New digs for 2010/2011

Hi everyone!  Servus!

I'm well-settled and enjoying my second, and final : ( year in Austria.

My school is called the Europagymnasium Linz-Auhof, and is the only international school in town.  Four days a week I teach about 15 different classes and work with at least 20 English teachers.

Aside from teaching, I'm also taking classes in a Masters program at the Johannes-Kepler University - tuition free!  If you would like to see some pictures from my neighborhood, click the link below.

Let me know if you'd like to see more photos of Linz - I've got plenty!

-Stephen

Photos from my neighborhood

Fasching!

From Fasching

Was? Was ist Fasching?

After a long pause in my posting, I thought it best to continue with a little Bang! Fasching, or as some Americans call it, Fat Tuesday, was celebrated this past week in my town of Rohrbach.

You may have heard of similar celebrations throughout the world, too. There's Karneval in Cologne and Venice, Fasnacht in Freiburg and Munich, and, of course, Mardis Gras in Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans. Fasching is the term used in Southern Germany and Austria, and the celebrations in these areas are similar.

Whereas the big cities drawl crowds of spectators into the streets, the real party, in my view, is auf dem Land - on the countryside. Check out how I celebrated my first ever Fasching in Rohrbach! Included here are the Faschingsumzug, or carnival parade in the town of Haslach an der Mühl, then some more shots I took on the big day in Rohrbach, "Fat Tuesday".

Praha and Dresden

From Praha

Ahoj!

Prague was a wonderful trip with the students, and we even visited a few sights while about, including Dresden.

Our visit to the Czech capital and cultural center of Bohemia took us through the historical sections of town, such as the Prague Castle and the Staré Město, or Old Town. By day, we were lead through detailed tours on the history of this significant city, while at night, the students - with me taging along - enjoyed the vibrant night life. Albeit the weather did not cooperate in any regard: Rain, rain, for 4 days out of our 5 day trip (and to counter this, I came up with very clever ways of drying my soaked clothes and shoes).

Walking across the Charles Bridge (Karlův most) was one of my first impressions of Prague's medieval side. As you walk ancient statues, such as John of Nepomuk and towering structures, like the one pictured (right), pass by you.

Touring Prague for a week felt to me like I was dipping my toes into a deep cultural abyss. That thought alone motivates me to continue with my Czech lessons, even though they may be meager compared to studying the language. Perhaps that opportunity will present itself here in Austria : )

For more views of Prague and Dresden, you can view the photos I put together from the trip.

Na Shledenau,
-Stephen

Vienna, next Prague

From Kraków and Vienna

I just got back from an enjoyable, but nevertheless short weekend in Vienna. I'm starting to think it will always be too short : )

Here are the pictures from the weekend, which include my first-ever visit to the popular "Naschmarkt" on Saturday morning and Advent mass at Stephan's Cathedral on Sunday.

On Monday, I will leave by bus to visit Prague with a class from the business school (HAK) in Rohrbach. We will be in the Czech capital all week, so it will also give me a chance to improve the little Czech I've learned this semester!

Expect a great post from me next weekend,
-Stephen

Pumpkin Pie... Austrian-style!

After many attempts, I finally succeeded in baking my own pumpkin pie, and on Thanksgiving Day! Despite the many obstacles, both physical - no canned pumpkin, nor pumpkin spice, or pie baking forms - and mental - converting to metric and translating from German - I made it happen.


Pumpkins in Austria

Pumpkins vary in size, shape and color throughout Austria and the rest of Europe. They are used mostly in cooking, but many families set them outside their front door or on their dining table as fall decoration. While they haven´t quite caught on as Jack-o-Lanterns for Halloween, most Austrians use them regularly for Kürbiscremésuppe, or pumpkin cream soup!



In the southeastern province of Styria ("Steiermark" in German), pumpkins are harvested for many reasons. With its large pumpkin harvest, the province exports many products that derive from pumpkins, these include pumpkin seed oil (Kürbiskernöl), roasted pumpkin seeds (gebackene Kürbiskerne) and pumpkin spice (Kürbisgewürze). Oddly enough, despite these mass exports of pumpkin-based products, pumpkin pie hasn´t made its way through to consumers yet.

Since pumpkin pie hasn´t fully been adopted into Austrian culture, it´s difficult to find the ingredients needed to bake one. This is where my journey began:
I was getting homesick for my soul food, which includes everything found in Amish country more or less. Luckily, Austrian cuisine is almost identical to Amish-style food (for example, sauerkraut, wurst, potatoes, more potatoes, more sauerkraut, you get the idea), but pie is still missing from the scene. In its place is torte, and although I love torte, I still miss pie!


How I prepared the pie:

1. Translating the ingredients into German
Going from largest to smallest, the basic ingredients included
Pumpkin - Kürbis
Sugar - Zucker
Eggs - Eier
Condensed milk - Kondensmilch
Cinnamon (ground) - Zimt (gemahlen)
Ginger - Ingwer
Nutmeg - Muskatnuss
Cloves - Nelken

2. Conversions
1 cup - 1 Tasse
1 pint - .47 Liter
410° F - 210° C

3. Shortcuts
Pre-made dough - gefertigter Teig
Filo pastry - Blätterteig
Short pastry - Mürbteig

And the final results were fantastic!


For all the photos from my baking experience, check out the Pumpkin Pie album

Photos!

Check out the photos from my field trip with the students!

Student Protests in Austria

Have you already heard about the student protests in Austria?

I hope to bring you more news on the protests as I get them. It's a really big deal!

-SB