Things I’ve been up to

It seems like just yesterday it was the end of August and I was flying back to Austria and in Vienna for the language course. But that was already three months ago…! I’m happy to say I passed the B2.2 class with flying colors, so now I’m studying to take the C1 test sometime in the next three months. At any rate, it felt really good to invest in my continued education and I feel much more confident in my German as a result.

After finishing the course in Vienna, I spent a few days in Saalbach-Hinterglemm for the orientation for the first year TAs. Then I rushed off to Munich where I met up with my brother and sister-in-law and two of their friends to go to Oktoberfest. I did in fact wear a dirndl for the first time in my life. Oktoberfest was a bit too chaotic for me, but definitely an experience to try out at least once in your life & it was really fun to see my family and be their translator 🙂

I spent most of October readjusting to Vorarlberg, teaching, and refurnishing the apartment with my new flatmate, Coralie. We had loads of fun going to the thrift shop and buying pretty dishes for mere pennies, as well as buying plants from Hofer, which we both struggle to keep alive. 😛 I ordered an IKEA bed, and Coralie was nice enough to help me assemble it. It only took us like a day and a half.

Our apartment is super cozy and warm and homey, and I feel so lucky to get to live here. This space is definitely one of the things I’ll miss the most.

October and November were also full of some cool art events in Feldkirch and the surrounding area. One was “Lichtstadt,” where the whole city was transformed by art installations, lights, and music.

 

Then there was another event called POTENTIALe, which was a lot of illustration, photography, and crafts. My favorite part of the event was the “Illustromat.” This was an “automat” where you could insert two euros and a piece of paper with a word or phrase on it, and a few minutes later an illustration would come out. I wrote the word “sassy,” and apparently this is what the illustrator thought of, hah.

Coralie and I also did a lot of hiking–the weather was spectacular in October and even into November.

I was also thrilled to finally get my photos developed from this summer–I think I’ll share some of them in a separate post.

In November I flew home for Thanksgiving for a week, which was wonderful! Lots of crossword puzzles and lots of food.

On the way back I had a surprise 10-hour layover in Philly, so I got to visit my good friend Sam, who was a TA for the past two years and is now a teacher. It was so fun to see her, and certainly beat sitting in the airport for the whole day.

When I got back to Austria, we had a Friendsgiving with the other TAs in Vorarlberg & I made pumpkin pie (which came out pretty well!).

Otherwise I’ve been keeping busy writing, sketching, planning a pop-up show, setting up a writing portfolio, and applying to jobs.

xo,

Sarah