21 - 27 September 2009

Full time, year round jobs are not easy to find in Maria Alm, but there will be one up for grabs in a couple of years time when the current incumbent retires (he has actually only just arrived but will only be with us for two years). It comes with fantastic accommodation, secretary, house-keeper and huge prestige. You get one day off a week but must work every single bank holiday including Christmas and Easter and be on-call 24/7. And ... you must be male, celibate and ordained as a Catholic priest, which appears to be a sticking point. There is a massive shortage of potential candidates, and as a result the next Maria Alm vicar, if they can find one, will have to manage the shared parish of Maria Alm and Hinthertal and, newly merged, that of Leogang, a town 13km away.

14 - 20 September 2009

After Caspar's first day at school in England, at 4 going on 5, he told us that he had had a very nice time but didn't think he would go again. It was some task helping him to understand that this was something that he would have to do for the next 11 years of his life. Mary had her first day at school this week at the age of 6 going on 7, and it was a joy sending a child to school who understood what was expected of her, and went with eagerness and confidence. We are entirely convinced that most of the countries in the world, who favour a school starting age of 6, have got it right. We are also entirely convinced that 10 weeks Summer holiday is 2 weeks too long!

7 - 13 September 2009

Working life here is mainly concerned with tourism or farming, and both make good use of the mountains. The usefulness of mountains also extends to curing just about any ailment you care to mention. For high blood pressure try amethyst, or essence of turquoise for rheumatism. Justine, very sceptically, tried aquamarine for her hayfever and discovered it to be a miracle cure. The firmly held belief in the healing properties of stones, keeps Justine's working life ticking over, meeting the huge demand for necklaces, earrings and bracelets crafted from these 'edelstein' (noble stones).

31 August - 6 September 2009

On Friday Caspar took part in another of those 'fun' sporting events that every one, except us, takes very seriously. A real endurance test for the spectators who stood for 3 hours, in rain so heavy you could barely stand erect in it. For the competitors - a 50m metre swim, quick dash to put trainers on, followed by 400m run. The fastest managed it in just over 3 minutes. Caspar came in second to last with a time of 5 mins 6 secs and we reckon that it took him about 2 minutes to tie his shoe laces, it felt like 10! He is delighted with his huge medal, t-shirt and bag of goodies for taking part and is up for it again next year, but would like trainers with velcro fastenings.