Es weihnachtet sehr

The literal translation of the subject line is “it Christmases a lot”. Yes, the Austrians use Christmas as both a noun and a verb. Doesn’t make much sense does it? I swear the Germans don’t do that... Anyway, es weihnachtet already in Vienna. The huge Christmas market in front of the City Hall opened last night for the season. So between now and December 24th, one can buy all sorts of crap that one doesn’t need while drinking orange punch and being jostled by the crowds. I haven’t been yet, but that will come. It is a little too early for it “to Christmas”; it has to Thanksgiving first. J In reality I am looking forward to it though. There are also going to be other major Christmas markets around the city, including in front of Schönbrunn Palace, which is just across the road. I think they open on the first Sunday in Advent as it should be, according to the older generations.

I’m tutoring a kid from my school at the moment in preparation for his English test in a couple weeks. The test is about the political systems in Austria, the UK and the US. While trying to help him I realize how little I know about anything outside the US! I had to spend some time yesterday informing myself about the other systems so I could make sure this kid wasn’t feeding me crap when we discussed the details. So I’ve learned quite a bit now, including that the Vice President only has one task, which is to be the President of the Senate. Also, did you know that the UK doesn’t have a constitution? Isn’t that nuts? Could you imagine living in a country without a written set of rights and rules? And they call themselves a “constitutional” monachy on their website! Somebody missed that lesson at school.

Today I exited the subway with a couple and the man asked me how to get to Schönbrunn Palace. I explained and afterward he remarked about how good my German is even though I’m not an Austrian. I love it when that happens—nothing like a compliment to brighten a gray and misty day. They were from Berlin and had lovely pure Northern German accents like all my relatives.

Speaking of the differences between Austrian and German German, I think I really do speak Austrian to an extent. I keep learning that words I thought were used all over the German-speaking realm are really only Austrian! My pronounciation is mixed though. I recently attended a talk about Austrian German and we were given lots of examples of the differences between German and Austrian German...some of which I do, some of which I don’t. And I always maintained that I spoke High German. Just goes to show that your surroundings really do subconsciously influence you.

I joined a gym! So far I’ve gone every day and want to continue to go every day until I go to Ireland (on the 23rd) in order to really make it a habit for the future. I’ve even gotten up at 6am to ensure I get my workout in, which I find quite commendable. The gym is quite well equipped and clean, but I am already slightly sick of watching videos on MTV while listening to completely different music. Yep, that’s right—you watch TV but you can’t listen to it. Weird huh? I find the video of Madonna’s new song helps spur along my training. She is in her 40s and looks f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s. If I look even half that good when I’m her age I’ll look three times as good as I do right now!