At long last my journey to Graz has been completed. After what seemed to be weeks on end I finally set foot in Austria around 1:15pm on Monday. My entire luggage set arrived safely which I was a little worried about but thankfully it all came and I am able to enjoy my entire wardrobe. I guess it is just the little things that have all the potential to ruin my mood right now, so hopefully these next few days of filling out paper work and signing up to register go well, otherwise I am going to have a really stressful start to the semester. But I am determined to relax and take it all in, right after I get all my paper work settled out of the way!
As soon as I walked out of the airport I found my buddy, Katharina, she studied abroad last semester in Oklahoma so she has been a huge help already. She was able to pick up the key for my apartment for me so we were able to put all of my luggage in my room and survey the area and figure out which essentials I would need from IKEA. My room is surprisingly huge! I have a huge wardrobe, a nice shelving system, a big desk, lamp and chair and a nice view of a green space right out my window.
After we put all my stuff away Katharina and I went to IKEA with another American exchange student, Matt, who is from Arkansas, and his buddy to buy new bed sheets, pillows, towels and other such things. Afterward we went to a café where I was able to reunite with Sachertorte, my favorite Austrian dessert. Then we decided to go to a grocery store and buy some food, so I was able to stock up on some basics.
We returned to my apartment and made arrangements to meet the following day after the first day of German class. After Katharina left I put all my groceries away unpacked all my clothes and made my bed. By that time I met my a few of my other flat mates and was able to quickly check my e-mail, I am not able to get internet until I pay my entire semesters bill and deposit, so at this point I am willing to pay almost any amount to get back on the internet. Austria is still a little behind on the whole wireless Internet scene.
Then I was finally able to meet my roommate, Tommy, a junior at Northwestern Missouri State. We haven’t really been able to do all that much yet but he seems like a good guy and he is Greek, a TEKE back home so he can’t be all that bad right! After our initial meeting I took a shower and went to bed. I wasn’t able to sleep all that well but at least I was able to get a few hours in.
The next day was our first German class which ended up being only about a half hour long, we just split into group and they tested our German levels and we will find out tomorrow which groups we are in. Hopefully I am in the most advanced group. Then after that I went to the International Student Office because I need to fill out some more paperwork they are missing. So I went to the office but it wasn’t open until 10am and I found some girls trying to get in and were confused as to why they were unable to get in. I found out they were from San Diego and don’t know any German so they couldn’t read that the office was closed so we talked for a bit and grabbed some coffee and just talked about our flights and moving in and the torture of having no functioning phone or internet. Then I went back to the International office, filled out my paper work and me Katarina met with Matt and Marion (Matt’s Buddy) and visited all the libraries on campus, opened a bank account, and took a small tour of the city. The most important event of the day was my reunion with Kebap. I had my first real Kebap in three years and it tasted so good, it was euphoric.
Matt and I were exhausted so we decided to go back home and take a nap. Once we both woke up Matt and I went to grab a beer and some dinner. We found a restaurant that was cheap and ordered Wienerschnizel, another favorite. I am finally feeling like I am back in Austria especially after eating all my favorite foods. So hopefully things just keep getting better.
The pictures I posted are a view from my window in my apartment, my new university, and some shoes i really want to buy. enjoy!
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