Apr 4, 2005 - A trip to the Weissen See with Peter

Peter drove me to the Weissen See today. It was absolutely beautiful. Very quiet and peaceful and no one there whatsoever. It was very warm and we walked around a little bit. It was still partially frozen and the most amazing color of light green. It is one of the most beautiful places in Corinthia, if not the whole of Europe. "Who is Peter?" You might ask. Well, he is my boyfriend. If you are an industrious fan of my website then you may remember that I met him on March 5th at a bar. Yeah, so he is the guy from the bar, and no, he is not a...

Dec 4, 2004 - Krampus Tag

Austrian Christmas traditions are a little different from American traditions. *Sigh* Where do I start? First of all, the Austrian St. Nikolaus, doesn't come on December 25th, the 'Christkindl' (or the Christ Child) comes to give all the good girls and boys presents. St. Nikolaus comes on Krampus Tag. He fills good girls and boys shoes up with small toys, money and candy. But with St. Nikolaus comes "the Krampus," a devilish, goat figure who beats bad children and carries them away in baskets on his back. On Krampus Tag, there is a parade...

Nov 29, 2004 - Ben comes to classes with me and we see Seeboden

Ben came to my classes with me and that was fun. In German, when someone says "Er is mein Freund," literally translated it means "He is my friend," but it really means "He is my boyfriend." If you want to indicate that this person is just a friend who is also male, you would say, "Er is ein Freund von mir," which literally means, "He is a friend of mine." Why do I say this? Because in my classes, some of the younger students do not know the difference between boyfriend and friend that is a male. So when they asked him in English, "Are you...

Nov 26, 2004 - Ben and I plan to go to Trieste, Italy

Again, the man at the Spittal train station confused me as to when to leave from Spittal to get to Italy, so Ben and I took the train to Villach, only to discover that our train to Italy had already left. This happenend to Lauren and I when we went to Venice, and I have to say that I was not pleased. I got very grouchy, and would not be consoled.Ben and I walked around Villach for a little while, and then decided to go home to Spittal. I didn't want to take the train that left in the middle of the night, as Lauren and I did, so we decided...

Nov 12, 2004 - A day in the life of Sarah

Here are some pictures of my schools, teachers and other activities related to my job. Every Friday, some teachers from the Bundesgymnasium Porcia meet at a café to talk about how smart they are. (Just kidding!) Elki, Lauren and I are always invited, as well as any friends we have here in Spittal (which is none). HA!

Nov 8, 2004 - My Birthday!

Today I went to work and did normal things. One of my classes sang to me and that was sweet. After work, Lauren, Elki, Matt (the English assistant from last year) and I went to Ramses, an Egyptian restaurant. The food was ok, but pretty expensive. After Ramses, we went back to the apartment and sang and I blew out my birthday candles and we ate my two cakes. My mom sent me my favorite, pineapple upside-down cake, and Elki made me a chocolate pear cake. YUM!

Oct 17, 2004 - Hiking above the Millstätter See

Today Lauren and I went hiking with Frau Krainz and her friend Ingrid. The weather was warm and beautiful, even though down in Spittal it was kind of misty and cold. We had some coffee at the little café on the mountain and then went to a traditional Austrian restaurant for dinner. They were all booked so we got our meal to-go and went back to our house to eat. "Traditional Austrian" means cheese, dark bread and lots of different flavored pastes to spread on the bread. It was delicious, though I felt a little sick afterward and for the next...

Sep 20, 2004 - Back in Spittal

Here are some pictures of my new apartment, after the renovation was done. It is a virtual-tour, so as you walk in the door, it is a sweep from left to right. I didn't do much today, but in the evening I went to Millstadt (a town on the lake nearby) with Frau Krainz and her friends to see a gallery opening. The artist was one that is from the Spittal area and has done some of the artwork in our apartment. We first wandered around the lakeside a little. It is a lovely town, with brightly colored buildings and mountains everywhere, of...

Sep 14, 2004 - Finally, Spittal an der Drau!

From Munich I took a 2 hour train to Salzburg and then another 2 hour train to Spittal. My new apartment is in a big house on the second floor, about 4 blocks away from the train station. It is really beautiful in Spittal today, though it definitely smells like cows. I live in the state of Kärnten (Corinthia) and it is very mountainous here. I love my apartment, though right now I have to stay on the 3rd floor, because my apartment is being renovated. Spittal is very small and has 2 main streets that intersect and you only have to dial 4...