Odds and Ends

In my last post, I wrote solely about my first job opportunity, leaving out some other items which have occurred recently. On Sep. 18 and 19 we spent a night in Stoob, Austria which is where Marlene's sister, Christine, lives. It reminded me of a small Midwest town mainly inhabited by farmers, including Christine and her boyfriend's family. However in Austria, Stoob is reasonably well known for having a ceramics/pottery college. They have a small farm by American standards, there are a few cows, pigs, chickens, rabbits, and further outside of town they grow some crops. We spent the majority of the time playing the board game Settlers of Catan and playing with their two kittens. We left the next afternoon and they gave me two different kinds of homemade sausage and a big slab of bacon. I ate the sausages pretty quickly but I've still got some of the bacon left. It was really a big chunk which was fantastic because I'd complained many times about how the grocery store bacon is so thinly sliced, but now I can cut it as thick as I like.

My German class ended on Tuesday this week but I've signed up for another course at the same academy which begins on Monday. I decided pretty late to sign up for another course because it's a bit expensive and I wasn't sure if it really constitutes value for cost but beyond just the learning German aspect, it's a good way to meet new people and get out of the apartment. When I went to sign up for the next course yesterday though, they told me it was already full. They said I could take a test to try and get into the next next level, so I did, and passed it! The course I did in September along with the one I tested out of, together are meant for level C1 of the European Framework for Languages. The course I'll be taking in October now is for the first half of the C2 level, which is the highest. Beyond that, there's only one more class I could take. So I'm very excited about that, and I am beginning to feel a lot more confident in speaking.

I officially registered as a member of FC Adrenalin and played in the first team match last weekend. I subbed in for the last 20 minutes and the game ended in a 2-2 draw. All the scoring happened while I was still on the bench. If you look at their website now, I'm listed in the roster and it has my stats. There's no picture yet, but I did ask the webmaster to change my flag to that of the USA, it showed me as an Austrian just a couple days ago.

First Batch of Americans Arrive Safely

On Sunday night my parents and youngest brother Ethan arrived well and we all stayed the night in Neusiedl am See. The next day, Ethan and I came back to Vienna and my other brother and friend arrive at the train station from their travels in Holland and Germany, and later that night Belén, who is Ethan's girlfriend from Bolivia who is working as an au pair in Germany, arrived at the airport. On Tuesday my friend Tom arrived in the early afternoon and then we all went back to Neusiedl am See to watch Arsenal FC play a friendly match against Neusiedl's team. Arsenal played all of their stars except for those who participated in the World Cup - Fabregas, van Persie, and Bendtner.

After the Arsenal-Neusiedl game, we all went back to Marlene's parents' house and had the USA vs. Austria drinking competition. The Austrians were very strong drinkers, unfortunately they don't play drinking games so we Americans had a distinct advantage. We won beer pong, lost flip cup, won quarters (which was played with American quarters), then won a straight up team beer chugging race. As a bonus game, Pete beat Austria team captain Wolfgang Lehner in a half liter beer chug. After the official beer games, everyone continued playing beer pong and chatting. Overall a fantastic time was had by all.

Marlene is continuing to work on the last wedding things in Neusiedl and I'll be joining her tomorrow. Hopefully it will all get organized before Saturday!

My family has arrived!

Last night both of my parents and my youngest brother arrived from Minneapolis. Marlene and I picked them up from the airport with the help of Marlene's father's beautiful BMW station wagon. It is a breathtaking vehicle and we are forever indebted to him for allowing us to drive it.

We delivered my parents to their hotel in Neusiedl am See and then we slept at Marlene's aunt's house with Ethan on the couch.

In the morning we woke up and soon split up so that Ethan and I went back to Vienna while Marlene and the parents went to buy wine for the wedding and do a few other wedding preparations. Ethan and I got back to the Vienna apartment, dropped off his things and soon picked my other brother, Turner, and one of my good friends, Pete (no facebook). Since picking them up we've been looking for equipment for our upcoming beer drinking competition which is my bachelor party. It will be a USA vs. Austria beer drinking competition involving internationally recognized beer games... though most (all) of them are from the USA.

We'll play beer pong, quarters/Euros, flip cup, Edward 40 hands, and have a boat race. The games may change between now and game time but that's the plan for now. After the beer drinking I'll make sure to write another blog to let you all know what's going on the rest of the week!!