Finished

Hey,

Sorry it's been so long, but I have had 6 exams in 3 days, and I had to get my paper all edited before that. Needless to say it has been busy here. Slowly but surely everything is coming together, classes are now finished, and I'm starting to get all of the paperwork that I need organized and reorganized.

We've also been having lots of 'goodbye' things going on here! It's really sad, but also a little happy, because it means that I am getting even closer to home! It's so hot here right now that I just keep wondering how I am going to survive back home. :P

I know this should be more exciting, with lots of pictures and stuff, but I really dont have all that many, and my computer doesn't seem to want me to load pictures today. If I get them online I'll maybe post some tomorrow.

Now back to the piles,
Tiny

Back to Business

First off, I’m sorry that I haven’t done so well with blog posting. I left off last Saturday, so this one may be a little bit long. Sunday M, L, R and I went to the town Armoury, and saw all of the old armour. Every time that I go there I learn something new. It’s also nice when you can talk about some of the things that you learned while living here and put them into context for the people who come to visit!  We went to the Glockenspiel and it didn’t go, we found out later that it was actually broken. But it was ok, we had a delicious meal. Then we all had a nap/finished some homework that needed to be done, and then my friend A (from Taiwan) had us over at E & P’s for some amazing apple dessert! Then it was hair-cuts/movie night for M and me, while L and R went out for supper with some friends.

Monday was a shopping day, and we seriously shopped till we dropped. We dropped because it was like 32 degrees with 90% humidity which made it feel like almost 40. It was crazy hot. It hasn’t cooled down yet either. But back to Monday, we came home and got M packed and then we went out for supper with the whole gang.

Tuesday M headed home and then L, R and I went around to all of the places that we hadn’t been yet, the Schlossberg(even though R ,M and I had been there on Monday) and up to the University, because even though this is all cool , I still need to go to classes. Then we went to this really cool Tapas place for supper. So tasty!!

Wednesday I had classes all day and me up with L & R in the evening, where they got to meet N and M(from Finland) and we had a really awesome supper.

Thursday L &R left, and since then I have been crazy busy with classes and studying, trying to get ready for my exams next week. Hopefully they all go well, it has been a lot of hard work, and I hope it pays off!

Until Later,

Tiny

R and M at the top of the Schlossberg

This was from the elevator down, it was
so nice and cool in the tunnels that we didn't
want to leave!

M & M at Monday's Dinner

Quick Update

I promise that I will write a better update tomorrow morning, but right now I am going to bed, because after 5 hours of studying I just want to curl in a ball and sleep. (almost typed in study there, which just goes to show you how much I have been doing)

Tiny

Hey Everyone

Me again. So Saturday morning we all woke up and went to E & P’s house to start our adventure for the day. First up, getting L to drive. She was awesome  the whole time and even got us up this one really scary hill when we all had to stop for someone at the top.  So with four of us in L’s car and three in P’s car we went to the castle Riegersberg. We got to see all of the witch trials and stuff, plus all of the cool rooms, and had some really good schnitzel. Then we headed on to Zotter. For those that don’t know it’s kind of like the Willy Wonka’s of Austria. So much chocolate, so much fun!! Once we were finished we walked around the garden/zoo area, and when we got the water the guy was nuts. He filled each glass, then put an orange in, then an icecube, then mint, then a straw, all down the line. Water made with Love. Then we went onto a Buschenshank (a not a restaurant) for supper. So much good food!!!!

Yesterday we went to the Armoury, then out for Lunch at the Glockenspiel. Then my friend A had us all at E & P’s and she made us the most wonderful apple desserts. For the evening, my parents went for supper with family friends and we had a haircutting night. It has been totally awesome so far and I can’t wait to see what today brings.

Talk soon,

Tiny

L driving, it was a standard, so the rest of us couldn't.

Riegersberg Castle



With L and R

And with P, M and E



We found these helmets in the castle!

At the Zotter factory!



Someone liked the Wine at the Buschenshank!

All of the wonderful food!!!

More Company

So where did I leave off? Wednesday was a fairly regular say, classes (done my presentation, so now only exams left!!), nap, tea with N and M (where we watched cartoon openings from our childhood!) and finally a movie night with E, P and M (my roommate this time!). Which was really awesome. Then on Thursday I got to go to classes while my company had a relaxing, get over jet lag day, but everyone was at our Canadian Culture course, to cheer on the prof who came from Canada.

But Today is definitely the highlight!! It started out early, caught the 7:25 train to Vienna, where we got on the Hop On Hop Off bus and had a great time just seeing so many different places in the city. We saw St. Stephen’s and the Schünbrunn Palace. Also we had the best luck with trains!! But after the sightseeing came the real adventure. We went out to the airport and I got to pick up my parents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don’t really feel like there is enough space to put in all of the exclamation points that I need! It was totally awesome. Then we took the train back home, out for supper and now I’m home once again, listening to music before bed, and trust me, it is a good thing there is spell check because I swear I’ve maybe spelled three words properly I am so tired!

Can’t wait for Tomorrow,

Tiny

Movie night Thursday. M, E, me, M, and M (P's brother)
See I told you I need another nickname!

Me and M on the train to Vienna

At the Opera House (where we caught the bus)

On the Bus, going around the city!

St Stephen's Cathedral

Schuenbrunn (and yes I know it's supposed to have the
little dots, but it's not working right now!)

First Day with Company

So yesterday evening, E, P & I went to the airport and picked up my friend from home. She is going to be here for a week, and it is totally exciting!!  Naturally it was too early to go to bed when she arrived, so we had supper and watched a movie in typical girl’s night fashion.  We also did a lot of talking and planned out today.

Today was a day of, what else … food! It started out with breakfast, and then we went into Hauptplatz, from there we visited the gummy bear shop, the chocolate store, and we were contemplating going to the Hof Backerai, but decided to save that until later in the week. From there we trekked up the Schlossberg, in the rain, and got to see lots of the main part of town.  Then lunch at a little café that is near the Glockenspiel. We didn’t get to see it ring, but of course we’ll go back and see what we can do! Then it was a tour of the University and German class. I learned a lot, and she had a lot of fun trying to figure out the class. Naturally you can’t come visit me in Graz without having a Kebap, so that is what we had for supper. Now I am getting ready for my presentation tomorrow, and we are preparing to go to pub quiz tonight! Should be a lot of fun!

More Later,
Tiny

PS Teddy had a great time today too!



Main building in Hauptplatz

At the Gummy Bear store. Teddy likes to
rot his teeth too!

Climbing up the stairs, it's a must do when
you are here!

At the top!

Me and Teddy with Graz in the background!

The Clock Tower (I got asked by two other
people to take their picture with it and we almost
forgot to take our own!)

Lunch Time!

The statue of Stytia in the Stadtpark!

100th Post

This is actually really good, because I didn't know what to call this post, but hey, it is my 100th post!

And here I promised myself that I was going to do better at blog posting this month, which means I’m not off to a very good start. I left off on Saturday which was one of the last coolish days here. Sunday felt like living in a sauna, which wasn’t helped by making goulasch all afternoon, for supper that night. Sadly Sunday was our last potluck (or at least I am pretty sure it will be, given all of the craziness going on for the rest of this month). It was delicious by the way and salads were the most popular this time around!

Monday was a study day with N. We are getting as many of these in as we can, because it makes us both more likely to work. Tuesday we had N’s belated birthday party, a picnic in the Stadtpark where we had waay too many chips. Then Wednesday was just painful school wise, three lessons with a 4 hour break between two and a 2 and a half hour break between the other. But luckily E and P made sure I made it out for lunch with them. We went to a running sushi place which was really really tasty!

Today is yet another day off (I am not alone among the international students when I say I’d take less breaks if it meant getting home a little sooner) But it means that I get some extra time to prepeare for the first bit of company that I’ll be having this month. I’ll have to come up with a nickname for her, because I don’t think I can handle another M in this blog.

But probably best of all for this post, I have pictures from everything!! (Ok fine, I took pictures of our study break, not while we were actually studying). Here’s hoping that I get a laundry machine today, and that I don’t need a gas mask when emptying the fridge!

Cheers,

Tiny

PS I should never be allowed near fairy tales again!

Saturday the top of the clock tower looked soo cool!



Sunday Supper, with M, N, R and M (see what I mean
about the M's)

Sunday supper, with C, R, P and E

Signs of a good study session. Gummy bears as a break food!

The Picnic food!

E and P at Sushi!

Laundry #7

Yes I know it’s been a long time since I did one of these posts, but don’t worry, it hasn’t been that long since I last did laundry. J Where has the time gone? It’s the second of June. The last month of my stay. There is so much to do and so very little time to do it in. There is of course school work, laundry, dishes and all that crazy stuff, but also hanging out with friends, going to fave restaurants and enjoying Graz while I still can. Talk about nuts.

And in keeping with the nuts it seems like there hasn’t been a day when I haven’t been having a movie night or going for tea with someone, or going to see a movie! All of which I’ve done this week, we got to go see Snow White and the Huntsman at the theatre on Thursday (opening day) and it was a pretty good movie. Naturally we all read waaaay to much in between the lines (I think we all decided that we thought that there was no chemistry between some of the main characters) but it was a great way to spend some time with friends, and eat waay too much popcorn. (Thanks for that P). Then Friday was a study day, and hopefully with more of those N and I will be ready for all of our exams at the end of the semester. My paper is finally finished (now for editing *insert sarcasm* Yay!) Otherwise, it’s mostly life as usual, coffee with friends and a really good vegetarian restaurant with E on Thursday.  Sadly my camera has been rather dormant during most of these events, because I want to enjoy them instead of constantly taking pictures, but I promise there will be more coming this month.

However, not being one to leave you without something, this has sort of become my theme song for the month, and I feel like I’ve been doing a pretty good job, considering how tired I am (listen to it and you’ll understand!) Adam Lambert - Never Close Our Eyes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3dkVk3F57c&ob=av2e

Till Next Time,

Tiny