Now that I’ve been living in Austria for over three years and married for w, I often have people asking me when I’m going to become a citizen.
The answer: Never.
It’s not that I don’t want to be. The red EU passport is something I’d love to have in my hot little hand.
But the thing is, I don’t want a red one, if I can’t keep my blue one.
Never would I have thought that long, tedious Russian train rides would lead me into a lifelong obsession…
The German language is known for its long words. Without even going into the ridiculously long words (which to be honest nobody uses anymore anyway) try Entschuldigung instead of simply saying ‘sorry’ or Kniebeuge for ‘squat’. Though in all honesty, part of the problem is that the German words just don’t fit well in our English-speaking mouths – they come out all clumsy and end up sounding a lot longer than they do when spoken by a native speaker.
But there are exceptions. So I’ve made a list of 10 words that are actually shorter in German:
Following on from my super hilarious Monkey Memes from Sri Lanka, today I present… Monkey Memes from our latest Indian trip. Enjoy!
It’s no secret my life revolves around food. And my husband is, thankfully, exactly the same. So it’s no shock that our recent Indian trip involved a lot of eating. For me, curry is rarely bad – even a mediocre curry is not terrible – and in India – where the spices are always flavoursome, well, it just doesn’t seem possible!
Southern India is not as hard core as northern India – it’s slower, safer, friendlier – the poverty is not as confronting – the dogs and cows are better cared for. Naturally there’s rubbish everywhere, the hygiene and toilets can be questionable and the feeling of being unclean never seems to quite leave – covered in sweat, sunscreen, mosquito repellent and just the humidity that clings to the air like a limpet.
From last week’s post I’m continuing my southern India posts with some more details of our adventure.
Southern India is a hot, sticky mess. Houses slant huddled together, hacked into sharp edges, snuggled by the encroaching jungle and its mess of fronds, tangles and branches. Sand seeps relentlessly through bare earth and discarded rubbish litters the landscape like moon rocks.
Unlike what the rest of the world thinks, the Sound of Music is not Austria’s national film – barely anyone has even heard of it, let alone watched it!
To be fair, in Austria, the hills are alive with the sound of music, mostly the accordion, however in spring in the country, the hills come alive with something else entirely… they come alive with the smell of poo.
Living in a climate with far more distinct seasons means that when one ends, there’s a definite shift in the air, a sudden change that is almost immediately noticeable. So here are the sure signs that winter is over for another year!
I go on a lot about homesickness… and I apologise, but I will probably continue to do so from time to time, because… well frankly because I have a damn good life which means that ‘minor’ issues such as these play a bigger part than they otherwise would.
And apart from you lovely folk reading my blog there is one other person who has to put up with a much bigger chunk of my whining.
an aussie in austria 