Bödele and snow.

The other week, I went up to Bodele three times to photograph snow. Silent Night has a chunk of it that takes place in winter. Only we are filming in late spring. To solve this, when it miraculously snowed last week, Christian had me take a bus up to the mountain ski resort, Bodele. Bodele sits high up on the mountain above Dornbirn, overlooking a wide and scenic valley with impressive mountains looming over it. The resort has one small gravel road that runs through the middle and loops down to the main road, with wood cottages lining it. There are pine trees, picket fences, drifts of snow, and a nice church set on a low hill above a pond. The first day I took photos and had a good time. But I didn’t take enough. On day two it was raining hard. I checked the weather and found two webcams at Bodele right in the heart of the resort. Sure enough, it was snowing up there.

So I hopped on the yellow Landbus and went. I shot it up and had a blast. My camera got really wet but kept on trucking. It was a good afternoon and I was thrilled that I was being paid to photograph in the Austrian mountains.


The third time I went up to shot sunshine and shadows on snow. It had been raining, but was clearing up. The sun was intermittent at best, but I did get some shots of shadows from trees, fences, poles, buildings.

I returned a little less enthusiastically this time. It is cool to photograph in the Austrian mountains. But going to the same little ski villa three times to take photos of the same few houses and snow over and over, it loses its thrill.

On the bus ride back to Dornbirn a drunk man sat across from me. He reeked of alcohol and sweat. He wouldn’t believe I didn’t speak German. He went on and on about my tripod and about taking photos. I had no idea what he was saying. He kept tapping me as he spoke. While he rattled on I thought, boy, this is awkward. Everyone was looking at us. I told him I didn’t understand and am pretty sure he responded, “You just spoke German. What do you not understand? You totally speak German and just don’t want to talk to me.” He kept sniffing and snorting, and then chewing whatever had been sucked out of his nose. I wanted to leave before he offered me some.
I now have over 600 photos of trees, footprints, fences, buildings, woods. I hope the angles will match when the final footage is delivered. We’ll see.


Bödele is a 15 minute bus ride from Dornbirn. It has a series of trails that snake out from it allowing anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours of exploration. The trails are all well marked and easy, if snow levels are not deep.

Office & Apartment Photos

I know you want to see pictures. But many people have voiced how upset and jealous they are that I am living in Austria right now. I fear that actually seeing where I am in Austria will only aggrivate their jealousy and fan it into unabashed hatred. So for their sake, I proceed cautiously. Here I post two photos: one from my office showing you the view from my computer, and one from my apartment showing you the stairs.

These afford a glimpse into the glory that is Austria, but should not excite any of you undully.

Week Two: Hiking in the snow.

Another week in Austria. Boy German is hard. Two weeks and I still understand almost nothing.

So what is an Austrian day like, I have been asked by many friends. Well, it is like an American day, only eight hours ahead and with more German and more wurstel. I wake up at 7am, which is not that early; yet my body still refuses to get up at that time. I don’t know, it must be the last lingering affects of jet lag. I am sleeping well enough, but still feel like it is the middle of the night when my alarm goes off. Austrians do not use sheets. They sleep with a down comforter only. I spent my first nights feeling terribly foolish, figuring I was supposed to have brought my own sheets.

Breakfast is incredible. Every morning I stumble downstairs to a table with a spread of various meats (ham, salami, beef, prosciutto crudo, turkey, wurstel –many varieties of bolony), cheeses (brie, swiss, gouda, and so much more), and fresh breads (rye, sourdough, wheat, and white). It is all I can eat. Angelika, my host, boils me a fresh egg I eat hot. There is also butter and homemade jams. To drink: Orange juice and really good berry herbal tea.

The great news of the week is that I finally got out and went hiking. The bad news is that I almost killed the elders. For those of you who have gone hiking with me see if this sounds familiar. We planned to hike up the mountain to the peak right above my house the day before the trip it snowed. It snowed a lot. The mountains got like 16 inches. I figured the mountains were not these large cliffy things right above my house, but the larger things towering above these cliffy things. We immediately hit snow and mud. Both grew deeper the higher we got. The trail grew steeper, well I guess vertical. We found ourselves skirting drop-offs on wet rocks, and fording the creek repeatedly. It turns out both elders are afraid of heights. They kept asking me if this was really a trail or if I was taking them deep into the woods so know one would hear them scream when I kill them.

This doesn’t sound familiar to anyone does it? No, I didn’t think so. Anyway, the elders and I had a great time and look forward to more hiking together, but without the snow and mud.

Next time: An Austrian/American Easter, where I learn the Easter Bunny is not real.

One Week in Austria.

My flight was completely uneventful. We had quite a stretch of turbulence on our way to Germany, but that didn't bother me. I like a bit of rocking. It helps me sleep. On the way to Atlanta I was sandwiched in between two large ladies. We talked and laughed for hours! However, I noticed that I was fighting claustrophobia sandwiched between them. I found that hilarious. I fight my way through dark and wet passages in caves so tight I have to lift my arms above my head and inch along and do fine. But unable to stand up for four hours and rubbing against two other people is a little more than I can handle.

Flying to Germany I would fall asleep only to be wakened by the unhappy child sitting in front of me. He screamed in a tantrum several times, and jumped on my foot once. He also managed to hit me in the head with his seat twice. He was my greatest obstacle to sleep. I made friends with two nice young Germans, and a Chinese mathematician working in Austria. He was super cool. We talked at length about Richard Feynman, Einstein, quantum physics. It was a good flight.

The first day here, March 28th, was hard. I stayed awake all day which was quite a feat. Christian did his best to stay with me and keep me working so that I would sleep that night. My cold was surprisingly better. But I did OK on the flight and was able to equalize the pressure in my ears without too much trouble. The next couple of days dragged. Those first days by 11am my head would pound and I was tired. Ah Jet lag! It was the middle of the night to my body.

Austria is a different country...yeah, I know right? The first few days were very hard and I was terribly homesick.  I realized that homesickness is just feeling alienated and lost. I was homesick because I had no safe place in which to recoup. I know no one. Christian was gone location scouting. I don’t speak the language rendering even the most simple tasks cumbersome. I have no car so my radius of travel is limited. I don’t know the city and get lost very easily. It is hard to recognize where you are when the street names are all long words of seemingly random letters. Such as: StadtstraBe, Eisenglasse, KelcherstraBe (ok, so by now I actually recognize and understand what these mean) I have only a room in a house. I share the bathroom with other renters. I have no kitchen, no fridge, no way to do my own laundry, no internet. So I was homesick. I did not feel safe or relaxed.

All that said, I would remind myself that this emotion was temporary. Sure enough, I have now been in Austria one week and I am feeling much better. I am settling into a routine; amazing how a routine helps alleviate homesickness.

The city Dornbirn is great. It is around 45,000 people tucked in with a few other small cities at the southern edge of Lake Constance. The lake is big, blue, and surrounded by low green hills. The hills grow into mountains that become taller as you head down the valley. Giant cliffs line Mount Karren, at the base of which I live. Peaking over Karren are larger snow covered mountains, calling my name.

It is idealistic and wonderful.