oh where have I been?

After being cooped up inside for two days straight under the false name of "working on my lesson planning" I decided that I was going to take a walk.

I walked for about an hour in the snow, by myself, through a park for people, bikes, and horses, much like the W & OD Trail, except no cement/pavement/concrete.

It was beautiful. I felt as though my eyes were truly open for the first time since arriving here. My consciousness was imbued with something that I have not had in awhile. It was cold out, 27 degrees, but I was so comfortable in all of my North Face clothing. (I realized how funny I must have looked to passersby. North Face Rain Pants, North Face Jacket... even a North Face Hat.)

As I crested a rise in the trail I mentally kicked myself for not having had the patience to lug my Mamiya out of my pack. But that lasted for only a moment, because then I realized that I could just stand there and make a mental picture. It will snow again. I can go back to that same spot with my camera another time to record the beauty of that small valley amongst the pines.

For once I was so content with being alone. I was with nature. The wind was whispering through the trees casting little snow flakes off the branches. They came dancing around my face, and I turned my cheeks toward them, their cold fingertips brushing against my warm skin. I relished the cold. Walked off the trail and lay down in the snow, realizing only after a few seconds that I was talking to myself, saying "this is what I want. This is all that I want". The coldness of the ground seeped through my rain pants and my sweatpants and my long underwear into my bones. I could feel the danger in that coldness, knowing that the sun would be setting in twenty minutes or so, but the danger only made me feel comfortable and at ease. I was reminded of this past spring and our IDS Class trip to Mount Rogers. Reminded of the whining, and distress, and ill-tempers. If only those people could have opened their eyes like I was opening mine...

I now know more than ever. I have to work for EYA. I can not continue as I have. I can not work inside. It makes me insane.

Today I was hyped up on caffeine, because coffee tastes good. But snow tastes better. Austrian snow tastes just the same as American snow. A fact which gave me comfort.

We miss so much by existing in a shell, protected by wood or concrete or plastic. When I went outside I could hear children laughing and was reminded of a passage in the book I am reading right now.

"Although countless children who suffer from mental illness and attention disorders do benefit from medication, the use of nature as an alternative, additional, or preventetive therapy is being overlooked. In fact, new evidence suggests that the need for such medications is intensified by children's disconnection from nature. Although exposure to nature may have no impact on the most severe depressions, we do know that nature experiences can relieve some of the everyday pressures that may lead to childhood depression" (page 50, Last Child in the Woods Saving Our Children From Nature-Defecit Disorder, by Richard Louv)

I breathe more easily outside. My breath comes from lower in my belly, fully expanding my diaphragm. I look up and out and not just down or in front of me. I am calmed by the outdoors. The silence of the cold and snow has always filled me with awe. I hope that our society can figure out a way to preserve this great world we live in.

It begins with us though. We have to want it. We have to need it.

Winterwunderland

It snowed on Friday evening. 3 inches of beautiful white powder.

I am now living in Wieselburg, which is a town about 17 Km away from Scheibbs. I have no mailing address at the moment.

There is a little tiny cat here name Calimaro. He is quite adorable and likes to sleep and play with me. He is twelve weeks old and hilarious. Apparently he likes cooked broccoli and raddishes. He ate a whole piece of broccoli that had been cooked in butter, garlic, black pepper, and salt. I gave it to him mainly to see his reaction, but he ended up eating the entire thing, and growled at me when I tried to take it away from him. On a whim I fed him a raddish yesterday, which he also consumed. Animals are funny and hilarious. I can't wait until I can have my own.

Cali is sitting on the edge of my bed right now, cleaning himself.

I am procrastinating doing my lesson planning for tomorrow and Tuesday. I have to prepare lessons on Racism in America (specifically pertaining to Barrack Obama), and a lesson on the ENTIRE history of America... they are INSANE if they think I can even come CLOSE to teaching the history of the U.S. in 45 minutes.

Ben and I are going for a walk later today in the snow. It has turned into a beautiful day, albeit cold.

Here are my plans for next year, if I can get accepted.

http://www.eckerd.org/WorkforEYA/ycpositions.html

OI VEY!

To all of you who read this. I am moving out of the crazy house that I am now living in, because my landlady is perhaps the least respectful person I have ever met, and for some reason has decided that I can not do anything correctly.

What does this mean?

I will soon have a new address, so :-D if you for some strange reason had been planning on sending me anything in the near future, either refrain, or email me for an address which you can send things until I get a new address.

I will be suddenly much happier upon moving

Hopefully I will be able to have internet access as a part of my rent!!!!!<----this is perhaps the most exciting of all!

es regnet, es regnet...

It has been raining a lot here, so I decided to take some pictures of the rain.

:)

Also, today I have been gone exactly two months! I think that I am very well adjusted. I spent the weekend with the Hutterers, went to a Photography Exhibit, which wasn't very good because it was all Post Modern Art, which, anyone who took the American Landscape with me last year, knows... I HATE with a FIERY PASSION! But I bought 2 HUGE prezels at the Rathaus Christkindl Weinachtmarkt in Vienna. ;) I finally met Angelika, Eva's youngest sister, so now I have met the whole family! :)

Okay, onto the photographs.

stupid, stupid, stupid

I am at my wit's end with my land lady.

Yesterday she apparently thought I was gone for the weekend, even though I specifically told her the day before that I was leaving on FRIDAY for Vienna, so when I got home from Wieselburg last night I was locked out of the house. (She leaves the key in the door, so that even if you have a key, you can not get into the house from the outside... unless you break the door down... so what do I do? I go up to the front door and ring the doorbell... twice because she did not come the first time.

Upon opening the door she appologizes, then says she thought I was gone, and then asks why I didn't call, to which I respond... I wanted to check to see if someone was home first... (DUH!)

Then, I go downstairs, being polite and removing my shoes before I enter the house, so as not to get the floor muddy. I open my door to my room to find it COMPLETELY cleaned, all of my stuff rearranged... we aren't talking her just organized... NO, we are talking about things taken off of shelves, put on different shelves, jewelry moved, newpapers placed under each leg of my tripod... the coat hanger from the hall placed in my room, my clothes in my closet folded, the new sheets that are MINE that I put on my bed over the weekend taken out, new ones put in, (now I can't find my new ones... they disappeard), towels taken out of the bathroom, NO towels put back in, and EVERY SINGLE BOX I had been saving, thrown away...not to mention some newspapers I had been saving for classes.... THROWN AWAY!

ungh.

sorry for the rant.

other than the crazy lady, things are going very well. It's cold here now, averaging about 33-36 °F in the morning 2-3°C. The snow should be coming soon, which is exciting, but this also means that soon I will not be able to ride my bike to school, or the pool, or the train station which is slightly sad since it will mean I will have to wake up almost 30 minutes earlier...sigh.

On another note. The chocolate here is so good. This, I knew already, but in case you were feeling sad for me because of my landlady, I decided maybe it might be nice to make you slightly jealous too. :-)

The chocolate, the bread, the sausages.... YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Teaching is going VERY well in both schools. I know have two tutor buddies, one of whom I am meeting for the first time tonight, and I am getting two more next week! :)

Okay, I am done for now. I hope each and every one of you are doing well! :)

OBAMA

I am very proud to not only be American, but to also be Virginian today!