Freaking out over the most basic of all laugage tests – German A1

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If you want to stay in Austria for any length of time there is a basic German language test that inevitably, you have to take.

I started preparing for this as soon as I arrived, studying doggedly for two hours a day, painfully learning pronunciation with my Ukranian teacher. It helped not having a job – I had such a lot of time and a high desire to use my brain.

Time to learn German

They say that the A1 test can be passed in three months, with two hours of study a day. I can tell you for a fact that I was nowhere near ready after three months. I still felt like a drunk fruitcake whenever I tried to speak German.

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Short Trips – St Daniele – Wine & prosciutto heaven

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P1010989
Let me at it!

In June we went to Italy for the day (yes, I know, but that’s not that best bit) for a prosciutto festival (see, that’s the best bit).

St Daniele is famous for its amazing prosciutto and every year they hold a festival – it’s a couple of hours drive for us… but it was well worth it.

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Home-sickness… it’s not fun, but it is a privelege

debbiekaye19803 Comments

It seems appropriate to write about home-sickness now since it’s been quite a dominate presence these last few weeks.

And I know it’s not the worst thing in the world and it’s not really going to hurt me and I’m not going to die… but when it hits you… quite frankly… it just sucks.

homesick like Captain
Missing my boy

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The awful German language – Mark Twain was right

debbiekaye19802 Comments

I have never been a ‘foreign language’ kind of person. In high school I took the requisite half year of French, half year of Indonesian and picked Indonesian because the teacher was a bludge. I then sat next to the smartest girl in class for the next two years and copied her work. Read: I had ZERO interest.

Learning a second language - German
Why on earth would I ever need a second language?

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Foraging – it’s kind of like living inside a giant banquet

debbiekaye19804 Comments

I grew up with a large backyard in suburban Melbourne and a Dad with a passion for fruit and vegies. As a youngster, it was quite common for me to go and collect my dinner straight from the garden, or grab a piece of fruit from the tree on the way to school. Then there was the time I started selling my parents vegetables back to them at a price… but that’s a completely different story.

Corn... but only for the animals
Corn… but only for the animals

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The proposal – what a way to end a perfect day

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For us it was clear, right from the start when I decided to move to Austria, that Thomas and I were in it together, that the end goal was to spend our lives together.

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The happy couple on our one year anniversary.

It was quite a stressful though adventurous way to start a new relationship, but we very quickly realised that we were highly compatible and could definitely make it work.

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My first Austrian wedding – these guys know how to party all night long

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Thomas and me at the wedding

My first Austrian wedding was in May. The weather was cool, but sunny, the bride looked beautiful and it was heaps of fun.

But there are lots of differences between Austrian weddings and what I’m used to. Read on to find out all about the crazy Austrian wedding traditions.

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The weather in summer – it’s a bit like Melbourne

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I was really looking forward to summer 2014. Having arrived back in Australia the previous August, I had almost just gone through two winters, the Austrian one being a lot colder than anything I’d previously experienced. It started warming up around March, albeit slowly and we made plans for all the holidays and short trips we would take during summer. We live right in the mountains, among the lakes so there is plenty of hiking to be done, lakes to relax around and small, out-of-the-way places to stay.

It started raining not long after this picture was taken
It started raining not long after this picture was taken

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