It is raining today. Blah.
We had four weeks of absolutely stunning, beautiful, warm weather. But alas, it was unseasonably warm and now we have to go back to the dreariness.
I swam in the outdoor pool on Sunday and almost froze to death. I felt very sympathetic for all the victims of the Titanic. I could only stay in the water for 20 minutes because my heart felt like it was going to explode and my teeth started chattering. BUT... afterwards I lay outside in the sun on my towel and soaked in the rays. THAT was nice.
Only 36 days left until I touch down in Washington D.C. and I am really really excited. Now that the end is in sight I am feeling slightly nostalgic about leaving... and also incredibly anxious about the state of the American Economy and lack of jobs, as well as not having heard from Eckerd in the last month after writing two emails AND calling. Grrrrr.
It will be really weird to not be speaking German every day anymore. BUT... the beaaaaaaaaaaach, omg. I can not wait to see the lovely seashore of North Carolina, attach that leash to my ankle and paddle my 9'2" out into the waves. I have been having stress dreams about surfing. Usually my board turns into a spaghetti noodle so that I sink and can't pop-up or paddle because I am trying to float on something that is not incredibly bouyant... Sometimes it turns into a wooden hot pad with holes in it and creases (where you can fold it up to fit in a drawer, see link).
http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/pitroviz/pitroviz0902/pitroviz090200075/4363910.jpg
Usually there is a wall between me and the waves as well. Like literally a Clear wall. In other words, the waves can not reach me, and I can not reach the waves. SO incredibly frustrating.
I have a lot of pictures still on the memory card of my camera, but I have been so lazy ( I blame the rain and my current job neuroses) that I have done nothing with them other than gaze longingly.
Anyway. 4.5 more weeks, 36 days. But who's counting!?!?!??!
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
I am a slacker...
Okay, okay, okay. It has been a really long time since I posted anything in here.
I have a lot of photographs to post, but it has been hard to motivate myself to load them simply because I miss working in the darkroom, so in some weird BACKWARDS way I am protesting digital by not working on my images at all.
updates:
I thought spring was coming last week but then it snowed again... 4 inches in 3 hours. CRAZY.
I go to London for a short vacation with SARAH CAMPBELL (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) in two weeks!
I turn 23 in 2.5 weeks!
My parents are coming to visit me in 31 days!!!!!!!!!!
I leave Austria in 79 days--an incredibly short number.
I have a lot of photographs to post, but it has been hard to motivate myself to load them simply because I miss working in the darkroom, so in some weird BACKWARDS way I am protesting digital by not working on my images at all.
updates:
I thought spring was coming last week but then it snowed again... 4 inches in 3 hours. CRAZY.
I go to London for a short vacation with SARAH CAMPBELL (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) in two weeks!
I turn 23 in 2.5 weeks!
My parents are coming to visit me in 31 days!!!!!!!!!!
I leave Austria in 79 days--an incredibly short number.
Monday, December 22, 2008
TOMORROW is christmas eve!!
I am currently making chocolate chip cookies in Austria. You would never know how much a person could miss something like a good chocolate chip cookie once in awhile.
Chocolate CHIPS do not exist in this country, because they have no need for them because their chocolate is so good that they could probably build houses out of it.
So, I had to personally make my own chocolate chips. 15 minutes, a bread knife, a chopping block, plus a strained thumb and forefinger, as well as one TEEENY little cut later the chocolate "chips" (more like chunks) were ready!
It is impossible to measure things here, so cooking has been quite interesting... ALTHOUGH, I am very impressed, and pleased to say, that I made a DELICIOUS apple pie crust on Friday evening WITHOUT MEASURING ANYTHING!
It went like this... "hmmm... that looks about right... GOOD. annnnnnnnd FINISHED!"
The heat is slightly different here too, so things tend to "brown" a little more... I still haven't figured out what is up with that. I am converting everything right.
okay... problem solved... they just look uncooked... but they aren't... they are actually cooked!
I ROCK! am cooking MACHINE!
Chocolate CHIPS do not exist in this country, because they have no need for them because their chocolate is so good that they could probably build houses out of it.
So, I had to personally make my own chocolate chips. 15 minutes, a bread knife, a chopping block, plus a strained thumb and forefinger, as well as one TEEENY little cut later the chocolate "chips" (more like chunks) were ready!
It is impossible to measure things here, so cooking has been quite interesting... ALTHOUGH, I am very impressed, and pleased to say, that I made a DELICIOUS apple pie crust on Friday evening WITHOUT MEASURING ANYTHING!
It went like this... "hmmm... that looks about right... GOOD. annnnnnnnd FINISHED!"
The heat is slightly different here too, so things tend to "brown" a little more... I still haven't figured out what is up with that. I am converting everything right.
okay... problem solved... they just look uncooked... but they aren't... they are actually cooked!
I ROCK! am cooking MACHINE!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
new address
I have a new address! AND I have grenzenlos internet!
Marion Chamberlin
Brunngasse 2, Zimmer 107
3250 Wieselburg, NÖ
Here is a photograph from Thanksgiving this past weekend. I cooked for 5 hours on Sunday, from 7:00am-12:00pm, but everyone enjoyed the food, and they actually ATE turkey with cranberry sauce, which tickled me numb, because everyone was SUPER skeptical at first!
from left to right:
Oma, Gunther, Gunther's wife, Emmerich, Me, Julia, Sandra, Eva, and Erich.
Marion Chamberlin
Brunngasse 2, Zimmer 107
3250 Wieselburg, NÖ
Here is a photograph from Thanksgiving this past weekend. I cooked for 5 hours on Sunday, from 7:00am-12:00pm, but everyone enjoyed the food, and they actually ATE turkey with cranberry sauce, which tickled me numb, because everyone was SUPER skeptical at first!
from left to right:
Oma, Gunther, Gunther's wife, Emmerich, Me, Julia, Sandra, Eva, and Erich.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
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.
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
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
Thursday, November 13, 2008
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! :)
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! :)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
500 year old buildings... what!?
My house for American standards is very young, but for European standards it is a spring chicken!
Today I woke up to grey (gray? I can't spell anymore) skies and cold weather... I could actually see my breath.. ha, I wonder how warm it is in Waterford... I'll check right now... handy dandy weather.com... 73° according to my findings... What temperature does air have to be in order for one to see one's breath... 50°? 45°? I don't know. After eating breakfast I ventured outside to the cold frontier that has now become my home away from home... So melodramatic I know... I took some photographs of Eva's garden and found a HUGE slug, which are called die Schnecken (pl). I will enclose pictures of it at the end of this post. When I saw the slug I immediately thought of you, Maia, and the photograph you took and then gifted to us in our IDS class. I saw Nistershums (talk about not being able to spell) and for some reason seeing the same flowers growing in Eva's garden that I earlier photographed at home, in Waterford lit up my heart. I am over 3,000 miles away from where I grew up, but the same plants are growing here as grow there! AMAZING!
After I took pictures of the flowers, I went with Emmerich up into the town of Idolsberg to document the 500 year old church side building with him. They tore the ENTIRE thing down this afternoon, and hopefully I can get some more photographs of it tomorrow, when the light comes back.
Here are the photos... The amount of flower pictures I took was limited because the wind picked up about halfway through... and the flowers became 'unshootable'
Today I woke up to grey (gray? I can't spell anymore) skies and cold weather... I could actually see my breath.. ha, I wonder how warm it is in Waterford... I'll check right now... handy dandy weather.com... 73° according to my findings... What temperature does air have to be in order for one to see one's breath... 50°? 45°? I don't know. After eating breakfast I ventured outside to the cold frontier that has now become my home away from home... So melodramatic I know... I took some photographs of Eva's garden and found a HUGE slug, which are called die Schnecken (pl). I will enclose pictures of it at the end of this post. When I saw the slug I immediately thought of you, Maia, and the photograph you took and then gifted to us in our IDS class. I saw Nistershums (talk about not being able to spell) and for some reason seeing the same flowers growing in Eva's garden that I earlier photographed at home, in Waterford lit up my heart. I am over 3,000 miles away from where I grew up, but the same plants are growing here as grow there! AMAZING!
After I took pictures of the flowers, I went with Emmerich up into the town of Idolsberg to document the 500 year old church side building with him. They tore the ENTIRE thing down this afternoon, and hopefully I can get some more photographs of it tomorrow, when the light comes back.
Here are the photos... The amount of flower pictures I took was limited because the wind picked up about halfway through... and the flowers became 'unshootable'
roses
black-eyed susans
die Schnecke
die Schnecke - all other wildlife in Austria is very small, except for some reason, the slugs grow to mammoth sizes...
Wie ich jetzt fühle...
the inside wall... yeah, I'd say this building's been around for awhile.
500 year old Cellar. WOW.
the toilet in the building...
just as a little side-note. If you click on the images, you can get to a larger version. They are a bit confined and small on this blog. enjoy!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
15 days and counting...
Pack, pack, pack.
I am setting up this blog for a couple of reasons. One, as a way to document my adventures while in Austria, and two, as a way to remain in contact with those of you back in the States whom I will miss dearly. I hope to update this fairly regularly to keep each and every one of you aprised of my movements in Europe, and so my parents won't freak if they call me and I don't answer... I will post links to my photographs as well so that you can see my images! I am very excited to make my 'hop across the pond' as my father would say. See y'all on the other side!
Until the 18th or so of September!
-Marion
I am setting up this blog for a couple of reasons. One, as a way to document my adventures while in Austria, and two, as a way to remain in contact with those of you back in the States whom I will miss dearly. I hope to update this fairly regularly to keep each and every one of you aprised of my movements in Europe, and so my parents won't freak if they call me and I don't answer... I will post links to my photographs as well so that you can see my images! I am very excited to make my 'hop across the pond' as my father would say. See y'all on the other side!
Until the 18th or so of September!
-Marion
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