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Published: September 25th 2008
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DeutschIntensiv
My DeutschIntensiv Class, B2!
Back Row Left to Right: Mikko [Finland], Guillaume [France], Caterina [Italy], Elizabeth [Australia], Heino [Finland], me, Meghan [USA], Harry [Australia]
Front Row: Chelsea [USA], Eva [Austria-our teacher], Ayana [Japan], Tadej [Slovenia], Orla [behind Tadej-Ireland], George [Ireland], Libor [Czech Republic], Paul [USA]
Picture taken by: Jessica [Canada] Szia!
Yes, I know that's not German, but we'll keep with the theme. I'm going to Hungary in 9 hours! More on that later.
Yesterday was a pretty good day. I had my oral exam for DeutschIntensiv, and it's still so weird to think that it's over! We were put into groups of three and had to go in together and have a 20 minute conversation with Eva. I got paired with Meghan and Libor, which was good, nice being fed to the wolves with friends. We were the 4th group to go, and each group before us used all 20 minutes. Topics ranged from discussing career possibilities after college to comparing our home country's school system to Austria's. We really had no idea what to expect. The moment arrived, and we entered the dungeon previously known as our classroom. We sat down, three of us on one side of the table, Eva on the other. We started to chat, nothing serious, and then she asked us our major question: "Warum frass der Wolf Rotkaeppchen? Warum moechtet er das tun?" Why did the wolf eat Little Red Riding Hood? Why would he want to do that?
Eva
My teacher [on Graz's double spiral staircase]. We stared at her.
She stared at us.
We stared at each other.
She stared at us.
Finally, she started to laugh and say, "Das war nur ein Witz! Nur ein Witz!" It was just a joke! Just a joke!
Exhale.
Our real question was, "Why are you in Austria? What drew you here? Do you like it, or is it different from what you thought? Did you have prerequisitions with your home university? Is it more expensive to go to this university than yours at home? Is it more expensive to live in Austria than in your country?" I was the one that had to talk first, and I only spoke for a minute or two. She turned to Libor and he threw in his two cents, and then Meghan threw in hers. Each of us spoke for about a minute or two, and then Eva smiled and said, "Ok, that's it." We couldn't believe it. All the other groups had used up all their time, but she told us she knew that we all could obviously speak well in German, since that's how we communicate to each other, and she's heard it
Working
The stupid balloons were harder than you'd think. the last three weeks, and we all had good responses for thinking on our feet in German. Not too bad. She told us she'd like to meet everyone at one of the pubs by school tomorrow night, but unfortunately, most people are heading out of Austria for the weekend, so we're going to get together some other time. We're facebook friends with her, too, so we can talk that way to figure stuff out.
After that, it felt a little bit like summertime. Except that it was in the 40s and raining. I came home, grabbed a quick lunch of peanut butter & jelly, and headed to Lendplatz to meet Libor and Thomas. Yesterday was Dietlinde's 21st birthday, so we had a surprise celebration for her. Meghan took her out to lunch, and Libor, Thomas, Elizabeth, and I broke into their apartment , and we set to work. Thomas, Libor, and I were assigned balloon animals--I will never mock a clown again, those *******s are hard!--and Elizabeth made fairy cake, which is apparently traditional Australian children's birthday party food. Meghan had also made a dirt cake, to celebrate in
Thom
Apparently his summer job is at a kid's camp, so he knew all about making balloon animals. true American style :-)
Dietlinde and Meghan finally got back and Dietlinde was legitimately surprised, which was really fun. We then hung out for the afternoon; Libor taught us Czech card games, and then we decided to make our own Twister mat and play. We each took a color
and colored 6 sheets of paper. Meghan made cards, and we set about to playing. It was a lot of fun, but a reminder to all of us how out of shape we all are and how lithe we were when we were younger. Our aching bones now can't handle it. I've been looking for a cane since.
Last night was supposed to be a party in celebration of the end of DeutschIntensiv, but none of my friends felt like going and I didn't know where it was, so instead I just hung out at my place and had a low-key night.
Today I slept in, which was fantastic. When I did get up, Libor and I made plans for this weekend, and I booked a hostel in...BUDAPEST! Yep, after going back and forth between Croatia and Hungary, I decided on Hungary. I figure Croatia Dirt Cake!
American legacy in Austria. is close so I could either go later this year, or even while I'm in Italy. There's a ferry that runs from Venice to Pula, the city Id've been in, so it's not too hard to get there at all. Anyways, Orla had recommended a hostel in the very heart of Budapest, Domino Hostel, so I booked us spots, and then we were supposed to meet at the train station to buy tickets. Libor had found a really good deal where for a one way trip it'd only cost 19euro. Thus, a round trip ticket is only 38euro. Not too bad for such a long distance ! Libor ended up having orientation which he'd forgotten about, so our afternoon plans to visit the Eggenberg Schloss, one of the other castles of the city, were temporarily put on hold for another day. Instead, I went to the Annen Passage in search of a jacket. The weather here is a lot damper than at home, and it's too cold to wear just a sweatshirt, but too warm to wear a full winter coat. After much debate, I finally settled on an Adidas jacket-type thing. Now, together
Fairy Bread
Australian legacy in Austria. with my Adidas sneakers, I pretty much just always look like I'm warming up for a soccer game.
After that, I went to the Hauptplatz in an attempt to go to the bank and exchange money for 10 cent euros. I was successful, the woman there didn't actually think I was crazy, so it must be fairly common for students to go in there. I had big plans to have a rockin' evening and do my laundry. Afterwards, I met Libor, Thomas, and Borja at the train station, and, after some ridicule from the man behind the counter, we had each bought our 19euro tickets to Budapest! It's official now, we are actually leaving tomorrow! The train leaves at 6:14am and gets there at 11:58am, so it's going to be a rough morning. Oh well.
Since then, I've just been hanging around my place. Had a magnificent dinner of tortilla chips and salsa, and just have been doing laundry. Still such a hassle going up and down the stairs every 13 minutes to put another coin in, but I was on my last pair of boxers, had reworn socks, don't want to think about how many times I'd
Hiding
Elizabeth chose to hide behind the glass door. We then pointed out to her that it didn't work that way. worn all my pants, so...anyways, at least I now have fresh clothes for Hungary!
That's about it, though. Going to go to bed early tonight since I have to wake up so early tomorrow morning!
Szia!
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your favorite sister
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i feel like i'm the only one that hasn't made a comment on anything... ummmm i like how you twisted around the title of this one? found that interesting! haha just kidding. although it really was sorta funny. but anywho, your blogs are cool. although i dont read them as much cause i talk to you pretty much everyday! Hope you have fun in Budapest! try not to miss me too much :) ta-ta brother