[Rick Lee]

When I tried to take Mandarin night classes, I only got to the second level because I was the only person who signed up for the third level and they kept canceling the class.

Austria and Südtirol in northern Italy really speak a tough dialect. I've spent almost as much time in Austria as Germany, so I can handle it now, but it usually takes a few hours upon arrival before that dormant part of my brain wakes up and remembers everything. Learning textbook German works fine for most parts of Germany, especially northern Germany. But it's not real helpful in Bavaria and Austria.