Mühlviertel: The neat wooded hill country that is now my home.
The Forest/der Wald outside Gutau
Evening & the Tree
A Gasthaus made spread of Speck (ham) with garlic, onions, pickles & peppers.
Downtown old town Linz from the former opera building.
A rural road in Gutau's district.
Hills & Fields
A pleasant country to wander any afternoon.
Linz city street from the base of the modern "Höhen-Rausch" Tower.
Raised view overlooking the modern city, here lies the Danube River in the background.
The massive Dome Cathedral seen from higher up.
Gen & I visited the Höhen-Rausch Museum with our Rotary host club, including our Rotarian friend Mr. Mayr.
Foggy morning view from the bus stop.
A modernly occupied home in among the old castle walls of Freistadt.
The gardens between the two old town wall defenses.
Shaped hedges...
...plus flowers.
One of the several still intact towers from the original old town.
Now home to the "Schloss (Castle) Museum"
The alley between the city gate and the way to the church.
Now for a visual tour of my school: Gymnasium Freistadt.
It has an older building,
Somehow more like "Hogwarts" to me than a high school...
With historical architecture...
As well as a newer, modern half:
Complete with enough stairs to challenge Newton Senior High on step count!
An exercise for all...
Here is the Canteen, the substitute to our full cafeterias at home, as we eat lunch after the school day.
The ever-important "football field" as here we play Fußball, being soccer not American Football.
Meinem Gymnasium war nicht zu schoen. :(
ReplyDeleteEs ist toll! :D
DeleteHi! My name is Elizabeth and I am going to be a Rotary Youth Exchange student for the 2013-2014 year. I have to pick my top 3 countries in the next few weeks, and I was seriously considering Austria as one. Your blog makes it sound wonderful. Do you suggest I put it as my top choice? How difficult is it to learn German? Thanks so much for your time. :)
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely promote Austria to a fellow RYE student! I chose the land for it's uniqueness in comparison to Germany, the somewhat larger, possibly better known neighbor. There is no let-down in my life here, & I do not live in the heart of Vienna or some bustling European city. When it comes to language it's an interesting setting: Here they speak a dialect. It is not the strongest dialect in the German language, but for a foreigner it definitely comes across as a completely different tongue than the German itself. It is harder as the language I am learning is very different than the one spoken day-to-day, yet here you are still surrounded by German regardless. So consider that when in Germany you might be luckier to find yourself in a place speaking only "High German" (proper standard), the experience, language and all is what you make of it. Even in Austria some places, Vienna and Graz for example in the big cities speak High German. Location in exchange is the luck of the draw, but then your job to mold that situation to benefit you. I will write a post soon fully explaining the language scenario for me, which I find completely fascinating as well as equally confusing. Viel Glück für dein Austauschjahr!
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