Valentine's Day

Well today is Valentine's Day and my valentine is thousands of miles away from me. However we did skype and talk so that made it a little bit better. I really don't have anything to say about today except for I did my laundry for the first time since being here around an hour ago. I am pretty excited that I will have clean clothes for this weekend. I am going to Vienna to go to one of the oldest zoo's and I will get to see some pretty cute animals. And now here is a very short video that shows what I have been living in for the past week:

Fasching :)

So yesterday was Fasching. You may be wondering what Fasching is, and it is also called Karnival. It is like Mardi Gras, the culmination of the Catholic celebration leading up to lent. So this is the last day that Catholics can consume/do the things that they are giving up for lent. But it's not just Catholics that celebrate it, everyone does! To all you Americans reading this, it is like Halloween, but instead of candy, you go get beer. So we set out last night and went to the Office Pub where all you could hear was the clinking of glasses and people singing (screaming) the words to Free Falling. Speaking of music, I have only heard one or two songs played here that are actually in German, all the other songs are American classics, like Jenny on the Block of course. Every place we went was so packed that no one could really move, that was a little annoying but part of the experience. 

Now that I am finally in school, it is kind of kicking my butt. Since I have not been in school since the beginning of December, it is definitely taking some adjusting. I do not understand how everyone here goes out until 4 in the morning on week nights and survive school the next day. It must be an Austrian thing, because I on the other hand need a lot more rest than them it seems like. Speaking of school, getting to my class is my favorite part of the day only because I'm not outside in the freezing cold anymore. I think I look pretty much the same every day: same coat, same scarf, a pair of jeans, warm boots. However I do make it a little exciting with changing my head gear some days, you know, just to keep people on their toes (pictures to come). I'm starting to think that winters in Oklahoma really aren't that bad after experiencing this weather. 

New words: Kater "hangover"; Nasenloch "nostril"; Wasser ohne gas "water without gas" (because when you ask for water here, they will usually give you mineral water, so this is a good phrase to know :D)

Something interesting: Diesel is cheaper than unleaded gas here. Oh, and gas is only $1.89

I've been in Europe for a week!

Yes, a whole week. It feels pretty good walking around Graz and knowing where I am going. I finally know the difference between Hauplatz and Jakominiplatz and I can walk to the Uni and back without getting lost! I feel like I have caught on somewhat fast and my German is getting better with every passing day. Speaking of German, today was my first day of class in my German Intensive Course. We had an oral placement test and I was above beginner, so that's a relief! So for the next three weeks I will be going to this class everyday to improve my German speaking skills. Hopefully when I get back to the States I will be able to impress my German teacher with my vast vocabulary (Frau Holt, if you are reading this, don't get your hopes too high :D). The past couple of days have been good except for the fact that I have a crazy housekeeping lady, who correctly introduced herself as "Evil Annie". It's a pretty long story so if you want to hear the details of my two day interaction with her, feel free to Skype me (brianne_mitchell), the story is pretty interesting and my flatmates now refer to Evil A and mine's interaction as "The Show". Besides that, I bought a scarf, gloves, and a wallet for 10 euros and I made potato soup, so I am pretty proud of that. Also, I am becoming my mother because I burnt my rolls :(

New Word: Voll "full", geldtasche "wallet"

skip to 0:55 :)

Today

Today I literally have done nothing. It was below zero degrees Fahrenheit and I was not going to go out in that weather for fun. It ended up snowing and it's gorgeous here, but I just don't want to be freezing outside. I will not be able to get around it though on the account that it will be like this all week and I start class on Monday. Joy. Basically, I have sat around all day and thought about how much I miss my best friend Matt Church, however, I did get around to making some potato chips, so that's good news. No exciting stories or cool pictures today, but here is a video.

It's 2 a.m.

Since it's 2:00 a.m. here, you can probably guess I'm pretty tired today. So I'm going to let my pictures do the talking of what I did today and I will add captions. Gute nacht!!

New word I learned: Prost! "Cheers", Witzig "funny"
Things that are different than in the U.S.: There are no big vehicles that people drive. I have yet to see a truck, also they do not use plastic here. You cannot find plastic cups or anything like that. My peanut butter and Nutella came in glass jars!
Something interesting: Everyone freaks out that I am from Texas. Literally everyone. Unless they are from Texas too.

This is the view from Schlossberg, the mountain that has stairs that we climbed

This is a cafe that is on the river!

Clock on Schlossberg

Cafe on Schlossberg

Club Night!!!

This is the Lock bridge. It has a fence with locks on it. Couples go and put their locks here to signify they will be together forever! :)

Some random guy who couldn't use my iPhone

The Cafe on the river

Club night!!!

Cafe

pretty building

Emily and I

The stairs I had to climb up Schlossberg

Just Hanging Out

Today was a very relaxing day, thank goodness. I got to sleep in until 9:00 a.m. and then at 11 I went with a couple of my flat mates, Bethany and Sarah, to Hauplatz. Hauplatz is a place near the center of Graz where a lot of main buildings and shops are located. I ate a würstchen mit speck (hot dog with bacon) and it was a lot better than I thought it would be! My flat mates, Emily, and I all went to a health insurance seminar that we actually didn't need to go to, however it was nice to be on campus to kind of familiarize myself with it. After that, I did a little laundry and took a nap. I woke up and went out for dinner with my other flat mate, Jackie. I went with her friends and absolutely loved her friend, Sarah. I love that I meet friends every where I go, it has made Graz very comforting. After eating, I talked Bethany into doing Insanity with me, so now I won't be able to walk for the next couple of days. Overall today was a very relaxing day, and exactly what I needed.

Something that happened that I thought was funny: An older woman probably in her late 50's or early 60's phone went off in the tram today. Her ring tone was "Wanksta" by 50 Cent. I'm not sure if she knew what the song was because it was only the music, like an actual ring tone. But if she did know, then I guess- go on with your bad self.

Things I have noticed that are different than in the U.S. of A.: 
-Wifi is not readily available, ever. We are very lucky that we are so spoiled in the USA.
- I actually see people's faces here, considering the fact that not every single person has their nose stuck in their phone like in the States.
-Speaking of phone, it is very rare to see someone with an iPhone here. 
-No one has a car under the age of 23-25 unless they are "rich and spoiled" is what I was told. And even if a younger person has a car, they do not use it because parking is limited and taking the tram and bus is cheaper and easier.
-Last but not least, elevators are extremely small.

I am also going to try to learn a new word or two a day:
Today I learned Scheiße and this means shit. So, I guess that will be helpful at some point.

Not any crazy stories for today, however I did get some more pictures to make up for it! Enjoy.

Tschüss!