Hello Hello!
I know that its been over a month since I've written, but the motivation and material has finally come. Yesterday we received our first day of snow here in Vienna. I was pleasantly surprised to find it blowing with the wind outside of our classroom window, that the rest of my German exercises in classes included snow or snowmen in one way or another-- it helped that we were doing grammar that related to things that make us happy... or what we want to do in the future ( i.e. make snowmen). Because I have yet to receive my box of winter goodies (gloves, jacket, etc) from home, I went next door and bought a pair of fleece gloves. It was very exciting to see everyone so bundled up in the beginning of November. I think the snow caught everyone by surprise (based on the warm, fall weather we have been having recently), as hinted to me by the sudden influx of winter shoppers. They seemed to have the same idea as me, because the stores were absolutely packed all day. To accomodate this fun new twist on things, I had to buy spandex pants and a headband to keep me warm during rugby practice last night... now if only I could wear gloves in this sport. But it honestly wasn't too bad when running around (and not standing still, holding tackling pads for 10 min. at a time). Speaking of rugby, I am going to Hungary on for the day on Sunday for a game... funny how it is so convenient to play a game in another country instead of at our home field because its cheaper, but that's Europe!
I was so excited about the snow yesterday, that I wrote a little journal entry about it in German (basically what I already told you):
11/2/06
Heute haben wir der erste Schneefall des Winters gehabt. Der 2. November. Nie hab ich so bald in dem Jahr Schnee gesehen. Ich hab Handschuhe gekauft, gleich nach meiner Deutschklasse: Grüne, vliese Handschuhe, zu passen mit meinem Herbst-farbigen Kleidern. Ich kann nicht auf den ersten großen Schneefall warten, wenn die ganze Stadt weiß wäre; Wenn die Leute eilige haben, zu sofort drinnen gehen. Jedoch ich auf der Wind warten (der schlectest Teil Winters). Ohen Wind wäre der Winter perfekt.
Translation:
Today we had the first snowfall of the winter. The second of November. Never have I seen snow so early in the year. I bought gloves right after German class: green, fleece gloves, to match my fall-colored clothes. I can't wait for the first big snowfall, when all of the streets are covered in white, when everybody is in such a hurry to get inside. I can, however, wait for the wind (the worst part of winter). Without wind, winter would be perfect.
I bought my first German novel about a week ago, Schiffbruch mit Tiger, or in Life of Pi as called in English. I figured it would be a good challenge, but not too much of one, since I've read the English version a couple of times already, and have it here with me to refer to. Writing in German, for me, can be frustrating, because the structures of the languages are so different. My problem is that I write or speak in German as I would in English, which makes my study of German much more difficult than it needs to be... but I know that that's only natural, and will change with time and practice.
As far as work goes, I think that I'm learning the most about myself as I teach English. It is no doubt true that 'patience is a virtue', and I think that applies to effective teaching more than anything. I do think that I've improved in my ability to explain or give understandable definitions for foreign words, though. The kid that I mainly tutor (who's 17), just had an English test on Monday, so I think he finds out soon how he did on it-- I gave him lessons both Saturday and Sunday to prep him, and really hope he did well.
My job at the bar is going well too. I worked last on Halloween, and was the only one of the staff to dress up. I raided my friend Mo's closet, and found a goldmine of Halloween costumes, including a Formula 1 race car driver outfit, a sailor costume, baseball and football uniforms, and my favorite, his army clothes. I chose the latter, not thinking about the crap that I was bound to get from my boss: "Oh, so we have the American here to invade another country...". I should have seen it coming, but was obviously blinded by my fond liking of camo-gear and face paint when choosing my costume.
The other day I decided to take tourist pictures of Vienna. As you may know, this year is Mozart year here, are you can pretty much find anything you want relating to Mozart. Around every major tourist attraction, you will find at least 5 guys (sometimes girls too) dressed up in their finest Mozart outfits, being the best Mozarts they can be... they're actually there to sell opera and symphony tickets, but we'll just ignore that. Im sorry that I didnt take pictures of them earlier (before the fridged temperatures hit), because now they cover a lot of their outfits with Mozart jackets. On a good day you can even see them wearing the wigs too-- Im just hoping that those will become replacements for modern day hats. My friend Gwen from Vancouver has been collecting newspaper clippings, random mozart stuff, etc. that are typical of Vienna, and sending them home to friends. In light of that idea, I decided to go around and take pictures of all things Vienna as I walked around, to give you all an idea of what I see everyday. I posted the new pictures at http://washington.facebook.com/photos.php?id=10700857&l=560be so hopefully you'll get a chance to see what my life here is like (briefly). I definitely still need to make a point to take more pictures.
You are all amazing and I miss you now more than ever. If you get a chance, please write me an update (about the weather or your life.. whatever you feel appropriate). In the meantime, I'll be brainstorming up new material...
