To fill you in:
Lufthansa is not as great as everyone says, unless you have millions of dollars or thousands of sky-miles and can afford a $5,000-$10,000 ticekt for business or first class. Cramped seats, no foot space, no individual tvs. We Americans really are spoiled, this is true per our American airlines, they are the epitome of 'American-comfort'. But I will say, Lufthansa had better food.
If you fly to Frankfurt for a connecting flight, make sure you have well over an hour, probably two between flights. There are 4 terminals, and to travel between them takes 2 or 3 security checkpoints as well as multiple staircases, a long underground tunnel, and sometimes a bus-service out to the plane.
AND even though Lufthansa has a near-monopoly over service at the Frankfurt airport, they were not able to find a way to get my bags to my next plane, even though I found my way. Das ist schlecht.
Anyways, it is so good to be back in Austria! It really has become another home to me (along with Orlando and Jacksonville), the places and faces are very familiar, I could almost find my way around.
To anyone who has never been to Austria, I really recommend it. But don't stay in the cities - just visit for the day, or maybe two, and then travel through the countryside. It is more beautiful & with more history. Also, the people are much more kind, though you may want to bring a German translation pocketbook with you, in the farmlands not everyone speaks such good English, unless it is a young(er) person. Every house you go to there is food - and lots of it. Fresh! From the gardens, or freshly baked, even in winter and every day.
Slowly my German is getting better, on the weekends (wochenenden) everyone is at home so I have been visiting with a lot of family. The older family are helping me practice my German, whereas some of the younger ones either are too shy to speak with me at all or want to practice their English. In Austria, the German is a dialect that is much different than what you would here in Berlin, Hamburg, or even Frankfurt. It is most close to the Bavern, or Bavarian, dialect which is an old-farmers language. Spoken so quickly, I cannot unerstand anything. It has been a lesson in patience and confidence - to sit at a table and know nothing of what is being said. Or when there is an awkward silence because no one knows what to say and they are aware you are there. Ich weiß nicht (I don't know, or, I know not)... but, I am learning (without school), so this is good. :)
It is not as cold as I thought it would be, there is only froyen patches of snow on the ground here in Unterschützen. However, on the way here from Vienna, we passed through the Steiermark, and everything was white! The hills & mountains & trees and it was so so gorgeous! I've never seen anything like this in my life except in photos or the movies. SO beautiful! I hope to actually go out in some place like this before it warms up or I leave!
Ah, last note, and then I will stop babbling. In order for my bags to be in weight, I left out my pea-coat, or nice black coat because it is so heavy and yet not as warm as the ski jacket I borrowed from a friend. HOWEVER, it is really obvious that this is a ski jacket. And did I forget to mention that it is purple? Yes, lavendar and dark purple. Now, I love the color purple, and I truly appreciate the warmth, BUT the looks I got when I went to the bar with my cousins were... well, far from flattering. One might describe the scene as if seeing the Purple-People-Eater walk in and sit down for a drink. (I am not exagerrating.) This is no offense to that jacket, but merely to that fact that I made the choice to wear it out to a bar. Oy-yay....
So, until next time....
Tschüss!
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