So now that I am established I should give a sense of some of the characters here, as I did in Thorpe (this place and Thorpe have some similarities in terms of scale and eccentricity).

Nadie: 19. A Dutch girl from Rotterdam, Nadie is my flat mate and she is the person I have most connected with. She speaks good English (all the Dutch speak many languages fluently, they have an incredible educations system) and reads tons of books. We love a lot of the same movies, books, and music, and we get along really well. She is funny and fun and laid-back and not such a party animal as some of the others, which is refreshing. I am teaching her to snowboard with very limited success. She teaches intermediate kid skiers and hates the little kinder.

Berry: 27. The other sorta flatmate, also from Holland. Berry is a really wonderful guy, who was incredibly welcoming to me from the moment I got here. He is friendly and warm and easy to get along with. He listens to hardcore music and although he teaches skiing he Loves snowboarding. He is a great cook and loves cooking so we let him make exotic feasts most nights. He really likes to go out for fun nights all the time, and does so very often.

Patrick: 20. A very interesting guy, Patrick is a Scot whose family moves cities every few years, allowing him to live in (so far) Glasgow, Dublin, Amsterdam, Munich, and now Ehrwald, among others. He speaks multiple languages like a native, although in English he has a hilarious Scottish accent that takes some getting used to. He plays multiple instruments, including classical piano, and loves Nirvana. He also has a great sense of humor and is constantly insulting people. Which of course is also how I operate. We really get along well.

Gisella: Older. The teacher that I work with. An incredible individual, bubbling with energy and great with kids, she is very sweet but also very demanding, and doesn't cut me much slack, although she is certainly not unfair. We are starting to get along well and she shares all of her many woes (including how annoying the kids are, and how much she hates some of the other ski teachers) with me.

Martin: 30. Nadie's boyfriend, Martin is the classic Austrian. The only person I know her besides the Leitners who is actually from Ehrwald, Martin is incredibly impressive and overbearing and intimidating and a truly world-class skier.

Well, I think that will do for now. I know these are not as colorful (or to use a more accurate word, abusive) of descriptions as I sent from Thorpe, but the fact is that this is the cast of characters that I have really grown to like, and around whom my daily life more or less revolves now, and so this is a more simple, straightforward description. More people, of course, to follow...