About Gugelhupf, Eve’s Visit, Cymru, Bed-/Bathroom-Sharing and “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgylergchwyndrobwillantisiliogogogoch"

Hiya me lasses and lads, “yu'r alrigh’”?! 

This is the typical thing that you'll hear up here in Leeds: Everywhere you go people will friendly ask you if you are alright...I kind of like this way of greeting people, even though it is like a standard phrase, but it still somehow shows the Brits' friendly way of being.

Leeds: Parkinson Building

The more time I spent here the more conscious I become of the fact that time is passing by extremely quickly. I can't believe that it is already March...I know I keep repeating this over and over, but it is just unbelievable.

:

So once more, decisions have to be made what is going to happen next. There are many possibilities, but also many uncertainties what to do...gosh if I would just know it than it would be so much easier ... People who know me well, know that I hate to make decision, I already find it difficult to make up my mind what I am choosing on a menu hahaha. But even so this week I have been productive and brushed up my CV and sent out some applications.

…but well I don’t want to bore you witht existential life questions. And anyway the quote I mentioned last time "you have to choose to be chosen" should serve as a guideline anyway. Enough jabbering, let me tell you what I was up to lately.

I did a fair amount of travelling, some good weekend trips and I had a wicked time at school. We actually did the baking for our little cooking exchange. It was so much fun, the kids really enjoyed it. But of course , as could have been expected half of them did not bring the right ingredients. It was hilarious to see how they managed to make a Gugelhupf without certain crucial ingredients...but it is all about improvising, isn't it?! You have to make do with what you get...and the results were quite yummy. We talked a lot in German and I really had the impression that they liked it. So “Gugelhupf” is for sure a word they will remember, not sure if they will all be aware of the fact that it is an Austrian dish though. But at least they have learned some stuff!!!

Austrian/Leodensian Gugelhupf in muffin cases with lots of icing sugar on top

Apart from Austrian Gugelhupf, I've also tasted the famous Betty's Scones. We went to one of the first and apparently best tea rooms in Yorkshire (or one might even say the UK) and had a Betty's Cream Tea, which is basically tea, scones, clotted cream and jam. Even though I do not like raisins this deluxe pudding was really nice...and anyways it is more about being able to say: “I’ve been there. I've done that.” – another tick of the “must do before I get old” or someting along those lines…
For those who do not know what a scone is: A scone is a British quick bread made of oatmeal, wheat or barley and baking powder, which is particularly popular in Scotland. The pronunciation varies greately: some may say "scone" like in "John" others prefer to say "scone" like in "Joane"...but anyway it is among the most favourite tea pastries in the UK.

cream tea in Betty's Tearoom in York

In addition to the indulging of the UK cuisine, which to be fair is delicisous and not all dull and boring as many might claim, I've also re-visited one of my most favourite cities in the UK, namely Newcastle. It has been my second time there, and once more I was absolutely charmed by it. The girls and I did a trip there and had a really good time. Newcastle is known for its good nights out, so we decided to buy a ridiculous ring, a big flower and all of us wore it...which was a blast!!

the Newcastle-weekend can begin!

the Angel of the North

on the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle

"Put flowers in your hair and rings on your fingers"...Newcastle

After that exciting weekend, my friend Eve from back home came to visit me. 

with Eve in York

An exciting ten days of walking, talking, day trippin’, chatting, laughing, sleeping, drinking, driving, eating, travelling, running, and taking tons of pictures lay ahead of us. 

British backyards in Saltaire

Saltaire

Leodensian Nights

The first couple of days we spent together in Leeds and its surroundings, we had some lovely 7spices curry (best curry ever), visited Leeds, were out and about during the night, as well as we forced ourselves to visit as many surrounding towns as possible even though we were tired. So even after a long night out we made it to Manchester, where we met two friends from university. They invited us for some lovely dinner and showed us a really cool café. It is one of those hipster cafés which are super trendy…Like in so many other cities former rather downtrodden parts of a city suddenly turn into THE in-places, which of course makes everything more expensive and forces original less wealthier residence to move on. Even though I am conscious about this harsh fact, I have to confess that I am a sucker for arty places. So I was thrilled to visit the bohemian part of Manchester, which is called the Northern Quarter. It is full of trendy hipster places. I am sure I said a hundred of times “I love this place”…while having my lovely goat cheese sandwich and my yummy latte. Well and I have to say it once more: “I love that place”.

The Tea Cup and Cake in Manchester (Northern Quarter)

 For those who will go to Manchester the place I am talking about is called “Tea Cup and Cake”. There was another fabulous place where I have already been two years ago…but once again I can’t think of the name, my brain is really a sieve ;). After visits to York, Manchester and Saltaire we rented a car on Monday, which we called Bobby, and headed west. On route we made a couple of stops to visit such lovely places like Chester or Llandudno, our ultimate goal was the Isle of Anglesey in Cymru.

Isle of Anglesey

Bobby, Kathrin and Eve

and of course also Dave was with us (Holyhead on Isle of Anglesey)

Welsh people are proud people!! As much as Austrians always underline that they are not Germans, Scots and Welsh also highlight that they are not English … that it is not England where they live, but Great Britain. Back in the times (around 770) Welsh people called themselves “Y Cymry” (fellow countrymen) and their country “Cymru”, while the Saxons called them “Wales” which derives from the Old English word “wealas”, meaning foreigners. So “What is in a name?” Who decides which term to use? Again, a clear power struggle. Thus, in order to allow them to name themselves, I am trying to use “Cymru” instead of Wales. Giving voice to those who are often silenced. Oh dear me...

Snowdonia_Lanberis Pass

driving around Snowdonia_listening to "The Cave"

Eve driving around in Cymru and England!!!

close to the Minor Track (Snowdonia)

in Betws-y-Coed

Cymru is a beautiful part of Britain, the northern part is dominated by the natural reserve of Snowdonia, the rugged landscape and the Cambrian Mountain seem like a natural barrier, shielding them from the influence of England, preserving their distinct Celtic identity and Welsh language. Even though Welsh is only spoken by about one-fifth of the 2.7 million inhabitants it is still a very dominant language in the Northern part of the country…mmh it seems as if the north in general preserves its distinct identity, instead of selling out to global trends and rules. It is a country with a split identity – you can already see this when you contemplate road signs and city names. They are not only extremely long, but also utterly unpronounceable for non-Welsh people. Even so, they carry a distinct meaning. They don’t just call streets “Strawberry Lane” “Albion Street,” etc. but they describe the surrounding landscape. We’ve been to one of the cities with the longest city name in Britain, and possibly in the world which tells you an entire story of a church, a girl and the surrounding landscape: “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgylergchwyn-drobwillantisiliogogogoch”. The name is unpronounceable, and people only know the town for its long name, but still it was quite interesting to go there. So we did what every typical tourist does: Drove into town. Asked for the train station. Stopped Bobby. Took our cameras. Went to the station. Took a picture in front of the sign. Bought a postcard. Tried to pronounce the name. Ended up with saying “cho-cho-cho”. And left…..mmh short visit but funny one ;)

gosh what a long name!!!

Seeing this patriotic pride and their determination to call themselves Welsh and not English is marvellous, it reminds me of myself. Here, in England I notice that I become more and more patriotic. So we “minorities” have to stick together: Power to the Welsh, power to the Scots and of course also to the Yorkshire lasses and lads who are often patronized by people from the South.

After Wales we also managed to see Charles Darwin’s hometown (Shrewsbury), followed by Cambridge - the city of punting and biking - and finally my oh so beloved London, which after having been there seven times I am still not weary of!

Cambridge bikes_every bike has those cool baskets, might as well get one for myself!!

spring in Cambridge

coffee time in London

London is just a fabulous city. As one might imagine I was excited, smiling the entire time and so looking forward to going to Camden Town. Kathrin and I spent a lovely day in Camden, shopping like maniacs (this is where I spent all my money, which turned me into a poor person…some more days left until I get finally paid!!!)…but well even so I have now cool new purple sunglasses and a well cool dress and grandma shoes, aren’t I a hipster ;) We’ll see how long I wear it though!

 

our "Fawlty Tower" experience in Bedford!-night of bed- and bathroomsharing!

Well, I am owing you one more story about our trip…this is the weirdest and most random thing that has ever happened to me so far. It is a story about a shared bed and bathroom, pictures hanging at an angle, dancing receptionists, toilets breaking down and much more things ;) On our way to Cambridge we decided to stay in Bedfor for the night - closest town, definitely cheap and possibly easier. Turned out to be a misconception though! We were walking the street of this little town at 9ish p.m. looking for a B'n'B and after numverous "no, we are full" and a Lituhuanina lady who could only say "fortyyyyyy" we ended up in the hotel (if you can call it that) "De Pary's". From the outside it looked all fancy, but the inside was a completely different matter. Not only was our room cold, a mess and smelly but upon opening the bathroom door we were suprised by the chef of the hotel borrowing our bathroom. We had to laugh so hard, it was incredible.  At least we got a good laugh out of it and a yummy breakfast. Kathrin kept saying “this is like in “Fawlty towers”, an old British TV series, which I’ll have to check out. The entire place was litteraly falling apart, not only did I break the toilet paper dispenser, but the cupboards were broken, one person started painting the door while we were having breakfast and the chef ran off to go to the doctor with her boyfriend in the middle of our breakfast.

De Pary's in Bedford

Now I am back in Leeds, busy planning our next trips (hence also the bingo which we did not win) and thinking about next year...decisions have to be made even though delaying them is also really tempting.

Bingo with Kathrin, Neil and Alex

I am looking forward to hearing from you guys, in this manner

TA-RA

PS: One more thing: I want to tell you about a a really genius book I am currently reading.

It is an experimental Chicano novel by Salvador Plascencia called The People of Paper. He tells a family's story from multiple points of view, thus allowing us to see the different ways different people experience one and the same event, as well as underling the multiple elements shaping the Chican@/Mexican characters of his text. Of course, this is nothing new and would not make the book to stand out. The special thing about his novel is that it constantly questions your reading strategies and forces you to be able to cope with new ways of telling stories, new ways of seeing things. The pages are always different. There are some pages where you find two columns which show the experience of various characters but have to be read one after the other, while on the next page the two columns are meant to be read in turns. So you constantly have to re-negotiate meaning . What I personally find the most amazing thing of this novel is the fact that Plascencia cut a whole in the book to erase a name, or that he put a black dot over a certain passage, which again only gives you a restricted view, showing us that as reader we are not omnipotent. Some people might put the book down and be like "what is that all about" but I LOVE it, it is so great, can't wait to continue reading. You should definitely check it out, because even though it is so experimental the plot line is easy to follow!

About Silences, British Ale, Crazy Waterfall-Climbs, Rugby,Tom, Russ and Ethan

Hiya Lasses and Lads:

Yorkshire Dales near Malham Cove

Lucky me, the other day one of my lessons was cancelled, thus I decided to enjoy some „me-time“.

 

I went to Starbucks. Ordered a yummy Vanilla Latte. Put my book on the table. Put my I-pod headphones on. Started reading. It felt good. I loved it to sit there in the hustle and buzzle of the city. Doing nothing. Except reading. And, of course. Drinking coffee.

Right now I am reading the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini who wrote the bestselling novel the Kite Runner. I absolutely loved the latter, the former is not bad either, but I am not too excited about it, to be honest. One thing which really struck me today though was his way of leaving silences to say certain things that do not need to be pronounced or which are even unspeakable. The way he describes the death of the protagonist’s father is really beautiful and made me think...and isn’t this exactly what literature is supposed to do: encourage people to see things differently…Sometimes you don’t have to say the obvious. Sometimes words are superfluous and silence may contain way more information than the actual words. Not only does each individual’s imagination add extra details, but also does silence itself say a lot. This is paradoxically so true. It is also interesting to note how we often desperately try to fill silences, as they sometimes make minutes seem like an eternity. Especially when we meet someone new many of us babble to avoid uncomfortable silences. I have to confess that I do that quite often myself, sometimes I notice it, but it is so hard to change. The same is true for when I talk to my students. I try to encourage them to talk and might end up speaking more than they are. But step by step I am getting better and I am more confident with a moment of silence which gives them time to think. In terms of friends, I think you know that you are very good friend with someone when you are comfortable with sharing moments of silence.

But well, enough rambling…I am well filling these pages with words instead of leaving some things unsaid :)

The last two weeks have been very good. I am busy organising the cooking exchange between my former school in Eferding (Upper Austria) and Lawnswood Leeds. It is a lot to do, but I really enjoy it and I am so curious about how it will work in the end. I am really enjoying my work with the kids. 

Kirkstall Abbey with Shannon, Kathrin, Pat and Helmut

Apart from work we also did some trips. As I said we would go to see an Abbey in Leeds. To be more exact it was “Kirkstall Abbey”, it is one of the oldest monasteries in Leeds – and well I know “one of the oldest” is not that impressive, because every other thing is nowadays sold as “one of the best” “one of the most different”,…hahaha. But even so it was really nice. We went to a museum where a street from Victorian time was reconstructed. There we could explore what life was like back then in the good old times – not only did we walk around but we even changed our 21^st century clothes for nice 19^th century garments…and I must say they fitted well…I might as well have been born in the wrong century hahaha. It was so much fun, as you might expect I took tons of photos and we had a great laugh. After that we visited the Abbey – the actual reason for our visit – which was absolutely stunning.

family picture back then in the days, all looking stern

out 'n' about in Victorian Leeds

University is quite interesting as well, we had a lecture about British Ale and I learned that one should not drink beer that is advertised on TV, because most of the time it is low quality beer with a good marketing strategy. Well, but then again I have to confess that some of the beer is quite nice – at least for a layperson as me ;) British beer has a long tradition and is normally not as strong as other beers, it is much creamier and my dear Britonnians tend to drink it a bit warmer than other Europeans. The theoretical lecture was followed by some practical tasting which, as one might suspect, was also really good.

Álvarito making his first delicious Paella!!!

I also finally managed to meet “my” couch-surfer Adam which was good fun. We had a couple of drinks in one of my favourite bars in Leeds “North Bar”– hahah maybe a bit too much, as I had to work the next day. Apart from that mid-week going out I spend a very relaxed weekend, or as my students would say “ein gechilltes Wochenende”. We had delicious Paella, made by Álvaro at our house and some really tasty Sangria – a Canadian-Spanish product ;) on Friday.

Yorkshire Dales

On Saturday I did a wonderful trip to the Yorkshire Dales with Chris and Olly. It was fabulous. We thought we are going for an easy stroll in the Dales to take advantage of the good weather – but things turned out completely different:

Gordale Scar

Malham Cove

We went to Malham Cove, rather poorly equipped for what was to come. Me: wearing my winter coat, my handbag and my Puma tennis shoes, Chris with his work coat and his sneakers, and Olly as always with his jeans and a casual jacket (as if he was going for a walk in London). We must have looked funny… 

Gordal Scar

also Dave was with us, here in front of Janet Foss

We decided to take the long route, not knowing that this would require us to climb up a waterfall. Little did we know… The three of us did not shy away from this challenge and tried to surmount the waterfall. Neither freezing water, nor icy stones could stop us. Our minds were set, we are going to get passed this obstacle…well at least the boys were sure about it, I wasn’t to be quite frank. After trying two different approaches, we decided to jump over a bit of water. But, already at school I found out that I am not that good at sports, so I would never have managed to jump that far…thus I decided to take off my shoes and socks. I’d rather walk in the icy water than have wet feet…and anyways in Austria this would be called “Kneip”-Spa ;)

doesn't look that dangerous but was quite difficult

Even though the climb was quite strenuous it was worth it, the view was absolutely amazing. After all this walking we were starving, and we started talking about delicious dishes which we would have later ;) We finished our day off with some nice pub food – what a good Saturday.

with Olly and Chris on top of Malham Cove

  close to Malham Tarn

On Sunday the entire Archery N°9 went to see a Rugby game in Leeds Carnegie Stadium. It was really interesting and Micky, Shannon and I got three new friends: Tom, Russ and Ethan – fluffy Rhinos that Arun bought us, how sweet!

the Archeries in Leeds Carnegie Stadium

Shannon and I ready to watch some Rugby - Go Leeds Go!!

the girls with Tom, Russ and Ethan

enjoying some good Rugby, even though Leeds sucked...

Well this is it with my ramblings…will be silent now! Hear from you soon.

Ta-ra

Shannon and I tried on different outfits for the Leodensian Party Scene…that is what we found in one shop…it would have been hilarious if we had seen people wearing that…hilarious but not surprising though ;)

Shannon and I looking like chavs or "chuffed" ;)

Christmas Puddings, Weird Bus Journeys, Austrian Holidays and Austrian Patriotism

Hiya my lasses and lads...

Leeds from the Parkinson Tower (university)

my favourite building Town Hall

Over a month has passed since I’ve posted something, so it is definitely time to update “Ta Luv”. The last couple of weeks have been exciting. Not only did I go back home, but I attended numerous Christmas dinners in Leeds…well and now I am back in good old Leeds. But let’s start from the beginning, to make it a bit less confusing.

Lawnswood MFL teachers

In December both of my schools invited me to a Christmas dinner. Normally the school books a fancy restaurant and those who fancy go there. It is a matter of wearing fancy pants and skirts and of fast mass-stuffing your face so to say ;) Well, but I reckon it can also be quite nice. As my teachers did not want to go to this massive commercial Christmas dinner extravaganza, they decided to do a private dinner, which was soooo nice. I was invited to Vicky’s place (my mentor teacher). Being Austrian made me predestined to be in charge of the mulled wine – as supposedly we Austrians have this in our blood. Hahahaha in my case it was a matter of mixing as much booze as possible – I kept adding and adding rum…jugged in almost an entire bottle ;), in the end it turned out really yummy though. We had traditional turkey, sprouts, cranberry sauce and what have you…

Christmas Pudding...

Of course also Christmas Pudding was not missing. It is a British delicacy you only have at Christmas: it consists of dried fruits preserved in alcohol and then after steaming it for ages you pour more booze over it and light it... So one might imagine that it has a quite particular taste. I even brought some pudding home to spread the British Christmas spirit among my Austrian fellow beings. Some of my friends had the honor to taste it…it was … well let’s say it like the polite British people would say “an interesting, different experience” ;) All in all, the Christmas dinners were lovely though. I am so lucky that both schools look that well after me!

the Archery's Christmas

our lovely dinner

my secret Santa gifts

Apart from school dinners we also made our private Archery Place Christmas dinner and did Secret Santa…it really helped to get me into the right Christmas mood. Somehow the German Christmas market which had been on in Leeds since the beginning of November, with all the Bratwurst and big Steins of beer and party music (as you would find it back home at common summer festivals) did not really put me in a Christmassy mood…But to be honest all in all the Christmas market was quite authentic. 

drinking mulled wine

After all those Christmas feasts, maniac Christmas present shopping, etc. I headed back to Austria, and I was really lucky as numerous flights got cancelled. Kathrin and I were quite worried about that…and our journey already started in a really interesting way as after waiting about 15 minutes for our dear Megabus (cheap bus in England, brings you for 1 pound from London to Leeds which is amaaaaazing) driver showed up. As it was biting cold and he was late he could not be bothered to check our tickets, thus after driving 45 minutes in the direction of London two passengers astonishingly asked him: “Wait a second, is this bus not going to Newcastle…” mmmhhhh nope that’s the other way my dear fellow Megabus travellers. The dear driver did not just ditch them on the street, but he brought them back to Leeds. Unbelievable – quite bad for us other passengers, but really nice for the other two! In the end although there was some snow I made it back home and had lots of fun there. 

pink roses from Loco!!! Thanks

My brother was so sweet and picked me up from the airport with a bunch of pink roses...we had a great day going for good Austrian coffee and pastry and some nice mulled wine...

Over the following two weeks I met up with friends, had some fun nights out, lots of coffee and even more hour long chats. Was good to see everyone!

xmas with Judith

Linz with Agnes

Leberkässemmel with Eve, who came from Vienna just for one coffee...how sweet. xxx

with Oli, Maria and Eve @mine

New Years at Albert's

mmh English Christmas Pudding...suspiscious looks...

New Years in Aschach (tiny town close to my parents')

After two weeks of Austrian vacation, with “proper” Austrian language, were no Germans question the correctness of one’s speech ;) and good Austrian food à la Mama I headed back to lovely chubly Leeds. I was really motivated and work was great. Did numerous stuff with German/Austrian films, worked on Turkish German immigrants, etc. – so really interesting! I kind of gained the reputation of being really patriotic as I am always trying to work on Austrian issues. I know that our country is tiny and that everyone only knows Germany…BUT this has to change!!!! People have to start realizing that we Austrians also speak German, that we do not have Kangaroos and that we don’t have a sea ;). Had a real great time at school. It is really good to be back. Apart from regular teaching Vicky and I are also planning a “cooking exchange” with my former school back home. We are all really excited about it and we’ll see how it goes. But it is a great project and the students are really enthusiastic. Some of them also finally realized that we speak German in Austria which is a step in the right directions, who knows in the end they will end up ordering “Melange mit Schlag, einen Almdudler and Sachertorte” ;)

reunion in Sheffield with Sam

having curry

 Apart from work, I’ve also done lots of other stuff. Kathrin and I went to Sheffield where I met up with Sam, whom I met while I was studying in Valencia. It was so great to see him after such a long time. At night we went to a really fancy restaurant. Even though we had a reservation they made us wait for 30 minutes – “restaurant policy”. What is really interesting is that they do not serve alcohol. It is a traditional curry house (curry is THE typical British food I would say, and it is absolutely delicious!!!), the owner is Muslim and thus does not serve alcohol as it goes against his religion. Normally costumers are then allowed to bring their own alcohol –which is also quite interesting, considering that they lose a considerable amount of money.

This week I want to do a bit more cultural stuff, visit an Abbey, go to a museum, etc. Time is flying by it is unbelievable….I should start looking into what to do next year…

Good I am looking forward to hearing from you guys and I hope you are all well.

Tara!!

Intersting Note:

It is quite interesting how many churches in England (or in particular in Leeds) have been converted into other buildings. There is a nightclub, a library and a university building. Álvaro and I walked around the uni and visited one of the churches. It was amazing how they reconstructed it...looks pretty amazing.

Leeds University

Well, another thought I had this week...it is amazing how time changes, would one normally tear a piece of paper from a job ad with the phone number on it. However, nowadays everything works with iphone and you have it and you just take a picture...

I went to the museum with Kathrin this week and I found an interesting quote with which I'll let you finally go: 

"YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE TO BE CHOSEN"