Cross-Cultural Tension

At the beginning of this blog, I promised you all that I would write a few thematic posts along with my journal entry style posts.  So many events happen here each week that I find it hard to record  more than the raw details of daily life!  As my life continued to develop throughout February, I realized I wanted to use this blog to process my reactions toward my experiences more deeply.

I often find myself in the middle of a cross-cultural tension here in Austria, which requires a constant dance of grace in the give and take between cultures.  As a foreigner here in Austria, I need and thankfully am offered much grace by the Austrian people around me.  On the giving side, I need to pass this grace on to the people around me.  I have loved and studied German for a long time, but honestly my study abroad program is geared more toward students who speak primarily English.  Through a series of fortunate accidents, I found a living situation and community connections which help me become more immersed in local Viennese life.  This often creates a internal tension for me, since I live more independently than the other students in my program.

On the one hand, I sometimes feel proud that I networked to my current situation.  On the other hand, I need to remember that I am only here due to God´s guidance in my situation and the kindness of people whom I met.  I find the examples endless.  Dr. Chaouli connected me to Amina, my landlady, whose family he has known since his childhood in Iran.  Amina took time out of her day to rescue me when I got lost in Vienna during my first days here and helped me when I forgot my passport on the way to the airport.  Georg, my roommate, showed me how everything worked in the apartment, even when I had to ask multiple times about our persnickety door or the wi-fi password.  Georg and his sister, Lisa, both introduced me to their friends and often ask me to hang out with them, despite silly things I've said and miscommunications in German.  People at church have warmly invited me into their homes and lives, even though I am only here for 4 1/2 months.  The Austrian staff at IES constantly answer students' questions about culture and language, as we develop in our understanding.

I sometimes can turn around and get frustrated at my fellow American students, when they struggle to use the language or act and speak loudly in ways that make it obvious they are foreigners.  This particularly happened before a local soccer game, which I attended with fellow students.  Struggling to know the best way to speak and act in response, I suddenly found the tables turned on myself.  See, we were standing in line at a Käsekrainer (cheese-filled sausage) stand and I made a very "unique" realization about Käsekrainer.  So, the sausages are very long, probably around 10 inches or so.  They are then stuck in baguettes with a hole in the middle, as this picture demonstrates:

Käsekrainer - Austria´s delicious version of hot dogs

I had always wondered how they made a hole in the baguette for the sausage, since American hot dog buns are sliced open down the middle.  Well, lo and behold, each Austrian sausage stand has a tool to make that hole!  The tool is a long, warm metal rod with which they puncture each bun and create the hole (scoured the Internet for pictures but couldn´t find one, sorry!).  Totally baffled and amazed by this realization, I blurted out rather loudly "So THAT´s how they do it!"  My friends and a few locals gave me some weird looks..."Uhhh, you´ve never seen that before?  Have you been hiding under a rock for the past 6 weeks?"

Moments like these remind me of the constant grace I need in this daily cross-cultural experience.  All the more, they remind me to pass on the grace I receive to the people in my life, regardless of their background.

Week 7: A Whirlwind Week

22 February

I went back to church at Rotenmühlgasse this week and felt more comfortable, since this was the 4th time I attended at the same place.  Each week progressively becomes more comfortable, as I grow in my understanding of the congregation and the best ways to relate to them.  I was excited to meet an English international student, Katie, who visited the church due to a connection with an English woman who goes there.  We hit it off well and I introduced her to a leader of ÖSM, Johannes, who also attends our church.  We went out for a lunch at a Bosnian restaurant nearby with the English women whom Katie knows, Rachel.  Although we all speak English as our native language, we ended up speaking German together at lunch.  Rachel has lived in Austria for several years, so I imagine she is almost more comfortable in German than English.  Katie and I now often talk in German to practice with each other!  I really love finding other Anglophones comfortable enough to carry conversations in a foreign language, even though we have the same native language! 

23 February

On Monday, I went to school early in the morning for my teaching internship.  In the first period, I helped my older students with a small craft they needed to complete.  They created cut out paper figures with images of people from different nations and then pasted them onto popsicle sticks.  The students then practiced several English phrases by describing their different characters.  With the younger students, I shared a presentation with basic facts about myself to help them become more familiar with the daily life of a person in America.  They then copied down several phrases from the presentation as practice.

For this presentation, students from two different classrooms combined to listen to me speak.  Eva Maria pointed out the difference between her teaching style and the other teacher´s style.  The students they both work with become rowdy quickly, meaning she constantly needs to keep in mind the big picture of the routine and student behavior in the classroom.  The other teacher often gets caught up with small problems or individual conversations, thus more easily losing control of his group of students.  Eva Maria also pointed out that I am hyper-aware of my surroundings and will pick up slack where other people are not working.  She explained that I need to learn from the other teacher´s behavior and my own, in order to avoid burnout in future professional situations.  Keeping the big picture in mind and delegating tasks to others will prove vital in the future to manage people well, so the group remains calm and becomes more independent by completing tasks on their own.  I appreciated her advice and stowed it away for future application.

I endured another murderous Managing Behavior in Organizations lecture in the afternoon and headed to a museum in the evening, called Haus der Musik.  One of the student services staff took students on a tour there earlier in the semester, although I unfortunately missed the tour with her.  The museum showed a variety of things related to music, particularly the history of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra is extremely selective, pulling musicians who have already played at the Royal Viennese Theater (Burgtheater).  Other exhibits included displays on the life of famous Austrian musicians including Mozart, Beethoven, and members of the Strauss family.  A particular fascinating exhibit includes an explanation of the hearing process in the human body. Going to museums like these helps stretch my German understanding and absorb new words, especially more scientific words like the parts of the ear (all of which I remember perfectly, of course...not).

24 February

We had an exam today regarding separable and inseparable verbs today in German.  Basically, some verbs exist in German which have a prefix.  Sometimes the prefix is placed at the end of the sentence. Such verbs bear a completely different meaning.  The only difference is whether the first or second syllable is stressed.  Fun, right?  Only way to survive this concept is to memorize a list of verbs. Fortunately, the test turned out well!

In the evening, I attended a play at the Burgtheater for my Viennese theater class.  The play was called "The Evil Spirit, Lumpazivagabundus" and the plot focused on three young tradesman controlled by the evil spirit.  The drama was set in the context of two warring fairies, who made a bet about the result of the tradesmans' lives and whether or not they would make wrong choices.  We had prime seats in the theater, right in the center on the first balcony.  Our teacher said they were among the best he ever managed to buy for his class!  During the pause, our teacher showed us the lobby of the theater and explained the artwork and paintings in it.  I appreciated his explanations of famous actors depicted in the paintings and the philosophical meanings of different scenes.  So often old European buildings contain gorgeous artwork, but I cannot appreciate it as well without an explanation of the symbolism. Our teacher, Günter Haika, is pretty awesome...I mean, he plays in a rock band, no big deal.

25 February

Today marked my third meeting with the young boy whom I tutor in English, Laurenz.  He is the nephew of my landlady, Amina.  I have not tutored someone this closely before, so I am learning alongside Laurenz, albeit on the educator rather than student side.  Each week I learn more about his personality and new strategies to help him with his reading comprehension, like asking Who/What/Where/Why/How questions.  Last week he wanted to complete English homework with me, which his mom encouraged.  This week he asked for help on that again and I realized afterwards that we should focus on reading first in the coming weeks.  Doing the homework takes time away from practicing reading comprehension, since he will soon took an entrance test for an American international school.  After tutoring Laurenz, I finally had the chance to meet Yasmin, his mom.  We talked over things together and I appreciated getting to meet another member of Amina's family.  It's so cool to be a part of an international network of people who know one another!

In the evening, I went to a play called "The Boxer" in Theater in der Josefstadt. I had met a friend of Lisa's during my first week here and we talked about going to the theater together before.  We finally found time to go together to this play in one of the most beautiful theaters in Vienna!  The play's plot focused on the family of a gypsy boxer during World War II.  Similar to Jews, Gypsies were persecuted during the war based on their race.  The play shows a researcher conducting a massive project to track the Gypsies in Europe.  Despite his race, the boxer ends up winning several competitions, particularly against one well-known German boxer.  The rest of the play recounts the tragedy of their fate within the war, in which they all pass away in concentration camps.  The Boxer survives nearly until the end of the war in a concentration camp, where he reunites with his brother and faces his old German boxing competitor.  I enjoyed watching the play with Franziska (not my language buddy, Fransizka).  She studies German at the University of Vienna and loves going to the theater.  She showed us lots of details about the theater and introduced me to other friends of hers who came along!  A wonderful night...thankful for Austrians who take the time to hang out even though I am only here for a few months!

26 February

In Viennese Theater, ever awesome Günter reviewed with us the play we went to see on Tuesday.  We talked about the importance of different costumes and stage sets for this production of the play, along with the meaning of different points within the plot.  He also introduced to us the next production we would see, entitled Am Ziel by Thomas Bernhard, a critical Austrian playwright and author.  I began to look forward to learning more about Thomas Bernhard, since Dr. Chaouli back at IU had mentioned his unique writing style to me.

After classes, our small group had Bible study again due to vacation coming to a close.  This Bible study occurred about a month after the original one which I attended.  I enjoyed noting the difference in my ability to understand between my first small group meeting and this one.  Although our leader speaks quietly, I could understand him much better now and more fully express myself in response on theological concepts.

27 February - 2 March

I planned this weekend to visit an old family friend and her husband, who live close to Cologne.  I booked a flight to Düsseldorf, which is quite close to Cologne and planned to take a train down into the city.  Unfortunately, the weekend ended up being a nightmarish travel experience.  My problems started on the way to the airport, when I realized I had forgotten my passport.  As I planned to board the train to the airport, I realized that my passport was not in my purse, thus preventing me from getting to my flight on time.  Booking a flight a different weekend would cost a significant amount of money, so I decided to take a super cheap overnight bus to Cologne.  13 hours later I arrived in Cologne, tired and hungry, but still ready to see the city with Heather.

My visit to Cologne turned out very nicely, allowing me to see several beautiful sights inside the city.  In the morning, Heather and I walked around the old town area of Cologne, where she showed me Alter Markt and the Kölner Dom.  The Rhine cuts through the center of Cologne, dividing the old town and the more industrial side of the city.  The overall atmosphere of the city feels more industrial and modern than other European cities.  However, the soaring Kölner Dom, one of the oldest and largest cathedrals in Europe, defies all efforts to modernize the Cologne skyline.  The inside of the cathedral is lit by sunlight streaming in through the original stained glass windows, which depict a plethora of scenes from the Bible and saints' lives.  A shrine in the center of the church supposedly holds the bones of the three wisemen, whose history I read about in its connection with the church.  I left the cathedral profoundly touched by its beauty and the way it has pointed to God for many long centuries.

Heather and I headed to a pizza and pasta restaurant for lunch, where I enjoyed a yummy pasta with mushrooms and tomatoes.  We headed off to explore a couple museums in the afternoon after lunch, particularly the Romanish-Germanisches Museum, which contains a huge amount of Roman ruins.  One of the highlights of the museum are the original tile floors from old Roman houses which exist within the museum.  The floors contains millions of tiny tiles which form designs of Roman philosophers, gods, and mythological figures.  Amazing that the floors still exist after all these centuries!

We finished up our afternoon at the Schokoladenmuseum, which shows the entire process of how chocolate is made.  It depicts the process from start to finish, from growing cacao beans to processing and making them into chocolate.  The museum even contains a mini chocolate factory inside!  One of the neat temporary exhibits was a model of the Three Wisemen's Shrine, completely made out of chocolate!  I also enjoyed reading about the history of chocolate in Europe, which described how it originally come to the continent and became a widespread good.

After returning to Heather and her husband's house, we had a snack of bread, cheese, and yogurt and then headed over to the church to hang out with the youth and Heather's husband, Mike, the youth pastor.  I noticed right away that the German of people in this area is clear, but very fast!  I found it easier to catch on to them than Austrians, but it took a little while since I am accustomed to the Austrian lilt and accent.  I also broke another barrier in German today, because I was able to play Taboo in German.  I guessed several words and described several properly to help my team! Definitely not as well as in English, but I still contributed! :-)

On Sunday morning, I went to church with the Lepperts and heard Mike preach.  I appreciated his sermon on grace and living out of God's strength, rather than our own.  It's such a joy to worship in another language and understand the majority of what is happening!  I found that joy a little hard to maintain later in the day, though, as I headed home.  Upon arriving at the airport, I realized my booking agency had cancelled the second leg of my flight.  This meant a 2nd 13-hour bus ride back to Vienna...during which I accidentally lost my wallet.  I fortunately remembered the exact place I left it and asked the bus driver the time of the town and gas station where I left it.  This meant another 2.5 round trip bus ride and a short taxi ride to pick up my wallet.  I endured a 2nd half of my Managing Behaviour in Organizations lecture in the afternoon and finally got home by about 7 pm in one piece, only missing every ounce of energy in my body!

Week 6: In Which I Attempt To Become An Educator

16 February

I headed into the school for my teaching internship, not in the least knowing what to expect. Upon arriving, I discovered that my teacher would arrive late due to complications from the weekend.  I was thus assigned to help my students fill out a worksheet of the digestive system.  The worksheet was in German and I was incredibly thankful for the answer sheet, due to the fact that I knew basically none of the digestive system parts in German except for der Magen (stomach).  Did you know that the duodenum in German is called der Zwölffingerdarm?  Learn something new everyday!

After Eva Maria arrived in the classroom, she reviewed with me her weekend misadventures. Unfortunately, she accidentally lost her insurance card, in addition to facing problems with her application for a sabbatical to teach in Egypt (after 42 years of teaching in Austria!).  We talked things over and then I helped another teacher, Bianca, as she reviewed German literature homework with students in the next period.  I helped review the students' homework for grammar and content, but faced difficulty with one student who would not accept my correction of her spelling of the word Stiefmutter.  As an excuse, she told me I don't speak very good German, which is true to some extent. I cannot speak fluently like her teachers and sometimes need to ask for help with words.  I find such situations challenging, because I simultaneously know some right answers while still requiring much growth.  I need to remain firm in the areas where I know the answer, asking for support from teachers.  (In subsequent days, my prayer became that God would "give me a voice"...a voice to glorify Him in all I do, a literal voice to speak German well, and a voice to remain confident in difficult situations).  Ultimately, I asked the classroom teacher to help the student make the proper correction.

I finished up my morning with Eva Maria by helping with a younger class, who recently started to learn English.  Certain children in this class had arrived in Austria only 3-4 weeks before and faced the challenge of learning both German and English.  Eva was teaching the children Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How questions and used me as an example for her question answers.  I then worked with the children one-by-one on the side, asking them to repeat the questions and answers with me.  I found myself completely at a loss for a solution with one girl, Lydia, who arrived in Austria about 3 weeks before.  She did not understand the difference between a question and an answer in English and thus repeated my words after me, regardless of whether they were a question or an answer.  Eva Maria later explained that you must use body language and learn phrases of the child's language, in order to help them understand.  As I pondered my experiences in the classroom while traveling back to IES, I felt overwhelmed and somewhat inspired by my experiences.  Also a little shocked with the amount of new things which I witnessed in 3.5 hours.  More to come on this topic...

17 February

Normal school day, although I received an e-mail today letting me know that I received a German conversation partner through IES's language buddy program!  Her name is Franziska and I began to look forward to meeting her, especially since we have similar linguistic and cultural interests.  As far as our school, our Viennese Theater teacher was sick.  We watched a recorded version of the play we would soon see, but the echo in our classroom and the challenging Austrian dialect made the play rather difficult to understand.  Experiences like these make me feel like I can speak hardly any German, but I must remember to keep persevering.

18 February

My Cultural History of Austria class had our first excursion into the city today!  We visited the Roman ruins museum in Vienna and saw some original ruins, which were discovered during the bombing of Vienna in World War II.  Our tour guide spoke quite quickly, but I could understand the majority of her discussion of water purification and aqueducts in ancient Roman times!  We then visited St. Ruprecht's church, a Romanesque style church with original parts from the late 700s.  Crazy to see a church that old!

In the afternoon, Fransizka and I planned to meet on Thursday and I quickly became excited about meeting her.  The highlight of the day happened in the evening, when I went ice skating in front of the Rathaus with my roommate's sister, Lisa, and her boyfriend, Max.  The Rathaus is a large political building in Vienna, which holds meetings and offices for Austria's two governing chambers (similar to the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, although the power distribution differs).  The Austrian government creates an ice skating area with two rinks and several paths during the winter season.  I smiled as we glided along the paths, the cool winter area rushing past my face.  (Reality check: this smiling happened after I figured out how to ice skate again, since I had not skated for several years!).  The lights of the Rathaus glimmered from the soaring front of the elaborately sculpted and carved building, while the Burgtheater rose behind the rink.  I switched between talking with Lisa and Max and enjoying the permeating calm of sliding across the ice.  All in all, a magical night!

19 February

Fransizka and I met in the afternoon at Café Alte Wien, where we become acquainted with one other by explaining about our current work and studies.  Fransizka works part-time in a literature archive here in Vienna, while translating and composing poetry on the side.  I explained to her in German my business major, Operations Management, which proved quite challenging.  I broke down the explanation of my studies into smaller sentences, describing each part with the words and constructions I know.  We then went to a reading of works from Ludwig Wittgenstein, an influential Austrian philosopher and linguist.  I could understand most of the reading if I followed along with the pamphlet, but found it hard to concentrate and absorb the full meaning of the reading if I merely listened.  These linguistic experiences challenge me to continue expanding my German and adapting the vocabulary I already know to function in new situations.  Listening comprehension on deeper topics is definitely tough, but that's what listening to German news is for, right?!

Fransizka and I left the Wittgenstein reading early, because we both planned further events for that night.  I headed over to the Rathaus for ice skating again, since my small group from church wanted to see each other during the February.  February is basically like Christmas break for the Austrian university students, so our small group decided to take a break from meeting for a couple weeks.  I enjoyed meeting new people who have come to the group in the past and hanging out with our leaders.

20-21 February

My Managing Behavior in Organizations class decided to assign a ridiculous amount of reading, which kept me cooped up amongst other household tasks for the weekend.  I was not particularly happy with my professor at this large assignment of reading and realized I would need to skim the readings in the future for important information, rather than reading word-for-word as usual.  Trying to absorb 90-120 pages fully from an Organizational Behavior class would waste my time, especially since I already learned many of the concepts in former psychology and career preparation classes.

The redeeming night of the weekend occurred on Friday, when I went to a performance at the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna National Opera) for the first time.  A group of friends and I went to go see the ballet, Schwanensee, a dazzling performance with a live orchestra alongside gorgeous costumes and stage sets.  I had no complaints standing for 3 hours to watch the performance!

You might be wondering at this point why I stood to watch the performance.  Seats naturally cost a decent amount of money at the opera, but you can also buy a ticket for standing spots from which you can view the performance.  These cost between 3,50-4 Euro, although you need to stand in line a long time to ensure your spot.  We were actually the first in line after arriving at 3:45 for a 7:30 performance.  It's great fun going through each stage of the line and then experiencing the relief of finally getting your spot.  Once you get your spot, the staff admits you to the Stehplätze (standing places) sections.  You mark your spot by tying a scarf on the railing in front of you and then you are free to go get delicious street food before the performance, such as a Käsekrainer.  Käsekrainer are the Austrian version of hot dogs.  They actually call them hot dogs here, but they are 1000x better!  Picture a long baguette with a hole in the middle, into which is placed an even longer sausage inserted with cheese.  Nothing short of delicious, fatty goodness (which you should really eat only once in a long while)!

Week 5: A New Beginning

Royal Hall at Prague Castle

Courtyard of Prague Castle

8 February

Laura and I visited Prague Castle and Strahov Monastery before heading back to our respective study abroad cities further east in Europe.  Prague Castle is a well-preserved seat of the Czechoslovakian rulers throughout the centuries and provides incredible examples of royal and military life from the Middle Ages to the present.  As we walked around the castle, we saw exhibits of old military defenses in the castle, goldsmiths in the Middle Ages, and royal halls which hosted political and court functions.  The design of the castle was not overwhelming with detail and gold, unlike some castles fashioned in a more Baroque style.  After seeing the castle itself, we walked through the church´s chapel, St. Vitus.  The chapel's gothic beams soared above us into interwebbed arches and the altars in every cove alongside the church nearly took my breath away with their beauty and intricacy.  I preferred the Gothic architecture and enlightening stained glass of St. Vitus, since it invoked a deeper sense of peace and pointed more toward heaven than Baroque-style cathedrals.

Daddy Armor, Kiddie Armor...'nuff said

Breathtaking stained glass at St. Vitus

Pointing heavenward

 

More stained glass and a winged altar

After the castle and Strahov monastery, Laura was kind enough to let me visit the Kafka Museum for a short while during our remaining time in the city.  During the past semester, I had learned about Kafka and his incredible writing style - a veritable labyrinth of imagination, confusion, and reflection on the politics of his day.  I greatly appreciated visiting the museum to understand more about his life and see originals of his letters and drawings, several of which have inspired my German honors thesis!

Outside the Kafka museum

Laura and I departed from Prague during the afternoon and I returned home an exhausted mess after a very intense week. As I sat at my laptop catching up on e-mails and finances, a myriad of emotions washed over me.  I could not tell if I was happy to be back in Vienna, if I was overwhelmed by the sights and experiences of the past week, or if I wanted to change my attitude toward study abroad. After musing for awhile, I realized my trip raised up two desires within me. One, to remain in the present and take action to use my time wisely in Austria by building friendships and absorbing as much culture as possible.  Two, to seek a balance of the ways I spend my time, seeking opportunities with both American and Austrian friends (recognizing that plans will not work always as I expect) and gaining a deeper understanding of my home city.

9 - 15 February

Monday marked the start of classes at IES.  After a relaxed morning doing homework and preparing for the day, I headed to my one class taught in English.  My "Managing Behavior in Organizations" class lasted three hours on several topics which I had already studied before regarding international business and organizational behavior.  Our professor has a wealth of fascinating international business experience, but I knew I would struggle to stay engaged with the 3-hour afternoon lecture every Monday.

On Tuesday, I experienced my first German class after our intensive 3-week German course.  The class continued to teach us about various grammar topics tailored to the areas where our class needs improvement.  My afternoon Viennese Theater class introduced me to the incredible world of Austrian theater, whose wonders would begin to unfold within the oncoming weeks.  In independent study last semester, a professor had mentioned a couple Austrian play writers to me.  Today we began learning about the "Old Vienna People's Theater" and two of its most important contributors, Johann Nestroy and Ferdinand Raimund, whom my professor earlier mentioned.  I enjoyed an evening catching up with IES friends at Der Bettelstudent, a local restaurant, after classes.

Early on Wednesday morning, I went to my first meeting of Kulturgeschichte Österreichs (Cultural History of Austria).  I knew I would love this class, after our teacher introduced us to the historical roots of Austria.  Hearing about the background of the incredible cultural development and sites in Austria fascinates me, since it gives me a fuller understanding of the environment in which I currently live.  In the evening, I attended a meeting for my teaching internship where we met the teachers to whom we were assigned.  At the beginning, the woman coordinating our internships, Heidi Rössler, pointed out a woman who would soon retire after many years of working with teaching interns.  I found out later that I was assigned to this experienced friend of Heidi's, Eva Maria Bannert!  Apparently, my choice for teaching 10-18 year olds from ethnic backgrounds fit perfectly with her classes!

Thursday ended up being a repeat of Tuesday with my German grammar class and Viennese Theater class, although I also walked to the school where I will assist Eva Maria.  I had planned to observe a class period, but we experienced a little miscommunication on timing and I accidentally came after she began teaching during a class period.  After classes at IES, I headed home for an evening of catch-up tasks - making my schedule, cooking, homework, and planning for Vienna sightseeing.

The weekend ended up being a rather quiet one of further catch-up, homework, sleeping, and a relaxing Sunday.  I accidentally went to a church meeting on Sunday afternoon, which I originally thought was a prayer meeting...definitely a challenge for my German to hear about everything from constructing a new building to planning events!

Week 4: A European Adventure, Part 2 (the part where I accidentally go to Poland)

5 February

Approaching Innsbruck

Laura and I woke up early on Thursday morning to catch our Innsbruck train.  The drive through Austria exposed me to industrial and countryside scenes of Austria, which I had not seen closely before.  The countryside became progressively more gorgeous as we approached Innsbruck.  Laura and I couldn´t help but take picture after picture as the mountains began to grow around the train.  We spent the late afternoon and evening orienting ourselves to Innsbruck and eating a nice dinner at a pizza place, since it took extra time to find my accidentally lost suitcase.  The situation nearly gave me a heart attack and I was never so happy to see my little Wal-mart carry-on!

Fighting mountain goats at the Alpenzoo

6 February

We spent Friday basking in the incredible glory of the Alps and exploring the comparison of modern Innsbruck ski culture and centuries-old Austrian culture.  The morning began with a visit to the Alpenzoo, where we saw a variety of different alpine animals in their natural habitat.  The mountain goats and sheep were definitely the cutest!  We headed over to Hall in Tirol in the afternoon, where we wanted to see the Burg Hasegg castle and coin mint.  We unfortunately found out that the mint is closed during the winter time, even though our travel brochure indicated no such closing.  Despite this disappointment, exploring Hall in Tirol became a beautiful adventure, when we stumbled upon an incredible church called the Josefkirche.  The church sharply contrasted against the more simplistic churches I saw in Bratislava, since nearly every square inch of the walls and ceiling were covered with paintings or gold sculptures.  Displays within various parts of the walls and altars contained skulls of famous saints and influential townspeople - more than slightly disturbing in my opinion!

Josefkirche in Hall in Tirol

After the Josefkirche, we enjoyed a traditional Austrian lunch at the Goldener Löwe restaurant, where I ate far, far more cheese than I should have!  Laura and I headed back to Innsbruck after lunch and searched around for a café, so I could conduct an interview for a student organization back home.  In the evening, we had another crazy adventure trying to find a cable car to take us up into the mountains.  Our brochure and several people gave us directions to a train station to the cable car, but it was closed!  We eventually took a taxi up to the station and rode a cable car to a lookout point on the mountain.  Our searching paid off as we gazed up into the beauty of the cold Innsbruck night, the mountains extending far behind and before us into the valley.  I laid for a few minutes in the cold snow, completely at peace and in utter awe of the giant expanse of mountain, night sky, and stars above me.  I shut my eyes for a few moments, embedding the scene into my mind and swearing never to forget it.

7 February

On Saturday, I headed to Poland and to Prague!  Wait...Poland and Prague in the same day?  How did I pull that off?  So the story goes something like this.  Laura and I took a night train from Innsbruck to Prague, so we could spend more time there.  After switching trains in Vienna, we supposedly started heading toward Prague.  I thought we might need to switch trains again, but wasn´t really sure.  Our train kept going and going, with us expecting it to arrive in Prague a little after noon.  The conductors also kept confirming and confirming our tickets.  Then, a third conductor came along and told us we had traveled 30 minutes into Poland!

Laura and I did not know what to do, especially since the conductor basically spoke very little English, German, or Spanish (the languages we knew between the two of us).  Completely at a loss, the conductor kindly got a man who could translate between Polish and English for us.  We found out that we failed to transfer trains in Breclav, Czech Republic and needed to return to the border.  At first, the conductor said we would need to go all the way to one station and then get a train back into the Czech Republic.  Fortunately, he found an international train at a closer station which we could take back.  He told us at one point in the middle of the countryside that Laura and I needed to get off the train immediately!  We both thought he literally meant in the Polish countryside (probably due to our nerves).  He actually meant that we needed to get off at the next station in Tychy, Poland.  So we scurried off the train at the station and waited for the train headed to Prague, hoping that we would not remain stranded in the middle of Poland.  The train fortunately arrived 20 minutes later and we arrived 5 hours later than intended in Prague.

Lenin Wall in Prague

After getting off at the train station in Prague, we decided to walk to our hostel on the other side of the Danube.  We were initially creeped out upon leaving the train station, since it seemed that two men followed us.  We stopped at a hotel and circled around a couple streets, so we could continue safely into Old Town Prague.  The streets in Old Town Prague wind in every direction, taking unexpected angles and turns.  My rolling suitcase and backpack made the trek to our hostel somewhat strenuous, so I found difficulty remaining patient as we navigated through the city.  I was overjoyed to see the Charles Bridge greeting us after reaching the Danube, since that meant our hostel was close!  We finally arived at our hostel after getting our daily exercise climbing the hill in front of it.  Exhausted, we freed ourselves of our luggage and downed a
delicious Italian dinner across the street, then went to explore Old Town Prague more thoroughly.

Week 4: A European Adventure, Part 1

I dreamed for many years of traveling through Europe and experienced a semester of excitement waiting for this opportunity.  Now that I actually live in close proximity to all these opportunities, the feelings of excitement waned slightly amid the academic and cultural realities of studying abroad.  I also learned that while excitement for opportunities exist, you must work hard to plan travel well and take advantage of available opportunities.  During my break in Europe, my adventures took me through Bratislava, Budapest, Prague, Innsbruck, and even Tychy, Poland!

1 February

I decided this past week that I would regularly attend church at the Evangelikale Gemeinde Wien-Meidling, a church where several of the students from ÖSM also go.  After the morning service, I was invited to lunch at the house of someone named Lisa.  When we settled in at Lisa´s house, I began asking her a few questions about her background to get to know her.  She began mentioning several circumstances in her life including her university and the time she studied there, all of which sounded quite similar to the area where my sister spent time in Austria.  I decided to ask Lisa if she knew my sister and before I even finished my sentence, she knew who I mentioned!  Lisa pulled out a scrapbook page and on the top was pasted a picture of my sister from 13 years ago.  I was kind of in shock that we randomly ended up meeting each other...Austria´s a small world.

After lunch in the afternoon, I went back to my apartment to Skype my friend Daniel from back home.  I then proceeded to spend 3 hours Skyping with my friend, Laura, so we could book hostels and bus/train tickets for our trip to Prague and Innsbruck.

2 February

Yummy frappé in Bratislava

I got up bright and early on Monday morning to head to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.  I had booked the bus ticket awhile before, but did not exactly know what I would see during the day.  The bus dropped me off at a station beside the old city center in Bratislava.  I could not immediately find a map to find my way around the city, so I decided to get a small lunch at a cafe beside the bus stop and then start walking.  I pulled a map up on my computer in the cafe and managed to create a potential itinerary for the day, including Bratislava Castle, St. Michael´s Gate, and churches within the city.

Church in Bratislava

Bratislava Castle

As I embarked on my adventure through the snowy streets, I quickly found that all the museums are unfortunately closed in Bratislava on Monday.  Nevertheless, absorbing the beauty and history of Bratislava from the outside created an incredible day during which I enjoyed several sites in the city from the outside.  My quiet walk through the winding streets brought beautiful surprises around every corner and introduced me to the characteristics of old European cities, which I would further discover in Budapest, Innsbruck, and Prague.  Several churches fortunately remained open in Bratislava, so I could observe the architecture and paintings inside.  Bratislava´s churches struck me with their simplistic architecture and paintings.  I found Bratislava´s churches less ornate in comparison to other European cathedrals, but the more simplistic backgrounds create a setting which allows the churches´ beautiful paintings to shine.

Liberty Bridge

Gellért Hill Fortress

3 February

I headed to Budapest late Tuesday morning and arrived in the early afternoon, but it took me quite awhile to find my hostel due to its obscure location.  After getting settled in, I decided to take a walk around Budapest to begin discovering the city.  My adventure led me across Liberty Bridge and up Gellért Hill, a landmark in Budapest with a large fort at the top.  I scrambled up the steep steps as the day waned into evening, approaching a large cross and finally the fortress at the top.  The views from the top nearly took my breath away with their dazzling beauty, showing the Parliament, St. Stephen´s Basilica, and the sprawl of Budapest, old and new.  After coming down from Gellért Hill, I met up with friends from the Kelley Consulting Workshop in Budapest, with whom I went out that evening.  We enjoyed a traditional Hungarian dinner and then went out to a ruin bar, an example of the many bombed buildings in Budapest which artists turned into locations for markets, bars, and performances.  Of course, I tried a shot of the traditional Hungarian fruit-flavored palinka!

View from St. Stephen's Dome

4 February

My friend Laura had class most of the day on Wednesday, so I headed out for a day full of sightseeing in Budapest.  I kicked off the day with a visit to St. Stephen´s Basilica and a climb to the top of the cathedral´s dome for another fantastic look at Budapest.  Being alone inside the dome with its scaffolding and stairs gave me a slightly creepy feeling, so I hopped out on the viewing deck quickly and made my way back down hastily.  After the basilica, I went on a 2.5 hour long walking tour of Budapest which gave me a thorough history of the city and passed many of the main landmarks.

Stove in Hungarian National Museum

The contrast between Communist-style and neo-classical/baroque architecture struck me as we walked through this city, since it showed the deep imprint which both these periods made in Hungary´s history.  I also appreciated our guide´s explanation of Hungary´s history, which she split into two 500-year periods.  The first begun with Hungary´s development from its Asian roots to its growth as a European power, while the second primarily consisted of Hungary´s occupation by other nations.  This explanation helped when I visited the Hungarian National Museum in the afternoon, where I learned significantly more about the development of Hungary through its various kings and saints.  I experienced more modern Hungarian history by visiting an emergency hospital, which was utilized during World War II and later as a nuclear attack bunker during the Cold War.  After meeting up
with Laura at her dorm, we spent a quiet evening planning the rest of our trip.

Dessert at Cafe Ruszwurm

Week 3: Understanding Austria

This last week in January brought my intensive German class to a close, along with the Austrian students' winter semester.  These circumstances created a quiet week for my roommates and myself, filled with school work and my preparations for the Technical University of Vienna's ball at the Hofburg (a palace in Vienna).  The end of the week brought the start of a week-long break, which forced me to begin planning my travels and to start finding a balance of seeking friendships and simultaneously absorbing the history around me.

25 January

Cevapcici - a tasty Bosnian lunch!

I visited a couple different churches and went out for lunch with Nate and Bethany, along with a friend from their church.  In the evening, I finally met the sister of a friend who helped connect me with a student ministry here.  The German practice during the morning and evening definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone, while I enjoyed the peace of re-focusing on God for the week.

26 January

On Monday, I experienced immersion into Vienna's art culture at the Leopold Museum during an excursion with my German class.  The museum contains the art collection of a man who loved to collect art, but eventually could not afford it anymore...so he decided to start a museum. 
What better way to support your addiction to art than start a museum?
Brilliant, thoroughly brilliant.

As I passed through the galleries of the art museum, distinctions between German and Austrian cultural history began to take shape in my mind.  I internalized more about Austria's well-known artists, such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, or the Wiener Werkstätte, a furniture making company.  In the past, I lumped culture from German-speaking countries together.  Learning about Austria´s history and legacy separate from Germany helps me respect and see the differences between the two countries, so I can more fully view Austria as its own entity.  Growing up as half Canadian and half American sheds light on this difference in my mind.  Although Canada and America bear many similarities, Canada stands distinct from its southern neighbor in areas ranging from the French influence in its history and official language to fantastic foods like poutine and Canadian Smarties (and don't forget Tim Horton's!).  Whether history, art, or modern food, these aspects of culture form the background and everyday experience of a nation's inhabitants.  I will thus continue aiming to further my understanding of national identities, using it to absorb more fully the lives of people I meet around the world.

27 January

Tuesday was filled with school work, particularly catching up on homework assignments and reading a book for an oral final in my German class.  I realized on Monday that I needed to buy a dress for the upcoming ball at the Hofburg on Thursday night.  With limited time, my friend Megan and I scoured a few shops on Kärtnerstraße, the main shopping street in the center of Vienna.  Megan and I both found dresses at Peek & Cloppenburg, but mine needed shortening.  The short time period before the ball made this nearly impossible, but I decided to try to find a place on Wednesday.

28 January

Black dress for the ball

On Wednesday morning, I woke up early to attend a prayer breakfast with ÖSM, my student ministry.  The event gave focus to my day, but I found it quite hard to truly express myself through prayer in German.  I heard in the past that a person may learn a language for years and years, but expressing oneself spiritually in that language can remain difficult.  I definitely experienced that today!

After German class in the morning, I immediately headed back to the 18th district (where I live) to take care of the ball gown situation.  I scoured a few stores close to my apartment and found some rather interesting gowns at an old second hand shop!  Fortunately, I found a long, black gown at a store with new dresses and it fit my budget and taste perfectly.  I ate pizza in the evening with my roommate and his girlfriend, which provided a nice study break for them and opportunity to catch up before they headed back home for their break.

29 January

My friend Lisa and I at the ball

Thursday meant scrambling to finish studying for my German final and to prepare for the Hofburg ball!  I planned to get ready for the ball with a group of friends, but rather unfortunate circumstances prevented this from happening.  I stayed longer at the IES Center due to dealing with several urgent e-mails and texts from back home.  After arriving at my apartment and scrambling around to gather my things, I made it about halfway to my friend´s apartment with the U-Bahn only to realize that I left my ball ticket back at my apartment!

A glimpse of the Hofburg

I hurried back home and got ready for the ball far more quickly than a person should, then headed to the Hofburg for a grand night of dancing and spending time with friends.  What a breathtaking night!  I think my former romantic ideas of Austria probably contained scenes like this night at the Hofburg.  My friend Lisa and I explored room after room filled with beautiful parquet floors, crystal chandeliers, and tables for guests.  I had the chance to dance with a couple guys from my program and even a graduate student from El Salvador, who studies at a university in Vienna!  I think my favorite dance happened when one of the IES German teachers invited Lisa and I to join her group for a traditional polka!  I learned the dance quite easily, especially since it reminded me of Irish barn dancing or American square dancing.  I truly could not have asked for a more magical night!

30 January

My program decided to create the most wonderful schedule in which our intensive German finals followed the night of the ball at the Hofburg.  Not fun.  The final went well...definitely better than my frightening Operations Management tests last semester.  I unfortunately arrived slightly late to the final and was appalled to find that one of the fill-in-the-blank questions on the test contained the sentence, "Weiß Elizabeth, wann der Deutschunterricht beginnt?" (Does Elizabeth know, when German class begins?).  My teacher likes to make homework and test questions personalized to the class.  This question was slightly too personalized and a sharp reminder to begin improving in an area where I struggle.

After my German final, my friend from IU, Katie, and I caught up about our experiences in Vienna so far.  We both have enjoyed our time here so far, but find that the program can seem overprotective at times.  Nonetheless, the German we are learning, the new friends, and the culture are absolutely fantastic!

31 January

Saturday begin 9 glorious days of travel and sightseeing around Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Innsbruck, and Prague!  The break refreshed me and gave me a new perspective, since I focused significantly during the past few weeks on settling into Vienna and getting to know more Austrians.  As a result, I think I missed taking time to truly absorb the beautiful historical sites in and around Vienna.  This break helped me absorb the reality that I am in Austria for only four and a half months, which will place limitations on the relationships I can form.  I will strive my utmost to take advantage of opportunities for friendship and language practice, but I shouldn´t waste time waiting for them when a sea of history and culture (which includes many language-learning opportunities!) sits in my backyard.  Balance - that is the end goal.

Hundertwasserhaus

I planned a day of visiting historical locations around Vienna, but my plans dramatically shifted due to protests occurring in the city center.  Thus, I took the opportunity to explore sights on the outside of the city rather than in the old city center.  I first traveled over to the Hundertwasserhaus, a modern style apartment building which contains hardly any 90 degree angles and many nature-friendly features.  These include architecture that blends well into nature, green roofs, and tree gardens on patios at different levels.

Beethoven's grave

After the Hundertwasserhaus, I visited Vienna's Zentralfriedhof, one of the largest graveyards in Europe.  It would take days to explore all the different
cultural and historical

Brahms' grave

sections of the graveyard, so I chose to focus on the graveyard's central church, aristocratic graves, and a cultural section.  The most overwhelming moment occurred in the graveyard as I stood quietly among the graves of Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and several members of the Strauss family.  Standing among these master musicians brought back many memories of hours spent at the piano learning their works, particularly the three movements of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.  The beauty and grandeur these men captured in their art astounds people to this day.  To stand among these musicians at one time created an unforgettable moment of reflection.

I wrapped up the day with a visit to the Naschmarkt, a large and well-known international market in Vienna.  I scored an awesome cashmere scarf for 5 Euro and absorbed the sights and smells of different nations as I wandered past booth after booth, creating a peaceful close to an incredible day.