Our Last Day in Salzburg and a New Way of Looking at Things

Today is our final day in Salzburg!  We took a break from cleaning and packing to walk to our favorite Italian restaurant in town, Il Sole.  I mention the walking bit because it takes walking 5 miles for me to feel okay about eating one of their gigantic pizza entrees.

I had the Pizza Verdura, a vegetable medley on crisp dough.

  
This here is the Quattro Formaggi, Ben's choice. "The Gorgonzola," he kept telling me in one of those deep, labored Godfather voices.  

Somehow pizza felt like an appropriate last meal in Austria.  Who knows?  I'm not complaining.    

Now for a quote that has stayed with me as I prepare to leave:

 via

Although the majority of my thoughts have been about the benefits of coming home, I've tried to ignore the ugly idea of Reverse Culture Shock.  I know it's going to happen; I've become accustomed to living and thinking quite differently than I did in the States (like walking 5 miles to enjoy a pizza, for instance).  I already feel society's pressure to revert to that former version of myself, but I've changed, and I'm happy about it.  What worked for me before doesn't work for me now.  So, it will take some time for me to feel as happy as I do here, to settle in again, to take who I've become and meld it with who I want to be in the next chapter of my life.  It has been a long journey, difficult at times, but I would not trade my new way of looking at things, my perspective, for a bit of convenience.  Not any day.

When I post again, I will be back in my home country, however, I will continue to blog, as I still have so many stories, pictures, and thoughts about Austria.  Chronicling my reverse culture shock, and new insights on the US, Austria, and the ex-pat lifestyle should keep me writing.  

So, until I turn up again - Auf Wiedersehen.               

Dinosaurs, Wild Boars, and Stuffed Dogs: The Components of Any Good Family Trip to Vienna

The past couple of weeks have been hectic as we prepare to return to the US.  Suitcases and rucksacks need to be packed, our money needs to magically turn from Euros to USDs across the Atlantic, our little apartment needs to be cleaned, etc.  We'll be accomplishing most of these tasks within the next couple of days, but let's talk about some adventures we've had, shall we?

Earlier this month, we met our cousins in Vienna for a day of dinosaur exhibits, Vietnamese food, laughter, and complaining about the Viennese weather.  (Does the precipitation ever stop?)  It happened to be International Museum Day and Mother's Day too. 

My cousin Haakon is a dinosaur-enthusiast.  When we visited Budapest, he showed us his favorite dinosaur book, and laughed at me when I guessed "Stegosaurus" for every picture he pointed at.  This time, his arsenal included a backpack filled with mini-dinosaurs, a dinosaur T-shirt, and a wild distrust of my dinosaur knowledge.  Basically, he was well-prepared.

So off we went to the Naturhistorische Museum Wien (the Vienna Natural History Museum).  But first, some tourists posing, full-on photo-shoot style!

Interesting things abound in every direction, yes? :)

       
Once we arrived at the museum, we decided to opt out of seeing the featured Body exhibit, figuring that it might be too scary for the children.  Instead, we proceeded to the normal exhibits, the first of which was this little, not-creepy-at-all dog. 

Did we make a good choice?  Natalie didn't seem scared; maybe the doggie was just sitting really still.

While she was very brave, I was less so.  Exhibit A: The Wild Boar

My father is a bit obsessed with wild boars/feral pigs for some reason, and he was overjoyed when Ben sent him this article about wild boars in Berlin.  Of course, I had to see what all the fuss was about.  I didn't like it very much.

Exhibit B: The Whale

  
Weird Fact: I'm terrified of whales.  My weird phobias could be a blog post in itself, but suffice it to say, my expression of discontent is real.

 Here's Ben being brave

 

and excited.  The museum itself is beautiful, as you can see in this picture.

Next, patriotism and two surprises:  

Even the baby gorilla had to use its Mom to protect itself. 

Finally, the Dinosaur Hall!

 
Out of nowhere, this dinosaur roared and swung his tail!  Haakon was a little scared of his dino-pal, but Mom protected him. 

Besides feeding Natalie to the disembodied dino skull, we also touched a dinosaur bone and dino-poo.  What more could you want in a dino exhibit?

We finished up the museum by checking out the Meteorite Hall, which had an impressive selection of meteorites of all sizes and compositions.  Ben, being a space-enthusiast, loved it, and he could have been content roaming amidst the display cases all afternoon, however, we needed food.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the delicious Vietnamese food that we had at Saigon.  Check out the online menu for the number of dishes you could try - how do they stock their kitchen!?  I never had Vietnamese food before that week, and I somehow ended up having it twice.  Trending? 
      
It truly has been so nice having family a train ride away and being able to meet up several times since we came to Austria.  It's something that I'm going to miss.  Dear cousins, thank you for a wonderful day in Vienna, and we hope to see you soon in the States!  

Botanischer Garten Salzburgs

The Botanischer Garten Salzburgs (Salzburg Botanical Garden) is hidden behind a crop of trees about a ten minutes' walk from our apartment.  On a day when the sun and wind mixed to create the perfect weather, we spent a couple hours in the garden, admiring the plants and learning along the way.   

Above is a model of what is called a "historical farmer's house garden."  The trellis and wooden fence are traditional (and very charming), as is the vegetation.  Vegetables (Gemüse), spice plants (Gewürzpflanzen), healing plants (Heilpflanzen), perennials (Stauden), and bushes (Sträucher) fill the garden and serve their individual purposes.  It's difficult to imagine that, at one time, everyday people grew their own produce, or they at least grew some of it to supplement what they bought at market.  It makes so much sense to utilize the land we have to grow food, but it seems like most people ignore this in favor of green grass and flower beds.  Plant some seeds!  Eat (extremely) locally!  Have all of your vegetables and herbs at your fingertips! 

Soapbox dismounted.      

Near the house garden and the heirloom vegetable garden, we found these interesting structures, which happen to be insect nesting-aides (Nisthilfen), or insect hotels, if we want to be creative.  Each hotel is intended for a certain type of insect, and like the plants in the the house garden, each insect serves a purpose in the garden.  And, because we saw a humongous wasp emerge from the stone structure on the bottom right, we knew that, in these hotels, there were zero vacancies.  (So funny.)
Also, I was going to leave this out on account of my dear mother on Mother's Day Eve, but the iron hotel has swooping, aimless, fanged guests.  I believe in blogging integrity, so I had to mention it.  Sorry, Mom.   

Could this man be any deeper into his safari? 

Now, on to more flowery subjects.

I want to garden.  May I have a bit of earth?

Revising My Approach

Earlier this week, I had my first taste of writer's block in months.  An application called for a writing sample in which I explain why I'm a well-qualified teacher, but after going through the usual steps of my writing process, I kept coming up empty when it came to turning my thoughts into coherent sentences.  I couldn't think of how to best showcase myself while showcasing my writing.  I tried all of my tricks: writing on lined paper, brainstorming to make an outline, creating possible topic sentences for each paragraph, reading aloud, crossing out weak words, adding in synonym possibilities, arrows galore, etc.  

After three or four false starts, I decided to give myself a break until I could write something I liked.  It felt unsettling to go to bed without having it done, the deadline boring a proverbial hole into my confidence as a writer and a teacher.

I did the only thing I could do.

I went to the mall bright and early the next morning.

And, as I was finally free of my desk and the unwritten writing sample, my mind finally cleared, and I wrote the whole thing on that quiet bus ride to the mall: sub-headings, full sentences, illustrative examples, alles.

Lessons relearned?  Writing is difficult.  It's a process.  It involves starting and stopping.  It involves thinking and rethinking.  It takes time.  Even English teachers don't have poetry spouting from their pens or fingertips.  Writers will produce something they like as long as they don't give up and are willing to put in the work.  (Sometimes you just need to go to the mall?)

Because all blog posts need some sort of visual, here are some glimpses into life lately.

 
My first taste of Spargelcremesuppe (asparagus creme soup - so delicious), Ben amidst the flower beds at Mirabell, and a look up from our lunch table, respectively.  We can't forget that our time here is limited and that we have to make the most of it!

Also, here's what thirteen famous writers have said about writer's block.                     

Maypole Rising in Salzburg, oder Maibaum Aufstellen Salzburgs

In Small Town USA, May Day passes by like any other day.  In other parts of the world, however, May Day is celebrated as International Workers' Day, and generally, a day to do something besides work.  This year, a peaceful protest in Seattle turned violent, and in Bangladesh, thousands of workers took the the streets to protest against factory owners who they believe are responsible for the deaths of 400 garment workers in a factory collapse last week.  In Hong Kong and other places in Asia, workers protested for safer working conditions, better wages, and access to breaks during the work day.  In some European countries, the protests centered on high unemployment rates and low living standards. 

While workers protested around the world, my May Day was completely different.  Austrians didn't have to work, yes, but the free time didn't seem to encourage them to participate in protests or parades about their rights as workers.  Instead, they celebrated May Day with the rising of maypoles, and music, dancing, food, and beer.  Again, as a perpetual resident of small towns in the United States, May Day was a foreign concept to me, and in the case of protesting, it remains so.  

But, let's recount the day the Austrian way, shall we?  

As we traversed the city to the fest in Maxglan, we stopped at Mirabell Gardens for some choice background.  An Italian tour group stopped us and took our pictures.  I heard "bellissima" whispered through the crowd, and it pretty much made my day.

The fest was held at the Gasthof Heimathaus Maxglan in Salzburg.  We enjoyed some delicious chicken barbeque, some local beverages, and some traditional music mixed in with Elvis and German-English hybrid songs.  After that,we walked around and saw the Maibaum for the first time.  A group of people were connecting pretzels to the tree as decorations. 

Finally, it was time for the lifting to begin!

This picture of the director, amidst the pretzels and carrying a tree umbrella, is my favorite of the day.   How could you not love this?

And it's up! The lead singer of the band said it was 100% 90 degrees in the air. 

All in all, it was a pretty wonderful May Day.  We even won some Manner chocolate that we had every intention of saving for our trip home, but... you know.

Hunde Ausstellung Salzburgs, oder Dogs with Captions

This past Sunday, we went to the Hunde Ausstellung Salzburgs, or the Salzburg Dog Exhibition. 

If you knew me, you'd know that I love dogs.  Growing up, dogs filled the house.  We're talking little teams of three or four of them.  The canine du jour for our family is and always has been toy poodles.  My mother grew up with them, and she made sure we did too.  I believe that owning and loving a dog (or a small troupe of them) is one of life's most wonderful pleasures.  Since my life is sadly lacking of dogs at the moment, I knew I had to go to the dog show in Salzburg to get my fix.

So, we went.  The exhibition hall smelled of leather leashes, rawhide, and well, dog.  Sigh.

While the dog show was a feast for the eyes, it reminded me that I need to learn how to use my camera for moving subjects.  ISO what?  Aperture who?  I've read tutorials from bloggers, articles, etc.  I'm rubbish at it, but I could still learn!  Any tips?

So, this blog post is not about action-packed, yet endearing photos of dogs.  Rather, it's about me wanting to talk about dogs and making fun of myself for these sad pictures.

My mother's youngest poodle, Cooper, does this same "praying" motion, in which he sits on his back legs and waves his forelegs in the air.  This Lhaso Apso did not want to cooperate with his handler at all during the junior handling section of the show.  He popped out of his collar two or three times. and he put on his brakes when she tried to walk him.  Despite all of that, she did not give up, and I was very impressed that someone so young had the poise and composure to get through the difficult showing.  She and her dog were awarded second place for her "tremendous nerve and focus." 

via and via

I'm the type of dog nerd who watches the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.  I had to watch it online for the first time this year, but it still packed its punch.  The title of Best in Show for 2013 belongs to Banana Joe, an Affenpinscher.  Affen translates from German to "monkey," and it's easy to see why.  I saw my first Affenpinsher this Sunday, and I could only speculate on the amount of pressure he must have felt competing in Banana Joe's angelic, imposing, prize-winning shadow.  

This little Shih Tzu wanted nothing more than to return to the imperial palace from whence he came. 

Buck from The Call of the Wild, anyone?  I think that my book cover pretty much lives up to the originals.  This beauty is a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, a cross between a German Shepard and a Carpathian Wolf.  The breed was created about 60 years ago to do search and rescues, border patrol, tracking, herding, and all the rest.  And if you had any doubts, he resisted long enough to win his first-place trophy!

I'm not kidding.  These are the photos I took.

Finally, to prove that we were there, here are two classic portraits of us, and a portrait of the bag Ben lifted to take home his German-language dog magazines.  If the graphic of a excrement-filled speech bubble atop Austria doesn't clue you in, here's the translation:

Save yourself a pile of discussions. 

Get a grip on dog hygiene.  

- Thanks, Ben.

May Day in Austria

The Dance Around the May Pole, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, via

 

Here we are at another Austrian holiday, Maifeiertag. 

We're going to celebrate May Day by attending a Maibaumaufstellen, or what we'd call a Maypole Raising in English.  We'll do so in Dirndl and Lederhosen.  Will we dance around the Maypole?  Possibly.  Will we make new friends?  Maybe.  Will we look stylish?  Absolutely.

I will document it, of course, and I'll report on how Austrians bring in the lovely month of May.

And as a reminder to make much of the time we have, here's a stanza from one of my favorite poets, Robert Herrick.

Come, let us go while we are in our prime;
And take the harmless folly of the time.
      We shall grow old apace, and die
      Before we know our liberty.
      Our life is short, and our days run
      As fast away as does the sun;
And, as a vapour or a drop of rain
Once lost, can ne'er be found again,
      So when or you or I are made
      A fable, song, or fleeting shade,
      All love, all liking, all delight
      Lies drowned with us in endless night.
Then while time serves, and we are but decaying,
Come, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.

 Excerpt from "Corinna's Going A-Maying"

Happy May Day!

  Village Scene with Dance Around the May Pole, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, via