands of it everwhere! The old Füßgänger (foot go-er, pedestrian) zone of Klagenfurt was completely decorated with hanging twinkle lights and stands up and down the whole path. A bit of snow made the whole experience dreamlike. Paired with some roasted chestnuts from a stand nearby, it couldn't get better.
SKI: ENOUGH SAID...need its own post
To catch you up to speed, here is a video I made from Fall-New Years. http://vimeo.com/18665213
Liebe Grüße,
Kathi
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