Still Here

Sorry about the month-long update drought. Everything is going well and I have been keeping myself busy with lots of things. I have actually been sick for the past week or so. It's nothing too bad, just a sore throat and stuffy sinuses. Talking in class has not helped my throat though, and my voice was a bit deeper and rougher for a while. I kind of liked it, actually. Well, Christmas is coming up here in Austria as well and it seems that every little town has it's own little outdoor Weihnachtsmarkt (christmas market), where you can buy all your standard Christmas fare: advent wreaths, ornaments, trinkets, Christmas pastries, etc. You can also find Glühweinständl at these markets, where you can drink, yes, Glühwein (literally glow-wine) and Punsch, which are warm, spiced, fruity drinks that are great on cold, cold, cold nights in Dezember. Another December tradition around here is the coming of the Krampus or Perchten, as seen in the pictures. These ugly dudes are, according to the pagan legend, supposed to scare away the evil spirits from towns and villages, to make sure the coast is clear for Saint Nikolaus (who entered into the tradition much later), or something like that. There was a huge crowd in Wiener Neustadt when they came through. These costumes are pretty gruesome, as you can see, and most of the creatures also have huge cowbells around their belts and so they are not only very ugly, but also very loud. It was pretty funny to see some of the youngsters take off their masks after terrorizing little children in the crowd. Well, as I mentioned before it is very cold here, but what is worse is that it gets dark so early. As I write this, it is 4:03 PM local time and twilight has already set in. It is depressing. They do have lights, however, at the Hirschenkogel, the ski resort right next to my school in Semmering. I already got my hands on some ski boots and I should get some skis pretty quick so I can get out on the slopes and see how rusty I have really gotten. Pretty much everybody here is a skier and a lot of people I know have gone multiple times already this season. Earlier this week I went to a city called Sopron, which is actually in Hungary, but only about a forty-minute train ride from Neustadt. I actually got a stamp in my passport - the first of my entire trip! You can see the main
tower in the city in the next picture. It was a nice city, about the same size as Wiener Neustadt. I had a delicious pork goulash at a restaurant for lunch. Since the city is very close to the Austrian border, and basically surrounded by Austria on all sides, German is widely spoken there, and we got along no problem language wise. Shopping and some services are still a bit cheaper than in Austria - one Euro is roughly 250 Forint. Because of this, it attracts Austrian tourists and consumers. The first building I saw when I crossed the border was a plastic surgery office, dentist, restaurant and hotel all rolled into one. Crazy. This last picture is of myself, some students and some others at an event that was part of the "Christmas in Europe" program that the school in Semmering hosted. There were groups of students from all over the continent, and I believe the delegation from Albania is on the right-hand side of the photo. And yes that is Punsch in my hand. Cheers.