Sunday, February 28, 2010

Ein Oesterreicher Sonntag (An Austrian Sunday)

One of the signs of adjusting to a new culture is realizing how it differs from your own. I experienced this first-hand this weekend, and especially today. And, to be entirely honest, I rather enjoyed it.

In America, I live at a mile-a-minute sort of pace, jumping from one thing to the next, always in a rush. And when I am doing one thing, such as hanging out with my friends, I often do so in a pre-allotted amount of time before I have to go on the next item on my agenda. Even on Sundays. Especially on Sundays.

In Austria, people do things differently. Yesterday, I went to "Jugend" or youth group at the Evangelical Free Church I attended a few weeks ago. It started at 6:30 and lasted until about 8:45. There was singing, a lesson, a small meal and fellowship. Then afterward, a bunch of people went to the Austrian version of a bowling alley to play pool. I went along and--apart from my completely and epically failing at pool--I had a great time. They just enjoyed spending time with each other, and they didn't put a time limit on it.

Today at church was the same. Church service started at 9:30 and got done around 11. But people didn't leave. Instead, they stood around in the sanctuary until 12:30 talking. And not just a handful of people, either; almost everyone stayed. Then one of the girls invited me over to her house to cook and eat lunch with a couple of her friends. By the time we had finished eating, it was 3 p.m. After lunch, we did the most simple thing; we went for a walk along the river. And we weren't the only ones doing it; there were dozens of people there too, enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon together. Living simply. And simply living.

When the other girls decided to head home, it was 4:30. I started my walk back to my apartment, when I stopped to gaze at the river and ponder what had happened. Suddenly, I felt very convicted. How often do I rush through life without actually living? How often do I actually spend time with people without worrying about how long it takes or what else I have to do? Far too often. How often do I really and truly enjoy living simply and simply living? Not nearly enough.

Even today when I was spending time with the sweet church girls, I felt like I needed to leave, as though I had been there too long and I had things I needed to do. In reality, I had absolutely positively NOTHING that needed doing. So then why the feeling of anxiety? Why the need to hurry?

I think that people live in certain ways because they are familiar. Habits are comfortable and easy, and they require no thought. That's fine if you have good habits, but when you don't, it can become a problem. I think--rather, I KNOW--I am in the habit of hurrying. But maybe I'm not actually living.

Today I made a choice, and hopefully I can stick to it. I'm going to try to slow down, enjoying other people and enjoying my life. In short, I'm going to try living like an Austrian--on Sunday, and on every other day of the week.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Paprika, Puddles, and PDA

Greetings fellow earthlings.

You thought it would never happen; you thought wrong.

That’s right, just when you thought I had fallen into the abyss of cyberspace never to blog again…. I’M BACK!

Yay! Yet again, I am so incredibly sorry that I have been so terrible about updating my blog. It hasn’t been due to lack of things about which to write; on the contrary, I’ve had so much going on that I am just now getting the opportunity to tell you.
I am currently sitting on my balcony (yes! I have a balcony! Isn’t that wonderful?!), gazing out over the city of Graz. This section of the city isn’t particularly beautiful; I can really only see the tops of some nondescript buildings and a little of the Lendplatz square below. But in the relatively-close distance (oxymoron, I know, but true nonetheless) there are lovely mountains and, since this balcony and my room’s windows face the west, I have the front-seat view of a very picturesque sunset.

The weather here has been gorgeous, by the way. Today the high was 60 degrees Fahrenheit, although I think it actually reached 64. The sun was shining, a gentle wind was blowing, and fluffy white clouds dotted an impeccably bright blue sky. Positively perfect. :)

Okay, enough about the weather. Chances are that you didn’t make the effort to log onto my blog to hear a meteorological update…

The last week has been incredibly busy and more than a little bit overwhelming. Things have calmed down significantly now, but let me clue you in about what happened. Last week was orientation. Four hours of pure fun for two days in a row. Sarcasm. Dripping sarcasm. Orientation at European universities, though entirely necessary and incredibly informative, is anything but fun. Basically, we learned everything about being a student at the University of Graz, from the enrollment process, to the types of classes we can take, services (or lack thereof) on campus, and everything in between. And the intensity of these orientation sessions, combined with 3.5 hours of German every morning, made for some very l-o-n-g days.

Enrollment became an adventure in itself—an adventure I wish I hadn’t had to go on. To be a full-time student at OSU, I need to take 12 U.S. credit hours while I’m here. 1 U.S. hour equals 2 ECTS hours, so that meant (wait, let me pull out my calculator), that I need to have 24 ECTS hours in Graz. Fortunately, the German intensive course counts for 6 ECTS/ 3 US hours, which left me with 18 ECTS / 9 US hours. That sounds easy, right? I only need 5 or 6 classes here to get that. No big deal. And with the Uni-Graz Online site, I should have been able to enroll easily on my own online.

“Should have”.

In reality, it turned out to be an extremely difficult and frustrating process that was anything but easy.

Before coming to Austria, I had to fill out a form called a “Prospective Study Plan.” It’s exactly what it sounds like: I had to check out Graz’s courses online and see which ones I could take to fulfill my OSU requirements. My academic adviser in the history department and the adviser in the study abroad office had to approve each course before I left. On my list, I had 15 courses. Mathematically, that should be simple. I only needed 5 or 6; 15 potential courses should have been plenty. Again “should have.” Actually, it turned out that some of them were no longer offered, some were actually from last semester even though they were listed as being offered this semester, and finally, some were master’s level classes, meaning that I was not eligible to take them.

Darn.

But wait! God provides!

The week before last (the week before orientation), I randomly met a guy in the elevator at my dorm. His name is Niklaus, and he’s from Switzerland. In our 30-second conversation, we discovered that we were both history majors. Weird. You don’t find those very often. He got my name and added me as a friend on facebook. Then last week, the night before the first orientation, he sent me a message on facebook. He asked me about enrollment and then gave me a list of history professors he likes. I went to the online course catalogue to research these professor’s courses and discovered a few more potential classes to add to my list—the list that would shrink very quickly the next day after orientation.

Okay, so now I have maybe enough courses I can enroll in. This is definite progress. Now all I need to do is enroll. Easy, right?

Wrong.

I’ve known for a long time that technology hates me. Whenever a technical difficulty can arise, it will, just for me. When I logged onto my Uni-Graz online account to enroll, I could find the courses, but it wouldn’t let me enroll. I clicked the right button. It should have said “wait list” or “you can’t enroll” (in German, of course), if it was a master’s level course. Regardless, it should have showed that I was on the waitlist for the class. Christa Grassauer, the amazing Austrian woman in charge of U.S. international students had warned us that we would likely be waitlisted and that we should talk to the academic advisers to get us into the courses we needed. But I wasn’t even waitlisted. I didn’t even appear to exist.
Well, crud. That can’t be good.

Here comes another adventure…

So I emailed Christa, and she told me to email the adviser for history. He told me he couldn’t help me. So he gave me the name of a history secretary and told me to visit her.

Oh, I need to add an important detail. In Austria, you can only enroll for courses during a certain window of time. After that window of time has passed, it is impossible to get a place in the class. The history department’s window of opportunity was scheduled to close on Wednesday the 24th. I got the email about the secretary lady on the evening of Monday the 22nd. The clock was ticking, and time was running out.

As I already mentioned, my German course was from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every day of the week. That being said, I decided to visit the secretary lady, Birgit Tauscheck, immediately after my class. Easy, right? Wrong.

I don’t understand Austrian culture, but for some reason, they seem to have something against numbering their rooms. And giving actual building addresses. In the email from the history adviser, he told me to go to “Mozartgasse , 3rd floor.” There are 6 academic buildings on Mozartgasse. And each one has a lot of rooms on its 3rd floor. Not good for the home team.

Anyway, I finally managed to find the correct building (the history library seemed to be like a safe bet; fortunately, I was right). But when I reached the third floor, I discovered yet another adorable Austrian idiosyncrasy: Locking doors. And not just locking any doors, locking doors to entire hallways. That’s right, I made it all the way to the third floor (which in America would be the 4th floor; they number things differently here too), only to discover that the pretty glass door to the hallway was locked. Not good.

Frustrated, I walked back down the three flights of stairs, not sure what to do next. Looking down another locked hallway, I had an epiphany: what if I were to go around to the other side of the building? Maybe the doors at the other end weren’t locked. So I unhitched my bike and walked all the way around to the other side (I had to go around YET ANOTHER building to get there). Sure enough, the doors on that side were unlocked. Again, I tromped up to the third floor and checked the names on the doors. Finally, I came to the right one… only to discover that it, too, was locked. And the sign under her name read, “Opening hours Mo-Fri 9-12.” Double crud.
At this point, I was incredibly dejected and I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. Then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, this short little Austrian man came up to me and asked, “Was suchst du?” (What are you looking for?) So I explained to him my quest to enroll and that I needed Birgit Tauscheck when suddenly he pointed over my shoulder: “Da sie ist!” (Here she is!) And sure enough, there she was! Turns out she had even been expecting me (the history adviser had forwarded her my email), and she was able to help! Apparently, I wasn’t crazy; the system had a glitch that kept me from enrolling. But after saying “komisch” (strange) a lot, making a couple phone calls, and pressing some magic buttons, she was able to enroll me in all but one of the classes I needed! Not even wait-listed—actually enrolled! Wow! I can’t adequately describe how incredibly relieved and grateful I felt. I’m just waiting now to find out if I got into the other waitlisted class; if so, I should be golden! :)

Sorry that was such a long story; I’m sure you didn’t come here to read about my enrollment adventure. But I wanted to share it to show you—and remind me—that God really is faithful, even—ESPECIALLY—in the little things. And although I was frustrated and angry and wanted to give up and cry, He pulled through at just the right time, with exactly what I needed.

Anyway, overall life is good here in Austria. I’m not homesick, which is certainly helpful. I finally figured out how to get my pictures on facebook, and Skype is letting me communicate with my family regularly. I have a roommate now, so that’s exciting. Her name is Gina; she’s from Korea, and she’s really sweet. Having a roomie makes me not miss the Kaydee house and my lovely sisters there quite as much. (Don’t worry, though! I still miss you all a lot!) I am finally starting to feel settled in here, with a group of friends to hang out with, with a bike to help me get around, and with classes I am enrolled in to take. I’ve gotten discouraged a few times, but mainly when I am really tired. My sleep schedule hasn’t been so great, so I’ve been tired a lot lately. Even when I go to bed early, I don’t sleep very well, and I wake up not feeling rested. That’s no fun. :( Other than that, though, things are wonderful, and I am having the best semester of my life. It makes me so sad to realize that a month—one-fifth—of it is already over. It’s flying by so fast, like water through my fingers. I just want to stop it, to put some sand back in the top of the hour glass, to freeze-frame the time that seems to be in perpetual fast forward.

Jodie keeps reminding me not to think like that, to not focus on when I’ll have to leave but to focus on enjoying the time here, right now. I’m trying; it’s hard, but I’m trying.

Jodie is amazing; I am so thankful for her. She is definitely my best friend here, and we get along really well. Last weekend, we went to Budapest together, just the two of us. It was IN-stinkin’-CREDIBLE! So fantastic! If you want to see pictures, they are on facebook. Let me tell you briefly (does that word exist in my vocabulary?) about our adventure in Budapest…

At 1:26 p.m. we took a train from Graz to Vienna, then a rail-jet (high-speed train of awesomeness) to Budapest. Upon reaching the train station at 6:51 p.m., we proceeded to board a bus that should have taken us to our hostel. Except we got a little lost. We accidently got off the bus one stop too early and wandered around for awhile with our GPS before we finally figured it out. Anyway, we eventually made it to our hostel “The BackPack Guesthouse.” It’s a hippie-hostel, for lack of a better description. Bright colors, a Bob Marley-themed room (ours was aquarium-themed), hooka to share, hammocks for sleeping outside in the summer… the works. A cultural experience in itself. :)

The next day, we visited Pest. Yes, Buda and Pest are two different places, separated by the Danube river. I don’t think they advertise this very well. Don’t worry if you didn’t know that; I had no idea they were separate until reading the guidebook during the train ride. Congratulations, you now know something that 98.7% of the world’s population doesn’t. :)

Budapest is beautiful! Even the ugly buildings are pretty! That being said, we took lots of pictures of said buildings (the more beautiful ones, not the ugly-pretty ones), including the opera house, St. Stephen’s Basilica, the mansions on Andrassy Avenue, and many others. We visited the House of Terror, a museum honoring all the victims of the Soviet and Nazi regimes; it’s located in the former secret police headquarters. We went to Hero’s Square, which has been called Budapest’s response to Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. We visited the Great Market and sampled traditional Hungarian comfort food. We relaxed in the hot springs of the Turkish bath—outside while it was snowing! (When in Budapest, do as the Roman’s do). We saw the palace and got breathtaking views of the city, and we did many other things, including eating authentic Hungarian goulash and drinking lots of coffee. It was an amazing weekend. Here is what we learned about Hungary:

Hungary is the land of paprika (they put it on everything), of poo-poo (they apparently have no rules about cleaning up after dogs), of puddles (we avoided—and stepped in—a lot of them!), and of PDA (all people, all ages, all places—yuck)
That, in a nutshell, is my trip to Hungary.

I would write more about life, but now I need to go. Our German Intensive course is having dinner together tonight to celebrate the class being over… even though I think we are all a little sad. It was a great class. But I need to go cook some veggies and then head over to the dinner, so, like a banana, I need to split.
Thanks for reading! Have an incredible day—wherever you are! And know that you are loved—by me and by the One who made you! :)

Monday, February 15, 2010

Eine Unglaubliche Grosse Partei : Karneval in Venedig... (An Unbelievably Big Party: Carnival in Venice)









Guess what?! I’m back. That’s right. I have another blog post for you. Woot woot. :) As I write this time, I am watching some sort of skiing on the Olympics. The commentary is, of course, in German, which is pretty spiffy. USA! USA! USA! (oo-ess-ahh :) German pronunciation)

Okay, so if you’re reading this blog update, you are likely expecting some sort of update. So an update you will get. But before I begin, I must apologize again for my awkward sentence construction. Although my German is by no means fluent yet, it has definitely corrupted my ability to speak and write in normal English. So if you notice a strangely worded sentence or an oddly-placed verb, that’s the reason why.
Finally, now for the update….

SATURDAY (February 13) = A day I will never forget. On Saturday, I was in Venice, Italy, for Carnevale. And it was one of the most amazing, memorable things I have ever done. It was certainly worth the 50 Euros, worth waking up at 3:45 a.m. and walking 20 minutes in the cold to the bus meeting point, worth the five-hour bus ride, worth the standing up for essentially 10 hours straight and worth the aching feet the next day. It was without a doubt one of the most incredible experiences of my life. That being said, let me tell you about it.

In America, church holidays (excluding Easter and Christmas) aren’t a very big deal. Sure, some people give up things like chocolate for Lent (which I am NOT doing this year. The chocolate here is simply too amazing.). Catholic churches have “Fish Fries” on Fridays (which my Lutheran family and I often attend and enjoy). And cities like New Orleans make a big deal about (and a lot of money through) Mardi Gras. But overall, we Amis (German slang for “Americans”) don’t do much on Fat Tuesday. Not so in Europe, and certainly not the case in Venice. On the contrary, Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday/Karneval/Carnival is a HUGE deal. It’s like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Independence Day, New Year’s Eve, and International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day all rolled into one. Yeah. HUGE.

And if Times Square is the New Year’s Eve hotspot, Venice, Italy, is the Carnival/Fat Tuesday/ Mardi Gras capital of the world. During the ten days leading up to Ash Wednesday, Venice is one giant party. Everyone and their dog (literally; I saw many dogs) who can come to Venice for it comes to Venice for it. And I was fortunate enough to get to be one of those people (not dogs. Ha ha).
Basically, thousands of people flood into Venice, and the Saturday before Fat Tuesday is especially busy because—obviously—it’s Saturday. Now, I’d seen pictures of Venice before; I knew it to be the city of canals and gondolas; I remembered it from some of Shakespeare’s plays; and—being the history nerd that I am—I had learned about the Medici family that basically ran the town during much of the Renaissance. I’d also done a little research about Carnival on the Internet and had seen some pictures of people with strange masks. But none of my prior knowledge could have prepared me for just how unbelievably incredible—and beautiful—it would be.

I don’t know how much you know about Venice, so I’ll err on the side of ignorance and give you a quick lesson. Venice is built entirely in water; it consists of a bunch of man-made and natural islands all clumped together and connected by canals. There are streets and big squares and cobblestone spaces between the five-hundred year old (and older) buildings, but canals run through the entire city—the Grand Canal is the biggest (obviously), and there are many, many smaller canals with bridges over them. If you want to get around Venice, you can take a water-taxi or a traditional gondola, but those can be pretty pricey, so your best bet is to go by foot. But be forewarned: you WILL get lost. No question about it. Even if you have a map, you are guaranteed to get confused. The streets aren’t labeled; many of them aren’t even named, and they consist of so many twists and turns and back alleys and corners that you won’t find your way immediately. It’s all but impossible.
But don’t worry; it’s definitely worth getting lost. Why? You might ask. Simple: the city is BEAUTIFUL. It’s without a doubt the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Every time I’d turn a corner, or enter another square, or discover a side alley, or cross another canal with water of the perfect shade of turquoise, it seemed more picturesque than the last. I can’t say it enough: it was so so so so unbelievably beautiful. To prove my point, I had fully charged my brand new camera battery the night before I left; by 8 p.m. it was completely dead. Luckily, my friend Jodie has the same camera, and she took lots of pictures too. Seriously, though. It was so incredibly beautiful. All day I had to keep reminding myself that it was real, that I wasn’t in some dream, but that I was actually in Venice. I wish I could describe it better, but I honestly cannot think of sufficient words. And that in itself is significant; I am very rarely rendered speechless.

In addition to being a gorgeous city with incredible architecture and history, Venice was also overrun by masked people—not the robber kind, the Carnival kind. Venetian locals and various wealthy people from the surrounding area dress up in ridiculous Renaissance-era costumes with masks. The costumes are insane; they come in all varieties and colors, with different themes and looks. Sometimes, they come in pairs, with a man and woman dressed to coordinate. Their eyes are their only visible facial feature; everything else is covered by the masks. They spend the first part of the day gradually making their way to San Marco Plaza, the main area or “Times Square” of the Carnival. It takes them a long time to get there, though, because every few seconds, someone or whole groups of people stop them and take pictures of and with them. It’s like a high-class Renaissance festival crossed with Disney world. It’s so crazy.

Okay, having given you some background on the Carnival, so hopefully you have a better feel for it. Now, I’ll share a bit from my personal experiences there. Our two double-decker buses finally arrived at the Park-Insel, or island designated specifically for parking, at 11 a.m. Immediately, our huge group of Erasmus students got broken up as we started to make our way over bridges and through other islands toward the city. Fortunately, Jodie and I were able to stick together. But I was really hoping to meet other international students and become friends with them; however, since the other Erasmus people had disappeared, I feared that this wouldn’t be possible. Then while walking past sign for a restroom, I heard a girl comment that it was ridiculous to have to pay 50 cents to use the toilet. I told her that I agreed (little did I know that I wouldn’t use the restroom until 5 hours later—and it would cost me 1.50 Euros. Oh dear.) We started chatting as we walked. It turned out that her name was Shirlee, and she was from Australia. She was there with her roommates from France (Sarah) and Portugal (Claudia); they are studying in Milan and were also in Venice for the day. We quickly became a five-some and spent the entire day together; not only was it a blast getting to know new people, but it was also a direct answer to my prayer that I would make new friends in Venice. Yet again, God hears and provides.

I guess there isn’t much exciting to say about the day. We spent the first 4.5 hours lost while trying to find San Marco Plaza. There were so many people that we felt like cattle being herded through, especially when we came to really narrow alleys where everyone was going the same direction. It was crazy how many people there were. We took lots and lots of pictures, many with the masked people. The weather was gorgeous: sunny and 50 degrees; it couldn’t have been more perfect. We even bought masks; mine is turquoise and green with tons of sparkles. I felt so much more festive once I was wearing it. :)

Finally, we arrived at San Marco Plaza. And there were even more people than I’d ever seen in one place; I was kind of scared the island would sink. But it didn’t, and the party went on, especially as it got later. At one point, there were gigantic paper or plastic insects that appeared to be crowd surfing; they were actually controlled by someone walking below them. I seriously felt afraid, since the praying mantis, fire ant, and especially the black-widow spider were so lifelike. Like a nightmare come true. Eventually, they disappeared and some disco music played for a little while. Oh, Europe and disco. Ha ha. I think the actual parties started later that night, but our bus left at 9:30 p.m.

At that point, though, we were ready to go. It had been an unbelievable, yet very long day. I’d taken about 400 pictures, walked who knows how many miles, seen countless beautiful buildings and canals, made memories to last a lifetime, eaten two scoops of gelato, and was ready to call it a day. We rode a water-bus (like a big boat with bus-style seats) back to the Park Insel. Once I was in my seat, I tried to stay alert to talk with people, but my eyes had other plans. They wanted to close and refuse to open. So I slept the entire way back to Graz, dreaming of the lovely fantasy-world that is Venice, Italy….

Since then, the last few days have been relatively uneventful. Pierce Winters, the other OSU student, arrived, and I’ve been introducing him to my friends and helping him get settled into Graz. He’s actually my next-door neighbor; he lives in the next apartment over, which is kind of fun. I washed my jeans yesterday, which was extremely exciting. I will never take clean clothes for granted again! Yesterday, I went with Jodie, Pierce, Anne-So (from France) and Giulia (from Italy) to the Kunsthaus (art museum with different exhibitions) and then to eat dinner.
Afterwards, I gave Anne-So and Giulia some of my Omi’s recipe peanut-butter cookies I made; they loved them! I never realized how wonderful it would feel to have European friends enjoy something I cooked. We’re going to have an international dinner night; Giulia will make pasta, Anne-So will make crepes, and I’ll make cookies. Ha ha. :) Then today I didn’t have German class, which was very nice. This afternoon, we went along with some other French girls to see “Valentinstag” (Valentine’s Day) the movie, dubbed into German. I was surprised at how well I understood everything. Maybe my German really is improving…

I’ve been kind of discouraged at different points in the last several days. I worry that I’m not stepping out and making enough friends or that I’m not making the most of my time here. The last couple days have been better, though, because I’ve gotten to spend more time with Erasmus friends. They really are the best. I just need to not let myself be hard on myself, as I have a frustrating tendency to be. If I can just let things go and not worry about things, I know I’ll be happier. Easier said than done. I just don’t want to get to the end and be disappointed with myself. But worrying won’t help anything; instead, I need to trust God and let go.

Anyway, that’s the latest scoop from Graz, Austria. I’m loving it more than I could have ever expected. I want to make the time stand still, because I don’t know how I could ever come home. That being said, though, I do miss all of you and hope everything is going great. Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope you have a fantastic day!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Oben und Unter (Over and Underneath)

To all my wonderful friends who have been diligently reading my blog, I thank you. I am sorry that I haven’t written since last week, but all that is about to change. And this is going to be a long one. Get excited. :)

First of all, I really do want to apologize for not writing recently. The technical difficulties initially made it impossible to access my computer. I had been borrowing the plug converter from a girl from Oklahoma, but then she left for London to travel around Europe for a month, taking her plug converter with her. That meant that I had only a limited amount of battery with no way to charge it until my new one came in the mail. That further meant that I had to ration my computer power, so I couldn’t take the time to blog. Then when I finally had a viable power source, I was really super tired, so I would go to bed instead of writing. Anyway, I am sorry. But now I can write again! Yay!

Wow, where to even begin? So much has happened in the last week that I can scarcely believe it. Let’s see...

My German class. It officially started last Thursday. I found out that I was placed in B1, which is the first level of intermediate. I’ll admit it was kind of disappointing; I thought my German was better than that, you know. Apparently not. I’ve kind of struggled with that during the last week, feeling like I failed or something, but my attitude has gotten much better. I absolutely love my classmates; there are 17 of them—all girls except Peter from Hungary. Jodie from Calgary, Canada, is also in the class, so we can walk there and back together, which is really nice. Our teacher is named Albert Eiler (?), and we all like him a lot. He’s kind of goofy, but I don’t think he realizes it, which makes it even more amusing. For instance, he really likes to sing (I’m pretty sure he said he is or used to be in a choir). He found out that three of my classmates were music majors or had been in choirs, so yesterday (the 9th), he brought an Austrian folksong and had us all sing it together. Only we didn’t just sing it. No, he split us up into two groups, sopranos (aka those of us who can’t sing at all) to do the melody and altos (experienced singers) to do the harmony. (Side note: he ended up moving one of the altos into the soprano group because we were that bad on our own.) And then—get this—he sang the third part… the extra-super-duper high part. No kidding. And he even had a portable tuner. Uh-huh. You have permission to laugh; I tried my best not to. It was really, really funny. He’s a good teacher, and I’m definitely enjoying his class. I’m glad I’m in it. Oh, and he has two guinea pigs, which officially makes him awesome in my opinion. :)

I think my German is getting better, but it’s hard to tell, especially since the Erasmus students seem to all speak English as their second language, rather than German. Speaking of Erasmus students, I love them! They are so, so, so cool! Technically, I’m not actually Erasmus, but according to the International office at this university, I get to pretend to be. I even got at Exchange-Student-Network (ESN) ID card with my picture on it. I feel so official. :) Last week, we had our first Stammtisch (regulars table) at a bar/restaurant called The Propeller. For all you Americans out there, let me take a moment to explain Stammtisch. It’s basically a group meeting, but instead of having it in a boring classroom, and fitting it into your schedule between other meetings that evening, and usually not having food but maybe having pizza if you’re lucky, Stammtisch meets at a tavern or bar, people drink and socialize, and you stay as long as you want. There’s no agenda, no stuff to do. You just get to talk and make friends until you decide to leave. Sounds pretty nifty, eh? We Americans could learn a lesson from that, I think. :) Ha ha.

Anyway, the Stammtisch was really fun. We had one last week (I guess it was actually a welcome party, but it was basically a Stammtisch) and then another one last night (the 9th). Normally, they are every other week. Via the Stammtisch, I’ve gotten to know people from Serbia, the Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Hungary, and all over. Another note: I find myself consciously avoiding Americans and not wanting anything to do with them. That hasn’t been hard to do; the majority of Amis seem to have come here to intoxicate themselves as often as possible, which means we haven’t had much of a chance to hang out. Also, I came here to make friends from all over the world and to improve my German. In other words, an American-only bubble would seriously cramp my style.

That being said, it’s kind of ironic that the best friend I’ve made here is an English-speaker from Canada. Her name is Jodie, and she lives two floors down. We get along really well and go most places together. She’s the best friend I’ve made her so far, and I am so thankful for her. One of my biggest fears about coming to Europe (aside from being safe) was that I wouldn’t make any good friends. Before I came here, I prayed a lot about it, asking God to bring someone along to be my friend. And as of right now, as far as I can tell, Jodie is definitely an answer to that prayer. I’m super duper thankful.

Oh, speaking of Jodie, guess what?! Next weekend (19th through 21st), Jodie and I are going to Budapest, Hungary! We booked our train ticket and hostel a couple days ago. I’m so excited! This will be my first real intra-Europe trip. Needless to say, I’m pretty pumped! :) But before that, I have this weekend to look forward to. The ESN put together a day-trip to Venice (auf Deutsch: Venedig). We leave Saturday morning at 5 am and come back Sunday morning at 1:30 a.m. It’s a five-hour ride via charter bus, and we get to be in Venice all day long. And in case you aren’t up-to-date on your Catholic holidays, let me state that this Saturday isn’t any old Saturday in Venice. No. It’s Carneval (or Fasching or Mardi Gras). In other words, it’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Steffi. I’m so excited! :) One big all-day party.

Speaking of parties, there are a lot of them here! Unlike OSU, the weekend starts on Wednesday, as far as parties go. In fact, there is a party tonight that Jodie and I might go to. I went to a party last week with a bunch of Erasmus students. As far as I can tell, Austrian parties and American parties are pretty similar, except here the beer is better (so I’ve heard) and there’s a lot more smoking. It seems like everyone smokes here, despite the size 108 font on the side of all cigarette cartons, reading, “Rauchen kann toedlich sein” or “Smoking can be deadly.” Even Marta, the Spanish girl who lives down the hall, smokes in her room. It’s crazy.

Speaking of living down the hall (Wow, I am all about the segues today, aren’t I?), I got another apartment-mate. But no, it’s not one of the Chinese girls. On the contrary, it’s a computer-science grad student from Santa Barbara, California. His name is Jonathan, and he is really, really sweet. He moved in on Saturday evening sometime, but I didn’t see him until Sunday afternoon. In the meantime, I was rather confused because suddenly a pair of HUGE Merrell shoes (like my size! So big!) and a Columbia jacket had materialized in the entry way and some manly Gillette deodorant had appeared in the bathroom. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why a Chinese girl would use manly Gillette deodorant (with an English package, by the way) and how in the world a Chinese girl could have such gigantic feet. But then I met Jonathan, and realized quickly that he was not a Chinese girl. Ha ha. :) Anyway, like I said, he’s really nice. He’s 26 (or 27?), has a girlfriend of 6 years (I hope he gets engaged soon), is a genius at computers, and watches Glee. In other words, he’s officially cool in my book. :) On Sunday evening (and by “evening”, I mean really late) we went to the Propeller to watch the Super Bowl. But we only made it through Carrie Underwood’s national anthem before we realized we were too tired to stay. Congrats to the Saints, though. Way to win.

Hmmm…. What else? Oh, speaking of Sunday, I went to church! And by “went,” I mean that I walked to church in the snow an hour each way, but I made it! I’m learning that being in Austria has accentuated certain parts of my personality. For instance, it has made me even more outgoing than usual, since there are so many people to meet. On the other hand, though, it has also made me get lost a lot more. I’ve gotten really good at going in circles. It’s rather frustrating. I’m hoping that I’ll get better at finding my way around. On the bright side, though, hopefully all the walking will help me work off all the incredible chocolate in which I have been indulging. Anyway, it should have taken me 45 minutes to get to church, but it lasted at least an hour because I accidentally went way the hey out of my way. In the end, though, it was definitely worth it. I arrived in the middle of the sermon, but in time for Communion and some worship songs. I underestimated how cool it would be to go to an Austrian church, to fellowship with other believers in a foreign country and to sing and pray and take part in a worship service in German. Wow. So amazing. After the service, I moseyed over to the area where the college students were congregating. I met some really nice people, including a 20-year-old med student named Lisbeth (in Europe, you don’t have undergrad. You go straight to specialty schools, like medical school. Crazy, huh?). Lisbeth is really sweet; we talked for about 30 minutes after church, and she invited me to her small group Bible study on Tuesday (last night, Feb 9th). I went (and got severely lost along the way) only to find out once I got there that it had been cancelled because the girl leading it was ill. But all was not lost; I got to spend an hour-and-a-half chatting (auf Deutsch!) with Lisbeth and her older sister Clara. I hope I get to hang out with them more in the future, and I’m so thankful that God led me to their church this week.

Speaking of God, He has been teaching me so much: about trusting Him, about having faith in His plan, and about relying on Him to provide. I’ve gotten to see God’s hand so much in this first week in Austria, and I feel so very blessed. He has been so faithful to me, proving His faithfulness again and again, in both the big and the small things. He brought me my friend, Jodie. He had Jonathan move into the room down the hall, bringing with him extra converter plugs, one of which I am using right now. He put me in the class where I have made so many friends. When I got lost on the way to church, He led me to a flower shop that happened to be open on Sundays (nothing in Austria is open past 7 p.m. on weekdays. And NOTHING is open on Sundays), so I could ask directions. When I got to Lisbeth’s house last night and my phone wouldn’t work, he brought along a stranger on a smoke break who let me borrow his phone to make the call. When I got to the Stammtisch late and couldn’t find any friends, a girl from my class walked by on her way to the restroom and told me where her group was sitting. When I went shopping for boots today (Side note: Ugg-style boots do not work in European snow. They have no traction. It’s awful.), and I couldn’t find shoes in my price range—or my size—He brought me to the store with exactly what I was looking for, for exactly what I was willing to pay. When I didn’t set my alarm correctly on my iPod the first morning of class and would have easily overslept with the jetlag, He woke me up five minutes after my alarm was supposed to go off. When I’ve been searching all over the city for an inexpensive, used bike, He helped me find a Hungarian upstairs who is leaving Sunday and needs to sell his bike before he goes. This is just a short list of the ways God has specifically provided for me; I could probably go on for at least another page. I know they are rather small things, and they probably seem silly, but they mean so much to me.

The biggest way I’ve seem God’s hand, though, happened on Saturday. I had slept really late (out late with friends the night before), I ran a bunch of errands, and suddenly it was 4 p.m., and I had nothing to do. My friends were all sleeping; I didn’t have a phone to get ahold of any Erasmus people, and I didn’t feel like sitting in my room, especially since my computer didn’t work. Plus, it was snowing hard, my first Austrian snow storm, and it seemed like such a waste to be cooped up inside.

Then I felt this nudge, this sudden desire to go to the Schlossberg. The Schlossberg is an old fortress-castle that sits on a small mountain in the middle of the city. It’s relatively elevated, and one can see the entire city below. I hadn’t gotten a chance to go there yet, and suddenly I really wanted to. So I walked to the bottom, paid my 70 cents for a one-way elevator ticket to the top, and then was utterly amazed. It was so beautiful, the view down below, with the snow falling all around. But that wasn’t even the best part. Soon, I moved away from the area overlooking Graz and went deeper into the Schossberg, down a path through the woods. It was so quiet that I think I actually heard the snow falling. The late twilight evening made the snow seem to glow. And the beauty all around me literally took my breath away. It was as if I’d stepped into Narnia, into another world, or got a short glimpse of heaven. I don’t think I’d ever felt that way before; it was as if I could feel God giving me a hug. It was wonderful, so incredible, that I was left speechless for several minutes. And when I could finally talk again, I found that talking wouldn’t suffice. So I started to sing, with a small, faltering, off-key voice, but one that came straight from the depths of my soul, praising Him who had crafted this beauty and brought me there to see it.

And here I am, four days later, still in quiet awe of Him. I’m by no means a perfect person; I fall so short of His mark. Yet, despite the mistakes I make, the times I doubt Him, the times when I try to do things on my own, He still loves me. I don’t understand it. And He never quits loving me; all the time, His love is there. When I can feel it, like up on the Schlossberg, and even when I can’t. As my favorite band Tenth Avenue North says in their song “Times,” “My love is over, it’s underneath, it’s inside, and it’s in between…” No matter where I am, what I do, where I go, His love is here with me, and He never leaves my side. And because He loves me—because He is—I can do anything. That doesn’t just go for me here in Austria; that includes you too. Be encouraged today. And know that His love is over and underneath, inside and in between.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you have an amazing day. Bis spaeter!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Nur zwei Tage? (Only two days?)

Full day in Graz: Nummer 2

Today was yet another full day. I've been in the city only 2 full days, but it seriously feels like a week. Oh, and I'm starting to use German sentence constructions for English on accident. So if my updates sound somewhat awkward, that is probably the reason. Es tut mir Leid (I'm sorry.)

Okay, so jetlag is overrated; I got up at 6:30 this morning so I could shower and read my Bible before being at the University by 8:30 for the placement interview for the German intensive course. I was planning on taking the bus since I had taken it to the university the night before because my "buddy" Lisa had me meet her there. But this morning when I was walking out the front door of the apartment complex, I ran into Jodie, the Canadian girl I met yesterday. We ended up walking to the Uni and spending the rest of the day together. At the Uni, all the students for the intensive course split into pairs for an interview in German to determine which class level would be appropriate for them: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. Jodie and I were partners, which worked out well, I think. We find out tomorrow which class we are actually in. While we were waiting, I met several friendly Erasmus students from all over Europe: Finland, Italy, Sweden (I didn't ask her if she liked Swedish fish, but I will next time) and other places like New Jersey and China. From what I've heard, the language intensive course is the best way to meet lots of people quickly. So, fingers crossed. Or as they say in German " Druecken die Daumen" (press your thumbs).

After the interview, Jodie and I began what became a day-long trek around the city. We went to the housing office to get her contract signed and to the City office to register with the city (By the way, bureaucracies = obnoxious. They make things incredibly complicated, the offices are rarely open and when they are open, they have the most bizarre hours--like 9 am to 1 p.m. with a 2-hour lunch break--and the information on the internet is never right. Like I said, obnoxious.)Anyway, once we figured all of that out, we finally made it back to our flats/tops/apartments for a break. But before that, God answered an important prayer of mine.

Yesterday, if you recall, I was incredibly discouraged because I couldn't find any gluten-free food at the grocery store, which meant that this was going to be a very long and hungry five months. But when were walking around the city, I mentioned my problem to Jodie. Turns out that a few years ago, she thought she had a gluten allergy, so she went on a gluten-free diet for a few months. Now she no longer has to eat special food, but she still notices it whenever she goes into a grocery store. And yesterday, she just happened to see that there was a gluten-free section at a different store five minutes away from our building. Perfect. So today I ate a sandwich and later some toast on very heavy, but very gluten-free bread. It was fantastic. They also have pasta and other products. Things are certainly looking up.At the same time, though, this gluten problem is kind of discouraging because I can't really eat the local food, like baked goods, cakes, schnitzel (think chicken-fried steak but much better), spaetzle (noodles), along with Italian food and lots of food when I'll be travelling. It really stinks. I wish this gluten thing had waited until this coming Christmas, not the one a month before I left for Europe. Schade (Pity). I guess God will have to provide for me. And I guess I'll have to trust that He will.

Oh, and I bought some milka chocolate too. A really big bar of it. That alone made the day brighter still. :)

Jodie and I were originally going to venture to Ikea on the other side of town this afternoon, but our plans changed when Jodie's flat-mates invited us out to coffee. They are two Americans (Edmond, OK, and Louisville, KY) and a girl from Portugal. There is also a Korean girl and a French girl, but they didn't come to coffee. We went to the Cafe in a nice hotel only a short walk away, and I drank the best hot chocolate of my entire life. For all the deprived Americans out there, it's called "traenk schokolade" or "drinking chocolate." They bring you a glass of hot milk and a block of gourmet chocolate on the end of a stick. Then you put the chocolate inside and melt it and stir it together and drink it--and discover what heaven tastes like. Yes, it's that amazing. :) Sooooooo good. The American girls have been here since September, so they gave Jodie and me the scoop on the town, partying, traveling, their random adventures. It was fun to listen to, but, to be entirely honest, it was pretty intimidating. If you know me at all, you probably realize that, while I like to meet people and have a good time, I don't really drink and I'm not much of a party-er. I hope and pray that I can figure out a way to be myself and maintain my standards and beliefs while still making friends and experiencing the culture. How do you be "salt and light" to strangers in a foreign city? And how do you do it without alienating them? I want to fit in, on the one hand; but on the other hand, I don't want to compromise what I believe, you know? It's going to be tricky. But I'm praying that God will give me wisdom and insight as I try to figure it out. :/ He's been faithful so far, though, so I'm doing my best to trust that He will continue to be. Faith is harder than it looks.

Jodie and I finally made it to Ikea after a 23-minute bus ride through the sketchy part of Graz (strip clubs everywhere? really?). But Ikea was REALLY cool. For all you confused Americans out there, imagine a fancy Pottery Barn or Nebraska Furniture Mart meets Sam's Club / Model home with Target's style. It's insane. It's a huge Swedish department store chain that has EVERYTHING. Or pretty close. Amazing. After staring wide-eyed and walking through it (following the arrows. yes, it's so big that if you don't follow the arrows, you WILL get lost. Really. I'm not kidding), I came out with only a pair of cheap orange slippers (go Pokes) and a jar of jam, but it was still worth the experience. For sure.

This evening, I hung out a little with Marta, my Spanish flat-mate and her Hungarian boyfriend. I feel really terrible, but I don't remember his name at all. We talked about accents and slang and other interesting cultural things. He tried to teach me a little Hungarian, which, P.S. is one of the hardest languages EVER. Like, I'm not kidding. But he said I had good pronounciation, so I guess that counts for something, right? But let's just say that I won't be moving to Budapest any time soon. ha ha

After that, I hung out at Jodie's flat with her and her friends. Rochelle, the French girl, made a crepe meal with salad crepe, main course crepes, and dessert crepes. I couldn't eat them because of the wheat flour, but she said she would do it again with corn flour. Maybe that will work...? Hopefully. They were all very nice, and I enjoyed spending time with them. I do need to start speaking more German, though, I'm afraid. We only spoke English. But I think I'll be hanging out with them a lot.

Anyway, ich bin ganz muede, und ich muss jetzt ins Bett gehen, weil ich morgen wieder sehr frueh aufwachen muss. Deshalb muss ich jetzt schlafen. Ich liebe ihr, und danke sehr, dass ihr dieses gelesen habt! Bis spaeter! Tschau!

Anyway, I'm completely tired, and I need to go to bed now, because tomorrow I have to wake up really early again. Therefore, I really need to sleep now. But I love you all, and I thank you very much that you have read this! Until later! Bye!

Or, in Hungarian, "Szia!" (Bye) :)

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

And the adventure begins... (Und das Abenteuer faengt an)

Wow.

I don't even know where to start. I guess the title says it all--this has definitely been an adventure so far. First off, you might have noticed that I hadn't posted anything until now, and you might have thought that strange since I have been here for more than 24 hours. Well, I just got an ether-net cord today (what student dorm doesn't offer wireless internet? Seriously.) Then when I finally did get the internet, I discovered that my power adapter/converter thingy doesn't work for my computer, so my computer was about to die. Luckily, I met a girl from Oklahoma (what are the odds). She lives two floors down and lent me hers, so I could at least charge my computer. A new converter should arrive in the mail in a few days. (I can't write as much as I would like since I am now running on battery power). All that to say, that is just one small facet of the great adventure I seem to have embarked on.

Whew. So, yesterday was a very long day. And by "yesterday" I mean that it began at 7 a.m. on Sunday the 31st (Central Standard Time) and ended at 9:00 p.m. Austrian time or 2 p.m. CST on February 1st. Yes, it was very long. Luckily, I was able to nap on the 8-hour flight and for a little while on the 2.5 hour train ride from Vienna to Graz. Needless to say, though, I am quite jetlagged. :/ No fun.

Overall, however, my experiences so far have been very positive. I have a "buddy" named Lisa (for the OSU students, it's like Cowboy Cousins). She picked me up at the train station and has shown me around the city and helped me do various things, like find the office where I had to sign my housing contract, buy a "Handy" or cell phone, and other essential things. She is really sweet and comes from Germany. We've been speaking German the entire time and, while my German is far from perfect, I can feel myself improving. I'm starting to think in German, though not all the time, but I think that is definitely progress. :)

Tomorrow I have my first day at the University. It's called Karl-Franzens Universitaet, and it is more than 500 years old. And it's absolutely beautiful. Tomorrow morning I begin my intensive German language course, which will last for 2-3 weeks. I'm crossing my fingers (or in German "pressing my thumbs") that I do well!

I am living in an apartment or "top" with four other students. They are all girls, but only one of them is here already. Her name is Marta, and she is an Erasmus (European exchange program) student from Spain. She is really sweet, and I think it will be nice having her down the hall. She introduced me to two of her other Erasmus friends, one from Spain and two from Hungary. They are all very friendly and nice, and I am glad to already be plugged into the Erasmus group, even though I am from America. :) I found out that my roommate is Korean, and the two other girls are Chinese. Hopefully, they speak German, or this could prove very interesting...

I wish I were able to write more excitingly, but I can feel the jetlag coming on again.... :/ No fun.

Honestly, I am feeling more than a little overwhelmed. The city is so big, the language and culture seem so foreign. It's also proving to be a challenge to find gluten-free food to buy; I haven't eaten much because of it. *sigh* Luckily, I haven't had much of an appetite. Anyway, I have so much to figure out and everything seems so confusing right now. I know I will eventually adjust to it all, but as of this moment, it's easy to feel apprehensive. I know I'm not alone and that God is here with me and that countless other students have done this before me and will do it after me, but as of right now, I'm feeling a little discouraged. I have to keep reminding myself that I can do this. I can because He is. (That's the English translation for the blog's title, in case you were wondering). If you think of it, though, I'd appreciate your prayers. If the last 48 hours are any indication, I have a lot to learn.

This is certainly going to be an adventure. And it's only just beginning....