In only a few hours our shuttle to Munich will arrive. We'll spend the night near the airport and fly out early tomorrow. We are giving everything a quick cleaning while Nikolas enjoys his last morning at school. If there was a compelling reason to stay, we would. We love Europe and the European life style. We'd love to come back some day for another extended period of time, but that will be some day...
The most compelling reason to leave here is the people we've missed so much and the ones we can't wait to see again. It will be good to be home. Our bags are packed and we're ready to go. Like all good journeys, this one must come to an end. It's been quite a ride.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Top Ten things I'll Miss
Before a good-bye email, I'll tell you about the things I'll miss. In no particular order (ok, there's a bit of an order):
The food: Austrian/German food is great stuff: Schweinebraten mit Knödel, Wiener Schnitzel, Geröstete Knödel mit Ei, Tiroler Gröstl and, of course, yummy desserts. Luckily, they didn't get the better of me (see Taking the bus, train and bike below!).
Taking the bus, train and bike. We loved our car but the fact that you can get around reliably by bus and train is something we just don't have at home. And as far as going to the Universität or into the Old City, there's no quicker way than riding a bike. Plus, it helped me shed some pounds which means I'd better get a bike in New Jersey or else I'm in trouble!
Parks and playgrounds. We have these in New Jersey, but they're not the same! The climbing and sandbox structures are much more interesting, and then of course there's the "sideways" swing which we don't have at home.
The views. I've never gotten tired of my ride to the Uni. The Untersberg and Staufen on my left, Gaisberg on my left, the Fortress right in front of me...there are uglier rides to school.
Nikolas' Kindergarten. Thank you Irene and Christina (teachers), Monika (lunchtime teacher), Erna (cook)--what a great year Nikolas had! They are people who aren't in i
t for a paycheck. When we've run into these people outside of school, they've always had so much time for Nikolas as he explained whatever it was that was important to him in that moment. Never were they bothered or in a hurry, and Nikolas appreciated it as did we. Nikolas loved his people there, and they loved him back.
The students and the Uni. I was lucky to have the group of students I had. I really enjoyed their sense of humor, listening to their troubles, and sharing laughs. I worried sometimes if I was "doing right" by them, thinking there was always something else I could be doing. But they seem to have enjoyed themselves, and they learned a lot! The Germanistik was the same building, the same halls I walked 18 years ago. In fact, so little had been done to the building, it could've been 1990! There are some professors still here from that time. When I told one professor what I remembered from his course back in 1991 on Austrian dialect, he promptly took me to his office where he presented me with a free copy of a book he'd written on the topic since then.
Nikolas and Jenny learning so much German. Sure, I'll continue to speak German to them just as I've done with Nikolas since Day 3 or 4 (Jenny had to actually convince me when Nikolas was an infant that I needed to start and start YESTERDAY). But there's nothing like being here, being immersed in the language. Even though his two best friends at school were Canadian and English-speaking, Nikolas learned so much from his teachers, staff, and his other little buddies. And what I couldn't accomplish in teaching German to Jenny with lessons here and there over the last 14 years, the German-as-a-foreign-language department could! Now the mission: maintaining the language and trying to learn more.
Travel. We did get to travel this year, but don't be jealous. If you were in Pennington and said you were going to Long Beach Island, nobody's THAT impressed. You just do it because it's so close by. That's the way it was here. Being in Salzburg, beautiful cities, towns and regions such as Regensburg, Krumau, Innsbruck, Schladming, Vienna and Südtirol were just too close to pass up. Yes, we also went to Turkey and England twice, but I'm telling you--if you can just afford to get to Europe, traveling around IN Europe is not a bad deal at all.
Radio. Bayern 3, Antenne Bayern, Ö3, Radio Salzburg... Whenever I went out in the car or did the dishes, I turned on the radio--great memories from long ago! In 1990, when I moved to Salzburg, my mother was with me and she bought me a little radio. I thought, "Jeesh, thanks," being the ingrate that I was. But she explained that when she moved to America, she listened to the radio all day and it helped her learn English because she'd found that if she couldn't read people's lips, she couldn't understand as well. Dang if she wasn't right! Danke, Mutter.
Roggenbauer. Professor Roggenbauer was one of the reasons I stuck with German back in 1987. The other two were Professors Small and Zollitsch. Theses guys cared--they all opened up their home to us, fed us, entertained us. Who did NOT want to learn German under these conditions?! My original plan was to take one year of German just because my mother's side is German and I figured I should learn a little. Roggenbauer proctored my German 102 (second semester German) exam, even though he wasn't my professor for the course. I asked him after the exam if the word that I heard my mother and grandparents use (it sounded like "won") was really the German word "geworden" which means "(has) become". He laughed and said, "Hmmm, Bavarian dialect. We say the same thing in Austria--I need to meet your mother." (Read an earlier blog to see how ironic that statement was!) Roggenbauer is retired and lives in Salzburg today, and we enjoyed meeting up with him throughout the year. He's the reason I came to Salzburg the first time--he was MY resident director. If you believe that life events can fall like dominoes, he's the reason why I came the second time when I met Jenny. And so he's the reason why I came the third time. Vielen Dank, Herr Roggenbauer!
The food: Austrian/German food is great stuff: Schweinebraten mit Knödel, Wiener Schnitzel, Geröstete Knödel mit Ei, Tiroler Gröstl and, of course, yummy desserts. Luckily, they didn't get the better of me (see Taking the bus, train and bike below!).
Taking the bus, train and bike. We loved our car but the fact that you can get around reliably by bus and train is something we just don't have at home. And as far as going to the Universität or into the Old City, there's no quicker way than riding a bike. Plus, it helped me shed some pounds which means I'd better get a bike in New Jersey or else I'm in trouble!
Parks and playgrounds. We have these in New Jersey, but they're not the same! The climbing and sandbox structures are much more interesting, and then of course there's the "sideways" swing which we don't have at home.
The views. I've never gotten tired of my ride to the Uni. The Untersberg and Staufen on my left, Gaisberg on my left, the Fortress right in front of me...there are uglier rides to school.
Nikolas' Kindergarten. Thank you Irene and Christina (teachers), Monika (lunchtime teacher), Erna (cook)--what a great year Nikolas had! They are people who aren't in i
t for a paycheck. When we've run into these people outside of school, they've always had so much time for Nikolas as he explained whatever it was that was important to him in that moment. Never were they bothered or in a hurry, and Nikolas appreciated it as did we. Nikolas loved his people there, and they loved him back.The students and the Uni. I was lucky to have the group of students I had. I really enjoyed their sense of humor, listening to their troubles, and sharing laughs. I worried sometimes if I was "doing right" by them, thinking there was always something else I could be doing. But they seem to have enjoyed themselves, and they learned a lot! The Germanistik was the same building, the same halls I walked 18 years ago. In fact, so little had been done to the building, it could've been 1990! There are some professors still here from that time. When I told one professor what I remembered from his course back in 1991 on Austrian dialect, he promptly took me to his office where he presented me with a free copy of a book he'd written on the topic since then.
Nikolas and Jenny learning so much German. Sure, I'll continue to speak German to them just as I've done with Nikolas since Day 3 or 4 (Jenny had to actually convince me when Nikolas was an infant that I needed to start and start YESTERDAY). But there's nothing like being here, being immersed in the language. Even though his two best friends at school were Canadian and English-speaking, Nikolas learned so much from his teachers, staff, and his other little buddies. And what I couldn't accomplish in teaching German to Jenny with lessons here and there over the last 14 years, the German-as-a-foreign-language department could! Now the mission: maintaining the language and trying to learn more.
Travel. We did get to travel this year, but don't be jealous. If you were in Pennington and said you were going to Long Beach Island, nobody's THAT impressed. You just do it because it's so close by. That's the way it was here. Being in Salzburg, beautiful cities, towns and regions such as Regensburg, Krumau, Innsbruck, Schladming, Vienna and Südtirol were just too close to pass up. Yes, we also went to Turkey and England twice, but I'm telling you--if you can just afford to get to Europe, traveling around IN Europe is not a bad deal at all.
Radio. Bayern 3, Antenne Bayern, Ö3, Radio Salzburg... Whenever I went out in the car or did the dishes, I turned on the radio--great memories from long ago! In 1990, when I moved to Salzburg, my mother was with me and she bought me a little radio. I thought, "Jeesh, thanks," being the ingrate that I was. But she explained that when she moved to America, she listened to the radio all day and it helped her learn English because she'd found that if she couldn't read people's lips, she couldn't understand as well. Dang if she wasn't right! Danke, Mutter.
Roggenbauer. Professor Roggenbauer was one of the reasons I stuck with German back in 1987. The other two were Professors Small and Zollitsch. Theses guys cared--they all opened up their home to us, fed us, entertained us. Who did NOT want to learn German under these conditions?! My original plan was to take one year of German just because my mother's side is German and I figured I should learn a little. Roggenbauer proctored my German 102 (second semester German) exam, even though he wasn't my professor for the course. I asked him after the exam if the word that I heard my mother and grandparents use (it sounded like "won") was really the German word "geworden" which means "(has) become". He laughed and said, "Hmmm, Bavarian dialect. We say the same thing in Austria--I need to meet your mother." (Read an earlier blog to see how ironic that statement was!) Roggenbauer is retired and lives in Salzburg today, and we enjoyed meeting up with him throughout the year. He's the reason I came to Salzburg the first time--he was MY resident director. If you believe that life events can fall like dominoes, he's the reason why I came the second time when I met Jenny. And so he's the reason why I came the third time. Vielen Dank, Herr Roggenbauer!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Danke!
After making such a nice birthday card for me back in December, my students went and did it again, this time making a nice "Danke" card.The cover is full of inside jokes, trips we took this year, stories I told, even some famous quotes by Nikolas such as, "Why is she biting her finger?" I was amazed at how much they remembered! Thanks, Amanda!
The inside of the card is a picture of Salzburg done using cut-outs! Thanks, Krystal!
What a nice card! Thanks for everyone's kind words on the back. What nice memories! What a nice group!
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