Taking Back Sunday

The internet is back! Apparently a rascally student had damaged the ethernet port in my room with a sharp object sometime in the past. But one grumbling German, a new port, and 4 hours later WULLAH! The posts can now resume:


Ì spent the weekend with my contact teacher outside of Ried in a little town known as Eberschwang. It was quite surprising to me that my teacher would still want me to come out and spend the weekend with her even though I was able to sneak into my dormitory before it closed for the weekend.

It has been a very heartening weekend. My contact teacher, Traudi, reminds me a bit of all the good people in my life. She reminds me of my mom a lot – the quilting, knitting, and general talent for all that she touches. She reminds me of friends from college – she’s jovial, curious, and upbeat. On Friday night, I was more exhausted than I have been yet, since being in Austria, and she outright told me, “This is your home.” And that’s just how I felt. After that first admittedly awkward evening, a groove was found and I settled into a comfort level.

It helped that she is an excellent cook and fed me with meals that rivaled my Mama-san of Japan in quality. We had LAMB for lunch on Saturday and VEAL on Sunday. Take THAT, organic, vegetarian farm in Sweden! It was excellent. For a bit of time on Saturday, I got a ride with the husband back into town. Norbert, the husband, is a flutist and a hobby glide/plane flyer who did most of the construction on their beautiful German house constructed nearly solely of wood.

In town, I purchased a phone card and found the bank and registration office where I will need to attend to a few things. Then Traudi picked me up and we went to the tiny airport where the husband flies for some pizza at a very cute pub/restaurant. I met a British couple who is now living abroad; the gentleman gave me one of his business cards although I have no clue what he does. And then we feasted on pizza and ice cream. When we got home, her two cats – a black and a gray – tackled us, acting much like dogs. Norbert was going to work late at the airport so just the two of us stayed up late talking books, culture, and quilting. Hey, I am open to many-a topic! ;)

Sunday, we awoke and went for an hour hike in the nearby woods. At the summit, we climbed a tall watch tower where you could see all the surrounding towns as well as the towering mountains to the south. I imagined myself on the frontier of middle earth – I’m in Hobbiton and far off in the distance is the angry mountain. Actually, it felt like LOTR meets Narnia. Ice Queen, anybody? Ah, I recently found out that the place where we spent orientation had nearly 70cm of snowfall the day after we left! Already! October and it’s coming. Granted, Traudi tells me that it will all have melted in a few days.

Anyway, after the hike, she cooked curry for me and that really cinched life into one ball of contentment.

Now I am back in my dormitory room and facing a grim life of pretzel snacks and apple juice for dinner. *sigh* Those tasty days of home cooked meals ended too quickly. But, on the other hand, it sounds like Arnold is having a rowdy conversation with somebody next door. The walls are thin.