The end

Published by James Brosher on 22 June 2007 at 2:23 PM.
Today was the last day of the program. We did not really have class today, but instead we went to a cafe across the street and had coffee and cake.

Overall, it was a very sad day. After a few hours people began to leave, and I suddenly realized that I may never again see some of them.

Last night was our Abschiedsfest, a nice dinner with all the host families followed by a few performances by the students. I contributed by singing a song with a couple other students to Volker Horn who is the Resident Coordinator for the program.

Volker is in charge of all the housing arrangements and trip arrangements for the program. He is also a really great guy who seems a little shy at times. So one can easily picture the look on his face when we pulled in front of everybody and started singing a song to him.

It was great. Although he was very embarrassed, he told me later that he really liked and appreciated the song. (I'll try to get a copy of the lyrics posted here soon.)

In all, the Abschiedsfest was a big success, and a great way to cap off the program. But it was ultimately sad because it was basically the end of the program.

Tomorrow morning around 5 a.m. I am heading to Venice, Italy. I am not sure how much internet access I will have after I leave Graz so I must apologize in advance if this blog gets a bit boring in the next week. Hopefully I can find an internet cafe in Venice where I can write a quick blog post or two.

When I return to America in a couple weeks, I will be posting an in-depth analysis of the program and my time in Graz. I did not want to hastily post something today, but rather have some time to reflect a bit on the experience first.

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Reservations?

Published by James Brosher on 18 June 2007 at 2:40 PM.
I have my train reservations made for Venice and back ... finally. I have been putting it off for weeks, which is really sad considering I have been through the train station five times in the past two weeks.

Since I am traveling with a Eurail Pass, I also got it verified at the ticket counter today.

Just my luck, I happened to pick the lady at the ticket counter who was having a case of the "Mondays." She was not rude, but I could tell that she was not happy about something. Also, she seemed as though she was mad at me for asking for something.

The whole experience rattled my cage a bit since the well-known stereotype for Austrians is friendliness. I definitely did not see that today.

As far as the friendliness stereotype goes, I have not seen it. It's not that everyone is mean here, but rather that Austrians don't sing merry songs while skipping to work everyday like the stereotype implies.

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In the country

Published by James Brosher on 17 June 2007 at 11:56 PM.

A traditional-styled Austrian home overlooks wine country south of Graz.

Today I took a drive with my host family into southern Styria. This was the first time that I had been out into the heart of Styria and away from Graz.

Graz, like most big cities, is completely different from the outlying areas that surround it. Technically I have been living in Styria for the past five months, but in reality today was the first time I had explored the area.

Styria has a bunch of what the locals call hills. But the Austrian definition of a hill is different from the American definition. Some of the "hills" here as tall as the Smokey Mountains. My theory on this is that they are called hills because they in do way compare to the Alps in the Western Austria.

Styria is also known for its wine. Wineries cover a large portion of the hills, and Buschenschanks (wine pubs) can be found in almost every small village.

Life has a much slower pace out in the country in countrast to the fast-moving life in Graz. It was so amazing to just set in a hill-top Buschenschank today and just gaze at the valley below.
In all it was a pretty neat day. We did not see a bunch of flashy, touristy stuff that one might find in Vienna or Salzburg. But then again I liked it that way.

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