Visa, Moving in, Teaching, Lecture, Alpenverein, Stadtpark, Schloß Eggenberg, Drink with Bettina!

Hi everyone,

it's so great to see how many people are keeping up with the blog. I know I can always count on my family (Sandlers count therein!)

Well, I guess its been a few days since I've updated, so i'll give you the lowdown on the most important things that i've done.

On tuesday my school in Leibnitz told me that it was ok not to come in so that i could go pick up my Residency Permit and open a bank account, which I could only do during the morning hours. So I got up and went to the Amtshaus where i could pick up the permit. I had already gotten all the forms signed this summer and stamped and sent in to the consulate, and the Fulbright Commision did the rest of the work, so all I had to do was pick it up. But of course, as government offices tend to be, there was something wrong. The computers were down for about an hour and so I waited around reading a book I picked up at the bookstore by Arthur Schnitzler, an Austrian author. After about an hour and a half the computers went back online and all the woman had to do was type in my name and then pick out my file which had the permit and ID card in there. I paid my dues and peaced out.

I also moved in on tuesday. Bettina showed me around the apartment. how to turn on the hot water boiler for when i want to take showers (takes about an 1-2 to warm up enough, I guess we dont leave it on all the time to save some money) how to change the water from going to the shower to the washing machine (basically unscrewing some metal apparatus and attaching it to the washing machine apparatus), how to answer peoples calls when they ring my "doorbell" downstairs, etc. Unfortunately Otto's sister who lives in the apartment right next to me is on vacation so I won't meet her for another week or so.

Teaching has been going great. Students are really responsive to me and tend to be interested in what I say, although the very first period classes can be kind of hard. I've talked about American school systems (elementary, middle, high, university) and learned some stuff about it as well (like did you know only about 38% of high school graduates go to college?! I definitely thought it was more). I've also done a class about advertising techniques (since that what they were discussing) and brought in my favorite ads from american magazines that i brought with me over here. I also taught one class about American literature by bringing in 4 of my favorite poems (Frost, Silverstein, Wordsworth (ok ok hes british but its still in english) and of course Whitman). So far everythings good, and the teachers are really nice to me. My betreuungsleherin even invited me on the Lehrerausflug (teacher's trip) to the Czech Republic next weekend!!!, so im excited about that and I'm sure it will be fun. Fritz is going too. woo hoo!

On thursday I decided to go to a lecture at the local university called "Warum sterben wir?" meaning "why do we die?" It was part of a 3 part lecture series put on by a philosophy group about basic human questions. Most of the people there were old, as in over 60. there were a few younger people, but they were mostly with other friends, so i didn't really get a chance to talk to them (darn!). I understood almost all of the lecture which was really exciting, although i know it was in Hoch Deutsch and not the regional dialect, because when the locals would ask quuestions, I couldn't always understand them. After the lecture was over I went out into the hall. There was a woman there, probably in her 30s that asked me how it was. i told her what I thought and she started asking me how I would answer the question, which was different than the lecturer, who didn't really give an answer except at the end when he said "finally we see, that the question 'why do we die?' is the same question as 'why do we live?'" and answered mostly by talking about how various religions see the self. she ended up being a christian telling me God is love and that reincarnation is self deception and that its not logical. so i asked her, is it more logical to you that jesus was resurrected in a spirit body? to her it was. dunno, but either way it was fun to have a debate with her in german about this stuff.

On friday i didn't have to teach! My schedule is such that (at least at Leibnitz) i don't have to teach on fridays, which is quite nice. that means when i travel i can start on thursday night or friday. I went to the library to see if i could get a card (but it costs money here, damn!) and then i went to the Alpenverein, which is the local hiking club. It seemed reasonable to me to pay 38 euros to become a member and then be able to go on hiking trips and such with them. I even signed up for a trip coming up in a couple of weeks which i am really excited about. We are hiking from Graz to Mariazelle, which is about 120 km = 75 miles. we are doing this in about 4 days. we are going to be staying in guest houses and hiking in country ( i think! ) which should be beautiful. woo hoo!! we don't get back until monday, so i hope that i can take that day off at my Kaindorf school, which I am teaching at this coming week.

I took a walk through the stadtpark on friday too, which was beautiful! it is definitely my favorite place in Graz, and its right outside my door, which is awesome.

Here is my favorite tree in the park: (I love the changing colors and how leaves just seem to fly off at any given time)

There is also a little monument to Kepler who taught in Graz:

Yesterday it was raining and cloudy so I figured I'd do something "indoor" so I went to the Schloß Eggenberg which is about 15 min outside of Graz by street train. The castle grounds were pretty and had peacocks walking around!

And albino ones!

Heres a cool tumorey tree

The castle itself isn't the most awesome castle, but it had a really cool room called the Planet Room which had black and white checkerboard floors and depictions of all the planets (in their human forms of course) of which they only knew 7 at the time and included the Sun in that count. There were also depictions of the 12 astrological signs around the room and the 4 elements in the 4 corners. check it...

On my way back to the city i heard some sort of sport event coming from a small stadium across the street from the schloß, so i went to check it out. i didn't seem to need a ticket to enter, so i ended up watching the last 20 or so minutes of an American Football game being played by what looked like high school students. I didn't expect that...

I called Bettina and asked her if she wanted to go out for a drink and she did! So i have finally gotten to hang out with a couple of austrian people. i didn't really want to let her know how damn excited i was, lest i seem indigent :)

I also went out to an irish pub with some of the americans that are here in graz. we watched the last half of a soccer game between Ireland and Italy. Soccer is always fun to watch in europe, people are so into it!

anywho, thats all for now. love you all!

First class, Sturm!

My Betreuungslehrerin picked me up at the Hotel this morning at 7am and drove me to school in Leibnitz. She introduced me to many english teachers as well as the other teachers that were around in the conference room. I also met the secretary and librarian. She showed me a bit around the school and then we sat in the teachers lounge for a while. I talked to her and also met two other teaching assistants. One was italian and another french. I wasn't expecting there to be any other teaching assistants, so that was a nice surprise. The teachers were also really nice. I especially like a teacher named Fritz that teaches religious courses (mostly Catholic theology). Many of the teachers commented on how good my german was, and especially my pronunciation. w00t!

The first class I taught was during 2nd period and I taught the 5. Klasse, which are about 14-15 year olds. I introduced myself and played a game with them that I read about in one of the teaching packets we got at orientation. The game involved a roll of toilet paper, and when I brought it out there were super giggly, which was pretty cute and funny. I had them each take as much as they wanted. Some took a lot and some took barely any. Then I told them that for each square they took they had to say one thing about themselves. This got them speaking english and I got to know them a bit.

Then I asked them if they had any general questions about America. One asked how old you had to be to drink. They didn't talk very much, so I just started talking about where I'm from and showed them a map of the US that I brought with me. They knew where california was, which is cool. I also played "California Girls" by the Beach Boys, who they had heard of before. I thought this was a good song because it was pretty easy to understand and also talked a bit about the different regions of the US. "East coast girls are hip..." etc. The teacher told me they were learning about lifestyles in the US so I asked them what sorts of things they learned about different US lifestyles. I also brought a few facts with me about how big the population of CA is vs Austria and also size of the two. They found it interesting how the whole country of austria could fit into just the state of CA 5 times. They asked me about Barack Obama and we talked a bit about why it is so important that he is our president (ie. smart and black). The kids were laughing and saying "Yes we can".

I did the same lesson with the 8. Klasse, 18-19 year olds an hour later. They weren't as intrigued by the toilet paper game, and no one took a whole lot. There were mostly girls in this class for some reason. They asked me some questions too like have I seen the OC? do i has a boyfriend? I asked them some questions too like why they don't wear shoes, but the teachers can in the school. What is the matura (a test that they all have to take at the end of their last year, 3 written subjects of their choosing and 3 oral subjects of their choosing). Almost none of them are doing english as an oral test but many are doing english as a written one. I offered to help them if they needed it.

After this class which was 4th period one of the teachers gave me a ride back to Graz where she also lives. I got to practice my austrian german more and learned some more pronunciation like "wirkl" instead of "wirklich". I had all afternoon to hang around and eat and wander. I called Bettina (the girl living in my soon to be apartment) and she said to call her tomorrow and that she promises she will be out. Yay! I'm happy to finally get to move in to my own place.

Tonight I just walked around Graz some more after a failed attempt to find a short film that I thought was playing tonight. Something good did come out of it though: My first Sturm experience. Sturm is a fermented grape juice, usually white grapes and is anywhere from 4-10% alcoholic. It was fizzy cuz of the yeast and was bitter-sweet and refreshing. Styria (my "state") is well known for its wine production especially in the south of Styria. I don't know if Sturm will be available much after the grape harvest is over (around November).

Tomorrow I have the day off so that I can pick up my residency permit and open a bank account!

Leibnitz visit, ich mog deutsch!, Graz in a new light

Servus! (the Austrian greeting, which seems to be more informal than Grüß Gott, and is actually pronounced here as "Servaaas")

This morning I woke up and took a trip to Leibnitz to check it out again. I got there just as church was getting out. The church is in the center of the town and I could see everyone pass through the doors to congregate in the church plaza from my seat from the outdoor patio of a bakery. I had a "kleines wiener frühstück" a small Viennese breakfast, which included cheese, bread, croissant, butter, jam, 1/4 L oj, and a small pot of coffee (the coffee here is really good by the way). There were some really cute old people sitting around me and also some cute little kids. I saw a few people my age, but none were really sitting around at bakeries, mostly hanging around smoking. A LOT of young kids smoke in Austria.

After paying I walked around the city some more, jotting down numbers of real estate people who could help me find a house here if I wanted. I also did some hiking into the hills, which was nice and fun. It's cool to explore the forest. I came across a living area with some large houses, the first houses I have seen in Austria other than those I pass on the train. The living quarters in Graz and around the center of Leibnitz are all apartments, and tiled larger houses as far as I've seen. I came across a castle and an old wine cellar and could hear some singing from inside the cellar. Most of the people up there were quite old. The view was amazing though. There were some great hills to look at and from one spot I could even see a small town below and a lake. I hiked back down and explored a little camping area before heading back to the train station.

I bought a ticket and waited around for the train to come. There was a young man there, probably around 18 who was talking on the phone. I could barely understand anything he was saying, although he wasn't talking as fast as some of the teenage girls I've heard around. When he got off the phone he started talking to me but I really couldnt understand him cuz his accent was so heavy. I was like "wie bitte?" (what?). He repeated himself but I could only understand one thing every few words. Eventually I started to get what he was saying. He was meeting his friends to watch a soccer match tonight and he was anxious for the train to come. We talked for a while and all the way back to Graz. It was fun to practice my german with someone young and also get a better grasp of how people my age actually speak. I loved learning more austrian pronunciations. "Das mog ich net" for "Das mag ich nicht" and "I konn anglish net" for "Ich kenne englisch nicht". I heard more "bist du deppert" and also lots of "yo" for "ja". He is studying at a Berufschule which is focused on training kids in specific professions. He is studying to become a house painter. I won't be teaching at any of those schools.

After skyping with the fam I went to a brewery/restaurant near the clocktower, which I read online also showed sports. I guess the game hadn't started yet cuz I didn't see anything showing. I ordered my daily .5L beer which was brewed at that spot and also some Erdäpfelpuffer, which are like potato pancakes. I called my Stammschule teacher who is going to pick me up tomorrow and take me to school at 6:50 AM!!!

I wandered around Graz after dinner. It actually isn't so bad at night when the lights are bouncing off the buildings and I really started appreciating the architecture. It is so romantic with the lights and the occasional street musician. I walked in streets I have never walked before, where no cars or streetcars can go. Those places were nice. And there are definitely more people my age here, I think it is just a matter of getting to know them. I think once I get settled into my apartment (Tuesday) then it will be easier to look for clubs (a book or hiking club would be nice), meet my neighbors, go to meetings, maybe take some classes.

I'll be teaching my first few classes tomorrow which I am pretty excited about. I've planned a few things which I think will be fun.

Bis morgen!

Past few days, Settling in

UPDATE: I've added some pictures from the last couple of days, check'em out!

Cute little snail I saw today.

What I've been living on the past couple days.

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A couple of days ago my group woke up early to go to our "practice school". Here are some pictures of the garden of the school.

Nom, seeds from the source.

The scooter area.

The courtyard.

We prepared a lesson the day before during our orientation class, where we decided to play a game with them to get them willing to speak english and then break up into groups and discuss stereotypes they had about Britain and America (since there were british and american TAs in our group). We got there about 7:15 and then went to the Teachers room. It was a set of 4 long tables, each teacher having their own chair and piece of the table, so it was kind of crowded. The school had about 600 students from Kindergarten to the last class, which is about 18-19 year olds. I think this is kind of unusual. We watched one english class which was their 2nd year of english, about 12 years old. The teacher introduced us and had the students asked us questions, like How old are you? Where are you from? They also prayed to a cross on the wall saying the "our Father" prayer in english. The students looked to us to see if we were praying along, which none of us were, which was kind of awkward. They were working in their textbook the whole period (about 50 min) learning irregular past tense verbs, and reviewing the simple past in english. They also listened to the "Don't know much about History..." song, and the teacher encouraged us to sing along. It was fun and the teacher kept their attention really well. Interestingly when a student gets an answer wrong its not uncommon for other students (especially the ones in the front row) to be like "NO NO NO" and raise their hand enthusiastically saying "Ich weiß ich weiß! I know i Know!" One mistake they tended to make was saying past tenses like "learned" as learn-ed and "read" like the present tense to read.

We then got the chance to teach our own class, which was the 5th class, but they were actually in their 6th year repeating all their 5th year classes. THere were a couple of rowdy boys in the class that settled down when we got into groups. I have to pretend I don't know german so that they will try to say everything in english. some of the stereotypes they had of america were that we all drank starbucks, ate fast food, were fat, and didn't like public nakedness. They got off topic after a while and one student kept asking me random questions like do you have a ps3? have you saw the superbowl? when i was trying to ask the girls on my right to explain when they say the Austrian Hymn (their countries' song) the boy on my left had cut off a piece of one of the girls' hair. Not much just a little whisp. But i was like NO! and took it away. Austrian students can be kind of rowdy and unwieldy. But I had fun and i think it will only get better when I learn to create better lesson plans to keep them engaged and get to know my students. I also learned a bit of Austrian german from them. In high german (what we learn in school) to say "I dont know" you would say "Das weiß ich nicht" but in Austrian german it is pronounced like "Dass wohs ich net."

We came back to the castle for lunch, which was once again really gourmet and special. Then went to meet with the Fulbright Commission representatives who went through the legal issues we have to do when we are here. I asked Anita (the coordinater) whether I could move to Leipzig and get my Aufenhaltstitel there. She said that would be a big problem since all the paperwork is already here in Graz, that I should go talk to the Graz Meldeamt and tell them my story and see what they say. She said that for them to send the materials over the Leipzig and have everything checked again would take a month probably, and therefore I wouldnt be able to register with the Austrian school board and therefore wouldnt get paid until December. She said maybe I could just have a teacher sign my Graz Meldezettel and turn that in and move later, but this seemed so roundabout and even if I did, where would I stay? I felt a bit disoriented, especially when she talked about how we need an address to turn in our Meldezettel, get our Residency Permit, open a Bank Account, and register with the schoolboard. Also without the Residency Permit, I cannot work legally with the school. After the talk, I kind of broke down. Not only did I not want to live in Graz, but in another city whcih I didnt have the papers for, but this seemed so hard to do, nor did i have a house in either city arranged, nor had my school teacher replied to my email yet. I started crying and that was a little embarassing, but my orientation teacher Otto, saw me and offered me to live in an apartment he owns in Graz that is near Jakominiplatz for as long or as short as I want to. This was extremely helpful and nice of him and I am going to go see the apartment today.

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Just saw the apartment, it was really cute. I have my own room with 2 windows, a bed, desk and closet. There is a small kitchen attached with a stovetop and refrigerator and sink. Seems like all I need! I share a bathroom with Otto's sister who is away for 2 weeks, so I will get to meet her then. Bettina (Otto's niece) still has all her stuff in the apartment but she will move it all out when she gets back from Salzburg. I can hopefully move in on Tuesday. For now I am staying in some hotels, as I am too wimpy to try out couchsurfing.com. Has anyone used this service with success? To get hot water for the shower i have to turn on a boiler for a couple of hours, which I find kinda cute actually. It'll be nice to settle in to a place of my own. I kind of wish that I was living with some Austrians, but I will do my best to get to know the Music students and Otto's sister who live in the same 200 year old building, which Ottos grandfather lived in. There is a farmers market right across from my apartment and also the Music university, which is nice that I am around lots of other students. There is also a Jazz club nearby which I am excited to check out. I still have my heart on living in nature though... :)

I went to the Meldeamt right after I met with Otto, who signed my Meldezettel. The office was kind of hard to find, but once I got their they dealt with me quite promptly. They told me where the other bulding was where I needed to pick up my Aufenhaltstitel which was about a 30 min walk away. "Viel lauferei" the woman said to me, which just means a lot of "laufen" (walking). I like that construction. I got a bit sidetracked in a market happening in the Hauptplatz. I saw some Austrian traditional music (brass, string, & accordian) being played by men and women in traditional austrian dress (lederhosen and dirndls) and then got a piece of bread with some pumpkin seed spread on it. By the time I got to the office it was closed. It is only open from 8-12:30 apparently, monday thru friday. I have to be at school all morning monday, so hopefully I can find time on tuesday or wednesday to pick it up. I need it to open a bank account.

I came back to the convent and said goodbye to the Nuns who were around and then walked with my stuff to a hotel. I got some bread and cheese and snacks and ate a bit. At night I went for a walk through the Volkspark which was a nice little stroll and then out to a bar called "Exil" where they had some chill music playing from a vinyl player in the front. I got a "Gösser" which is the local beer which was quite delicious and read some stuff I picked up at the local Art Museum, which is a really strange looking building they call the "friendly alien". There weren't too many people at the bar which was nice, somehow I was the only girl though. I didn't really feel like going to sit at tables with some random guys so I left after my beer and walked back to the hotel. At night I watched Star Wars in German!! The best part was Darth Vader saying "Obiwan ist hier. Der Macht ist mit ihm." It was great. I also watched some Austrian news. They have a lot of really shitty talk shows too.

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This morning I woke up and packed up my stuff to go to another hotel just a few doors down (I'm moving because it's cheaper.) I walked around passing through the same market area where today they had some traditional austrian dancers from Tirol.

Instead of saying "tanz" (dance) they pronounced it more like "tohnz". I saw a lot of lederhosen today actually. Usually I see at least one person wearing lederhosen per day, dirndls are more rare. It's always interesting to see them, cuz they stand out so much and they are so cute! I walked to another park which was the nicest one ive been to so far. It had a lot of cool play things for kids. It is south of the city center about 5 or 10 min but the amount of people there was soooo few. I guess everyone just clusters in the center. I walked over to the Museum der Wahrnehmung which is supposedly a visual illusion type museum but it was closed until 2. I walked around some more along the river until i got quite tired and came back to the hotel. I actually really enjoy having access to a tv here because I can practice my german and also I am learning things. For example, I watched a History program today about the fall of the berlin wall and the reunification of Germany. Today is the anniversary of the "Wiederverinigung" (reunification) in Germany. It occured October 3 1990, which isn't so long ago. It's pretty amazing.

Anyways I am feeling more comfortable with the city and thus more comfortable talking to people. The weathers been great (other than a bit of rain the other day) and i love being around German and the Austrian dialect.

Sep 29th entry

I just uploaded 2 entries! So make sure you read the one from yesterday before you read this one!!

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today i woke up earlier than i set my alarm (for 7:30) at 7 when i heard some bells coming through my window. I think they are coming from the Uhrturm (clocktower) up on Schloßberg. I took a shower and then went downstairs to eat breakfast (bread, cheese, butter, jam, musli, apple-orange fresh squeezed juice). A bus came for us at 8:30 to take us up to Schloß St. Martin where we got into smaller groups and met in a conference room to talk with eachother and our 'teacher'. Our group's teacher is named Otto. THey tend to speak to us in english and german. We spent a while talking about some lessons we can do with the kids, like providing 4 statements about yourself, 1 of which is false and reading them aloud and having the kids ask you questions about the statements and then decide which one is false. He mentioned to us that we should speak to them with large gestures, clearly, loudly, and slowly. We should exude energy so that they are not bored. We also talked about fears and expectations.

After our group meeting we went to go hear a couple of lectures. The first one was in German and about "Austrians". He provided texts from different sources (books, advertisements, poems) about Austrians to show that there is no ONE type of Austrian (just like american). Also we talked about the meaning of words and how behind every word there are subtler meanings that are associated with their cultural backgrounds as well.

We had a 15 minute break until our other lecture. As people were filing out of the room I went and looked out of the window over the valley (as we are up relativeley high on a hill). It was so beautiful so I decided to pass everyone by that were tlaking to eachother and just go outside and look. I saw my group teacher Otto outside on the bench also looking over the valley. I said "hallo", actually I said "Grüß Gott" and we spoke a bit in German. I told him that it was so beautiful and he agreed calling it "Traumhaft", a great german word meaing "like a dream" sort of. We talked about the various produce growing all around on the hills, like wine grapes and small apples and such. I almost started crying because of how beautiful it was (as you know from Norway I tend to cry at natural beauty I suppose). But also I think i was tearing up because the city down below (Graz) was where I had chosen to live, and yet it was sooooo city like. Big huge buildings and lots of people. Sure there are a lot of young people, but there are just so many people and so many big buildings. I was starting to have second thoughts about my decision after looking over these hills, which seem so beautiful and what I think of when i think of Austria. Otto told me that Leibnitz is a bit more like this countryside than Graz is, which also made me a bit sad.

The other lecture was half german (where we talked about the austrian school system and how students move from the beginning of their school career to the end, what options are open to them, and so on...it is really interesting and different from america, ask me more if you'd like.) and the other half was in english about all the administratorial stuff. This part of the lecture was very overwhelming for me. One of the first things that he asked was how many people still don't have housing. There were about 10 of us who raised our hands. He said that this was unusually large. Of course in order to get your bank account you need to have an address. And also we have to pick up our Residency Permits, which we have to have an address for, and we need to find out where to get it, which I am still not sure about, and also we have to have it before we report to our school on the first day. If we can't show them an Aufenthaltstitel then they might not schedule us to work. We talked about how the Americans have to pay taxes, and also the necessary steps to take if we want to try to get some of the tax money back at the end of the school year. We talked about our Dienstvertrag, which we will recieve on our first day of school which basically is our contract with our school. And we also should have been in contact with our Betreuungslehrer (the teacher at our main school that will help us get around), but she hasn't emailed me back since June when I emailed her, which, because I was accepted later to the program was the earliest I could do so, and by this point it was already their summer break. So I need to get in contact with her, but I haven't had any time because the orientations last ALL DAY, and the internet isn't really working here at my Convent right now either. We talked about our insurance too, which pays for most everything we would need for our health but it won't pay for transporting us to the hospital if we get hurt during our "liesure" time, which means whenever we are not at work. So if we are skiing and we have to be helicoptered to the hospital, that would cost us about 3,000 euros!!!! so they told us about how we might want to think about getting some insurance from mountaneering clubs or something in addition to what we already have. This was a lot of information in a short while. So basically I was sitting there kind of overwhelmed with all this stuff, mostly becuase I didn't have a house yet, NOR did I know if I actually wanted to live in Graz. I expressed my concern to Chris, a Bürse (austrian word for 'guy') from Michigan who I met and talked to yesterday and who is also in my small group, and he said, "well why don't we just go look at Leibnitz tonight when we are done ?" I was like, you know what, yeah.

We then went to lunch which was another catered meal by the Schloß. I got the vegetarian dish which was soup, salad, and a sort of zucchini and grain casserole with sour cream and brussel sprouts. There was also a good dessert. It was quite a bit of food and is really nice that it is included with the 70 euros we are paying for our food and accommidations at the Convent.

We then met back with our small groups and talked about working with the Austrian teachers. We can either be very passive and do what the teachers ask us to do, or they are more than happy (usually) for you to prepare something for the class and propose it to them as well. One good suggestion that a past teahing assistant made was to make an interview sheet for the students around the first class and ask them some questions to see where their english is at, and also to find out what sort of things they want to talk about relating to American culture. We then did a short exercise where each of us had to answer a question handed to us for 20-30 seconds as if we were talking to the class. So we practiced making gestures, speaking clearly and slowly (but not too slowly or unnaturally) and also using appropriate intonation and vocabulary.

We then went with our group to a bus outside of the Schloss which took us into Graz and we walked to a courtyard off Jakominiplatz to have a tour of the city by some Austrian Teenagers who were getting credit for school for doing this tour in english with us. We walked down the main street that I had walked the other day and then onto a strange bridge that goes across the river that is also a small coffee shop. It's very modern looking, as it is a big swirly silver metal creation sitting right on top of the Muhr. I didn't walk on that the other day so that was kind of cool. Apparently the citizens of Graz don't like it very much. We then walked over to Schloßberg, but instead of taking the Kriegstreppe that I walked up to go into the garden, we took a lift and passed by the prettiest part of Schloßberg. We walked down the backside of the hill and then into another open concrete courtyard where noone was and there was not a tree standing. We then walked to a Glockenspiel which when it rang on the hour opened to show an austrian man in lederhosen holding a beer mug and an austrian woman in a dirndl holding a napkin spinning around. It was pretty cute, and I liked this area of Graz (the Innen Stadt) much better than what I had previously seen. The walkways were cobblestones and there was a big historic church that we walked into that had paintings from the Great Plague. We wlaked up some random spiral concrete staircase that went to nowhere, but was cool to know it was there I suppose. The last thing we saw was the Opera house which didn't look much from the outside, but supposedly looks really cool on the inside. I think it would be cool to see an Opera there some time. Our cute little tourgide girl said that the inside was very in-tri-cue-ing inside (she meant intriguing but pronounced it really funny). The opera house was right next to the Stadtpark which actually looked really nice and I'd like to explore it some more cuz I didn't go into it at all and I'm not sure how big it actually is. The Stadt park is about 30-35 min walk from the train station.

Me and Chris walked back to the Convent to check the train times to head out to Leibnitz. There was one at 7:40 which we took. The train ride was 37 min long. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was expecting it to be really small, boring, and filled with old people. THis was the impression that Marc (the past teaching assistant in Leibnitz) gave me, since he said that none of the past teaching assistants that worked there that he knew of lived in Leibnitz, and that all of them lived in Graz. He said that people who lived outside of Graz were always coming in and wished that they had lived there and commuted to their schools. So that is what I was expecting. When we got off the Bahnhof in Leibnitz (which is just one stop away from Kaindorf an der Sulm, the other town that I am teaching in) there was a small walkway with grass adjacent to some small apartment buildings. It was quiet, but I already realized what a change from Graz that was. There was a small sports bar near the Bahnhof, so already there was something to do there. There was also a Sports Center right there. Around the corner was the main street which as we were walking first had a store for firemen and other government uniforms, a coffee shop (which had 3 girls my age in it, so already i saw some young people) and like a hotel, a shoe store, a dry cleaners. As you keep going it gets more and more "city-like" with lights on the street and lots of little shops, food places and such. It kind of reminded me of Göttingen where the street and sidewalk weren't really seperated, just slightly demarcated. The Rathaus (town hall) was a cool old building. I could already tell that I could appreciate the differences between America and Austria more when there werent SO MANy overwhelming tall buildings and street trains and cars and people. IT was quite. And that was nice. Also I didn't see any old people. In fact the people wlaking around and getting of the train with us were young, about our age. I stopped a couple walking down the street that seemed about 23 or so and spoke to them in German, asking hi i just moved to austria and am wondering if you like it here, they said yes, that there is "enough" to do, told me where the bars were and how its busy on the weekends, that they had lived there since they were young, that there was a disco and movie theatre, etc. THey didnt really know where I could find housing, but they were really nice to me and already I had talked to more Austrians that I felt cared about talking to me than in Graz. Yes there are more young people in Graz (since there is no university in Leibnitz as they told me) but is it relaly better if they are all so busy walking from one place to the next and crowing into bars that you cant meet any of them? We kept walking down this residential street which came off the main drag. It was quite. And i looked up and could see the stars. Suddenly I realized that I had only seen stars when i was at the Schloß up in the hills in Graz, since there are so many big buildings around you and lots of light pllution in Graz you can't see them at all, which I hadn't really noticed before. We came across a small river and walked over a bridge which lead directly into a nice biggish green park with lots of slides and swings and play things and benches and stuff. It was nice to be near trees right in the middle of the city. THere aren't trees in Graz except in the parks (of which I know 2) and the Schloßberg, and also down by the river a bit. To be fair I haven't seen the parks too well in Graz though. But thats because they are really out of the way I suppose. THen we came across an even bigger bridge over an even bigger part of the river, which was probably also the Muhr. Crossing this we ended up near a hill, which was one of many I could see in the dark when I stood on the bridge. There was a nice little path through the forest on the hill to walk up, so we did. On the top of the path is a small shrine to mary & jesus.

We walked back down and had some pizza at a restaurant which wasnt filled by any means (it is just a tuseday) but our waitress smiled at us when she knew we were american since we had an accent and asked us where we were from. She was young too! like about 26-28 I;d guess. There was also a group of young turks there and 2 late 20s girls that came in while we were eathing. there was one older guy at the bar and a middle aged (early 40s) couple that sat behind us. THey were playing german music which was also cool. I mean, she seemed interested in us because i bet they dont get many tourists unlike Graz where they are used to that. I mean the austiran guy that sold me my phone legitimately seemed annoyed with me when i was asking questions about the plan becuase i didnt understand it all the first time he said it. Probably because there were a couiple people waiting behind me, which is understandable when you have other customers. I asked her for the check and also if she knew where I might be abel to find a place to live. She didn't know but she called over a guy from the movie theatre which was attached to the pizza shop and he came over and talked to me and told me that i should go to the AltePost and how to get there.

I'm not sure if i was unclear that i needed a room to live in for a long while or if he thought i needed a room just for the night but the altepost is a hotel right off the main street (which had more small ground floor shops and was across from a bar showing a soccer match). i went in and asked if this was the alte post and she said yes. I asked if she knew where i could find a room in an apartment and she told me to talk to the owner of the hotel, who she brought me to! So I asked the owner, who I referred to as "Frau Chefin" mrs. owner which I wasn't sure whether that was right or not, but we had learned in our orientation today that you should ALWAYS adress your colleages as Herr/Frau Professor, so i just took that knowledge and applied it here. She seemed kind of stern and I thought she wasn't going to help, but when I asked her she was like "I don't know but come with me" (in german obviously). she takes me into a bar where the middle aged people in there are obviously loooking at us Americans speaking german with an accent and she tells me to talk to this woman sitting at a booth. She introduced me to her and then left us to talk. This woman told me that I should give her my phone number (which i didn't know, cuz its on a box at home) and she might be able to help me. I had no idea who she was or how she could help me but she gave me her card and asked me how much I was willing to spend. I said 350 euro a month. She said that its more expensive here and that lots of Leibnitz is owned by rich Italiens.

We had to get back to our last train that night back to Graz which was at 10:22 ( i should check what time the last one from Graz to Leibnitz is, just to see how easy it would be to go into the city for the night). I was overwhelmed the hospitality and charming (not so charming though as really cute cute old towns in Germany, those are sooo cute! but compared to a big city like Graz) nature of this city. I like the nature and I like how much I noticed. There were obviously things going on there. I saw a huge poster for a Jazz fesitval coming up in the next week, where a new musician plays every day, I saw posters for some hypnotist coming on the 2nd of October, I saw signs for a Film week coming up at the movie theatre that was about global poverty and hunger and also signs for a town hall meeting about being more sustainable and green. THese are not things that I might normally search out for myself, but they were advertised well, all were coming up in the next month, and I like the idea that I could go to all of them and learn something new about austrian culture without having to go search things out in Graz, which I am SURE has lots going on, but if there are signs about things they are hidden amongst all the other stuff in the city.

I really need to talk to someone about this! Mom and Dad! Ben! I want to skype with you guys as soon as I have internet more readily. I didn't have much luck looking for houses in Graz today. Not much is available (but I don't know how much is available in Leibnitz either). THe director of the Fulbright Program is coming on Thursday, so i am hoping to talk to her about whether or not it would be hard to switch my residency permit to Leibnitz. Although I'm still not sure whether or not I want to live in Graz or Leibnitz, I think I would prefer a more Naturey small town to a large cultural huge buildings and people and stuff town. I like the people I met in Leibnitz, and the greenery, even if it is small and kind of sleepy. I saw a sign for camping too! I have not seen anything like that in Graz, where people are really fashionable and shopping at H&M (no offense Shanny).

I love you all, and am still busy and kind of worried and confused. I can't wait to settle down somewhere.

Sep 28 2009 entry

Dear Friends and family,

I have been soooo busy the past couple of days because of orientation. They seriously have us scheduled to do things all day from 8 to 8pm. I also don't always have access to the internet (which is kind of dodgy here in the convent). Please enjoy this entry that I wrote from my day on 28. September 2009.

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today i woke up at 8am, which means I got about 9 hours of much needed rest. I left the curtains open so there was a nice morning sunshine in my room. i woke up and looked out the window onto the street below me, which was filled with cars and bicyclists in their bicycle lane. Graz is a large city, larger than I think i would like at this point. But I will see how Leibnitz looks next Monday, and hope I made the right choice by living here instead of there.

I got dressed and packed up my stuff and went down to the lobby to check out. They kept my bags for me so I wouldn't have to carry them around all day. I went first to the T-mobile store to get a cell phone so I can start calling people and asking about rooms for rent. I walked down Annengasse which seems to be a pretty major road here all the way to the Mur river, which I crossed, and then a bit further to Herrengasse which I turned on to and where the T-mobile store was located. It took me about 20-25 minutes to walk there, which is good to know since many of the houses I am looking at online seem to be about this far or further away. There were trains running all the time down this street that were going straight to the bahnhof though, which is nice if I decide to live further away. The street cars seem to be very efficient and go almost everywhere I went today.

I went to the T-mobile store because I read online about the different cell phone companies in austria and one website said that t-mobile was cheap and lots of austrians used it. It was located right next to another cell phone store which was painted all black and gold and selling really fancy looking stores. T-mobile was cute and looked more "preiswert" a nice german word which doesn't really have an equivalent in english. it means worthy of its price. It was quite a task of my skills to talk to the guy at the counter. We spoke all in German and i told him that I just moved here and that I needed a phone. He told me that the only contracts they have were 2 years and provide 500 minutes (or more) per month. I knew that I didn't need that and asked him about paying as I use minutes. Since I'm not really familiar with this concept even in English it was kind of hard to understand just what I needed to do to put money on the phone and where to refill the minutes. Plus he was using words like "Klax" which is a word I'd never heard that means the minutes you have to use, and also that I can get more minutes at the t-mobile store or at a "Trafik", which I didn't know what that meant until I saw it on a sign later in the day, which is basically a tabacco & other stuff store. I didn't have too much trouble understanding him though or telling him that i just needed the cheapest phone (39 euros) and that 9 cents a minute sounded good and that I wanted 20 euros to start. I was very proud of myself for this transaction.

After I was done I didn't want to go back to the hotel yet, as it was only like 9:45 so I wandered around a while before deciding to walk along the Mur. I really like the river. I found a staircase that went down to the river for pedestrians.

I walked along the sidewalk down there for a while passing some pretty sweet graffiti and even a little rock climbing area someone had made. (see the ones on the ceiling!?!)

I think that this might be from building that was torn down somewhere in the city.

After a while the sidewalk became a dirt path and then a small trail.

I kept walking until I saw a group of construction workers chillin under a bridge, who had signaled to a runner who went past me to go up a little trail. I just followed her lead and came up near a kindergarden where I could hear kids playing. I was near the Schlossberg and so decided to go over to it. I passed by the tram that went up the mountain, but figured I'd take it some other time. But then I came across the "Kriegstreppe" which went up the mountain.

I walked up them after reading a placard that said they were built by Russians who were being forced to work during ww1. about 200 steps later I had a great view of the city and a really cute litte garden to walk through.

There were placards talking about all sorts of different elements of the history of the little castle and the clock tower. it has been an imprtant site for a long time, acting as a military stronghold. They almost blew up the clocktower, can you believe it? They were worried about it falling onto the city below though, so they didnt. I am so glad, or else it might have become Schloss Mall or something. Most of the people up there seemed to be tourists, but it was nice to explore a green area with a cool view. It was pretty large and I walked around for a while up there.

This must be towards the USA too!

I went back down and decided it was time to eat. I walked past a dance school which has mostly Salsa and traditional "Wiener Walzer" which i guess is the traditional form of waltz from Vienna. Maybe I'll check one of those classes out. I also passed this Second Hand store. (Agape meine Liebe!)

I wanted a meal but I'm still not sure where to eat yet. It seems like the restaurants are only frequented by Old people and other than that there are Dönner places (basically schwarma turkish places, which there were a lot of in germany too) and bakeries (also many in germany). I just went to a bakery and got a small roll with mozzarella and tomato and a coffee, which was served cappucino style. There was a dude in there who just got Buttermilk and apple juice. I can't imagine drinking buttermilk from a big carton like that. blech.

I walked back to the Hotel and used their computer to look up some rooms currently being offered.

This is a cafe in the middle of the Mur river! It also acts as a bridge.

This is the Kunsthaus (art museum). It lights up at night. They call it the "Friendly Alien".

There was one which was just above Jakominiplatz, which I hadn't been to yet, but which was further down Herrengasse, where the T-mobile store was. I had seen this ad about 2 weeks ago so I thought they just reposted it and that it was probably already rented, but I called them anyways. Katharina answered the phone and told me that I could come by and look at it. So I walked all the way back there and after getting a little lost in the hustle and bustle of Jakominiplatz fou

nd the house. The door to the apartment was in a small alley which smelled like urine but I thought, meh it doesn't matter if the apartment is nice. I went up and met Katharina and her 3 roommates. She showed me the kitchen which was normal sized I guess with a window and a table with 4 spindly chairs and a stove, dishwasher, and the smallest refrigerator i have ever seen. its smaller than most personal fridges, about the size of your fridge in Santa Cruz, ben. This was also the "common" room, which kinda sucks. No TV! not that I watch it that much, but i mean i'd like to see Austrian news and tv shows every once and a while. No couch! The room I would be staying in would be right next to the shower room, which isn't inherently bad. The showers and toilets are commonly separated in Austria. inside the shower room there was also a washmachine, which is cool, and some drying racks. "My" room was not going to be furnished either, which means I would have to buy a bed, shelves, desk, AND closet, as there was none. The rooms were all right next to eachother and there was a long hallway where each of them came off of. You could hear the strassebahnen, street trains, outside and they said that they lived right above a Disco, which means loud music and drunk people on the street right under our windows. Basically this place didn't sound that great and even though the roommates were nice, I couldn't imagine living there a whole year. It didn't feel homey at all. So i told them i was going to keep looking but gave them my phone number. Katharina called me tonight and told me that they "decided to choose someone else." which was fiiiiine with me.

I decided that I should try to figure out the strassebahn that I had been avoiding all day, since i was kinda tired from walking so much. I noticed that people were just going on and it didn't seem like anyone was paying at all. maybe they all had passes, but i doubt it. I took a train that went directly to the train station and went back to the hotel. I looked at more room adds, but not with much luck. I want to live with girls, but if there are an equal number of girls and boys thats ok too. I also want to live somewhere with at least 2 other people, but maybe i'll look at something if it comes up with just one other girl.

Random car I encountered during the day. It's to support Green energy.

At 3 I got my bags and went to the orientation. I just walked there, as it was only a few blocks away. People were looking at me strangley with my rolly suitcase and big backpack, but whatever. I got the place where im staying which is actually a convent. I said hello to the nuns at check in and got my own single room!

I went downstairs to where there was some coffee and had a cup and sat down and read a little. and this, my friends is crazy. Who is the very first person I see walking down the stairs in front of me? The douchy guy from Marin!!!! I was shocked. I was like "hey I know you" and he was like "you do?" he didn't recognize me and i had to remind him. God. What a douche. I hope he doesn't find this blog. hahaha. I went outside and sat at a table with some people who were already there. There seems to be people from all over america. They were from Oregon, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Camp Pendleton, Ohio, and Bethlehem ( I forget what state that is). One of the orientation leaders (who are people who did this program last year and decided to stay for another year) was also from London. I found out that there were actually quite a few english people there, but they aren't with the Fulbright program, they are mostly students of a foreign language at a university and as part of their program they are required to do their 3rd year of study abroad in a country that speaks their language. A couple I talked to said they feel that the Americans' German is better than theirs, but this is probably becuase most of the people from America have studied abroad before.

At 5:30 a bus came to take us up to Schloß St. Martin which is a small castle where half of the participants are staying. On the bus this guy sat down next to me and we introduced ourselves. I told him I was from San Diego and he said he had a friend there who was from Scripps Ranch. I was like What? thats where I'm from! he asked me what school I went to, and I said a private one. He said his friend went to a private school too near fashion valley. At this point i was like well, he could have gone to parker or uni, maybe bishops. He said Parker, I was like what mee toO@@@@ He was like do you know Hal Cavanagh. I kind of laughed really loud and a couple people turned and looked, but I couldn't help it! HOw bizarre is it that some random person that sits next to me on a bus in my Austria Program knows HAL, a kid in my class from high school. BUt this is not the end of this bizarre "small world" story. He told me that one of his best friends at Occidental was also from san diego, GYON. holy crap. Gyon is ben's friend from elementary school that I have heard so much about. God. I almost couldn't handle it.

At the castle we mingled a bit and then had dinner. I sat at a table with a girl from Scotland, one from England, another from the States, and a guy from Michigan who had the chicago "a" accent. you know, cAAAr. We had a mushroom quiche and some chocolate-banana dessert. After we all went into a room where we were introduced to some teachers and the orientation leaders, and the woman running the orientation. We (luckily) didn't do any icebreakers, although we did do this one thing where we had to get up and talk to one person we'd never met for 5 min. and then we were shown a list of 5 questions. Do you think they are an Opera Person, a person who cares about Fashion, a Morning person, etc. Of course we didn't know any of these things about the other person, but the excercise showed us how we make assumptions about peoples character just by were they come from or what they look like, or how old they are. I think this was a good excercise.

Afterwards we went out to the courtyard and had a glass of austrian white wine. i spent the whole hour talking to 2 british people, a guy and girl from Bristol, who were really nice and interesting. I liked hearing the differences between our english and also why they were there and such. One thing that was funny is that they say "maths" instead of math and also when I asked how many german classes they have taken, they didn't understand what I meant. Apparently to take a class in british english means to teach a class. they say either " i have attended a class" or "i have sat a class" which just sounds really weird to me. they also "sit tests", rather than take tests. also the concept of taking a german class didnt make sense to them because they have to apply to college with a major in mind and their whole school career is based around that major, so to take a cognitive science class, for example, for fun is just unheard of.

The bus went back at 9:30. I went outside to catch it (i wonder if brits say "to catch a bus"?) and looked up at the night sky. It sounds cliche but I actually looked at the moon and thought of how i had just seen it the other day in America. It is the same moon. I like that. When we got back they told us to be quiet, as the nuns are sleeping. Some people were going out for drinks at 10, but we have to get up and eat and leave at 8:30 and I really wanted to leave time to write my blog tonight.

We don't have internet at the convent here, but we do have internet at the Schoß where we are meeting for the rest of the orientation, so I will check emails and post my blog there.

I love and miss you all.

Tschüss! (i'm so glad they say that here! its like bye and we used it all the time in Germany, this can be your word of the day Hilary!).

Leaving Syracuse, Arriving in Graz

what a long day. I left Syracuse (after a nice visit with Hilary) in the afternoon, around 3:30 to fly to Philadelphia and then from Philly to Frankfurt. On my way onto the airplane they had a few different "Zeitungen" (newspapers) that were in German to read. I picked up "Die Zeit" and read through the Magazin portion of it on the plane, underlining words that I didn't know. I'm going to look them up at some point. I am suprised at how much German I have actually retained for not speaking it in a formal class for about a year. I spoke to all the flight attendants in German too, just to get comfortable with speaking German again. The flight was alright. The food on Lufthansa was much better than United food and they make nice dark strong coffee too. I didn't sleep more than maybe an hour total on the whole flight. It was hard to fall asleep with people on either side of you, and one woman whose head was like half way into my space. I didn't want to push her away though. Instead I just listened to music and read. There is an important election going on in German right now not just for the Bundeskanzler but also for the major party in the parliament. Looks like CDU is winning, which means that Angela Merkel stays in power. I'm not exactly sure what that means for Germany, I should look that up. The SPD is losing power, which is a dissapointment for that party.

When we landed it was about 8:30 am and my flight to Graz wasn't until 5!!! Dad mentioned that I could go take a train out into Frankfurt and wander around, but I knew that everything was closed (as it is Sunday) and also I didn't really feel like going out of security again and finding a place for my bags. I went to the gate for my Graz flight and there was a Passport dude. He asked for my passport and where I was going. Then he said "Können Sie mir deine Papier zeigen" meaning can you show me your ticket, but I thought he said "Wollen Sie bei mir bleiben?" which means do you want to stay with me and I was like, no i'd rather go to Austria and he just looked at me pretty blankly and asked me for my ticket again. I felt pretty dumb, but that was one of my first close-German contacts in a while so it's not so bad. He told me I was too early and that I'd have to wait until about 2:30. I wandered around looking at stuff and sitting and reading and trying not to fall asleep. I took a few short naps as well.

Finally! The time came for my flight to Graz. I had not seen any people my age at all all day until the flight to Graz. I thought maybe some of them were Teaching Assistants too, since I could tell they were english speakers, but none of them were at the Train Station when we got to Graz, so I don't think any of them were.

Flying into Austria was awesome. We passed over some really pointy craggly mountains that poked through the clouds.

Graz looked green and cute from above too. The river (Mura) that runs through it is bigger than I expected.

When I got off the plane in Graz I talked to my first Austrian. She was at the Information desk and i asked her where the train station was. She told me in german, and I understood her!! But I can definitely tell that Austrians have a different dialect/accent. I think she probably heard that I was speaking High German (the german they teach you in school) and was trying to speak clearly for me though.

As I was walking to the train station with my bags I passed an old couple. They spoke to me in High German and asked me if I needed a ticket. I said yes and they just gave me theirs. It was really nice of them, and it saved me having to figure out how to use the ticket machine, although it didn't look that hard. The next train wasn't coming for another hour and 15 min though! maybe because it was Sunday.

So I waited around and watched the sun set. A group of teenagers came over to buy some food from the vending machine and were playing around with the ticket machine and smoking cigarettes. I was listening to them talk to eachother and it was really interesting. They were speaking heavy dialect with eachother. I understood some things they said but a lot I didn't. I think I heard them say "net" instead of "nicht". I can't really describe how austrian german sounds different from high german, but it reminds me of bavarian german.

I really can't believe I am here. It is so surreal. I wish I had someone to share this new experience with though. It was weird traveling in an area I have never been completely alone.

When the train came I got on and went about 5 or so stations to the main train station "Hauptbahnhof". It was dark at this point, and I couldn't really hear them announcing the station names so I was peeking out the windows at every stop. The train dude came by asking for tickets of those who had just got on. I am very glad that I know German, or else I think it would be so hard to travel around.

As I was getting off the train the door closed on me and it didn't automatically open, I had to grab the handle with my arm that wasnt squished to open it. It was kind of embarassing. But not as embarassing as when I came out of the train station and put my bags in a cab and got in and asked to go to the Hotel Daniel, which the driver chuckled at and told me it was just right across the street. It looked farther on the map!

I wanted to explore the city a bit tonight but I didn't get to the hotel until 8:30 and instead talked to my parents and got some pizza, which I got at the train station right next door. Interestingly, there were people smoking in the train station at the pizza place. I don't remember people being able to smoke indoors in the German train stations. Yeah there were places to smoke on the platforms, but not inside as far as i remember.

I think I'll just chill here, shower, and plan my morning tomorrow. Perhaps get a phone so I can start calling people about finding a room to live in! Orientation is tomorrow at 4:30.