Ok, so where did I leave you?
Oh yeah, I was devastatingly tired, and ready to tell you about sunday night.
Travel tips of the week;
1. When ordering food, make sure you know exactly what is, and what isn't on the menu.
2. Dont try to be daring guess what it means - you could be wrong
3. Learn as much of a language as you can before you get to the travel destination
4. Try everything but for the really scary stuff that you would not ever want or need to do in your life*.
5. Smile and nod. But dont say 'ja bitte' or 'okay' too much, or the locals will begin to think you have no other vocabulary and are genuinely a boring person
6. oh, fives enough for the week dont you think?
*In regards to the above mentioned scary stuff, make sure that you really, really, really dont want to do it (as long as its not dangerous or illegal) and then decide if you will or wont give it a go.
* Such scary stuff may or may not include snowboarding down a huge mountain at a very fast speed when you are unsure of how to stop.
Ok, so now, Sunday night.
At 4 in the afternoon, Helgas parents came over for a peice of cake and coffee. Helga made a really good Tiramisu, a dessert I dont usually like at all, and Helgas Mum, my Oma made apple strudel. Ohhhhhhhhhhh, yummmmmm. Wow. yum yum yum. I love baked apple in any way possible. oh yum. I wish i had some right now. Come to think of it, theres still some in the fridge that we were saving for this afternoon. Oh yum. I cant wait.
Anyway, I did the whole 'lets introduce Australia in English to non English speaking people' again, and strangely enough, I still enjoyed it (this is the fith time I've done it, with the help of two books about Aus). Its kind of fun talking about things you know, and others find amazing. And the books are really good, with many, many places Ive been to and others Ive heard a lot about.
The extended family left at 6, when we had to leave to go out for dinner. I was excited to meet more of Helga and Klaus' friends, and eat at a traditional Austrian restauant. The only problem, I couldnt understand ANY of the menu.
I decided (stupidly) to go with my gut feeling. Only problem, my gut feeling couldnt decide between two meals. I pointed to them both, and asked my host mum which I should choose. 'Choose this one' she said, pointing to the left, 'I can make the other at home any time you want.' So I did.
It was a bit of a shock when the plate came out piled high with seafood. Now, usually at seafood I would say, yum, delicious. But this seafood included tiny whole octopi, some other chewy thing that looked like tiny shells and other unidentifiable things from the deep deep depths of the ocean. Hmmm.
I ate every peice. I had to, I ordered it, and so down it went. I remember thinking, I dont think I'll be feeling so well tomorrow.
Monday (Montag)
Forget my not feeling well, today Helga got really sick. She was complaining of a very, very sore stomach, and because of this we did nothing all day. Except for a little German study, walking the dog (named Deejay) and some cleaning, I did absolutely nothing. And it was nice. Ive been so busy since I arrived, that I forgot how nice it is just to sit and relax once in a while.
Tuesday (Dienstag)
Today, Guilian (one of two children that Helga cares for during the day) joined us for lunch. He loves me. I cant understand why, becasue all I do is talk to him in english and repeat what he says in German. He 'showed' me how to play the drums, and at one point we got into a very strange version of hide and seek, where I would hide and he would find me, but when he did, he would hide too. No-one else was looking for us, but he kept telling me to be still and quiet. What a weird kid.
Guilian
(maybe I gave him a mohawk for the photo. But he loved it)
Wednesday
Went to the Braunau Markets today.
If you can imagine the Stirling markets cut in half and put in the middle of a typical german street, that is the Braunau markets.
After going to Braunau central, we picked Guilian up from the kindergarten and went home. As it was a sunny day (only the second since I arrived), Helga and I decided to take a walk along the Inn - the river that works as the border of Austria and Germany. We waited until Guilian was picked up, took the dog and set out on our way.
on the walk
the local winter sport.
sunset on the way home.
Walking home I was freezing cold, but happy to have seen everything the local nature had to offer. We walked past hunting grounds for deer and rabbits, the poor things, and rental gardens for those that live in the city but like getting dirt under their fingernails and all over their clothes as they garden away their days.
Spent the night watching 'My Sisters Keeper' in German. It must have translated well, because Helga used a whole packet of tissues for the duration of the movie. I didnt.
Thursday (Donnestag)
I love the nearest bowling place. Imagine this
A large eating hall. Four long tables to sit at. Three tables full of old men and women. Four short bowling alleys, lined up with the tables. A blackboard to write the score on at the end of each alley.
i only got three shoddy photos of this night, silly old me forgot to charge the battery. whoops
We played bowling games until 12pm, when we decided it was time for a quick trip to maccas before home. Another quick tip for travellers, maccas tastes just as bad no matter what language you order it in.
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