Some other people from the program and I were able to dance around the railroad strike and make a day trip to historic Salzburg, Austria. By buying group tickets, our day's travel ended up coming out to about eight Euros a piece; we did have to take a 40 minute bus ride to change trains, but we're going for cost and not comfort.
It was a clear, cold day and snow still clung to the streets and roof tops of the city. Dürer is to Nürnberg what Mozart is to Salzburg; and they don't let you forget where their artistic heroes hail from. We took a nice stroll through the city, making our way to the old part of the city. We saw a few Sound of Music sights, including the well manicured Barok garden they ran through with its neat rows of trees. After crossing the winter we got some traditional Salzburg sausage. Every town has its own little take on the basic sausage and roll. Different rolls, sausages, mustards, and whatever they'll put on there. The Germans have some pretty unbelievably goos mustard here, which they call Zempf. It was pretty cold, but thankfully this time of year the Glühwein is out; a hot spiced wine served around the holidays. It was a real life saver. After the meal I headed up to the great fortress that sits atop a ridge which dominates the city. The fortress was first constructed nearly 1,000 years ago at the direction of the local bishop, to help secure the city from attack. It has never been taken by force, and after making the hike up to it I can understand why. There were fat mid-westerners faling to the wayside as I charged the keep. It was a fascinating place, housing a museum not only of the fortress, but also of some local Austrian military units and their achievements. As the sun came down I headed back to the city to visit the many churches of the city. Seeing styles develop from Romanesque, to Gothic, Barok, and Classical was really wonderful. It was nice to get a trip in before my ear operation.
First of all, there is a myth that needs clarifying. Everyone does not speak English. Most Everyone has learned English, however for most that was years ago and they don't really use it much. This is especially true of people in the medical profession. My first experience staying in the hospital and all the forms, and most of the spoken word, was in German. I kept worrying that A) the anesthesiologist would accidentally kill me, or B) that I would wake up with breast implants or one less kidney or something. I had to get up very early in the morning to get there, and upon arrival the nurse held out a large white pill for me and said something I didn't understand, to which responded "you take the tranquilizer, yes?" You bet. I was very cooperative when they came for me. They made small talk with me, gave me some gas and stuck me; that was all she wrote. Woke up some hours later with my head all wrapped up. I spent most of the day sleeping in a pleasant pain-killer induced state. The day after, as days after always seem to be, was not so pleasant. It was Thanksgiving. No football, no TV special airings or James Bond marathons. It wasn't Thanksgiving in München, it was just Thursday. My dinner consisted of a cold chicken leg and some potato salad with my Turkish roommate, with whom I could only communicate in German. The third person in the room was on old man recovery from surgery, and he was pretty pleasantly medicated himself. The final slap on the face was when the families of both the other patients in the room came to visit them. Just kick me while I'm down. It was so ridiculous I started to laugh; it was like an episode of Boy Meets World where Corey learns the value of family after spending Thanksgiving in a truck stop somewhere. I was worried I wouldn't be able to go until Saturday, but thank God they let me go around 10 Friday morning. Now my left ear is stuffed with gauze and some kind of gel until Thursday, when I get it taken out and see if the surgery was a success, meaning that the new patch of tissue is healing onto the drum and has not been torn or punctured. Sometimes it can be painful from the pressure build up but it is mostly just irritating to have something in your ear all the time and you can't do anything about it. I can't lift anything or exercise for three weeks, for fear of the muscle in the ear puncturing the new tissue. I also can't handle going anywhere loud for a few weeks, I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey yesterday and my ear was ringing nearly all day. So I guess I'll be having a pretty quiet, literally, few weeks coming up here as I try and hope and pray that my ear recovers and I don't have to get another surgery.
I'm going to try going back to class tomorrow, but I fear that may combination of deafness and noise sensitivity will make it a tough week. Hopefully the weather will allow me to go on some walks in the English Gardens these coming weeks, otherwise I'll be trapped indoors without means of exercise for a while.
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