Long Update

This post is actually an email I sent out on Sept 30th. If I didn't send it to you it's not cause I don't love you. Send me an email, and I promise to write back.

The Short Version:

I made it to Austria, and it is nice here. Next week I have a seminar on how to teach, and the week after that I start teaching.

Long Version:

After Bike and Build my life became quite a bit less exciting. I worked at the Anchor Inn as a waitress, and slept, and worked, but made quite a bit of money. I also got rather sick of people. I have officially decided that being a waitress, even though if you work at the right place it pays well, it is not my dream job. I did manage to have some fun while I was back in Maine. I baked some cakes with my new Kitchen Aid Mixer that my grandparents got me for graduation. Unfortunately it was too big and heavy to make the trip across the big pond. In typical college/American tradition this usually occurred around midnight since my partner in crime Katherine Koch also waitresses and our days off never coincided . I also was able to have
a party on Louds Island with some of my friends. There was a full moon and sitting the Bushnell's Beach I realized it is one of the pretty places in the world. I guess I'll just have to go back there someday. I wanted to keep riding, but in Maine it was unsafe to ride home from work in the dark. My days off were usually filled either with sleeping, or attempting to get ready for Austria I did not get that many rides in. OK I will be honest I got two over 10 miles rides
in. My poor bike. I miss it already. It did not make it to Austria, because as much as I love it, it wasn't worth the $250 it would have been to fly it one way. It would almost have been cheaper to buy it it's own seat on the plane. I also finally got the quilt that my mother and I have been working on since the beginning of college put together. Now we just have to finish the boarder, put the back on, and quilt it. Yup it should be ready in time for my great grand children.

So after putting everything I own in a suitcase, and 2 backpacks I was off. First stop was Munich. In typical Suz fashion of leaving everything to the last minute I didn't actually know I had a place to stay in Bad Ischl until about a week before hand, and then I didn't know when I could move in until two days before I left the country. Oops. Although I was proud that I had one of my two bags pack a whole 40 hours before my plane left. They were on the heavy side. I knew that I could bring 50 lbs (23 kilos) per bag with me. So I am standing there checking my bags in, and my Dad asks me how much my suitcase weighs. I tell him quietly 23.8 kg. He then proceeds to ask me how heavy it can be. I roll my eyes and tell him 23 kg, and that I really can't take him anywhere. Luckily the guy behind the counter pretended that he didn't hear this discussion, and I was not forced to pay anything extra. Yup really can't take my father anywhere without him embarrassing me.

My flight was very uneventful I was in a new Jet so each seat had it's own TV. It was exciting. Linda and David picked me up in Munich. Back story: In high school Linda studied abroad at my high school for a year. We became friends. I then lived with her and her parents Rita and Hans when I was a nanny for another family in Murnau. David is Linda's brother who lives in Heidelberg. So in essence I blame her for my learning German. We then met up with Rita for lunch at the same restaurant where they took me the first time I came to Germany. It was where I stood before the bathrooms and wondered if I was Herr or a Damme. My German has come a little ways since that first day, and although I was super tired slipping back into German is going quite smoothly. Other highlights of the first week. I visited Rita and Hans in Murnau, and had a delightful evening with them and their neighbor Heidi. Linda and I baked The Chocolate Birthday Cake for one of Linda's friends. It turned out well although was not as
good as my Grandmother's. I went to Oktoberfest twice. The first time we just walked around, and the second time I met up with Art, one of the other students from Freiburg, and did what Oktoberfest is known for: drank some beer. It was a fun night. The next day me and my large
amount of luggage traveled from Munich to Bad Ischl. I survived changing trains twice. By the time I arrived I had decided that next time I travel anywhere for a year it will be only with my toothbrush and Pandy. Everything else I can buy when I get there. The last train ride was beautiful through the Austrian Alps. I managed to stay awake for the entirety of it.

In Bad Ischl my landlady picked me up at the station and drove me the 200m to her house. I was so relived that she did. I am living for the first month in a Ferienwohnung and then hopefully will be moving into a regular apartment. A Ferienwohnung is an apartment that is
used primarily tourist, and rented for the week. It has a kitchen with utensils, and a bed with sheets, and my own bathroom. Mine is quite nice, and located right down town. Bad Ischl is small, and so I can get to everything by foot. Although, I am still thinking about buying a bike to get around. First I have to get the more important things such as cell phone, and my own internet. I am sending this from an internet café, and miss Dave Getchel's amazing ability to find
Internet everywhere. This morning Karl, who is one of the teachers I will be working with, and the one that arranged the apartment for me woke me at 9:50 am. I had been laying in bed considering getting up, when I hear a knock at my door. I quickly throw on some clothes, and
answer the door. Oh well so much for first impressions. He took me out to breakfast, and showed me the school where I will be teaching. He also showed me where I can get a cell phone, and hopefully a mobile internet card. So soon I may be contactable! He seems very nice, and
I hope someone good to work with.

The Future: Tomorrow I head to Saalbach, and where I learn how to teach in a week. It should be interesting. I am excited because I will be meeting some of the other Freiburgers that are doing the same program as I am. It should be fun, and we are supposed to bring our hiking shoes. Therefore I conduced that there are mountains there. Then I return to Bad Ischl, and start teaching the following Monday. I'm nervous about jumping right into teaching. I know that in Karl's class I will be responsible for teaching the whole class although hopefully not on the first day, which is good. It will give me lots of experience, but nerve racking at the same time. He will be in the classroom with me though. I also actually read some of the emails I got from my program, and found a whole bunch of lesson plans. EXCITING! I will be responsible for teaching 13 classes a week, and will be working in two different schools. It is supposed to work out
that I teach 4 days a week. Hopefully I can get a Monday or a Friday off so I can do some traveling. I went to the train station today, and surprisingly the Ticket guy was very helpful.

Umm that is the news from this side of the ocean. I hope to post pictures of my new apartment soon.