Lederhosen Festival 2010

So, there's this event that happens once a year in Austria, and coincidentaly, it takes place right here in Windischgarsten. People from around the country, and for that matter, around the continent, come to take part in it. What is this miraculous event you ask?

It's the Lederhosen Festival!!

For those of you in the dark, lederhosen are leather pants. Leder = Leather. Hosen = Pants. You can wear them with suspenders or without. It's not a dorky item to wear out here. To be honest, it's more of a cultural pride garmet, and the festival honors that. It's a celebration of the Austrian people. Think of Texas and cowboy boots. Are cowboy boots silly in Texas? No. Windischgarsten closes down the streets, people show up in their "garmets", and they drink beer...and lots of it.

But I'm a Californian. Do you really think I'd be caught dead at a Lederhosen Festival...or wear the foreign "Erkle" attire?

Yes!

Yvonne, her brother and girlfriend, Noah and myself headed into the village last night. What fun. Everyone was in a good mood and laughing. Noah had a great time too. He even managed to wrangle in a couple of blondes, his favorite of the female species.

Here are some photos and a couple of quick videos. Sorry if the right side of the photos are chopped off a bit. I'm still figuring out why this happens on this site. Anyway, I hope you like them!

I got a Job!

Another day has passed in our hidden valley. Yvonne's opa (grandfather) turned 81 today. We drove up the street to his house for some cafe und torte (coffee and cake). He's retired now but loves to raise chickens, grow a garden and fish the local ponds. We spent a few hours sitting around a table in his driveway laughing and eating.



Something else happened today too.....I got a job! I now work for a company named "Dana". They specialize in upper-end interior door manufacturing for the European market. It's not a career, it's a job; a place to make some money while learning the language. More specifically, it's a factory job. Lots of hard work. Please wish me luck. My body is more equiped for office work! Yvonne translated my interview. It's unbelievable how quickly she can switch from one language to another. I only hope I can be half as good as her someday. Thanks Yvonne!

Around the Table in Austria

Life is normal again at the Horton flat. This is the way I like it! Family drove over and/or walked upstairs for some homemade pasta tonight. Yum...good job Yvonne. Very good. We sat around our table for probably four hours to accomplish this 10 minute task. Is sitting at a table for four hours a good thing?

Oh yeah.

There are no short get-togethers around here. You want to meet someone for coffee? How 'bout lunch or dinner? The Austrian coulture is rich in many ways, but most notably around the dining room table.

But what do you talk about for that long? The short answer is: It doesn't matter.

Just remember that it's ok to have fun without fitting in. My "german" skills are still in an infantile state. No long intelligent conversations coming from me; just listening, goofing off and drinking a few beers. What the heck, life could be worse right?

Hospital Day 3

Geesh, he's still there. First off, thank you to everyone for your emails.

For those of you with children, try to imagine the feelings you'd get, some of you already know, sitting in a hospital room with your child; a child who is too sick to leave.

Now imagine the same thing happening in a foreign country. The doctors and nurses don't speak your language, you don't know if the care is good, and the hospital can't communicate with your insurance provider. As a matter of fact, you don't even know if your child is covered. Will he be ok? When will he go home? Will you go broke in the process? These are just a few of the things which run through my mind... endlessly.

I sit in that room next to my child and pray all will be ok. The doctors come in, check his condition, then vanish back into the hospital. I study their facial expressions to determine if all is ok and splice together a german sentence asking if all is fine. They always respond in what might as well be Klingon. Yvonne and I take turns watching him while the other goes home to shower, eat and sleep. Seeing Yvonne return to us is momentous. The doctors are able to articulate their thoughts with her, and she can translate to me.

Noah will be fine.

They found an infection by taking a blood sample. They just can't determine the location and reason for it. He is on a fever reduction medicine as well as antibiotics. He'll be home as soon as his fever is under control. The hospital staff and doctor are really nice and the food is first class. Noah spends his time in the children's playroom, sleeping, watching Mama Mia on his DVD player, and spying on the helicopter which lands outside his window.

We expect he'll be home today. Again, thanks for your emails. All else is going fine out here. The hot weather has passed for now. We even got some rain! What a blessing.

Noah is Hospitalized

What a night.

Last night was a long one. Poor Noah was running a high fever (103.6) and throwing up. This morning Yvonne took him to his local doctor after hitting 104. The doc said he needed hospitalization. As you can guess, he is there now hooked up to an I.V.

They don't know what's wrong with him. I guess we'll find out in the morning when the test results come back.

I expect he'll be home sometime tomorrow. He needs your prayers as he's not able to throw unsuspecting slugs in the creek there.

Humid Weather Hits the Alps

As most of us know on this side of the pond, we're in a heat wave. It's the nasty humid kind which makes you sit at your computer in your underwear. Don't worry, I wear boxers! No air conditioning either. Nope. None. Apparently it doesn't get hot here that often so the locals don't bother with it. That doesn't mean today sucked. I had a great time. I did some cycling up to Pyhrnpass this morning and loved it. I loved it because it made my belly just a little bit smaller. I didn't realize how "big boned" I was until I came here. These people are skinny! Later on I took Noah up to a lookout tower over Windischgarsten, then got a haircut! I don't see how they can cut hair in this muggy weather. To compliment the wet air, the hot latte I was suckling made sweat poor down my hair. Blah blah blah, I know I complain too much. Just buy an A/C unit people!

Gabe in the park