Flavor of the Day

It already seems like the days are whizzing by. Apparently, my preferred lifestyle is 14 hours of work a week with plenty of time left over for my hobbies and interests - aka lallygagging. I am a world class lallygagger.

This week, a pair of teachers from the Bakip (the school for kindergarten teachers), invited me along to a spa/bath resort in a town 30min away by car, in Germany. It was FANTASTIC. And I don't DO water. I'm like a tail-less dolphin, incredibly awkward and out of place in water. But this place was wonderful. The pair of teachers picked me up at the school, conveniently located right next door to my room, with a child apiece around 6pm. We then drove across the border, a river called the Inn.

The spa cost around 8.50 Euro and we stayed for three hours. The town, Füssing, has been the sight of several spa resorts for many years, ever since the natural hot springs were discovered. The water has a high sulfur content and is slightly radioactive (in good, natural ways). Many people visit from both Germany and Austria. There were many many different pools, all located outside and quite warm. We floated around from pool to pool, some with bubbles, some with fountains, some with currents, some boiling, some freezing - all different kinds! After we had spent time floating around, we took a rest in a 'quiet room', of which there were several different kinds as well. In some of the rooms even reading was prohibited. This was my first experience visiting a place devoted solely to relaxation. Hmm, I could get used to this!

Located on the same resort area were at least 7 different kinds of saunas. If you are like me, you only recognize one kind of sauna - HOT ones. Well, in Europe the art of heat has been well researched. There are all different kinds of saunas that involve applying various substances to your skin: everything from honey to cocoa. I only tried one, a "Dampfgrotto", a steam sauna. At the door to the inside, I could see a room that was heavily shrouded in steam, with walls and ceiling that resembled a brown cave. I grabbed a blue plastic mat to sit on (you wear clothes in this type of sauna), and stepped in. It was like breathing lava. After a few quick breaths through my nose, I gave up and breathed through my mouth. It was too uncomfortable. After a few moments, steam began to condense all over my body and I felt slick but not overly hot. I'm not sure how long I sat there; between focusing on breathing and noting the interesting sensation of boiling air filling my lungs, I kept my eyes on the exit. It was probably only five minutes that I was in there before I dashed outide, admnitting defeat. Several glances watched me with pity as I left, when, in fact, I pitied them and wished for nothing but cool air!

Strange thing is, it was THE BEST THING I COULD HAVE DONE FOR MYSELF. I've been breathing better than I have since coming here. Mom, Dad, and anyone else who wants to quit Claritin, you must try this Dampfgrotto! Best thing ever, I swear. :)

Thursday night, I played sports with some teachers for two hours - realized that I really do suck at that "be aggressive, hit the ball" facet of life. It was fun and afterwords we went to a traditional restaurant - went in through the BACK door, the perk of coming in with "regulars". I had knödel (Austrian dumplings) filled with three different variations of pig; on the side, I had sauerkraut and a white beer brewed in my town. I met some very fun people, including a retired teacher who made me happy about life through her smiles, laughter, and descriptive hand gestures. I got a ride back to my place, thankfully, because it was raining.

Friday was a day of little note, except that I finished "Monstrous Regiment" by Terry Prachett and started "Die Undendliche Geschichte" (The Neverending Story) by Michael Ende. It is, of course, quite good. The text is printed in two colors, red and green. The "real world" text is red and Phantasia text is green. The colors make me happy.

I went running for a bit this morning, discovered some nice back roads with bright orange ponies, and worked out in the tiny gym on top of our building. Refreshed, full of coffee and müsli, I contemplate the next part of today.