Fasching
While technically before our trip to Mallorca and something we'd hoped to do a bit more thoroughly (Köln comes to mind), we didn't let it pass without watching a few (snippets of) German Fasching programming. The primary school also had dress up day, and I managed to talk Gus into loaning me his cool Christmas present. Here's a photo of me with Angela (assistant principal/angel) and Kathy (principal/hippie). I was the hit of the primary school, and this photo was taken for the yearbook.
Visitors
Karen and Mike came down from Denmark for a weekend. It ended up being pretty spectacular. They came in on Thursday night, and on Friday they went into town while we went to work. We met them afterwards, and they had met some other Americans (Mike and Tom) who had extra tickets to the Starkbierfest at the Löwenbräu brewery. Starkbier is heavy beer the monks drank while fasting during Lent, and the festival was cool! Brez'n, bier (Spezi for me, the driver), oompah music, Schuhplattler (Bavarian slap dance), weightlifting contest, Lederhosen and Dirndls (since this wasn't a planned event I didn't wear mine), and later on a comedy/cover/rock/oompah/dance/garden implement band with an eclectic but hilarious and fun mix of music. I don't know if there is a classification for this group (die Jetzendorfer), but we had fun with our new friends trying to figure it out!
I don't have photos of my own, but here's one that represents the event well (and yes, that is a man on the table):
The next day we went into the Tirol to go skiing at Ski World in Scheffau (recommend this place!). A traffic jam shortened our day a bit, but we still got in a bit of skiing. Or rather, Mike and Karen and I did . . . Gus got in some falling and some hiking. We took the gondola up and up and up.
Karen and Mike started off down the hill. Gus fell down. He and I went down another few yards, at which point KK and Mike were long gone. Gus fell down.
I helped him up, and he managed to get himself pointed down the hill again only to end up crashing into a snow drift in such a way as to fully bury a ski without messing up the powder. We thankfully found it, he managed 40 yards, and he promptly fell again.
After about 30 minutes to make it 100 yards down the mountain and with Gus sporting numerous bruises, he politely but firmly refused to put his skis back on his feet and began walking down the hill. As we had long since lost KK and Mike, I did a few runs on my own, passing Gus at least twice as he made his way down (with some other lady, apparently). After the lifts closed we headed into the Apres Ski party, but couldn't find a table and ended up at a little restaurant.
Gus was a trooper for driving home as we all fell asleep. Good times! We enjoyed some time in the sauna and good conversation before turning in. They left mid-day on Sunday, and Gus and I did our weekly grocery shopping at the airport as stores are closed on Sundays elsewhere. We did find a few "exotic" foods not sold in Zolling (sriracha for example). Good to know.
Because I didn't have a camera on the slopes, you'll have to rely on Karen's blog for pictures:
www.mikeandkarenpsiaki.blogspot.com. All other photos are courtesy of ye old internet.
More Local Fun
The snow fell pretty heavily here the day after the Psiakis left, which meant that it was quite deep when we headed over to Bogenschiessen und Natur on that Tuesday. Yes, we finally met with our archery instructor (Mic) to set something up! Our colleague Ana came as well, and the three of us have our introductory sessions (two sessions of four hours each) next weekend! I am particularly excited about this, and you can be sure I'll flood you with pictures! Wednesday marked the primary school production, a tremendous performance that would put many high schoolers to shame. On Thursday we went out with our friend Martin and his son Tim (a regular thing for us), and we ducked into Saturn, the electronics store. I should explain that since I bought my cell phone last fall I had been looking everywhere for both a screen protector and one of those cases to protect it. Thursday was the FIRST time I had been in Saturn and had not looked for those two items. Saturday I promptly dropped my phone and broke the screen. When I headed into Saturn to replace it with a new one--not a cheap proposition--I noticed that they had screen protectors and cases not only for my new model, but also, finally, for my old one. Oh, the expensive irony. Oh, well.
That night we met up with Mark and Katrina in Hallbergmoos (where they live) for an "American festival" at a local establishment. Gus enjoyed the German rockabilly band, and we both enjoyed the company of both our friends and Mark's parents. We really like them!
And now . . .
I started this post with a bit about the gloom of winter, but this week we finally had a breakthrough. The SUN came out! Our friend Matt (an Aussie) has a theory about Germans. He says we're all solar powered, and when the sun peeks out just a bit you can see all the little human solar panels come out. Well, this week proved he was correct as all of a sudden everyone is outside! It's great! While a few persistent patches of snow remain in spots that are virtually always in shade, we've gotten up into the fifties for three days now! We've taken the dogs on longer outings, and today we walked around Freising for a few hours. What a day to go to the market! Sunshine makes fresh fruit look very tasty, and Gus purchased the veggies for the next few days there. We also just wandered along a few streets we hadn't explored yet, which was a blast.
This week the primary school has "student led" conferences, so I have quite a bit of work. I'll be heading over to the school tomorrow to get some work done while Gus does some grading at home without distractions. It's supposed to get cold again next week, which is normal for this time of year, but after that it will warm up into true spring. Time to start planting my flower boxes!
Some pictures of the gloomy winter:
See, even the Schloss looks dull in spite of its coolness and the snow.
The other side of the school (Gus's classroom on the far left of this photo). The window displays the ironic caption "spring" for the student poster below.
Just for those who hadn't seen, this is the German office and where I teach my first grade (behind the board/bookshelf). You can see the color we try to display to dispel the winter blahs.
I usually find snow covered trees very pretty, but even they lose their coolness when the whole world is grey.
