Rebecca and the Chocolate Factory

Ever since I was little, I've loved "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". The old version with Gene Wilder was a movie I never tired of, and I could sing every last song (including the many varieties of oompah-loompah songs) by heart. Whenever I watched the film, I had fantasies of being able to visit such an intriguing and enchanting Candyland, and I envied the child actors that actually got to do so! I was always torn between wanting to be Violet and Veruca--Violet got to roll around in a big blueberry suit (which looked like a lot of fun!), but Veruca definitely got the best song ("I Want It Now"). It was a tough call.

Last Friday I got as close as I'll ever be to living out these fantasies. The Zotter Chocolate Factory, located in southeast Styria in the town of Riegersburg, is just a quick car ride away from the school where I'm teaching. My amazingly perceptive supervising teacher had the insight to realize that an excursion to the chocolate factory was just what we'd need on a Friday afternoon. So last Friday after the last class was over, we drove on out to Riegersburg with great eagerness and eyes that were most certainly bigger than our stomachs. On the ride up, my eyes were glued to the window and the breathtaking Austrian countryside. I am contantly awed by the landscape here, and it became clear to me during the trip up to the chocolate factory that I'd be quite content with life if all I had was a car and enough gas to aimlessly drive all through Austria. As we drove up the hill into Riegersburg, the Riegersburg castle rose to greet us. Set up upon a cliff, it really is quite majestic and intimidating (in a picturesque sort of way); owned by the family Liechtenstein--as in the country of Liechtenstein--this castle seems to fit the nobility to which it belongs.

We arrived at the Zotter Chocolate Factory to find an unimposing but modern facade. Our 90 minute tour was about to begin, so I tore myself (and my camera) away from the countryside and the funny woolly cows to head inside. We were greated by the tour guide as we entered, and we gave our names at the desk--reservations are necessary here so that they're not overwhelmed by hoardes of Willy Wonka fans like myself. First off, we were given a spoon--the kind like you'd get for soup at a Chinese restaurant--and told to enter the Chocolate Theater. Puzzling over the funky spoons in our hands, we entered the theater and began the tour with a short video of South American farmers explaining their work and their lives as cocoa bean harvesters. The Zotter Chocolate Factory produces entirely organic and eco-friendly chocolates, and they are also heavily involved with environmental preservation and saving the animals. Thus, we learned about both bean harvesting and standards, and also about what a fine and conscientious man Mr. Zotter is to work for. It was rather amusing to see the Spanish subtitled into German though...I mean, it totally makes sense, but my mind was swimming with all the languages!

After the film, we were led into the first portion of the factory where the beans are cleaned, refined, and made into a cocoa-y sludge. As the tour guide explained the process, I stared down in wonder at the real-life oompah loompahs as they scurried from big chocolate machine to big chocolate machine. Rather than orange-faced midgets with green hair and cute little overalls, my real-life oompah loompahs were dressed in immaculate white (...which, for me anyway, would be such a disastrous color to wear around liquid chocolate...) and tended to shiny white machines with shiny white labels on shiny white floors. I tore myself away from this little daydream just in time to hear the tour guide inviting us to sample some cocoa from the chocolate fountain in the middle of the room. It was a beautiful chocolate fountain, with a rich and velvetly-looking cascade of chocolate coming out the top. As I'd been daydreaming about Oompah Loompah Land, I missed the part where he told us that this was 100% cocoa--that is, 100% ground up cocoa bean mush without any other additives. My heaping spoonful betrayed my inattention, and I didn't catch on when the other tour-goers gave my spoon a skeptical glance. Instead, I ignorantly indulged in a heaping spoonful. My reaction was immediate--my face contorted from the bitterness, and my mouth puckered as my tongue suddenly assumed the sensation that it was made of cardboard. And of course, of course, this was captured on film by my amused companions!

From this section we were led to a new room of chocolate fountains. Wary as one of Pavlov's dogs, I approached these fountains with a touch more caution. This room demonstrated the different types of chocolate--from 10% cocoa on up to 100%. After a brief explanation of the role and strength of cocoa in the chocolate manufacturing process, we were once again invited to use our spoons and sample from the fountains. Having wised up, this time I began at the end of the line--with the 100% cocoa chocolate--and worked my way down to the very sweet 10% option. I found that with 80%, the chocolate became tolerable, but with 70% it was first enjoyable.

From there, we got to see how all of the chocolate bars are cut by hand and turned into the finished product--all by hand! Having seen this process through from beginning to end, we were then taken through yet a few more sections where we were invited to sample the chocolates. In one room, we were invited to try the Trink-Schokolade, or Drink-Chocolate. Essentially, this Trink-Schokolade is a special type of chocolate melted in warm milk to make a sort of specialty hot chocolate. Overlooking the beautiful Austrian countryside, assorted shots of Trink-Schokolade came out on a conveyor belt and circled the rooms on a little pulley system--totally something out of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"! In the next room we were invited to sample an assortment of chocolate-covered things from rotating copper basins. All sorts of chocolate-covered things. There was your usual chocolate-covered cashew or blueberry or ginger root, but there were some truly odd flavors as well. By far the most bizarre (and alarming!) flavor was Zimt-Grammeln, or Cinnamon-and-unmelted-residue-left-after-animal-fat-has-been-rendered. ...Did you get that?? Yeah, it was chocolate-covered, cinnamon-flavored dried-up animal fat!! ...Those Austrians!

Finally, our tour ended with the chocolate bar sampling. As if we hadn't had enough chocolate already, we came out near the factory store, where a conveyor belt brought samples of different chocolate bars and we could take and sample as we pleased. It probably took about 10 minutes for all of the different flavors to travel by, and since it was dangerously close to the chocolate factory store, I was unable to get out of there without buying a few bars myself. A sucker to the fantastic marketing ploys, I didn't feel too guilty about my purchases since the flavors were both insanely unique and astonishingly good. Among the most interesting flavors available were: Pinapple and Pepper, Banana Curry, Pepper and Mint, Rose and Basil, Tofu and Sake, and India Masala. And the three types that I came out with were Pinapple Cashew (there are no words to describe the bliss that is Pinapple Cashew chocolate), Lemon Polenta (also an indescribable and tasty treat), and Hot Chicken Ensemble (I was mostly taken with the name of this one, but it's made with egg liquer, yummm).

Surprisingly, I wasn't sick to my stomach. I did a good job of pacing myself and didn't reach the point where I thought I might turn into Violet Beauregarde and explode. And that, I believe, signals the success of Rebecca and the Chocolate Factory. The Zotter Chocolate Factory is definitely going high on my list of places to take any visitors to Austria--and to see this trip in pictures, check out my Flickr link to the right!

Three Fundamental Reasons Why Austria is an Amazing Place to be in the Fall

Austria is an amazing place to be. Period. But there are some particularly wonderful things that are uniquely Austrian and strictly seasonal. I would like to dedicate this post to three unique aspects of autumn in Austria...if I happen to entice you for a visit this time of year, then so be it...

Maroni

In October, Maroni Ständl spring up in the streets if Graz. All at once, these roasted chestnut stands appear in every plaza and on every corner, advertising "Heisse Maroni", or hot roasted chestnuts. Until coming to Austria the first time, roasted chestnuts were--to me--just a thing of song. However, "chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Jack Frost nipping at my nose" instantly exits the realm of the theoretical and becomes a full sensory experience when in Austria in the fall.

Chestnuts come into season in October and remain throughout the winter months. Stands are erected throughout the city, and hot roasted chestnuts are sold by the 1/4 liter in newspaper cones. These stands (typically a "Styrian" green, like in the photo above) have a large, covered metal roaster, where chestnuts are continually roasted throughout the day. Once roasted, the steaming hot chestnuts are scooped up and poured into an opening in the stand, where they are then covered with a thick insulating blanket. When you order Maroni, the blanket is pulled back, your chestnuts are scooped out into a measuring cup, and they are then served in a newspaper cone. (See photo above. Note: that is NOT my hand!)

The smell of Maroni fills the streets. It is a sweet, nutty smell that is reminiscent of everything fall, and it brings a sort of nostalgia similar to the smell of burning leaves. Ideally, I would upload some sort of scratch-and-sniff application to my blog so that you could experience it for yourself, but alas, I'm still working out the kinks. When eaten warm (and still steamy!), maroni have a soft, pleasant texture and a neutral taste that borders on sweetness and mild walnuty-ness. The ubiquitous presence of Maroni stands in the city allows for a warm and comforting €2 snack for quite a few months out of the year.


Sturm


Also amazing and wonderful is Sturm, a drink that is only available in the fall. This drink is the immature byproduct of the winemaking process (available, like wine, in both red and white), and it occurs halfway between nonalcoholic grape juice and fully fermented wine. Like cider with an alcoholic punch, Sturm is served cold and is refreshingly sweet and easy to drink. Austrians will advise Sturm novices to take their first Sturm easy, as its effects can sneak up on you if you're not used to this drink. Sturm is available only in the fall because it coincides with wine season. The fascinating thing about this drink is that it is still continuing to ferment--constantly--and has a very short shelf life. Grape juice becomes Sturm when the yeast is added and the sugar ferments to become 4% alcohol. Once it reaches an alcoholic content of 4%, it may be sold as Sturm until it continues to ferment and reaches an alcoholic content of 10%. Sturm may be purchased in restuarants, Buschenschanks (see below), or in the grocery store, but it must be consumed quickly. When buying Sturm in the grocery store, you must be careful when choosing your bottle, as it is left open to allow for the continual fermentation of the drink; if sealed shut, the fermenting yeast will build up pressure and cause the bottle to explode. Sturm must be drunk within a few days of purchase, as it also continues to build up a yeast-y sediment that settles in the bottom of the bottle; whoever gets the last glass has to be careful not to get a mouthful of yeast-crud with it!

Unfortunately Sturm season is drawing to a close, but I try to order it whenever I'm out so that I can fully take advantage of this unique and tasty drink.

Buschenschanks

The Austrian Buschenshank is another staple of fall, though they do exist year-round. Found only in the countryside, a Buschenschank is an vineyard establishment that makes and serves all of its own wines and foods. Only cold foods are served here; to accompany the wine (or Sturm) you can order various salads, cold cuts, cheeses, and spreads--all served with fresh homemade bread. Apparently 80% of Austria's wines are consumed in Buschenschanks and other family-owned establishments, before ever reaching the market. It is a very common excursion to hike through the hills to a Buschenschank and then rest a bit with some food and wine before heading back.

Last weekend I went on an impromptu excursion into southern Styria to a Buschenschank. We parked the car and then hiked through the wooded hills into the countryside. It was a cool and cloudy day, but the scenery was beautiful. When we arrived at the Buschenschank, we chose a table that was literally in the vinyard and sat down to our drinks and foods. After out rest and a short wander through the rows and rows of wine grapes, we headed back to the car with a renewed appreciation for this particular Austrian tradition. I am now a huge fan of the Buschenschank, and I could be convinced at any time to make another excursion. Any takers?

(For complete Buschenschank-excursion photos, please see the Flickr link to the right.)

So...

These are just three reasons why coming to Austria in the fall is highly recommended. (Hint, hint, nudge, nudge.) And there will be more exciting tales of Austrian excursions coming soon!

I really should be working on my next lesson plan...

...but this is a good distraction. Watching this clip again is good motivation to get back to work on tomorrow's lesson! Enjoy!!

P.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who have sent lesson plan suggestions, links, ideas, etc! I am very grateful and am collecting these ideas to use them during the year! Feel free to keep 'em coming! :)

Getting into the Flow...My 2nd Week of Teaching

* Me with my first-ever lesson plan!

I am happy to report that I survived my second week of teaching with all of the wonderful momentum of my first week. With my dignity still intact, my creativity stretched, and my pantomime skills sharpened, I have found that I really really dig this new gig of mine.

After the first week, I knew I'd have some repeat classes and I would need to have an actual lesson plan. This was the really daunting part, since (as I mentioned before) my only instructions are: a) to get the students to speak; and b) teach them about American culture. This is soooo open-ended. Since I am assigned no particular topic, subject, or time frame, I can only assume that I have the whole lesson to teach about whatever I deem worthy of attention. Having never made anything close to a lesson plan before, I was totally stumped.

This is where my wonderful roommates come in. Not only am I blessed to live in a fantastic apartment with a couple of fantastic girls, but it just so happens that they're both English teachers! My American roommate, a friend from my study abroad days in Graz, just finished her second year as an English Teaching Assistant with the Fulbright exchange. My other roommate, an Austrian, speaks perfect British English and teaches English (and Spanish) at a local high school in Graz. As I'm still new to the world of education, they are both awesome resources as I flounder and flop through my first lessons.

The night before my second week began, I sat in front of my computer, frantically searching for material on the internet or in the resources provided in the training week (at the castle!) from which I could make a lesson. After 1.5 hours of this, I finally went to my roommates and pleaded for help. Together with their ideas and direction I made a ROCKIN' lesson plan about concerts. It was the *perfect* lesson plan: it was on a topic that interests the boys (bands, concerts), and it involved brainstorming (a great opportunity for the students to just shout out any words they want from their seats--yelling things out is always a good activity for them), a text (both practical for the new vocabulary and interesting, since it was about a riot after a cancelled punk rock concert), and a role play (they had to hold a town meeting to decide if Slipknot [their band of choice] comes to Weiz, presenting the view of the teenager/grandparent/local businessman/etc. The students were very creative with the activity, and it was a HUGE success, both among students and teachers. I never could have pulled it off without the help of my roommates. And since it was such a huge success, it completely motivated me to come up with more totally amazing lesson plans!

At the end of my second week, several of the teachers asked me how I was enjoying teaching so far. "So far, so good" was the general vein of my reply...actually, I'm fantastically enthusiastic about this year, but it *was* only the second week. It suprises me, but I feel like I'm a natural when I'm up there at the front of the classroom. Like it may actually be the perfect fit. That this teaching thing might stick. Granted, what I do is by no means they same as being a "real" teacher (I don't have to grade papers, discipline students, etc.), but it's a good crash course. And with positive feedback from both the students and the teachers, I know I'm on the right track.

I did some brainstorming for future lesson plans, and I realized that I am badly in need of interesting materials from America. And this is where YOU can help me out! I would be über-happy to receive any of the following:

• To my teacher friends: I would LOVE anything having to do with American schools, especially high schools. I tried writing my old high school to ask for materials, but I never heard back. Anything like hall passes, detention slips, class schedules, student handbooks, honor codes (honor codes especially: Austrian students didn't believe me when I told them that Americans don't cheat--they thought I was making up the idea of an honor code to scare them...there's a whole cheating culture/system here...), lists of clubs/extracurricular activities, etc.
• Sports: Actually, here I am open to both materials and advice. The students (being almost all boys) really want to learn about American sports. I know nothing about American sports. Ideas and any sort of sports paraphernalia welcome!
• Fast Food: Fast Food will make a great lesson. They have fast food here of course, but even the McDonald's choices are different. Maybe fast food menus/nutritional information/etc.
• New York City: New York friends, here is where you come in! I would love to make a lesson about NYC. For this, I would be greatly appreciative of subway maps (several--enough to split the class into groups so they can work with the maps), Metrocards, brochures for touristy things or free events around the city, and anything else that may come to you in a brilliant brainwave that is "typical New York."
• Jobs: I thought I'd also do a lesson on teenage jobs. For this, I would love love love to have some sample job applications! So next time you're at the mall or a fast food place or wherever else teenagers might work and you see a "Now Hiring" sign, think of me and pick up an application? :)

I would, of course, be happy to provide my address again to whoever may need it. And there would, of course, be Thank You postcards. Oh, and I also get free international text messaging with my new plan, so if you might ever want to get a text from me, you can send me your number! Thanks so much!

Ms. Teacher Lady

I walked into my first week of teaching having no idea what to expect. I had met up with my supervising teacher before school started and had a chance to get to know her, learn a little more about the school and the students, and ask any questions I may have had. It was fantastic to meet with her and get an idea of what to expect before I showed up on my first day, but I was still left with the impression that this teaching thing would be terribly open-ended.

What I did learn before I arrived at the school for the first time...

- My schedule is amazing. No, it's more than amazing! I am to teach 12 hours a week, but by "hours" I really mean 50-minute class periods. These 12 hours are broken down into 3 days. Yes, that's right, I teach 3 days a week, 4 hours a day. My teaching days are not, alas, all in a row, but I really can't complain: I teach Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays--this still gives me a 3-day weekend every week and a day in the middle to recover from the first 2 days of teaching.

- I'll be at the HTL in Weiz until Christmas, then at the BORG in Birkfeld in January, and then back at the HTL in the springtime to finish out the schoolyear. This is rather nice because it means I can stick to one school for one big chunk of time. It'll be much easier than juggling the two schools at once.

- I can carpool to the HTL with my supervising teacher. She lives in my neighborhood in Graz, which makes carpooling super-duper easy--I just stand in front of the bakery 2 minutes from my apartment, and she arrives in the car to pick me up!

- The HTL is 95% male. Um...did you catch that? Yeah, the school I'm teaching in consists of 95% teenage boys!

My first day...

I arrived at the school on my first day and was promptly given my new (and wonderful) schedule. School starts at 7:50 am, and in Austria it's the teacher that goes to the class, rather than the class that comes to the teacher. Rather than having their own classrooms, Austrian teachers are given a seat at a table in the teacher's lounge, and this is where they may leave their personal belongings, make copies, etc. Consequently, it makes the teacher's lounge a very hectic place to be, since most teachers are running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to leave materials from one class and gather materials for the next class, before rushing off to the next classroom full of expectant young teenage boys. This teacher's lounge, as crowded and chaotic as it may be, does have several "ups"...there's an excellent coffee machine that makes freshly ground coffee, and a mini-fridge stocked with soda, juice, and beer (how Austrian is that?!) to enjoy between classes.

Students in Austrian schools are not allowed to wear street shoes in the building, so they all must where slippers while in school. Austrians are very big on slippers anyway: you don't wear your shoes inside the house in Austria, and there is always a nice big basket with assorted sizes of slippers for any visitors or guests who come to your home. In the schools it's very much the same--the students must all change into their slippers after they come in to school, and the teachers are very strict about enforcing this rule on any miscreant who decides his Pumas pass the test. As a teacher, you have the privilege to choose your own footwear. However, most teachers opt to wear their street shoes as a visible sign of authority. As I understand it, the whole idea behind the slippers is to keep the schools cleaner longer, thereby cutting down on cleaning costs.

Students here stand when a teacher enters the classroom. Once all are standing and silence is achieved (which can sometimes take awhile), the students are given permission to sit. Then the lesson begins, and a normal day in a normal Austrian school begins.

I arrived on my first day with a general introductory lesson that I hoped would suffice. I was given no direction on what I should do with the kids, and as far as I knew, I had the whole class period to fill. I knew my audience (teenage boys), and I was a little intimidated about little ole shy Rebecca getting up in front of rowdy, critical teenage boys and pretending she knew how to teach. However, the moment I was introduced in my first class and told to go ahead and give my lesson, I was possessed of a strange confidence that both consumed me and surprised me. From that moment on, I stood in front of the classroom as if I OWNED it. I was confident, and I was energetic, and I spoke in a booming teacher-voice that was not my own. The booming teacher-voice caught me quite by surprise as well--my entire life, whenever I have had to speak in front of any number of people, I have always been told that I am speaking too softly. But standing up in front of the classroom, it was as if the volume couldn't be turned down. This "Teacher Rebecca" was a phenomenon I was totally unprepared for.

My introductory lesson...

I'd prepared an introductory lesson to suit my audience: before I told the students anything about myself, I would put 4 sentences on the board--3 of the statements were true, and one of the statements was false, and the students had to ask me questions to figure out which one was the false statement. Then we would take a vote when they thought they knew which one it was.

I tried to pick sentences that would be exciting (and, who are we kidding, also somewhat impressive) to young men:

• I helped the police in Colorado catch a drug dealer.


• I was once on the Romanian evening news when they talked about terrrorism.


• I broke my ankle while rock climbing in Colorado.


• I've gone diving in Australia with sharks and sting rays the size of Smart cars.

Every time I gave this introduction, there were audible reactions as I read the statements aloud. The students really loved it--they asked questions such as: Are you a terrorist? Do you know any drug dealers? Are you scared of sharks? Where did you go climbing? Have you ever been on TV? Have you ever been in jail?

Then we would vote. A couple classes got it right and guessed that me breaking my ankle was the false one. One class even asked enough questions to figure out that I helped the police in Colorado catch a drug dealer quite unintentionally through a car accident. After this activity, I would introduce myself, tell the class a little about who I am and where I'm from, and then open it up to Q&A for the rest of the class period.

Q&A Highlights...

During the Q&A I gave them permission to ask me anything about myself or my country. There were a few questions that were common to all classes:

• What do you think of Bush / the war in Iraq?


• Where do you go out in Graz?


• How old are you?


• What do you think of Austria?


• What is your favorite alcoholic drink? (N.b.: At first I was really uncomfortable talking about alcohol with these kids because it didn't seem like the kind of thing that'd be appropriate to talk about in an American high school, but then I had to remind myself that these kids are already allowed to drink. Weird.)


• Have you ever gone on Spring Break? (Apparently these guys think that all American students "go on Spring Break" in Miami or Cancun.)


• Can you speak German? (The official answer is "no", or "not really, but maybe I'll learn more this year.")


• Why are Americans fat? / Do you like McDonald's?

There were, of course, certain moments where I made an utter fool of myself during the Q&A. However, this can be a very effective teaching tool.

At one point, I was asked what I thought of the German language. I gave an honest answer: I used to think that it sounded like hocking up a hairball, but now I think it's quite a beautiful language. Not all that surprisingly, the students had no idea what "hocking up a hairball" meant. So I stood in front of the class and explained what happens when a cat licks itself and swallows too much hair, culminating in a grand reinactment of Teacher Rebecca demonstrating what it is to, as they say, "hock up a hairball."

Another class asked me about my hobbies. Among the things I mentioned was swing dancing, which is not really to be found in Austria. The students didn't know what swing dancing was, so I explained that it was dancing from the 1930s and 1940s, danced to Big Band music. Someone from the back of the class shouted out, "Can you show us?" Having already established a precident for making a fool of myself in the Hairball Class, I obliged the student in the back and chose to demonstrate a good dance for one person: the Charleston. I demonstrated '20s Charleston and then regular Charleston, explaining a little bit of each. Then the class burst into spontaneous applause, and--I'm sorry to say--I spontaneously bobbed down into a curtsey.

In another class, when asked why I liked Austria so much, I explained to them that I thought it was a very beautiful country. Especially the drive from Graz to Weiz every morning--it's 60 km of hairpin turns, but it's gorgeous all the way. I told the class how pretty it was, and how I really enjoyed the sight of the "mist rising up from the hills" every morning. At first the class looked wide-eyed and shocked. Then they broke out into loud and uproarious laughter. The teacher, looking lightly scandalized, asked me, "Do you know what you just said??" It was then that I realized my poor word choice: "Mist" in German means "animal poo" (to put it more politely), and I had given the entire class a mental image of poo hovering above the hills!!

All in all...

All in all, it was an excellent first week. I left a good impression on the teachers and got some really positive feedback. The teachers I work with are all wonderful and supportive and really nice, which will make working there a really good experience.

There is an excellent book by Frank McCourt (author of "Angela's Ashes") called "Teacher Man." I read this book before I realized I would be a teacher, but now I can tell that it is going to be very influential upon Teacher Rebecca. The third book of his memoir series, "Teacher Man" tells the story of how Frank McCourt survived 30 years of teaching in New York City public schools by telling his students stories...when nothing else could motivate them or grab their attention, he told them stories of his childhood in Ireland. This led to his eventual writing of "Angela's Ashes", a memoir of his early years in Ireland, which won the Pulitzer Prize and became a movie.

I can see myself shaping up to be that teacher who tells stories...and dances....and hocks up hairballs. It's going to be an intriguing year.

Of the Bundes-Oberstufenrealgymnasium and Höhere technische Bundeslehranstalt...

...Did you catch that? Right, maybe I should repeat myself. I have been assigned to teach in two different schools: a Bundes-Oberstufenrealgymnasium and a Höhere technische Bundeslehranstalt. But you know, those crazy long German words are just so much fun to say, I'll repeat myself one more time so that it will really sink in. Next time you're speaking of me in conversation (which, naturally, must happen quite often) and the other person asks you how Rebecca is doing and if you've heard from her, you can say, "Oh, she's doing great! She's teaching at the Bundes-Oberstufenrealgymnasium and a Höhere technische Bundeslehranstalt."

Admittedly, that might take some practice before it will roll gracefully off the tongue. I arrived at our week of training at Schloß St. Martin (Schloß=castle) without really being able to utter those words. By the end of the week, not only could I say them like I'd grown up attending the Bundes-Oberstufenrealgymnasium or the Höhere technische Bundeslehranstalt, but I knew the acronyms that people use in order to save precious conversational minutes. The Bundes-Oberstufenrealgymnasium, or BORG as it is most commonly known, is an upper-grades public high school where the students will take their exit exams (Matura) and then be able to attend college. The Höhere technische Bundeslehranstalt, or HTL, is a public high school that focuses on technical skills, and those students will go on to do apprenticeships to become mechanical engineers and the like. I have been placed in the HTL until Christmas, and will be working at a BORG focused on music and the arts starting in January.

The Austrian secondary school system is radically different from that in the US, and would require an entire post dedicated to explaining the intricate ins and outs of the educational system. For now, let's just suffice it to say that by the age of 10, an Austrian student has to choose which secondary school to attend, and the secondary school is specific to a particular career path and determines whether you may one day attend university. It's a totally different system, and I'm still struggling to understand which schools do what. But I've got the BORG and the HTL totally pegged!

During our training week in the pretty yellow castle (for more emphasis that we had training in a castle, please see photo above--it's the pretty yellow castle on the hill), we attendended seminars aimed at total novices to teaching (which was most of us) with such themes as: How You Should Talk in a Classroom, What Austrian Teachers Expect, Games, Basics of Organizing Classroom Activities, What Makes A Teacher a Good Teacher, and Difficult Classroom Situations. We were also educated on the basics of the Austrian school system and the history of the "U.S. Foreign Language Teaching Assistants at Austrian Secondary Schools - a program coordinated by the Fulbright Commission for the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture." (Yes, there IS such a ministry!) The Fulbright exchange has actually been around quite a long time--since roughly the first World War. Today, there are about 140 US teaching assistants in all of Austria, whose total salaries amount to about €1.3 Million, paid for by the Austrian government! This is a very generous salary, especially when you consider that we only work 12 hours a week. Just yesterday I learned that my 12 hours as a teaching assistant earns me the same monthly salary as someone who works 40 hours per week in the local grocery store. (Note: What we would consider "teenage" jobs in America, such as grocery stores, fast food, etc. are often held down by adults here. There's really no such concept as an after-school job, since Austrian students should be focused on their studies.) In fact, we are quite lucky that the program is still going, as it was almost forced to shut down this year when policy changes would have prohibitted Americans from being able to come; the policies changed such that Americans were no longer allowed to work without a residency permit, but they were not allowed to get a residency permit without already having a job! The Fulbright Commission came to our aid and petitioned the government to make some exceptions, or loopholes if you will, and after some long and bureaucratically tedious campaigning, the program was saved. Lucky us!

At the end of the week, I still had very little idea of what was expected of me as an English Teaching Assistant. That, I realized, I would have to play by ear and see what was expected of me when I arrived at the schools. But there was certainly one idea that was drilled into our heads: as the native speaker, I am the expert on anything. So if I come across with confidence, that's what really matters.

I did survive my first week of teaching, so stay tuned for stories of my first adventures in Education!

First Impressions

First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who has left comments on my blog! I am always really excited to see that I have a new comment, so please, keep them coming! I'm also rather impressed that, although I've said very little of interest up until now, that you seem to be checking in! Thanks again!

I'd also like to draw your attention to a new feature at the right of this entry: for those of you who may not always remember to check blogs for new posts, you may use the link to the right to sign up and receive my Blog per email whenever I post something new! For those of you who are still stradling the fence between the regularity of mass emails and the convenience of these newfangled blogs, this may be the best option for you! (There's also an RSS feed you can subscribe to at the bottom of the page.)

And now, for the answers you've eagerly (and patiently, I might add) been waiting for: How is Austria? It's such a broad question that a mere description of the place wouldn't really do it justice. So I've been making little notations here and there of interesting cultural differences, minor events, and observations that have presented themselves to me in the last week or so:

• The German language: It is fantastic to be back in Austria and using my German on an über-regular basis. My apologies to my German readers, but I've fallen in love with the Styrian dialect all over again. (Quick geographical note: Graz is located in the province of Styria, in southern Austria.) It's also a bit of an adjustment to transition into primarily German, and I find that it does not come naturally and I struggle a bit when I speak. It's suddenly more difficult to speak German in Austria than it was a mere 2 days before I left New York. I would equate my speaking German with being on a sports team: being here is like I'm playing an away game and have lost the home advantage. In New York, if I spoke German, I was quite confident of myself, as I was one among few; but now that I realize that every time I open my mouth I will be identified as a foreigner, I'm falling behind in the game. But it's a bizarre phenomenon--my German comes and goes in varying degrees of fluency, eloquence, and accent depending on who I am speaking to. It makes very little sense, but I find that I am a tongue-tied stuttering fool when speaking with friends with whom I am already comfortable; however, when I am very nervous when meeting someone new upon whom I need to make a good impression, suddenly I speak perfect, eloquent German with no definable accent. It's truly freakish.



• Wet hair: Austrians are very big on dry hair. That is to say, if you venture outside the house (and in some cases, outside whatever room houses the hairdryer) with wet hair, you are prompty informed that you will catch a cold and strongly advised to go and blow dry your hair immediately. This I already knew from my last stint in Graz. Curly hair and blowdryers, however, do not often agree, and I typically let my hair air dry. A few days ago, I realized that due to my gainful employment within the Austrian school system, this would not come across as very professional...in addition to being a social faux pas. I have thus begun to blowdry my hair.



• Church bells: Church bells are a daily reality here, and they sound several times a day. The best example is at noon, where the unsuspecting foreigner may not realize that the entire city will also sound an alarm with the bells. Every Saturday at noon, synchronized alarms all over the city wail out from fire stations and join with the church bells to signal that is is, in fact, unmistakably noon.



• Zu den 3 Goldenen Kugeln: I was quite pleased to go to my favorite schnitzel restaurant Zu den 3 Goldenen Kugeln ("To the 3 Golden Balls") once more. Here you can order fast, inexpensive, but darn tasty schnitzel and sausage of all kinds. And what would a trip to Austria be without a schnitzel to welcome you? It's been 3 years since I've eaten there, and I'd forgetten how amazingly huge the portions are...but what could be better than a schnitzel the size of the laptop I'm writing this on??



• Die Strassenbahn: I'm amazingly spoiled that the tram ("die Strassenbahn") deposits me right in front of my building. Every time I ride home, it feels like the nice Austrian tram driver is personally dropping me off right at my doorstep! (Stay tuned for a future post on the apartment...)

There is certainly much, much more I could say, but I'll save that for later. I'll update again in a few days with thrilling tales of my first official days as an English Teaching Assistant!

What was awaiting me upon my arrival in the new apartment: Welcome to your new home!