Blogs from Styria, Austria, Europe - page 7

Servus, It’s a snowy Groundhog Day’s morning, so I figured I should let you all know that happyhaps here, and also say Happy Birthday to Rachel. Since we last spoke, it has been an absolutely crazy few weeks here in Österreich. The semester officially ended on Friday, the 30th, and with that came weeks of exams and minimal sleep and everyone freaking out about 25% from having our exams in German, and about 75% because a lot of the people were heading home. One night right in the heart of exams, ESN decided to throw a going away party at one of the clubs here in Graz, with the theme of Karneval . Since it would probably be the last time we got to see a lot of people, of course we all decided to go, ... read more

Greetings all. I'm back in Austria after an exhausting but fun 9 days in Italia. Since Julie is currently sitting on my bed and most likely very, very bored, I'm going to skip the pleasantries and get right to it. After spending two of the most depressing days in Graz ever (the city was literally EMPTY, nobody was in my apartment, I had nobody to play with, it was sad), I caught the train at 8:30 at night and headed south, destination: Florence. After 10 long hours on the train with various co-travelers in my compartment, I finally knew I was in Italy when 2 women sat down in my cart and I smelt nothing. Then, 3 men joined us, and I was overwhelmed by the amount of 3 different types of cologne. After finally making ... read more

It's a pretty sad time right now in Graz. Yesterday was most people's last day of school before our Christmas vacation, mine included, so now I'm officially on break until January 6th. For most of the Americans here, it was their last day of European school ever. Since our university schedule in the US is so far off from the rest of the world's, the American kids staying here only for a semester have to leave in the coming weeks to be back in the US for spring semester. Since I don't hang out with any Americans really, it doesn't really affect me. However, Dietlinde, one of the few I am friends with, was only here for a semester, and so last night she, Libor, Elizabeth, Meghan and I went out to dinner as a send-off, ... read more

Last night after I got back from school, I looked at my mailbox and I had a note from the Doorman waiting for me, "I have for you a post." This morning, I went and paid the Doorman a little visit, and got a nice package from Nanbo & Grumpi. The part I got the biggest kick out of, though, was that on the customs declaration form, our Poopsie claimed absolutely everything inside, eliminating the element of surprise but giving me quite the laugh. Anyways, I received some small gifts and whatnot that I haven't yet opened, and Nanny also packed in a small artificial tree, so I have that sitting on my desk right now with the gifts around it. It's a quaint Christmas set-up, as Libor and I are still trying to figure out ... read more

Grüßi. Though I talked to several of you yesterday, I figured I'd update this thing with some more information, etc. Yesterday in Austria was....totally normal. It was very odd because I knew it was Thanksgiving but it didn't feel like it. I slept in, hung out for the morning and afternoon, and then went to class at 3. Not terribly exciting. However, since it was a holiday , I decided to take the day off and do absolutely no homework. It was a beautiful day. As I've said before, the Americans can't play well with others. I'm considered very odd that I don't hang out with Americans (or native English speakers), and that I'm taking regular university classes, not the easy ones designed for the Americans. Since I'm sure to get some comments saying I'm bashing ... read more