Classes, Prague, and soon to be Poland

I haven't updated in a while. Classes have been getting busy. We're really getting into the swing of the semester. It's strange that my weekday mornings start off with class with Dr Asci. I have him for Christian Marriage and Christian Spirituality. My classes have been going pretty good so far. I really like all of my classes. I feel that I have gotten into a rhythm with my classes. I love how tight knit the people at the Kartause are getting. Since there's only 143 of us, we're at the point where we all know each other. It's amazing to think that I wouldn't have known some of these people had it not been for Austria.

I've found that the food in the mensa is ok, but is not the greatest. Not that the caf is any better. There are some things that I wish the mensa would do, such as keep the coffee machine on after breakfast and offer a greater variety of food. A few nights they were really good. One night we had frankfurters, and another night we had hamburgers. I just wish they'd offer those more often...they sell them in the Spar.

Last Saturday, I went to Prague. It was a beautiful city. But it was a long trip. We left the Kartause after 5am (11pm back east). We got to Prague after 10am. I noticed that once we got into the Czech Republic, the language was completely different. I saw all of these accent marks, and couldn't figure out how to pronounce the words. Once we got to Prague, we had free time. So we went walking around the town. We went to the church that had the Infant of Prague. It was really nice how they had the Infant Jesus wear real material clothes. There was also a gift shop inside. Some of us had lunch in a cafe close to the church that has the Infant of Prague. The prices were really cheap, and the food was really good. And they accepted euros, which was really great. The server was really nice too. After lunch, we went back to the church with the Infant of Prague, and climbed up the tower. The whole city skyline could be seen from there. It was really nice. But by the time we knew it, it was time to go home. So we boarded the busses, and headed back to Gaming. It was a nice day trip, and I really enjoyed it.

This weekend we're going to Poland. We leave for Poland later on tonight. I've heard so much from friends about their experience in Poland. Some good, and some bad. So I am hoping that this will be a good trip, and that the weather will play in our favor while we're over there. I still have to pack, but that won't take that long. I just hope that this will be a good weekend, and that I don't get frostbite (it's been cold there the last two times the spring semester Austria students had gone). Hopefully I won't...I have warm boots! :-)

Classes, Salzburg, and Munich

So we just finished the second full week of classes. I'm really getting into the swing of things here with my classes. Certainly there a lot of work. But they're not as bad. And I feel like I'm not as busy this semester as I was last semester. Last semester I had a paper due almost every week. This semester, I don't have any papers to write. I'm auditing German, so I don't have to take any of the tests and exams. My Survey of Physical Science class has no midterm, mostly quizzes. My theology classes have a midterm and final. But since there's so many people in the classes, the exams are sure to be mostly multiple choice and true/ false. So I am hoping that I will do really well when this semester is over. I need to do well so that I can get my GPA above a 2.5 so that I can then apply to the Catechetics major. But anyway, I really like my classes and my schedule is really good. I like that my early classes start at 8:40am and not 8am. That's a lot better. It gives me enough time to get ready and go to the mensa for breakfast (and hope they have something decent to eat). The latest that my classes go to is 5pm. And this is the first time in a very long time that I have no Friday classes (purposely done by Franciscan so that people can travel).

In other news, I went to Salzburg and Munich this past weekend. I'm sure some of you saw the photos on my facebook. But anyway, we left for Salzburg early Friday morning. It took us a little more than 2 hours to get to Salzburg from Gaming. Once we got to Salzburg, we walked to the church where we had mass. After mass, we had lunch in a restaurant (whose name escapes me right now). After lunch, we had a walking tour of Salzburg. While walking through Salzburg, I found that it was very easy to get lost walking around the winding streets. But it was interesting to see the different locations where different parts of The Sound of Music was filmed. Many of the statues and fountains were covered by plexiglass to protect it from the snow. After the tour, we walked back to the hostel to check in. It was a really nice hostel...it was almost like a motel with the private rooms and showers. Once we checked into the hostel, we then had some free time. I went with some of my friends to look in the different stores and shops. Afterwards, I went with some other friends to the St Peterkeller, which is the oldest restaurant in Salzburg. Clearly I got the wiener-schnitzel, since it was the cheapest thing on the menu. I also had an apple strudel with vanilla ice cream. It was really good, although I don't expect to go to restaurants like that every time I go on a trip. Otherwise it could get really expensive. After dinner, we went to hear a concert featuring music by Mozart (who happens to be from Salzburg). It was really good, although I was getting really tired near the end. But it was a good concert.

The following day, we went to Munich. It was about an hour and a half drive from Salzburg, and we didn't have to show our passports because it's in the EU. I noticed while we were on the road that the speed limit in Germany is faster than the speed limit in Austria. In Austria, the speed limit on a major highway is 100 Km/hr (62 mph). Whereas in Germany, the speed limit is 120 Km/hr (75 mph). Plus the exit signs said Ausfahrt, which is German for exit. Anyway, once we got to Munich, we got to have mass in the same church where Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass when he was still cardinal. After mass, we went on a tour of old town Munich. It was very short. Afterward, we had some free time. I got to see the glockenspiel go off at noon. I loved it. I don't get to see that everyday. Then, after not being to be able to find my friends to spend the afternoon with, I spent the day with two of the TOR sisters. We had lunch in a Filipino restaurant, where I had sweet n sour chicken. Then we went to the Deutsches Museum. It was so big. There was so many things to look at, and it was very interactive. We spent the entire afternoon on just one floor, and there were six. After we left the museum, we went to get some dinner. After we went to dinner, we then went back to the buses, where we then headed back to Salzburg. One thing that I got while I was there was a German flag. So now I have an Austrian flag and a German flag. I've decided that I am going to get a flag of every country that I go to. I figured that would be a cool thing to collect.

On our final day of the weekend, we had mass in the cathedral in Salzburg. This church had no heat. So it was freezing cold during the entire mass. Speaking of mass, they had a full choir and orchestra in the choir loft. The mass was all in German. The strange part was that when the sung parts of the mass came (like the gloria of the credo) the congregation sat down. I found this to be particularly disturbing during the creed, which I thought we should have remained standing. The music was beautiful, but honestly I felt like I was at a performance rather than a mass. It was just a strange, and very cold, experience. After mass, we went to Mondsee. There, we had lunch. We then got to see the church where the wedding scene of The Sound of Music was shot. It was such a beautiful church. Plus I loved looking in their gift shop. I took so long in the church however, that I almost got left behind. I had to call on of the RDs, who then had to come back to get me. Otherwise I would have had to take a bus or train back to Gaming. I wouldn't have known where the bus or train station was while in Mondsee. But at least that didn't happen. Anyway, we got back to Gaming after nightfall. It was a really fun trip, and I'm glad that I came. I'm looking forward to the next trip, what ever it may be.