ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH-ientation (this has nothing to do with pirates)

OK, so, I was not completely honest about all of my experience during Orientation week. What can I say?

There are a lot of things I could say. There are a lot of things I shouldn't say. There are things that I want to say that will be perceived as mean and/or bitchy, so (seeing as this is a blog and basically everyone in the world with internet access can see anything I write) I will refrain from being utterly candid, a trap I can so easily fall into. Anyone who knows me well enough knows how frighteningly honest I am when I get on a roll.

But that is neither here nor there. First, I will not bitch about people, because, as Mom always says, it's not nice, and you can get bad karma from being mean to people. Plus, no one reading this blog knows any of the people I met at my orientation, so none of you will care anyway. Suffice it to say that I had a hell of a time relating to people who wanted to compare regional accents, and insisted on laughing at me whenever I said any word with a vowel in it, because, naturally, being from Wisconsin, I said things funny. Like "Wisconsin" and "bag" and "vacation." Go figure.

Also, it was not just Americans, but also lots of teaching assistants from the UK who (sometimes) automatically think their way of pronouncing things is "better" or  - at the very least - correct. Who cares? I am not going to alter my speech patterns for you, so shove it. Plus, there are better thing to talk about than long a's and schwa sounds...for God's sake, hasn't anyone ever heard of a thing called an idea? A philosophy? Which may or may not be part of a discussion? One I would much rather be a part of than this stupid regional accent thing. Also, no one cares what part of the island you're from. It's all the same damned thing - Northampton, Southampton, Leisthechire, Otherchire...I did not grow up there, and the subtlety of what you're trying to tell me about your regionalisms is lost on an ignoramus like me (American regionalisms, by the way, pale in comparison to the difference between Leeds and Manchester, apparently). And, dear God, Wales is not England and never has been. So there. Oh, one last thing: no one knows (or cares) where Green Bay is on the map, and no one has ever heard of the Packers, or Brett Favre - says the guy from New Jersey, who is probably just looking to get laid.

Can you tell I get a bit nervous around British people? I have a hard time relating.

So then. Now that I have that off my chest, it was actually a very nice week and I met many nice and interesting people, and plenty of them were from England. But there were basically two levels of culture shock going on: American relating to Austria, and American relating to the English (in Austria) and when I was on my own, I felt slightly better. Because no matter where they come from, people are weird. And if you are not used to different ways of behaving, it is doubly difficult. Also, might I add, some of the English students are doing their study abroad term in Austria with the Ministry of Education (AND getting paid the same as I am, might I add!!!!!) which means they are slightly younger, and probably have no idea how good they have it.

So, anyway. I will take more of Mom's advice and think positive thoughts. Good thoughts. Only decent thoughts. Be nice to people. Even if it kills me.

Graz

All last week, I was at my teacher orientation in GRAZ! A beautiful, typically Austrian city 2 hours south of Vienna. Graz is also very well known as a student city. Think of it as Austria's Madison...

I took a train from Amstetten on Monday and made it to Graz in the afternoon. The weather was lovely, and we got to stay in a real castle! The food was excellent, and I met a lot of very nice people! This has been great.

I also gained lots of knowledge about the Austrian school system, and the seminar leader gave us some great tips about teaching, and using various materials in the classroom. We also got to meet the head of the Fulbright Commission in Austria (Anita Dall - who is actually switching jobs next week, so we will have to deal with someone else) and I have lots of great people to network with, and a new teachers association to join, TEA - Teachers of English in Austria. They have a seminar in January, which is free for members to attend. AWESOME!

So here are pictures of Graz:

We were given a tour of the city by these Gymnasium students, which was nice. They practiced their English, and were very good about the assignment (though totally typical 15-year-olds -- they ditched us as soon as the tour was over).

I am going to try really hard to remember what they said on the tour, but it was hard to take pictures and listen to them rattling away in their quiet little Austrian accents...so, excuse inaccuracies (there are bound to be a few) and  feel free to comment on the shit I make up, if you know what it really is.

<-- This is some Parliament building or something that was built during the Renaissance (1566?). The photo is taken in the courtyard.




Again, the same building. The stairs lead up to the Mayor's office, or something.

 The main hub of activity in Graz - Jakominiplatz

Statue of some former duke/king/emperor  -->

The four women at each corner represent four tributaries of the Danube.



















 I took this picture while they were talking...those are 2 of the girls at the bottom of the photo XD

Some tower of some old church

A guy surfing in the Mur

True. Nazis are not good.

Another church. This one was not on our tour, we just walked past it.

A view from the bridge

Some other old buildings

Some other bridge the girls giving the tour got all excited about

mountain up to clock

This mountain is apparently the inspiration for the dwarfs' mines in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - I'm assuming the Grimm version, not the Disney version.

You can go in and take a tunnel up to the top, where the city clock tower stands. (Glockenspiel?)

A close-up

And...the clock face

These are photos from the top of the mountain.






AND more picture of Graz that did not stand out to me, so I frankly don't remember what they're of...

The oldest church in Graz? This fresco was done in the 1600's

We also got to teach in a classroom in Graz, which was OK. I was not blown away by the experience. We had to create our own, original lesson plan in groups of 4. Let me just say that A) four teachers in one classroom (not counting the original teacher) is WAY too many authority figures. The kids were totally confused & who knows what they got out of it and B) yeah, the kids were kind of bratty and disruptive. That would totally never fly in an American classroom. Not a good one, at least.

Well, yes. I am going to assume that further experiences in Austrian classrooms will be better. Just don't know how long that will take! I start class on Monday...wish me luck!