Update from Austria

First off, I GOT A JOB!!!

I got a phone call yesterday from a hotel/restaurant I had dropped my phone number off at about a week ago. The guy they had hired flaked out, so I went in this morning and got it! I will be mainly washing dishes in the kitchen, there might be some other work as well. I don't start till December 23rd, so I have a couple of weeks to hang out and ski! I'm going to be working a morning and evening shift six days a week so it will be quite a bit of work. But I will have every afternoon free to go skiing. The guys running the place seem to be very nice and flexible, if I am ever sick or want to go ski all day, I can send a friend in to cover my shift. They are going to start me at 8 euros an hour and if I do alright, bump it up to 10 or so. That seems to be the going rate for dishwashers in town, and it will be plenty to live on around here.

As for accommodation, that is still up in the air. We are still in negotiations to get the 'pink palace' right in the middle of Kitzbuehel. Every day the situation seems to be changing with the number of people that want to live there. So the price keeps changing as well which is making people uncomfortable. I'm still not sure if we are going to end up living there. My job is in Kirchberg, about 6 km from Kitz, so I would be bussing (or skiing) quite a bit every day. It would make more sense for me to live in Kirchberg, so I am going to look for some other places as a backup to the pink palace.

I have been up to the mountain three times this week! So far, the snow has been so-so, they definitely need more of it. The snow machines have been working hard the last couple of days. I have been taking the bus out about 20 minutes outside of Kitzbuehel where there has been a fair bit of powder. Earlier this week, I bought my gear: a pair of one year old Elan skis with bindings, brand new Rossignol boots, and some decent poles. All for 80 euros!!! It was an incredible deal, I was prepared to pay 200-300 euros for it. It was from a rental shop, I still don't know how the guy gave me such a good deal. He even machined the skis for me and he's going to service them again for me for free when I go back in.

Most of the people I have met here have been really cool. I am staying at a hostel with mostly Aussie ski bums. The majority of the people there have had success finding jobs so far. About half the people have accommodation, the rest are holding out for the pink palace as well. I've been meeting some locals as well which has helped me around town. I finished German Level 1 in Rosetta Stone and am now working on Level 2. It has definitely helped, and I am starting to understand a bit. It would be really cool to be speaking at a basic conversational level in a few months. My accent is still pretty terrible though...

Tomorrow I am taking the train down to Milan to visit Maren and hang out for a few days. I bought an Austrian rail pass today as well. Milan is not that interesting (or cheap), so we will probably spend just one night there, then take off for somewhere else. I'm not sure when I will get back, but I will have to sort out the accommodation dilemma right away!

Wow, it just started snowing as I write this!