This is the beginning of a series of all of the strange things I have seen, heard, and otherwise experienced in Austria. The first installment is a series of photographs from my walks around the city.
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Monday, September 21, 2009
The Wave
Our rafting instructor tells us all to lean over the front of the raft. We soon learn that his intentions were less than noble.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Rollin' on the river. And in the river.
Today—today was one for the record books. Today was the beginning of my hiking and rafting course. We were told to meet in front of the school at 12:45, and that… actually, that was pretty much all we were told. So we get there, and there are three strange young men waiting there for us—one with dreadlocks and some missing teeth—and they tell us to jump into these two beat-up old vans, that they will be taking us…somewhere. Fog surrounds us as we drive up into the mountains, and it starts to rain lightly; had this been the beginning of a movie, there would have been about a 5% chance that any of us would make it out alive.
But no, this is just another day in my life in Salzburg, Austria. In fact, I think it qualifies as one of the best days ever. We rafted down the Salzach River with Christof as our guide, surrounded by grass-green mountains that disappeared into the clouds. We got very wet, both accidentally and on purpose, in the freezing mountain water. We sang “Just Around the River Bend” from Pocahontas, and did cannonballs off a boulder. It all ended too soon. But the fun wasn’t over just yet.
We reach the stopping point and haul our boats out of the river and onto a large pull-off on the side of the road. They tell us, in so many words, “Ok, time to undress: helmets go here, life vests go here, and jackets go there. Then, pull your wetsuit off halfway, and one of us will come around and yank off your pants.” Mind you, we are standing on the side of the highway. Most of us are in our underwear beneath the wet suits. It is currently pouring down rain. Only in Europe.
To get back to school, we hop into another old van with yet another strange man, which by now is commonplace. A pleasant heat warms my frozen toes, and the driver plugs in a CD of songs that he listens to when he climbs mountains, most of which exude a warm and beautiful melancholy. Outside, the setting sun makes the clouds glow pink behind the mountains as we sing along to “Hallelujah.” By then, it didn’t even matter how cold I was, or that all I was wearing under my rain jacket was a wet swimsuit, or that I’d needed to pee for the last 3 hours. I was too overcome with the feeling of how much I loved everybody, and how beautiful the world was, and how my life was more wonderful that I could have ever dreamed it to be.
Next weekend, on my 21st birthday, we are going on a hike in the world’s largest ice caves. I’m not sure how it could ever top today, but at least now I know to prepared for anything.
But no, this is just another day in my life in Salzburg, Austria. In fact, I think it qualifies as one of the best days ever. We rafted down the Salzach River with Christof as our guide, surrounded by grass-green mountains that disappeared into the clouds. We got very wet, both accidentally and on purpose, in the freezing mountain water. We sang “Just Around the River Bend” from Pocahontas, and did cannonballs off a boulder. It all ended too soon. But the fun wasn’t over just yet.
We reach the stopping point and haul our boats out of the river and onto a large pull-off on the side of the road. They tell us, in so many words, “Ok, time to undress: helmets go here, life vests go here, and jackets go there. Then, pull your wetsuit off halfway, and one of us will come around and yank off your pants.” Mind you, we are standing on the side of the highway. Most of us are in our underwear beneath the wet suits. It is currently pouring down rain. Only in Europe.
To get back to school, we hop into another old van with yet another strange man, which by now is commonplace. A pleasant heat warms my frozen toes, and the driver plugs in a CD of songs that he listens to when he climbs mountains, most of which exude a warm and beautiful melancholy. Outside, the setting sun makes the clouds glow pink behind the mountains as we sing along to “Hallelujah.” By then, it didn’t even matter how cold I was, or that all I was wearing under my rain jacket was a wet swimsuit, or that I’d needed to pee for the last 3 hours. I was too overcome with the feeling of how much I loved everybody, and how beautiful the world was, and how my life was more wonderful that I could have ever dreamed it to be.
Next weekend, on my 21st birthday, we are going on a hike in the world’s largest ice caves. I’m not sure how it could ever top today, but at least now I know to prepared for anything.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Pictures
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Nine-nine-nine, ja-ja-ja!
I will first give you a moment to absorb the absolutely ingenious title of my first post:
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Ok, then! Today is the ninth day of the ninth month of the two thousand and ninth year AD, as well as my ninth day in Europe. At the moment I am sitting on the fourth floor of the tiny yet charming Salzburg College, looking out the window at church steeples, the gray-green Salzach River, and the mountains surrounding the city, thinking, "Holy cow, I LIVE here!"
Though it is my 9th day in Europe, it is only my 4th day in Salzburg, as the first week consisted of a sightseeing tour through Germany. The entire college-- all 24 of us-- were shuttled by our valiant bus driver Eddie through Köln, Bonn, Worms, Heidelberg, Rothenburg, and Nürnberg. It was surreal to see all these places that I had learned about in history class and think, "Wow, that actually happened, and it happened right here." It first hit me driving through the Rhine River valley and seeing all those castles that Herr Tweer had us look up for that ridiculous project he never graded. Then in Worms (pronounced WAAAHHHHMS, with the R preferably consisting of a gurgle of spit in the back of the throat) we saw a statue of Martin Luther with a pigeon on his head (pictures to be posted later-- be excited). Probably the eeriest place we visited was the Nazi rally grounds in Nürnberg. There was a museum located in the humungous building Hitler had begun to erect for the congress, which was probably comparable to the congress in Star Wars Episode I. In this case the feeling wasn't necessarily what had happened there, but what could have been, had the Nazis won the war.
Finally on the evening of the 5th we arrived in Salzburg and were greeted by our host families. I live with another girl from the college named Jordan, and we each have our own room in this quaint little town home on the northeast edge of the city. For privacy reasons I am not supposed to discuss my host family in my blog, but I will say that my host mom is about the nicest lady on earth, and she fills us with delicious food every day, for every meal. We also have some illusive host siblings, a boy and a girl, who are both in their twenties and have rarely been around so far. And, of course, our host puppy dog, a boxer mix who is 17 years old and scratches his lumps obsessively when he is not asleep. The only disadvantage of my host family is that they do not have the internet, and the college's internet connection is very weak or something (I obviously have no idea what I'm saying, but they don't want us to download/upload things on it) so I will post pictures later when I go to an internet cafe.
So, that's all of now! If you would like to send me a postcard, or would like a postcard sent to you, my address is :
Julie Bates
Salzburg College
Ursulinenplatz 4
A-5020 Salzburg, Austria
EUROPE (so it doesn't take a detour to Australia)
or email me your address.
And now, to use my new favorite German good-bye, tschüs!
...
...
...
...
Ok, then! Today is the ninth day of the ninth month of the two thousand and ninth year AD, as well as my ninth day in Europe. At the moment I am sitting on the fourth floor of the tiny yet charming Salzburg College, looking out the window at church steeples, the gray-green Salzach River, and the mountains surrounding the city, thinking, "Holy cow, I LIVE here!"
Though it is my 9th day in Europe, it is only my 4th day in Salzburg, as the first week consisted of a sightseeing tour through Germany. The entire college-- all 24 of us-- were shuttled by our valiant bus driver Eddie through Köln, Bonn, Worms, Heidelberg, Rothenburg, and Nürnberg. It was surreal to see all these places that I had learned about in history class and think, "Wow, that actually happened, and it happened right here." It first hit me driving through the Rhine River valley and seeing all those castles that Herr Tweer had us look up for that ridiculous project he never graded. Then in Worms (pronounced WAAAHHHHMS, with the R preferably consisting of a gurgle of spit in the back of the throat) we saw a statue of Martin Luther with a pigeon on his head (pictures to be posted later-- be excited). Probably the eeriest place we visited was the Nazi rally grounds in Nürnberg. There was a museum located in the humungous building Hitler had begun to erect for the congress, which was probably comparable to the congress in Star Wars Episode I. In this case the feeling wasn't necessarily what had happened there, but what could have been, had the Nazis won the war.
Finally on the evening of the 5th we arrived in Salzburg and were greeted by our host families. I live with another girl from the college named Jordan, and we each have our own room in this quaint little town home on the northeast edge of the city. For privacy reasons I am not supposed to discuss my host family in my blog, but I will say that my host mom is about the nicest lady on earth, and she fills us with delicious food every day, for every meal. We also have some illusive host siblings, a boy and a girl, who are both in their twenties and have rarely been around so far. And, of course, our host puppy dog, a boxer mix who is 17 years old and scratches his lumps obsessively when he is not asleep. The only disadvantage of my host family is that they do not have the internet, and the college's internet connection is very weak or something (I obviously have no idea what I'm saying, but they don't want us to download/upload things on it) so I will post pictures later when I go to an internet cafe.
So, that's all of now! If you would like to send me a postcard, or would like a postcard sent to you, my address is :
Julie Bates
Salzburg College
Ursulinenplatz 4
A-5020 Salzburg, Austria
EUROPE (so it doesn't take a detour to Australia)
or email me your address.
And now, to use my new favorite German good-bye, tschüs!
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