24 - 30 September 2012

Caspar recently attempted to teach Simon and Justine the niceties of the Pinzgau dialect. Basically, it doesn't matter what you say, what mistakes you make, in gender, case, tense, vocabulary, intonation or word order, so long as you get your meaning across and sound 'lässig' (laidback). Simon, champion of the German language, and Justine, handmaid of the daily struggle to master the dative and genitive, are appalled.

17 - 23 September 2012

The avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalise or insult certain groups of people, i.e political correctness, does not appear to be widely practised here. The pejorative 'Neger' is bandied about liberally, first encountered by Justine at the Waldhaus for a term referring to a drink of Weiss beer mixed with cola, and this week from Caspar describing what we know as a 'dead leg'. This particular 'Neger' put him on crutches for a week.

10 - 16 September 2012

The first snow of the winter. Summer is well and truly over and we didn't see a single wasp.

3 - 9 September 2012

When a pile of concrete blocks, old steel wheels, wooden rails, and other industrial rubbish was dumped in Saalfelden this week, we assumed it was modern art at it's most unappealing. Not for one minute did we ever assume that it was for crazy, crazy people to ride their bicyles on. The World Trial Bike Championships took place in Saalfelden this week. Justine could only watch through her fingers, and you could tell the competitors by their mangled bones and the blood and scars on their shins.

27 August - 2 September 2012

Free contraception is not available in Austria, (unless you happen to be a student at the International School of Sex in Vienna, which has a curriculum offering '5 courses, 200 lessons, a lifetime of pleasure and free contraception'). This, and perhaps a good Catholic upbringing, means that abstinence in teenage years amongst Maria Almers appears to be not unusual. Justine is fondly reminded of the Ski School end of season weekend. Following a game of strip poker the boys climbed into bed with the girls, sung them a lullaby until they were asleep and then crept quietly back to their own dormitory. Justine is considering being a NHS tourist to avoid a 500 euro bill for contraception.