The Blue Danube Waltz

I attended the HTL's Maturaball last night. HOW AWESOME WAS IT!?!? Answer: VERY!

As I arrived, the school leavers were doing a waltz-type dance. All the guys looked smart in their red ties and suits and the girls looked pretty with their hair up and elegant white dresses.



I sat with one of my teachers, her 2 nieces and their friend and they were all really nice and spoke English when I didn't understand!



We all agreed that the band playing in the main room was dodgy



so went down to the disco room to dance for a while. I didn't really like it though 'cause it was really hot and smoky and I didn't know any of the songs.

When we returned, there was 'Tool Time's Got Talent'! There were some singers:



Some traditional male dancers:



Some cowboys:



and of course:



yep, you guessed it, THRILLER!

Really enjoyed watching them all perform - everyone was really talented! I wanted to go congratulate them all on their performances but I didn't know who exactly was in the performances.... There were pupils from the HTL who I recognised but they didn't take part in anything and I saw lots of pupils from the HBLA and HIB, a couple of which were definitely in a performance! I was SO CONFUSED! But despite this confusion, I managed to have a nice chat with a few of the pupils I recognised.

As a note: Maturaballs rule!

♫ She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes... ♪

The first Friday since coming back after Christmas, I was invited to go to Saalbach to see the annual 'Mountain Attack' race, where hundreds of skiers take part in a 6-mountain uphill hike and downhill ski. Anstrengend! The skiers start in the centre of Saalbach, run to the bottom of the first mountain (Schattberg), put on their skis and begin the exhausting climb up.





As mere spectators, we took the cable car to the top of Schattberg where we later would meet the skiers at the end of their first climb. Being slightly scared of heights, getting into a little glass box with 5 other people and dangling from a rather thin looking piece of string, wasn't exactly comfortable but there was a good view of the village and of the skiers. Looking straight down was a mistake though!





After around 35/40 minutes, the first skiers reached the top of the mountain. They all looked like it was a stroll in the park! I would've been on my hands and knees at this point! At around the 50 minute mark, my teacher's husband appeared so we cheered and encouraged him.




We went back down to village in order to get food and went to THE poshest hotel restaurant I've ever been in. The chairs were so posh, my teacher's sister insisted I had a photo in one. What a princess!



Since we'd been up the mountain and in the restaurant, the centre of Saalbach had been transformed. Instead of a cobbled highstreet, there was now a piste! And the skiers ended the race by coming down this piste and turning the corner to meet the TV reporters.



So, after seeing this and the excitement it created, I have decided skiing doesn't seem that uninteresting any more! I want to give it a go. Even though it looks scary (the cable car went over a black piste, which was basically vertical...) and I'll fall over lots, I feel less apprehensive about shelling out for skiing gear and more inclined to learn.

Oh, and I also spoke more German than I've spoken in a long time. SUPER!