Wow, it’s been a while since i wrote on here! I’ve been really busy and havn’t had a chance!
Mum and Roshie visited me two weeks ago, it was AMAZING we had such a good time and mum paid for EVERYTHING!! Yay! Mum made me a Sunday roast and Rosh provided true entertainment in a way only she can, examples of this were “aeroplanes dry my nasals out...” and “well i don’t know much but i do know your an idiot” hahaha god i miss her! It was really sad when they had to go home, and i had to go to school so i didn’t get to see them off which was gutting!
Last weekend was HALLOWEEN and Alaina came to visit me in schladderz! J Within hours of her arrival we had demolished 3 litres of Sturm and were well on our way to finishing off a six pack of Schladminger’s and being in merry mcmerry land! We went out in search of Nacho’s and found them we did..... they were the RANKEST nacho’s i have ever tasted, way too salty and with a honey mustard dressing on the side?????!!!!!! Errrrrrrm what are you playing at Austria...
Saturday was jokes... we went to play in the children’s playground and very nearly ended up having fisty cuffs with a 7 year old who was forcefully trying to evict us from the best swing in the whole area... (actually, if i’m being honest i think he would have totalled me and was more than a little bit scared of him and his 3 year old brother). So after this near miss we decided to leave the playground, fearing reprisals of some sort or, at worst some sort of play equipment related violence and moved on to spar to buy alcohol for the evenings festivities.
Due to my irrational fear of shop opening times in Austria and the fact that there was a bank holiday the following Monday, i decided it would be a good idea to hideously over-shop and towards the end of the spar trip resembled something along the lines of “maniac stocking up for the apocalypse”.... this was proven to be entirely unnecessary as the shops were, in fact open on the Monday..... very strange.....
Saturday evening was Halloween and we decided that it would be sacrilege to not go out again! We had a few Schladminger’s at myn and headed out to find a bar, we settled on somewhere called Tschugamuga’s which was without a doubt the most hilarious bar i’ve been in for a while! There were verging on a million football scarves and after a simple question about it to the bar man, we found ourselves being given the full frontal football scarf tour... turns out they are on rotation because there are too many to be out all at once, this, we were told is a logistical nightmare and is basically a full time job in itself.... interesting stuff..... Highlight of this bar was, without a doubt, being introduced to Tschugamuga beer! This stuff will blow your head off! Its about 9%, i had a few of them and was completely bungalowed!! J
Back to myn where i forced Alaina to watch the scariest movie i own... she wasn’t too keen at first but after i promised to stay awake till the end she agreed, i put it on, curled up in a ball and immediately fell aslepp...... soz Alaina..... hahahaha
So, Sunday rolled around and i dropped Alaina down at the station, bumped into Vroni who invited me over to Groebming for Franziska’s birthday party, i decided to go even though i looked like something that had crawled out from under a bridge somewhere and decided i could just find a quiet corner and hang out not bothering anyone with my offensive appearance.... no such luck, we arrived and walked through the door into a room full of screaming 13 year old girls all dressed as hippies! Sooo cute! Just as i was getting over this sudden increase in the level of noise being filtered into my (very sensitive) brain it was announced that the hip-hop lesson was about to begin.... errrrm cue speedy exit of me, vroni and cat, time for a very long walk with the dog i think!
So, this week at school passed in an excited blur, couldn’t wait for Vienna and by the time Friday rolled around i was more excited than words.... hundreds of assistants + Austria’s capital + Making party = oooooooh yes!
That was until i realised that there were numerous connections and a five hour journey standing between me and sturm with the other TA’s. Travelling on trains at the best of times in ENGLAND is somewhere between hell and a hard place for me, so as you can imagine this trip was somewhat daunting and i couldn’t wait for it to be over! J
It was every part as bad as i thought it was going to be, Friday evening train to Vienna..... very very busy. There were some extremely interesting characters occupying my carriages though, i think i radiate “weirdo’s talk to me” vibes. These included a couple with a serious misunderstanding of what is socially acceptable in the heavy petting department, a morbidly obese business man who i personally watched devour 2 filled baguettes and a family sized pack of kellys crisps and a family, the parents of whom smiled at you in that “awww aren’t our kids cute” way while their children attempted to break/draw on or generally destroy anything that looked even vaguely yours whilst simultaneously attempting to shatter your shin bones with the sheer force of consecutive drop kicks.... Thaks a lot OEBB....
I arrived at the station and met all the crew! Got back to Nichol’s and was handed a glass of sturm and a slice of pizza... mmmmm what happened thereafter can only be described as carnage, 48 hours of it! We got drunk in nichol’s, which by the way, is awesome, it’s right in the school! Woke up the next day and took the train into Vienna, looked around, went shopping, had lunch in the Australian bar, watched the rugby (Aus/England) and promptly got back on it... long island ice teas to begin with.... ouch! Saturday night was probably the best night iv ever lived through, we were partying all over the place!
Started off civilised, cocktails and academic conversations, next bar was a little less civilised (and a LOT more expensive) the American bar was ok, apart from a minor mishap with a candle and my hair.... thats right i set my hair on fire TAXI FOR FRANKIE! Next bar it all went out the window, at some point someone thought it would be a great idea to stand, hand on heart and recite the British national anthem.... far from being disgusted at our blatant British arrogance, the entire bar stood, placed their hand on their hearts and sang with us! I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again.... I LOVE AUSTRIA!
On to the club, where things get a little hazy, lots of dancing and photo games ensued, me and Nichol pretending we were promo girls for “Lion Bar” and demanding that strangers have a foto with us and the lion bar, which was completely fucked up and broken, i don’t know how anyone believed we were actually promo girls!!
So more party more party, until someone realised it was 6am and we should go and get the train, i fell asleep on the way home, woke up to walk to nichol’s and then fell asleep again, although i did give myself an internal high five when i woke up and realised i had managed to make the transition from going out clothes to pjamas without any wrong way round issues! J
The train back to Schladming was nothing short of horrific, i had the dirtiest hangover in the history of the living world and was not in the mood for any annoying train related situations at all........cue annoying train related situations, delays at every possible point in the trip and ticket checking whilst sleeping, a personal favourite of mine, thinking your being robbed and waking up in 2 seconds flat ready to kill for your handbag, only to be met by the apologetic/shocked face of the ticket conductor asking if he can see your ticket.
Got back to Schladderz about 12.00 and went straight to bed, but only had 2 hours at school today so that was good, and that takes us to the present moment, i’m sitting at my kitchen table updating my blog and wishing we could do this weekend all over again.... i truly love everyone who was involved and i reckon it would take somthing pretty incredible to make me forget it!!
Till next time! Tschuussss!! <3
Monday, 9 November 2009
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
So, it's been snowing for a good few weeks now, lot's of snow for 13 year old boys.... TO THROW AT ME!
That's right, last week i went out for a cigarette, walking along, minding my own bussiness, and admiring the view.... one minute i was happy as larry (and could see things)next minute i am ambushed by (approximately) eight 13 year old boys, cue semi-blindness, HARDCORE confusion and severe brain freeze. They not only savagely pelted me with snowballs but i was also given the snow equivalent of a cream pie to the face by at least three of them.... they thought this was hilarious, i was too traumatised to do anything but blink repeatedly... after they had finished their assault and were satisfied that they had exhausted all of the snow-related injuries they could inflict upon me, they just kind of sauntered off with a "see you this afternoon frankie"
Needless to say, i chain smoked about 28 cigarettes after this experience, and as the feeling began to seep back into my face, i made a silent vow to get them all back three times as hard later and stormed off back into the school.....
As i walked into the staffroom a few people looked up and looked a little bit shocked but i just assumed it was because i was new, oh nooooo it wasn't, my friend Theresia walks up to me and says "errm what happened to you on your fag break?!", "ahh nothing" i said (i wasn't about to volountarily admit i had been defeated by little boys), "go and look in the mirror" she says...
I don't know if anyone reading this has ever been snow bathed, but it tends to have a profound effect upon your general appearance, i looked, in short, like Cruella Deville enduring the very worst point of a nervous breakdown.
My make-up had all but abandoned me and was spread in a marbled pattern across my ENTIRE face, my hair was sticking up in ways i didn't even know it was possible for hair to stick up and my chest had turned a deep red colour as a signal of how pissed off my skin was with snow.... OH MY GOOOOOOOOD!
As i repaired the damage i repeaded the vow that i would get them back over and over and over (which means, i'm realising as i write this, that anybody who had seen me looking as i did before would probably have heard me talking to myself aswell... great).
Apart from this particular experience things have been going very well actually! I quite like teaching, it's fun and the kids are hilarious! Didn't see that one coming!
The mountains look so beautiful with the snow on them, i don't even mind getting up at 5 anymore because i cant wait to get outside and look at them again! :)
AND... drumroll please..... I HAVE FINALLY FOUND AN APPARTMENT! i move in tomorrow :) Just in time for Roshie and Mum's visit! i can't wait to see them, i miss everyone lots!
AND Kate is coming out for the ski opening on the 5th December, so we are going to party hard and maybe she will teach me how to be cool whilst strapping stuff to my feet and try to co-ordinate snow and gradients of varying levels.... hmm i'm not holding my breath
AND Darren and his irish buddies are going to be coming out in January! yay! I'm going to wheel them into my classes and make them speak in their N.I accents... yay!
Right well i need to pack my stuff, because it's allover the place! Should probably plan somthing to say to these kids tomorrow! :)
Tscusss, Bussi aus Schaldming x.x.x.x.x
That's right, last week i went out for a cigarette, walking along, minding my own bussiness, and admiring the view.... one minute i was happy as larry (and could see things)next minute i am ambushed by (approximately) eight 13 year old boys, cue semi-blindness, HARDCORE confusion and severe brain freeze. They not only savagely pelted me with snowballs but i was also given the snow equivalent of a cream pie to the face by at least three of them.... they thought this was hilarious, i was too traumatised to do anything but blink repeatedly... after they had finished their assault and were satisfied that they had exhausted all of the snow-related injuries they could inflict upon me, they just kind of sauntered off with a "see you this afternoon frankie"
Needless to say, i chain smoked about 28 cigarettes after this experience, and as the feeling began to seep back into my face, i made a silent vow to get them all back three times as hard later and stormed off back into the school.....
As i walked into the staffroom a few people looked up and looked a little bit shocked but i just assumed it was because i was new, oh nooooo it wasn't, my friend Theresia walks up to me and says "errm what happened to you on your fag break?!", "ahh nothing" i said (i wasn't about to volountarily admit i had been defeated by little boys), "go and look in the mirror" she says...
I don't know if anyone reading this has ever been snow bathed, but it tends to have a profound effect upon your general appearance, i looked, in short, like Cruella Deville enduring the very worst point of a nervous breakdown.
My make-up had all but abandoned me and was spread in a marbled pattern across my ENTIRE face, my hair was sticking up in ways i didn't even know it was possible for hair to stick up and my chest had turned a deep red colour as a signal of how pissed off my skin was with snow.... OH MY GOOOOOOOOD!
As i repaired the damage i repeaded the vow that i would get them back over and over and over (which means, i'm realising as i write this, that anybody who had seen me looking as i did before would probably have heard me talking to myself aswell... great).
Apart from this particular experience things have been going very well actually! I quite like teaching, it's fun and the kids are hilarious! Didn't see that one coming!
The mountains look so beautiful with the snow on them, i don't even mind getting up at 5 anymore because i cant wait to get outside and look at them again! :)
AND... drumroll please..... I HAVE FINALLY FOUND AN APPARTMENT! i move in tomorrow :) Just in time for Roshie and Mum's visit! i can't wait to see them, i miss everyone lots!
AND Kate is coming out for the ski opening on the 5th December, so we are going to party hard and maybe she will teach me how to be cool whilst strapping stuff to my feet and try to co-ordinate snow and gradients of varying levels.... hmm i'm not holding my breath
AND Darren and his irish buddies are going to be coming out in January! yay! I'm going to wheel them into my classes and make them speak in their N.I accents... yay!
Right well i need to pack my stuff, because it's allover the place! Should probably plan somthing to say to these kids tomorrow! :)
Tscusss, Bussi aus Schaldming x.x.x.x.x
Sunday, 11 October 2009
FRIENDS!
It's Sunday. I have just got back from Bad Ausee where i was visiting Alaina and Nichol... they are real people... i promise.
This visitation was agreed mid-week and for that reason by friday i was DESPERATE to get out of school, get on a train, go to Bad Ausee and feel (marginally) less like "that nobhead from england".
So... you can imagine the sense of acute distress i felt when i returned from Liezen and logged on to OEBB.at and found that NO train existed between Schladming and Bad Ausee. I knew at once that the website was lying to me because there are several students that come from Bad Ausee and go skiing in Schladming but no matter how many times i put it in it still came up with "the search you have entered has found no results"....
However being the level headed and calm person i am................... i promtly began hyperventilating, stopping just long enough to see through the growing black dots in front of my eyes to punch in Alaina's number and subject her to a bout of verbal diarrhea.
She, being the (actual) level headed person she is, logged on to OEBB.at and within seconds found the train i was supposed to take, you'd think the story ends there, i would realise the mistake i made and all would be in order... you would be wrong.
Even though i was being telephone coached through (one of the simplest) websites in online train booking history, i still could not find ANY results for my search and my anxiety was growing with every click of the mouse and every very politely written refusal to let me go to Bad Ausee... just as i felt sure i was going to keel over and die from the stress being put on my brain Alaina sent me a link to where she was looking and i found the train times... Thanks Alaina!!!!
Sturm was on my mind for the ENTIRE 2 hour journey there and when i got to the station Nichol and Alaina were waiting on the platform... love you bitches xx
We walked to Alaina's having great chats all the way there! i was relieved to learn that Nichol also has a highly unprofessional crush on several of the students she is teaching AND that Alaina has encountered quite a severe lack of enthusiasm on the part of her older students.... both of these were a source of much worry for me as i thought i was the only one, but no we are all as incompetent and unproffesional as eachother! yipeee!
Once we got to Alaina's (which, by the way is the cutest little appartment of all time), we proceeded to DEMOLISH three bottles of Sturm and a couple of beers before we decided, yes, its time, the diskothek awaits! We tried to look it up on the internet but couldnt get into the site and in our semi-drunken state definately couldn't navigate our way thrugh google maps and the such like.... Just as well the Salzhaus had strobe lights beaming into the sky then isn't it!!!
So off we trotted following the lights and eventually came across what looked like a scene from an 80's snuff movie, drunken austrians adorned the car park, blasting techno from their cars whilst "chillin" on the bonnet, chain smoking and stumbling around clearly thinking they were acting entirely normal, cue hysterical laughter from all three girls.
However there was one very "special" drunken austrian, who i think i will remember until the end of my days.... Mike, ahhh Mike. I think Mike deserves an entire paragraph, he was truly dancing to his own soundtrack in life. Our first encounter with Mike was whilst we were hanging around outside (i was smoking), Nichol turned around and said, "wow that guys hammered".... Mike was lying on the floor in the foetal position, all alone. When he finally got up, he staggered over to waiting car, which we assumed was his (much needed) lift home.... wrong! He was snubbed by his mates who drove off at top speed leaving Mike looking rather forlorn at the side of the road however, he only stayed looking forlorn for a couple of seconds before he directed his attention towards getting back inside the club, he took a cigarette out of his packet (which took a good 3 - 5 minutes), staggered past us and swifly fell asleep with his face pressed against the glass of the main entrance to the club.... errrrrm JOKES!
We collectivly decided that this guy was comedy value and invited him to have a drink with us, he accepted, many many funny things were experienced (mainly at mikes expense) before he flitted out of our lives and into the crowds of Slazhaus....
Saturday was the BEST sleep in ever! we just monged out all day before going to the supermarket to buy food, it took us a good 30 minutes of wandering around the supermarket aimlessly before buying a lettuce, some ice tea, 2 bottles of wine and a pear.... productive shopping trip eh?
On arriving home we experince flash backs of the night before, i had revealed at some point in the night that i have a cheese diary and that i am, in fact a massive cheese geek... i was about 80% sure that i had just ruined any chance of keeping these two ladies as friends after this revelation BUT amazingly, both of them are massive cheese geeks too! They can't get enough of the stuff, Nichol is actually such a hardcore cheese fiend that even though she is LACTOSE INTOLERANT she still munches away on cheese without any thought of the consequences!
Cue return trip to the supermarket, or to be more specific, the cheese counter! We buy looooooads of cheese, a baguette (and another bottle of wine), go home, get in our PJ's, put on a film, crack the bottle and STUFF our faces with cheesy goodness..... i am serious when i say that this combination might just be the most succesful "happiness formula" i have ever lived through... i was in heaven!
We stayed up till about midnight watching stuff on tv and drinking wine, then we all fell exhausted into bed... another great nights sleep and another great lie-in!
Sunday we just got up and lazed around, had a shower, watched spongebob, then Nichol left and me and Alaina just did more of the same really. Vroni was in Bad Ausee for a wedding and when i called her she said she'd give me a lift back to Schladders... SCORE! £7 saved on train fare and i just have to sit in the back of a car instead of on a stinky train!
I have just got back from Theres's house (the girl i think i'm going to live with), and have planned all of my lessons for the next few days so... all good in the hood!
Also we think we might have found an appartment! Going to view it on tuesday but defo not getting my hopes up, as you can read from my previous blogs, i do not seem to inspire people to a) tell the truth about the appartment or b) see any problem in making RIDICULOUS demands or offers in relation to living, furniture or price so... we'll see how it goes!
Going to bed now, i am one big fat Austrian granny since i moved here and seem to be incapable of keeping my eyes open after the strike of 10.30!
Tschuss xxxxxxxxxxxxx
This visitation was agreed mid-week and for that reason by friday i was DESPERATE to get out of school, get on a train, go to Bad Ausee and feel (marginally) less like "that nobhead from england".
So... you can imagine the sense of acute distress i felt when i returned from Liezen and logged on to OEBB.at and found that NO train existed between Schladming and Bad Ausee. I knew at once that the website was lying to me because there are several students that come from Bad Ausee and go skiing in Schladming but no matter how many times i put it in it still came up with "the search you have entered has found no results"....
However being the level headed and calm person i am................... i promtly began hyperventilating, stopping just long enough to see through the growing black dots in front of my eyes to punch in Alaina's number and subject her to a bout of verbal diarrhea.
She, being the (actual) level headed person she is, logged on to OEBB.at and within seconds found the train i was supposed to take, you'd think the story ends there, i would realise the mistake i made and all would be in order... you would be wrong.
Even though i was being telephone coached through (one of the simplest) websites in online train booking history, i still could not find ANY results for my search and my anxiety was growing with every click of the mouse and every very politely written refusal to let me go to Bad Ausee... just as i felt sure i was going to keel over and die from the stress being put on my brain Alaina sent me a link to where she was looking and i found the train times... Thanks Alaina!!!!
Sturm was on my mind for the ENTIRE 2 hour journey there and when i got to the station Nichol and Alaina were waiting on the platform... love you bitches xx
We walked to Alaina's having great chats all the way there! i was relieved to learn that Nichol also has a highly unprofessional crush on several of the students she is teaching AND that Alaina has encountered quite a severe lack of enthusiasm on the part of her older students.... both of these were a source of much worry for me as i thought i was the only one, but no we are all as incompetent and unproffesional as eachother! yipeee!
Once we got to Alaina's (which, by the way is the cutest little appartment of all time), we proceeded to DEMOLISH three bottles of Sturm and a couple of beers before we decided, yes, its time, the diskothek awaits! We tried to look it up on the internet but couldnt get into the site and in our semi-drunken state definately couldn't navigate our way thrugh google maps and the such like.... Just as well the Salzhaus had strobe lights beaming into the sky then isn't it!!!
So off we trotted following the lights and eventually came across what looked like a scene from an 80's snuff movie, drunken austrians adorned the car park, blasting techno from their cars whilst "chillin" on the bonnet, chain smoking and stumbling around clearly thinking they were acting entirely normal, cue hysterical laughter from all three girls.
However there was one very "special" drunken austrian, who i think i will remember until the end of my days.... Mike, ahhh Mike. I think Mike deserves an entire paragraph, he was truly dancing to his own soundtrack in life. Our first encounter with Mike was whilst we were hanging around outside (i was smoking), Nichol turned around and said, "wow that guys hammered".... Mike was lying on the floor in the foetal position, all alone. When he finally got up, he staggered over to waiting car, which we assumed was his (much needed) lift home.... wrong! He was snubbed by his mates who drove off at top speed leaving Mike looking rather forlorn at the side of the road however, he only stayed looking forlorn for a couple of seconds before he directed his attention towards getting back inside the club, he took a cigarette out of his packet (which took a good 3 - 5 minutes), staggered past us and swifly fell asleep with his face pressed against the glass of the main entrance to the club.... errrrrm JOKES!
We collectivly decided that this guy was comedy value and invited him to have a drink with us, he accepted, many many funny things were experienced (mainly at mikes expense) before he flitted out of our lives and into the crowds of Slazhaus....
Saturday was the BEST sleep in ever! we just monged out all day before going to the supermarket to buy food, it took us a good 30 minutes of wandering around the supermarket aimlessly before buying a lettuce, some ice tea, 2 bottles of wine and a pear.... productive shopping trip eh?
On arriving home we experince flash backs of the night before, i had revealed at some point in the night that i have a cheese diary and that i am, in fact a massive cheese geek... i was about 80% sure that i had just ruined any chance of keeping these two ladies as friends after this revelation BUT amazingly, both of them are massive cheese geeks too! They can't get enough of the stuff, Nichol is actually such a hardcore cheese fiend that even though she is LACTOSE INTOLERANT she still munches away on cheese without any thought of the consequences!
Cue return trip to the supermarket, or to be more specific, the cheese counter! We buy looooooads of cheese, a baguette (and another bottle of wine), go home, get in our PJ's, put on a film, crack the bottle and STUFF our faces with cheesy goodness..... i am serious when i say that this combination might just be the most succesful "happiness formula" i have ever lived through... i was in heaven!
We stayed up till about midnight watching stuff on tv and drinking wine, then we all fell exhausted into bed... another great nights sleep and another great lie-in!
Sunday we just got up and lazed around, had a shower, watched spongebob, then Nichol left and me and Alaina just did more of the same really. Vroni was in Bad Ausee for a wedding and when i called her she said she'd give me a lift back to Schladders... SCORE! £7 saved on train fare and i just have to sit in the back of a car instead of on a stinky train!
I have just got back from Theres's house (the girl i think i'm going to live with), and have planned all of my lessons for the next few days so... all good in the hood!
Also we think we might have found an appartment! Going to view it on tuesday but defo not getting my hopes up, as you can read from my previous blogs, i do not seem to inspire people to a) tell the truth about the appartment or b) see any problem in making RIDICULOUS demands or offers in relation to living, furniture or price so... we'll see how it goes!
Going to bed now, i am one big fat Austrian granny since i moved here and seem to be incapable of keeping my eyes open after the strike of 10.30!
Tschuss xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Tuesday, sometime in october
Today is a big fat pile of... how do you say in ze eeeengerleesh.....poo!
I didn't have to go into school today, which you'd think was a good thing..... IF I HAD ANY FRIENDS!
I woke up at about 8.00, had a shower and straightened my hair, went for a cigarette and then sat on my bed in this weird paralysed state of boredom for what felt like 20 minutes but when i looked at the clock 2 hours had passed...... 2 HOURS LOOKING AT MY FEET! At this point i was like "fuck this, i am not going to be the person who spends their year abroad teaching myself improvised podiatry... with my own feet as the only case study" and so began shamelessly preying upon unsuspecting Austrian village dwellers...
They didn't know what was coming but anyone who i even vaguely recognised was spotted, stalked and then skillfully ambushed in a way that meant that avoidance and/or escape was utterly futile. They were then subjected to an explosion of (approximately) 10 minutes of incoherent one way conversation before i screamed "TSCHUSSS" in their face and swiftly moved on to my next victim. Anyone who has ever known me to be prevented from interacting with human beings for more than 2 hours at any given time will be able to imagine just how overwhelming and/or terrifying this was for said victims... poor bastards.
Anyway, after about an hour of this particular excersise i ran out of steam and walked back to the appartment where i found a text from one of my teachers asking if i wanted to view an appartment with her at 5.30, i replied yes, of course i would.
HOWEVER, unexpectedly, i found myself double booked! I had to be at the bank at 5.30 to sign off on my bank account! It is a credit to my astonishingly apt skills in being disorganised that after almost three weeks of having NOTHING to do, i, Frankie Allum had managed to find two things to do at exactly the same time...
So, i went to the bank at 5, hoping for an earlier slot..... there wasn't one, finally got to see the lady and rushed through my signing as if the world was ending, finished there at about 5.40 and rang my teacher telling her that i was running late and that i would be there within ten minutes, i began running and as i got closer to the school vaguely registered that there were a lot of young people about, thought nothing of it... arrived at the school sweating profusely and if i'm honest looking pretty atrocious, which was when my teacher turned round and introduced me (for the first time) to my Matura class (A levels)... this was starting to become a bit of a habit (me looking awful when students were around)...
That over with we went to view the appartment, it was gorgeous. I asked how much it cost per month and he said 500 euros... very pricey but i loved it so much.... until he revealed the fact that he was taking EVERYTHING with him, the bed, the dining table, the sofa, the wardrobe, the cabinets, alllll of the kitchen ware.... at first i thought he might be joking and ventured somthing resembling a snort which was returned with a deadpan look of semi-revulsion, he was serious.... ooooooooook well thanks for your time, see you never!
So to sum up, it is becomming glaringly obvious that appartment hunting is not as easy as one might think, there are amny hidden dangers, or more to the point hidden questions such as "when you presented me with a fully furnished appartment for 500 euro a month and stood in the corner directing me around it.... did you actually mean that i should regard only the walls and floor because you are in fact, TAKING EVERYTHING ELSE?"
It is also (alarmingly) becoming a very real possibility that i may have to be that mental teacher that "enjoys school so much" that they camp on the lawn outside.... oh god it's too awful to even entertain..
On a positive note i was given the seating plans for Schladming today and had a LOT of fun with Franziska copying them out and learning their names with her!
I'm going to sign off before i begin thinking too vividly about waking up on the lawn outside school...
Ich hab euch lieb! Tschuss xxxxx
I didn't have to go into school today, which you'd think was a good thing..... IF I HAD ANY FRIENDS!
I woke up at about 8.00, had a shower and straightened my hair, went for a cigarette and then sat on my bed in this weird paralysed state of boredom for what felt like 20 minutes but when i looked at the clock 2 hours had passed...... 2 HOURS LOOKING AT MY FEET! At this point i was like "fuck this, i am not going to be the person who spends their year abroad teaching myself improvised podiatry... with my own feet as the only case study" and so began shamelessly preying upon unsuspecting Austrian village dwellers...
They didn't know what was coming but anyone who i even vaguely recognised was spotted, stalked and then skillfully ambushed in a way that meant that avoidance and/or escape was utterly futile. They were then subjected to an explosion of (approximately) 10 minutes of incoherent one way conversation before i screamed "TSCHUSSS" in their face and swiftly moved on to my next victim. Anyone who has ever known me to be prevented from interacting with human beings for more than 2 hours at any given time will be able to imagine just how overwhelming and/or terrifying this was for said victims... poor bastards.
Anyway, after about an hour of this particular excersise i ran out of steam and walked back to the appartment where i found a text from one of my teachers asking if i wanted to view an appartment with her at 5.30, i replied yes, of course i would.
HOWEVER, unexpectedly, i found myself double booked! I had to be at the bank at 5.30 to sign off on my bank account! It is a credit to my astonishingly apt skills in being disorganised that after almost three weeks of having NOTHING to do, i, Frankie Allum had managed to find two things to do at exactly the same time...
So, i went to the bank at 5, hoping for an earlier slot..... there wasn't one, finally got to see the lady and rushed through my signing as if the world was ending, finished there at about 5.40 and rang my teacher telling her that i was running late and that i would be there within ten minutes, i began running and as i got closer to the school vaguely registered that there were a lot of young people about, thought nothing of it... arrived at the school sweating profusely and if i'm honest looking pretty atrocious, which was when my teacher turned round and introduced me (for the first time) to my Matura class (A levels)... this was starting to become a bit of a habit (me looking awful when students were around)...
That over with we went to view the appartment, it was gorgeous. I asked how much it cost per month and he said 500 euros... very pricey but i loved it so much.... until he revealed the fact that he was taking EVERYTHING with him, the bed, the dining table, the sofa, the wardrobe, the cabinets, alllll of the kitchen ware.... at first i thought he might be joking and ventured somthing resembling a snort which was returned with a deadpan look of semi-revulsion, he was serious.... ooooooooook well thanks for your time, see you never!
So to sum up, it is becomming glaringly obvious that appartment hunting is not as easy as one might think, there are amny hidden dangers, or more to the point hidden questions such as "when you presented me with a fully furnished appartment for 500 euro a month and stood in the corner directing me around it.... did you actually mean that i should regard only the walls and floor because you are in fact, TAKING EVERYTHING ELSE?"
It is also (alarmingly) becoming a very real possibility that i may have to be that mental teacher that "enjoys school so much" that they camp on the lawn outside.... oh god it's too awful to even entertain..
On a positive note i was given the seating plans for Schladming today and had a LOT of fun with Franziska copying them out and learning their names with her!
I'm going to sign off before i begin thinking too vividly about waking up on the lawn outside school...
Ich hab euch lieb! Tschuss xxxxx
Monday, 5 October 2009
Week 3- First day at school x
This morning was insane!! I woke up at 5, had a shower and got ready to go, left the house at 5.45 and it was PITCH BLACK not just a bit dark or that kind of almost morning light but actually the middle of the night! The stars and the moon were out in force and all the way down the road i was just mumbling “this is mental, this is fucking mental” like some sort of deranged troll. Until i saw the 25 grumpy looking kids walking in single file (and defiant silence) towards the station, i joined the back and assumed the hunched shoulder position until we reached the platform, where, short of forming a circle and glaring at each other in turn i’m not sure the atmosphere could have been more dismal...
However, three stops later and as dawn broke round Stainach the mood lightened considerably and people started talking... as i looked out of the window at the mountains covered in mist and watched as the sun broke over the Dachstein, i’m not joking when i say..... i literally couldn’t have been happier :)
We arrived at Liezen and got off the train (this was as far as my plan went in my head so it was just as well that there were kids coming from Schladming who were going to the school there otherwise i would have had no idea which direction to go in) and started walking to school and arrived just in time!!
While i was waiting to be seen by the headmaster (!!!) a woman walked towards me with a very strange look on her face.... at first i was sure she was going to walk straight up and start a fight with me right there outside the headmasters office, however she just kind of hung around me looking weird... About 30 seconds later i became aware that she was speaking, it took me a while to realise that not only was she talking English, but that it was directed at me! This lady had the most fucked up English accent i have ever heard.... no joke it was a mix between Arnold Schwarzenegger and joey from friends, crrrrrazzy! When i replied in German she switched back to german and had a really nice accent, i think i’ll speak exclusively in German with her from now on.....
Saw the headmaster, he was HILARIOUS! Everyone said they were scared of him but i thinks he’s well funny! He has quite a British sense of humour... very dry and at times it’s not clear if hes joking or being serious!
I walked into the staffroom and my assigned teacher exclaimed “wow your early!” (she had repeatedly told me i needed to be there for 7.40 on Monday morning to start lessons), handed me a piece of paper and informed me she was going to her first lesson, her parting words were “see you on Thursday!”, i stood there for a few minutes glancing helplessly at the piece of paper (which turned out to be my timetable) before realising that our meeting was over and, yes that actually was it....so, i turned around, walked back to the station and got back on the train to Schladming! What a joke!
As soon as i got on the train i realised i’d forgotten my key to the apartment.. ...shit. I knew Vroni wouldn’t be up yet as it was only 10.00am, so when i got into Schladming i went shopping for a bit and then had a coffee in the Haptplatz when LOW AND BEHOLD a full on police van pulls up and loads of police men jump out and run into the cafe (i tripped over a wooden chair in my desperation to see what was was going on, very painful for my ego and my shin). They re-emerge about 5 minutes later with a struggling delinquent of about 22 and bundle him into the back of the van while his girlfriend wails uncontrollably at the side! And here’s me thinking i’m in a quiet alpine village!
Spent the afternoon watching tele, BBC Europe was on and i was so desperate to watch somthing in English i settled for quite a grannified timetable of Bargain hunt, cash in the attic, location location location and the weakest link, then i fell asleep!
So there you go, first day over! Tomorrow i’m going to go to the school in Schladming and finalise my timetable!
Tschusssssssss! X
P.s Highlight of today... watching the shops change their displays from summer to winter, BRING ON THE SNOW!!! :) :) :) :) :)
However, three stops later and as dawn broke round Stainach the mood lightened considerably and people started talking... as i looked out of the window at the mountains covered in mist and watched as the sun broke over the Dachstein, i’m not joking when i say..... i literally couldn’t have been happier :)
We arrived at Liezen and got off the train (this was as far as my plan went in my head so it was just as well that there were kids coming from Schladming who were going to the school there otherwise i would have had no idea which direction to go in) and started walking to school and arrived just in time!!
While i was waiting to be seen by the headmaster (!!!) a woman walked towards me with a very strange look on her face.... at first i was sure she was going to walk straight up and start a fight with me right there outside the headmasters office, however she just kind of hung around me looking weird... About 30 seconds later i became aware that she was speaking, it took me a while to realise that not only was she talking English, but that it was directed at me! This lady had the most fucked up English accent i have ever heard.... no joke it was a mix between Arnold Schwarzenegger and joey from friends, crrrrrazzy! When i replied in German she switched back to german and had a really nice accent, i think i’ll speak exclusively in German with her from now on.....
Saw the headmaster, he was HILARIOUS! Everyone said they were scared of him but i thinks he’s well funny! He has quite a British sense of humour... very dry and at times it’s not clear if hes joking or being serious!
I walked into the staffroom and my assigned teacher exclaimed “wow your early!” (she had repeatedly told me i needed to be there for 7.40 on Monday morning to start lessons), handed me a piece of paper and informed me she was going to her first lesson, her parting words were “see you on Thursday!”, i stood there for a few minutes glancing helplessly at the piece of paper (which turned out to be my timetable) before realising that our meeting was over and, yes that actually was it....so, i turned around, walked back to the station and got back on the train to Schladming! What a joke!
As soon as i got on the train i realised i’d forgotten my key to the apartment.. ...shit. I knew Vroni wouldn’t be up yet as it was only 10.00am, so when i got into Schladming i went shopping for a bit and then had a coffee in the Haptplatz when LOW AND BEHOLD a full on police van pulls up and loads of police men jump out and run into the cafe (i tripped over a wooden chair in my desperation to see what was was going on, very painful for my ego and my shin). They re-emerge about 5 minutes later with a struggling delinquent of about 22 and bundle him into the back of the van while his girlfriend wails uncontrollably at the side! And here’s me thinking i’m in a quiet alpine village!
Spent the afternoon watching tele, BBC Europe was on and i was so desperate to watch somthing in English i settled for quite a grannified timetable of Bargain hunt, cash in the attic, location location location and the weakest link, then i fell asleep!
So there you go, first day over! Tomorrow i’m going to go to the school in Schladming and finalise my timetable!
Tschusssssssss! X
P.s Highlight of today... watching the shops change their displays from summer to winter, BRING ON THE SNOW!!! :) :) :) :) :)
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Week 3
Back in Schladming!
Was knackered yesterday, so just stayed in and watched films at Tiefenbach (my appartments)... woke up at 4.45am and thinking it was monday started frantically getting ready to go to the station and was halfway through brushing my teeth before i realised it was sunday and that i was in fact a MASSIVE idiot! Knowing my luck i'll wake up tomorrow at 5.00am, think it's Sunday, go back to sleep and miss my first day at school, sounds funny but it is actually the kind of thing i end up doing!
Still appartment hunting.... i think i'm being a bit picky. I've found a few appartments that are shared but i'm a bit wary about living, working and socialising with someone, might get a bit claustrophobic... also there are a lot of assistants that i met at training who said they might come and stay and the famo will hopefully be over a bit so it might start to take the piss if i was having visitors every weekend or every other weekend?? ahh i dunno, i'll sort something out sooner or later (i hope!!)
I also feel a bit split, i don't really want to leave Tiefenbach because... well let's not beat around the bush, the only people i know in the whole village live here!! Buuuuuuuuuuut i know it's not practical and, on the other hand i can't wait to get settled into my own place!
Gosh, these are hard decisions.... it doesn't help that i seem to have an acute inability to make even the smallest of arrangements, i am utterly incapable of booking flights due to the amount of small (but important) questions which happen in quick succession... forming the big one at the end when you have to "confirm" or "cancel", yeah it sounds easy but this sort of thing renders me completely deaf, dumb and mute, save for one word.... "muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum", i have issues navigating myself around Spar let alone deciding where to live and who to live with.... fuck!
On a positive note, the weather here is FANTASTISCH! Just been walking in the mountains with Vroni (my host) and her beeeeeutiful dog Laika (rosh you would love her), so now i think i'm going to have a shower, straighten my hair (always chills me out) and plan a bit more about what i'm going to say tomorrow in the lesson!!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeek!
Tchiao for now x.x.x.x.x
Was knackered yesterday, so just stayed in and watched films at Tiefenbach (my appartments)... woke up at 4.45am and thinking it was monday started frantically getting ready to go to the station and was halfway through brushing my teeth before i realised it was sunday and that i was in fact a MASSIVE idiot! Knowing my luck i'll wake up tomorrow at 5.00am, think it's Sunday, go back to sleep and miss my first day at school, sounds funny but it is actually the kind of thing i end up doing!
Still appartment hunting.... i think i'm being a bit picky. I've found a few appartments that are shared but i'm a bit wary about living, working and socialising with someone, might get a bit claustrophobic... also there are a lot of assistants that i met at training who said they might come and stay and the famo will hopefully be over a bit so it might start to take the piss if i was having visitors every weekend or every other weekend?? ahh i dunno, i'll sort something out sooner or later (i hope!!)
I also feel a bit split, i don't really want to leave Tiefenbach because... well let's not beat around the bush, the only people i know in the whole village live here!! Buuuuuuuuuuut i know it's not practical and, on the other hand i can't wait to get settled into my own place!
Gosh, these are hard decisions.... it doesn't help that i seem to have an acute inability to make even the smallest of arrangements, i am utterly incapable of booking flights due to the amount of small (but important) questions which happen in quick succession... forming the big one at the end when you have to "confirm" or "cancel", yeah it sounds easy but this sort of thing renders me completely deaf, dumb and mute, save for one word.... "muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum", i have issues navigating myself around Spar let alone deciding where to live and who to live with.... fuck!
On a positive note, the weather here is FANTASTISCH! Just been walking in the mountains with Vroni (my host) and her beeeeeutiful dog Laika (rosh you would love her), so now i think i'm going to have a shower, straighten my hair (always chills me out) and plan a bit more about what i'm going to say tomorrow in the lesson!!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeek!
Tchiao for now x.x.x.x.x
Week 2 - Training in Graz! :)
So.... I arrived in Graz on the Friday after a 5.00 am start and a meeting in Liezen with my Betreuunglehrerin (the teacher who is responsable for me), i met Jordan and the youth hostel and we immediately went out for a beer, i quickly realised he was on my level and we ended up getting on really well!
CORI was supposed to be meeting us in Graz from Vienna but dissapeared off the face of the earth, causing me, her mum and Cat to have several nervous breakdowns over the period of 6 hours that she was "missing" because we couldn't find her anywhere! LOL turns out she thought we were meeting on saturday and had gone out for drinks, leaving her phones at home..... however this non-contact triggered a series of Josef Fritzl-esque fears which ran wild through my head, not helped by Jordan and an Ozzie guy called Ilan, who were on hand to helpfully supply me with brand new and potentially life threatening situations which Cori may or may not be involved in, each one worse and more fucked up than the one three minutes before... so thanks for that guys!
Alysha arrived the next day, as did Cori and we did some sightseeing (which included a 1950 stain glass window depicting Hitler and Mussolini as bystanders in the torturing of christ....) and had a realllllly nice meal! :) Then we got drunk.
Alaina arrived the next day and so did Phillip so we had a quite a crew gawarning in our hostel by the end of our stay!
The youth hostel was a really cool and i'd defo recommend it to anyone staying in Graz, it's called JUFA and although it's not in a very good part of town it's only a really short walk to where the main action happens!
So Monday we decided to get a taxi across town because we had sooooooo much luggage and it was going to be quite a walk. When we arrived we checked in (to the CONVENT lol!!!) and i had a shower before we were sent up to the second accomodation site at a castle up the road.
We had an introductory seminar and met about 12 million people and then had some wine and beer at the castle together before getting the bus back to the nunnery...
Although we should have gone to bed at this point.... we didn't!
Me, Alaina, Rich, Dan and Nichol decided to go to a pub up the road and have a few drinks, which turned into many drinks, which eventually ended up as a lock in with an OAP called Heinrich, a woman who i assume was his carer (but who was nonetheless pissed as a fart) and WOLFIE... the over friendly patron with whom i'm sure every member of the group (male or female) has taken their very own special memory of wandering hand syndrome! So after many (free) glasses of white wine and spritzers for the boys (lol!) we all staggered off into the night and back to the convent, talking a LOT of shit all the way home! :)
The next morning was strugglemania, early start, bus ride to the castle, seminars all morning and more meeting people... but great tipps from our extremely awesome team of teachers and second year assistants (Otto and Lisbeth mainly)
After a tour round Graz (given by students from the schools in Graz) me, Jordan, Dan and Nichol went for tapas and STURM! Good times, we got back at about 10pm and i was asleep by 11... very tired!
Back up to the castle for wednesday where we learned we were going to be giving an ACTUAL LESSON the next day, in schools in Graz... cue inward hysteria and heightened sense of anxiety. However, my group were awesome, we were a mix of U.S and U.K assistants, and after a brief (but surprisingly intense) disagreement between the wisconsin and michigan camps about which state is ACTALLY shaped like a hand or a mitten????? we all got on really well! We decided to give a lesson on stereotypes and split the group into 4 smaller groups asking them to come up with their favourite stereotype of Britain and the U.S (we had a LOT of fun discussing these amongst ourselves whilst we were planning the lessons).
Thursday was an eeeeeeearly start, got up at 5, breakfast at 6, school at 7 and actally teaching at 8! Our support teacher was the bomb.com!! She was so nice and gave us some wicked feedback about the lesson (which went reeeeeally well), apparently the kids even asked her if we could come back the next week! :) :) :)
We were finished in school by about 10.30, so we went to drink bucket loads of coffee and walked round Graz for a bit before getting the bus back to the castle... bear in mind by this point we've been up for a good 8 hours and still have the afternoon session to go.... so the bus drops us off AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL!!!!! Unexpected and unwelcome turn of events.. me and the girl i am walking with proceed to whine and whinge at each other about how shit life is for the entire 15 minutes it takes to walk up to the castle... i feel a lot better after that and have a coffee with her making sure she realises i do not actually hate my life in the process!
Thursday night begins at about 3pm in the castle! Me, Jen, Jo, and Nichol have a beer, and then another, then theres a break for a while before we start drinking wine with dinner, then we get a taxi into Graz and go barring and clubbing!! LOTS of fun ensues, there is a pole in the club we are in, we manage to con some austrian boys into thinking we will all pole dance for them if they do first... without any trousers on! They do it.... we do not. More jager bombs and frolicks, then taxi home for me and Nichol about 2am.
Jo and Jen stay out (Hardcore you know the score).
Upon getting in the taxi i realise my throat is hoarse from all the singing along, i have lost the ability to speak and sound more like a 12 year old boy than a 21 year old girl... great.
Friday morning, checkout at 9am.... not in a good mood, me and Alaina get the train to our area, potential students from the school get on at Liezen, me and Alaina seperate in Stanaich, almost instantaneously i fall asleep (with my mouth open) unsure whether dribbling was involved, but lets face it, its a possibility... wake up in Schladming with an audience of maybe 8 students watching me sleep/dribble.... i will meet them on monday.... fantastic!
I'll let you know whether my new name around school involves saliva.....
Tschussss! x.x.x.x
CORI was supposed to be meeting us in Graz from Vienna but dissapeared off the face of the earth, causing me, her mum and Cat to have several nervous breakdowns over the period of 6 hours that she was "missing" because we couldn't find her anywhere! LOL turns out she thought we were meeting on saturday and had gone out for drinks, leaving her phones at home..... however this non-contact triggered a series of Josef Fritzl-esque fears which ran wild through my head, not helped by Jordan and an Ozzie guy called Ilan, who were on hand to helpfully supply me with brand new and potentially life threatening situations which Cori may or may not be involved in, each one worse and more fucked up than the one three minutes before... so thanks for that guys!
Alysha arrived the next day, as did Cori and we did some sightseeing (which included a 1950 stain glass window depicting Hitler and Mussolini as bystanders in the torturing of christ....) and had a realllllly nice meal! :) Then we got drunk.
Alaina arrived the next day and so did Phillip so we had a quite a crew gawarning in our hostel by the end of our stay!
The youth hostel was a really cool and i'd defo recommend it to anyone staying in Graz, it's called JUFA and although it's not in a very good part of town it's only a really short walk to where the main action happens!
So Monday we decided to get a taxi across town because we had sooooooo much luggage and it was going to be quite a walk. When we arrived we checked in (to the CONVENT lol!!!) and i had a shower before we were sent up to the second accomodation site at a castle up the road.
We had an introductory seminar and met about 12 million people and then had some wine and beer at the castle together before getting the bus back to the nunnery...
Although we should have gone to bed at this point.... we didn't!
Me, Alaina, Rich, Dan and Nichol decided to go to a pub up the road and have a few drinks, which turned into many drinks, which eventually ended up as a lock in with an OAP called Heinrich, a woman who i assume was his carer (but who was nonetheless pissed as a fart) and WOLFIE... the over friendly patron with whom i'm sure every member of the group (male or female) has taken their very own special memory of wandering hand syndrome! So after many (free) glasses of white wine and spritzers for the boys (lol!) we all staggered off into the night and back to the convent, talking a LOT of shit all the way home! :)
The next morning was strugglemania, early start, bus ride to the castle, seminars all morning and more meeting people... but great tipps from our extremely awesome team of teachers and second year assistants (Otto and Lisbeth mainly)
After a tour round Graz (given by students from the schools in Graz) me, Jordan, Dan and Nichol went for tapas and STURM! Good times, we got back at about 10pm and i was asleep by 11... very tired!
Back up to the castle for wednesday where we learned we were going to be giving an ACTUAL LESSON the next day, in schools in Graz... cue inward hysteria and heightened sense of anxiety. However, my group were awesome, we were a mix of U.S and U.K assistants, and after a brief (but surprisingly intense) disagreement between the wisconsin and michigan camps about which state is ACTALLY shaped like a hand or a mitten????? we all got on really well! We decided to give a lesson on stereotypes and split the group into 4 smaller groups asking them to come up with their favourite stereotype of Britain and the U.S (we had a LOT of fun discussing these amongst ourselves whilst we were planning the lessons).
Thursday was an eeeeeeearly start, got up at 5, breakfast at 6, school at 7 and actally teaching at 8! Our support teacher was the bomb.com!! She was so nice and gave us some wicked feedback about the lesson (which went reeeeeally well), apparently the kids even asked her if we could come back the next week! :) :) :)
We were finished in school by about 10.30, so we went to drink bucket loads of coffee and walked round Graz for a bit before getting the bus back to the castle... bear in mind by this point we've been up for a good 8 hours and still have the afternoon session to go.... so the bus drops us off AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL!!!!! Unexpected and unwelcome turn of events.. me and the girl i am walking with proceed to whine and whinge at each other about how shit life is for the entire 15 minutes it takes to walk up to the castle... i feel a lot better after that and have a coffee with her making sure she realises i do not actually hate my life in the process!
Thursday night begins at about 3pm in the castle! Me, Jen, Jo, and Nichol have a beer, and then another, then theres a break for a while before we start drinking wine with dinner, then we get a taxi into Graz and go barring and clubbing!! LOTS of fun ensues, there is a pole in the club we are in, we manage to con some austrian boys into thinking we will all pole dance for them if they do first... without any trousers on! They do it.... we do not. More jager bombs and frolicks, then taxi home for me and Nichol about 2am.
Jo and Jen stay out (Hardcore you know the score).
Upon getting in the taxi i realise my throat is hoarse from all the singing along, i have lost the ability to speak and sound more like a 12 year old boy than a 21 year old girl... great.
Friday morning, checkout at 9am.... not in a good mood, me and Alaina get the train to our area, potential students from the school get on at Liezen, me and Alaina seperate in Stanaich, almost instantaneously i fall asleep (with my mouth open) unsure whether dribbling was involved, but lets face it, its a possibility... wake up in Schladming with an audience of maybe 8 students watching me sleep/dribble.... i will meet them on monday.... fantastic!
I'll let you know whether my new name around school involves saliva.....
Tschussss! x.x.x.x
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