October Recap: Part 1

Oh man, where to start? It’s hard to believe I’ve been living here for almost two months, and I’m just now getting caught up blogging about everyday life, cultural stuff I’ve been noticing, and all that jazz.

First, I’d like to start with this selfie, cuz as you know, documenting my hair is an important part of documenting life. This was back on the first of October. I thought my bedhead looked cool. It’s now November 17 and I’m wondering if I can put off getting a haircut until I go home for Christmas…..hmmm…. 😛

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, you might be wondering: so, Sarah, what do you do with all your free time — besides take photos of your hair? I’m so glad you asked. My daily life can be split into a couple of important categories: waiting for trains, sitting on trains, working up the courage to go to the grocery store, going to the grocery store, having to go to the grocery store the next day because I can’t carry very much + my fridge doesn’t hold that much, waiting for buses, & sitting on buses.

I’ve created a pie chart to illustrate, for your convenience:

Indeed, when I was scrolling through photos to include in this post, the majority seem to be taken at train stations or on trains (including a lot of stealth selfies). So without further ado, here’s a real insider-look at these moments:

So it’s not the most accurate pie chart cuz I left out something pretty important — swimming, which also explains why I’m sitting on and waiting for trains so much. Back in early October I went and got a year-long swim membership and have been continuing to swim a couple of times a week. It’s a little annoying because I didn’t realize until it was too late that I could have bought this thing called the “3-Täler” season pass that would have included skiing AND swimming. Live and learn, I guess! I’ll probably be skiing on different mountains anyways, but I’m still doing the cost-benefit analysis of getting a season ski pass…and gear…. But when in Vorarlberg, do as the Vorarlbergers do, am I right?

Right now a majority of my free time is spent traveling to and from Dornbirn where I go swimming — as does the rest of Vorarlberg, it seems. Seriously that place is always crowded! I’m always having to carefully time my swims, so I don’t end up there during the peak times when there’s hardly space to breathe. I do love the swimming pool though — how often do you get to swim in a place where you can look out the large glass windows and see snow-covered mountains? Pretty cool. People are also a lot more friendly at the pool too, so that makes for an overall more enjoyable experience.

Speaking of people being more friendly, I’m uh-mazed at how friendly people are in Vorarlberg. Honestly! I can’t get over it. A couple of examples: I no longer have panic attacks going into Lidl because the staff don’t try to run you over. I mean, they still get annoyed if you take too long at the checkout, but an employee actually asked me to move out of the way rather than almost ramming the cart into me as a passive aggressive way to get me to move (happened pretty frequently in Berlin). Other shoppers are really friendly too — sometimes I’ve only had a handful of stuff and the people in front of me have let me go in front of them (I about fell over!). 

I’m always amused when I see “American” stuff marketed at the grocery store — like “American Pringles.”

Bus drivers are also friendly, and even when people get off from the back of the bus, I’ve heard them wave and say goodbye to the bus driver, who usually says “ciao” back. And I’ve had a number of elderly women strike up conversations with me at the bus stop (they might just be nosy — Austrians are so nosy). But all in all, I feel more comfortable striking up conversations with strangers or asking for help if I need help. Austrians are still reserved, for sure, but I feel more relaxed and comfortable in the culture here. For contrast, let me tell you about a cafe I went to in Greifswald. I went there for lunch almost every day and recognized the three or four people who worked there. It was a small place. But did we ever greet each other or strike up a conversation after eight months? No. They gave me my food. I ate. I left. I think that pretty much summarizes northern Germany.

Brief interlude for some more pretty photos from around the area:

You might also be wondering: “Sarah, I thought you looooved biking. Why are you taking trains and buses so much?” Well, that’s also a great question. You see, when it comes to public transport, I’m kind of a scrooge. I hate to pay if I can walk or bike just as easily, and I enjoy adding exercise into my life in a way that feels natural. BUT in Vorarlberg I have a year-long pass that let’s me travel through the ENTIRE REGION (including into Germany and Switzerland) on any kind of transportation, and it works out to like 25 cents / day. That’s INSANE. So, it’s been a lot harder to find motivation to bike to work when I can ride the bus (practically for free) — especially when the bus stops right outside my apartment. There’s also a lot more traffic in Feldkirch, and there aren’t protected bike lanes like there were in Greifswald. So biking scares me a little. However, bike-friendly Feldkirch tries to brand itself, I don’t see many bikers. That said, I would like to start biking more because I do miss it. Now that I’ve sort of settled into a routine, I’m thinking that I’ll try biking to work once a week.

Oh and let’s talk about German. Have I been speaking German? Have I learned any dialect? UMMMMM….sort of. I don’t get a lot of opportunity to speak German, surprisingly, but if coherently speaking a foreign language while drunk is the true test of one’s language ability, then I may have arrived. But then I had a student tell the other students in front of me (in German) that I barely spoke German after I’d had a whole conversation with the student in German. Ouch! #burn And nothing (NOTHING!) annoys me (and destroys my confidence) more than a smug German speaker who refuses to speak German with me after I’ve specifically requested we continue our conversation in German — especially if their English is just as bad as my German! It’s so annoying and actually pretty rude. So all in all, I haven’t felt like my German ability has been advancing as much as it was while in Northern Germany. Also I’ve overheard a number of other Brits/Americans talking on trains (besides the other TAs I know), so English is a lot more common and even expected as the area is more international & diverse (with Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and Germany all just around the corner). Definitely the most challenging–but perhaps most rewarding–has been speaking with my Austrian landlords who are always inviting me in for a drink (I understand maybe 60% of what they’re saying). But they’re sweet and it’s good practice.

What’s not been cool? Well, as much as I love Austria — and I do — Austria has a ways to go on the racist front (I mean just google the FPÖ campaign signs, which were hung up all over the city before the elections). I’ve definitely witnessed a number of situations that made me uncomfortable because people seemed to be being singled out for the color of the skin or the fact that they were foreigners. It’s hard to know what to do in those situations, especially if you’re not completely sure you’re understanding correctly what’s being said and you’re not sure how to interrupt and what to say being a non-native German speaker. 😦 So I’d like to get better about knowing what to say or do next time I see something. At any rate, I’m hoping to start volunteering at an organization soon, where I might get to teach English to refugees and learn more about their impressions and experiences.

Other things I’ve been up to: Yoga & drinking tea

 

 

BTW I do actually have photos with other people (Yes, I DO have friends! I’m really thankful to be surrounded by a great group of other TAs here in Vorarlberg!) but most of my time spent on trains and at the grocery store–which is the majority of my time, remember?–is by mahself. And I usually like to ask people before posting photos of them on my blog, which I haven’t done yet. (Hey guys, can I post photos of you? Wait, do you actually read my blog?)

Well, that’s a bit of what I’ve been up to! I also either food poisoned myself or caught some sort of stomach bug this week so that was fun. I basically laid in my bed and listened to the entirety of book seven of Harry Potter (which was like 20 hrs or something).

 

Other October / November successes:

• I managed to find a French Press (bless you coffee!). These things were almost impossible to find in Feldkirch!

  

• I finally finished all the Harry Potter books….! I’m in shock / withdrawal.
• Went on a couple of hikes & had a good friend visit (coming in a future blog post)
• Successfully made Chicken Tortilla Soup (yummy and so easy! Thank you Aunt Marilyn for the recipe!)
• So far no one has yelled at me about improperly recycling, so I must be doing something right
• I hung up a poster in my room, which promptly fell down. But I did get some other postcards hung up.

 

Things I’m missing:

• Thanksgiving, duh
• giant mugs of brewed coffee (sorry but one Nespresso doesn’t cut it)
• Trader Joe’s
• Wifi in my room 😥
• a microwave
• popcorn

Things I’m looking forward to:

• Thanksgiving, duh
• Weihnachtsmärkte!!
• being able to eat real food again after this stupid stomach bug / food poisoning

 

xo,

sarah