Stammtisch und Cremeschnitte

I can't believe that it has only been two days since I last updated- so much has happened!

The fellow who was supposed to pick me up at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station)didn't show up at 5:00, or 5:30... perhaps it was a good thing that I was too tired to panic! I gave him a ring on a borrowed cell phone and he dropped what he was doing and finally met me at about 7 pm. thought that I was coming in on Thursday, not Tuesday, but by chance the extra key in his pocket (he had picked up another student earlier) was for my room! He hauled my bags and we jumped on a tram and headed into Graz.

My roommate was already home when I walked in my room, and introduced herself as Ruth- originally from the Seattle area but lives in Moscow ID, studies Mech Engineering at U of I, and attends E-Free. I had just flown halfway around the world and discovered that my roommate was from the Palouse.

We were up early the next morning to walk to the KFU campus for our first German meeting. Everyone was broken into groups for oral exams, and then back to the ÖAD housing office in my apartment building to have our Meldezettel (city registration forms) and housing agreements signed. Then back to KFU to pay our course registration fee and find where we were placed. So much walking and waiting in queues! On the plus side, I know the route between home and class pretty well, and made some new friends.





Petra invited us to meet her and her Austrian mentor in the Hauptplatz (city centre) for drinks and conversation at 7, so after a short respite at home I laced up my shoes once again and headed out. We ended up at a Stammtisch (lit. regular's table)at a traditional Steirischer restaurant (der Herzl), surrounded by a group representing Austria, the UK, USA, Poland, Canada, France, Spain, Czech, and more. The conversation began in German, but after 8:30 the restrictions were lifted and a mix of German and English filled the room as more and more people came, tables were added, and food and drinks flowed into the room. I learned from one of the long-time attendees that the Stammtisch had been started in 1945 by a few members of the post-war British administration in Graz to encourage inter-cultural understanding. They're now online at the Anglo-Austrian Society. I headed home around 10:30, but it was still going strong when I left!

Today started with a trip to drop off my Meldezettle at the Hauptplatz. I was a few minutes late to class and was squeezed in between a girl from St. Paul, MN and a chap from just outside of Manchester, UK. Our prof is great and keeps the class moving and all of his students engaged. We represent most of the northern hemisphere- from Korea to the Basque country (no, she's not related to Jone) to the four corners of the US.

Today's highlight was the mission that Ruth and I undertook in the afternoon to find an ethernet cable (for my internet), eggs (pita time!), and coffee. We wandered through the Altstadt (old part of town), found our supplies, stopped by a bookstore, and randomly chose a cafe to stop at as we walked home. The lady there spoke very rapid Steirisch (the local dialect), and we were not sure what exactly happened- we ordered a Klein Braun and Cappuccino, and somehow ended up with this incredible pastery in front of us called Cremeschnitte (we had to look it up online later). Imagine a thin

layer of flaky pastry with two inches of creamy custard and two inches of fluffy heavy whipped cream, and then top the entire thing off with another thin pastry and frost the top. Oh goodness. I definitely made popcorn on the stove for dinner tonight and am still feeling full!



My apologies for another long post- Tomorrow is "tour Graz" day!

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