Camp Happenings

It's a bit difficult to get online, as I think I've mentioned, with the kids around, because I'm basically on from the time they get up until they get to bed. But, finally, I'm getting around to uploading some of the photos I took and recounting some of the happenings at summer camp.

Hundertwasser statue in Zell am See

On my day off, I went to Zell am See, which is very beautiful and very touristy. I've been getting pangs of nostalgia here, which is curious as I've never been to this part of Austria before. I think my brain is compartmentalizing my new experiences into spots it previously reserved for summers of my childhood, which is where I'm getting this "deja vu."

My childhood summers often consisted of going to Door County (nature + tourist trap shops) and visiting my grandparents (who owned a farm just outside a resort town in Minnesota). The main difference I suppose is the geography (more mountains), the type of tourist frequenting the tourist trap (Arabs as opposed to Chicagoans) and the culture of the locals (Austrian as opposed to Norwegian-Minnesotan). You can see where my brain would draw similarities, I hope?

Guys in Trachten playing

traditional Alpine instruments 

Overall, I've really enjoyed my time at camp. It was hectic at first, draining, but now I feel like I've finally got into the swing of things and now I have to leave?! 

I expected certain things, which did not happen. Certain things just happened, which I was glad about, upset about, and just went with eventually. Some of the things working at a summer camp has taught me: be punctual; be flexible; start your day with a smile. And if you can't, fake it.

The things the kids loved to do sort of surprised me, not necessarily being the things I'd love to do at summer camp. The experience sort of made me revert to middle school...to my surprise at first. I kind of hated middle school as a big nerd with no friends. But the majority of the kids at camp were between 13-14 and that's where they'd be at. Middle school, I mean. Not nerds with no friends. Well, some of them to be fair. But most of the kids (seeing as they applied to a sports camp) are jocks, or at least sporty types. Some are easy-going, some are pampered brats; some have traveled around the world, some had never left their home country before 2 weeks ago. Almost all of the kids loved the pool (check) but hated going to the lake (what?!?). They liked biking, kayaking and tubing (they should!) but hated hiking. I came to the conclusion that they either tolerated nature, or liked it, but in moderation. Any strenuous exercise that was not 1) a game or 2) confined to a man-made structure was a no-go. Whatever. They'll learn.

snow in July

kids at the mountain hut

 The one thing the kids LOVE across the board, though, is Secret Friends, which is basically like leaving an anonymous note to someone you like, someone who did something nice for you, etc., to make them feel good/know your feelings/whatever. They are read during the all camp meeting by the counselors and then the note is given to the camper to keep. Sometimes there's dress-up involved. Sometimes there are meaner notes which need to be disposed of (positive attitudes = secret friends). I've gotten a few...and I keep them. My favorite was: "Vanessa, you're awesome! You care about us so much!!" Because I do.

waiting for Secret Friends

Wild Poppies, or: Recollection

poppies in a field in Amstetten

I know that I will have many memories of my time in Austria. One of the fondest, and yet more mundane, will be of my daily walk/run along the Ybbs. I have finally brought a camera along and will share with you some of what I see every day:

Doubtless, these photos (and, by extension, this blog) will help me remember much of what has happened this year. It's a curious thing, memory. There have been countless studies done on how people retain memories, a very recent one picked up as a topic on NPR's Talk of the Nation about our earliest memories: why do young children remember things from very early in life, yet as we age, we forget most of what happened to us before the age of four? Here is the article that accompanied the program on NPR's website.

Since I can get streaming radio on my computer, some of the copious free time I've recently been blessed to have (seeing as it is now summer vacation for me) has been eaten up by my "catching up" on certain things I miss from America. Including, yes, NPR programming. 

The show (as well as the transcript) was quite interesting. The expert brought in said that several memories of early life are attached to emotions. If a person experiences a strong emotion during an event, he or she is more likely to remember not only the event, but more details of the event as well. The most powerful emotions are often fear or anger (dangerous situations and arguments are easier to remember than calm or happy situations) as are shocking or new situations. This made me think about my own earliest memories, one that involves the German language, actually. 

I remember as a very young child watching news footage of the Berlin Wall being torn down. I was two, almost three, most likely watching the evening news with my parents. I remember the television we had at the time, an old analog dial set that fit snugly within the shelves of our entertainment system, next to my dad's record player and enormous white speakers. It's been a tradition in my family ever since I can remember to watch the news together at 6pm, huddled around the TV in the living room. And before the advent of cable, this was even easier - fewer channels, and less crap to watch. We did eventually get cable, but that was long after I had started elementary school.  

calf put out to pasture

I remember images bursting onto the screen, the ones that have become stock footage now - people in the dark mounting the wall, taking sledge hammers to the side, East Germans walking triumphantly past guards, waving at the cameras. My parents sat in shock, probably in disbelief. Watching these images, they knew that the Cold War - and ideological terror of the "other" that had existed since before they we both born, mounted in bomb scares, fears of traveling abroad, the destruction of "the American way of life," that had urged hate and conspiracy and espionage - would soon be over. 

And it happened overnight, quickly and without warning. That is why my parents sat shocked. I'm sure they discussed it afterward. This would change the way they viewed the world. the way millions of people viewed the world. And this was the era before the 24-hour news network, before streaming video and internet and chat rooms and information all the time, anywhere and everywhere at the click of a mouse. They could read more in the papers the next morning, watch the news again the next evening, when the reporters had submitted new information. They had to wait - they may have waited on tenterhooks. 

cow (mommy)

Although I, a child, could not contribute meaningfully to a conversation about international affairs, the collective breath of the world expelling what it had been holding back for over 40 years, I understood that something important had happened. Berlin. I remembered the name. It held weight for me. When I was older, old enough to look up things in an encyclopedia (we had a set in the house, circa 1992) I discovered many things (now all outdated) about Berlin: it was a city, divided, the new capital of a reunited Germany.

I feel that this experience grounded my interest in the German language, in Germany, in Berlin.  I wanted to see for myself what sort of a city this was, what happened there, how people lived. It seemed like a city with a fantastic history, a place making history, alive, being shaped, becoming renewed. As a teenager, exposure to the stories of Christopher Isherwood and Cabaret and pop culture like Nena, propelled my interest in learning German. Of course, these were not my only reasons, but more to add to my list. I had already taken French, and wished to continue. To pick up a second foreign language, I had the choice between German or Spanish, and (as I've heard from many other students of German) the odds were against Spanish, mainly because it was seen as the lesser of all the offered foreign languages (all the dumb kids took it). This is, of course, unfair to the Spanish language, beautiful in its own way; I have grown fond of Spanish after having learned it - given it a chance.

preparations for Sonnenwende (Midsummer's Night)

German, anyway, and French, were my chosen university majors. These choices allowed me to study abroad. And where did I choose? Berlin, of course. I was not disappointed. I fell in love with the city a bit, I think. I still have fond memories of my time there. The city was alive, changing, making history. Vibrant. Charming. Magnificent. A big city, but not too big, like London, or too seedy, like L.A. Plenty of history, but still plenty of future, too. 

I point to this earliest of memories, watching the news with my parents as a toddler, to be part of the reason I am here now, in Austria, continuing to learn German. Continuing to be fascinated by the German language, by the history and culture of Central Europe. There are so many things that could be said about how destinies are shaped. Some say it is purely the past which determines the future. Others say the past is only and example to be learned from. I would argue that memories, being an exquisite form, a representation of the past controlled and controllable by the possessor of said memory, are the greatest tool in shaping one's destiny, if past and future being in equal parts relevant help us determine who we are. Or who we shall become.

train tracks

Famous Austrians III: Johannes Brahms

Not actually Austrian, but close enough for my purposes :)

Johannes Brahms

Brahms was born in Hamburg, spent his professional life in Vienna, famous for his Hungarian Dances, the Zigeunerlieder and the Lullaby mothers around the world sing to get their children to sleep. A leading romantic composer, and might I say, damn good-looking in his youth!

However, he was a bit of a grump, not unlike his idol Beethoven. He loved nature and animals, was BFFs with Strauss,  thought Franz Liszt was too big for his britches, contested that Wagner was a big blow-hard (truer words were never spoken!) and never married, although he had an odd relationship with Clara Schumann (wife of composer Robert Schumann), several affairs and one engagement to Agathe von Siebold. He was incredibly famous during his lifetime, sold oodles of music and became very wealthy, supporting up-and-coming music students as a patron. Frei aber einsam - free but lonely - is not only one of his compositions, but also possibly the way he felt toward the end of his life.