Hello hello, I am back. Sorry it took a while!
I've been here now for seven weeks, and am really starting to settle in. School is school- the people are all nice, but I haven't made any proper friends there still. The lessons get a little boring (hey, it's school nomatter which country you're in) sometimes, and I kinda gave up on maths and chemistry. History is horribly boring, and I can't read my Philosophy teacher's handwriting, but other than that it's pretty good. I've also started playing in the school orchestra, which is really good. We're playing one of Hayden's operas (though I keep forgetting which one), and we're also playing at the ball!As well as school orchestra, I've joined some (I've lost count of how many) other orchestras as well. A large-ish, not so good-ish orchestra on tuesday, which rehearses at my school, a Salon orchestra, which rehearses in the flat of a violinist in the golden roof building! I could probably point the window out to you on the photo on the right --> I've also joined (just last week) another orchestra (which is also quite good), and I'm also playing Bach's Brandenburg concerto with them, which should be interesting. I'm a little freaked out at having to learn and perform a whole concerto without Yury, but I'm sure it'll work out fine. The conductor of all these orchestras is Göste- the husband of Andreas piano teacher. He plays jazz bass as well as both jazz and classical piano, and is really nice. He teaches at the Music School here. His wife and him are currently hosting a student from Burma called Sawinmaw. He's 20 and has been playing the violin for nine years. He's really nice, and always smiling and has something to say, although sometimes I find him a little frustrating. We've been to a couple of concerts together, one of which was the first Symphony Orchestra Concert he's ever been to (his village in Burma has no electricity, let alone a Symphony Orchestra), so he was very excited.
Last weekend we had our second arrival camp- the first in Tirol. There were 8 of us all up, with one AFS person- Oliver, who was very nice, although we got kinda lost on the way from the train station to the monestary/youth hostel/art museum thing that we were staying at. Yes, we saw Monks- infact, we were served lunch and dinner by monks, and they showed us to our rooms and they were very nice. We spent the whole two days either eating, playing games (the communication/trust type- games), and, most importantly-talking! (in german of course). So, sadly I have to disappoint you all and say that really, all we did was talk about how things were going, although I did teach them the game 'Bang', and we have some pretty crazy photos of some other games we played, which I will put up soon! It was good fun though, and it was great to hear about what everyone else had been up to.
Nothing much else to report really, except that I've now made a good friend (from the camp). Siiri is 16 and arrived from Finnland at the same time as I did. Today was Yasmine (from Argenitnia)'s birthday, so last night we all went out into town, which was fun.
Oh, and by far the most important thing thats happened so far is that it's started snowing! Yesterday morning I looked out my window to find everything Covered in snow! It was all so pretty- and it looked like Narnia! Today there wasn't so much (it stops by about 10am, and theres no snow left by 1pm), but it's very very cold now, and everyone's rugged up in their winter clothes.
I hear that the Sport and Cultural awards night went very smoothly- it was a little sad that I couldn't be there with you all, but it sounded like a great night.
Anyhu, that's all from me,
Ciao!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Montag. 01 Oktober
Ok ok I'm updating!!
Where did I leave off.. the start of school. Well, re: school, things are going really well (bar maths. But I'll get to that!). I'm getting to know my class better, and they're starting to realise that I want to learn german- not for them to practise their german! Maria is especially good. I talked to her a lot in PE today. PE was brilliant today. We did step aerobics. (I know!!) It was especially funny because we all just kinda started dancing instead. Good times. Then we played volleyball. And I'm really bad at volleyball. But everyone else is too. So its all gooood.
Oh yeah. In PE, the girls go into one class and the boys go into another class. So.. its all girls during PE, which I think is a little odd. But it's also cool because I get to know the people from another class (there's not really much time to talk to them in French and Ethics- the only other two classes that 7B (my class-woo!) splits up in. Oh yes. I'm in 7th year, which is the second to last year. However, the age span is quite wide (is age-span a phrase?). Debbie is still only 16, whilst I think about a quarter of the class is 18. Or about to turn 18. It was Simons 18th today. I, unfortunately slept in, so was five minutes late for class and missed out on the celebrations. But there were glittery streamers and these kinda marbled really colourful shiny balloons (I've never seen them before.. they're quite cool) hanging around the classroom all day. And we hung the streamers all over the OHP and the crucifix with Jesus on it. He looked very pretty. Yes, there are crucifixes in like every room and corridor at my school, and, apparently in almost every school in Austria. It's not a religious school, but because Austria has such a huge percentage of catholics, it's acceptable. Apparently in a lot of places it's hard to get a job if your papers don't say that you're catholic! Which is a little shocking for me. But I think that a lot of people are catholic only on paper, or are catholic but don't really do anything about it. That's the general idea I've gotten from my classmates anyway.
Today in English we recalled the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and then we listened to a 'politically correct' version of Little Red Riding Hood. It was quite possible the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Some parts that I can remember went kinda like this;
'One day, the girl went to visit her grandmother with a basket full of fresh fruit and mineral water. Not because her grandmother was ill - as an adult, she was quite capable of looking after herself- but because the girl wanted to be generous and blah blah blah…'
and then in the woods she met the wolf and he told her that it was dangerous to be out in the woods alone, and she replied that it was a sexist remark and all this and it was really really silly and even I didn't understand a few of the words! I'm not sure how the others were expected to do!
Anyhu. So yes. What else. Oh yes. My host mum Hanni came back from Japan on Friday. She's.. very strange. She retired from teaching, and now .. well. She stays at home. She's a perfectionist, gets tired very very easily, and talks very loudly. She gets very excited by her own ideas, and then doesn't really appreciate or understand anyone else's. She has the tendancy to annoy the hell out of me, but since Andrea's come home (she went to Madrid for a week through school- I stayed at Sabbi's house for four days while they were both gone) it's been fine. So that’s good!
On Thursday I got back from school and found Isle (Andreas cousin who lives next door) here. She had got a phone call from Matze- Andreas boyfriend- who had asked if we'd like to go for a walk up in the mountains. Soo… off we went! After about an hour and a half, we found the right transportation to get there (after getting on about three different busses, and checking about ten different timetables), somehow took the whole train journey for free and then spent another hour or so looking for the beginning of the track! We got there though. It turned out to be a canyon! It was great. We walked along a really steep narrow path that was really rocky, with sheer cliff rising upwards on one side, and a nasty looking drop down to the very strong Inn River on the other! It was a little disconcerting seeing the memorial plates for people who had fallen and died there, but it was good fun. We found a nice place next to the river, and eventually got a fire going, where we sat around and cooked some sausages and toasted some bread. By the time we had finished, it was about 7pm and we had to run all the way back before it got completely dark, which was very scary! But we're still alive, so it's all good. My jacket smelt of woodsmoke for a good few days afterwards!
On Friday (it seems like an age ago now!) Isle took me out with some of her friends into town, which was fun. There was a whole group of us, and I managed to learn all but one of their names (hurrah!). Probably the funniest part of the night was when we were waiting for the bus to go home, and Tom started pointing out the wedding dresses, and deciding which one Isle would wear to their wedding (he had jokingly decided that they had become lovers and then engaged within the space of a few hours). And then the only guy who's name I couldn't remember was talking on the phone, telling whoever it was who he was with. In German when you talk about someone you say 'die Sarah' or 'das Ben', just like you would talk about 'die Gabel' or 'das Schule' (whats the bet I didn't even get those words right). So on the phone he was like 'Ja, ich bin mit (I am with) die Isle, die Theresa, das Benny, das Tom und die Neuseeland', which was hilarious at the time. Perhaps you had to be there.
Anyhu.
Also on Friday, Hanni came home! Hanni is, as I've probably already mentioned to some of you, a little odd, to put it nicely. She talks very loudly, and is kinda a childish perfectionist. I will refrain from writing anything else here, but luckily I'm getting better at handling her. It's very exhausting being around Hanni.
On Saturday Hanni and I got up early (9am. I managed very well, I think) and went to the farmers market, which sells fruit and vegetables and meat and cheese and milk and other such things from the nearby farms. Hanni took me around the WHOLE market explaining what everything (And that’s where you can buy apples, and that’s where you can by meat, and here you can buy vegetables; see look! Theres this and that and everything else) which was thoughtful. I suppose.
After about an hour we came back home, and we went out again in the late afternoon. Hanni's church choir had a concert that evening, so we biked into town in time for her rehearsal, and then they had the concert. Her choir was kinda average, but there were also two guest choirs- both male choirs- one was .. I don’t know. but the other one was the tirolian singers. I forget what they called themselves, but it was something like that. Firstly, they were amazingly dressed- in full Austrian traditional costume! They all looked like little father christmasses, especially when they sang! Their singing was incredible.. like, it just blew you away, and they all enjoyed it so much, and their sound was amazing, and .. yeah. I'm so glad I went.
On Sunday Hanni's boyfriend came around. Jurg is his name, and he's quite nice. We drove for about half an hour south - just 30km away from Italy, and went for a walk in the mountains. On our travels we met an elderly man in a house. But like.. a proper, tiny Austrian log house. and he was wearing a hat with a feather in it, and a shirt with braces and ahhhh it was so… Austrian! He looked just like Heidi's grandfather, sitting there on his wooden bench outside his little house, with a picket fence (made out of sticks.. not bought pickets) and a water trough thing and eeeee it was very exciting!
The landscape was interesting. There was lots of last year's snow which had been covered with dirt- some of it covered a whole hillside, and you didn't even notice it was there! But other than that, there was a nice river- I don’t know if it was the Inn river or not, with really slatey looking stones. All the trees were kinda. just trees. And when there weren't trees, it was just yellowish brownish grass or, near the top of the mountains (I feel weird calling them mountains, as they're only a little higher than Tinakori Hill!) rock. But it was nice anyway. We didn't walk very far, as Hanni walks very slowly, but Jurg and I went up the river a bit further when she headed back down, and that was nice.
I'm so glad that I never have to drive with Hanni in the car. Andreas dreading it. She's the worst ever backseat driver. (except she was in the passenger seat, which meant that she actually took charge of the wheel sometimes- much to Jurgs annoyance)
Then it was back to school for another week. School is good. Maths is ridiculously hard still. Aaaaaand there's not really that much more to say about school. I talked to Maria a bit more (like a proper conversation, not just a smiley hello how are you did you have a good weekend type thing) today, and she's going to Graz this coming weekend, because her sister's studying there, and she showed me all these postcards and stuff from Graz which was cool. I think that that proves that my German's improved a bit. Maybe? Hopefully?
Anyhu. Umm.. I can't really think of anything else. Choir tomorrow! And I'm meeting up with Peter (who I haven't seen in a while) and Sabbi after school.
Oh yes! The chocolate here is good. Just thought that was important for you to know. Though I AM being careful not to eat too much!
and ja. That is all I think! Sorry that I changed writing style half way through this (if you noticed!) .. I guess.. I just write differently sometimes XD
anyhu. Take care y'all. And write me comments! I'll put a couple of photos in this post tomorrow maybe.
Tcheuss!!
ps. I've been in Austria for a month!! does it feel that long to you?
Where did I leave off.. the start of school. Well, re: school, things are going really well (bar maths. But I'll get to that!). I'm getting to know my class better, and they're starting to realise that I want to learn german- not for them to practise their german! Maria is especially good. I talked to her a lot in PE today. PE was brilliant today. We did step aerobics. (I know!!) It was especially funny because we all just kinda started dancing instead. Good times. Then we played volleyball. And I'm really bad at volleyball. But everyone else is too. So its all gooood.
Oh yeah. In PE, the girls go into one class and the boys go into another class. So.. its all girls during PE, which I think is a little odd. But it's also cool because I get to know the people from another class (there's not really much time to talk to them in French and Ethics- the only other two classes that 7B (my class-woo!) splits up in. Oh yes. I'm in 7th year, which is the second to last year. However, the age span is quite wide (is age-span a phrase?). Debbie is still only 16, whilst I think about a quarter of the class is 18. Or about to turn 18. It was Simons 18th today. I, unfortunately slept in, so was five minutes late for class and missed out on the celebrations. But there were glittery streamers and these kinda marbled really colourful shiny balloons (I've never seen them before.. they're quite cool) hanging around the classroom all day. And we hung the streamers all over the OHP and the crucifix with Jesus on it. He looked very pretty. Yes, there are crucifixes in like every room and corridor at my school, and, apparently in almost every school in Austria. It's not a religious school, but because Austria has such a huge percentage of catholics, it's acceptable. Apparently in a lot of places it's hard to get a job if your papers don't say that you're catholic! Which is a little shocking for me. But I think that a lot of people are catholic only on paper, or are catholic but don't really do anything about it. That's the general idea I've gotten from my classmates anyway.
Today in English we recalled the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and then we listened to a 'politically correct' version of Little Red Riding Hood. It was quite possible the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Some parts that I can remember went kinda like this;
'One day, the girl went to visit her grandmother with a basket full of fresh fruit and mineral water. Not because her grandmother was ill - as an adult, she was quite capable of looking after herself- but because the girl wanted to be generous and blah blah blah…'
and then in the woods she met the wolf and he told her that it was dangerous to be out in the woods alone, and she replied that it was a sexist remark and all this and it was really really silly and even I didn't understand a few of the words! I'm not sure how the others were expected to do!
Anyhu. So yes. What else. Oh yes. My host mum Hanni came back from Japan on Friday. She's.. very strange. She retired from teaching, and now .. well. She stays at home. She's a perfectionist, gets tired very very easily, and talks very loudly. She gets very excited by her own ideas, and then doesn't really appreciate or understand anyone else's. She has the tendancy to annoy the hell out of me, but since Andrea's come home (she went to Madrid for a week through school- I stayed at Sabbi's house for four days while they were both gone) it's been fine. So that’s good!
On Thursday I got back from school and found Isle (Andreas cousin who lives next door) here. She had got a phone call from Matze- Andreas boyfriend- who had asked if we'd like to go for a walk up in the mountains. Soo… off we went! After about an hour and a half, we found the right transportation to get there (after getting on about three different busses, and checking about ten different timetables), somehow took the whole train journey for free and then spent another hour or so looking for the beginning of the track! We got there though. It turned out to be a canyon! It was great. We walked along a really steep narrow path that was really rocky, with sheer cliff rising upwards on one side, and a nasty looking drop down to the very strong Inn River on the other! It was a little disconcerting seeing the memorial plates for people who had fallen and died there, but it was good fun. We found a nice place next to the river, and eventually got a fire going, where we sat around and cooked some sausages and toasted some bread. By the time we had finished, it was about 7pm and we had to run all the way back before it got completely dark, which was very scary! But we're still alive, so it's all good. My jacket smelt of woodsmoke for a good few days afterwards!
On Friday (it seems like an age ago now!) Isle took me out with some of her friends into town, which was fun. There was a whole group of us, and I managed to learn all but one of their names (hurrah!). Probably the funniest part of the night was when we were waiting for the bus to go home, and Tom started pointing out the wedding dresses, and deciding which one Isle would wear to their wedding (he had jokingly decided that they had become lovers and then engaged within the space of a few hours). And then the only guy who's name I couldn't remember was talking on the phone, telling whoever it was who he was with. In German when you talk about someone you say 'die Sarah' or 'das Ben', just like you would talk about 'die Gabel' or 'das Schule' (whats the bet I didn't even get those words right). So on the phone he was like 'Ja, ich bin mit (I am with) die Isle, die Theresa, das Benny, das Tom und die Neuseeland', which was hilarious at the time. Perhaps you had to be there.
Anyhu.
Also on Friday, Hanni came home! Hanni is, as I've probably already mentioned to some of you, a little odd, to put it nicely. She talks very loudly, and is kinda a childish perfectionist. I will refrain from writing anything else here, but luckily I'm getting better at handling her. It's very exhausting being around Hanni.
On Saturday Hanni and I got up early (9am. I managed very well, I think) and went to the farmers market, which sells fruit and vegetables and meat and cheese and milk and other such things from the nearby farms. Hanni took me around the WHOLE market explaining what everything (And that’s where you can buy apples, and that’s where you can by meat, and here you can buy vegetables; see look! Theres this and that and everything else) which was thoughtful. I suppose.
After about an hour we came back home, and we went out again in the late afternoon. Hanni's church choir had a concert that evening, so we biked into town in time for her rehearsal, and then they had the concert. Her choir was kinda average, but there were also two guest choirs- both male choirs- one was .. I don’t know. but the other one was the tirolian singers. I forget what they called themselves, but it was something like that. Firstly, they were amazingly dressed- in full Austrian traditional costume! They all looked like little father christmasses, especially when they sang! Their singing was incredible.. like, it just blew you away, and they all enjoyed it so much, and their sound was amazing, and .. yeah. I'm so glad I went.
On Sunday Hanni's boyfriend came around. Jurg is his name, and he's quite nice. We drove for about half an hour south - just 30km away from Italy, and went for a walk in the mountains. On our travels we met an elderly man in a house. But like.. a proper, tiny Austrian log house. and he was wearing a hat with a feather in it, and a shirt with braces and ahhhh it was so… Austrian! He looked just like Heidi's grandfather, sitting there on his wooden bench outside his little house, with a picket fence (made out of sticks.. not bought pickets) and a water trough thing and eeeee it was very exciting!
The landscape was interesting. There was lots of last year's snow which had been covered with dirt- some of it covered a whole hillside, and you didn't even notice it was there! But other than that, there was a nice river- I don’t know if it was the Inn river or not, with really slatey looking stones. All the trees were kinda. just trees. And when there weren't trees, it was just yellowish brownish grass or, near the top of the mountains (I feel weird calling them mountains, as they're only a little higher than Tinakori Hill!) rock. But it was nice anyway. We didn't walk very far, as Hanni walks very slowly, but Jurg and I went up the river a bit further when she headed back down, and that was nice.
I'm so glad that I never have to drive with Hanni in the car. Andreas dreading it. She's the worst ever backseat driver. (except she was in the passenger seat, which meant that she actually took charge of the wheel sometimes- much to Jurgs annoyance)
Then it was back to school for another week. School is good. Maths is ridiculously hard still. Aaaaaand there's not really that much more to say about school. I talked to Maria a bit more (like a proper conversation, not just a smiley hello how are you did you have a good weekend type thing) today, and she's going to Graz this coming weekend, because her sister's studying there, and she showed me all these postcards and stuff from Graz which was cool. I think that that proves that my German's improved a bit. Maybe? Hopefully?
Anyhu. Umm.. I can't really think of anything else. Choir tomorrow! And I'm meeting up with Peter (who I haven't seen in a while) and Sabbi after school.
Oh yes! The chocolate here is good. Just thought that was important for you to know. Though I AM being careful not to eat too much!
and ja. That is all I think! Sorry that I changed writing style half way through this (if you noticed!) .. I guess.. I just write differently sometimes XD
anyhu. Take care y'all. And write me comments! I'll put a couple of photos in this post tomorrow maybe.
Tcheuss!!
ps. I've been in Austria for a month!! does it feel that long to you?
Flirting in English:
Just in case you ever feel the need to flirt in english.. i mean german. These are some of the 'English Flirting tips' from our school H&M diaries that I found quite funny. Uh.. enjoy...?
You're sweet as candy Du bist so sü§
Are you seeing sometone? Hast du einen Freund?
You smell great Du riechst toll
You make me nervous Du machts mich nervös
You're amazing du bist toll
I'm crazy about you Ich bin verrückt nach dir
I like your style du bist cool
What are you doing tonight? Abends schon was vor?
You're (not) my type Du bist (nicht) mein Typ
Leave me alone Lass mich in Frieden
Let's be friends Lass uns Frende sein
crush Schwarm
cutie sü§er Typ \ Mädel
lady-killer, player Frauenschwarm
prince charming Traumprinz
girl of my dreams Frau meiner Träumer
secret admirer heimlicher Verehrer
pals, buddies Freunde, Kumpels
love bite, hickie Knutschfleck
pick-up line Anmachspruch
cute, lovely Su§
cheesy billig, geschmacklos
flirtatious kokett
ticklish kitzelig
awkward heikel, unangenehm
cold shoulder die kalte Schulter
head over heels in love total verliebt
to have a crush on someone für jemanden schwärmen
to make out knutschen
to ask s.o. out knuttchen
to totally connect auf einer Wellenlänge sein
to giggle kirchen
to blush rot werden
to fancy s.o.\ be into s.o. auf jd.stehen
to be single Single sein
to be heart-broken Liebeskummer haben
to be desperate verzweifelt sein
to make the first move den ersten Schritt machen
Nicknames (Kosenamen):
darling, sweetheart, love, pet, babe, baby, cutie pie, honey, bunny, sugar
you're as sweet as candy. No really.. you are.
You're sweet as candy Du bist so sü§
Are you seeing sometone? Hast du einen Freund?
You smell great Du riechst toll
You make me nervous Du machts mich nervös
You're amazing du bist toll
I'm crazy about you Ich bin verrückt nach dir
I like your style du bist cool
What are you doing tonight? Abends schon was vor?
You're (not) my type Du bist (nicht) mein Typ
Leave me alone Lass mich in Frieden
Let's be friends Lass uns Frende sein
crush Schwarm
cutie sü§er Typ \ Mädel
lady-killer, player Frauenschwarm
prince charming Traumprinz
girl of my dreams Frau meiner Träumer
secret admirer heimlicher Verehrer
pals, buddies Freunde, Kumpels
love bite, hickie Knutschfleck
pick-up line Anmachspruch
cute, lovely Su§
cheesy billig, geschmacklos
flirtatious kokett
ticklish kitzelig
awkward heikel, unangenehm
cold shoulder die kalte Schulter
head over heels in love total verliebt
to have a crush on someone für jemanden schwärmen
to make out knutschen
to ask s.o. out knuttchen
to totally connect auf einer Wellenlänge sein
to giggle kirchen
to blush rot werden
to fancy s.o.\ be into s.o. auf jd.stehen
to be single Single sein
to be heart-broken Liebeskummer haben
to be desperate verzweifelt sein
to make the first move den ersten Schritt machen
Nicknames (Kosenamen):
darling, sweetheart, love, pet, babe, baby, cutie pie, honey, bunny, sugar
you're as sweet as candy. No really.. you are.
15th September
On Monday I went to school. Woo! I met Sabbi and Nadia (who also went to the US on an exchange) who both go to BORG, as well as Peter, who had finished his school for the day, at the bus station (Marktplatz if you so desire to know the name of the bus stop). We just had an hour of administration stuff to do on monday with our class. Peter came and was my translator which was nice.
My school is pretty big, made all out of brick and is on a street which runs parallel (I think) to Maria-Theresien strasse, which is kinda the Lambton Quay equivilent in Innsbruck. It has a big entrance, with three huge doors and marble steps (it sounds fancy, but it isn't really.. well, it could be. I'm already used to it). There are always lots of people standing outside smoking though, so you have to battle your way through them before you even get there. But yes. The corridors are really big- like twice the width of the WGC ones, and I have no idea where the lockers are, but they aren't in the corridors I've been in. All the floors are wooden and shiny and there are blackboards instead of whiteboards. It's all really well laid out- the teacher's desk has a projector built into it, and there's a sink in the corner. What else. Oh yeah- the celings are really big. And everythings really clean. No carpet. No broken windows (yes WGC has broken windows) and no holey curtains.
Yeah, so on Monday I met my form teacher, who's also my German teacher. She didn't seem to like me very much, but luckily now she's warmed to me a little more which is good. Afterwards Sabbi, Peter, Nadi and I went into town and hung around a little bit before going home. Tuesday was the same sort of thing, and on wendesday we had two proper classes, and some more on Thursday. But yes. English is nice, (Nadi and Sabbi think my teacher looks like a hampster) we had a discussion about news that's happened lately. Over the 'summer'. I didn't say much, cos that would probably make everyone else feel a bit strange. They all have pretty good english though. In History we got three sheets crammed full of notes. Which was a little daunting. I've figured out that they're about the French Revolution though (A+ for me this year in History.. eek!). My Geography teacher is really nice- we sat around in a circle and talked about what we'd done this 'summer'. She apparently really likes having exchange students in her classes, and was really interested in New Zealand and everything and she's really cool and young and everyone likes her.
I 'forgot' my PE gear (or rather, I have none), but our PE teacher ( I have no idea what any of the teachers are called by the way) seems ok. She doesn't waste much time, and she keeps us moving, so thats alright. Though she wouldn't let me play (dodgeball-yuss!) in my shoes, because apparently they're street shoes. Which means that I'll be in barefeet all year, and I got\get blisters from running around on the gym floor (which is really slippery) which isn't so great. And I'll have to think of something I can wear in PE too. What else. My Maths and Physics teacher is the same person, and he seems quite nice. In phyiscis we're doing electricity, just simple stuff that I've learnt before, so maybe I'll be alright in that. Our Chemistry teacher is new this year, so the others don't know her either. She's quite nice too though. Whoa using the word 'nice' far too much in this paragraph!
French was really funny- we have a really big class-25. Apparently when it reaches 26 they split the class in half, so the classes don't get any bigger than that. We were all sitting there talking, and the door opened and in walked this really tall guy with square, black-rimmed glasses. He took a step into the room, and then actually jumped at the size of our class, gazed around for a sec and then turned and banged his head against the blackboard. He's really cool, although french is a little difficult, as I've been working on my german all this time, and then suddenly there's french too, and the sentences in my head come out german with french words in odd places, or vice versa. But I think that the class is about the right level for me, which is great. I got one of the highest scores in the test we did yay! I forget what other subjects I do. I don't have Art or Woodworks\sculpture (yay!) till monday, so I'm looking foward to that. A lot of the teachers just talked (just like in NZ), so I got particularly bored on Friday, when I had my first full day of school - six classes in a row, with only five minute breaks inbetween. I was exhausted by the end! The teachers are much easier to understand than my classmates (who all speak ridiculously fast), so here's hoping I'll be able to understand them completely- sooner rather than later.
One more thing that I have to point out about school is the students. Austrian teenagers are very.. diverse. Perhaps that's not the word. But lots of them have crazy hair clothes. I think that you really can divide the whole school into emos, bogans, hippies and boring normal people like me. On monday I saw a girl with looong curly blonde hair and purple skinny jeans. There's a (incredibly emo) girl with blue hair that she ties back into two pigtails and theres another one who has long dreads- all brightly coloured. They're amazing, like, maybe five are bright green, five red, five orange, five blue etc. And it's really well done. I doubled back just to look at her hair again.
On Friday Andrea and I went to see a film called Vier Minuten (translated:Four minutes). It was about an old woman who goes to teach in a jail (the female part of it) in germany. It's an amazing film, incredibly intense, and has some fantastic piano playing- classical, jazz and contemporary. It was so intense that nobody said a word as they left the theatre. I urge you all to see it if you ever get the chance - I understood almost all of it, and my german is .. well perhaps better than yours, but it's so good visually that you can pick up pretty easily whats going on.
Afterwards we wandered around town a bit, and I saw three people I know! (which I thought was rather impressive). We also went back to the same bar that we went to last weekend, but we didn't buy anything, we were just there to see if the band was any good. The stage was set up with a Hammon Organ, with the words 'Mambo Kurt' written on it in a big, brown-yellow, 60'sish kinda font. On top of the organ was a disco ball thing that spun around and around, with coloured lights all over it. Then Mambo Kurt came in; a 50something year old man wearing a dirty white suit, an old yellow polo shirt, large, brown glasses and brown leather shoes. He talked for a bit (about his precious Hammon Organ) before starting to play: Queen, Sex Pistols, The Final Countdown by Europe, and the 'It's getting hot in here' song by that rapperwhosnameidontremember. He was brilliant - he even put the organ on repeat and went and waltzed with someone from the audience, and then stood on his stool dancing\rapping\singing. It was really really cheesy, and one of the funniest things I'd seen all week (another one being my classmates reading 'English Flirting Tips' out from our new H&M school diaries; 'You're sweet like candy' said in a really monochromatic voice by someone who's completely serious is well.. yeah. It was pretty epic).
We didn't stay for long, cos we were tired, but I'm so glad we went, and so gutted I left my camera at home.
Oh and did I mention that Innsbruck is full of suprises? (The traffic lights don't work at night.. did I mention that?) the other day on the way to school I saw a nun in a bakery\cafe, and yesterday I walked out of the house to see a yellow and blue hot air balloon.
Anyhu. That is that. I just made some brownies- mum sent me the recipe- and they're a little bit burnt around the edges but that's ok. They're still good.
Oh and I'm discovering the art of cooking. And I've been playing a bit of guitar- The View, Damien Rice, Dave Dobbyn and some others .. which is cool.
Anyhu. Thats all. I tend to write a lot. But that's my excuse later on for not posting so much :P
tchuess
My school is pretty big, made all out of brick and is on a street which runs parallel (I think) to Maria-Theresien strasse, which is kinda the Lambton Quay equivilent in Innsbruck. It has a big entrance, with three huge doors and marble steps (it sounds fancy, but it isn't really.. well, it could be. I'm already used to it). There are always lots of people standing outside smoking though, so you have to battle your way through them before you even get there. But yes. The corridors are really big- like twice the width of the WGC ones, and I have no idea where the lockers are, but they aren't in the corridors I've been in. All the floors are wooden and shiny and there are blackboards instead of whiteboards. It's all really well laid out- the teacher's desk has a projector built into it, and there's a sink in the corner. What else. Oh yeah- the celings are really big. And everythings really clean. No carpet. No broken windows (yes WGC has broken windows) and no holey curtains.
Yeah, so on Monday I met my form teacher, who's also my German teacher. She didn't seem to like me very much, but luckily now she's warmed to me a little more which is good. Afterwards Sabbi, Peter, Nadi and I went into town and hung around a little bit before going home. Tuesday was the same sort of thing, and on wendesday we had two proper classes, and some more on Thursday. But yes. English is nice, (Nadi and Sabbi think my teacher looks like a hampster) we had a discussion about news that's happened lately. Over the 'summer'. I didn't say much, cos that would probably make everyone else feel a bit strange. They all have pretty good english though. In History we got three sheets crammed full of notes. Which was a little daunting. I've figured out that they're about the French Revolution though (A+ for me this year in History.. eek!). My Geography teacher is really nice- we sat around in a circle and talked about what we'd done this 'summer'. She apparently really likes having exchange students in her classes, and was really interested in New Zealand and everything and she's really cool and young and everyone likes her.
I 'forgot' my PE gear (or rather, I have none), but our PE teacher ( I have no idea what any of the teachers are called by the way) seems ok. She doesn't waste much time, and she keeps us moving, so thats alright. Though she wouldn't let me play (dodgeball-yuss!) in my shoes, because apparently they're street shoes. Which means that I'll be in barefeet all year, and I got\get blisters from running around on the gym floor (which is really slippery) which isn't so great. And I'll have to think of something I can wear in PE too. What else. My Maths and Physics teacher is the same person, and he seems quite nice. In phyiscis we're doing electricity, just simple stuff that I've learnt before, so maybe I'll be alright in that. Our Chemistry teacher is new this year, so the others don't know her either. She's quite nice too though. Whoa using the word 'nice' far too much in this paragraph!
French was really funny- we have a really big class-25. Apparently when it reaches 26 they split the class in half, so the classes don't get any bigger than that. We were all sitting there talking, and the door opened and in walked this really tall guy with square, black-rimmed glasses. He took a step into the room, and then actually jumped at the size of our class, gazed around for a sec and then turned and banged his head against the blackboard. He's really cool, although french is a little difficult, as I've been working on my german all this time, and then suddenly there's french too, and the sentences in my head come out german with french words in odd places, or vice versa. But I think that the class is about the right level for me, which is great. I got one of the highest scores in the test we did yay! I forget what other subjects I do. I don't have Art or Woodworks\sculpture (yay!) till monday, so I'm looking foward to that. A lot of the teachers just talked (just like in NZ), so I got particularly bored on Friday, when I had my first full day of school - six classes in a row, with only five minute breaks inbetween. I was exhausted by the end! The teachers are much easier to understand than my classmates (who all speak ridiculously fast), so here's hoping I'll be able to understand them completely- sooner rather than later.
One more thing that I have to point out about school is the students. Austrian teenagers are very.. diverse. Perhaps that's not the word. But lots of them have crazy hair clothes. I think that you really can divide the whole school into emos, bogans, hippies and boring normal people like me. On monday I saw a girl with looong curly blonde hair and purple skinny jeans. There's a (incredibly emo) girl with blue hair that she ties back into two pigtails and theres another one who has long dreads- all brightly coloured. They're amazing, like, maybe five are bright green, five red, five orange, five blue etc. And it's really well done. I doubled back just to look at her hair again.
On Friday Andrea and I went to see a film called Vier Minuten (translated:Four minutes). It was about an old woman who goes to teach in a jail (the female part of it) in germany. It's an amazing film, incredibly intense, and has some fantastic piano playing- classical, jazz and contemporary. It was so intense that nobody said a word as they left the theatre. I urge you all to see it if you ever get the chance - I understood almost all of it, and my german is .. well perhaps better than yours, but it's so good visually that you can pick up pretty easily whats going on.
Afterwards we wandered around town a bit, and I saw three people I know! (which I thought was rather impressive). We also went back to the same bar that we went to last weekend, but we didn't buy anything, we were just there to see if the band was any good. The stage was set up with a Hammon Organ, with the words 'Mambo Kurt' written on it in a big, brown-yellow, 60'sish kinda font. On top of the organ was a disco ball thing that spun around and around, with coloured lights all over it. Then Mambo Kurt came in; a 50something year old man wearing a dirty white suit, an old yellow polo shirt, large, brown glasses and brown leather shoes. He talked for a bit (about his precious Hammon Organ) before starting to play: Queen, Sex Pistols, The Final Countdown by Europe, and the 'It's getting hot in here' song by that rapperwhosnameidontremember. He was brilliant - he even put the organ on repeat and went and waltzed with someone from the audience, and then stood on his stool dancing\rapping\singing. It was really really cheesy, and one of the funniest things I'd seen all week (another one being my classmates reading 'English Flirting Tips' out from our new H&M school diaries; 'You're sweet like candy' said in a really monochromatic voice by someone who's completely serious is well.. yeah. It was pretty epic).
We didn't stay for long, cos we were tired, but I'm so glad we went, and so gutted I left my camera at home.
Oh and did I mention that Innsbruck is full of suprises? (The traffic lights don't work at night.. did I mention that?) the other day on the way to school I saw a nun in a bakery\cafe, and yesterday I walked out of the house to see a yellow and blue hot air balloon.
Anyhu. That is that. I just made some brownies- mum sent me the recipe- and they're a little bit burnt around the edges but that's ok. They're still good.
Oh and I'm discovering the art of cooking. And I've been playing a bit of guitar- The View, Damien Rice, Dave Dobbyn and some others .. which is cool.
Anyhu. Thats all. I tend to write a lot. But that's my excuse later on for not posting so much :P
tchuess
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
I'm back! To tell everything that I didn't get around to writing yesterday! Hurrah!
On saturday night, we had a kind of leaving party (already.. i know!), where everyone had to do a song or dance from their culture. Us Kiwis did a haka (yes, we KNOW it's culturally insensitive and rahdy rah, but we were just SHOWING them!) and everyone really liked it and found it really interesting. Lots of other countries did dances and stuff.. there was a tango and a polka and chinese opera (it wasn't that great.. i promise) and all this other stuff. Twas good fun. Afterwards there was
a dance. Which was.. a little depressing, because it was all hip hop music, or even worse, Italian hip hop, and all the Italians and Brazilians and some of the Americans were really good at dancing, and we were just like 'oh....'
Also, I saw my first Austrian animal!
It was an Emu. Yes. An Emu. In the school grounds. Don't ask me why.
Anyhu. Then we went to the trainstation, and got on a train, and went on our way. I had the longest journey..there were only about four of us going to Tirol (the state which Innsbruck is in), and we were all in different compartments. I talked a little bit to the people in my compartment, and after 'Ich komme aus Neuseeland' they'd all sigh, and say 'ahhh! Neuseeland!!', which i found quite funny.
Arrived at the station in Innsbruck at 6.30 after a five hour train journey, and was met by
Andrea (my host sister) and her aunt. Hanni (host mother) is in Japan at the moment, but she will be back in two weeks. Andrea is really really nice; she giggles a lot, and on the walls in her room are lots and lots of photos: both her own, and ones out of magazines. Out of my bedroom window I can see the other flats around the courtyard, with a background of huge mountains. Today, on the mountain (which we can see out of the kitchen window - I'll take a photo tomorrow) there was snow! Eeee!!!
Yesterday Andrea showed me around the city. It's gorgeous! Just like a postcard! We tooka bus a little way up the mountain, and then walked down again, going on a random detour (dead end) on the way. Sooooo pretty!
There's one thing i forgot to say about the camp..
On saturday night, we had a kind of leaving party (already.. i know!), where everyone had to do a song or dance from their culture. Us Kiwis did a haka (yes, we KNOW it's culturally insensitive and rahdy rah, but we were just SHOWING them!) and everyone really liked it and found it really interesting. Lots of other countries did dances and stuff.. there was a tango and a polka and chinese opera (it wasn't that great.. i promise) and all this other stuff. Twas good fun. Afterwards there was a dance. Which was.. a little depressing, because it was all hip hop music, or even worse, Italian hip hop, and all the Italians and Brazilians and some of the Americans were really good at dancing, and we were just like 'oh....'
Also, I saw my first Austrian animal!It was an Emu. Yes. An Emu. In the school grounds. Don't ask me why.
Anyhu. Then we went to the trainstation, and got on a train, and went on our way. I had the longest journey..there were only about four of us going to Tirol (the state which Innsbruck is in), and we were all in different compartments. I talked a little bit to the people in my compartment, and after 'Ich komme aus Neuseeland' they'd all sigh, and say 'ahhh! Neuseeland!!', which i found quite funny.
Arrived at the station in Innsbruck at 6.30 after a five hour train journey, and was met by
Andrea (my host sister) and her aunt. Hanni (host mother) is in Japan at the moment, but she will be back in two weeks. Andrea is really really nice; she giggles a lot, and on the walls in her room are lots and lots of photos: both her own, and ones out of magazines. Out of my bedroom window I can see the other flats around the courtyard, with a background of huge mountains. Today, on the mountain (which we can see out of the kitchen window - I'll take a photo tomorrow) there was snow! Eeee!!!Yesterday Andrea showed me around the city. It's gorgeous! Just like a postcard! We tooka bus a little way up the mountain, and then walked down again, going on a random detour (dead end) on the way. Sooooo pretty!
We also found a snail.. one that is very common in Austria. It has no shell and they're Huge, and Disgusting!
Today Andrea and I went into town and met Peter and Sabbi (Sabrina), who are my Liason\support people. Both of them went to the States for a year, and got back a few months ago. They're awesome. Both of them are really really nice and easy to get along with and really funny. We went to an italian cafe, and to H&M, and bought a phone card, and ice tea (they drink it like coke over here.. they have coke too, but Ice Tea.... mmmmmm) and yeah! Now I'm home, and we're going to make food soon and yay food!
Andrea, Mich und Peter
Andrea, Mich und Sabbi
There are a quite a few differences in Austria. Small things that you don't usually think about: the lightswitches are big and square, the toilets are different, the windows can open in two different ways (it's too complicated to explain) and at cafes you pay After you've eaten.
I'm always hungry at the moment, and usually tired. My hairs gone a bit weird, cos it's so dry here. Oh and either I've got a cold or there's something in the air that makes me constantly sneeze. Hopefully I'll adapt to that. Haven't had a huge amount of time to think about home, but that will come.
Food!
ciao xoxo
ps. Everyone here is really tanned. It's very depressing. And those photos are terrible of me. I was tired.
Monday, September 3, 2007
I'm here! and still struggling with this weird keyboard!
Well, it's hard to know where to start. So lets start from the beginning.
I left Wellington at 10am on Thursday. Peter, Alex, Miriam and
Mum came to the airport which was nice. After arriving at Auckland airport we met up with all the other NZ AFSers going to Austria and France, and stepped onto our 10 hour flight to Singapore
. (we found some cool foot masage-y things in 
Singapore).
. (we found some cool foot masage-y things in 
Singapore).It was a good flight. I sat next to an ex-radiologist who had lived in Wellington for a while, and who played piano, and a South African student from Cape Town who was going back home. The second flight wasn't so good however. Massive turbulence in the 1st hour, just as they had given out the first meal. It went Everywhere. Everywhere including all over my bag and my AFStshirt. 
Khoi and Ana talked the WHOLE 12 hours, which was really annoying and everyone got annoyed at them, but mreh. We survived.
Khoi and Ana talked the WHOLE 12 hours, which was really annoying and everyone got annoyed at them, but mreh. We survived.At Frankfurt, the Austrians and the French split ways (Frankfurt Airport is scary..) and we caught a tiny plane to Vienna, where we were met by a group of AFS volunteers. We hung around in the world Trade Centre for a bit ( just casually :P ) before catching a bus through Vienna to a private, religious boarding school that we were to stay at for the next two days. It was very concretey and grey and depr
essing, but we had a fun time anyway. On the first afternoon, we just hung around, and waited for the last people to arrive that night. On Saturday we had a full day of orientation with the AFS volunteers (who were all returnees. They ran the whole camp and they were brilliant!) Our group was made up of the NZers, the Australians (just the two of them) and some of the Americans. We were taken by Lisa, who went to Australia, and Teresa who had gone to the US on AFS exchanges. From them we learnt a new game, which is the reson that I am now covered in bruises. It's called 'Demonstration' (like, a protest) , and you gather around on the floor in a very tight circle while the 'Police' have to try and untangle and seperate you. It's very violent and very very fun. I think I bit someone at some point.... -whistles-
essing, but we had a fun time anyway. On the first afternoon, we just hung around, and waited for the last people to arrive that night. On Saturday we had a full day of orientation with the AFS volunteers (who were all returnees. They ran the whole camp and they were brilliant!) Our group was made up of the NZers, the Australians (just the two of them) and some of the Americans. We were taken by Lisa, who went to Australia, and Teresa who had gone to the US on AFS exchanges. From them we learnt a new game, which is the reson that I am now covered in bruises. It's called 'Demonstration' (like, a protest) , and you gather around on the floor in a very tight circle while the 'Police' have to try and untangle and seperate you. It's very violent and very very fun. I think I bit someone at some point.... -whistles-
Oh yes. In the school, the Australians, a few of us NZers and one or two Americans went exploring and came across a beautiful old c
hurch.
hurch.I don't really know what to say about it.. but it was amazing, and everything was so intricate and detailed.
So that was the camp. Here's a photo of all 150 of us :D
On Sunday people got picked up from the camp by their host families, and afterwards, the rest of us went to the train station. On the way, Stefan (a returnee who had gone to Peru) pointed out a Hundertwasser building. I'll try to find a photo of it somewhere. It was amazing.
anyhu. were going to town now, and i shall write more later.
Tchuess! xoxo
Montag 10 Semptember
Oki doke (this blog takes willpower dontcha know?)
Here goes. Whats happened lately. Yesterday! Yesterday was Sunday and what did we do. Well.. the morning started off slowly, because I'd stayed up a little too long on Saturday night on the computer. However, at 1 Andreas dad came and we went driving again (Andrea did) and went to a practise parking place that usually costs but is free on Sundays. Afterwards, we went out of Innsbruck a little to her aunts house (another one). Maria (Andreas aunt) lives with her husband .. Harald?, and her two children David, whos 12 and Mari (I think thats how you spell it) whos 14 (though she doesnt act 14 at all.. she looks older than Andrea.) Their house is big and old and is sooooo pretty! Its on the top of a hill and theres huge fields full of really green, long grass and apple trees, and it has a almost panoramic view of all the snow covered hills and you can look over the whole of Innsbruck. And there were sunflowers!
Ok.. thats my rant about their house over. The whole family were soo nice. Always smiling and
they talked nicely for me (none of this weird Austrian accent thing) so I could understand them.I understood a lot actually. I wish everyone would speak like that. For some reason some people talk to me (like the bus driver the other night 'zehn cent!' he said like three times over, and I had NO idea what he was on about) and I can't understand them at all, but with Maria and Harald and all the rest of them were so easy to understand and so nice and friendly. While we were sitting down and having food (a sponge cake thing with fresh cream and raspberry sauce stuff) (my jeans still fit me) (and there was coffee! Yuss!! Andrea and Hanni dont drink coffee.. I think I'll die in a few months) some more of the family popped around to say hello. and then some more. and some more. Among them were two little boys.. one of whom was starting his first day of school on monday. Its custom here to give (or for the child to make) a cone, filled with lollies as a present for their first day of school. So both of them came along with their huge blue cones decorated with dinosaurs and steam trains which were filled to the brim. They all went outside with Harald and sang songs about the first day of school and learning to read and write and things (it was so cute!)while some of us stayed inside.
I've found that you can watch and listen to other people having a conversation in several different ways, you can block your ears and watch their physical movements and hand gestures, as well as their expressions and things like that. Then you can listen to the tone of their voice, how fast theyre talking, and whether they emphasize particular words, and then you can listen to the words themselves, and hopefully you can pick up the general gist of what theyre talking about from there. I find that adults and really little kids are much easier to understand in their normal talk than teenagers are (this is when they're speaking fast.. ), just because theyre so much more precise with the words, whereas Andrea is terrible, and kinda chews over her words and hardly moves her mouth at all.
Anyhu. So about 10 different parts of the family turned up and left again (the neighbour also popped in, aswell as two friends) - I have no idea what any of their names are beacause there were seriously about 30 of them, and yeah. Andrea and Maria told me about the cave man, whos name I've also forgotten (never bother trying to remember names.. you're an exchange student.. they all understand :P ) who died in the mountains somewhere on the boarder of Austria (Tirol.. the state I'm in) and Italy, and who's body was perfectly preserved because he was frozen solid. Apparently last year Andrea had a History teacher who's husband was a university lecturer, who for some reason had studied this sort of area of something. So Andrea learnt about this cave man (begins with 'U'.. still cant remember though)for a whole half a year. Mari and I fooled around on the guitar a bit, and I showed Harald and Maria and Konnie (Andreas dad) and their neighbour and probably some other people too Wellington.. on Google Earth. It was weird.. looking down on New Zealand. Just.. weird. And I explained about the snow we have on the volcanoes and the Southern Alps and Lake Taupo and lots of things.
Anyhu, we finally left at around 6, and Harald gave both me and Andrea a bar of Austrian chocolate- for our first day of school. It was really sweet.
We got home and were immediately called by Manuel - a friend and flatmate of Andrea's boyfriend (who is currently in Surrey, England) who had cancelled on us Thursday night. He wanted to know if we'd like to go to the open air Kino..uh. cinema with him and some friends, as Sunday night was the last night it was open until next summer (August.. by which time I will be home. Already!) So.. off we went. The open air Kino is in an old.. I'm not sure if battlement is the right word.. the place where they kept weapons in olden times. There was a big square courtyard, filled with white plastic garden chairs, and the screen was Huge. Manuel seemed quite nice, though we didn't have much chance to talk very much, as .. well. we were watching the film. The film being 'Zorba of Crete' or Zorba the Greek. or something like that. It was very very old, and.. very strange. In english with german subtitles.. it was just really odd. I've never seen anything like it..go and research it! We really enjoyed it though..it was just. a bit weird. There were quite a lot of people though, and although it started raining half way through, it stopped pretty quickly, and I think everyone enjoyed it. We were all huddled up in our blankets, and it was really pretty cos, because everyone smokes (I swear Manuel had about 10 cigarettes during the movie.. it was pretty ridiculous) every few minutes there'd be a spark somewhere in the audience as the lit up their smoke. It looked quite pretty.
Then there was today! Today was my first day of school. It was.. interesting. First impressions reminded me more of an American High school than anything else. Oh yeah.. I was met by Sabbi and Peter and their friend Nadia at the busstop and we walked there together, and yeah. Today was just an admin day (it's their first day back too.. after their looooong 9 week summer holidays).. sorting out timetables and things. My form teacher equivilent seems a little strange. I told her that I'd finished school in NZ and she looked at me like I was stupid and asked why I was here then. So Peter and I (who had stayed to help me out, and translate and things- he'd already finished school for the day) tried to explain AFS to her.. but she didn't really get it. It was a bit strange. Then she wanted to change me to a lower class, because my german isn't great, but 10 year olds speak the same german as 17 year olds and i would understand just as much of their german as I would of anyone else's, so I didn't think it would really make much difference. Anyhu, we went and talked to the headmaster, and he seemed really nice, and said that I should stay where I was, although I will take a lower german class. There are 18 people in my class, and most of the time we'll stick together, and be in the same classroom. Some of them came up and introduced themselves, and Peter has a friend in my class, so hopefully it'll be ok. They all seem quite nice, if a little.. well, half of them had dyed their hair black or blonde and had lip piercings and wore bright white hoodies with pink or blue stars (that seems to be the in thing at the mo) all over them. So.. we'll see. I'm sure they're nice enough. I just have no idea what they're saying. All the boys are really quiet. (are you shocked? there are boys! at my school! -gasp-)
but yes. I'm sure I forgot something. Oh yeah. I'm doing thirteen subjects.
Here they are:
Maths, Geography, Psychology(and Philosophy.. kinda mixed into one apparently), English, Art, Woodwork, Ethics, German, French, Physics, Chemistry, History and PE.
and out of all of those the only choices I could make were between French and Italian, and Ethics and Religious Studies and Woodworks and something weird that I dont understand. Crazy huh? I think I have around two or three hours of each subject a week. Which will also be different. And yes. I now have my monthly bus ticket (fourty euros! Luckily AFS pays it back) and hopefully everything will run smoothly!
Anyhu
I've been writing for ages, and yes.
Take care! Sorry.. cant seem to sort out the blog problem. but I'msure you'll cope.
Take care.
Kelda.
Here goes. Whats happened lately. Yesterday! Yesterday was Sunday and what did we do. Well.. the morning started off slowly, because I'd stayed up a little too long on Saturday night on the computer. However, at 1 Andreas dad came and we went driving again (Andrea did) and went to a practise parking place that usually costs but is free on Sundays. Afterwards, we went out of Innsbruck a little to her aunts house (another one). Maria (Andreas aunt) lives with her husband .. Harald?, and her two children David, whos 12 and Mari (I think thats how you spell it) whos 14 (though she doesnt act 14 at all.. she looks older than Andrea.) Their house is big and old and is sooooo pretty! Its on the top of a hill and theres huge fields full of really green, long grass and apple trees, and it has a almost panoramic view of all the snow covered hills and you can look over the whole of Innsbruck. And there were sunflowers!
Ok.. thats my rant about their house over. The whole family were soo nice. Always smiling and
they talked nicely for me (none of this weird Austrian accent thing) so I could understand them.I understood a lot actually. I wish everyone would speak like that. For some reason some people talk to me (like the bus driver the other night 'zehn cent!' he said like three times over, and I had NO idea what he was on about) and I can't understand them at all, but with Maria and Harald and all the rest of them were so easy to understand and so nice and friendly. While we were sitting down and having food (a sponge cake thing with fresh cream and raspberry sauce stuff) (my jeans still fit me) (and there was coffee! Yuss!! Andrea and Hanni dont drink coffee.. I think I'll die in a few months) some more of the family popped around to say hello. and then some more. and some more. Among them were two little boys.. one of whom was starting his first day of school on monday. Its custom here to give (or for the child to make) a cone, filled with lollies as a present for their first day of school. So both of them came along with their huge blue cones decorated with dinosaurs and steam trains which were filled to the brim. They all went outside with Harald and sang songs about the first day of school and learning to read and write and things (it was so cute!)while some of us stayed inside.
I've found that you can watch and listen to other people having a conversation in several different ways, you can block your ears and watch their physical movements and hand gestures, as well as their expressions and things like that. Then you can listen to the tone of their voice, how fast theyre talking, and whether they emphasize particular words, and then you can listen to the words themselves, and hopefully you can pick up the general gist of what theyre talking about from there. I find that adults and really little kids are much easier to understand in their normal talk than teenagers are (this is when they're speaking fast.. ), just because theyre so much more precise with the words, whereas Andrea is terrible, and kinda chews over her words and hardly moves her mouth at all.
Anyhu. So about 10 different parts of the family turned up and left again (the neighbour also popped in, aswell as two friends) - I have no idea what any of their names are beacause there were seriously about 30 of them, and yeah. Andrea and Maria told me about the cave man, whos name I've also forgotten (never bother trying to remember names.. you're an exchange student.. they all understand :P ) who died in the mountains somewhere on the boarder of Austria (Tirol.. the state I'm in) and Italy, and who's body was perfectly preserved because he was frozen solid. Apparently last year Andrea had a History teacher who's husband was a university lecturer, who for some reason had studied this sort of area of something. So Andrea learnt about this cave man (begins with 'U'.. still cant remember though)for a whole half a year. Mari and I fooled around on the guitar a bit, and I showed Harald and Maria and Konnie (Andreas dad) and their neighbour and probably some other people too Wellington.. on Google Earth. It was weird.. looking down on New Zealand. Just.. weird. And I explained about the snow we have on the volcanoes and the Southern Alps and Lake Taupo and lots of things.
Anyhu, we finally left at around 6, and Harald gave both me and Andrea a bar of Austrian chocolate- for our first day of school. It was really sweet.
We got home and were immediately called by Manuel - a friend and flatmate of Andrea's boyfriend (who is currently in Surrey, England) who had cancelled on us Thursday night. He wanted to know if we'd like to go to the open air Kino..uh. cinema with him and some friends, as Sunday night was the last night it was open until next summer (August.. by which time I will be home. Already!) So.. off we went. The open air Kino is in an old.. I'm not sure if battlement is the right word.. the place where they kept weapons in olden times. There was a big square courtyard, filled with white plastic garden chairs, and the screen was Huge. Manuel seemed quite nice, though we didn't have much chance to talk very much, as .. well. we were watching the film. The film being 'Zorba of Crete' or Zorba the Greek. or something like that. It was very very old, and.. very strange. In english with german subtitles.. it was just really odd. I've never seen anything like it..go and research it! We really enjoyed it though..it was just. a bit weird. There were quite a lot of people though, and although it started raining half way through, it stopped pretty quickly, and I think everyone enjoyed it. We were all huddled up in our blankets, and it was really pretty cos, because everyone smokes (I swear Manuel had about 10 cigarettes during the movie.. it was pretty ridiculous) every few minutes there'd be a spark somewhere in the audience as the lit up their smoke. It looked quite pretty.
Then there was today! Today was my first day of school. It was.. interesting. First impressions reminded me more of an American High school than anything else. Oh yeah.. I was met by Sabbi and Peter and their friend Nadia at the busstop and we walked there together, and yeah. Today was just an admin day (it's their first day back too.. after their looooong 9 week summer holidays).. sorting out timetables and things. My form teacher equivilent seems a little strange. I told her that I'd finished school in NZ and she looked at me like I was stupid and asked why I was here then. So Peter and I (who had stayed to help me out, and translate and things- he'd already finished school for the day) tried to explain AFS to her.. but she didn't really get it. It was a bit strange. Then she wanted to change me to a lower class, because my german isn't great, but 10 year olds speak the same german as 17 year olds and i would understand just as much of their german as I would of anyone else's, so I didn't think it would really make much difference. Anyhu, we went and talked to the headmaster, and he seemed really nice, and said that I should stay where I was, although I will take a lower german class. There are 18 people in my class, and most of the time we'll stick together, and be in the same classroom. Some of them came up and introduced themselves, and Peter has a friend in my class, so hopefully it'll be ok. They all seem quite nice, if a little.. well, half of them had dyed their hair black or blonde and had lip piercings and wore bright white hoodies with pink or blue stars (that seems to be the in thing at the mo) all over them. So.. we'll see. I'm sure they're nice enough. I just have no idea what they're saying. All the boys are really quiet. (are you shocked? there are boys! at my school! -gasp-)
but yes. I'm sure I forgot something. Oh yeah. I'm doing thirteen subjects.
Here they are:
Maths, Geography, Psychology(and Philosophy.. kinda mixed into one apparently), English, Art, Woodwork, Ethics, German, French, Physics, Chemistry, History and PE.
and out of all of those the only choices I could make were between French and Italian, and Ethics and Religious Studies and Woodworks and something weird that I dont understand. Crazy huh? I think I have around two or three hours of each subject a week. Which will also be different. And yes. I now have my monthly bus ticket (fourty euros! Luckily AFS pays it back) and hopefully everything will run smoothly!
Anyhu
I've been writing for ages, and yes.
Take care! Sorry.. cant seem to sort out the blog problem. but I'msure you'll cope.
Take care.
Kelda.
Freitag 7 September
*the last post has somehow moved down to the bottom of the page. there are photos! Read that one first!*
Yesterday we went and did a bit of (grocery) shopping, before we were met by Andreas dad. Andrea then drove us out of town a bit, and we were surrounded by huge corn fields and tiny little villages- with lots of log houses and flower boxes at the windows and things. They were so adorable.. i didn't bring my camera though. There were no footpaths-the front door of a house would go straight out onto the cobbled street. On the top of every small hill we passed was a church with a tall spirally bell tower, and as we drove along next to the corn fields, we were chased by swallows! There were hawks on the powerlines, and horses wandering alongside the road with their owners. We went back to Andreas dads house and had tea before driving back home.
We then rushed into town to meet up with one of Andreas friends Marc. We walked along the Inn river before going into a bar. (I'm legal! woooooooo!) After a few hours of sitting and talking we were joined by Marc's friend Johannes, who greeted all of us with a kiss on each cheek. Later still, Laurig (I think thats how you spell it) came (extra kisses from Johannes.. they were taking the piss though). Johannes attempted to teach me some German slang and swear words. At about 11 we went downstairs where there was a free concert (I'll give you three guesses why it was free) (Hint: it was friday). By 12 I was exhausted, so we went out (Johannes and Laurig had already left) and waited for a bus and that was it!
Some things about Austrian bars;
They're called 'Local's. Everyone is allowed to smoke inside (which results in me still STINKING of smoke 40 hours later.) Dogs are allowed inside. Aaaand the beers are huge! I have no idea how the boys managed four each. One was enough for me! =\
Today we went out for pizza with Andreas dad. His english isn't fantastic, which is great for me, and today we spoke about 75% german! (Andrea's english is perfect). He showed us the best place for pizza (in his opinion - so far, I'm with him) which was a tiny little pizza\pasta\kebab place (they're very keen on those here.. they're everywhere) that had lots of old, black and white photographs on the red walls - things like a man rollerblading naked up a street (complete with trams) in Los Angeles. It was really cute. AND I ordered my pizza myself! Afterwards, he showed me where he worked, and then we wandered around the streets and bought icecream (it was a warm day - everyone was sitting next to the big water fountain in Maria-Theresa Strasse eating icecream). I'm slow at deciding, and a lot of the icecreams I didn't know what they were because the names of nuts and things were all in german. I finally ordered something (I have no idea what it was called) that was pretty much vanilla with chocolate bits in it, and Andrea was like '...And?' and I flustered-ly chose the first one that came to mind, being vanilla. Which was a bit silly. It tasted good anyway :P
We left Andreas dad, and wandered into the old part of the city (actually we caught a tram, and then realised it was the wrong one, so we just walked). There are a whole lot of Locals underneath a bridge where the train runs (my train from Vienna went this way too). All the houses are painted bright colours (theyre so cute!). We kept walking, throught the really rich part of Innsbruck, where there are lots of mansions (called 'Ville' in german. I think). But they're not like the mansions in NZ- they're completely rediculous- more like churches than houses. And with lots of old sculptures and little finishins in Iron over the front door, and wide, quiet streets lined with Linden(?) trees, which make the light really soft and green and nice. We also found a .. well, it was a church, but it was also an international school for priests, complete with Gargoyles! I was kinda completely in awe the whole time, cos everything was so big, and all made of brick and really oooooold and just amazing. Then we came home, and I fell asleep for two hours cos I was so tired (must've been from last night- it's the first time I've fallen asleep before 8pm since I've been here) and here I am! Tomorrow we're apparently inviting ourselves (with Andreas dad) to Aunt Marias house for.. something. I dont really know, but I'm guessing I'll find out once we're there. Andrea has a ridiculous amount of cousins and aunts and just relatives in general-did i mention that?
But yes. Now we're going to watch The Sound of Music! It's the first time Andrea's seen it, and No, I did Not pressure her into it- she wanted to watch it! (but she has her doubts about it.. I think she'll like it though. I think... hope..)
anyhu. Missing you all!
Take care and tell me whats going on in the little land of the long white cloud
Ciao! (they say ciao here! Its so cool XD )
love kelda
Yesterday we went and did a bit of (grocery) shopping, before we were met by Andreas dad. Andrea then drove us out of town a bit, and we were surrounded by huge corn fields and tiny little villages- with lots of log houses and flower boxes at the windows and things. They were so adorable.. i didn't bring my camera though. There were no footpaths-the front door of a house would go straight out onto the cobbled street. On the top of every small hill we passed was a church with a tall spirally bell tower, and as we drove along next to the corn fields, we were chased by swallows! There were hawks on the powerlines, and horses wandering alongside the road with their owners. We went back to Andreas dads house and had tea before driving back home.
We then rushed into town to meet up with one of Andreas friends Marc. We walked along the Inn river before going into a bar. (I'm legal! woooooooo!) After a few hours of sitting and talking we were joined by Marc's friend Johannes, who greeted all of us with a kiss on each cheek. Later still, Laurig (I think thats how you spell it) came (extra kisses from Johannes.. they were taking the piss though). Johannes attempted to teach me some German slang and swear words. At about 11 we went downstairs where there was a free concert (I'll give you three guesses why it was free) (Hint: it was friday). By 12 I was exhausted, so we went out (Johannes and Laurig had already left) and waited for a bus and that was it!
Some things about Austrian bars;
They're called 'Local's. Everyone is allowed to smoke inside (which results in me still STINKING of smoke 40 hours later.) Dogs are allowed inside. Aaaand the beers are huge! I have no idea how the boys managed four each. One was enough for me! =\
Today we went out for pizza with Andreas dad. His english isn't fantastic, which is great for me, and today we spoke about 75% german! (Andrea's english is perfect). He showed us the best place for pizza (in his opinion - so far, I'm with him) which was a tiny little pizza\pasta\kebab place (they're very keen on those here.. they're everywhere) that had lots of old, black and white photographs on the red walls - things like a man rollerblading naked up a street (complete with trams) in Los Angeles. It was really cute. AND I ordered my pizza myself! Afterwards, he showed me where he worked, and then we wandered around the streets and bought icecream (it was a warm day - everyone was sitting next to the big water fountain in Maria-Theresa Strasse eating icecream). I'm slow at deciding, and a lot of the icecreams I didn't know what they were because the names of nuts and things were all in german. I finally ordered something (I have no idea what it was called) that was pretty much vanilla with chocolate bits in it, and Andrea was like '...And?' and I flustered-ly chose the first one that came to mind, being vanilla. Which was a bit silly. It tasted good anyway :P
We left Andreas dad, and wandered into the old part of the city (actually we caught a tram, and then realised it was the wrong one, so we just walked). There are a whole lot of Locals underneath a bridge where the train runs (my train from Vienna went this way too). All the houses are painted bright colours (theyre so cute!). We kept walking, throught the really rich part of Innsbruck, where there are lots of mansions (called 'Ville' in german. I think). But they're not like the mansions in NZ- they're completely rediculous- more like churches than houses. And with lots of old sculptures and little finishins in Iron over the front door, and wide, quiet streets lined with Linden(?) trees, which make the light really soft and green and nice. We also found a .. well, it was a church, but it was also an international school for priests, complete with Gargoyles! I was kinda completely in awe the whole time, cos everything was so big, and all made of brick and really oooooold and just amazing. Then we came home, and I fell asleep for two hours cos I was so tired (must've been from last night- it's the first time I've fallen asleep before 8pm since I've been here) and here I am! Tomorrow we're apparently inviting ourselves (with Andreas dad) to Aunt Marias house for.. something. I dont really know, but I'm guessing I'll find out once we're there. Andrea has a ridiculous amount of cousins and aunts and just relatives in general-did i mention that?
But yes. Now we're going to watch The Sound of Music! It's the first time Andrea's seen it, and No, I did Not pressure her into it- she wanted to watch it! (but she has her doubts about it.. I think she'll like it though. I think... hope..)
anyhu. Missing you all!
Take care and tell me whats going on in the little land of the long white cloud
Ciao! (they say ciao here! Its so cool XD )
love kelda
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Donnerstag 6 Semptember
Some things I've found in Austria:
A New Zealand flag, fancy that..
My bedroom (it was messier before.. sorry mum!)
Nutellaaaaaaa! I won't die now see.. I have my friend!
A lightswitch
Ice Teeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!(you have to try it..it's sooooo goooooood)
All Austrians have messy bedrooms.
A cool bottle I found in Andreas room
Hausschuhe
All Austrians have jeans like these.
I could feel a little out of place in my skinny jeans....
Andrea is tired today. Even though we got up late. It's raining. And grey. You can't really see the snow on the mountains, and it's too cold to go out. Well, it's not. But we're lazy.
However, we are happy because I have a school!! It's an arty school - the same one that Sabbi goes to, which should be cool. I didn't get into the music part of it, but I'm in the arts part which shall be cool. It'll be interesting to see how my science and maths is, seeing as I haven't done either in two years.
We were going to go out last night, but Andrea's boyfriends' friend is silly and forgot to call us back. So we're going to go to her cousin's place (right next door) tonight to watch House on tv, and tomorrow night we'll go out with another friend of hers. Who is more organised we hope XD
No mail yet- send me postcards!!! and lots and lots of photos and I'll put them on my wall!
erm. I can't think of anything else to write. Oooh i cooked today. Be proud! I never cook.. we made stir fry. which was good.
and yes. That is all.
Ciao!
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