Das Leben ist Schön!!: March 2013

Endless winter in Austria

Hello Friends and Family!

It's almost April, but I'm still leaving the house every morning wrapped up in many layers of winter clothes... and up until yesterday, we still had snow on the ground! It's unreal. Seriously, this 5 months of hellish winter stuff makes me really appreciate the wonderfully warm Californian climate. That being said, it should turn into spring here soon, and I will most definitely welcome it with open arms! I'm ready for Klagenfurt to turn into Klagefornia :)

Since my last update came before Christmas, I'll start with a recap from there. We celebrated the holidays with Marco's family at their home in town, and we probably ate our weight in goose and rotkohl and knödel.. It was wonderful. Anyone who has been away from home for the holidays can understand how wonderful it is to find a second family of people who take you in as one of their own, so that instead of constantly thinking about and missing your own family, you're enjoying where you are!

Hank with Uncle Martin

Marco's dad, Marco and Marco's mom with Hank on a hike

We then headed up to Matthias' house on Falkartsee for New Years Eve (a tradition that began in 2009), which was a blast. I tend to have disappointing New Years' whenever I make elaborate plans to pay a ton of money for the "NYE party of the century" (it never turns out the way you expect it to!), so a party with close friends up in the mountains is exactly my kind of New Years. Marco and I headed up a little after noon on the 31st, went on a hike with Whitney and Hank (enjoyed a Radler at the top of the mountain), then started a long evening of hanging out with various friends. Hank wasn't as scared of fireworks as we had expected, which was a relief!

Radlers at the top!

My NYE poker parter, Hank

Sleeping through the fireworks

January was the last month of the first semester of my Masters program, so it was a little stressful on the school side of things. I think I can declare now that accounting is most definitely not my cup of tea! But thankfully through the help of several classmates I was able to close out the semester without failing even the most number-intensive course (quite a feat for me!).

The month of February is usually off for university students in Austria, it's known as the "semester break." It actually came at the perfect time for me, because I was able to fly home to New Jersey for some important family time. I was home for about 10 days and got to see basically all of the Cmaylo side of my family, which doesn't happen often enough! Talia, Jack, Tyler and Chase and I also produced another music video, which you can find here. We're pretty funny, I know. (Or maybe we just think we're funny? Haha)

After getting back in mid-February, I was extremely excited to receive a Bronco visitor by the name of Megan! Her whirlwind work adventures had her in Germany for a speed-skating event, so she came to Austria for a few days of hangout prior to work in the Vaterland. Since we don't get to see each other nearly as often as I'd like, we tried to get the most out of our time together. First we explored Vienna for a day, walking through the amazing winter scenery outside of Schönbrunn Palace and throwing snowballs at targets. Then we dined at a delicious restaurant called "Motto am Fluss," where we had the nicest waitress and the most delicious organic meal. Mmm. If you ever get to Vienna, go there!

Their food... Eat it.

Megan is probably the most important person to have around when you're trying to squeeze every last drop of opportunity out of a day... When I might easily choose snuggle into bed, Megan reminds me that time is of the essence and that we need to make it FUN! So despite having walked umpteen miles through the city that day, we went out for an evening adventure as well, dining at a typical Austrian restaurant where Megan got to try kernöl (pumpkin seed oil) for the first time. She agrees... Delish!

Megan then came back with me to Klagenfurt for 2 days, where I got to introduce her to all of my people here and show her what my everyday life looks like. That, of course, included a lot of HANK time! Haha. Thankfully she understands crazy dog people, as she has a beautiful pup named Jasper at home in San Diego. (That being said, I don't think Jasper has an affinity for biting noses the same way Hank does!)

Snowy hike with Megan

After sending Megan on her way to Germany, I got ready to start school again, and tried getting Hank ready to spend time alone at home. We struggled with getting him used to being alone when I went to school, but as of now, I can finally say that I think we have it under control. The learning experience included a trip to Hank's birth mom in Styria, who was really helpful in showing us how we could demonstrate what we wanted from him. She's the Cesar Milan of Austria! Since that trip, Hank has been able to stay alone whenever I need to go to school, which is such a relief. Anyone who has struggled with pet anxiety issues knows how frustrating it can be to have to babysit your four-legged friend like you would a human toddler!

With Hank getting a little older and wiser, all is well here. While the rest of my classmates are on Easter break, I am fully engaged in a 2-week intensive German program, which will hopefully leave me with a B2 proficiency certificate by the end of next week. That means that I can show future employers that I could, theoretically, work using the German language, even if I do permanently confuse the der/die/das/dem/den articles!

Finally, the volleyball season is coming to a close. While we were able to make playoffs as the 3rd place team in the Austrian league, we lost handily to a good Hartberg team, which means we'll play for 5th or 6th place overall against the 2nd team from Vienna to end the season. It was definitely disappointing, especially since we had such a successful start to the season, but that's sometimes how sports work!

I hope all is well wherever you find yourself this Easter. Most of all, I hope you get to eat lots of chocolate, since that's what I'm most looking forward to!

xox

Anna