Täglich Wiederkehrendes Abenteuer

On Friday morning, I covered for one of the teachers for an hour and a half class.  It was fun.  The class is “Foundations of Teaching English.”  The teacher said I could do whatever I want, so I showed them some games they can play with their students in their English classes, and we had a bit of a discussion about what kinds of classes and teachers have helped them to learn English.  Then we had a few minutes for them to ask me some general questions, for example about if I like Obama and things I’ve done in Linz.   They also convinced me to speak some German; people tend to be pretty curious about my German ability.

Today (Saturday), we went to an art museum and a museum at the old fort on the hill.  At the art museum, they were still working on an installation, so we didn’t get to see a lot.  Fortunately, we have year passes for most of the museums in Linz, so we’ll be able to go again for free later.  They also had some weird modern art.  I think Will and I share a disinterest in modern art.  Will says if you have to explain your art, you’re doing it wrong, and I tend to agree.  Probably the worst one was video of a woman blowing, almost like she’s in labor but more obnoxious.  Apparently it’s a poem that’s all just blowing.  We got a booklet to explain all the art.  Here is an excerpt:

Line by line and column by column she works her way through the poem she is offering us, the poem that demands so unusual an expression.  The motivation that drove the artist in this performance may have included the desire to feel her own body, the wish to explore the language of the body or non-traditional ways of communication and an overriding urge to give expression to a state of speechlessness.

So the art museum was pretty lame.  But the fort museum was pretty neat.  They had a lot of nice paintings and some artifacts like old globes and star charts, sun dials, dishes, traditional clothing, and coins.  They also had some creepy religious stuff.  A few centuries ago, body parts of saints were considered holy, for example, the church in Watkins supposedly has a piece of bone from St. Anthony.  Anyway, there are only so many pieces to go around, so replicas are often made.  So we saw replicas (at least I’m pretty sure they are replicas) of mummified hands and tongues in golden frames.  On a related note, two of the churches here in Linz have full skeletons that you can see.

One thing you can see at the fort museum starting on the 28th is an exhibition of nativity scenes.  Many of you know I’m not particularly religious, but I like nativity scenes.  Also, Christmas.  They’re already setting up the market in the main square; I got pretty excited when I saw it.

In other news, we ate at McDonald’s today.  They didn’t have our Big Macs ready, so they sent us to sit down and they were going to bring them to us when they were ready.  I went to the bathroom thinking they would just drop them off, Will could say “danke” and that would be it.  When I got back from the bathroom, our Big Macs were there, but Will had a look on his face.  Apparently, she brought one Big Mac.  Will told her “zwei?” and she went to get another one.  He was scared.  I’m not sure why.

Anyway, we were planning to go to Vienna on Tuesday, but I think we’ll wait.  Then we can stay the night and there will probably be a Christmas market.  We’re also hoping to meet up with Gretchen in Salzburg some time in December.  On Monday, all the English assistants are getting together to celebrate pay day.  So there’s also that to look forward to.