I know I need to update this before I forget everything, but the last place I want to be right now is sitting at my computer in my room. It's so beautiful outside.

So, as I said before, I had quite the trip here. I flew from Nashville to Islip, NY with my dad. Then, we drove to JFK for my flight to London. The bag I was going to use as my carry-on exceeded the weight limit, so I had to pay $125 to check it in as a third bag. Then, the airline decided I couldn't fly to Vienna without a Visa since I was going to be there until July 5th, which exceeds the three-month limit for travel without a visa. I ended up having to change the date of my return flight to December 5th (which I am obviously not even going to use) and I can't change it back to July, so I'll have to buy another very expensive plane ticket to get back to the States. Sucks. My flight to London was uneventful, although I did get to have beer and wine without getting carded (!). I slept maybe 2 or 3 hours out of the total 7. The flight got in a little bit late and Heathrow was ridiculously busy, so I missed my flight to Vienna. I had to get a new flight and changed from British Airways to Austrian Airways. Because of that, my luggage was not with me when I arrived in Vienna. It was actually really nice to not have to lug all those bags around (looking back, I have no idea how I would have done that). I got some sleep on the train ride to Graz, but when I was actually awake, I couldn't believe how beautiful the countryside was. I think that's when it really started to sink in that I was here. Other passengers probably thought I was crazy because I was just sitting there smiling to myself the whole time. In a weird way, it was sort of fun to have all those travel obstacles to overcome. I just kept thinking, "Ok, if I can get through all of this, spending the next year abroad is going to be a piece of cake, right?" It made me feel more confident and independent, I suppose.

When I arrived at the train station in Graz, Birgit was there to pick me up. For those who don't know, Birgit is an Austrian who studied at Hendrix last year, so we already knew each other. It was so nice to see a familiar face and speak English! We walked around the corner to my dorm, dropped off what little I had, and left to stroll around Graz. What a beautiful city. You don't really realize how young America is until you go to a place like this, I think. Half the buildings here are like the pictures posted below...architecturally beautiful and probably almost a thousand years old. The other half are very modern/techno looking. It's interesting. There really isn't much of a compromise or overlap between old or new.

Birgit took me to one of her favorite bars that also serves pizza, salads, and sandwiches. You order your food in the same way you would at a Sushi restaurant. The menu had about 30 different options for pizza toppings...everything from different kinds of cheese and meats, to asparagus, salmon, capers, corn, and even cream. I'm not so sure about the cream, but I'm going to try it at some point. To drink, we had Radler, which is a mixture of beer with sprite. It basically just tasted like sweet beer. You can even buy it in bottles at the grocery store here. It was pretty good, but I think I like straight beer better.

Yesterday, Thursday, Birgit helped me get lots of logistical stuff squared away. I got my official residency form filled out, opened a bank account, toured parts of the university (which is about 40 of Hendrix), and got my bike (thanks Thomas!). Birgit wanted to see one of her friends, so we all went out for coffee and tea at a nearby cafe. They spoke in German the whole time. I mostly just listened, but I answered their questions as well as I could auf deutsch. Her friend said she could understand everything I said, so that was good. After that I rode around the city by myself trying to find a grocery store before 6, when I think they all close. Finally I had to stop and ask for directions, but I couldn't fully understand the directions I got (this Austrian dialect is killing me!). I rode around some more until I eventually found one. I went to get a shopping cart, but you had to insert coins to use them and I didn't have any. I tried to only buy as much as I could carry, but that didn't work out very well either. I was trying to walk around with a bunch of bananas, a carton of milk, muesli, two beers, and a loaf of bread. That was a bad idea...I dropped everything about three times. Luckily it all fit in my backpack, though. It took me awhile to find my dorm again because I was kind of lost, but eventually I made it. My luggage finally arrived around 4 p.m., so that was a relief. I spent the rest of the day unpacking. At about 8 or 9 I went to the kitchen to make myself a PB&J (which my Austrian flatmates think is really weird, by the way), and ended up talking to my flatmates until about 2 in the morning. So far, I have only met Gertrud and Peter. They are both about 25, I think. The three other flatmates should be moving in soon. Gertrud has lived with two other American exchange students and said my German was by far the best, so that raised my confidence a little. Speaking-wise, I am doing much better than I thought I would. Unlike in German class, where I dread having to speak out loud, I've been speaking as much as I can. Gertrud said I speak too "politely". Anyways, our conversation was very interesting. We were basically just comparing all sorts of differences between our countries. We discussed how influential the media is in shaping how one country views another country. For instance, many Americans still associate Germany with Hitler and Nazism, and the media in Europe makes Americans out to all be fat, freedom-fries loving idiots who elected George Bush *twice*. (They all include that "twice"at the end, as if it is a completely preposterous concept...pretty funny). I have also already converted Gertrud's boyfriend, Markus, to a Lucero fan. Just give me a little time and they'll have a solid European following. : )

So, in a nutshell, that's what I've been up to. This weather is too beautiful to not take advantage of, so I'm off. Leave me comments or e-mail me (wallusec@hendrix.edu)! It's nice to feel connected to the outside world.