Those who know me will know that I dislike winter. Dislike is probably a little mild, actually. Hate, would be a better word. Abhor, perhaps. Loath. Detest. Hey… sure, a fine winter’s day with snow on the ground when you’re dressed properly… I can enjoy that. But the rest of it. Hate it. Abhor it. Loath it. Detest it. But it’s worse now. Cause not only do I have to try and keep myself warm, I have to keep a child warm! Read on for my rant!
Continue reading
I have to say, the season started off promising. I felt good. I felt ready. I planted like crazy. And then it rained… and rained… and rained… And I guess a lot of the seeds rotted or washed away. Or got eaten by bugs.
But eventually they sprouted. And then it got hot. And hotter. And hotter. So hot in fact that at one point I even had to admit that it was hot.
So… it was a bit of a struggle. But I struggled on.
Continue reading
When Sammy was around 18 months, things got a whole lot more fun. He liked going places and doing things on his own two feet. The days of easy stroller walks were unfortunately over, but it opened up other possibilities.
Earlier this year I was still home with Sammy full time, and although it was lovely… it can get pretty monotonous. I was looking for new things to do… and living in a small town limits things somewhat. A visit to a playground… playing in the garden… visiting the supermarket. These are all things to do… but they’re not terrible exciting.
So one day, in the grips of loneliness, I translated the word Petting Zoo and googled it. Cause that’s what we were ready for. Sammy was too young to enjoy a large zoo – but a petting zoo? Hell yeah.
And wouldn’t you know? There is a Streichelzoo (petting zoo) 20 minutes away from where I live. Though it’s more on the scale of a hobby farm than those mobile petting zoos that visit schools and shopping centres.
Continue reading
Even with a generous allotment of maternity leave in Austria (for me it amounted to 2 years, 2 months), it did eventually come to an end.
I was looking forward to going back to work. Craving it, even. Something new to look forward to; getting out of the house (wearing more than stained tracksuit pants); drinking a cup of hot tea in peace while I read through emails; talking to my colleagues about more than just nap lengths and tantrums.
In some ways it was as easy and enjoyable as I imagined. In others it was harder.
Continue reading
Like many other places in the world, getting your child into subsidised care in Austria, means registering early. But given the two years of potential maternity leave, there’s more time for planning. You don’t, for example, have to think about it before you even get pregnant! But there were some things about childcare in Austria that I wasn’t quite expecting. Though to be fair, I based it all on my perceived notion of Australian childcare. And obviously I’ve never had a child in Australian childcare! But here’s how it works here.
Continue reading
It started as a simple idea to keep me busy during maternity leave (not that I wasn‘t busy enough!), as well as earn a bit of money and improve my German. So… now that my German course is over, how are my German skills?
Continue reading
This might sound bad, but last week my husband took Sammy, along with the in-laws, for a beach holiday to Italy. They went for the week, but I could only join toward the end because I had to work. You might think I’d be bummed… missing out on long beach days, and mouth-watering Italian food, and my kid running around on the sand with a big grin on his face.
Well… in a way, I was. But in another way, I was ecstatic.
Continue reading
I’m not sure if it’s a German-language thing, or just an Austrian thing, but it seems that when you say goodbye to someone here, it’s not as simple and just saying “bye” and heading on your way.
Everyone I hear combines a few different words into a kind of muddled up sentence as they are leaving.
For example they might say: “Tschüss… Baba… Pfiati…” and add a “Ciao” on the end for good measure.
Continue readingSame same… but different. I’ll be strolling through the supermarket here and see a familiar packet only to realise… it’s not the same… and yet it is the same. I know companies often have to change the names of products from country to country, so perhaps this is the case with many of the following that I’ve found.
Weet-a-bix: my favourite classic Australian cereal does exist here. But it’s called Weet-a-bix instead of Weet-Bix and it has rounded corners.
Continue readingBeing in a different country obviously the supermarket looks a little different. And the names of products in the supermarket are different too. So, the other day I browsed through the supermarket, with the mindset of a 16 year old boy. And here’s what I found. I hope your inner 16 year old boy enjoys them as much as mine did.
Bum Bum: a delicious ice cream that comes with chewing gum as part of the stick
Continue reading
an aussie in austria 