Volunteering – Kelsi's Travel Times

Saying Goodbye… To my Appendix

Ice cream: my food of choice pretty much this whole week

The last two weeks for me have been very different from the rest of my time here. Two Saturdays ago I had to have an emergency surgery to remove my appendix which was obviously pretty unexpected, so here is that story.

I started having pain in the lower right side of my stomach about two days before I went to the hospital, but at first when it started it wasn’t that bad so I just assumed maybe I had eaten something weird and it would go away on it’s own. It slowly got worse and worse over the next two days but it was still not so bad that I couldn’t work. I talked to my house mates about it and one of them told me that she was pretty sure it was my appendix, but I didn’t really want to go to the hospital so I just kept hoping it would go away.

By the time Saturday morning came however, it had gotten really bad really suddenly to the point where I could hardly stand so I decided (with the encouragement of my coworkers) that it was probably time to go to the hospital. I was nervous because of the language barrier and dealing with insurance and all those kinds of things and that’s the biggest reason it took me so long to go get checked out. They got me into an exam room in the hospital right away though due to Covid restrictions I wasn’t allowed to have anyone come with me at the beginning. The doctor came in and poked around my stomach a bit and told me that he was 95% sure that it was my appendix because of the degree of pain I was in and the location, but he wanted to do an ultrasound to be absolutely sure. His English was pretty good which was really helpful for me to be able to know what was going on.

He only did the ultrasound for about 30 seconds at which point he said that it was definitely my appendix and it needed to come out as soon as possible. He didn’t even finish the ultrasound, just called the surgeon and had the nurses start getting me ready for surgery. My friend Rebecca was allowed to come and see me before so that she could take my stuff with her and also to get instructions from the doctor as to what I would need for the next two days. I was really glad to have her there even for a few minutes because I knew she would be able to get everything sorted out for me with work and bringing the things I would need for after the surgery. So barely twenty minutes after going into the hospital I was taken upstairs for surgery. Luckily I hadn’t really eaten anything the day before or that morning so that made everything easier because they didn’t have to wait. The doctor told me after that it was good that we came when we did because if we had waited even another hour my appendix likely would have burst.

I went into surgery sometime around noon and woke up in recovery around three hours later, very sore, very tired and very doped up on painkillers. Everything is a little bit fuzzy from those first few hours of being awake. I think I was in recovery for about two hours before I was taken up to my room in the hospital. At some point I was able to call my family and tell them about it; I would have called them before but there would have been no point because the time change meant they were still sleeping at the point where I went into the hospital.

About 10 minutes after they took me to my room, my friend Johann came and brought the stuff I would need for a few days in the hospital which my roommates had packed up for me. They all wanted to come but I was only allowed to have one visitor per day for 30 minutes due to Covid. I think he was probably a bit confused because as soon as he came in I started bawling my eyes out for absolutely no reason. So when I say I was doped up on pain killers at that point, I really mean it. But we talked for awhile before the nurses kicked him out and it was nice to have some company for a bit.

I really don’t remember taking this picture to be honest but it was on my phone so I guess I did

The next two days that I was in the hospital were long and painful. I was really really sore which is normal of course, but it was also difficult to be somewhere where it’s hard to communicate with anyone. I was in a room with three other older ladies, only one of which spoke any English. And while they were really kind I also had a hard time understanding them because of their local dialect and so I couldn’t really talk to them much beyond very basic things. So both days I was really glad when Johann came to visit because then at least I had an hour where I wasn’t bored. I also slept a ton though because of the pain killers so it was okay even though I couldn’t do anything. I basically just read and napped and listened to audio books for those few days. Not the most interesting but I wasn’t up to much else.

The day after surgery, it’s hard to tell in the picture but my stomach was so so swollen for days afterwards

On Monday morning the doctor came and looked at the incisions and told me that I could go home that day if I wanted. He actually recommended that I stay a few more days so that I could have better painkillers but said that if I thought I was good enough I could go. In hindsight I definitely should have stayed longer because the first few days back at home were really difficult for me, but at the time I just wanted to not be in the hospital anymore so I went back to Tauernhof. One of my coworkers and one of the full time staff came to pick me up and I was really glad that my coworker, Ilka, was there because dealing with the insurance, banking and pharmacy stuff would have been even more of a nightmare without a native German speaker.

So after a few stops we were back at Tauernhof and I was pretty happy. Even though I couldn’t do anything by myself at first, even walking, I was happy to be back somewhere with people again. Basically the first three days I spent almost entirely in my room in my bed because I was still in a lot of pain. But I was really well taken care of by my housemates, other staff and students. That was the really amazing thing about this whole experience. Because I always had help when and how I needed it and they never made me feel like I was a burden on them even though I definitely was.

Pretty much the whole first week I needed help with every little thing, every little action just exhausted me and put me completely out of breath, but once I started feeling better it got better really quickly. This whole last week has been pretty good for me because even though I still had to rest lots, I was able to listen to the lectures with the students and spend a lot more time out of my room building back my endurance. On Wednesday I got the stitches out and all three cuts have healed really well, the only reason I wasn’t able to start work again mid week was because the biggest incision had a lot of bruising and formed a small hematoma so the doctor said I needed to wait a few more days.

Tomorrow or Monday I’m allowed to start work again and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do a full work day right off the bat because I still get tired really quickly with some things, but I’m sure I’ll figure out pretty quickly how much I can do.

So that is the adventure that was my last two weeks. Completely crazy, hard and unexpected but also a good time of rest and reset for which I’m really thankful

What’s Up Now?

In the last update that I sent out things were changing a little bit. Well, they have definitely changed more than a little bit to say the least. So I’ll just give a little picture of how these last few weeks have been for me, not necessarily that eventful, just with some unexpected things happening.

I’m staying in German right now at the house of one of my coworkers, where I’ve been for the last week and a half. When we left from Austria I don’t think that I or any of the other people that I was with expected that things would get this serious or change this fast. The majority of us thought that it would be no problem for us to return to Austria within 5 weeks as planned. This meant that I left most of my clothes and other possessions back in Austria and only brought with me the things that I would need for 5 weeks that I was planning to be in Germany.

Our last day at Tauernhof with all the volunteers, right before we left.

But as is pretty much common knowledge by now, the boarders between most European countries are now closed and it’s basically impossible to get through without being a citizen which I obviously am not. The closures happened the day after we left Austria so it ended up being a really good thing that we left when we did. As I mentioned previously I’m staying with a friend of mine, Johann, who I’ve been working with for the last few months, and his family in a small town near Karlsruhe, Germany. At first I thought that I would only stay here for a few days before going to stay with a different friend who lives nearby, but things haven’t exactly turned out the way that I thought.

Once we arrived in Germany we found out that because we were coming from Austria, we were supposed to be in quarantine for two weeks automatically. But since Johann had a slight cough, his doctor thought that it would be a good idea for him to get tested for the virus just in case. This was on Sunday and the test was scheduled for Thursday. On Monday we found out that some of the guests from Tauernhof had been diagnosed with the virus so that was enough to make it feel a little bit more real, but still we hoped that maybe we hadn’t actually had contact with whoever it was. On Wednesday however, we found out that some of the other staff had it, so it was pretty likely that we would have it as well since we all have such close contact all the time. When Thursday came he got the test done and on Friday we found out that the test came back positive.

None of us were that surprised because we had kinda expected it, but still, none of us had anything beyond mild symptoms. He had a cough and I had been a tiny bit congested for one day, but nothing serious. We definitely have been super fortunate that neither of us, nor anyone from his family have felt any of the severe symptoms that we’ve heard others are experiencing. Hopefully it stays that way. But since we got to his house and now for another few days we obviously have to be in isolation until we are sure we aren’t contagious anymore.

So what have we been occupying ourselves with for the last few days? Well to be honest, not that much. But I’ll give you a little run through of what a typical day has been looking like for us here.

Playing one of my favourite board games from home!

Pretty much every day since I’ve been here both Johann and I have been running on the weirdest sleep schedule ever. Sometime going to bed earlier if we’re tired or sometimes going to bed at 3am. In the morning we’ve been waking up at different times but whenever we wake up we usually just have been spending some time reading together in the morning. Lately it’s been the New Testament but other days it was a book or just whatever is on the News. Around 10:00 we usually eat breakfast, typical breakfast here is homemade bread with jam or Nutella or cream cheese. Basically whatever you choose.

After breakfast we have often been spending a good chunk of the rest of the morning just reading outside on their trampoline. The last few days it’s been a bit too cold but when it’s been warm enough, we’ve been out there. It’s just nice to be outside even staying in the yard, because we spend so much time inside right now. Usually we spend a few hours out there, sometimes reading the whole time, sometimes just chatting or taking a nap.

We look incredibly bored in this picture, but this is what most of our mornings look like

Around 2:00 we usually eat lunch with his family, since being here I’ve gotten to try lots of different traditional German foods and to be honest I don’t really know what most of them are called but there haven’t been any that I haven’t liked at this point. We helped Johann’s mom to make pretzels once which was super fun but we kinda sucked at it. But they still tasted good so that’s what counts!

In the afternoons we do a variety of things. Sometimes just spending more time outside, sometimes playing pool, darts or ping-pong, passing a volleyball or football around or playing basketball outside. It’s a little different every day but a lot of the same activities and it’s usually pretty relaxed. In the later afternoon and evening we usually watch a movie or some episodes from a TV show. Sometimes we play a game, read a bit more or call friends or family. Always different depending on the day. Sometimes in there we eat dinner, sometimes we eat together with his family and sometimes its just everyone kinda makes their own thing.

So that’s kinda what our very chill quarantine life looks like right now. Even though we have been in quarantine for 2 full weeks already, we still had to stay mostly in the house until yesterday because that’s the official two weeks since Johann was tested. And I guess the only thing really left to tell is what is coming next for me?

Well the answer to that question is still a bit unsure. As of right now I will probably be staying at Johann’s house until this Saturday before I’ll go to stay with a different friend of mine who lives pretty nearby. More long term I think that I will probably need to be heading home in the next few weeks here. At this point I won’t be able to go back to work in Austria for at least 12 weeks, possibly more and so I’ll probably end up coming home. Nothing is really set in stone yet but I’m checking for a few flights which are available and not crazy expensive which can be a bit hard to find right now. But for right now I’ll kinda just be hopping around to a few different friends and focus on being able to enjoy the time with them!

Feel free to shoot me and email or a text to let me know how you’re doing! I’d really love to hear from you:)

February and the Unexpected

Has it been a hot minute since I last sent out an update? Yes it has. And I could blame it on the busy schedule that we have, but to be honest it mostly comes down to poor time management on my part. But here I am, to let you know what I’ve been up to in the last month so that you know that I’ve been doing well! There are some big things changing for me around here, but more about that later.

With the more routine things first, the work I’ve been doing here is still going great. When I first came here I wondered if I would be bored after a few months of the same jobs every day, but so far I can’t say that I’ve ever been really bored in the last 3 months. There is always new things to learn and new people to talk to. Working in the kitchen there is always opportunity to learn new skills when you ask the right questions and also to learn new German words and phrases that make it easier to live in a German environment.

Even to do the more chill jobs like cutting vegetables or washing dishes is made fun by my coworkers and the hilarious conversations that we have daily. Despite language barriers that sometimes come up we still somehow manage to make fun of each other and constantly roast each other. Sometimes the language difference makes it even funnier when you try to translate something directly and it has a completely different meaning in the other language. It definitely keeps things interesting.

A beautiful sunset we had a few weeks ago!

We (and as “we” I generally mean the other volunteers that I live with) are often able to find different and interesting ways to spend free afternoons and evenings. Sometimes we get the chance to hang out at the houses of the permanent staff, for example, the Bible school principal who invited us over to his house for a “bad taste party.” This just meant that everyone dressed up as crazy as they could, with combinations of pattern and style, to see who could look the most ridiculous.

It was a super fun evening of getting to spend time with each other outside of work. It pretty much just ended up being a big dance party. We played a few games and got to talk with each other but mostly just danced like crazy which is absolutely hilarious when the majority of us are not good dancers. At all.

Do we look ridiculous? Yes. Do we know that? Yes.

Another fun thing that we did this month was have an outing with all of the staff. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures from it but I’ll describe it anyways and you can use your imagination. What we did together was go ski touring, which I think is also sometimes called back country skiing, (but don’t quote me on that cause I might be wrong) up to a “Hut” in the mountains near where we live. The ski culture here also involves a lot of socializing in the huts which are basically just traditional restaurants that are often found at the top of ski slopes or trails. People generally go there to get traditional Austrian or German foods and usually a beer or schnapps as well, and that’s just a big and normal part of what you do when skiing here.

So with ski touring you take special light weight skis that have a different kind of binding and you can wear them with regular ski boots or special lighter ones. The bindings are special because when you are going up the mountain, the back of your binding isn’t clipped onto the ski. It lifts up so that you can lift your heel and walk normally. You also put “skins” on the bottom of your skis which prevent you from sliding backwards down the mountain which is very important. Then you basically just walk up the mountain with skis on your feet. You don’t really lift your whole foot with the ski, you just slide it along the snow so that you’re not working so hard and so that you can go faster and not lose your balance. It’s pretty exhausting because on the way up, you’re obviously going uphill the whole time. But I really really enjoyed doing it with such a big group of people, because even though it was my first time I had lots of people to give me tips and to chat with along the way.

The evening that we went on was actually beautiful. Cold but not freezing and snowing gently, just enough to be really pretty. None of us were really in a big hurry because the purpose of the activity was allowing us to have time together to socialize as a whole staff and we had a lot of fun and great conversations during the 2ish hours that we were walking. By the time we got to the top I was pretty tired and definitely had some massive blisters on my feet. But it ended up being totally worth it as we had an amazing dinner of spare ribs, potatoes, salad, bread and ice cream. We spent an awesome few hours just hanging out together with all the rest of the staff and their families.

Once we were done with dinner came the most fun part of the night, skiing down the slope that we had walked up earlier. To be honest I had been a bit nervous for this because it was really dark by the time we had to go down and the path was not lit up. We brought head lamps but they weren’t that bright so I was low-key scared of accidentally skiing off a cliff. Thankfully that didn’t happen and it was way less difficult than I expected. As we were with a group there was always someone to follow and some people had some super bright flashlights as well so that was helpful. It was super cool to ski in the dark in the middle of the forest. It was pretty quiet in the snow and generally just a really nice night for it so I enjoyed it so much!

This isn’t from our staff outing but I guess it’s mildly related because it’s still from skiing!

In the last few days and weeks we’ve also gotten the chance to do some really cool walks and spend a whole bunch of time outside. That’s something that I really love about our schedule here, we have most afternoons off so we have lots of opportunity to spend time outside and enjoy the area. I don’t have a ton of pictures but I’ll put in some of the ones I do have so you can see more of the beauty of this area!

The mountains in the beautiful town of Ramsau which is basically on the other side of the valley and up from Schladming. Many of our permanent staff live in Ramsau.

From a walk we took on a warmer, clear day that was absolutely beautiful!

So it’s definitely been an awesome last month, but now comes the changes that I mentioned earlier. It’s been very sudden, but we found out yesterday that due to the Coronavirus going around, Tauernhof, (where I work) will be closing as of today, and that they plan to be closed for 5 weeks. Hopefully we will only be closed for that long and that we can reopen again for the spring school as planned, but at this point we have no idea how this is going to play out. The last group of guests left this morning so now there is only really only full time staff and volunteers left here. But the directors here have asked that if possible, any of the volunteer staff who are able to go home should go home.

Obviously that’s a bit more difficult for those of us who are coming from North America because flights are crazy expensive, limited, and run a high risk of being cancelled. So they are willing to make exceptions for us, but I’ve decided not to stay here anyways. I just don’t think that I would like to be here for 5 weeks with hardly anyone here and not being able to work. So the plan for me is that I will spend 5 weeks in Germany with friends from Tauernhof and from my bible school last year. God has been so faithful in providing many options for places for me to stay for these next weeks and I’m so grateful. The details aren’t planned out completely yet but I know at least where I will be for the first few weeks so that’s awesome.

The big question that remains for me is what will happen after those 5 weeks because no one really knows how this situation is going to play out. If after those weeks, they reopen Tauernhof, then I’ll return to work here for the rest of the year. If things haven’t settled out in those 5 weeks and they decide not to reopen, then the most likely thing for me would be to return home to Canada. It just wouldn’t super reasonable for me to continue to stay in Europe after that point unless I’m working or end up with a different reason to stay.

In the staff and with our guests this week we’ve talked this week about being able to let go of our fear because we know that God is in control. In the Bible it says “do not fear,” 365 times. Once for every day of the year and that includes this year even in the middle of so much panic. I have a lot of peace in knowing that God is in control of this situation and that we are doing everything that we can to be safe and sensible.

So I guess that’s all from me for now. I’ll do my best try to keep you in the loop of whats happening and how things are going for me. I’d also definitely love to hear from you so feel free to send me a text or email or even just comment on this post to get in touch with me:)

A picture from our last water fight in the kitchen yesterday. You can’t really see it, but we are soaked!

New Schedule and New Years Eve

Once we returned from our Christmas break it was time to start getting into the rhythm of working here at Tauernhof. We got back on the 26th and guests came on the 27th so it was really just jumping right into a new schedule. The first few days of work were really just getting comfortable with new tasks and getting used to being in the kitchen for 6-8 hours a day. It was a lot of learning how to do things efficiently because you quickly realize how important that is and getting to know the other staff better and how to work together.

A giant snowman that we made in the snow this week.

My days are pretty similar from day to day in the tasks that I do, but of course some things are different depending on the meal being prepared, how many people there are and how much time we have. There are 7 other volunteers in the kitchen along with 2 cooks and so it gets very full at times, especially right after meals.

A typical work day looks a bit like this:

The morning starts with 2 people (and sometimes one cook) making breakfast. If I am on breakfast in the morning that means that I am in the kitchen by 6:45 to set everything out because breakfast is served buffet style and it starts at 7:45. I think I’ve probably almost got the hang of making breakfast though I have yet to try making it with only one of the new volunteers and without any of the old ones. So far I’ve really only been on breakfast with one of the two girls who’ve been here for awhile, but that will change as of this week with the way the schedule works.

Breakfast is pretty much the same every day though some days we will have fresh buns or croissants or sweet bread that gets put on each table instead of the buffet. Other than that there is always a variety of kinds of bread, a meat tray, a cheese tray, cottage cheese and a veggie tray. The cereal changes almost everyday and with that there is always also yogurt, nuts and cocoa powder. We cut butter and put jam in bowls for the tables and make about 3o liters of coffee to put on every table as well. Usually we try to prep the meat, cheese and veggie trays the day before to save time, but other than that it’s mostly just a bunch of those little jobs that take up that hour in the morning. If you aren’t prepping breakfast then you don’t have to be in the kitchen until dishes after breakfast so we usually only have to get up that early about twice a week.

After breakfast ends around 8:40, all of the volunteers clean up by putting away any extra leftover food and washing all the dishes, usually this takes about and hour, sometimes a bit less and sometimes a bit more. At 9:30 the kitchen staff and the housekeeping staff get together and do a short Bible study and have a prayer time. This is usually a good chance to have a bit of a break in the morning to just sit and have a coffee or tea while we talk and read. After this we spend the rest of the morning preparing for lunch and supper. Some jobs that are done almost every day are washing, cutting and drying salad, making salad dressings, cutting meat and cheese and making the meat and cheese trays, and cutting veggies for the veggie trays. Often we also have to prepare the desert for that evening which sometimes means doing some baking and sometimes means making pudding or mousse, it changes every day. Other than those kinda standard things that get done almost every day, there are also a lot of more specific jobs that we have depending on what food we are having that day.

Lunch is usually the big warm meal here so its usually the most stressful right before the meal because we can’t put out food until 5 minutes before and there are usually about 20 tables so we always have to rush a bit to get everything out on time. After that it’s usually pretty chill though. One person always stays in the kitchen to make sure the buffets get refilled if needed but everyone else can sit down and have a normal meal. When lunch ends we do all the clean up and then we have the afternoon off until 5:30.

First day of skiing we got to watch an amazing sunset on our last run down the hill!

In the afternoons we pretty much can do whatever we want. Lots of the other staff who have season passes go skiing or snowboarding for a few hours in afternoon. I’ve only been skiing twice and I’m pretty rusty because it’s been awhile, but they have equipment and passes that we can use if they’re available so I will probably start going a bit more often and I’m excited to improve a bit more in the next few months. Usually though, I just hang out in the staff lounge with some of the other staff members, sometimes playing games or doing baking for the staff. It’s really nice to have afternoons off because usually the evenings get pretty full so it’s nice to have some down time.

At 5:30 we are back in the kitchen to help set everything up for supper which is at 6:00. Usually supper is a lighter meal, salad and something small on the tables like hash browns or Hawaii toast and then there are almost always leftovers that we also warm up. Then when supper is done and we finish with the dishes and clean up then we are free for the evening. At 7:45 the guests have a lecture and worship time that they go to. All the staff are welcome to join but the lectures are in German so I usually don’t go unless there is someone doing a translation. This week there is one guest who doesn’t speak German at all so all the lectures are translated into English so we’ve been going to listen to them in the evening. After lectures are open we either hang out with the guests or just with the other staff and usually what I choose to do depends how tired I am or whether I am working for breakfast or not the next morning.

Sometimes it’s really exhausting to spend time with the guests because some don’t speak very good English and then I kinda just feel annoying because they want to talk in German. But some of the groups have younger people who speak really good English so then we are able to hang out and play games with them more easily. That can be really fun and even after only a few weeks I’ve gotten to meet some really cool people from all over the place. The language barrier is sometimes more apparent than others. Almost all of the staff speak pretty good English though I think that German is definitely spoken more often right now just because the camps are in German. It’s definitely hard sometimes when instructions are given in German and we just don’t understand but there is almost always someone to translate for those of us who don’t speak German and that makes it easier. I’ve already been able to pick up a lot of different words and phrases which make it easier to communicate especially with one of the permanent staff in the kitchen who doesn’t speak any English at all.

Celeste and I on New Years Eve:) Getting ready to go sledding!

New Years Eve was probably the most eventful night that we’ve had here and it was so crazy and so much fun. The day was really chill because I had the morning off and only had to work for dinner. I got to read a bit and call with some of my friends and family which was really nice. To celebrate the new year all of the staff and guests went up onto a nearby mountain with the Gondola to watch fireworks. We spent about an hour up there hanging out in one of the Chalets before midnight and then got to watch all the fireworks which was so crazy and cool because we were really above everything. Most people here put off their own fireworks so they are absolutely everywhere and it’s so amazing to watch. Once most of the fireworks were done, (about 12:30A.M ) was when the really crazy part of our evening started. That was when we sledded down the mountain. They had a whole track made just zigzagging down the hill which was 7km and took us about 25 minutes to get down. I partnered with one of the ski instructors and once we really got the hang of going around the tight corners then we got going really fast. It was so crazy fun, there were some huge bumps and I had some massive bruises on the backs of my legs after but it was so worth it. We screamed pretty much the whole way down but we only fell off twice while trying to turn corners too sharply so I’d say we were pretty successful. It was definitely one of the best ways that I’ve ever spent new years eve and it felt like a bit of home because we usually always go sledding there as well. We finished off the evening drinking punch, (which is really just like apple cider) and hanging out with the guests until like 2:30 in the morning. It was such a fun day.

My sledding partner and celebrating that we got to the bottom of the hill alive!

Sooo yah. That’s basically these first few weeks in a nutshell. It’s been mostly really positive though one thing that happened yesterday was that Celeste cut her hand really badly and is now in a cast to help it heal. You would think that she cut it in the kitchen on something sharp but in reality, she cut it while tying her shoes. How you may wonder? Well she bent over to put on her shoes, lost her balance and tried to brace herself against the wall by putting her hand out. Unfortunately she put her hand against the corner of the mirror which was chipped and got a huge cut. She actually cut through the nerve to her pinky and now has no feeling in her finger and can’t work for at least 2 weeks. You can definitely keep her in your prayers as we are hoping for everything to heal properly. Other than that though, we’ve had an awesome first few weeks and I’m really looking forward to the coming weeks!

Week 2: Beginning in Austria

This last week I spent at the Bible School Tauernhof in Austria which will be my home for the next year. This week was mainly an introduction to some of the tasks that we will be doing as volunteers. We also helped a lot with some cleaning tasks to prepare the campus for the ski camp that is happening there over New Years.

When we arrived on Sunday afternoon we were met at the train station in Schladming (which is the town where the school is located) by two of the permanent staff. They showed us our rooms and we had time to get our stuff unpacked before meeting some of the other staff. Celeste and I aren’t roommates which is something we had wondered about, but we both really like our roommates so it’s all good. One of my roommates is from England and one from Germany and both are working in the kitchen as well. Before and at dinner we got to meet a lot of the other staff. Some of the other volunteers had been there for months already while some were also new like us. There are a lot more volunteers than I expected but I think that’s because in addition of housekeeping and kitchen (which we knew from Holsby) there are also ski and snowboard instructors who are volunteering for this season with the ski camps, so that does add to the numbers. In the evening we just spent time with the other staff, playing games, watching a movie together and talking to try and break the ice of the awkward “Hi, I’m still trying to remember your name” phase.

I took this picture on the first day that we arrived and there wasn’t really any snow. But there definitely is more snow now as it snowed most of the week! This is the main house of the campus.

On Monday morning and for the rest of the week our day started at 8:00 with breakfast. This was when we met more of the permanent staff and everyone introduced themselves. After breakfast most of the volunteers for kitchen and housekeeping went up to one of the buildings and got a rundown of how to properly clean the rooms and then we divided up into teams to start on that huge task. Because we arrived right after the fall bible school finished, none of the rooms had really been cleaned and so that was something that we spent the vast majority of the week doing. It wasn’t hard but definitely a bit slow so we just talked and blasted music for a lot of the time which made it considerably more fun!

I took this picture from the top floor of the main building. This ski hill is basically in the backyard of the school.

This first week we also learned how to prepare breakfast. All of the new volunteers in the kitchen got to spend two mornings helping with the prep in the kitchen so that we will be (mostly) ready to do that when we come back from break and the ski camps start. This included learning what food to put out when and how and also how to do cleanup and run the dishwashers. It was sometimes a lot of information to take in all at once but I’m sure that with more repetition it will be no problem at all. There was also always a main cook and the older volunteers in the kitchen with us to help if we had any questions so that was really useful.

So during the day that was mainly what all of the new volunteers did. We rotated between housekeeping and kitchen until everything was clean and ready to go for the camps. We always worked in teams so it was a really great way to get to know the other volunteers and permanent staff. We actually had a lot of fun working together and I enjoyed getting to work with others because I was never bored.

I’m the evenings we did a variety of things with the other staff because we always had evenings off. Monday evening was the Christmas party for the school staff so we went to a restaurant with all of the other staff and had a really nice meal and had more time to socialize. Some other evenings we spent watching movies together or playing bored games like extreme Uno or jungle speed. One night we went to the local Christmas market and walked around for awhile. It was super cute and small and it was funny because we happened to meet one of our friends from holsby there, Rahel, without even planning it! It was a crazy coincidence but Celeste and I had a really good talk with her while we walked around.

Not a great picture but these are some of the surrounding mountains.

Schladming has an interesting atmosphere because it’s hardcore a ski town in the winter. One of the staff told us that it’s way more quiet in the summer but right now there are lights up everywhere and tons of people staying in the town to ski. I’m really interested to see how that changes in the spring and summer with less people around because I think it will make a big difference in how busy it feels all the time. I think that it’s going to be an awesome year here. Even without having a set schedule for this week I’m starting to feel more comfortable every day that we spend here and I’m sure it won’t take much longer until it feels like home.

Much of the Christmas market was lit up with these kind of lights which was really cute!

This morning Celeste and I left for the 10 day break that the school requires you to take. Next week I’ll write about what we will be up to over the next days. I’ll also try to take more pictures than I did this week (oops). Feel free to text me on WhatsApp or email me at kelsikann@gmail.com during this time. I’d love to here from you!