Lots of Snow in Austria!

I have arrived! I've been hanging out for a couple days now in Kirchberg and Kitzbuhel, right next door. The area is really beautiful. There are several small towns in the valley, each has a gondola or lift up to the mountains. So far, most of the people here are friendly, though in general don't speak as much English as I had expected. There has not been a whole lot of snow prior to today. I woke up this morning and it was absolutely dumping snow! It is still going now, and there is 10 cm on the ground in some places. It is supposed to continue through the weekend. My first ski day will hopefully be tomorrow!

As soon as I arrived, I started looking for a job and a home. It has been really difficult, but I might be making a little progress. There is a lot of competition from all the Aussies here for the few jobs that don't require legit work status or fluency in German. This afternoon a few of us are going to look at a gigantic 15 bedroom house right in the middle of Kitzbuhel. We have to convince the lady to rent half of it to about 20 of us. It is kind of run down, but fairly cheap I think. She wants to rent the whole place to 40 people; she wants 40,000 euros for the season. That works out to 200/month which would be pretty damn good. I also have kind of a job interview tonight as a dishwasher at some restaurant in Kirchberg. Most of the available jobs are dishwashing, kitchen help, hotel work, that kinda thing. Hopefully I can find one that pays a little bit and I can work in the evenings so I can ski all day. I bought my season pass to the mountains yesterday, so I am definitely committed to staying here (it was 500 euros).

Looking for a home and a job has been pretty crazy. I have mainly just been knocking on doors and asking people if they have a room for rent or any job available. It is like cold calling I guess, and I have been rejected hundreds of times by now. But that is the best way to find something in this area. There is also a newspaper with listings that has been helpful. I can't wait till I get the living situation sorted out. That is much more important than finding a job. I am only allowed to stay where I am now until the 15th or so, then they kick all us ski bums out. There is a group of about 25 of us staying there. There are 2 English kids, 1 kiwi, me, and the rest are Aussies (including the owner and all the workers there). Everyone is really nice and friendly, but I think we all realize that we are competing against each other so some people (myself included) are a bit secretive. Most of us are looking to move into the big house though, and once we all find jobs I think we will become good friends.

I have a lot more to say, but WiFi is in short supply around here! I will try to update more next week. Jonathan is here too, hanging out where I am staying and going sightseeing during the day while I look around. Oh, and if I get a home in the next few days, I will go meet up with Maren in Milan next weekend!