Die Familie

Monday night, I was invited to have dinner with my host family.

Well, in the interest of accuracy, it is sort of difficult to explain what exactly they are. They are not really a host family, as I am renting from them (my apartment is on the Erdgeschoss, and they live upstairs). But, they are nicer that regular renters, like, for example, in a bigger city, because the husband used to be the headmaster at one of the schools where I am teaching, and the wife used to teach (they are both retired). Also, they do nice things like invite me to dinner. And I am one of a long line of teaching assistants who has lived in the apartment downstairs.

So, yes. Dinner was lovely, although I think they were a bit confused as to what to feed a vegetarian. We had two very lovely (typically Austrian) white wines with dinner - a Riesling and a Grüner Veltliner, I believe - and a great *interesting* conversation (finally!) Like, for example, once they were asked to sing in North Korea at Kim Jong Il's birthday party (because he wanted people from all over the world to tell him how great & wonderful he is, apparently). And when they found out I had lived in Berlin, we talked about life during Communism, and what things were like before the Wall fell (well, I don't actually know anything about it, so I mostly listened). And what the differences are between Austrians and Germans (just ask and they'll tell you!) - all really great stuff to know. Oh, plus, we talked about how the school works and everything. Practical stuff I will need to know when I'm teaching.


Excuse the lack of photos. I am trying really hard to change just for this blog, but I am not one of those people who takes her camera with her everywhere she goes to take a bunch of random pictures...especially not when I am invited to someone's house...maybe I can sneak a couple in next time!