A German Christmas and New Year. Weihnachten und Sylvester.

Merry Christmas!!!

Frohe Weihnachten!!!

Better late than never, I suppose. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a good start to the new year! Although I'd had my doubts about how my holiday season would turn out, I must say, I'm quite impressed and satisfied with the results. I'll start by giving you a brief look into my German Christmas..  

Due to the weather and canceled flights, I worried that Katrina wouldn't make it to Germany in time to celebrate Christmas with me and that I'd end up alone. Some of my students told me that if my friend didn't make it, I could call them and celebrate Christmas with them and their families. In the end, despite a lot of rerouting, Katrina did make it in late on the 23rd. So that was a relief.

Found Christmas tree and an obligatory jump picture

On the 24th, we slept in a bit, then frantically made our way to the Aldi (super market) in order to buy the necessary food essentials for Christmas dinner, breakfast, and cookies. Once that was taken care of, we embarked on a cold, journey around Mainz. To be more exact, we went over the river, through the graffiti tunnel to a Christmas tree! We took many [failed] jumping pictures, then sat on the snow-covered bench and let the fact that we were so lucky to be spending a white Christmas Eve day in Germany. Next we crossed the bridge back into Mainz's Altstadt, where we attended an unforgettable Christmas Eve mass in the big cathedral! There was a choir singing, and from the pack I noticed someone waving at me – one of my students! An hour and a half later we made our way back to my cozy apartment to make our anxiously awaited feast. I must say, it turned out pretty damn delicious.

Austrian white wine, roasted garlic mashed potatoes with rosemary, steamed broccoli with gouda cheese, and breaded chicken with caramelized onions.

After dinner – despite the fact that Katrina and I had both watched it the previous weekend – we watched one of my favorite [Christmas] movies, Love Actually. Although it hadn't felt exactly like Christmas Eve normally did, it had been a memorable and fun 24th of December. 

Once again there was a delicious feast on Christmas morning: french-press coffee, potato patties, German Bauernbrot, honey-glazed sausage, and scrambled eggs. Then it was time to bake our Vanilliekipferl – a traditional type of Austrian Christmas cookie I learned to make two years ago while visiting Heidi. Vanilliekipferl are basically sugar, vanilla sugar, powdered sugar, butter, and ground hazelnuts. They're simple, fatty, and totally delicious. We were baking the cookies to bring with us to 'Kaffee und Kuchen' at the Chibuzors. Ute, professor Hommel's sister, was wonderful enough to take us under her wing and invite us over for some Christmasy activities. Following our coffee and cake - where our Vanilliekipferl were well received! - we played Yahtzy (Yahtzee), Christmas-themed Charades (my favorite was 'Ashley as Santa' or 'Sleigh' ala Antonia) and hung around laughing, enjoying the day for hours. Back to my apartment it was to chat with our families on Skype. I was able to talk to everyone at Christmas brunch at my Grandpa's house, and open my lovely package of gifts from my family. Then we were invited to go with Antonia to Michael's apartment to drink [non-German] wine and relax a bit before retreating back to home to rest up before lunch the next day. Christmas day in photos:

Baking action shot

mmmmmmm.

Judith, Ute, and I in front of the "Christmas tree" :)

Kat and Antonia playing Yahtzy

One thing you should know about Germany if you're reading this is that, unlike in America, Christmas celebrations last 3 days: Christmas Eve, first Christmas day (erster Feiertag), and second Christmas day (zweiter Feiertag). On the second day we were invited to a yummy beef stroganoff lunch at the Chibuzors, followed by games, coffee, and cake at the Hommels. Yet another fun-filled day of eating good food and simply enjoying good company. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better Christmas in Germany, with the comfort of a friend from home and the kindness of a German family that's come to mean a lot to me. Although I missed my family and the comfort of the normal, hectic Christmas routine, I can say that my German Christmas and the people who made it great are something I wont be forgetting any time soon.

Over the next two days, Katrina and I took a tour of the Rheinhessen area between Mainz and Koblenz, visiting castles and villages like nobody's business! We also spent one day walking around a freezing cold Mainz and making delicious curry with ms. Becca Williams, who was also in Germany for Christmas and New Year's Eve.

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On the morning of the 29th, I took Katrina to the train station so she could head to Paris shortly before catching my Mitfahrgelegenheit to Berlin! Thankfully the weather had gotten a bit better, making the 5.5 hour drive much more doable.  In fact, we made great timing on the way over!  Stepping out into the frosty 5ºF Berlin day was definitely a rude awakening.  But it didn't change the fact that Berlin is an awesome city, unlike anything else I've ever seen.  To start with there are four levels in the central station, which, as unnecessary as it may seem, is completely necessary given the high level of traffic in-and-out of the city. 

Berlin is a place that's hard to explain, and harder to navigate. For three whole days, I never really had any idea where I was, where I was going, or what was around me. I found it strange that there were so many empty squares all over the center of the city. We did a free, three-hour walking tour of Berlin, which was really great despite the bitter cold we had to walk around in. Our guide, Jeff, knew a lot of stuff about the city and its history, as do I now thanks to him :).  After loss of feeling to basically every last limb in my body and a great tour of the city, we retreated to get a coffee and something to nosh on. The next day was NYE eve day; Lucy and I went to the Deutsches Historisches Museum, where there was the "Hitler and the Germans" exhibit going on. I only wish we had spent the whole day in the museum! There was so much to see in the Hitler exhibit, let alone the fact that there were many other interesting exhibits all over the place.  We ate some quick, typical Berlin Currywurst for dinner that evening and then headed out to the Brandenburg Gate for the big NYE celebration.  Somehow we were lucky enough to make it into the Feiermeile, because it was packed and all entrances were blocked off except the one we went in, I think.  In the end we were quite close to the gate and stage.  Sadly, there was no big countdown to midnight, something that I found to be quite disappointing.  At about one or so we left the Feiermeile, because we had to wake up early to catch the train to Heidelberg.  On the way back to the train station, on Berlin's snow-and-ice-covered roads and pathways, Alex ended up falling and injuring her knee pretty badly.  Not the most exciting start to a new year.  But we despite all of that and our long, five-train-transfer-filled day, we made it to Heidelberg safe and sound the next day.  Since we took a "Schönes Wochenende Karte" back from Berlin, the transport cost us a whopping 13 euros each, hence having to change trains many times and the trip lasting 10 hours.  To save about 50 euros, I'd do it again in a heart beat.  Not to mention the hilarious schwäbisch woman we met on the train.  I can honestly say she was one of the funniest, most entertaining and insane people I've ever met – too bad there are really no words to describe her, one of those "had to be there" kind of things, I suppose.

Alex, Lucy and I at the old Berlin Wall

Memorial for the victims of war and tyranny

Berliner Dom and the Fernsehturm

The olympic Berliner bear and I toasting to the new year!

World clock and the Fernstehturm at Alexanderplatz

Brandenburger Tor with fireworks at midnight! Happy 2011!!!

There are so many things I want to write about here, but I'm so bad at expressing myself with written word, that I don't really see it happening [soon].  Hopefully I'll get better at keeping this thing updated again.  We shall see.

Hope the first twelfth of everyone's year was as great as mine!  


Cheers,
Ashley

Endlich habe ich mich in Deutschland eingelebt.

Here I am at the German Corner in Koblenz.

I've settled into and am quite happy with my life in Germany. Finally. Took long enough, eh? People have been asking me the same question a lot lately: What is it you like better about Germany than America? American than Germany? Though this seems an easy enough question to answer, I find it - unlike during the last couple of months - more difficult to answer the latter of the questions. The things I like better about Germany than the U.S. are fresh in my mind and a part of my everyday life. These things include a wide variety: the German bread, frischkäse (it's like cream cheese, but so much better), the politics of Germany, the directness one can exercise in Germany**, students pay little to nothing for their studies, and döners. However, there is still a lot that I like better about the place from which I come, more specifically, the PNW. I miss my family, my friends, mexican food, 3rd street in McMinnville, Oregon microbrews (though thanks to my wonderful mother, I currently have four :D), the cheapness of everything, and the environmental mindset of most people I know. Every place has its relative advantages and disadvantages, and I'm learning to love these different places for what they are instead of what they aren't.
After a week away from Mainz, I realized I missed my little niche here. A feeling I was glad to have, because it was the last thing I needed to understand that I do feel at home and happy in Germany. All good things come with time. I need to remember that these kinds of feelings for a place don't come overnight. 
I feel extremely fortunate to have this opportunity to learn about myself and grow into an adult in Germany. And for the chance to do it here in Mainz, with some really wonderful roommates, a few great colleagues and students, and a more independent Ashley. Here's to making these last 6 months here count!

**An example of this directness...two days ago, in Heidelberg, I was buying a bus ticket for 1,10 EUR. I  handed him a 10 euro bill but needed a second to find my 10 cents in the mess that is my purse, and the bus driver, just as I pulled the 10 cents out, hit the button and gave me 10 euros in change. "Ach da ist es, ich habe jetzt die 10 cent!" "Zu spät." "Sie haben aber eben 10 sekunden gewartet und es gibt niemanden hinter mir.." "Ja und?" "Das war aber sehr nett von Ihnen.. *rolls eyes, walks away*" The guy basically gave me 10 euro in change because he was an impatient jerk, as most bus drivers and cashiers in Germany are, so I was able to give him a piece of my mind. In the US you can't just go around being rude to people when they piss you off, but in Germany, I'm able to say exactly how I feel, whenever I feel like it. It's actually quite liberating to be real and direct with people. 
  
Cheers,
AB 
 

Fact: I suck at keeping up on my blog

I've proved my theory right: I'm just not the writing type. Numerous times I've purchased journals with the intention of writing in it regularly, yet I failed to keep it up for more than a week. This blog is kind of like that. Sometimes I think about blogging, but then I just don't feel inspired. So, readers of my blog, I'm sorry for so rarely updating the thing.

Right now is the best time of year to be in Germany, despite the temperature rarely climbing above freezing. Why, then, you ask, is it the best time of the year? Because it's Christmas time! And if there is one thing the Germans know how to do better than anyone, it's spread the Christmas cheer. The German Weihnachtsmarkt - or Austrian Christkindlmarkt - is a thing of wonder, beauty and joy. It brings people together; there's singing, christmas-related trinkets, toys, and all sorts of fun regional specialties for sale. Then there are the tasty drinks: rot oder weiß Glühwein (red or white mulled wine), Punsch (hot rum, wine, sugar, ect.), Jagatee (the deadliest of the drinks consisting of wine, schnapps, rum, and, if you're lucky, a bit of juice or sugar), Heiße Schokolade (hot chocolate with or without alcoholic additon), and the infamous Die Feuerzangenbowle (see: Feuerzangenbowle for more information). As for food, you can't go wrong with a sausage or a spießbraten in a brötchen.

I've visited four different Christmas markets and tried many of the different drink specialties. My favorites have probably been the Feuerzangenbowle with the Weißglühwein + Zimt und Apfel (hot white-wine drink with apple and cinnamon) at a close second. Below are pictures of the various markets, all wonderful in their own way :). 

Other than Christmasy type things, there's good news to report: things at school are getting MUCH better. First, I talked to my supervising teacher to tell her all of the things at school with which I was unhappy. That didn't help - or so it seemed for a week and a half. But things truly are much better now. I've made friends with some of the younger teachers at the school, so I've been spending quite a bit of time with them during the past week. I've gone to the Christmas market with different teachers a few times this week, and today I went with Frank and his friend, Christoph - a teacher at the BBS in Elzay, to a Bach Christmas concert at a church. (There's also over a foot of snow on the ground here now..) This past week was the week of my long-awaited workshop, a tradition started by one of the other assistants two years ago. Although I had worried it wouldn't go over so well, I got really positive feedback. Yesterday on my way to the Rewe (supermarket), one girl even stopped me to tell me how great she found the workshop. Then I talked to her for about 45 minutes - in German, she said she didn't feel comfortable speaking English - about the US and its politics, after which she told me that I'd helped make her impression of the US much better. What an awesome feeling! It's exactly the kind of cultural exchange Fulbright was hoping for when he created the program, and the kind Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, was talking about in her speech to foreign language assistants earlier this year. You feel really proud when someone compliments you like that, proud that you've helped make a better impression of your whole country. Recently, I've also had the chance to teach about things which are important to me: local foods, economics, the US political system, the american dream, ect. Sometimes being direct and assertive does have its advantages. 

Just a few more days, then Christmas break! Maybe I'll write more then, but I can't promise anything...

Also, I'm starting to think if I had a dollar for every time I've heard something like "your German is perfect! seriously, you have a bit of a dialect but it makes you adorable" that I'd be pretty rich. In fact, make that a euro for each time I've heard it.

Fröhliche Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A

Professor Hommel and I made a trip to the Mainzer Weihnachtsmarkt while she was in town!

Post-Thanksgiving dinner trip to the Binger Weihnachtsmarkt - best Glühwein ever (Bingen is in a great Rheinhessen wine area, so naturally the Glühwein was delicious)!

Amsterdam's Winterland - A failed attempt to match the awesomeness of German Christmas markets

Wiesbadener Weihnachtsmarkt.

Typical rotating grill of sausages. 

Quiero aprender español!

Por que no?!

I'm living with someone from Spain. So, I decided yesterday to start learning Spanish. I mean, why not? I took two years of Spanish in high school, and I already speak two languages, therefore I think I have a good chance at dominating Español by the end of the year. Well, with all my free time I may as well learn something new! One hour a day of Spanish from now until I can read it with some amount of comprehension. 

At least one hour of my day will also be dedicated to reading the news. Whether in German or English, or both.

That's all for now. Time to go watch some Mainz 05 soccer at the Porter House with Lauren!

Ashley

Optimism on a rainy Monday

After a long week(end) - well, actually two long weekends and a week - I'm relaxing with a homemade hot chocolate in my WG on a rainy Monday afternoon. You know you're from Oregon when the first good rain of the season makes you happy. It's that rain you've been anxiously awaiting since you decided you were tired of the summer heat. That said, I'll admit that this past rainy summer didn't exactly leave me dying for a bit of that Oregon sunshine AKA rain, but it still made me happy during my fifteen minute walk home from school today. Without an umbrella. Without a rain jacket. With, however, a smile. The rain brought a homey and happy feeling with it. Since I arrived in Germany a short two and a half months ago- and especially after my great trip to Austria- I've been feeling quite reproachful about my whole decision to come to Germany. Spending a good ten days the Austrian Alps, eating Austrian food, and remembering all the things I associated with Austria didn't exactly help make me feel happy and optimistic about my time here in Germany. I started to think about why I turned down the position I was offered by the Austrian government as an ETA in order to take on the position Fulbright offered me (somewhere) in Germany. The answer is a simple yet somehow disconcerting one: it's all in the name. Although I may have better enjoyed living in Bludenz, Vorarlberg, sitting at about 1,600 feet above sea level, I decided to take the ETA position in Germany (at the time I didn't know where), because of its Fulbright title. So, all of these things combined with it being pretty hard to make German friends who aren't friends of my roommates, and not exactly loving my school, left me feeling pretty pessimistic about the decision to spend the year here. Mostly, though, I think that knowing next year I'll start grad school in economics - something I had the opportunity to do this year but turned down, once again, for the Fulbright, as well as something completely unrelated to what I'm doing in Mainz as an ETA - was the source of most of my dissatisfaction with this whole year. Going to Austria was just the cherry on top of the icing on the cake, so to say. But my outlook is changing, keep reading to find out how/why.

Last week I made an exciting trip to Freibrug im Breisgau to celebrate Nelly's 21st birthday with her, something I'd been looking forward to for a while. It was nice to be back in Freiburg (I spent a week there during my stay in Vienna, two years ago), and seeing Nelly is always great. Not to mention the delicious Mexican food she somehow managed to put together...I honestly didn't think it was possible to make good Mexican food in Germany, especially not after I tried that salsa that tasted like sweet and sour sauce! Nelly, her roommates, Zach and I ended up staying up way too late watching funny YouTube videos icluding this gem and this one; the next day we watched the best movie "the little princess" auf deutsch! before going to o'kelly's and agar later for more birthday celebration. Friday I went on a short hike, then spent an hour and a half in an awesome little coffee shop called "Aspekt" while Nelly worked at her internship, then we took a mitfahrgelegenheit - basically pre-planned via the internet hitchhiking and my saving grace (cheap, fun, adventure) - from Freiburg to Mainz. There was a huge party for my roommate, Natalia's, birthday at our apartment on Friday night. Germans definitely know how to throw a birthday party. Here's a picture of some of the aftermath - the aftermath all over our apartment took about 4 hours to clean on Saturday morning. Well, after we woke up and started the party again until 3 pm. 

Ricarda, Natalia, Me, Pedro (roommates)

Good morning, kitchen slash train wreck!

Yep. We woke up to the toilet seat floating in the bathtub...not quite sure how that happened..

 

 

Lust auf etwas.. (insert your favorite adjective her!)

 Saturday morning Nelly and I at some brunch at Nelly's Frühstücklust, a surprisingly Portland-y cafe. I like the place quite a bit; I'll probably start going there to read or plan stuff for school sometimes. I miss the coffee shop scene that McMinnville had going on, and doing my homework in those coffee shops. Also, not having homework is really weird.
All in all, it was an event-filled and fun weekend...one that I really needed.
Back to the main point of this post: optimism. Sometimes you just need a friend to help you realize all the good in something. Nelly helped me remember that I need to focus on all of the good that's coming of this year, and, well, that I'm getting paid to live in Germany! That said: it's time to stop living in the subjunctive and start enjoying the present tense.
Cheers...with a half-full glass,
Ashley


While using stumbleupon! today, I found this fitting little story to accompany my blog post. Check it out!

PS - stay tuned for a post about the rest of my time in Austria and Northern Germany tomorrow or the next day.

Paradise or something like it.

Herbstferien– a fall break for more or less the entire month of October–more or less consisted of a brilliant ten-day stay in Austria.  As you may have already read in my last post, I arrived in Saalfelden (a region in the Austrian state of Salzburg) on the seventh, a sunny afternoon.  I fell back in love with that countryside, with the pace and way of life, and the general atmosphere of rural Austria almost immediately.  Once all of the good apples had been collected from the Herzog apple tree, and the bad ones thrown into the compost container, Heidi and I ate a couple Semmels (bread--type of rolls) then headed for the hills.  By the time we reached the trailhead, we had enough time to swiftly climb to the "spitze" and "gipfelkreuz" (the mountain peak) in time to watch the sunset.  I also got to write my first entry in an ÖAV (Österreichischer Alpenverein) book, something funny and Pinzgauerisch that Heidi told me to write.  Then I laughed thinking of the poor person who would read that sentence followed by the name "Ashley Bennett" and think: hmm...something isn't right about this, Ashley isn't someone I know..?  The next morning we ate some breakfast, hung around a bit - I spent some time reading "The Conscience of A Liberal" by Paul Krugman, a book that paints a depressingly true picture of some American policy fails-, then we hopped in the car, intended destination: Großglockner, Austria's tallest mountain at 3,798 meters (12,460 feet) in Carinthia, by way of the Großglockner Hochalpenstraße. With the sun shining and a warm October day we headed up the Hochalpenstraße, not knowing that the beautiful sunny weather ended with the tunnel from Salzburg into Carinthia. On the Salzburg side of the tunnel there were maybe 5 clouds in the sky, on the Carinthia side there was a high-mountain fog that blocked the view as far as 10 feet in front of the car. So we turned around, headed to an alm, and enjoyed a nice lunch there. I, of course, ordered my favorite alm dish, Kaspressknödelsuppe–cheese dumpling soup? I can't translate or even begin to describe its awesomeness: go to Austria, hike for an hour to an alm, and try it for yourself. I'm convinced it's the best thing ever, but then, it may just be the whole atmosphere that I relate to the meal. That atmosphere being the hike up to a small, [on sunny, fall days] over-crowded hut, wher you're rewarded for your hard work on the hike with a delicious, malty Austrian beer and an out-of-this-world-blow-your-mind Kaspressknödelsuppe. This is the kind of atmosphere you just cannot recreate in your American kitchen, not to mention the cheese issue--a good Austrian/Swiss cheese is hard and/or expensive to find in the US.

*note I was a loser and broke my camera before this trip, thus I have no pictures of my own...*

This should give you an idea of the delicious that is Kaspressknödelsuppe (say that one five times fast...or once, and right.. )

After lunch, we hiked around a bit and had views of some of Austria's remaining glaciers and other scenic Alp areas like the Steinernes Meer and the Hohe Tauern. On the way home we stopped by "Hofer" (known as Aldi-Süd in Germany, well at least in the south), a stop that took longer than expected, and after Heidi's dad went in to see what was taking so long, he came back to report his findings: it's complicated. Buying bread is complicated, this is, in that the need for bread leads to finding other things you need resulting in buying half the Hofer's offerings. Then we all had a laugh about the situation.The rest of the afternoon was spent bumming around the yard, eating dinner, on a walk around the area, and watching a "bergfilm" – a very poor quality and hardly entertaining film.

Freshly pressed apple juice, two and a half kegs to be exact, filled our Saturday morning. Remember how we picked apples Thrusday afternoon? Well, that, of course, wasn't without purpose. A neighbor with a farm down the road had the coolest set up for making fresh apple juice (honestly can't believe I didn't have a camera for this!!!), so we loaded up the apples and three empty kegs, and took the apples to be pressed into fresh äpfisaft. Quite a sight and process it was! First the apples are hacked up into small chunks in a Fargo-esque wood-chipper-looking machine that apparently isn't used to chop people but instead apples. These small bits of apple are then thrown into a pressing machine, which is a big wooden barrel that reminded me of what a moonshine keg might have looked like during prohibition. A button is then pressed to push the wooden piece at the top down, and out the bottom pours the apple juice–pure, 100% apple juice. And boy-oh-boy did that juice taste good! The Bäuerin, with whom I was nervous to speak more than a few words because I wasn't sure how she'd feel about a Hochdeutschspeaking person, told me a little bit about what she was doing, namely making an apple-pear juice that, unlike ours, was heated over an open flame before being bottled. At the end of our conversation, she offered me a glass of the delicious nectar–an offer I gladly accepted. After eating an appetizing lunch of Semmelknödelsuppe and a cabbage salad, Heidi and I set out on bikes for a ride around the area and to stop by a Schnalzen tournament, a long-standing tradition in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Schnalzen (Whipcracking) is a sport that basically consists of Lederhosen wearing young men trying to make the loudest noise with their whips. Here's a video of an old man doing Schnalzen.
One can only watch Schnalzen for so long, so we hopped on our bikes and rode to Maria Alm, the hometown of Heidi's mother. In Maria Alm, there's a beautiful pilgrimage church, fully decked out in Baroque decor with pink marble flooring and epic ceiling paintings. There was a baptism going on when we arrived; we stayed to watch for a bit. I'd never seen a baptism before, which made experiencing one in German that much more interesting. We quietly exited the church, visited the graves of some family members, and the memorial for fallen soldiers of WWI and WWII, all located in the cemetery in front of the church.
Sunday's weather was just as great as the previous days, so we took advantage of it by hiking at the Steinernes Meer. Specifically, to this Alm - Peter-Weichenthaler Hütte, and beyond it. The view from the top was really breathtaking and interesting for many reasons. The name Steinernes Meer translates to something like "sea of stone," a name that fits the topography of the mountain range well. A natural border between Austria and Germany, the view from the Austrian side of the SM provides one with a glimpse of Berchtesgaden, where Hitler's famous Eagle Nest and home were located. It was a stunning view, to say the least; easy to see why Hitler would choose that place as his home with all of its beauty. Another positive thing about this hike was that- despite it being a beautiful sunday- there were few people who hiked farther than the actual alm, so that we only ran into two other people on that part of the trail. However, back at the Alm, it was a hoppin' spot. I'm still trying to decide if the following thing is a positive or a negative occurrence: while ordering a slice of cake, I asked the woman what kinds of cake they were selling (I'd seen two kinds around) to which she responded "Zwetschkekuchen...oder ich meine Pflaumekuchen..." Zwetschke is the Austrian term for Plum, Pflaume is the German term, meaning the woman heard me speaking, assumed I was a German, and switched the term. Good or bad? I'll let you be the judge..

The next afternoon, Heidi and I headed to Innsbruck after a great, adventure-filled weekend in good ol' Pinzgau. Also noteworthy: I saw the actual Von Trapp family home, located on the Zeller See, which made the Sound of Music nerd in me really really happy. To get an idea of the cost of living on the Zeller See, the owner of Porsche is the neighbor of the former Von Trapp family home.

I'll write more soon, including some of what I did in Innsbruck and some thoughts about a few different things.
Carpe diem,
A

Ankunft in Österreich

            As my RegioBahn train connection from Rosenheim to Wörgl crossed the border between Austria and Germany, a border that wasn’t marked by a sign but rather a text message saying something to the effect of “you’ll now pay a lot more for using your phone,” the cloud cover was gone and the sun shining. “Finally, the sun that we were promised for the last few days,” said the nice Münchnerin to whom I’d been talking for a while. Although I didn’t catch her name, we had a really pleasant per-Sie conversation in which she even complimented my German, telling me that aside from a bit of an accent - aber ein bissl akzent ist schön (a bit of accent is pretty) - my German  sounded perfect. Her comment brought two different thoughts to my mind. The first thought: do all native German speakers tell any foreigner who attempts to learn German that s/he speaks impressively? And the second: I was flattered that a random woman from Munich had given me such a respectful comment, and that she even talked to me at all.  After talking to that woman, a woman from Vorarlberg (the part of Austria bordering Switzerland) and I chatted near the door of the train before exiting.

            Our conversation went something like this, with her speaking in a thick Vorarlberger accent: “Saalfelden already?” “Yeah, we’ll be there shortly.” Wow, that was fast, I’ve been traveling from Bregenz since 8 am! (This at 2pm). Isn’t the weather like a dream? And the landscape” “Definitely beautiful, Austria, that is. I can hardly believe that you’ve been traveling for so many hours, Bregenz doesn’t seem too far from here..” “Austria is a big country, eh?” “Yeah, I suppose so. How long are you staying?” “I don’t know, you?” “Not sure. Need help carrying your bags at all?” “Nah, I’ve got it. Thanks, though.” “Then I hope you have a great stay here. Take care.” “Same to you.”  By the end of this conversation, I felt excited and accomplished. Speaking to someone from Vorarlberg can, in some ways, be compared to attempting to speak with a person who grew up in Louisiana on a Bayou–hard. But I was able to do it, probably with the kind words from the Münchnerin to thank for the confidence to reply to her speaking to me. 

            Having spoken with two older German/Austrian women on a train, I realized something about myself that I already knew.  It doesn’t matter where I am, I’m a talker just like my mom.  Nobody sits next to someone on the train for 5 minutes or stands next to the exit door on the train in Europe and just talks to the person next to them, except maybe me.  It’s a character trait that I’m happy to have, so thanks, Mom, for molding me into an outgoing and friendly-to-strangers person.  Some things never change…even in a country where they probably should.

            8 hours later, I arrived in Saalfelden, greeted by the familiar and friendly face of Heidi.  There were apples to be picked and collected when we got to her house, because on Saturday they would take the apples to a neighbors to be pressed and made into apple juice.  Then of course there were Semmels (bread/roll type things), Speck (Bacon type meat), and Pinzgauerkäse (cheese) for a Jause (snack) that needed to be eaten. 

            It feels good to be back in the land of German with an Austrian accent, the Alps (there are really few to none in Germany), good cheese, and, of course, Semmels!!! More about what I’ve been doing in this paradise of a place later.

Pfiatdi! (western Austrian for good-bye)

Ashley