Krampus

This month has been amazing. It's my first December in Austria, not to mention my first Christmas here too. Life here has been slightly different than Southern California. For instance, I've never dealt with a frozen car door, or driving to work using the snowplow guide poles to find my way. It was -22c (-8f) when I got off work the other day.

Interesting to say the least.

The interior of my car windows were frozen. So frozen, the ice wouldn't chip off. Could it be that the ice and glass fused together like some freaky science experiment? I doubt it, but it was weird. I sat there in my car for 20 minutes blasting the defroster. One of my rear brakes was apparently frozen because I dragged a tire for a while in the hardened snow. The manual trasmission got stiff on me. The tranny oil was too cold etc. How cool is that?

Have you heard of a Krampus? I hadn't until this month. They're ugly creatures with horns who whip or beat bad kids. They only come out in December. There was a little Krampus festival in our village earlier this month. I went alone. My 3 yr old, Noah, doesn't like them. Go figure? As well, my wife, Yvonne, doesn't like them either. She's scared. Ha-ha. This is what Wikipedia says about the Krampus:

"Krampus is a mythical creature. According to legend, Krampus accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children.

In the Alpine regions, Krampus is represented by a demon-like creature. Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in Austria during the first two weeks of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December, and roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells."

May I add they pull kids' hair and whip them with sticks! Yup, I've seen it.

The Christmas spirit is alive in Windischarsten. The area is amazingly beautiful right now; not that it isn't during the other months. It reminds me of old Christmas movies showing falling snow, people singing, and warm plates of cookies. We even nibble on roasted chestnuts in front of the t.v. People sometimes ask me, "when is the best time to visit Windischgarsten?" Well, now I say, come for Christmas:)

Gabe

Krampus video

A Day With Gabe

Ah, seasons. Oh how I've forgotten you. For those of you back in Socal, a season is when the weather changes. God gave us seasons way back in the beginning of time so we don't become complacent with warm weather, palm trees and flip flops. I think God wanted the people of the Alps to be less complacent than the rest of the world.

So I've been home sick from work for a few days - It's a time for "dragging" your feet. You know, like nose blowing, internet surfing, watching tv, and opening the fridge three times an hour hoping something else will appear. Although I'm under the weather, I still have some fatherly and husbandly (that's not a real word) stuff to do.

"Stuff" - it's always better than "dragging".


We only have one car, so being that I wasn't working, I was on taxi driver duty. First off was getting Yvonne to work on time.



Then I went home, got Noah dressed and fed, and dropped him off at preschool, which they call kindergarten over here. Kinder translates to children, garten translates to garden. They should've called it "kindergerms" because that's where kids meet to exchange germs and take them home to their fathers.


Next up was a drive over to the doctor's office to drop off my chest x-rays.


This is a photo from the doctor's parking lot. You can see one of our favorite grocery stores in the distance.


Afterward, I drove back through the village to get home...


...and check out the creek running through town.




But instead of going home, I thought I'd swing by the local lake real quick. In winter it freezes over to become, what the locals tell me, an ice skating lake. No ice yet.


So back in the car to get my sick self back home.


As I was driving I looked down at the outside temp readout which some refer to as a thermostat. It was cold and I should be wearing my gloves!


This is me wishing I had my gloves.


Back to the house I go. It's good to have a garage in this weather. You can't tell in the photos but its snowing.


The garage is detached from the house. After parking I must walk up the street a little bit to the front door. No big deal, but I have to be careful not to slip on the ice.


Gotta suck down my meds right?


This is what I looked at until it was time to play taxi driver again.


Time flew by too quickly. I peaked outside to see it was snowing harder than before...


...and peaked out the front door at the ice road.


The roads were in much better condition now than before. The trucks must've been by spraying salt. Yes, I forgot my gloves again.


First stop was kindergarten to pick up my boy. He's a smart kid. He wears gloves.


Next stop is the hotel to pick up Yvonne from her reception job. She wears cute little traditional dresses to work that shows a lot of her boobs. I like Austrian traditions. Sorry, no boob shots here.


We had to drive by the local golf course to get to the hotel. No golfers out there today. Don't know why.


She was running a little late so Noah and I decided to grub on some sweets. The hotel owner feeds us whenever we visit. I love that place.


There's a little playroom at the hotel for the kids. The hotel owner has a daughter the same age as Noah, so the toys are age appropriate for him. The girl's name is Lena. She's a blonde. Noah digs on the blonde ladies.


Yvonne finally clocked out and we went home where I could take my medicine and lay down again. Overall it was a good day - a cold and non-complacent day.

Gabe

Hiking Above the Village

Hi all. Well, this was my first year without a Halloween. Maybe next year right? Anyway, the family went for a hike instead. My father-in-law and I went a little further than the rest. We ended up at the "sender". It's a radio tower on a mountain overlooking Windischgarsten. Gorgeous views and a great day.





Bonus video for the grandparents:

It was WWII. The spry Austrian boy known as Raimund, grew up in a beautiful small village in the Austrian Alps. These were the days before paved roads, supermarkets, and TV. These were the days of the "Greatest Generation". Life was tough. Austria, or the land soon to be named, was taken over by Nazi Germany in 1938, not by force, but by ratification. Austria was Germany.

The little Austrian boy was 15 years old. Dirt poor, Raimund wasn't the type to splurg on life. His family couldn't afford it. I don't know much about his daily life back then, but I do know he was too young to fight. The Hitler Youth, as you may know, was developed to mold the up-and-coming children. It was a propaganda tool used to forward the Nazi movement. He, too, was a Hitler Youth. All young boys were. It was what you did. Although he never saw war, he was instructed to carry a rifle around his village. It wasn't a fancy rifle. In fact, it was an Italian rifle the Germans hated, and therefore passed down to the youngsters. It was too big and the little boy was too small. He proudly dragged it behind him.

The little Croatian girl was 14 years old. Her parents were strong. Her German father was in Hitler's mighty military machine. I'm sure he was an exceptional man fighting for his country in another land. He didn't know Hitler's intentions. Really, nobody did yet. They had two sons and a 14 year old girl whom they cherished. Her name was Helena. Croatia wasn't friendly to Germans after the war. The little girl's father was shot and killed on his front door step. She was nearby. A brother was soon murdered thereafter. The slaughter of Germans by Croation Partisans was acceptable...but not to her.

The little girl and her mother packed up their horse and buggy for a long one way trip north. I'm sure they had no idea where they were destined, but they knew, wherever it was, it was better than death.

I can only imagine the dusty roads, the lack of food, and the unstoppable tears which flowed down her young face. She was too young for this. The journey was long and her thoughts must've been circling around her not-too-distant past. Her father and brother were gone, and so was her Croatian home. They finally arrived near a little Austrian village called Windischgarsten. It was a small sparkle in the post WWII world. The surrounding, overwhelmingly tough mountains probably reminded her of her strong father. The mother and daughter unpacked the horse and buggy of all their belongings. Their new life would start here.

A few years later she met a striking young man, the poor boy who once dragged his oversized rifle down the local roads. They fell in love...a true love. A love which would bind them through 59 years of marriage. They lived for each other and owned nothing. Soon they would have a child, Walter. They joke that Walter was the first piece of funiture in their house. Although poor, they managed to raise three beautiful and intelligent children. Her past was her past. She had to move on with her life. She moved on with her true love...Raimund.

Helena was Yvonne's grandmother. She passed away last week. She will be missed by all. She was loved by many...Raimund misses you.

The First Snow

At work I wear shorts and a t-shirt. We are extremely active at the factory. Always moving, moving, moving. As well, the machines produce heat. I think I'd melt if I wore pants. Needless to say, the interior of the factory is cozy warm.

Not like it was outside here in the Austrian Alps.

My night shift ended this morning at 5:30am. It was a typical day...or night. I just wanted to get home and sleep. I opened one of the many exit doors to start my "frei zeit", or in english, "freetime". To my suprise, in the dark morning, was a wall of falling snow flakes sticking to my clothes. I was stunned. I stood there for a minute, in the dark, in my shorts and t-shirt, amazed at the vertical beauty. The first snow has arrived.

But I was tired.

I went home, took a shower, and fell asleep until 4pm while Noah woke to a new magical land. I remember being his age and seeing snow. Looking at the pictures of Yvonne and Noah's snowman brought back a flood of memories. I hope it does for you too.

German Class

My co-workers at the door factory didn't understand why I, the American, asked to stare at toilets everyday. This was two and a half months ago.

As some of you already know, the Austrian government now requires immigrants to know German. Let me say that again...THEY REQUIRE IT. Two years from arriving, one must take a "German" exam. You pass; you stay. You fail; you leave. It's that simple...and I couldn't be happier. German is the official language of Austria. Since joining the EU, tons of immigrants have decended on this place, and like immigrants everywhere in the world, learning the local language is something to be put off, well, until next year.

But not here.

The goverment happily foots the bill for your classes; four of them. As far as the tax payers go, most don't know what they're paying for so it's no big deal. So why would Austria pay for my classes anyway? That's easy. People make more money when they know the local language right? More money equals a higher taxable income. The government doesn't lose money on the deal; they make money. Call it an investment.

My classes are on Mondays and Thursdays from 5-8pm. There are nine of us. Two Hungarians, a Russian, Slavakian, Croatian, Philipene, Kenyan, Serbian, and one American, me. The class is at the local community center (see photo above). I like it there. All of us are in the same boat.

And as for my work, I no longer ask to stare at toilets!

Walking in Austria

Question: What do you do when you don't have a second family car in Austria?

A. You can't go anywhere, so you stay home.

B. No seriously, you can't go anywhere, so you stay home.

C. You put on some shoes and walk, just like everyone else. Try it.

It's been about three months since we arrived. That's two haircuts, 5 tanks of gas, and 12 lbs of fat loss. Yeah, fat loss. Pretty cool huh? I had been lugging around an extra 10 lbs for the last six months (ok, shhhh, maybe 15). Upon my arrival I noticed how few overweight europeans actually exist. How do they do that? What's their secret?

Then I saw the bicycles, the hikers, and most importantly, the single car garages. Why would someone build a 3000 sf house and only give it a one car garage? I thought about this for a bit, then for another little bit, and finally, it came to me. Most couples really don't need more than one car. Why would you build a garage you don't need? So people walk here; down to the coffee shop, the meat market, the bakery, the church, to work, and so on. And they're skinny.

Have you figured out how I lost my weight yet?

True, I did get a manual labor job. This definately contributed to weight loss, but this adds to my point. Use your body!

Yvonne started her job on Friday. It's at a nice hotel located 1.3 miles from our house. Noah and I wanted to see the place, so we "walked" up there while she was working on Saturday. He did pretty good for a 3 1/2 yr old. Of course, we drove the car back home:) It's a warm and friendly environment. It includes golf, a spa, restaurant and the other amenities expected at a nice place. She's doing "reception". Front desk work isn't easy, so hats off to her. It's a lot of work. Anyway, Noah and I walked the 1.3 miles to say hi and relax with a coffee in my hand and an orange juice in his.

Congratulations to Yvonne. I know you'll do great!










Conversing with my 3 1/2 year old in the restaurant.



Bonus video: U.S. election prediction.