The L-word

Last night I learned an important lesson about Austrians. They do NOT like the German word "lecker" (which means delicious). I love this word, mainly because it is so very German, but I was soon schooled on NOT using last night at dinner. Margot made a delicious creamed vegetable soup, with dessert crepes stuffed with homemade apricot marmelade for dinner. So, I thought I would be cool and whip out some Deutsch to impress my charming host family with, so I said "Margot, die Suppe ist lecker" which is a nice compliment...or so I thought. Then Gerhard immediately went off on this tangent about how Austrian's hate the word "lecker" because it's a very German word and only tourist use it and no one likes tourists, etc. It was all very funny! Margot assured me that plenty of Austrians use the word lecker, and don't dislike it, but Gerhard was quite adament. When I asked Dr. Krecht about it in class this morning she confirmed Gerhard's opinion. So, if you every eat something tasty in Austria, avoid the L-word at all costs. Go for "Schmeckt gut" instead.

So far at school I have had nearly all my classes, and I like them all very much. For German, our instructor is a graduate student at the University of Salzburg, and she is excited to teach us whatever we need to know. For History of Music, the professor is a professional flautist, and he gave a very good lecture on Wednesday about Grecian and Christian music and notation, so I think that his class will be very interesting. And we'll get to go to many classical concerts in Salzburg, and have to write reports on them. Austrian Cuisine starts next week, but I'm not sure about that class-I will have to see how much meat we prepare to decide whether it's worth taking or not. But the studio art teacher seems excellent! After meeting in the studio today and getting to know us, he took everyone out for tea and coffee. His assignments are going to be challenging and creative, so I'm very excited! Tomorrow I must tramp off to an art supplies store to find a large pad of paper and a suitable second-hand smock, which I forgot to pack. And, he taught us the best lesson that I've ever had in an art class so far, and it's quite simple, so I shall repeat it here to school you too.

ART IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECT.

Something tells me that I am going to like his class.

The weather is continually beautiful, and hopefully that will last for a while longer. There are all kinds of excursions that me and some of the other girls would like to take around the city, so it would be nice if we could get to those before it starts to pour again! That's all for now, und haben eine schoener Tag!