Every year around this time in certain parts of Europe a strange thing happens. The demons of winter make an appearance in the cities and towns. These are the Perchten, which, according to pagan tradition, serve to chase out evil and cleanse the world for the new year. Over the years, the Perchten have also become associated--and often confused--with the Krampus, a similar demon who is paired with Saint Nicholas and beats naughty children with a stick.

Last night the Perchten marched through the main street of Salzburg, striking terror in the hearts of tourists. It was fantastic! If you don't scream, they tend to leave you alone, but if you look scared, watch out! Also, as my friend Alice learned, you should not wear a skirt to these events, as your legs need to be protected from the switches.

After the horde marched past we actually followed them into the main square. Louise really wanted to get a picture with one, but every time we got close enough to ask, she ran away. Silly girl. At one point I got so fed up that I kicked (very lightly) the large bell a creature had handing off the back of his belt. I earned a smack on my head from his switch, but it was worth it. Eventually we did get a picture with one on Louise's camera. Here's the best shot I got:

Maybe it's because I've been watching "Angel" lately, but they seem like the sort of demon Buffy would love to fight. Perhaps that's why I had the urge to kick one...

-Kim

the side benefits of working in a castle

Now, there are many benefits to working in a castle, such as having the most beautiful office in the world. But those pics will come later. today I want to talk about something that is completely unrelated to work. The side benefits, if you will.

Occasionally, outside groups rent out the Schloss for events. There have been a number of weddings since I've been here, and just last weekend, a corporate group on a worldwide tour ended their time in Salzburg by renting out the Marble Hall for a concert.

Now, interns are never invited to events such as these, but we do have free access to the Schloss at all hours because it's where we get our food and where we're supposed to do our laundry. So no one questions you walking in the front door and getting in the elevator. On Saturday night three of us made our way up to the balcony/gallery level of the Marble Hall just as the concert was starting to enjoy the show. The singer was a classically trained tenor, but as he was backed up by a jazz band, it wasn't your standard operatic concert. Here's a taste of one of his early pieces:

Shortly thereafter, he brought out a few Sound of Music classics. You can't sing a concert in Salzburg without doing "Edelweis."

After that, my compatriots gave up the idea of subtlety and began dancing in the balcony. After the vocalist noticed and gave us a friendly wave, I decided to get up and join in the fun, as it seemed there was no going back. In fact, at the end of the concert, the vocalist gave a shout out, thanking "the three girls dancing in the balcony for the support."

It was an epically awesome night.

-Kim

In the beginning

I promised you stories, and you will get stories. Here are a few from my first week here, way back at the start of September:

International Travel

My journey to Salzburg began in the afternoon on Friday, September 10. With my suitcase and my backpack stuffed to capacity and ready to go, Mom, Dad and I hopped in the van and drove down to Sioux Falls to catch my first flight. The Sioux Falls airport was in the middle of a rather large renovation project, and the usual path from the check-in counters to the gates was blocked off. Instead, we were funneled through a winding tunnel built of plywood. It felt a bit like being a gerbil in a maze (Yes, the usual phrase would be about a rat, but gerbils are much cuter). I'm pretty sure we had a good long farewell hug three different times between check-in and when I went through security. Those hugs had to last me a long time! Getting through security was a breeze, as it always is in SuFu (which is one reason I chose to fly out of there), even though I was wearing my tall brown riding boots (hey, I had to get them on the plane somehow!). Of course, there is really no reason to get to the Sioux Falls airport the full two hours early, but it didn't seem right to press our luck on such an important day. So I waited for over an hour to board the plane. Ihad a window seat, which was great, except that it was so cloudy there wasn't much to see. Instead of watching the familiar Sioux Falls landmarks falling away beneath us I was greeted by the sight of clouds, but I did have the surreal experience of seeing the shaddow of the plane, darting back and forth as it passed over clouds varying distances away.

In Chicago I was annoyed to discover that I actually had to leave the terminal to get to the gate for my international flight. This meant riding the airport tram and then going through security again. I got a window seat for this flight as well. I watched the lights of Chicago drop away behind us and then settled back for a nap that wasn't meant to be. Even though this was an overnight flight departing at 10pm, the airline felt the need to feed us dinner. So the lights stayed up, and so did I. The dinner was alright, but sadly the beverage cart had no Ginger Ale (and just when living in Boston had taught me to love the stuff!). There were many options for in-flight entertainment, but in economy class we had no control over them. Several movies played at the same time, and you just had to hope that the one you wanted to watch would be starting when you wanted to watch it. I ended up watching three different movies, Prince of Persia, Letters to Juliet, and The Karate Kid, for lack of any better options. They were all reasonably entertaining, and better than nothing since I inexplicably could not sleep. However, after the first movie, I caught the second one about 30 min in, so I had to wait until it looped around again to catch the beginning. So I watched bits and pieces of movies out of order all night. It was lovely. As we neared Copanhagen the next morning, one of the flight attendants came by to tell me that my suitcase was not on the plane. I had a moment of panic and despair, but luckily that didn't last terribly long. I couldn't do anything about it in Copenhagen without leaving security, so I opted to wait until finally arriving in Munich. At Copenhagen we had to go through security yet again, and then get our passports stamped for entering Europe. I was dead on my feet at this point.

The flight to Munich was a much smaller group, and I dozed in and out quite a bit. Upon arriving in Munich I went immediately to the counter to report lost luggage, which was helpfully located right next to the luggage carousel for my flight. The airline employee was very helpful and gave me a complimentary bag of toiletries to ease my wait for my own bag. He seemed to take an interest in this foreigner with a German name who was on her way to go live in a castle.

My transportation from Munich to Salzburg was a shuttle bus. There were four other people on the bus, most of whom got dropped off before me. I dozed for much of this trip as well, because it certainly didn't feel like the reported 2 hours. I'm sure it was not the most direct route, and it didn't give me any idea what the city of Salzburg was like. It was nearing sunset when we pulled in at Schloss Leopoldskron and I walked into the Meierhoff for the first time. The Meierhoff is actually older than the Schloss, and was originally a barn. Now it's a large pink hotel with a lovely courtyard in the middle and the offices of the Salzburg Global Seminar taking up most of the ground floor.

Much of that first night is fuzzy, because I was so tired. The girl working the reception desk was very nice and called the only other intern who was in at the time to show me around a bit. Lisa is Brittish and an absolute dear. She cooks much of her own food because the kitchen staff don't know how to prepare food for a vegan, so that first night she offered to share her dinner with me. After the trials it took to reach this place, it was the perfect welcome: warm, but not overwhelming.

I met the rest of the interns and staff over the next several days. Well, I really shouldn't say all. There are still staff members I haven't met, and my time here is now a third done! But people are coming and going here all the time, so it's not too surprising. Plus, there are only a couple of us who do our work in the Schloss, so I really don't cross paths with staff members much. Tourists poke their heads into my office from time to time, and I see the kitchen staff quite a bit on my way in and out, but not my actual coworkers. I was offered the chance to work in the general intern office where there would be people around me, but I couldn't give up my beautiful view for that. Besides, the librarian needs to be by the library. This is the way the world works!

Oh, and my luggage did arrive, only a day and a half behind me. And since I spend most of Sunday asleep, I really didn't suffer that much for not having it. In fact, when I told other people at the Schloss that my luggage was lost, they generally seemed more upset than I was. But then, that's just how I react to things. After the initial shock, if it's something I can't do anything about, I resign myself to making the best of it without much thought. And really, if something had to go wrong in the adventure of getting me here, at least it was something relatively small.

Oh dear, will every story be this long and require it's own post? I may have to do some grouping or some serious editing of my usual, detailed style If we're ever to get caught up! We'll see if I can do better next time!

-Kim

extraordinary

I have now been in Salzburg for over a month. For nearly five weeks I have lived in a hotel and gone to work in an 18th Century palace. I have moved from being overwhelmed by it all to being so comfortable I don't even think about it. It's funny how quickly things become familiar. I have the most beautiful office and work in an absolutely gorgeous library, and just recently I was reminded of how absolutely extraordinary this is. This is not the sort of space a recent graduate is supposed to get to work in! Yet here I am. At our last session I got up the courage to do a bit of actual networking, and the fellow I spoke with said he could hook me up with people who want to put toegther archives in Norway if I would be willing to move there. That's right, Norway. He also is going to introduce me to the state archivist of Maryland, so there's plenty of options.

How do I keep falling into so many wonderful things? The only answer I can find is that my life is being directed by someone who has grander plans than anything I could ever dream up. So I thank God for the blessings, hold on tight, and keep moving forward. At the rate my life experience has been expanding, from local to national to international, I fully expect to end up working in the first intergalactic library and archives by the end of my career. Or institute a proper archives program at USF. Either would be just as rewarding, and just as miraculous.

-Kim

storytelling

Hello there, faithful followers! You've had nothing to follow for quite some time, and I feel very bad about that. It's not that nothing interesting has been happening of late, in fact, it's quite the opposite. I find I am spending all of my time and energy on crazy adventures and have less left for reporting them to the masses.

But I aim to correct this problem!

I have been in Salzburg, Austria for almost three weeks now. My intention had been to blog the day I arrived and put up something every time I experienced anything new, which would have been essentially every day. And actually, a more previous intention had been to start the series of Salzburg posts in the summer as I was preparing, but that didn't happen either--but no more excuses! Although stories from these past weeks will lack the immediacy and emotion they may otherwise have had, I still intend to share at least the highlights of what's been going on so far.

They may be patchy and out of order, but the stories are coming! Stay tuned!

-Kim