Austria Journal 3 and 4- Milka and Singing, oh how I love thee.

Tuesday and Wednesday, August 28-29

Two days filled with orientation meetings hardly make good blogging material. I could write for pages and pages about the University policies on alcohol, traveling, laundry...you name it, but unfortunately the administration has already done that in something called the University Handbook. Not only have I read the handbook, but I've also spent most of the past two days listening to it be read aloud and explained in great detail.The highlights of these past few days, however, can be found in a few key events and adventures and moments that were unplanned but certainly set the tone for this dreamlike state of being I'll refer to from now on as The Gaming Haze.

       The Gaming Haze: The dreamlike state of being each Franciscan Student experiences upon arrival at the Kartause in Gaming, Austria. Side effects may include: excessive chocolate consumption, sudden uncontrolled bursts of laughter, silly grins, and commonly heard mutterings of, "This can't be real life" and "ahhhh."

In the interest of keeping this post on topic, structured, and succinct (because I have to wake up for classes in less than 8 hours), I have decided to organize the occurrences of the past few days into 5 bullet points, ranging from 5=fabulous to 1=dropdeadfantabulousx25. You will excuse my cliche terms as such are the units of measurement in the Gaming Haze. 

5. Milka chocolate, the Mensa (Austrian Caf) donuts, the bakery pastries and all sweet things of great goodness that warm my heart gladden my stomach. The first two days we were here, the Mensa did not have anything sweet. Even the yogurt was sour (or so I heard), so by day 3, I was pretty desperate for something, anything to contrast the copious amounts of salty type foods we had been eating. I broke down and asked Alex and Mark to accompany me to the nearby SPAR (local grocery store), where I quickly discovered a buy 2 Milka bars get one free deal, and .40 bars of cheap chocolate with Hazelnuts, which incidentally, I almost prefer to the namebrand stuff. I bought 5 bars of chocolate for under $5, and we're talking REALLY good chocolate here. Unfortunately, since that time and the discovery of the bakery and Mensa donuts, I have consumed more sweets than I care to reveal and have since begun to question the goodness of Milka chocolate for moral and physical health reasons, particularly in the area of gluttony. For the above reasons, I felt that Milka, donuts, and pastries deserved a spot on the list but ranked them a mere 5 for the unfortunate toll they are likely to have on my physique. 

4. Making friends, particularly international ones. Everyone here, being under aforesaid Gaming Haze is of the attitude that you can talk to pretty much anyone and introduce yourself to everyone. This means that people you would often see on main campus but never meet just walk up to you and say hi and somehow it's not awkward. I think this is due to the spirit of camaraderie stimulated by the fact that we all traveled halfway across the globe to reach this place, that we are all Franciscan students in a foreign place so we need to band together, and that there are less than 200 of us total, which minimizes the choices for friendships. The song "We're all in This Together" from High School Musical would be an appropriate theme song if you could somehow add in lederhosen, yodeling, and if we weren't all in college and beyond such trivial things as "High School Musical". But I digress. One especially important aspect of this friendship making fest is the LCI students. LCI stands for Language and Catechetical Institute, a program in place for students from other European (and asian!) countries to join us here to learn English and Catholicism in a wonderful environment. 

Two of the LCI students I met today are Chung (probably totally misspelled) from China and Martin from Slovakia. Chung was at the other end of the table at dinner tonight, but Martin sat next to me, and it was fascinating talking with him for a short time (he was really quiet and didn't volunteer any information beyond what I asked) about Slovakia. 3 of my Mom's grandparents are Slovakian, which makes me 3/8 Slovakian, a fact I'm pretty proud of, because Slovaks are just cool. It turns out Martin knew of Haluski and perogies  and told me about the terrain and capital city, and his own hometown, which is the 2nd biggest city in Slovakia. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand what he called it, partly because it's loud in the Mensa, partly because he's 100% Slovak and I'm not. Also, he looked like a mix between my great grandpa, my grandpa, and my uncle. Altogether a cool experience.

3. The stations of the cross trail up the foothills that is slightly dangerous and majorly beautiful. The paintings could practically be in an art museum and instead they're under little roofed shelters in the open air on the side of a cliff. The "path" is criss-crossed by slippery rockbeds and gnarled tree roots which make things just scary enough to be thrilling. Alex, Mark, and I explored the first 3 stations but had to make our way back because it was getting dark and we all had meetings for ministry stuff, but we plan to go back asap. More on this to come in our Vlog if we ever figure out the video software to edit the stuff we've filmed. If someone wants to send me a mac complete with imovie, it would be greatly appreciated. I'll pay you back in laughs (from the videos) and prayers (said in a monastery from the 1200s!).

2. The opportunities available here. Two major mission trip options to Lourdes and a Romanian orphanage, Poland, Rome, and Assisi pilgrimages, learning pretty much any language you want, tons of local ministries, mass every day,adoration all the time, praise and worship weekly, and audience with the pope, 3 day weekends and two huge breaks to travel all over europe, swop jobs to pay for some of it, beauty surrounding me EVERYWHERE, and the food. Oh yes. The food. Excuse me while I wipe a bit of drool of my keyboard. I think you get the picture. From edible to historical to spiritual, the opportunities to experience and grow are mind blowing. I'm praying I have the time to manage everything I want to do while I'm here. :)

1. MUSIC MINISTRY!!!

Having auditioned my freshman fall semester on main campus and not made it in, I was reluctant to try out again, but something about this place made me want to do it. Maybe it was the smaller numbers and consequent lower level competition, maybe it was confidence from the voice lessons I took over the summer, maybe it was really just God stirring something special in my heart-- a calling to minister in a way for which I was not ready my freshman year (not that I feel much more ready now). Whatever the reason, I decided, somewhat nervously, to audition yesterday night. It went fairly well, but I worried far into the night about it (auditions in general mess with my head). I tried to place it in God's hands. I tried to feel like it would be the best for me whatever He chose, but it's hard to feel that way, when you care about something. Well, anyway, this time God blessed me with far beyond what I'd been dreaming (actually, doesn't He always seem to do that in the end?) When I checked the list this morning, I discovered, to my complete surprise, that I had been selected music lead of the acapella group to sing for Thursday's mass. I was humbled, honestly I was, but it wasn't until Sister Sarah Rose (in charge of music) explained all the duties involved and the sheer responsibility of choosing music and organizing the team and singing lead itself that I was struck by just what a huge honor this was. I honestly don't know where to start, but apparently God has some great plans for this adventure. I put this as number one not only because it was the biggest way in which I felt His love these past few days, but also because I feel like it best characterizes the kinds of incredible things that are happening in my life right now in Gaming Austria.

And with that being said and this post keeping me far past my bedtime, I will bid you Guten Abend. Goodnight :) One of the only words I know...I'm sure that will be helpful in my 8am Elementary German class tomorrow.

Austria Journal #2-Gaming and Settling In

Monday, August 26, 2013

The Kartause from the street

      Having been strictly warned last night to be punctual for the buses to Melk (the nearby Benedictine Monastary) this morning, Alex and I set an early alarm in order to have plenty of time to ready ourselves for our first European excursion. At 5:45am, I awoke and anxiously checked the time on my computer (life is hard without a phone) only to realize that we had nearly 2 more hours of sleep. When Alex groggily awakened me later on, however, we realized that we had accidentally forgotten to switch our clock to Austrian time and therefore set the alarm for 6 hours later than planned. Since we had already missed the bus, we went back to bed for another hour or so and woke up in time to go to noon mass with the Kartause families (the families of the Kartause professors). This was fairly awkward, since we were the only students there, but we got to see the quaint little adoration chapel off the main church and enjoyed a small reverent mass . Afterwards we decided to explore the town and find a grocery store. It didn’t take us long in such a little village to locate SPAR where we found fresh bread, cheese, liverwurst, fruit, and wine for very reasonable prices (for example, the wine was only 3.49).

A pretty village house

The Kartause from behind the wall 

          Since we had been cheated out of our tour of Melk, we meandered through the streets until we reached Gaming’s only church. Inside we discovered that even small village churches in Austria are more gorgeous and ornate than 95% of American churches. I wanted to take pictures but felt irreverent, so I don’t have visible proof of the exquisite architecture. I’ll have to work up the courage to discreetly snap a few shots from the back some day. As we made our way back through Gaming to the Kartause, Alex and I stumbled across a wooded path that leads up the mountains to a field where we ate our European lunch near a large stone wall just above the Kartause. The view was incredible and gray skies did little to dampen the breathtaking beauty of rolling green and dark tree-covered hillsides. The romance of the experience sort of fulfilled a dream of mine and left a slight ache. Too much beauty always does that to me; My mortal existence can’t handle it, I guess.

The hillside where we ate lunch

          

Alex enjoying our picturesque lunch

That afternoon, when the rest of the students returned, we had our rooms blessed, ate dinner, went running, and attended an informational session on alcohol and ministry to mom’s, a babysitting ministry for the Kartause families. Alex and I also started an Austrian Vlog (video blog), so more on that to come!

Experimentation with my new camera

          

Austria Journal #1-Journey Across the Pond

Saturday, 24 August-Sunday, 25 August 2013

          The sun had barely peeped above the horizon when my mom shook me gently awake. I groaned with the grogginess of a 45 minute slumber but knew that rolling over was pointless, I had left myself so little time as it was. Besides, I still needed to remove things from my suitcase in order to avoid extra airport fees; that was the last thing I needed right before embarking on a journey to Europe with insufficient funds. Climbing wearily down from my top bunk, I began methodically going over in my head the things left to do: shower, get dressed, adjust luggage…there wasn't much, but in my weary state, it was about as much as I could manage.

          Half an hour later saw me rushing around frantically as my dad called for me to get in the van. I checked my room one last time. Not perfectly clean, but it would have to do. I clambered into the van, clutching my makeup pouch in one hand, backpack in the other. The drive to pick up Mark and Alex was uneventful. My parents mostly ignored my silent application of makeup in the back seat and instead discussed the plans for their weekend anniversary trip to Indianapolis after dropping us at the airport. Things didn't change after picking up Alex and Mark as the three of us quickly dozed off in the back seat and slept most of the 4 ½ hour drive. It wasn't until downtown Chicago that we woke up in time to enjoy 45 minutes of stop and go traffic to the airport.

          We pulled up to the Swiss Air drop-off and unloaded our bulging suitcases. Mine in particular bulged in an unseemly manner and you could even see a spot of bright red skirt through a rip in my carry-on luggage, a point upon which the Swiss Air lady’s eyes seemed to fixate as I approached the check in desk. “The carry-on limit is 8 kilo,” she said with pursed lips, and “Let’s see if you are under the limit,” she added, in a tone that implied she sincerely doubted it. Sure enough, the carry-on luggage was almost twice the approved weight (I've never had someone weigh my carry-on luggage before and had accordingly stuffed the most heavy items in that bag), but my suitcase was just under the limit, so I quickly proceeded to a less crowded space to transfer items from one bag to the other. Thanks to Mark’s light packing habits (or a masculine lack of fashion obsession in general), I was able to stuff a few things into his bag and once again approach the front desk, this time weighing in at just over 8 kilo. “Since you are just above the limit, I can check the carry-on bag for free,” the Swiss Air lady offered, showing more kindness than I had dared hope for after her first reaction.

Waiting for our plane

          Bags safely sent down the conveyor belt, we said goodbye to my parents, who seemed surprisingly calm. My dad offered a few tips for avoiding scams and pickpockets, and we left them for our first trip through security. The lines were long and smelly (apparently it isn't the custom to wear deodorant when traveling), but we finally made it through with no mishaps and located our gate with two hours to spare. We spent the time talking and writing letters until it was time to board our flight to Zurich. That 8-10 hour flight (I still can’t remember how long it was supposed to be) dragged on despite frequent naps and the option of individual movie screens, but we finally landed in Switzerland.

          The moment we stepped off the plane, the atmosphere felt different. Hundreds of memories that I’d forgotten from our time living in Europe flooded back, particularly the fact that Europeans don’t generally smile to strangers as they pass and the feeling that everything is more subtle, private, and quiet. This became apparent as we walked through the airport and people wordlessly filed past, barely making eye contact. I had very little time to consider this, however, because we had barely 50 minutes to make our way to the other side of the airport via an underground transport and customs. 50 minutes can seem an eternity when you’re waiting to get off the clock at Bob Evans or have to go to the bathroom, but when the American customs line is dragging on and on as the European line moves steadily past, and the clock hand creeps steadily forward, 50 minutes can seem like 5. As 6:57 am and then 7:00am rolled around and we still weren't through for our 7:10 flight, it seemed unlikely that we would make it, especially since we didn't even know exactly where our gate was. I was the first one through customs, dancing anxiously between the doorway through which I had emerged and the stairs that led to my momentarily departing aircraft. Alex finally came through, but as the seconds ticked by, Mark did not follow. Apparently he had gotten cut by a large family and was still waiting to get through. Frustrated by his politeness in a moment like this, I mentally began preparing for the best way to contact the Franciscan pickup in Vienna. “Why don’t you run ahead,” Alex suggested, “Try to get them to hold the plane.”  Not sure how I was supposed to do that but needing to do something, I sprinted off and up the immediate flight of stairs, skipping every other step and hoping I wouldn't trip in my slightly too-big boots.

          I arrived breathless and sweating (from the winter coat of course) at the gate, gasping “No, we have to wait for my friends!” to an anxious flight attendant with braids wrapped around her head. “Where are your friends?” She questioned following my vague hand motion over my back with her eyes. No one. Alex and Mark were still not there. I gasped out that we had gone straight through customs but that the line moved too slowly. “We didn't even stop to use the bathroom!” I exclaimed, using the first excuse that seemed prevalent at the moment in my sleep-deprived state. Fortunately, after about a minute of nervous waiting, Alex and Mark came jogging up and we boarded the hour flight to Vienna with no further mishaps.

The misty foothills of Gaming

          Vienna was gray and rainy, but our spirits lifted when we spotted familiar faces and Baron green t-shirts by the baggage claim. We followed a TOR sister to the bus and began our 2 hour drive to Gaming. The scenery was a mix of greens and grays, interspersed with the occasional village, but mostly, as Alex put it, “it looked like we were still in Ohio.” Ohio became the last though on our minds, however, when we reached the outskirts of Gaming. A patchy gray mist cloaked the increasingly majestic foothills as the road wound into the tiny Austrian village. Tastefully painted houses with bright accent flower window boxes lined the road and up ahead we could see the spire of the Kirche Maria Thron (the Kartause Church). A flurry of excitement passed through the occupants of the bus as we glimpsed several children in dirndls and lederhosen preparing to greet us with yellow roses. Their older brothers and the RA staff made short work of our suitcases and helped distribute our International Franciscan IDs and room keys. Alex and I were paired in a cozy little room at the very top of the Kartause with a tiny tower-like window overlooking the courtyard. We oohed and ahhed over the wardrobe, elaborate door, and curving stone staircase outside before collapsing on our beds.

           That night we attended and tried desperately to stay awake through a beautiful mass and welcoming session, but managed to perk up briefly for an opening night social where we drank beer (from a special keg) and wine for the first time legally. As we made our way back along stone terraces and breathed deeply of the fresh mountain air, I realized what a wonderful semester lay ahead of us. This marked the end of our trip across the ocean but only the beginning of our semester in Europe.