First Turkey, First Chestnuts, First Snow, First Advent

Thanksgiving in Austria

I did it! I successfully prepared my very first Thanksgiving Dinner, stuffed turkey and all! Celebrating Thanksgiving with the Herkners was so special for me. Not only did I surprise myself with my culinary skills, but I was also thrilled to see the Herkners so excited to learn about my traditions. Harald's sister, Evi, also joined us with her three children. Evi and her family lived in Chicago for three years, so they were incredibly enthusiastic about a real American Thanksgiving Dinner!

The menu included:

Stuffed Turkey

Sweet Potato Casserole

Cranberry Relish

Green Bean Casserole

Corn Casserole

Mashed Potatoes

My friend Patrick provided the green beens, corn, and mashed potatoes. It was so nice to have a fellow American there to celebrate!

The only thing missing was a pie or two, but we were all so full, we didn't need it anyway!

In the midst of all the excitement, would you believe that I forgot to take a picture of the turkey before Harald started carving it? It's a good thing he's a doctor, and was able to put it back together pretty nicely for a photo op.

Harald carving...

Our post-op turkey. (I'm sure you can tell that it looked beautiful before we cut it open, though!)

The bird ended up weighing 6.8 Kilos, about 15 pounds. It JUST fit in the oven!

Vinzi documenting the event.

I couldn't find mini marshmallows or canned yams anywhere, so I had to improvise with my Sweet Potato Casserole recipe. Ultimately, it was more of a Marshmallow Casserole!

Chestnuts Roasting on a Open Fire...

The Advent Season has arrived, and it's a beautiful, magical time in Vienna. Austria is a traditionally catholic country, so all christian holidays are observed, and the first advent really begins the Christmas season. To kick-off the advent season, the Herkners host a Maroni Fest, or Chestnut Party, every year. We set up a tent outside and served hot, homemade Glühwein (hot mulled wine), and really roasted chestnuts on an open fire! My photos didn't come out too well in the dark, but you can get the idea. :)

The Garden was transformed into our own little Christmas Market for the Party.

Harald roasting chestnuts with his nephew, Xavier.

Chestnuts roasting...

My friends Jay and Katya, two fellow Hoosiers also living in Vienna, came to the party!

(Too much Glühwein...?)

American Invasion at the Maroni Fest!

On the first Sunday of Advent, I came home to find everyone gathered round the dining room table with the first candle on the advent wreath burning, singing Christmas songs, eating cookies, and drinking warm punch. I then found out that we will do this every Sunday evening of advent. Such a lovely family tradition.

As I write this, I'm taking care of poor little Vinzi, who I had to pick up this morning from school because he's sick. If this were America, however, the kids wouldn't have had school today anyway, because it hasn't stopped snowing all day!

Here's current footage of our snowstorm:

Now the garden really is a winter wonderland. :)

As part of Austrian tradition, the Christkindl, or "Little Christ Child" (the "l" at the end is a diminutive in Austrian dialect), comes to every Austrian house on the night of November 30th to bring advent calendars to all of the good little boys and girls. This is such a cute tradition, and even I received an advent calendar!

Also interesting: "Kris Kringle" comes from "Christkindl". I hadn't thought of that until I read the article on wikipedia.

The holidays are such a wonderful time to be in a new country, experiencing new cultures and traditions. I wish you all a beautiful start to December, and hope that you are surrounded by warmth and love throughout this holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi everyone!

I hope that as you're reading this, you're enjoying a much-needed and well-deserved Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. It's certainly strange being so far away from home today, especially since this is just another Thursday in November for Austria. I'm very excited, however, to share our traditions with the Herkners this evening. I ordered a turkey last week from a specialty Poultry shop in town, and picked it up yesterday. Apparently I'm not the only one celebrating Thanksgiving -- the shop owner brought out two boxes of fresh turkeys from the back yesterday when I went to pick ours up! It's 6,8 kilo, so about 15 lbs. This will be my first time ever preparing a turkey on my own, so CROSS YOUR FINGERS!

Yesterday, I searched high and low for all of my Thanksgiving ingredients. I found marshmallows and fresh sweet potatoes at the specialty food shop, Meinl. Then, I walked across the city to search for an English/American grocery store I had heard about. I finally stumbled upon this hole-in-the-wall shop, tucked away in a side street in the heart of the city. It's called Bobby's food store, and they had absolutely everything that I needed! Even Stove Top! :) I've already made the cranberry relish (my mom sent me her recipes), so today it's the turkey, stuffing, yams, and salad. My friend, Patrick, an American Fullbright Scholar who is studying voice at the university here, will also be joining us.

Now, I wasn't sure how I should format this post, as it's been almost a whole month since I wrote last, but I think I'll just start from most recent events and work my way backwards.

Budapest

I spent this past weekend in Budapest, Hungary visiting my friend Kornel. I had a fantastic time, and absolutely love the city! I was there a few years ago for the Robert Page Festival Singers tour, but of course you gain a whole new perspective when discovering a city with a native Hungarian friend as your tour guide.

I think what I love most about the city is that it's built around the Danube - Buda on one side, and Pest on the other. Also, the people: they talk loudly, they laugh loudly, and they SMILE at you when you make eye contact! There are still lots of reminders of the Communist Period in Budapest, as it lasted until 1989. Overall, Budapest is a much rougher city than Vienna. The subway trains are rusted and covered in graffiti, many of the old buildings are falling apart and have yet to be renovated, and parts of the city are quite dirty. In a way, though, this appeals to me, because it really makes you appreciate the unique beauty of the city.

Look! It looks just like Pittsburgh!

A funny little tour water-bus.

The beautiful 4 Seasons Hotel!

Look familiar? It's the Budapest Opera House. Looks pretty similar to the Vienna State Opera if you ask me!

A Hike in the Wiener Wald

A friend of mine, Maria, a fellow American mezzo, and I went for a hike a few weekends ago through the famous Wiener Wald, or Vienna Forest. It was quite a long, muddy hike, and we had a beautiful sunset at the end. I'm so thankful for Maria's friendship. This is her second year coming to Vienna to pursue auditions, so she's really been able to give me some great advice, and her positive energy inspires me on the those difficult, gray days. It hasn't been easy building a life here, but finding great friends has helped me so much. I have lots to be thankful for today. :)

This spot overlooks the entire city.

4PM Sunset

Another Herkner Hike

I'm becoming closer and closer with the Herkners, and really enjoy spending time with the family. We went on a Fall hike several weekends ago. Again, breathtaking views everywhere I looked!

My Third Austrian Family: The Mayerhofers!

I've started visiting another family about once a week, teaching the children English. They are Emilia's neighbors, so I usually spend one hour with the Mayerhofers, and then walk over to Emilia's for a few hours. The children are so sweet, and love to learn. We do a lot of singing and dancing (their personal favorite is the Hokey Pokey), and play games like "Simon says" to help them learn English.

Sara (9), Fabio (1), Laura (7), and Flora (4).

I've been multi-tasking writing this blog, preparing for my meal. I Youtubed "How to prepare a turkey", made the stuffing (Stove Top + some homemade stuffing), and Patrick just video chatted me to ask me how to use an Austrian can opener! It should be an interesting day, full of lots of entertaining memories.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, and I'm sending you all my love. I'm so thankful to have each and every one of you in my life. Have a great day!

Love,

Amanda

A Snowy Weekend in Salzburg

This post is about a week overdue, but better late than never, right?

Two weekends ago, I went back to Salzburg with the Herkners. We had such a great time. I feel like I'm really starting to bond with the boys, and taking these little family trips really helps me get to know the family a lot better without the stress of the work week.

Instead of staying in Jonas's room, this time Harald, Irmgard, Vinzi and I stayed in the guest house. It was the most adorable little Austrian cabin - wood burning stove and all! The first morning, I looked out the window and thought for a moment that it was Christmas morning.

Here's what I saw:

It snowed all day! This also mean that, as the Nanny spending the day with seven boys, I was dodging snowballs all day long, too. :)

Something about the first snowfall always seems to put people in a good mood. Everyone was so relaxed and happy all weekend. It really did feel like a holiday. We even ate goose our last night!

Vinzi patiently waiting for everyone to get ready so that he can go outside and play in the snow...

Our Austrian Cabin!

This is where I slept. Not the most comfortable bed, but at least I was in the room with the stove! Nice and cozy!

The original Singer sewing machine. (I took this one for Mom and Grandmum).

"Das Bauernjahr" = "The Farm Year"

Irmgard told me that this is a very typical decoration in Austria. This one was hand stitched by her Aunt.

I don't think the decor gets more Austrian than this!

We spent the snowy Saturday at the salt mines in Salzburg. I had actually already been to the salt mines in 2002 when I went to Germany with my class from high school. It's pretty incredible that I've gotten to have such a unique experience twice in my life!

Everyone had to wear these silly white jumpers. Simon looked like an adorable marshmallow man.

On our way to the mines!

Still trying to look cool. :)

(The boy in the middle, Lucas, is TWELVE. I think he's already 6'4"!)

We crossed the border into Germany! Underground!

Also: the woman who took this picture was with her family from Boston. Funny hearing "Boston" English in Austrian salt mines.

Sweet little Sara had to hold her own with all these boys...

We took a trip up the mountain to see a view of the Austrian Alps. Unfortunately, it was too foggy to see anything. Still a pretty cool picture, though!

I liked this picture in Sepia.

Lolo & Me!

Poor Vinzi had cold hands.

Snowball fight action shot.

An Austrian Rock.

Nice in Black & White.

This past weekend, I stayed in Vienna and the Herkner's took another trip, as the kids had Monday and Tuesday off from school once again. I was able to catch up on various things, and I went to a Halloween party! I'll be posting those pictures later this week, but I thought this was enough for one post.

I hope everyone is enjoying the start of November, and I'll report back soon!