Next stop...

Hey all-
heading off in 8 hours for a weekend in Vienna with Petra and two of her roommates. Fun stuff!

1/3 of the way...

168/3 = 56 = number of days I have been in Austria!

I can hardly believe that my time here is 33% finished. School has taken over a large part of my time now, but I try to take a break from classes/friends/homework/avoiding homework/facebook to sit back and enjoy the fact that I am in Austria. Today it happened at Sorger's on the way home from class (I realized that Sorgar reminds me of the A&W in Creston, what Grandpa calls the "old folk's home")- time to sit down and sip a braun Verlängerter.

(new formatting- click "read more" for the full post)
I've started brainstorming things I want to do/places I want to go in the next few months. Here is where it stands now:

climb outside
have at least one german language exchange
be an exceptional guest
become a "regular" at a pub or café (Skyping from Barista's does't count)
pass all classes
feet in the Adriatic in Croatia or Slovenia
survive the epic marathon with Smalls in July
hike to an alpine hut
back to Deutschland

Any suggestions for the list? You can leave a comment without having a blogger/gmail account!

Zeichensaal

For the past few weeks I have been putting hours in on my KWB (Konstruktiver Wasserbau) project with my partner, Anna. We have been designing a "Hochwasserrückhaltebecken" or flood retention structure. The course is in English but my partner and professor are both Austrian, so there is always some translation going on! For example, it took me most of the afternoon yesterday to realize at t_gr (Tief Grenz, which I took literally as "depth limit") was actually the flow's critical depth. Yikes!

Anna is a member of the Beton and Holzbau Zeichensaal, so we have been using their rooms for most of our project work. It has been so much fun! The Zeichensaal is a study and on-campus living space for a group of students for homework/projects, food, and meeting with friends. The closest thing that I can think of at WSU is the Engineers Without Borders office (Otherwise known as the Fortress of Scholartude or the "clubhouse") or the architects' studios. The Zeichensaal is similar, but is the size of an apartment and has a full kitchen, dining room, computer room with Autocad and analysis software,
study room with tall windows and personal desks... yup, its pretty much fantastic! The walls are lined with neckties (and a few bras) hung under the names and dates of graduation. There are cabinets in the storage rooms with past projects and theses for reference by the current students. 
   The Zeichensaal is not only for studying- the people who are there are really fun! Okay, so honestly, most of the time I have no idea what people are saying if they are not talking about the weather or food. BUT sometimes they do switch to English- and a few translate for me when the conversation ist auf Deutsch. Normally everyone breaks at about 3.00 and the espresso machine (like a Keureg) cranks out half a dozen Grosser Brauner.
My vote: We need to get some of these at WSU! 

PS- I found the picture of Dani and Anna on the Zeichensaal website... No, they do not normally wear Drindl! It was from a convocation celebration a while ago :)

Lisa visits Styria!

   At 1:00 on Friday I got on a bus to the airport, where I was waiting for Lisa Chen when she stepped off the plane from Glasgow. We stopped at Cafe Binder (where Ruth and I had our first espresso) to treat Lisa to Austrian coffee and Cremeschnitte! We dropped our gear back at the apartment and headed into the city to meet up with friends for coffee at the Star cafe. We went wandered home and talked in the kitchen with Ruth and Mikel for a while before setting the alarm before going to bed.

   Saturday morning: got up and walked down to the market. After some Apfelschnitte and cider we got on the bus. First stop: Hundertwasser Church. So many tiles and colours, absolutely beautiful and kinda funky. We spent about an hour there, went on a tour, etc. before loading back on the bus for a trip to the royal stud farm at Piber. All of the horses at the Spanish Riding school in Vienna come from this farm. The foals are super super cute, and there was one black one who will remain black for his entire life. The Spanish riding school always has one dark Lipizzaner in Vienna. So much 

better than most places, we could pet any horse within reach. The foals are trained for three months in harness and three in saddle. The best in attitude, conformation, and athletic ability are taken to a raising farm and then to the school. Piber lipizzaners that don't make the cut are sold- between €10,000-30,000. All of the horses that we met were so friendly and well-mannered, I just wanted to sit and hug horses!

   The last stop was a thermal spa in Köflach. Lisa and I were both battling sicknesses, and our five minutes in the "Dampfsauna" were the perfect thing to get rid of Lisa's headache!

   This morning Lisa and I did a quick walking tour of Graz before she had to get on a bus. We stopped for tea next to the Stadtpark and then found the double-winding gothic stairs in the Burg/medieval royal family's living quarters. We hiked up the Schloßburg, across the Murinsel, and back through the streets to catch the bus at Jakominiplatz. 

The photos from this weekend are in the photo gallery. There is also a video from Piber posted in the Video gallery. I will add Lisa's pictures when she sends them to me!

I'm thinking about transferring this website over to a blogspot format. Thoughts, opinions, preferences? E-mail or comment :)

Considering Switching...

I am thinking about switching from my current website format (google sites) to this Blog setup. What do you think?

Saturday Market

 

        

    What to do on a sunny Saturday when your schedule is completely free 'till 6 pm? Jump on your bike and take a trip to the Market, of course! All things fresh, hand-made, and green :) 

 

    Wrapped chunks of fresh and smoked meat (local, of course!) is passed over counters to be taken home for Sunday dinner. Wreathes and baskets of flowers are proof that spring is almost here! Huge loaves of fresh Bauernbrot (thick, crusty farmer's bread) make your mouth water.  

    Ciders and juices are available in any combination you could want, so long as it starts with Apfel. Apple and Johannisbeere (Black currant), anyone? How about Apple-carrot?

    The sign at the fish stand informs buyers that fish is "Healthy, easy to digest, and quick to prepare. Caught fresh daily!"

As always, click on any picture to see a larger version.

More on Venice

    Launie shared a few more pictures of Venice with me, which is Fantastic since I really didn't take that many, and she was the only person to have her camera out over dinner! I ordered a Menu, which is essentially the deal of the day. It was three courses: Penne, Polenta with Gargonzola and Bleu cheese, and a salad. Yes, in Italy they eat the salad last and always serve bread with the meal so you can wipe your plate! Kate ordered a Pizza with Artichoke and Fungi (they call mushrooms what they are). Launie ordered a Calazone that was stuffed with a couple different types of cheese and had an egg somehow fried inside of it. Two of their fellow Landscape Architecture students joined us- the more the merrier!

    The other handy bit about having 

Launie's photos is that she got some of the traditional costume and the back corners of Venice where we were lost for a short time- until we went into a tiny shop and the girls asked for directions! Once we knew which Piazza we were in, it was no trouble getting back to the main bridge. On the way, we passed buildings where the laundry was hung out to dry, the tiny bridges were empty,

 and just a few costumed Venetians were reclined in the sunny piazzas. Still, the €2 map that I bought at the beginning of the day was a worthwhile investment! 

    The ESN office organized a city walking tour on Sunday afternoon. Afterwards, we all went in to the Gösser brewery for talks and drinks- where everyone ordered tea because we were freezing! Anyways, sitting across from two Italians the group started talking about what Venice would 

be like in 50 years. The city was once around 200,000 people, and now only 60,000 Venetians live there. The older generation is gone. The conclusion of the Italians? Without drastic intervention, the city will be gone in 50 years. Storm surges, high tides, and settling pile foundations are slowly taking their tole on 600 years of brick, stone, and plaster. 

    I am still hoping that the little bag of postcards and souvenirs that I left on the bus turns up at some point, although my second visit to the travel agency was a fruitless as my first, because in 50 years that may be all that I have of Venice! (Also, the bag contains part of Emily's birthday present... blast!)

    Thanks again for dinner, Dad! Oh, and the girls and their friends said to say "thanks!," too!

Venice: Karneval

    Yesterday started with an alarm going off at 03:30, a short bike ride to the Mensa (with Ruth on the back rack for the first part), and a 6+ hour bus ride across the Steiermark, through the Alps, and into Italy. We piled off the buses and took off on foot into Venice. What a city! Packed with thousands of tourists, but spectacular nevertheless. I met up with Kate and Launie, housemates from the Rock who are studying in Firenze/Florence, at the Ponte Rialto, and we wandered into the Piazza San Marco. Venice was alive with colourful, intricate masks and costumes wherever you turned. We got lost in the northern part of the island, and had my 'birthday' linner at a little cafe. The rest of the crew ordered Pizza or Calzone, but I decided to go for the daily Menu (special) in the Italian style, which started with Penne in a zesty tomato sauce, then Polenta, and finally a salad.

When the Firenze crew had to leave to catch the train, I met back up with Ainhoa, Tomás, and Alex. We wandered slowly back towards the bus- stopping to look at costumes and masks and for Gelato, Macchiato, and Glüwein. It was a very quiet bus ride back to Graz!

    It was a day to see Karneval, not Venice itself. I need to go back and see the Guggenheim collection, the frescoes, climb the tower, ride the boats...

Off to catch a city tour of Graz, check out the photo gallery for more pictures!

In the past month that I've been here, there are a

 few things that I've noticed about Austrians... Like the fact that they eat Hobbits! (maybe that's just Styrians!)

• The German is soft and the people are friendly
• All of the WC's (Water Closets) are duel flush
• When you walk around downtown, you can actually hear your own footsteps. For a city of nearly 300,000 people, it is absurdly quiet!
• Biking to work in your suit is the norm, just hang your briefcase off one of the handlebars.
• Café/Konditorei
• A shot of regular espresso is a klein Schwartz, always served on a saucer and platter with a spoon, sugar, biscuit, and a small glass of still water. 
• Order a pastry or roll- I guarantee that either will be delicious!
• Don't plan on rushing it. Sit back, sip, chat with the other people at your table. 
• No one to eat with? Sitting down with someone else is perfectly acceptable!
• Drive through? What's that?
• Student card = discount!
• Castles, Deutsch, Parks (which will soon be green), cultures, fun people, Beautiful city! 

Of course, it isn't always heaven. Another 7 things... 

• For the first week I wasn't sure that people were actually speaking German. Steirisch is crazy!
• No WiFi (pronounced VeeFee) at home
• I speak virtually no German at home. Without immersion it is so difficult to achieve a saturation level learning rate!
• No Pandora :(
• Figuring out the Austrian university system- and coordinating courses between two Austrian universities... I'm dreading what it will look like when I try to convert everything back to WSU credit!
• Exchange rate. Yuk. 
• You aren't here! 

In other news, the welcome breakfast on Monday was wonderful, I'm going climbing tomorrow with some other exchange students, and since Monday my chest cold has taken up residence in my sinuses, complete with headache. I'm trying to sleep it off before Venice on Saturday!