Almost time to bust out the long underwear

In regards to the previous post, I feel like I should update you with some important information. I thought it was so crazy that we were calling Maria von Trapp; “How Austrian/crazy is that?” I was thinking. Well, a recent headline on BBC said that the stepson of said Maria passed away in Vermont last week. The closing of the article said that Maria had died in 1980. So, my group of pathetic English teachers took the Sound of Music bate from an Austrian who thought he’d have a little fun at our expense.

I’ve now been teaching for a few weeks and it’s going really well. I have about 12 classes that I’ll be going to once a week for the rest of the year and the first week at the school I did an introduction game with them to tell them a little about this “real-live American” in their midst. I had prepared about 30 questions so each person read one, then I answered it, then they answered if for themselves. By about the 10th time I taught it, though, I really felt like I had lost it- unsure if I had already defined "audacity" (as a result of me answering the question of the last book I read) or if I had already explained what a snow drift is (when I described my favorite winter memory and how they would cancel school when the drifts were too big, which the kids couldn't believe).

The two English teachers, Georg and Andreas now tell me a topic to cover and I prepare a lesson. I’ve done some on African Americans, horoscopes, and most recently, environmental issues. A highlight was at the end when a girl was talking about polluting the groundwater with toxic wastes and she asked, "is this called to intoxicate the water?" and I answered yes. I thought to myself, "That's right, isn't it? What does 'intoxicate' even mean?" And then the Andreas stepped in and kindly corrected me. Ha, there goes my English.

For my grant, I’m required to take one class at the university per semester. I signed up for five with intention of going to all of them once, then dropping all but one when I decided which one I liked best. The first class at the "uni" was the Politics in Media-Central Democracies. I think it was interesting? I couldn't understand a lot of what the professor said, and I couldn't hear him too well either, as several people throughout the lecture were having full-out conversations the whole time. I couldn't believe that. People were also getting up and leaving mid-lecture and one girl even left, then came back with coffee. The best part: the seats are just long benches and the only aisles are at the edges of the room, so whenever someone left, the whole row had to slide out, then slide back in. Overall, it was an interesting experience, but not necessarily a good one.

A few days later was the next of the five classes and it was a "pro-seminar," which has only about 30 people, and I loved it. It's on international relations with an emphasis on countries' national security, and the professor is really cool. He said at the beginning that there was a cap of 30, which he could not exceed, and there were eight people on the waiting list. I knew I was one of them. He went through the roll, dropped people who weren't there, and only a few from the waiting list were there so they got spots. He reached 30 right before my name, but then said "30, 31- what's the difference?" I got to talk with him afterward and thanked him. The lecture was in German but I understood about 60%, and of our readings, almost 90% are in English. Hell yes. I had to sign up to give a presentation and I'm doing something on China with two other people. Let the adventures begin.

I decided on that class and then planned to not go to the rest. The last of the five started today: The UN in a Changing Security Environment- taught by two professors in English. It was just starting when I finished meeting with my research mentor so I figured I would go, listen to the lecture, then tell the professors afterward that I wasn't going to take it, but would like to sit in on lectures when possible. About 10 minutes in to the class, the one professor said, "Anyone who plans to drop this should leave now. Anyone who doesn't leave and drops later will receive a negative grade." I panicked (internally), and like any wise person would do when put on the spot, I did absolutely nothing. Just sat there. No one else was leaving and I was too nervous to get up and walk out. I was afraid I had just committed myself to some sort of impending train wreck. The professors then went over all the different topics to be covered, each of which will have a corresponding presentation from members of the class, and said that we would now be picking our topics. Since there was now no way to escape, I accepted the fact that I was there for good, and signed up to a group of three and in just three short weeks we'll be presenting on the formation of the UN. Who knows how the hell this is all going to turn out? Not me. At least this whole experience in the political science department will be a good trial period to help me see if I really do want to do International Relations in grad school.

The meeting with my research mentor was the first time I’d met him in person. He's a great guy and seems like he'll be a great resource. He had some good suggestions on where I can get started on my project, which I now feel like I can get going on since I’m pretty settled in.

The end of my first week in Innsbruck brought a few familiar faces to town. Three friends from Linfield (Josh Merrick, Jesse Abell and Grayson Farnsworth) are doing a grand tour of Europe and made an Innsbruck stop so I could show them around, or at least try. We had a good old time. There was a lot of exploring the town and its offerings, we made a day trip to a lake town (Bregenz) on the borders of Italy and Switzerland, and there was a good deal of exploring the bar scene, which I am still familiarizing myself with. At the end of the weekend, they left on the night train for Rome. It sounds like they are having a great time, and I was really glad to have some visitors.

Other adventures have included branching out of my normal dinner routine of pasta to soup and rolls with a mystery cheese (equally as challenging as pasta, I know). The cheese was my big Euro-stretch for that day, as I'd told myself I needed to get over my fear of stinky cheeses in order to really be a local. Cheese mission: failed. I think I put too much on the bread and then when I stuffed some ham in there, all the cheese went to the back, thus forming a cavern of cheesy overload that I just had to throw away.

I was helped out by a friend from school, Jenny Evans, with this cooking issue when she sent me some suggestions of not-too difficult things I could likely manage to make. First up was the “cowboy beans,” which proved to a hit in the Karwendel dorm kitchen. Not only did the Austrians love it ("ooo... super gut!"), but so did the rest of my international community with rave reviews coming from the Argentinian and the Slovenian, who today made the recipe herself! One thing: the recipe called for barbecue sauce, which was nowhere to be found here so I logically settled on a sauce of similar color (but not taste, I would later learn) called "relish" and I also stumbled upon "American sauce," which I didn't buy yet, but inevitably will one day because, well, what is that stuff?

I've been taking up every I opportunity I get to meet people, go out, and get to know the area/culture. The latest highlight of this was going to a party at one of the university cafeteria, which I would later learn was sponsored by a Catholic student society. The party got going around 11 and I was amused at the idea of comparing this alcohol-filled crazy dance fest to what the church-associated gatherings that went on at Linfield. Ah the joys of a Catholic country. Anyway, several people from my choir were there and a friend of mine invited me to the after-party, which began at 3. On I went, and the madness continued until I got home at 5. These Europeans are nuts. And now I have a cold as a result of trying to keep up.

Catherine, the girl who had my teaching job last year is doing the program as second year now and is in Salzburg, which is just two hours away. She was in town last weekend, so Georg, Andreas and his girlfriend, Dani, took us out for drinks. They are so great. I really, really lucked out by getting placed at just one school (most TAs do a few hours per week at two or three) and the school/students/staff has been so nice. Andreas is giving me a pair of his skis to use for the season and he and Dani insisted that I come to their Halloween party if I'm in town. These skis are going to go nicely with the boots that my friend Albert from the dorm is going to let me borrow for the season. Things like this hospitality have made my adjustment to here go so smoothly!

It really is true how the littlest invitation or conversation can make your day. Even as lucky as I've been to have already met so many nice people, there are rare occasions when I really just feel like I need some people around me. Then someone asks me something as simple as whether I want to watch a TV show, and I feel like things aren't so bad. It makes me so determined to be that way when I'm back in the states. I'm reading a book right now that my friend Tia gave me for my birthday and I saved it to read here. It's called The Kindness of Strangers published by Lonely Planet. It's a collection of short stories about peoples' travels and how various situations have changed for the better when a perfect stranger steps in to help. It's really good and perfect to read now. I’m actually taking a break right now from all its inspiration and kindness, though, to attempt a German book about a guy who's miserable and dying (I think?) in a hospital. I'm all about balance, you see.

Now I’m going to take a nap before catching the train to a nearby town of Kufstein, where a fellow English TA is hosting a gathering tonight. The town is in Austria, but he lives just over the border in Germany. It’s going to be an international, English-speaking evening. And when I get back to Innsbruck tomorrow there is supposed to be snow. The cold has already come and I think the real Tyrolean winter is soon to follow.