Austrians don’t really do dessert on Christmas Day, but that doesn’t mean they miss out.
For the entire month of December (and as long as they last after) Austrians bake truckloads Christmas cookies. They are everywhere – in shops, at work… and especially in people’s homes. Be prepared to be offered massive platefuls wherever you go. Continue reading
When Thomas asked me if I’d like to take ballroom dancing classes with him I practically choked with happiness. Who would have thought, a guy who likes to dance? I’ve danced all my life, enthusiastically, albeit not necessarily well. Ballet, jazz and finally tap dancing where I found my greatest love.
That’s right… this post is going to be about typing… as in on a keyboard. And even just typing that one word – typing – has caused me some consternation, because… well the keyboards over here are different.
Not too different, not different enough that you have to relearn to type, but enough that it messes with your head and frustrates you just enough to be annoying. Continue reading
Vienna came second in the ‘most liveable city’ next to Melbourne the year I moved to Austria, so it seemed only fitting that we visit my parents for a weekend during their Eurotrip.
Therefore, as far as I can tell these must be the requirements for most liveable city:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
There is a magical land of chocolate in Austria… only an hour and half away. Even though I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, a friend was visiting us from London and she absolutely insisted we go. Chocoholics beware – read on at your own risk!
an aussie in austria 