Hanging out with an Australian and Austrian.

How do an Australian, Austrian, and 

American Know Each Other?

Last year, I went to Germany and did an English immersion company called Diverbo - in Germany it's called Englisch Hausen (In Spain they call it Pueblo Ingles).  The Austrian who lives in Germany was also there and we became friends.  I was actually with her in June also and she took me to Austria.  She did another Englisch Hausen recently and met the Australian there.  She took us both around to Roth and Regensburg.  She has been so kind and generous with her time!  She is an amazing person!

Rock Concert, Roth, and Regensburg

This was the most interesting concert I have ever been to.  A guy in a small small village has a barn.  Several years ago, he invited a few of his friends to come and play music for fun.  That grew into an annual event that includes about 300 people and a cover band.  It is absolutely free and there are venders (or friends) who are serving drinks and food that is for sale. (Bratwurst and beer mostly - this is Germany.  I had an apple juice and water.) There is even a portable bathroom (not an outhouse) with several stalls!  It was cold and a little drizzly, so they had a bonfire going and tents up so people wouldn't get wet or cold.

Most of the people there were either from the village, knew someone in the band, or heard about it from word of mouth.  My friend knew several people there because her ex-husband had worked in the same village.  Several people knew how to speak English and they were very friendly.  One girl I met was determined to find me someone to talk with, so she kept dragging her friends over to meet me.  It was really funny.  They would say, "How can I help you?"  I would say, "She wants me to meet people who speak English!"  Then we would chat for a few minutes - I was mostly there because it was close to the fire.  :)  I went into the actual barn where the band was playing just a few times.  Once because my friend told me to join me on the stairs so I could see better.  (It was the first time I realized how extremely tall Germans were.  I would say 75% of the men there were over 6 feet tall.)  Anyway, when I got to the stairs where she was, there was really no place to sit, so a man who was over 75 years old offered his lap.  Lol.  I said, "Nein" and stood.  

This is Purple Mania - A cover band for Purple something or other.

My Australian friend made this amazing salad.  She called it an Australian salad.  :)

An American, Austrian, and Australian.  These ladies were so much fun!!!  This pictures is of Regensberg. It is a cute town on the Danube River.  It has beautiful old colorful buildings and great architecture.  It is a World Heritage Sight.

Roth

The following pictures were taken when me and the Australian went for a walk in Roth.  In both places, we saw an opening in a wall or gate and went in to see what was there.  The first pictures were an amazing garden with all types of flowers blooming full force.  The last 2 pictures were inside the courtyard.  It has a little turret on the outside, so we just went around the corner to see what it was protecting. We weren't disappointed with a fountain, a beautiful clock and great artistic facades.

Pueblo Ingles!

• Pueblo Ingles is a week long program where you speak no Spanish.

• It is just English - a full immersion week.  You have to provide your way there, but they provide all meals and hotel rooms.  They have programs in Spain, Germany, and now Ireland!!  I actually saved money because I didn't have to pay for gas, groceries or eating out, or entertainment.
  
  
  
  
  
  
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• We "worked" from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

• With 1 1/2 hrs nap after lunch.  I say "worked" because I did not really consider it work. I was getting to know some great people!  We not only spent formal time together, we also had our meals as a part of the program - we had to sit Spanish - English - Spanish - English at every meal.  It was delightful to meet so many new people and I could have easily gone on my own because we had to sit with different people at every meal and we did other things as an assigned group.
  

  

  Learning About Butterflies

  
  
  The food times are much different than the USA.  Breakfast was at 9 a.m., Lunch was at 2 p.m., and Dinner was at 9 p.m.
  
  
  
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  Breakfast - this is only showing one side of the buffet.

  
  

  I went to a teacher's week and a regular week where mostly business people attend. 

  
  
  During the teachers week, we had presentations from the English speakers, 
  there are one-on-one conversations, two-on-two conversations, theater, group activities, and the teachers had to present a 10 minute lesson.
  

  

  The Teachers in Vilalba

  During the regular week, there are one-on-one conversations, two-on-two conversations, group activities, theater, presentations by English speakers, 2 presentations by the Spanish speakers, conference calls, telephone sessions and more.
  
  
  

  

  The Business People at La Alberca

  
  
• I do have to say that at every lunch and dinner there is wine and they (the people in charge) seem to encourage drinking. The funny thing is that the ones who drank the most were not Spanish.
  
  
  

  

  There was a party night where we had a dance!

  
  
  An English friend of mine told me that most Spanish people drink to talk and so most of them did not over drink.  English people drink to get drunk, I tend to think that Americans are the same way.

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  A performance of a Frank Sinatra Song

  If you want to get more information, go to: 

  http://www.morethanenglish.com/anglos/index.asp