Jane Williams - The Wombling World of Madness

Readings: Isa. 5 3-6
2 Tim. 4 5-17
Luke 10 1-9

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

Today we are celebrating St. Luke, so I shall begin by taking a brief look at what we know of St. Luke, it’s a brief look because we don’t know much. St. Luke is believed to be the author of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. He was a Greek and possibly a gentile physician who became a disciple of Saint Paul. At the start of Luke’s gospel he seems to admit that he, himself, never saw Jesus personally, however, there have also been suggestions that he was one of the seventy sent out in today’s gospel reading. He died at the ripe old age of 84 and became the patron saint of physicians, surgeons, students, artists and butchers.
There is a hymn that begins “Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the king of creation, O my soul praise him for he is thy health and salvation” These lines identify a key theme of Luke’s gospel, the link between health and salvation. You don’t need to be healthy to be saved. It can often be through the suffering of illness that we can come to a greater awareness of God and a greater acceptance of the whole of ourselves, the bits we like and the bits we don't like.
Luke’s gospel contains more healing stories than any of the other gospels. Healing can be a bit of a controversial subject, there are those who seem to claim that we just have to ask God for healing and that’s that. If that was true I wouldn’t have needed twelve weeks off work with a broken ankle earlier this year. In the Isaiah reading we heard this morning we are given a vision of what one day will be when all physical suffering will cease, this can give us hope for the future but we are not there yet.
However, healing can be more than just about the physical, it is about the whole person. Luke as a doctor would I am sure have been interested in the link between the mind and the body. In the gospel reading the seventy are instructed to only heal when the towns they enter are welcoming and receive their peace. Now, I want to make it clear that I am not saying you just need to welcome God and all will be well. That is clearly not true as the suffering of believers all over the world shows. Suffering is part of the Christian journey, after all would we be able to fully know and appreciate great joy if we did not have despair to compare it to?
Healing can also be about accepting who and what we are, becoming at peace with ourselves. That also means having to accept that sometimes things don’t go the way we want. The American writer Nancy Mairs, who has multiple sclerosis, has written about her experience and how she has come to recognise a difference between being cured and being healed. She writes “I do not understand how a “relentless degeneration of my
central nervous system can function to ‘heal’ me.” But “Why not? I wondered then. I still do.”
In the reading from Timothy Paul is facing up to his impeding execution. Now, I am sure Paul would rather have lived to a great old age than suffer getting his head chopped off. However, Paul does not complain that “it’s not fair” or rant at God as to why he should have to suffer like this or even ask God to intervene miraculously to save his life. Instead he accepts the situation as it is. The only thing he does complain about is the lack of people with him, everyone except Luke having left him. Now, we don’t know why Luke was the only one left. However, it can be hard for other people watching someone suffer and die, especially someone they care about, and a lot of people can’t cope with that. As a carer working in palliative care I have seen the different ways that families and friends can react, some seem to accept what is happening and will even spend time planning the funeral with the person that is dying, others will avoid the topic of a person's approaching death, and become nervous as if worried that they will say the wrong thing and this can lead to them avoiding the person or only spending short periods of time with them. Luke as a doctor would have had more experience than most people of difficult situations like this, maybe that is why he stayed with Paul and the others left.
When faced with the prospect of certain death or suffering it can be hard to know what to say, and fear of saying the wrong thing can sometimes lead to people avoiding those who may most need companionship.
A recent copy of Church Times included a short interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams in which he was asked about the difficult questions of where is God in a suffering world. Rowan’s response was I think an extremely good one, he said, that God is present in the suffering world through the actions of the people who relieve suffering. To quote:
“When John Humphrys asked me: “where was God in the Beslen Schoolroom?” – that nightmare event a few years ago- I could only say: “well, I guess God was in one child holding a hand out to another, to comfort them, or assure them in that dreadful dreadful situation.”
Yes, the world is not always a pleasant place to be, it can be full of undeserved suffering but that does not mean God does not care. However, he needs us as Christians to go out and show God’s care to the suffering world. We may not always feel comfortable with that, we may even feel out of depth, but do we leave people to suffer on their own, or do we stay with them and in our presence and our companionship show God’s love and care to them as St. Luke did to St. Paul.

Amen.

I was serving at the cathedral for both ordination services this weekend. When the bishop read out the declaration to priests, I still find myself thinking yes, that is what I want to do. This year I was also struck by the starting of the blessing which was "God is faithful to those that He calls." After I had been turned down by the DDO I felt that God was not faithful and had let me down and I could no longer trust Him. Now, with the gap of time I can see that God is still calling me but that if the DDO had sent me to a BAP then I don't think I would have stood much chance.
As Julian of Norwich said "all that is well will be well." I feel sure because God is faithful, and I still feel I have a vocation, that at some point in my life that will be recognised. All I can do, as the old hymn says, is to trust and obey, and be content to let things happen in God's time not mine.

I have just finished watching a documentary on Channel 4 that followed participants on an alpha course. At the Holy Spirit weekend there was a large amount of emphasis put on speaking in tongues. They cited St. Paul about the importance of speaking in tongues and this got me thinking about St Paul's actual view on tongues. The alpha course seems to see tongues as a personal thing, that everyone should do and that it helps you communicate with God. A quick glance through 1 Corinthians Chs.12 and 13 seems to show St. Paul with a very different view. For Paul tongues are for the benefit of the whole church not just an individual. They are not neccesary, something the Alpha course seemed to say. Indeed according to Paul each person is given certain gifts according to need, for some this may be to speak in tongues, for others it may be wisdom, knowledge, healing etc. All gifts are needed for God's church and no one gift is more important or makes someone more of a christian than any other. Also Paul makes it very clear that tongues need to be interpreted. Paul seems to see tongues as been more about God communicating with us than us communicating with God as the alpha course seems to think. He also very clearly states that "one who prays in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret" (1 cor. 14:13) The alpha course makes no mention if interpreting tongues. The explanation they give is that tongues are like baby talk to God, when we cannot find words to express ourselves. I am sure there is a bible verse some where about God been able to see our hearts even if we can not find the words. I personally find that far more helpful, when I can't find the words to pray I can just sit there and know that God understands and will respond. To me trying to talk to someone in a language I don't understand makes no sense and seems a long way from the idea of tongues in the bible, after all, the most famous example of speaking in tongues was on the day of Pentecost and that was so that the cosmopolitan crowd gathered from all over the Roman Empire for the festival could understand God's message, not to make the disciples feel good about themselves or prove that they were "real Christians".

I also found it interesting that two people left the course after the weekend, both seemed to have felt something that could be God in their lives before, but were so put of by the Holy Spirit weekend that they left.

Last Sunday at the Cathedral one of the readings was the parable of the mustard seed. The preacher opened his sermon by asking what does the mustard seed make us think of? I must confess my first thoughts were of a nice wholegrain mustard spread on some really nice, doorstep thick fresh bread with a nice thick piece of beef. Not quite what the preacher had in mind!

We have had a friend visiting from Australia for the last few days. Going round Coventry with someone new to the place has opened my eyes to things I usualy just accept as being there. One of the first things he commented on was how nice the windows in the AXA building looked. I see them everyday, yet have never really appreciated how they do look. They seem to glow with a rosy golden light and do look very good.
I took him to look round Holy Trinity and the Guildhall, and was surprised at how much I learnt. I usually only go into these places because I am there for an event. IT was really intresting to see them as a tourist and learn more about them.
We also went to the Transport museum and the Herbert Art gallery. Both places I work past regularly but have never been inside. I found I really enjoyed visiting both of them and as they are free next time I am in town with some spare time I may well pop in for a visit.
Showing someone else around the city has really opened my eyes to what amazing things we do have here.

Had an OK nights sleep. No one snoring too loudly. Had breakfast then got the S-bahn to Marienplatz. The outdoor shop didn't open till 10, so as it was a nice morning we went and sat outside a cafe by St. Peters and had a coffee. Went and had a look round the big outdoor shop when it opened but couldn't find anything that I liked ata price that I liked.
Headed out to the airport and had lunch in the senator lounge and cafe. No probelms on the flight to Zurich, but we only got a sandwich to eat.
Had some soup and ice cream in the lounge at Zurich. FLight started boarding early but there was no queue at security so we arrived on time. Uneventful flight. Arrived in Birmingham and our luggage arrived fairly quickly, although someone at Heathrow might have a long wiat as their bag was on the baggage bet at Birmingham!
Managed to get straight onto the Skyrail and then straight onto a train and home to a pile of mail.

Current Location: München

Had breakfast and finsihed packing which involved re packing several times to fit everything in. Why do I always seem to have so much stuff? Got the train to Worgl, had a drink and a slice of pizza at Worgl before getting the train to Munich. Slightly concerned about the amopunt of water sloshing around inside the window where we were sat. You could have kept several fish in it.
Got checked into the hostel, then went for a walk. Munich seems very busy and crowded after Kitzbuhel. It also seems very hot. Stopped for a cooling drink at an outdoor cafe,then went to find a cashpoint. The cashpoint wouldn't give Andrew any money. Started heading back to the hostel the check the bank accont but on the way ANdrew found a cashpoint that would give him money, so we stopped at the Augustiners beerhall for a drink instead.
Headed out to Schwbing for dinner then had a walk round the Englishergarten. For some mysterious reason our path led us to the Chinese Tower, so we stopped for a drink. I sent Andrew mountain__man for a beer expecting a normal sized one and got a stein!
Headed back to the hostel and had a coiple of beers whilst watching the cricket. The hostel was rather hot, so we headed out an dfound a bar the other side of the station where we were told Weissbier is good for your stomach and kidneys.

Raining again this morning but decided to go for a walk round Schwarsee, the rain had stopped when we set of, however it was coming down agian when we reached Schwarsee. Stopped for a hot chocolate, hoping that the rain might stop as well. It didin't, so we abandoned the attempt at a walk and got the bus back to Kitzbuhel. Did a bit of packing and then had a walk round town as it had of course stopped raining now. Stopped for lunch at Cafe Melange, whilst having lunch there was another torrential downpour. Spent some time attempting to pack this afternoon. Had a game of pool with Andrea in Flannigans, which she won, no surprise there. Had a couple of beers in Herzl before going to Alt Kitzbuhel for dinner. Had a drink in LA Fonda, then headed down to Sigi's. Sigi's got invaded by the local football team who have just won promotion. Sigi's was also showing wrestling, although I know it is al faked there is still something I don't like about seeing people trying to beat each other senseless and inflict the maximum amount of pain on people.

Woke to rain this morning so decided to stay in and finish my application form. Got it finished by lunch time and managed to send it of by the 3rd attempt. Headed up to Hannenkham Sturbel for lunch. Had a lazy afternoon, a look round a few shops, writing postcards etc. Went to Flannigans later on to watch the rugby which I am pleased to say the lLions won despite sone very dodgy reffering. After the match went to Herzl for a Jausen Platter before heading hme and having a cup of tea in bed.

Weather mixed again today. Went up the horn and had a look at the path to St. Johanbut decided not to try it. Walked down the road and ten managed to esacpe it and the tourists to scramble up to Hornkopfull. A farmer mending his fence did point out that there was an easier way to go that didn't involve a scramble but we went the more fun route.
Stopped for a drik and watched a dog climbing onto a roof. Weather cariable involving multiple changes of clothing. Enjoyed a nice walk down to the Adlerhuttw, where I had salad for lunch to boost my vitamin intake.
After our walk I ahd a shower and uploaded some photos, then discovered that a job I wanted to apply for had to be in by Friday. Did some work on my application but Dave's internet kept cutting out so in the end decided to go to Flannigans for a drink.
The plan was to go to Hopfgarten this evening but there was a slight delay as I had read the train times wrong, so we had a drink at the bar next to the station whilst waiting for the next train. Arrived in Hopfgarten with no further problems. Had a meal at Traube, which was nice except that it seemed to be the popular evening spot for flies. After fly fighting we went to the Bullet for a few beers. Introduced Andrea to Flurgel which seemed to be going down well. The Bullet was quiet to start with, then got mobbed by Contiki. Unfortunalty Brett wasn't there so we couldn't wind him up about Australia been out the cricket 20:20.
Caught the train home and went to bed.

Woke at 7am to rain so went back to sleep. Looking brighte when I got up later on. The BNP had won another seat overnight. It makes you realise how people could be persuaded to vote for the Nazi party in Germany. The problem is that people don't see the euro elections as importnat so are more likely to protest vote, and they've had a lot to protest about this time.
As the weather looked unsettled decided to get the train over to Hopfgarten. Weather decided to turn into a nice day and we had a very nice walk from the top of Hohe Salve to Hochsoll. Coming down the the top section the path was very rough and scrambly in places. Met a german family walking up. They seemed a bit worn out and didn't seem to have suitable footwear. I think the path was a bit tougher than they expected. Came out at the top of the Hochsoll skiruns and continued our walk through alpine meadows starred with blue and yellow flowers. Had lunch at Hochsoll and walked back to the Gondola through Hexenwaser. Had fun playing with the sluice gates in places. Got the gondola back to Hopfgarten and the train back to Kitz for a shower before going to Flannigans for a drink. Stayed to watch the first part of the Sri Laken cricket match. Went to Alt kitzbuhel for dinner, but it was closed so went to the Eggerwirt for a steak instead. Had a beer in La Fonda before bed.

Woke to sunshine, and surprisingly not a hangover. Had breakfast at the hostel amd then headed up to Hannenkham. Unfortunatly the top was still shrouded in damp cloud. Had a nice walk round the Huttenrunde route. IT was abit muddy in places. The clouds thinned occasionaly to give a glimpse of the spectacular views before drifting back acros the oppisite montain slopes again. Passed people running a moutian race, some of them looked about 90 and yet could still run up a mountain and looked a lot fitter than me. Stopped at Haneenkham Surbel for lunch. After lunch headed back to Kitzbuhel. It bagan to rain, so we stopped at Cafe Melange for a drink and then headed back to snowbunnies for a shower.
Later went for a drink in Flannignas and attemted to play Andrea at pool. She won but I only had one ball left to pot, although Andrea had helped oput by potting a few of mone for me. Went to Herzl for a drink before having dinner at LA Fonda then went to Sigi's. PLayed table football, which I lost then went to Snowbunnies to see the first few euro election results comein. Labour are doing badly, unfortunatly one of the beneficiaries of that seems to be the BNP who had gianed one seat when we went to bed. It does seem a strange electoral system where someone can get eleced even though only 9%of voters voted for that person.

Slept OKish, kept waking up for a drink as the hostel was very hot. Also had a very lound snorer in the dorm. However, I did manage to sleep through someone having problsm with their locker and then going outside to throw up.
The bathroom was so hot that having a shower was more like having a sauna. Had breakfast at the hostel, then headed straight over to the train station, after getting confused by the ticket machine, raced of to try and catch the train. After a bit of a run managed to reach the right platform on time, only to discover that the train had been cancelled at Hauptbahnhof and was now starting from OStbahnhof, which wasn't much us to us. So much for German efficency. Had a drink while we waited an hour for the next one.
The next train arrived and turned out to be a double decker train, so we sat on the top deck. The luggage racks are a bit small, cetainly not designed to take rucksacks.
Eventualy escaped from the noisy kids in the carriage at Rosenheim. The trian was late and we only had seven minutes connection time so it was a wuick dash through Rosenheim station but we managed to make the connection to a train without nosiy kids. Arrived in Worgl, running even later so another quick dash was in order. Slightly concerned by the way the train was still moving when the doors opened and we got of. We made the finaly connection and settled down to enjoy the ride up the valley. Weather seems to be cloudy but warm. Arrived at Snowbunnies to find that Dave had given us the wrong door code! Eventually got in. After checking in we decided to head otu for lunch. Had just got out the front door when the rain started pelting down, so went back upstairs to fetch raincoats and by the time we came back down the rain had almost stopped. Headed to Cafe Melange for a milkshake and lunch.
Went to Flannigans for a quick drink and as the rugby was on stayed to watch it. Decided to leave before the next match started and habe a shower. After a shower and a rest and checking the local election results, the massacre of labour made Andrew (mountian__man) smile, we had a couple of beers in Herzl then went to La Fonda for something to eat. I had the new daily special Grillteller which was very nice. After that we headed over to Sigi's. ON the way I stopped at a cash point and put my card in. The screen said please wait in several langauges, the said please wait just in English. I waited, the screen continued to say please wiat, I continued to wait. After about 5mins. of waiting I decided something was not right. I pressed the cancel button, but that had ne effect, I pressed everyother button, that had no effect either. I then phoned my bank who said it sounds like the machines eaten your card. We will cancel that one and send a new card and PIN number to your home address, it will take about five days. Headed on up to Sigi's. Got into conversation with an american builder, which then turned into Schnapps drinking, which then turned into a round of the Jagermeister game, whcih I eventualy lost in a drink of with Raff. After a short discussion on morals and religion, Raff offered revenge. Tried saying that as a Christian I don't do revenge but it didn't work and the box came out once agian. This time it wa the American guy that ended up paying.
Eventualy headed home through a still raining Kitzbuhel. The cash point was still saying please wait when we passed it on the way home.

Up early this morning. No problems leaving home and walking to the station. Got my train ticket and met Andrea for breakfast in the first class lounge. Train to the airport was on time and we checked in without any problems. Then we got to security. Andrea got sent back to pack her liquids in clear plastic bags. Eventually we all got to the other side of security. At this point I realised that I had started the process with two boarding passes and now only had one. I went and spoke to Julie, the nice lounge dragon, who suggested going back to security and asking to see if it had been found. I headed back to security and a nice, little, twinkling man went and had a look round. After diving under a couple of tables, he emerged triumphant with my missing boarding card. My boarding card and I then happily returned to the lounge for a drink before boarding our flight on time. The flight was uneventful, although I had Andrew's mountain__man breakfast as it was fruit and he doesn't eat healthy things like that.
Arrived in Zurich early, so even had time for a quick glass of prosecco in the lounge. Although as there were no seats we went to the bar. It is nice to sit at a long bar and get served drinks for free, however as it is now the only place in the lounge to smoke I nearly choked when first going in. Boarded the flight to Munich with no further problems, although we were slightly late leaving. Despite this delay we arrived in Munich on time. Had a long wait by Munich standards to be reunited with our baggage, but all was well in the end and we managed to jump straight on an S-Bahn.
Checked into Euro youth hotel. The rooms have changed somewhat since our last trip. We are now in a room of twelve rather than 22, however it also costs more. A good idea is that the upper bunks now have a little shelf, very useful for putting my glasses on at night. Once sorted our bunkwise, we headed out to walk to Hofbrauhaus. It is a gloriously hot sunny day. The sunlight gleamed of red tiled roofs and the church spires sparkled in the clear blue sky. An election rally reminded me that they don't vote in the Euros till Sunday here, at home who knows if Gordon Brown will still be PM by Sunday. Later we passed a group with placards, obviously going to 'debate' with the speakers at the election rally, that would explain the high police presence we had spotted. To avoid the worst of the crowds we walked round by the Cathedral to Hofbrauhaus for a stein of beer and lunch. It seems that the locals as well as having their own beer steins also have their own vegetables as one wandered past in his lederhosen to clean his turnip.
After lunch we had a stroll through the Hopfgarten, listed to an extremely good busker on a cell. We then strolled in the warm sunshine from the Hopfgarten to the Englishergarten, whilst having a philosophical discussion about how Munichers seen the English Garden. Stopped for a drink at the Chinese Turn, which turned into several as philosophical/theological discussions ensued.
Eventually headed back to town. Had a beer at Augustiner am Dom, then headed back to the hostel for a pizza before bed.

Current Location: Munich

A friend had a nw car on Saturday and wanted to take it for a drive, so we agreed to join her for a trip out to the wilds of South Warwickshire. She was very impressed with her new car, I was very impressed by the beautiful cottages in all the little pretty villages we went through. Stopped for a spot of refreshment at Edge Hill. The Castle Inn is a lovely, if fake, building and the beer garden is situated on the edge of the hill, overlooking a valley where a key battle in the English Civil War was held. It looked peaceful and beautiful in the lovely summer sunshine, but you could imagine the sounds and sights of battle there. The Castle Inn also supplied us with some very fine liquid refeshment, however we had just missed the lunchtime food. So, after enjoying a pint in the summer sunshine we headed back to Avon Dasset and a pub that advertises "64 different ways to eat pie". It was a slight dissapointment to discover that this wasn't 64 different varieties of pie, but four differnt pies with a choice of four differnt types of potato and four different sauces. Andrew (mountain__man) did the maths to work out that this did indeed make 64 different ways to eat pie. However, we decided it was too hat for pie, so settled for a burger instead, which was very good. This pub also boasted a very nice pub dog that I made friends with. All in all it was a very plesant day out.

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It all started with the Chrism mass on Maundy Thursday morning at the Cathedral. It all seemed to go OK, although I have noticed that clergy don't seem to robe for it these days, they used to wear cassock and surplice. They also used the high altar this year when previously they have used the "coffee table" nave altar.
Thursday evening it was along to Mary Mags for the Maundy service with stripping of the altar, complete with a sign language interpretation. It all seemed to go nice and smoothly. I do think the Easter services are amazingly dramatic with the light going out of the church and all the glory been stripped away for the desolation of Good Friday. Good Friday we went to the Cathedral service in the morning. Very plain, very simple, but in it's own way also very beautiful and an amazing contrast with Saturday night which is a riot of noise and light and celebration, even if the Paschal Candle did go out enroute from the holy fire in the ruins into the Cathedral. However, the light did manage to return with bells ringing, party poppers popping and all manner of celebrations. The cathedral was quite full and it was nice to see a good number of people getting confirmed. Bishop John preached an excellent sermon including a joke about the pope and the chief Rabbi. This service seemed to sum up what the people of God celebrating should be like, I should think there were people there from a wide range of backgrounds, theology and liturgical tradition but we could put our differences aside and all come together as the people of God to celebrate the risen Christ.
After the service it was time to get a few hours sleep before doing it all again at 6am at Mary Mags. The service was smaller, but no less joyful and was followed by an excellent breakfast before heading back to the Cathedral for the 10.30am service, with brass band for extra oommph! There was a good sized congregation there which was good to see. Despite the tiredness the servers still managed to get through the service without collapsing. Apparently we were even honored with the presence of Lord Trimble in the congregation. After a much needed drink it was back home to cook the Easter lamb and try out using our table to entertain for the first time. It all seemed to go very well, the food seemed to be liked and plenty of wine was drunk. Now I've just got to recover from it all before I go back to work next week!

For some reason had a long sleep in this morning and didn't wake up till about 10 am. It was snowing a bit but then began to get better so mountain__man (Andrew) headed up the mountain and I headed to a Chinese for lunch. Had spring roll and pork sweet and sour with rice all for six euros. I got some postcards and came back and wrote them over a coffee before going back out to get stamps and post them. On the way back had a little look round an art gallery/shop. They had some very nice things, especially wood carving, but they were also very expensive. Had a few drinks in Flannagins and then went ti Hertzel. It was their last night for the season so had a Hertzel platter for dinner before having a few in La Fonda to round the evening off.

Well, it was raining this morning but started snowing this evening. Have had a fairly lazy day recovering from yesterdays walk. Went to mass at the Franciscan monastery church this morning. Couldn't understand much of the German but could follow the basic structure of the service as it is the same as ours. I can't comment on the preaching content but the delivery style was appalling with the preacher standing there looking down at what he was reading the whole time. Disapointed that there was no incense and no procession in and out. There was one priest and one monk acting as a server, somehow I was expecting a whole procession of them processing in and chanting. For the collection they had a bag on a long pole, which I thought was quite a good way of doing it. However, taking up the collection was the only time any member of the congregation was specifically involved. Communion was in one kind only, which I always find slightly odd. At the end there was the blessing and dismissal and then a hymn during which the priest and server left and then everyone just left as soon as they had finished singing, no one really pausing to pray and certainly no chatting over a cup of coffee.
Went up to the top of Hannenkham for lunch and a view of nothing except snow! Had a lazy afternoon reading and then a couple of beers in Flannagins before going to the Eggerwirt for a very nice romantic meal. Finished the evening with a few beers in Hertzel.

Had a bit of a lie in this morning as I didn't have to be up for school. However, it was a lovely warm sunny day so didn't stay in bed to long. mountain__man (Andrew) decided to have a day of from skiing and we walked over to Schwarzsee. Decided to take the path across the fields, this was maybe not such a good choice. In places it was fine but in other places it was still covered in ice and snow! However, we made it to the other side and stopped at the cafe for a drink. It was so hot I even took my jumper off. I enjoyed watching all the dogs that were in the cafe, from very little ones to great big ones. After our drink we walked a short way round the lake but the path became solid ice under the trees so we gave up and walked back to Kitzbuhel by road. By the time we got back I was definitely ready to sit down so we had lunch at Cafe Melange. Had a few hours rest in the afternoon before going out for a few drinks and then going over to Hopfgarten to have a very nice meal at Traube and a few drinks in the bar with Danni and a few other people. The train back was on the right platform, but was late, however this time I did manage to understand the station tannoy announcement in German.

Woke up this morning and discovered a body lying on the landing floor. It was still breathing so just stepped over it to go to the shower. It was still there, although it had changed position when I left to go to my last day at Deutsch Institute. Lots of grammar and I'm not sure I get it all, but I know my German is much better than it was before, and if I think about it I can say that in German. Had a cheese and ham omlette at snowbunnys for lunch. Spent the afternoon relaxing, before going out for a drink with the ski club rep. Had Cordon bleu at snowbunnys for dinner before heading down to the Sigi's end of season party. They ran out of weisbier after two each which meant we had to switch to normal beer, not so nice but it was free so can't complain! Raf and Ben were dressed up in hats and wigs and mustaches. Decided to leave reasonably early before the real carnage started!