Amstetten Ahoy: Sleep and School Visit

After little or no sleep for practically a week, I arrive in Amstetten - where I will be spending the next nine months of my life! How can I contain myself? What can I do? Where can I go? Where is this Pension Leichtfried I booked on the internet, and how the hell do I get there from the train station?

I don't know, so I ask this taxi driver who is sitting at the train station. I ask him if he's free (like, I try to be polite...not really sure of Austrian taxi etiquette) and he says, "Well, you can't have far to go," and I'm like, "Yeah, I know, the town is like 20,000 people. But do you realize how long I have been hauling these heavy bags around?"

Well, indeed it is only a 5 minute car ride to the place, but I would rather have gotten there in a car than gotten lost in the streets of Amstetten (so scary! The locals call it Fritzltown after the guy who locked his daughter in a cellar for 24 years...) and anyway, my shit is heavy.

So, I get to the Pension, and everything is just fine. I get loads of sleep, and, since I have internet, and TV, and I get breakfast in my room, I don't really ever have to leave! But  I do.

Here are some photos from my Stadtrundfahrt: 

"Downtown" Amstetten -->

<-- the Rathaus

The MALL! All-important. Seeing as Amstetten *has* a mall, it is one of the bigger small towns in Austria. Who'd a thunk, right? It's sort of like Green Bay because people from smaller places like Wieselburg and Melk come here to go shopping - not unlike people in the UP going down to Green Bay to partake in Old Navy, Best Buy and Woodman's!

This is someone's shrine to St. Jerome (litterally, this is what some person put in their front yard). If ever I forgot that Austria is a Catholic country, I will now remember! 

The Tanzhalle James Dean :

The church --> 

Well, there are actually 2 in Amstetten. Important things, you know.

Other pictures that look nice:

<-- the Wolf of Amstetten

There is some sort of legend associate with the town (I didn't actually read the plaque - otherwise I could probably tell you what that legend is!)

And finally, there are these weird-looking pear things all over the place...I think they are supposed to be like the cows (or, excuse me, bulls) in Chicago (or the butterflies in Green Bay. Also stupid.) Um, yeah. No idea, but they are probably done by local artists and what-not, trying to promote regional pride. Why they chose pears, only an Amstettner could tell you.

So, then, after I finished snapping pictures (I almost forgot about this part because of the pictures!) I went to the school to introduce myself. Everyone is super nice!!! One of the teachers showed my around, and then my supervising teacher (Betreuungslehererin) took me out for lunch. She is super sweet & I am very glad to be here :)

Monday I go to Graz for my orientation, which means another 4 hours on a train and crap, but at least I will only (presumably) have part of my luggage to haul around. Awesome.