I woke up Braunau, Austria on a soggy morning in the bedroom of their daughter who was living away at college. Monika gave me map in the morning and explained how I could ride my bicycle over to the high school where I would be speaking later that morning--she would be working at that time. We went to the market on the square and got breakfast at a cafe there. We ate little twisted rolls that had salt on them that were special to the region. "We always miss these when we have breakfast elsewhere." I liked how Monika seemed to know a lot of people, and even enthusiastically reached out to someone who looked like someone she had known from 20 years ago. She was an instant friend-maker wherever she went. We went to the bookstore together where I bought a Reader's Digest in German, and she bought a book by a man she knew in town that was just published. As we went by, we sped past the birthplace of Adolph Hitler. There it is...hello, goodbye. I forgot my cell at the house.
We drove back home, and she went to work. I ventured out on my bicycle and tried to find the way to the school, but I got lost. I spotted another cyclist and asked for directions in my poor Deutsch, and he was ecstatic that I spoke English. He was from Afghanistan and learned English in school. He offered to ride over to the school with me, and he told me how he was struggling to learn German and talked about how it was difficult to gain entry into the United States, which sounded ridiculous to me. Our governments create these invisible fences even though we are more easily connected to one another through invisible bridges.
I was thankful for the escort for I was running out of time before I got there. This was a high school that focused on preparing students to work in business. There were some differences here from the typical American schools. One thing is that students all take off the inside shoes and put on sandals or slippers for walking inside the school. They leave their coats and shoes in a room, and everything is unlocked and out in the open. No lockers! At my school in Cleveland, we had a strict dress code where students would get punished for wearing the types of shoes that these students were wearing. At this school, they would get in trouble for wearing outside shoes.
The school was a beautiful, newer building. These are all pictures of the facilities that students can use at the school. They have a room that in an office lab that students can use for their senior year practicum.
I met up with the English teacher there who was so nice to show me around the school and to even made me an espresso before class. She seemed very relaxed, and all the teachers in general didn't seem as stressed as where I worked previously. She didn't have a classroom of her own and had to find one. It was possible for teachers to be late for class, and I guess it was nothing to worry about. They didn't have a system of bells marking the beginning and end of each class. Class simply started when the teacher began the class. There was a different ease about everything. My assignment as the guest lecturer was to talk about the structure of the American education from kindergarten through college. I talked about the grade levels and public education. I talked about the reality of schools versus Hollywood cinema. I talked about the cost of higher education and the competition that American high school students faced if they wanted to go to college. In Germany and Austria, students do not have to pay for college, lest some minor fees sometimes that are less than the average American college student pays for books in a semester. In Denmark, students go to school for free and also receive a small stipend. I think I made some Austrian teenagers feel grateful that they were where they were.
The principal of the school gave me a German test. Even before I arrived, I knew that this would happen. I know principals. We had a clumsy conversation about where I was from, what I was doing, and what the weather was like in Cleveland.My shoes were unfortunately falling apart for the 2nd time this trip, and the teacher told me where to get shoes. I also went to McDonald's for some comfort and wifi. I still hadn't figured out the network at their house, not that it was a big deal. I enjoy eating my McDonald's desserts with real ceramics and silver.
I rode back to the house and helped Frannie with folding some laundry, and then watched the news with Monika and Martin. There was a story about fracking on the news, and why Americans would ever frack their own land. It had been outlawed apparently in Austria, and it was even difficult for researchers at universities to study fracking because of the regulation. The scale and size of the United States and the diversity of its people and their education and personal resources is not easily grasped, even by me, but I do find myself trying to explain sometimes why certain Americans are as they are.
We went out to dinner at a local restaurant inside a theater in Braunau, and I got to meet a different teacher at the school that I hadn't met before. She was an Italian and French teacher, and she was also a paraglider--unbelievable. They spoke in a mix of German and English at the table. The food was wonderful. There seems to be some rivalry between Austrian and German cuisine. They asked me which was better, and I of course said "Austrian," and they said "of course!" Some of the Austrian dishes were hitting some of the comfort food cravings I'd been having lately for pancakes and macaroni and cheese. It was a really nice evening, and I fell asleep right away even on the car ride home. We got home, and Martin showed me his picture of from riding across the Alps, though his trip was a mountain bike trip. It sort of frightened me instead of assuaging my fears. They also had me highlight my trip in an atlas with a pen...and I wrote on the United States page of the atlas too.`
They showed me so much hospitality during my whole visit and got me involved in their everyday lives. Monika was even trying to arrange for places for me to stay in Salzburg with one of her nephews. I had a really nice time with everyone. I woke up the next morning and asked if I could make fried eggs. It was just the best breakfast in a long time and I said so. She said, "not better than the fancy breakfast yesterday..." Oops. Their whole family became my Austrian family. We even look a little bit alike. This was me before I left their lovely home.
I was thankful for the escort for I was running out of time before I got there. This was a high school that focused on preparing students to work in business. There were some differences here from the typical American schools. One thing is that students all take off the inside shoes and put on sandals or slippers for walking inside the school. They leave their coats and shoes in a room, and everything is unlocked and out in the open. No lockers! At my school in Cleveland, we had a strict dress code where students would get punished for wearing the types of shoes that these students were wearing. At this school, they would get in trouble for wearing outside shoes.
The school was a beautiful, newer building. These are all pictures of the facilities that students can use at the school. They have a room that in an office lab that students can use for their senior year practicum.
I met up with the English teacher there who was so nice to show me around the school and to even made me an espresso before class. She seemed very relaxed, and all the teachers in general didn't seem as stressed as where I worked previously. She didn't have a classroom of her own and had to find one. It was possible for teachers to be late for class, and I guess it was nothing to worry about. They didn't have a system of bells marking the beginning and end of each class. Class simply started when the teacher began the class. There was a different ease about everything. My assignment as the guest lecturer was to talk about the structure of the American education from kindergarten through college. I talked about the grade levels and public education. I talked about the reality of schools versus Hollywood cinema. I talked about the cost of higher education and the competition that American high school students faced if they wanted to go to college. In Germany and Austria, students do not have to pay for college, lest some minor fees sometimes that are less than the average American college student pays for books in a semester. In Denmark, students go to school for free and also receive a small stipend. I think I made some Austrian teenagers feel grateful that they were where they were.
The principal of the school gave me a German test. Even before I arrived, I knew that this would happen. I know principals. We had a clumsy conversation about where I was from, what I was doing, and what the weather was like in Cleveland.My shoes were unfortunately falling apart for the 2nd time this trip, and the teacher told me where to get shoes. I also went to McDonald's for some comfort and wifi. I still hadn't figured out the network at their house, not that it was a big deal. I enjoy eating my McDonald's desserts with real ceramics and silver.
I rode back to the house and helped Frannie with folding some laundry, and then watched the news with Monika and Martin. There was a story about fracking on the news, and why Americans would ever frack their own land. It had been outlawed apparently in Austria, and it was even difficult for researchers at universities to study fracking because of the regulation. The scale and size of the United States and the diversity of its people and their education and personal resources is not easily grasped, even by me, but I do find myself trying to explain sometimes why certain Americans are as they are.
We went out to dinner at a local restaurant inside a theater in Braunau, and I got to meet a different teacher at the school that I hadn't met before. She was an Italian and French teacher, and she was also a paraglider--unbelievable. They spoke in a mix of German and English at the table. The food was wonderful. There seems to be some rivalry between Austrian and German cuisine. They asked me which was better, and I of course said "Austrian," and they said "of course!" Some of the Austrian dishes were hitting some of the comfort food cravings I'd been having lately for pancakes and macaroni and cheese. It was a really nice evening, and I fell asleep right away even on the car ride home. We got home, and Martin showed me his picture of from riding across the Alps, though his trip was a mountain bike trip. It sort of frightened me instead of assuaging my fears. They also had me highlight my trip in an atlas with a pen...and I wrote on the United States page of the atlas too.`
They showed me so much hospitality during my whole visit and got me involved in their everyday lives. Monika was even trying to arrange for places for me to stay in Salzburg with one of her nephews. I had a really nice time with everyone. I woke up the next morning and asked if I could make fried eggs. It was just the best breakfast in a long time and I said so. She said, "not better than the fancy breakfast yesterday..." Oops. Their whole family became my Austrian family. We even look a little bit alike. This was me before I left their lovely home.
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