schloss eggenberg

castle day castle day!
Schloss Eggenberg

"home"

Well, here we are. Ten days after arriving in this strange little country and I have finally successfully, or at least passably, acquired the following:
- bank account (for which the man gave me a student rate and laughed jovially)
- cell phone (and a free sim card thanks to Marina! she has kept me sane in this very daunting time)
- apartment (despite scary lease agreement and landlord saying my roommate and I have to move out at the same time..)
- internet!! but not wifi because they demanded I pay a deposit of €250 hahaha yeah no way. it's a usb stick thing. not the best reception in my room (checked the roommates room, she gets an extra bar. bastard.) but it'll do!
- friends? at least acquaintances!! and some are even the elusive Austrian!

Now since I've been here I've wanted to compare everything to Germany...I haven't, but I've wanted to. I've noticed oodles of differences but maybe they can be attributed to the fact that I live in a city of 250,000 rather than 1.3 million. It's only been about a week so I can't be too picky yet...TIME WILL TELL. But, the more I roam the city the more I like it. Today I walked around my quadrant with a chocolate pastry and could not have been happier. (Minus a swollen wrist due to a mosquito bite gone awry...Pesky creatures, mosquitoes are...) Then I ate a schnitzel sandwich and had not a care in the world! NOT A SINGLE CARE.

Because I'm running out of things to say, look at some pictures!

  My room before my suitcase threw up everywhere.

  Lookit them high ceilings! 

 

 View out my window and the kitchen window. There's a garden back there but it's locked...I saw a cat in it once.

 

Silliest toilet ever...And kind of unnerving. 

 Creepy window looking into the creepy brick courtyard of death. It's like a reminder of what happens to those who don't pay their rent...

Kitchen! it's tiny but hey, arched doorway!

 The room in which one bathes and does laundry, obviously. I've already flooded it once hahahaha...Yeah, apparently the washer gets water from the wall like normal but, has an uncapped hose in which it expels the used water...Supposedly you're supposed to hook it over a tub or something. Didn't know that....

BAM accessories! There's even more stuff up now.

BAM clothes. I could have brought so much more...

 

There you have it. That's where I live. I've yet to take any decent city pictures but, give me a week and I'll dazzle you with the charm of Graz. 

 

Liebe Grüße aus Graz!

alive

I'm kickin' it in Austria, currently lounging in my bed and typing on a veeerry small iPhone keyboard. Judging by the resounding silence on this here blog, I'm sure you've guessed it by nowsies: I have no internet in my flat. Yet. YET OH GOT I HOPE IT COMES SOON. If not well I may take up a hobby like knitting. There's a yarn shop around the corner...

Anyway. Yes so the internet men are supposed to email me (ironic) to set up a time to install that sweet sweet wifi. That was three days ago. IM DYING HERE. Thats a lie but still. I need to buy a bathmat and the internet would be very handy right about now. Oh well Ill continue being somewhat productive and meeting strange Austrians as I go. Ive even had my first night out! It was a hoot.

Now all I really need is for my roommate to show up. I hope shes real...

graz? graz.

For those of you expecting a shiny post full of self-taken pictures of my new city, apartment and one friend, I must heartily apologize: that's not happening. I think I've taken all of 4 pictures here, 2 of which are of a cat in a garden, 2 of which are a river. EXCITING, NON?! Non. (I thought the cat was pretty exciting, actually.) I'm feeling a smidge overwhelmed by, well, everything, so I don't have the heart to dally on the internet with lots of words. In fact, I should be showering and packing up my hotel room right about now.  Why, you ask? BECAUSE I'M MOVING IN. Yesterday the apartment looky-loo was a success. I was not kidnapped. My money was not stolen. I now have a bed. The apartment is near the city center (5 minute walk to one platz, another 5 minutes to the Rathaus) It's in an old building on the first floor (which is slightly raised because thats how Europe rolls). My room overlooks a garden. The place has character, which means:

• ceilings are incredibly high (+)
• there's a creepy window into an inner brick shaft thing of bring and other windows from fellow apartment-goes (-)
• toilet is in a depressing closet but! separate from shower (-/+)
• shower is separate from kitchen but technically IN the kitchen (I don't know what to make of this.) washing machine is also in the kitchen, with the shower. there's a door leading to the shower so nbd. I need to invest in a robe...
• no living room (other roommate who arrives next week will be living in the former living room, now bedroom. its giant. think my portland basement room) but there's a little foyer thing with a coat rack and such. I need a welcome mat.
• my room is fully furnished. the wardrobe will successfully hold all my crap. my room is sunny but cool. i may be able to fit a loungey chair in it.

So there you go. I'm sure my mother is panicking already. I think with a few decorative additions, the place will be swell. Since I'm moving in before the other girl, I get more say in how the common area looks, muahahaha. I'm going to IKEA today so, GET READY FOR STUFF. Oh, also the kitchen has all sorts of pots, pans, plates and other handy essentials already, woo!  (oh my glob this entry is so boring, sorry!)

I won't be havin' me some regular internet until I either a) buy some for the flat or b) wait for my roommate to do it because setting things up is intimidating SO I'll be pretty quiet for a bit. I'll make good use of free wifi with my tea but, first i need to find a good cafe...

Here's what I'll be doing this week:

1.  meeting with my landlord and handing over lots of €€€€€
2. registering my person with the appropriate authorities (such a hassle. isn't just being here enough?)
3. opening a bank account. or trying to. it's unfortunately contingent upon being registered by that pesky government.
4. unpacking and seeing if the flat is livable.
5. figuring out the far too complex process of getting a damn pay as you go phone. what i've learned so far on this matter: Austria, you lose, Germany, you made everything so easy and I miss you.
6. meeting up with a fellow TA.
7. roaming aimlessly around my new 'hood.
8. trying to understand the natives. Austrian is tricky for my earsies.

Th-th-th-that's all folks!

HAHAHAH WHAT HAVE I DONE WHAT AM I DOING HERE AHHHH.

ciao

I could probably insert a small army of cliches here about leaving on jet planes, crossing ponds or spreading my wings. I could, but then I would have to wipe the vomit off of my computer screen and that just seems unpleasant. No, I'm not going to wax poetic about the momentous journey ahead of me: I'm too sleepy. Today I packed 100lbs of stuff into 2 suitcases and a backpack the size of an 8 year old in the fetal position. It's hefty. I've strapped my international whale stuffie to the side (his name is Herman, he was born in Korea and has since been to both the US and Germany. He does not miss kimchi.) and am more or less ready to go.

My family, things and I will toss ourselves haphazardly into the car at 11.30 tomorrow afternoon and drive down to LAX. My flight to SFO leaves at 4.00, then it's onto Frankfurt and finally Graz. If you think I'm snoozy and incoherent now...JUST YOU WAIT, MY LITTLE CRUMPETS! After I arrive in Graz, two things are for certain:
1. I will let my parents know I'm alive.
2. I will go to my hotel and eat food.
That's it.  I may or may not be picked up by a friend. I will probably be moving into an apartment on Saturday. And that's all the information I have. So far the plan is to check out the apartment Friday the 7th and then if it's a okay,  I'll move my crap in Saturday (because I booked two nights at the hotel already.) and then on Monday the 10th I'll have a meeting with the landlord and deal with landlordy things. After that it'll be get my residence permit, register with the "local authorities," open a bank account, get room things and essentially settle in.

I'll have more or less 2 weeks to myself in my new lil' cityhome before Fulbright things start happening. We'll see how much trouble I can get into before then. (and by trouble I mean amusement. I'd rather not be the poster girl for "Locked Up Abroad.")

So with this hastily organized blog post, I bid you farewell! The next time I contact you, I'll either be in a boring airport terminal or in Austria! It's like Russian Roulette but not Russian and not with guns. So, actually, not at all like Russian Roulette in the slightest....

Bis später.