MSI Press Blog

    Die Alpen Johanna worked in Telfs, a mountain town 25 kilometers west of Innsbruck, nestled in the Tyrolean Alps on the Inn River. She taug ht German at the Bundesgymnasium (secondary school). That school made Telfs unusual compared to the smaller villages nearby, which only have primary or middle schools and send their older students into Innsbruck. Telfs was well connected by bus and train — daily commuting to Innsbruck was easy. Johanna would leave early, before I got up each morning, leaving Franz and me to put breakfast together for ourselves and giving me time to get to know Franza (and improve—and sometimes challenge—my German). She would return at 2:00, Austrian lunch time, and we would go into Altstadt for lunch. Franz, who left after breakfast to teach music classes at the university, would join us. My lectures were in the afternoon, so lunch was always a pleasant interlude, another piece of the easy-to-live Austrian lifestyle. One day school had vacation, ...

  Innsbruch In Austria, I worked in Innsbruch, in the state of Tirol, at the Universität Innsbruck’s Fakultät für Sprach-, Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaften (School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Innsbruch. There I lectured on the psychology of language learning, partly in German and partly in English, depending upon the audience. For some reason, I still have handwritten copies of my lectures; they bring back a host of wonderful memories of a gentle life and good people. Reaching the university from Johanna’s apartment meant crossing Altstadt (Old Town), a dense cluster of shops: small boutiques, souvenir shops, cafés, traditional Tyrolean clothing stores, bakeries and pastry shops, jewelry and watch shops, and tourist‑friendly stalls around Das Goldene Dachl (The Golden Roof), the centerpiece of Old Town and the symbol of Innsbruch then and now. This landmark, a late‑Gothic oriel balcony, was commissioned by Emperor Maximilian I and completed aroun...

  Although I have only visited a couple of times, it feels as if I have been there much more often. There is a comfort in Austria for me—I speak the language, and I grew up in the mountains, though nothing quite like die Alpen . Austria is a country of soaring peaks, shimmering lakes, and villages that look as though they were painted into existence. Life had a commonsense approach, one that allowed time for people to actually "live" and enjoy their time--Volksmarch on a daily basis; time for casual meetings of friends a small cafes for apfelstrudel and bier [beer], or my favorite, Johannisbeere [black current juice]; and an evening at a concert hall for heavenly music.    My connection to Austria is not only through its language and mountains, but through friendship. Johanna—a name I use here since she prefers not to be identified—has been my anchor there. I stayed with her during visits, and she once came to the USA, where we scooted down into Mexico for a day. 👭 The ...