Swiss-ness and Christmas - does it get much better than this?

It’s not often that I write about Switzerland, despite the fact that it has a strong influence in my life (thank you Thomas) and I have spent quite a lot of time there during the past three years. This small, successful, overpopulated, central European country has a lot to offer and fulfils, rather effortlessly,  the dreamy stereotype it tends to have. Swiss chocolate: to die for, Swiss watches: top notch, Swiss army knives: a practical essential, Swiss cheese: delicious, Swiss cows with bells on: easy to see why the cheese is amazing! Let’s not forget the Swiss Alps: WOW, and Kambly biscuits: if you don’t know what they are you’re missing out on something!

Pic: My fave Kambly biscuits

All of these luxuries of course come at a price and Switzerland also manages to live up to its reputation of being incredibly expensive. This, for the most part, is true. However, I’m lucky because having a Swiss boyfriend means I usually don’t need to spend much and he knows all the tricks and tips. We have visited many places in Switzerland together, including Bern of course, Geneva, Zurich, Zermatt (where the Toblerone mountain is in the Alps), Luzern, Murten, Thun, and many more! 

However, until very recently, I had never been to a cinema in Switzerland. This was mainly because it is ridiculously expensive, but we had an excuse to go this time as Tom’s friends invited us and we had free tickets! It was a silly, easy-to-watch movie that I’m glad we didn’t pay for! Nevertheless, it was interesting for me because I found it so strange that in a standard 90 minute movie, they have a break in the middle. Perhaps it’s a good idea during longer movies, like Titanic or Lord of the Rings, but I don’t really find it necessary during a 90 minute movie. It is just convenient for those with weak bladders, hunger or a need to smoke.

Recently, I spent a long weekend in Bern visiting Tom, his family and friends, and playing the tour guide to a friend from Finland, currently living in Zurich as an au pair. Bern is not a typical capital city, mainly because it doesn’t display much of the busy hustle and bustle of big city life. Rather, it oozes charm from the UNESCO World Heritage old town and against the backdrop of the Alps, on a clear day, it sets a stunning scene. Switzerland may seem annoyingly perfect, and in many ways it is, but it doesn’t exist without its own problems, for example, its issues with drugs and overpopulation.

Nevertheless, we spent a lovely Sunday together showing Emmi around the beautiful Bern: We climbed the steps of the highest bell tower in Switzerland, the Münster-Turm, and admired the view; we observed the bears (the bear being the symbol of Bern) in the bear pit, one of which is named Finn because he was born in Helsinki; we caught a special light show at the Government plaza, Bundesplatz, that impressively told a story on the front of the old building; and finally, after a Swiss-filled day, we enjoyed something different in an Ethiopian restaurant, where we simply ate with our hands from a shared basket of our orders, full of flavour and spicy hotness. 

I have spotted a little Swiss-ness here in Vienna, especially at the Christmas markets. The cheese stalls have an area dedicated to Swiss cheese, typically Emmental (yes, that’s Swiss, don’t trust Lidl.) It’s great when they also offer samples and I can have a taste of Switzerland in Austria. It’s a pity they don’t do the same with chocolate.

There is a great variety of Christmas markets here in Vienna, from huge, tourist-filled ones; to cute, cosy, wee Christmas markets. So far, I have been to a mixture of both at the town hall, the Rathaus; an old, traditional, festive market at Freyung; a student-filled market at the university campus that was previously a hospital, the Altes AKH; and in the local Weihnachtsmarkt in my district, set in the lovely surroundings of a park with ponds and fountains, the Türkenschantzpark. There are countless Christmas markets here and I would still like to see a few more of the main ones at Karlsplatz, Spittelberg and Schönbrunn. I’m glad there are still a few weeks to conquer them! Each of them have something unique to offer and there are many varieties of Punsch on offer (a rum-based punch with different flavours to choose from, such as orange, Bailey’s or raspberry), as well as Glühwein, which is a kind of mulled wine.

Such festive markets create a wonderful atmosphere where I feel Christmas can really be enjoyed with people and laughter. Of course, the real Christmas joy is evident in very excitable children and the kids at the school where I’m working provide no exception. As Advent approaches, everything is almost revolving around Christmas and the Weihnachtsfeier evenings when they will perform in front of their parents. I’m involved in several of these as well, as the teachers are eager for the children to recite a poem or sing a song in English. I’m also quite excited to see how they turn out.

A Young Professional at a Career Crossroads

It’s about time that I reflect a little on the work I’m actually doing here – believe it or not, I do actually do some work! It seems more difficult these days that it has been in the past to be a ‘young professional’ or trying to find your way as a graduate. Nevertheless, I’m trying not to let society’s downfalls or negativity get in the way of my own development.

When I’m not socialising or travelling, I’m fulfilling my role as a Comenius Assistant here in a local primary school, as well as giving private tutoring lessons and working on my German language skills by attending a Deutschkurs. 

Working in a local primary school

I have been a part of this school now for almost three months and I have to say that the experience has improved a lot since the first month. It’s heartening to be considered a part of the team and since I’m here for the duration of the whole school year, I have been adopted as such. I even appear on the school website and was included in the school photographs. 

I believe the improvement has stemmed from a number of factors. Firstly, it has taken some time just to get to know the people, the environment and of course the children I’m working with. Since my hours are split between six different classes, it is inevitable that some time is required to learn 139 names! Secondly, in order to enhance my experience I have had to take the initiative so I have been implementing some of my own ideas and taking charge of particular situations. Thirdly, effective communication with other staff members has helped a great deal in planning and understanding my role more concretely. 

In terms of taking the initiative, I was surprised to find that differentiation seems to be much less of a priority here than it is in schools in Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, I have been organising my own lessons in a way that attempts to differentiate according to the children’s language abilities and interests. Perhaps this requires extra thinking and a little more work but I believe that it pays off and makes each lesson much more productive and rewarding. 

Moreover, I felt the need to introduce new ideas for classroom management, particularly in the class with the eldest children in the school (4^th grade, aged 9.) In the beginning, it was quite tricky to establish a professional rapport with the class because they were aware that I couldn’t understand their language and they couldn’t understand much of mine either. They are not the easiest class to manage even at the best of times, even for the class teacher. However, without the presence of the class teacher, things can easily become chaotic and I wasn’t the only one with this problem. So I had to find a way to deal with this. 

In my opinion, it’s not helpful to focus on bad behaviour or punishment and it’s not worth it to give more attention than what it deserves; especially since most children actually want to receive positive reinforcement and feel good about themselves. Therefore, I adapted an idea I found online and introduced a ‘Reward Jar’ to the class. They receive a ‘golden ticket’ when I see them work well, behave well or try to speak well in English. Once the reward jar is full and all the golden tickets have been claimed, one is chosen at random and that person will receive a reward from the ‘surprise box’. The more golden tickets they receive, the more chance they have that theirs will be chosen. The system is designed only for me and does not require any input from the class teacher (except to clarify how it works in German!) This means that I can establish a better position of influence (I prefer to describe it as this, rather than as a position of authority) and have an appropriate means to manage the class.

This idea is one of the better ones I’ve seen with regards to a reward or incentive system. They can be risky in terms of instilling the wrong motivation in children: that they will only offer to help or work well when they know they will get something in return. This can be an attitude that they may take with them into their adult lives and result in only selfish citizens. With the reward jar, they can earn a golden ticket but they are not guaranteed to receive a reward. So far, after 2 weeks of the idea being in place, just one child has chosen something from the surprise box. I’m encouraged to find that the system seems to work and now that they know what happens, the children are more interested and eager to be involved. 

Originally, one of the main goals of coming here on Comenius was to help me decide in somewhat of a crossroads in my career path, whether I should teach children, or teach adults, or not teach at all and branch out into some other area of education. This is still a fundamental goal and to help reach a decision I have expanded my search for possibilities beyond this school year. I think my original love of primary school teaching is rekindling itself here and I’m exploring the options available to teach while also continuing to learn German. I'm beginning to regain confidence in my ability as a teacher and dissolving the doubts that arose during my teacher training in Belfast. My work as a private tutor is also useful for me to explore my own teaching style and attitude.

Life as a private tutor

I have been lucky in that I have not even had to advertise myself as a qualified tutor in order to build up tutoring hours for a little extra cash. As is true for many things, it has been through contacts, networking and word-of-mouth recommendations that I have gained these additional working hours. I tutor several children aged between 9 and 14, as well as a couple of adults in English. As one can imagine, the ability levels are diverse but I find that I manage to adapt unexpectedly well. It depends a lot of course on the expectations of those I’m tutoring, or their parents, but I find that my previous experiences working for the University of Turku and as an au pair/ESL tutor help me to customise my tutoring to each individual. 

Learning German

Not only is Comenius a stepping stone between university life and working life, it is the best opportunity to learn a language. I’m surprised by my own progress and motivation to learn. Even though I knew immersion in the country where the target language is spoken is highly effective for language learning, I completely underestimated the level of productivity this can produce. I find myself often thinking of how to say something in German and I have even had a few dreams in Deutsch! In my head, of course it is the case that I can produce wonderful sentences and hold a great conversation, but in reality it doesn’t quite transfer correctly from thinking to speech. This is probably quite normal, especially for someone still in the beginning stages, but I know I can do more to improve through increased practise and exposure.

Soon I will complete my first German course here and I’m preparing to enrol on another one that will hopefully start in January. I will probably switch from the Volkshochschule to the university course, mainly because the university courses are recommended and there is less of a commute. There are advantages and disadvantages to both though; I really enjoy my course in the Volkshochschule – it has more frequent classes than the university course, as well as being cheaper; the teacher is great and makes learning German entertaining and accessible; and there is a diverse range of people in the class (there are only about 10 of us, which is ideal for a language class) whom I have enjoyed getting to know. However, it would be nice not to have to commute for the guts of an hour to get there, meaning that for 3 evenings a week I have to reserve the time from 5pm to 10pm simply for the course plus commuting. 

In between the courses, I hope to continue learning every day and have ordered a 5-in-1 German for Dummies book to help in addition to tandem meetings and watching movies in German. 

That was a short glimpse into my professional life, or at least the foundations of it that I’m still in the process of building, with the hope that I can catapult myself from this career crossroads into a profession that is motivating, rewarding and fulfilling. Let’s hope that’s realistic.

Living the Cultured Life in Austria

Although it is tempting to travel further afield, given the central and accessible location of Vienna, I wish to explore more of Austria itself. There are a host of opportunities waiting to be discovered here and I’m beginning to make my way through a list of some I have noted. 

Places to see in Austria: Linz, Salzburg, Hallstadt, Bregenz, Innsbruck, etc.

Places to report on so far: Villach, Vienna and Linz.

Let’s start with Villach. This was not originally identified as a must-see but it proved to offer stunning views and an unexpectedly thriving nightlife. The reason for going there was not so much for the place itself, but rather to meet with my long-lost-limb from home and fellow traveller, Donna. Villach was the mid-way point, a convenient meeting place roughly half-way between where I’m living in Vienna and where Donna is in Padua, Italy.

We were lucky to have fine, sunny weather on the day we met up, making even the journey there an enjoyable experience. We were staying one night in Villach and we made the most of this night! After exploring the beautiful riverside scenery of Villach, exchanging some well overdue girly chat, treating ourselves to some typical Austrian cake (who could resist!) and making use of our newly-developed language skills, we started searching for a nice place to have dinner.

It seemed a Friday night in Villach is livelier than we thought and even when we found a restaurant where the menu looked good, there were no free tables. So we browsed the menus displayed outside a few other restaurants and found ourselves reading a Greek one (given away by dishes named Akropolis and Moussaka.) Just as we began to walk away, feeling we should eat something slightly more Austrian, a friendly, rounded, Greek man eagerly introduces himself as Theo and before we know what’s happening, he has us sitting in the Greek restaurant with a glass of “halb süβ” (semi-sweet) red wine each. Our decision was made: we would be enjoying Greek food for dinner!

Of course, the food was amazing – we shared a starter platter that included aubergine, fried feta, squid rings, tzatziki and meze. This turned out to be the only thing we paid for. We spent the bulk of our evening in the Greek restaurant, even after it closed and the waiters had changed to their normal clothes to also sit down with a glass of wine. We found ourselves never short of a drink and between the red wine and Ouzo, we were merry enough to have a great night but still manage to leave when we felt like it. Personally, the next day was somewhat of a struggle but for the classic night with Donna and a memorable story to go along with it, it was absolutely worth it! Turns out, Theo must have suffered the following day too because we visited his shop, where he sells natural Greek and Cypriot products, that was supposed to be open 9:00-15:00 and probably wasn’t open at all that day!

After a day to recover and travel back to Vienna, it was time to experience more of the endless possibilities in the capital of Austria. When you’re living here, it’s easy to spend your days on everyday errands rather than living each day like a tourist. This is why it’s good to be conscious of the fact that it’s also possible to “visit” Vienna for a day as if everything is new – because most of the time, everything is new. So the mission for that particular Sunday was to visit Vienna’s central cemetery. Perhaps not the average tourist attraction, but this is no average cemetery. Even better, we genuinely did have a first-time visitor to Vienna with us, Satu, whom I was happy to welcome from Finland. What better way to start your sightseeing on a rainy day than with a trip to the cemetery!

It seemed a rather morbid activity, “morbid” becoming the word of the day. However, we were enlightened by the apparent importance of death within Austrian culture and of course by the graves we went to see – those of the famous composers, Beethoven and Mozart. It seems there is a “cemetery culture” in Austria and it is evident by the fact that people here will take a typical stroll in a cemetery in the same way as we might have a stroll in a park at home. I’m rather fascinated about how different cultures or people approach the topic of death and Austria is a particularly

fascinating place in that regard. The central cemetery is even something of a tourist attraction, featured in guide books mainly because of the graves of famous musicians. Cemeteries can also be great educational outings for school classes, addressing subjects such as history and mathematics (birth and death dates – calculating how old the person was, etc.) Seemingly then, they are places not to be underestimated.

When we are not walking around local cemeteries, we are walking around apparent ghost towns such as Linz. Or it just felt that way because it was a Sunday and many places are closed, sucking the life out of the streets. Nevertheless, the Reisezentrum staff in the train station were very helpful and the three of us Comenius girls invested in a ‘Linz Card’ that cost 10€ each and provided us with unlimited public transport for the day and free entrance to several museums. 

First, we took the Pöstlingberg tramway, once Europe’s steepest mountain railway, to the top of the mountain and enjoyed the enchanting view over the city. Actually, before that, we waited for something special to happen in the main square where we were told to look out for the

Glockenspiel at exactly 11:03. At first we thought it had something to do with the main clock but then we realized at the top of one fancy-looking building there were rows of bells that then chimed several melodies, including part of one of Mozart’s famous symphonies, playing for several minutes. I guess it was worth waiting for as it was something quite unique.

Linz has more to offer than one might first think. After telling a couple of Austrians that I was going to visit this city, which happens to be the third largest city in the country, they replied with, “But there’s nothing to do in Linz!” It’s easy to say that if you are not aware of what’s available. After spending some time admiring the view over the city and taking in the charm of the churches and old town, we put our Linz Card to good use by visiting the Schloss (Castle) Museum and Als Electronica Center (something similar to W5 in Belfast.) 

The Schloss Museum was nothing special and in fact gave off a slightly strange vibe just because there seemed to be a mishmash of items and exhibitions, and in the actual castle section we were the only ones there. I’m almost certain that the staff were so bored that someone checking the cameras saw I was eating an apple and communicated via walkie-talkie to another staff member, “Someone’s eating an apple in the room with weird sculptures!” I hid my apple until we escaped to the next room.

The Ars Electronica Center was much more interesting and interactive and we only wish we had have gone there earlier, not just an hour before it closed. Still, we had time to experience a 3D space room, virtual video-link tug-of-war and to try on cat ears that could detect your emotion and twitch or turn to show if you’re happy, excited or sad. We even upgraded to try on the cat tail that responded to our movements. That felt rather odd but this kind of interactive experience was much more engaging than the previous, more standard museum.

To end our day in Linz, we couldn’t resist stopping at a local café to try out the Linzer Torte, a classic Austrian cake named after the city, and apparently the oldest known cake in the world. It has a lattice, criss-cross design and features nuts such as hazelnuts or almonds. I had tried it before and was instead intrigued by the “Linzerauge” (‘auge’ means eye) which is something like a thinner and smoother version of Jammie Dodger. It reminded me of my favourite biscuit from Switzerland, the name of which now escapes me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

So there you have it: living the cultured life in Austria. Meaning: train journeys, unexpected and strange experiences, morbid days perfectly suited to the month of November, and of course, cake!