So the past week/weekend has been incredibly eventful. Not only did I receive my first paycheck, I also got a good taste of authentic Austrian culture.
November the 11th was St. Martin's Day--a religious holiday which technically starts Advent and somewhat resembles American Thanksgiving. St. Martin apparently is this dude who gave his half of his cloak to a beggar and then had a vision of Jesus Christ somewhere around 400 A.D. And now his day of sainthood is celebrated widely across Western and Eastern Europe. Starting at 11:11 on the 11th, the tiny little town I live in was filled with marching bands and people dressed in ridiculous costumes. This is a big holiday here. The Austrians don't mess around with St. Martin's day--they get dressed up and have a right ol' party.
See? I'm not kidding.
Two days later there was a big festival in Dornbirn, which is the largest town in Vorarlberg and the home of the Dornbirner Martinimarkt. Now, before you all go thinking that I was sipping on Martinis all day, I ask you to refer to my earlier comments. The Martinimarkt is actually a big market/bazaar held in order to celebrate St. Martin's Day. At the Martinimarkt, local vendors have all sorts of goods you can buy, like sheepswool slippers--which may have been made from my sheepies that live outside my window--and regional foods. And pretty much everyone in our corner of Austria stops by.
I don't think I've ever seen so much cheese and smoked sausage in once place ever. You could smell the cheese everywhere and everytime I turned around I saw another sausage vendor. Which means all of the assistants who were in town for the festival were getting some good eats. For example:
Landjaeger--it translates to country hunter, which I think is kind of funny. But when you tell your Austrian friends that you have a sausage in your bag, they think you mean an uncooked sausage and you're crazy. Until you show them the Landjaeger (smoked sausage) you have wrapped up inside your tote. Then they just think you're funny and American. But it is delicious and meaty. Mmmmm.
Then you have Raclett Brot. Raclett Brot is basically a big piece of bread which a hot, melted, swiss-like cheese spread on it and topped with onions and peppers. It looks kind of gross. And smells kind of gross. But it tastes delicious.
And then finally we have Gluehmost, which is like a hot spiced hard cider. It's unbelievably tasty and shockingly alcoholic. And it's warm. Which on a cold rainy day--like the day of Martinimarkt--it really just warms you up and hits the spot.
We spent most of the evening at the Martinmarkt and I was fortunate enough to run into some of my students, who ended up (more or less) joining us and taking part in the festivities. They made sure that we were fully experience the culture and drinking plenty of Gluehmost and eating plenty of food. All in all, it was a wonderful evening.
After my adventure at the Martinimarkt I only had two more days until I received my first paycheck! Due to the Austrian paperwork and the time it takes to process it, none of the assistants received any moolah until November 15th. Living without any money is awful. I scavenged food and was living on a diet of rice and lentils. And pretty much holed myself up in my room doing a whole lot of nothing. Getting paid this past Monday was pretty much the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me in my life short of being born. I got paid for October and November at the same time, which is more money than I've ever been given at one time ever in my life. Which means I spend Monday and Tuesday with the other female assistants buying clothes and shoes and food and books and just enjoying not being broke. As a matter of fact, we're all so excited to finally have money and be able to do things, we're heading to Munich tomorrow to shop, sightsee, eat, drink, and do all sorts of things you can do with an income!
So, bis spaeter! I should be back soon when I return from the city of beer and pretzels!
Mack
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