Always something new...

Yesterday when we got home after dinner, there weren't 17 wooden huts spaced 20 feet apart, lining our street. Now there are. CK said, "Oh, the huts are up!" with glee. When I pressed for information, all I got was "it's the Christmas season!" Meaning, I presume, Gluhwein (I expect I've blithely skipped an umlaut there, apologies to all German-speakers), or Punsch. Both are hot variations of mulled wine, I think. Both delicious, anyway. We also saw, on our evening stroll, the first handwritten sign for "Ganserl", the Viennese word for goose, at a little pub. The signs propped up in little restaurants for "Sturm" are disappearing as it is getting all drunk up. Mostly by me. Sturm is a fleeting autumn treat. Now, apparently, hot wine and goose are all the rage. It is typically Austrian to mix wine, or, in fact, any liquid, with any other liquid to create a new drink. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little--but not much. All juice and wine (and sometimes beer) are cut with something. Usually sparkling mineral water, but in the case of beer with lemonade to make Radler, which is basically like a British shandy. I heard a new one this week--Coke with red wine. My students banded together in front of my aghast expression to insist it's simply delish. They told me I have to try it and report back to them. I wonder if they like me. Cruel jokes to play on foreign teachers. No really!!! it's the custom here!!! Sure, and you can come to class in dirndls and lederhosen and I'll try it. Not that they wouldn't come to class like that. I've already had one student in trachten (traditional dress, with the dirndl (skirt) and all. Yesterday a student brought her dog to class, and it bit me.

another digression: this is the place to be if you're a dog. You get to go to work with your people, you get to go for coffee/dinner/dessert with your people, and how do you get to these restaurants/cafes etc? On the buses, UBahns (subway) and trams, of course! I've never seen so many dogs, so well socialized. They very rarely display bad canine manners (well, except for biting the teacher, but it was just a little taste) as they are so used to people and other dogs being around them all the time. It's so civilized! If Hazuki wouldn't have an evil fit at another animal in her space, I'd love to have a dog.

Other strange things my students have told me:
me: what did you do on your weekend?
him: put the turtles in the fridge.
me: you put turtles in the fridge? (give me a break; it was an early morning class and I often misunderstand students anyway, like the woman who said I have a husband, but I have a boyfriend. Meant to say "haven't a husband". I think.)
him: yes. They were in the garden, now they're in the fridge.
me: (greatly puzzled) Why did you put turtles in the fridge?
him: for the winter

he lives alone. A little less alone, now that 3 old turtles are enjoying their 2 heartbeats a minute next to the kraut at 5 degrees celcius. Who knew? Maybe there are turtle-fanciers out there who know this stuff. I didn't. Brought it up at dinner with Viennese friends last week and was told that my dining companion had inherited the family turtle from Grandma. Granny got it in '47. She is no longer with us, but the turtle is. Who needs family silver when you've got a turtle to pass down?