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Christkindl, Upper Austria
Simmonds Sprach Akademie
Rev. Rodney C. Simmonds
of/von
17th December 2008 - 4th January 2009/17. Dezember - 4. Januar 2009
Homestead, 64 Ullcombe Gardens,
Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7QZ, England
Tel & Fax: 0044/1227/46 43 58
from/von 15th April/15. April 2007
Libellanweg 2,A-4040 Linz-Treffling, Austria.
Tel: 0043/732/79 05 94
rodneycs@hotmail.com
I have now been more than a year in my new place and have had two harvests from my part of the garden. Runner beans amd sunflowers grow well but strawberries, broad peans, French beans and peas do not. I have a good show of marigolds and dahlias and gladioli do all right. I also have a yellow rose and a hydrangea and have planted raspberry canes. Tomatoes and marrows/pumpkins both years have done poorly. Beetroot, cellery and artichokes have also done poorly.
I found a new place to live because of problems with the landlady because an argument between two old ladies which had been going on for over sixty years all because my former landlady was the mistress and had children by her future husband before he was divorced from his first wife and sixty years ago that was frowned on. The old lady on the top floor fell down and asked for my help and my landlady did not like me helping her so that is why I had problems. I handed over the keys to the old flat on the 20th May 2007
My place is just outside the city boundaries of Linz off the road going towards Freistadt and Prague [although most traffic uses the motorway which is also close by]. I have 3 rooms [living room plus balcony, bedroom and a room where I have my fridge and microwave] on the first floor of a house owned by an elderly couple [Josef 85 & Rosie 84] whose 3 children [Erhard 2 years younger than me, Dietmar & Ilse who actually owns the house] all live in Vienna where Dietmar & Ilse own a 5 flat house and Erhard his own house. There is a nice garden round the house in Libellenweg [It was named Libellenweg because of all the dragonflies(Libellen)]. I am enjoying being able to pick strawberries from the garden and cherries from the trees. I have been assigned a section of the garden on the west side of the house which is rather shady where I have planted flowers and vegetables which are growing well. I keep my bicycle in the garage which is in the basemnt as Josef is no longer driving a car because of 3 strokes and a triple bypass. There is one other room upstairs which Dietmar or Erhard use to sleep in with their families when they come. There is also a bathroom/wc.
I live between two Winkler farmhouses, the upper one was built in 1800 and is now a 'Most Heuriger' i.e. a place where you can drink the alcoholic 'Most' rather like dry cider and have snacks on Monday, Wednesday & Friday evenings. There are nice walks close by as well including along the former Horse Railway which went from Budweis in Bohemia through Linz to Gmunden in the Salzkammergut.
Hence the name of the locality is Winkler Siedlung as well as the name of the post bus stop on the B125. The whole Winkler Siedlung has the same post code as Linz [A-4040] and the same telephone code [0732] compared with the rest of the community of Engerwitzdorf which have different codes.
I was in England from the 11th - 29th June - 8th July and from the 5th- 26th September 2007 when I had to have the central heating boiler replaced as it was 41 years old. The previous year[2007] I had classes into August on two courses but all courses beyond this were taken over by the owner of the firm. I had very little paid work from the beginning of September and was thinking of packing up & returning to England this summer until things opened up with the VHS.
This year I have started to teach at the Volkshochschule and have one continuation course with Hostesses of the Linz Town Council and have two courses starting in September with the telephonists of the Linz Town Council. Hopefully some more courses will come along as my name is down in the new catalogue with one course for pensioners on a Monday morning and other courses in the evenings but it all depends if enough people enroll if the courses actually take place. I expect to be continuing with the co-teachings in the vocational schools in Upper Austria which now also include the vocational schools in Gmunden. Also this autumn I will be teaching English to nurses of the Sisters of Mercy Hospital [Baumherzigenschwestern] Nursing School in Linz.
This year I had 8 days in Poland which was very interesting but also very exhausting. I have also been on a 'Werbereise' to the Moselle Valley and enjoyed drinking the Moselle wine which is more to my taste than the dry Austrian white wines.
Rodney on London Eye summer 2000
Rodney with Japanese student in tea shop summer 2003
Please contact me for:
English teaching in your work place or home for adults and children -- I specialise in special English like Technical English, Financial English, Banking English, Military English/
englisch Unterricht am Arbeitsplatz oder zu Hause.
English translation from German to English/
englisch Ubersetzen von deutsch auf englisch.
Maths Teaching/
mathematik Unterricht.
Piano Teaching at home/
Klavier Unterricht zu Hause.
May the Lord bless and keep you/
der Herr segnet und behutet euch!
Thank you for visiting my page/
Danke für Ihren/Deinen Besuch.
A Hidden Place
Each of us has a hidden place
Somewhere deep within ourselves;
a place where we go to get away,
To think things through, to be alone, to be ourselves.
This unique place, where we confront our deepest feelings,
Becomes a storehouse of all our hopes,
all our needs,
all our dreams,
And even our unspoken fears.
It encompasses the essemce of who we are
and what we want to be.
But now and then, whether by chance or design,
Someone discovers a way into that place we thought was our alone.
And we allow that person to see, to feel
and to share all the reason,
all the uncertainty and all the emotion
we've stored up there.
That person adds a new perspective
to our hidden realm.
Then quietly settles down in his own corner of our special place,
Where a bit of himself will stay forever.
And we call that person
a friend.
A Prayer For My Computer
Every night I lie in bed
This little prayer inside my head
God bless my colleagues
my students and my friends
who bring me such joy
God, there's just one more thing
I wish that you would do
if you don't mind me asking
To bless my computer too??
Now I know that it's not normal
to bless a small machine
but listen just a second
and I'll try to explain...
You see, that little metal box
holds more than odds and ends
Inside those small components
Rest a hundred loving friends
Some it's true I've never seen
And most I've never met...
never shaken hands or
Ever truly hugged, and yet....
I know for sure they love me
by the kindness they give,
and this little scrap of metal
is how I get to where they live.
By faith is how I know them,
Much the same as I love You
I share in life it brings them,
So if it's OK with you...
Just take an extra minute
from your duties up above....
to bless this little hunk of steel
that's filled with so much love
So God, Please Bless My Computer....
My Cyber Friend
I haven't ever seen you,
But I know you're really there;
I click you into reallity
Like magic from the air.
Your voice is like an angel,
Though I really do not hear;
Your hug as warm as any
Of loved ones I hold dear.
You're always there for comfort,
Or a word of cheer;
Though you are very far away,
I always have you near.
You're a very special friend
Like none I've ever known;
As long as you're in cyberspace
I'll never be alone.
by Rita Ralston
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