A Mountain Adventure

What we call "sledding" in America, is called "Rodling" here in Austria. And believe me, it is quite a different experience. I went Rodling for my first time Friday night. This is what we did for the our Christmas party with the leadership team of the church. First of all, the Rodl is very different from the sleds we are used to (see the picture below). You sit on the top, or lay down if you want to go faster and steer with your feet. It takes a while to get used to it, but it's a blast when you do. Secondly, a major part of this experience is walking up the mountain, in the snow, pulling your sled. I find it amazing that an entire culture thinks that this is fun. When we walked up on Friday, it was snowing, with already a good 2 feet of snow on the ground. You usually hike up about 3km (about 1.9 miles). At the top of the mountain there is a restaurant with amazing food, fireplace and a great view. You then slide down all the way to the bottom. That is the fun part. That is what is supposed to happen.

Now for my experience. The plan was for us to take a ski lift 3km up the mountain and then walk the remaining 3km tot the top. When we got there, we found out that we had missed the lift and we would have to walk the entire 6km. The locals didn't even hesitate because they have been doing this all their lives. I on the other hand am not used to doing this, nor am I in the kind of shape that I would like to be. After about 15 minutes of walking, I am having serious doubts about whether I am going to make it to the top. Then it happened. Like manna in the wilderness, a taxi passes us on the road! We flag him down and pay him to take us to where the lift would have dropped us off. This was definitely a good thing for me! So we continue on up the mountain. It may have been the most miserable time of my life. We arrived at the top and I felt like I was going to die. I was dehydrated and my legs were cramping severely. We get to the lodge and I could not eat because I was so nauseous. I will spare you some the graphic details, just know that it was not fun. We then start to head down the mountain we realized that it had snowed so much that the rodl just sunk into the ground when we sat on it. We were able to sled down about half and had to walk the other half. I have never been so happy to go home and get into bed! In retrospect, most of this misery could have been avoided. Not realizing how intense and exerting it was going to be, I had not eaten or drank anything since breakfast and we started climbing at about 6pm. Next time I will be more prepared. Enjoy the pictures from my adventure!


Here is a typical Rodl

Our taxi sent from heaven

Me recovering in the Lodge

Having some fun on the way down

Happy Birthday Aaron

Aaron celebrated his 33rd birthday on December 15th. Because Aaron loves to cook, but does not get a chance to do it as often as he would like, he chose to cook dinner on his birthday. Not the kind of birthday that most people would choose, but he enjoys it. He also had a went to visit a castle that he had been wanting to tour since we moved here. Schloss Ambras is a stunning piece of architecture built in 1228. It was remodeled between 1528-1556 by Archduke Ferdinand II of the Hapsburg family. He filled it with a massive collection of armor, weapons and art. We won't bore you will all the history and details, but it really is amazing to live in a place where you can see and touch a part of history that we do not have a chance to see in the US. Here are some pictures Aaron took.


The castle grounds are beautiful in the snow

One of many armor displays

The stunning Spanish Hall

VERY DIFFERENT, BUT STILL CHRISTMAS

This being our first Christmas outside of the U.S. we really didn't know what to expect. Needless to say, things are very different here. Most of the Christmas traditions that we enjoy in America are not enjoyed be our fellow Austrians. But, we have also learned some new traditions that have quite fun. We are doing our best to balance the two. I thought I would give you some examples of the differences we are encountering in how this culture celebrates Christmas vs. an American Christmas.

St. Nicholas Day and Krampus
December 6th marks the beginning of the Christmas season, with St. Nicholas Day. St. Nick is similar to our Santa Claus, wearing a read suit with a white beard. There is more religious symbolism here as he wears a red Bishop's hat and carries a staff. On the eve of St. Nicholas Day, children place a stocking and a plate outside their door. St. Nicholas then comes and give the good children candy and cookies. (there is a picture below of Noah and his St. Nicholas hat he made at school) St. Nicholas symbolizes good, while his counterpart, Krampus, symbolizes the devil. Children who were not good then receive lumps of coal from Krampus in their stockings. This is the big day for St. Nick and then he is done with. He is not in the malls and he does not deliver the presents that are opened on Christmas Eve. Ok, we all have heard of that, but here is the disturbing part. People dress up as Krampus and roam the streets looking for bad children to take to hell. They are dressed in these huge, hairy suits, with masks and horns. They carry chains to tie up the children and take them away. We did not leave the house that day because we did not want our kids to be terrified and have nightmares! I was in the grocery store that evening and one of these demon looking creatures came running through the store, growling and shaking his chains. Very strange. There is a picture at the bottom of what they look like. This is definitely a tradition that we will not miss.

Christmas Markets
One of the most exciting traditions that we have here is the Christmas Market, called the "Christkindelmarkt", meaning "Christ Child Market". The one here in Innsbruck is in the old part of down, by the Golden Roof. There are about 60 booths set up, with everything from home made crafts, bratwurst, cakes, spiced wine and anything else christmassy. They also have horse carriage rides and entertainment throughout the season. It is open from Nov. 23-Dec. 28, closed on Christmas Day. There is a picture at the bottom.

Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is really the big day here, not Christmas Day. The 25th is still a national holiday and everyone is off work, but the big family stuff happens on the 24th. They wait to set up their trees until Christmas Eve. Needless to say, that was a shock for us. We are used to putting ours up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Because they put theirs up so late, they are not selling live trees until mid December, so we had to buy a fake tree. We have never been big fans of fake trees, but we are happy to have this one rather than nothing. Their Christmas Eve festivities include trimming the tree and then opening all the presents. Christmas day is a day to spend with family, eating a big meal.

Music and Movies
A few of the traditional Christmas songs that we sing in America are also sung here, "silent night", "angels we have heard on high", and "hark, the herald angels sing." that's about it, all the other songs that they sing this time of year, we have never heard before. And believe it or not, they have never heard, "Grandma got run over by a reindeer"! What a deprived people. The same goes for the movies. They have German language versions of "Christmas Vacation" and "it's a wonderful life", but no frosty, Rudolph, Charlie brown, Grinch or any of the other Christmas specials that we are used to seeing.

All those differences aside, we still share the only thing that matters - Christ came into the world to save us all. That's all we really need to share. Think of us while you are watching "A Christmas Story", sipping Egg Nog and singing "Frosty the Snowman". We will be thinking of you.