Meanwhile in Vienna…

March has crept up like the sneaky spring has come from nowhere! February disappeared with a blink of the eye and with it, so did winter. The ice rinks have closed for the season, birds are singing, flowers are blooming and new things are happening. 

I joined my tandems for a spin around the ice for the first and last time this winter at the Eislaufverein, the ice rink next to the beautiful Stadtpark of Vienna. I’m always anxious with my first few steps on the ice but after a few rounds I found my balance and managed to set my pace. I’m finding a similar experience with running. (Though I must be careful to not injure my ankle again!)

I’ve taken up a new hobby of running this year and hope to continue to show improvement. The great thing about running is that you can see the results very quickly. I use the Runkeeper app on my phone to track my runs and set goals to achieve. Today I ran my first 6k, in preparation for two runs I’ve signed up for in April and May: Frauen Fun Run und Österreichischen Frauenlauf – a 6km women’s fun run and the 27^th Austrian Women’s Run, for which I registered to competitively run 5km. These are the first runs I will take part in and my aim is just to compete with myself and gain nice, wee medals at the end!

Not only have I started a new hobby, I have also started my new job. This week I officially started teaching in a private primary school in Vienna for one day a week, and where I will hopefully continue come September on a full time basis. In the new job, I’m responsible for teaching English grammar and science to the 4^th grade classes (of which there are two: 18 children in both classes.) It is incredibly refreshing to teach again like a regular teacher, without so much emphasis on English as a foreign language, even though for all of these kids it is at least their second, if not third, language. But because they have been taught different subjects through the language of English, it comes a lot more naturally to them. This is the reality of the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) method of teaching, whereby children learn the language and the content at the same time while being immersed in it. I’m very excited to be a part of this school, while also having the opportunity to compare my experiences in a public primary school in the same district through my Comenius position. 

As a Comenius Assistant, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve found my stride now, in a much more stable way than during the early months. Comenius is a kind of EU project that is difficult to define and that becomes clear when you start working in a school in another country, as no one really knows what you’re supposed to do. Now, with less than four months left, I can say that I have grown immensely since September by using my own initiative and trying to find ways to engage children who don’t understand the language I speak. I have received incredibly positive feedback that I try to use to stimulate further creativity and improvement. What I’m really glad of is the ability to work with, and get along with, other members of staff, because that can make the world of difference.

Meanwhile, I just signed up for my next German course, as I’m about to complete the first half of A2 level German. The time has just flown by since I started studying German at the University of Vienna in January and the exam is already in two days. I need to pass the exam to move on to the next level, but hopefully, judging by the result of the practise test, it should be fine! I decided to continue in the university, as opposed to in a Volkshochschule (VHS) like I did last semester or somewhere else, because I feel that I’m pushed to work hard there and the more serious environment makes me take language learning more seriously too. While my course from September to December in VHS was a lot of fun and helped build my confidence and fondness of the language, I’m now at the stage where I would like to progress in a way in which I can clearly see the improvement. I have learned that I very much respond to concrete goals that I can work towards achieving. 

In between all that, I’ve managed to check out some other new places I’ve never been to in Vienna. I finally tried out a couple of local restaurants that I’ve had my eye on; one Japanese place where Thomas and I enjoyed fabulous, freshly-made sushi; and one typically Austrian place where I attended a parents evening for my new school. The purpose of that was to provide an opportunity for parents of 4^th graders to meet up for possibly the last time, and also to initiate the transition from the teacher going on maternity leave, to the new teachers, one returning from maternity leave, and me. It was a very interesting and enjoyable evening where I felt very welcome in my new school community. 

Exploring new districts has become the norm too, especially since another fellow Comenius friend, Scott, has moved so many times! This time we were invited to his place for dinner where we enjoyed a prawn cocktail starter, made by me, a delicious salmon carbonara, Scott's speciality, and Steffi's yummy, homemade lemon cake, all washed down with a lovely bottle of white wine, brought by Laura and Agnieszka! Scott even showed us his amazing skills playing the violin. We are like a little Comenius family!

 

As last weekend was the first weekend of the month, some city museums were free on the first Sunday. I decided to take advantage of this and visited the Wien Museum Karlsplatz with a surprise visitor from Turku and my fellow Comenius friend, Laura. We tailed onto a free guided tour of the museum, depicting Vienna through the centuries to how it looks today. It was rather enlightening to see how little it has actually changed since medieval times and we tend to share the same thought sometimes that living here feels like living in a different era! Later, Laura and I visited the Uhrenmuseum (Clock Museum), though I didn’t find it as engaging as the previous one. I think there are more interesting clock/watch museums in Switzerland. Nevertheless, I can't really complain when it’s free! 

I have many plans coming up now that will fill my weeks and weekends at least until May! I will have visitors coming to Vienna from NI and I’m also looking forward to spending the Easter break with Thomas. In the meantime, there’s plenty to be getting on with!