Got up in the morning, actually being woken up by the screaming of roosters and farm noise; how righteous is that? It was sort of overcast and I was sort of tired from the adventures in the past 24 hours still. So I figured I would take it easy and have the relaxing time I actually had come here for. After having finished “Clueless” with Colin Hanks and Tony Shaloub (What an odd flick) last night and continued watching season one of “Doctor’s Diary”, I watched a couple more episodes and also did some journal writing. Continue reading ‘Attersee, day 2′
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I did finish packing yesterday morning and decided to leave at about 11am. Initially I still needed to get some sun lotion, as it was set out to become one of the hottest days of the year. Got a pocket size sun lotion at the 2nd drug store I stopped at. In between I stopped at the local jewelry store, where I needed to pick up my polar pulse watch. Got all that and finally hit the road. Henry Rollins on my portable player — funny enough I listened to “Black Coffee Blues”. It’s hardly one of my favorite works of his, but the 2nd and 3rd day of his story play in Vienna and my home turf Linz. So that sort of amused me. Continue reading ‘Attersee, day 1′
continued from Why High School Reunions are not something for everyone:
The response:
Hello Sid!
We will go buy groceries Saturday morning and will drive to [the guy where the reunion is at] afterwards.
It would be best if you buy your own things and I’ll repay you. Then I can divide the lump sum amongst all the involved people. Non-alcoholic drinks, snacks, bakery goods, etc. you don’t have to buy yourself.Is that ok for you?
I don’t think I’ll even dignify this with an answer. Bear in mind, these people have University degrees. I am just sitting here in awe.
Now, I already skipped my 5-year reunion — granted, it wasn’t on purpose, but I was half way around the world at the time. So, this year will be the 10th anniversary of me finally getting out of this madhouse. There were quite a few things about how the school — or at least things in my class — were run, but after all these years, I actually sort of had to start to look forward to seeing some of those people again. But the more the date approaches, the more I dread the drive to the reunion.
How does a regular reunion look like here: Right, you get people’s phone numbers, call each other up if this or that date sounds good, and then you meet at a pub to have drinks. At the end of the evening, everyone says their goodbyes. Those you want to stay in touch with you can exchange phone numbers with, those you don’t - well - at least you didn’t have to put up with them for more than an evening. Not so with my class. Bear in mind, we were a mere 18 (thats EIGHTEEN) graduating students in that class; nevertheless, I got the first email about an upcoming reunion “next summer” in November(!). Ever since then, there have been a bunch of emails back and forth, turns out, that we have to do a whole camping weekend. Alright. Might be a nice idea. It’s just — they did the same thing for the 5-year reunion already. Plus it’s at the weekend place of a guy I was best friends with in high school. Yes, it’s awesome there, right on the shore of Lake Attersee, but I already know how this is going to be again. I know for a fact that his wannabe-playboy dad — who has been in a 5-year midlife crisis back then already — will be hanging out there again. And his immature jokes about women and booze already turned me off and seemed childish and inappropriate at the age of 16. I mean — we are all approaching 30, do we have to be crashing with sleeping bags at some rich kids house still?
I could still deal with that. Then, a month before the reunion, an email comes in, that all the people from my hometown (that’s at least 10) should meet in a pub to talk the specifics of the reunion. Hmmm — isn’t THAT already a friggin reunion? Either way — I quietly ignored that email.
Then today — a mere 5 days before the reunion — another email hits my inbox. It’s about that 3 people will meet beforehand and buy all the food and drinks for the meeting. Headshaking, I responded, that they don’t have to buy anything for me, as I am a.) vegan and b.) I don’t drink, so I figured that this shopping spree really would not benefit me a lot. An hour later I get an email that I could tell them what to buy for me, or I could come with them, but I couldn’t bring my own, as they wouldn’t want the discussions about who pays for what. Now, i repeat — we are almost 30 — shouldn’t we be able to get our own frigging shit? Coincidentally I have to say, that there are people in that shopping delegation, that also were in our school dance committee… and there were financial irregularities that — to my knowledge — haven’t been resolved to this day.
I wonder how those people have survived to this day on their own. Actually, that’s probably one of my main motivation to go there at all. To see those protozoons and find out how the hell they have made it this far.
To be fair, there are a few people I still hold dear from back then, but with most of those (2) I am still in touch — and the other 2 or so I hope to see again to exchange contact info.