Just my luck

In my last blog post, I said “Don’t want to sound like a saddo, but I honestly think I am the luckiest girl in the world”.

Ha. Famous last words.

This week was possibly the worst I’ve had in Austria. Before my friends message me with concerns that I’m having a breakdown and hating my year abroad (I’m looking at you Emily), let me reassure you – I am still loving life.

I’ve had a really fun week, but the gods were definitely against me. I don’t understand how so much bad stuff can happen to one person in 7 days:

1. I lost my phone on a night out
2. National holiday meant there were virtually no buses home from Bad Reichenhall
3. My train from Innsbruck was delayed and I got home 3 hours late
4. A drunk man was pestering me on the train
5. I think I’m lactose intolerant

Let’s do these in order:

I fell asleep in a taxi and left my phone in it

So, it was Tuesday night, and I went out with Anja and her lovely friends for Halloween. We didn’t dress up because we wanted to look pretty, so we just wore black clothes and dark lipstick. A token nod to Halloween haha. So after doing our makeup, we went to a friend’s house to pre-drink (or vorglühn). I always find it daunting going on a night out with Austrians because it’s like 6 hours of speaking only German. But I learnt lots of new words and tried loads of different drinks:

That “Eier Liqueur” is literally egg liquor. Raw eggs. I’ve watched What the Health on Netflix and I couldn’t stop thinking about how bad eggs are for you, but I’d had a few glasses of wine and I don’t really give a shit. It was actually really nice!! Tasted like custard or something.

We got a taxi to Baum Bar, a groovy little place in Kaprun, and as we walked in I was hit by a wave of smoke. Honestly I think my lungs are a little bit destroyed after Tuesday night. Smoking is legal in bars here, which is great for smokers, not for me.

Now I just tell people I have asthma so they don’t smoke anywhere near me. Haha. Cheeky me. Anyway, apart from the potential lung disease, I had SUCH a fun night !!

me and the gurls xox

Then a group of us left the bar and got a taxi from Kaprun to Saalfelden. I fell asleep.

I woke up back in Saalfelden, paid and got out the taxi. Turns out I had left my phone on the seat, because we went to get food in Saalfelden and I realised it wasn’t in my pocket, bag, bra, anything. Fucking fantastic.

We ran back to where we got dropped off but the taxi had left, and I started having heart palpitations. I’ve never lost my phone before, and 3am in a foreign country is not an ideal time for this to happen.

I’d like to do a massive shout out to Anja right now – without her, I wouldn’t have got my phone back. So when we realised it was lost, Anja started ringing up taxi companies and I went up to taxi drivers asking if they had any advice on what I should do.

It’s quite a funny story really. The only reason we found my phone so quickly was because the taxi driver was black. When we were speaking to taxi drivers and ringing companies, saying that I left my phone in a taxi, we mentioned that the driver was black.

And in Austria, there aren’t many black people, let alone black taxi drivers, so we managed to track down the right taxi really quickly.

Basically, the only black man in Pinzgau had my phone, which is why I got it back the next day. Again, thank you so much Anja for calming me down and helping me find my phone – such a lifesaver.

Here’s a beautiful pic of me and Anja before I lost my phone lol x

I got stranded in a small German village

On Thursday, I went to Bad Reichenhall in Germany with the lovely Aisha and Imran. They are two of my Salzburg language assistant friends, and we decided to do a day trip.

If you’re wondering why I’m getting so many days off, it’s because Austria is a Catholic country. We got All Saints Day (1st November), All Souls Day (2nd) and the Friday 3rd off school. I fucking love you Jesus.

The three of us spent the morning exploring Bad Reichenhall (but was actually Not Bad Reichenhall!! Great Reichenhall in fact!! V v pretty!!!).

We went for lunch in the town and accidentally drank too much. Day drinking is a slippery slope isn’t it. One minute you’re having a cheeky beer, then a couple of pints later you’re drunk and contemplating getting a kebab at 3 in the afternoon.

We sobered up with some pizza and decided to head back to the station (Aisha and Imran were taking the train back to Salzburg, and I was taking the bus back to Saalfelden). I checked the bus timetable, it all looked good, and I sat outside in the cold for 10 minutes. Then 15 minutes. And then after 20 minutes, when my bus was late, I checked the timetable again. Of course there are different fkin bus times on a National Holiday. Thankfully I only had to wait another hour, but it was soooo boring.

Stranded at the drive-in(nsbruck)

Another Saturday, another day trip. This time, I was in Innsbruck with Imran and Mathew to celebrate Imran’s 21st birthday!!!!

Again, had a really lovely day. I think I’ve fallen in love with Innsbruck, it’s a tiny city but so so so so beautiful. I’m already looking at Masters courses at the University of Innsbruck, I adore it there.

Innsbruck is just Austria’s response to Balamory

In the morning, we explored the old town. We went into the cathedral; I lit a candle and said a prayer thanking baby Jesus for giving us so many days off school. We went for a walk along the river, and got lots of pictures (Matt is the best person to travel with, he takes the NICEST photos). We also took the train up the mountain and got a stunning view of the city.

We spent a few hours at the top of the mountain, walking around and having a long lunch. We all had traditional Austrian food and I was sooO full afterwards. Must stop eating so much this year, I’m going to turn into a dumpling.

In the afternoon, we met one of Imran’s friends who lives in Innsbruck (a real life Austrian!!) and had a coffee with her. She originally comes from Vorarlberg but no one can understand her so she now speaks Hochdeutsch and it was really lovely chatting to her.

Anyway, we were all getting the same train back, but I had to change at Wörgl. The app told me that I would have 9 minutes change at Wörgl for my connection. But the first train from Innsbruck was delayed by 20 minutes. Austrian efficiency my arse.

when I found out my train was delayed 😦

So I missed the train back to Saalfelden, and I had to wait 2 HOURS at Wörgl. It was horrific. I had 23% charge on my phone, so couldn’t watch any Netflix. I decided to buy a magazine from the station shop, but they only had gossip magazines, and I don’t know any German celebrities, so it was kind of shit. All I wanted was a Take A Break or Good Housekeeping, but there were no English magazines.

It was a complete waste of time, sitting at the station not doing anything. Really put a downer on such a good day.

Stop LOOKING at me

After my long wait at Wörgl, I had very little patience left. I found a seat on the train, and then a fat drunk man sits opposite me. Bloody brilliant. I have no time for ugly middle-aged Austrian men who try and chat to me, so I put my headphones in, hoping he would leave me alone.

He was trying to speak to me (but as I said, I was playing music, so couldn’t hear). He was also making hand gestures hoping I would look at him, but I just stared out the window for 40 minutes until he left the train. I actually messaged Emily saying “If I get attacked, show the police this message and tell them to check the CCTV at the station”. He was really creepy.

I’m quite a happy looking girl when I smile, but when I’m in a bad mood, oh my God I look like a stroppy bitch. I think he could tell I was unimpressed lol.

Anyway, he left the train, and a group of boys got on.

As I said, I was in a bad mood and couldn’t be arsed to make eye contact with anyone. So this group were on the train for like 30 minutes, and I could sense they were talking about me but had no interest in listening.

Basically they got up, and as they left the train, one of them shouted “bye Rachel!”. My first thought was “shit do they know me from Tinder?”, and then I realised they must be my students. Just a disclaimer – I teach 21 classes, each with 20ish pupils. That’s over 400 students. So unless I’ve actually spoken to someone in, like, real life, I probably don’t know who they are. I know lots of my students read this blog – so if you were on the train on Saturday and I ignored you, I was in a bad mood and I am sorry I didn’t recognise you.

Legendairy

I actually think I am lactose intolerant. The last couple of weeks, when I’ve eaten dairy, I’ve been so poorly afterwards. Believe it or not, when I’m at uni I only cook vegan food. I hate milk and I’m not a big fan of cheese (apart from when it’s inside a Big Mac lol). But all the veggie options in Austria are either cheese or potatoes, so I’ve been eating loads of milk products. I am going to try and eat less dairy this week – will keep you updated. But if I am lactose intolerant, it’s gonna be a long year for me in Milka land.

So yes, that’s why I’ve been so unlucky this week. Other things that have made it suck:

• Megan and Victoria, two of my year abroad best friends, went home to the UK. I missed them both loads and it also made me want to see my parents.
• I’ve not really suffered from homesickness, but this week especially I’ve been missing the UK. It’s all the little things, like This Morning, Marks & Spencer and Jammie Dodgers.
• I keep ringing my brother and he doesn’t answer. I haven’t spoken to Austin in weeks, except for the odd meme he sends me on Instagram.

Oh well, thanks for listening to me moaning, this wasn’t the most exciting blog post I’ve ever written. I feel like such a moody cow haha. I think my next one will be far more fun, I’ve got lots planned for this week.

Speak soon,

Rach x

• Song of the week: Real Love by Tom Odell. Been watching all the old John Lewis ads to get in the CHRISTMAS SPIRIT yay
• Film of the week: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Cheesy but I liked it and was very relatable HA
• Hours spent at Wörgl train station on Saturday: 2
• Hours spent moaning about being stuck at Wörgl train station: 22