Well… I guess I should get updating, now, shouldn’t I? :-)
I have over a week’s worth of posts to catch up on. I will try to have everything done and posted by, say, the end of Thursday.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Weekend Plans
I have a bunch of homework I need to do relatively soon. Both the teleconferenced courses and the Gaming courses seem difficult... but if I work at it, there should be no problems.
Sorry for not keeping up with the blog, guys. Part of it is the homework, and part of it is the time management I still need to figure out, especially when my life is riddled with teleconferencing (sometimes for other people) and the need to eat and sleep.
So, this weekend marks the first time I will be out of the country. And by country, I mean Austria. We will stop in Salzburg first to witness not only the setting of The Sound of Music, but also, the setting for Mozart's life. Then, we will go and see Munich in Germany. Admittedly, I am a little nervous. I am not sure how cordial other countries are in comparison with the Austrians. But it should all be fine! :-)
I will post catch-up stuff tonight if I have time, but I need to work on some important things first! Auf Wiedersehen!
Sorry for not keeping up with the blog, guys. Part of it is the homework, and part of it is the time management I still need to figure out, especially when my life is riddled with teleconferencing (sometimes for other people) and the need to eat and sleep.
So, this weekend marks the first time I will be out of the country. And by country, I mean Austria. We will stop in Salzburg first to witness not only the setting of The Sound of Music, but also, the setting for Mozart's life. Then, we will go and see Munich in Germany. Admittedly, I am a little nervous. I am not sure how cordial other countries are in comparison with the Austrians. But it should all be fine! :-)
I will post catch-up stuff tonight if I have time, but I need to work on some important things first! Auf Wiedersehen!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
"No Internet" Tuesday nights (a.k.a afternoons for you!)
By the by, the Kartause has a "No Internet" policy for Tuesday nights. While it is useful for the purposes of focusing on schoolwork / self-growth, it means I will be unable to post or keep you updated after classes tonight. (And by tonight, I mean after 12 noon in the states until, say, 2 in the morning.)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Gaming Tour (19/1/11)
On Wednesday, we got our textbooks for the classes in Gaming. A fun reminder of what we are really going to do here. As much as I am not looking forward to the swing of things, I am, in a sense. I am taking Metaphysics, which should be interesting (in an annoying type of way- that’s how philosophy classes are!), and Christian Moral Principles, which should also be interesting. I am also having video-conferenced courses from main campus, since I have Computer Science classes I have to take this semester to be able to graduate on time. These are: Networking and Telecommunications (a night class in Steubenville- which means I get to be up from midnight to 2:45 every Wednesday! :-D), Software Patterns in Java, and Algorithms and Complexity.
Today we took a tour of Gaming on the way to mass at the Gaming church. Some memorable notes about this day: it was raining. I was holding my umbrella and trying to take photos at the same time! (Don’t be surprised- you all know how reckless I am. :-) ) Today was also the day I ran into the red zone with the camera battery for the first time… an ominous forewarning of the Vienna trip… but that’s for later.
In America, we use periods to separate decimals from whole numbers. In Europe, they use commas, especially with the Euro. Here is an instance involving a mileage sign.
Urs (german for “bear”) is the local pub. They also serve good pizza (or so I’ve been told). The one downside I have heard is that the pub is very smoky… I will have to be careful about what I wear in there!
One of the three or four banks in Austria. This is where I withdraw Euros from an ATM.
A punishment pole, where those who did wrong got chained and put on public display. It is no longer in use (thank heavens :-) ).
Spar, the local grocery store. The first time I went in, I saw funny and interesting off-brands of American products, especially cereals. I also saw some Milka… fairly good European chocolate! I may consider sending some to the family, but I am not sure how the postal system works here…
Logging is very strong in these areas of Europe. These items are part of the history of that profession.
A friend of mine, posing for the camera. :-)
I can’t remember what Schlecker is for… :-(
In the background, you can see where the Polizei are located. Hopefully I will never have to go see them…
This is an awesome river in Gaming! It flows into a larger river, which flows into Vienna.
This is the place where large events take place.
Electronics store. If I ever run out of batteries, this is where I’m going.
This used to be the old “Urs”. FUS students used to come here all the time. Recently, it’s been coming back in popularity.
Gaming’s church! There is no heat inside. It was quite cold for Mass, but still very cool!
Apotheke- the local drugstore. Haven’t had to go here yet…
Just a leisurely walk… :-)
Some awesome scenic pictures!!!
Another stray cat… maybe I should start counting! ;-)
The “Our Heroes” display in Gaming, where all the names of Gaming’s WWII victims are written.
Besides the Gaming tour and the books, nothing exciting… but I had to stay up to take my midnight class. :-) That was fun.
Exploring the Kartause (and eating food!) (18/1/11)
This day was a pretty cool day, overall. As students living and studying in the Kartause, there are places we are allowed to go… and many places we are not allowed to go. On Tuesday, we got to see some of these “restricted” areas.
First, we had breakfast. I made sure to take a picture this time. Note the awesome flower-like shape of the bread.
It seems the Austrians (maybe Europeans in general?) always have meat, bread, and cheese handy for any time of day. I think it is pretty cool (especially when the cheese turns out to be Swiss!). I also had a piece of fruity bread with orange marmalade on top, some European yogurt (supplemented with granola and raisins), and a cucumber (which I have at almost every meal. :-) )
We had an Orientation meeting and a basic tour of the living area of the Kartause, and then lunch!
Yes, I know… you want to see the tour. Be patient! ;-)
They served us spaghetti! They usually have one or two American-ish items at the buffet line. Some kind of meat… chicken, I think? A doughball… made of dough… which was interesting, though bland… And, the cucumbers! :-)
And finally, the tour! We started out at the church.
I took this opportunity to take pictures. The church is very beautifully done. Apparently, an Austrian emperor created the Kartause as a home for himself, as well as a holy place for the Carthusians, a very silent order of monks (and, in fact, the only order that never needed reform). Over time, as the last of these monks died, the property fell into private hands. The Kartause fell into disrepair. During World War II, it was occupied by the Russians.
It was then that a man named Walter Hildebrand (finally found the name!), who still lives here, renovated the Kartause. The renovated roof you see in the photos is much lower down than the actual roof of the church… we’ll get to see it soon… :-)
First on the list was an area of the Kartause where the monks had their library.
See the flags? The President and the Pope come to visit the Kartause now and then… I think annually.
Even in their solitude and silence, the Carthusian monks kept focused on their studies, advancing their minds for the greater glory of God.
I don’t know if I have mentioned this before… but Austrians, and the Carthusians, have a certain focus on death. These paintings in the two courtyards of the Kartause emphasize that focus: the “sun dial” in the first courtyard depicts two skeletons counting down man’s hours, while there is a “moon dial” in the other courtyard, in contrast to the light of day.
The next part of the tour put the “adventure” in “Austrian Adventures”! We ascended a dark and spiraling staircase in the church to reach the old roof, and the outside of the church’s dome (which is built inside the Kartause!). Here, Russian graffiti can be seen on the walls; it is an interesting and sad desecration.
We then ascended the tower even further to walk above even the old roof. Here, in the darkness, was the bell tower of the church.
I may eventually post a video on the blog, but that would require a YouTube account (or for the video to be fully public), and I’m not sure I want either yet…
And… the way back down! Going back down is much harder than going up, especially in a dark bell tower. Thank heavens for the camera- its orange light led the way! (I also caught a beautiful picture of bat dung for you all. :-) )
Next up was the Byzantine chapel. A student at the Kartause recently built the chapel so that those of Eastern Catholicism could pray and worship there. When writing the icons, though, he depicted prominent saints of both Western and Eastern rites, which is pretty cool. It is very ornate and cool, especially all of the symbolism.
(For instance, did you know that in the Eastern rite, red symbolizes divinity and blue represents humanity? This is why you always see Mary in blue with a red cloak, since she is human but overshadowed by divinity, and why Jesus is always in red with blue outer garments, since he is divine but clothed in humanity.)
I wish I would have taken more pictures of the chapel! But I didn’t know whether it was time to take pictures, or time to be reverent… that is a tricky thing, sometimes. But it is on campus, so I will take more pictures and post them soon.
The final leg of the tour was the “museum” part of the Kartause, containing some older artifacts, paintings, and information on the building, the Carthusians, the Austrian Empire and more.
And no, that is not a real guy… it’s just a model. :-)
What an awesome tour! I have seen SO MUCH on this trip so far!
Dinner:
I ate some beef, pork and gravy for dinner tonight, with some plain noodles and circular, swirly potato fries on the side. European ketchup, by the way, is awesome, if I haven’t mentioned that already. It seems to have less sugar and more flavor.
One rule about eating at the Mensa: usually, if you arrive first, you get items that they don’t plan on replacing for everyone else. The dessert above was no exception. If I recall correctly, it was a cream-filled roll that tastes bland on its own, but good with the chocolate sauce! There was also a white sauce provided that, surprisingly enough, was tutty-fruity flavored. But I preferred the chocolate. :-)
So that’s it- wait, what? Where’s the cucumber, you ask? Well, sometimes I forget. That’s life. :-)
First, we had breakfast. I made sure to take a picture this time. Note the awesome flower-like shape of the bread.
It seems the Austrians (maybe Europeans in general?) always have meat, bread, and cheese handy for any time of day. I think it is pretty cool (especially when the cheese turns out to be Swiss!). I also had a piece of fruity bread with orange marmalade on top, some European yogurt (supplemented with granola and raisins), and a cucumber (which I have at almost every meal. :-) )
We had an Orientation meeting and a basic tour of the living area of the Kartause, and then lunch!
Yes, I know… you want to see the tour. Be patient! ;-)
They served us spaghetti! They usually have one or two American-ish items at the buffet line. Some kind of meat… chicken, I think? A doughball… made of dough… which was interesting, though bland… And, the cucumbers! :-)
And finally, the tour! We started out at the church.
I took this opportunity to take pictures. The church is very beautifully done. Apparently, an Austrian emperor created the Kartause as a home for himself, as well as a holy place for the Carthusians, a very silent order of monks (and, in fact, the only order that never needed reform). Over time, as the last of these monks died, the property fell into private hands. The Kartause fell into disrepair. During World War II, it was occupied by the Russians.
It was then that a man named Walter Hildebrand (finally found the name!), who still lives here, renovated the Kartause. The renovated roof you see in the photos is much lower down than the actual roof of the church… we’ll get to see it soon… :-)
First on the list was an area of the Kartause where the monks had their library.
See the flags? The President and the Pope come to visit the Kartause now and then… I think annually.
Even in their solitude and silence, the Carthusian monks kept focused on their studies, advancing their minds for the greater glory of God.
I don’t know if I have mentioned this before… but Austrians, and the Carthusians, have a certain focus on death. These paintings in the two courtyards of the Kartause emphasize that focus: the “sun dial” in the first courtyard depicts two skeletons counting down man’s hours, while there is a “moon dial” in the other courtyard, in contrast to the light of day.
The next part of the tour put the “adventure” in “Austrian Adventures”! We ascended a dark and spiraling staircase in the church to reach the old roof, and the outside of the church’s dome (which is built inside the Kartause!). Here, Russian graffiti can be seen on the walls; it is an interesting and sad desecration.
We then ascended the tower even further to walk above even the old roof. Here, in the darkness, was the bell tower of the church.
I may eventually post a video on the blog, but that would require a YouTube account (or for the video to be fully public), and I’m not sure I want either yet…
And… the way back down! Going back down is much harder than going up, especially in a dark bell tower. Thank heavens for the camera- its orange light led the way! (I also caught a beautiful picture of bat dung for you all. :-) )
Next up was the Byzantine chapel. A student at the Kartause recently built the chapel so that those of Eastern Catholicism could pray and worship there. When writing the icons, though, he depicted prominent saints of both Western and Eastern rites, which is pretty cool. It is very ornate and cool, especially all of the symbolism.
(For instance, did you know that in the Eastern rite, red symbolizes divinity and blue represents humanity? This is why you always see Mary in blue with a red cloak, since she is human but overshadowed by divinity, and why Jesus is always in red with blue outer garments, since he is divine but clothed in humanity.)
I wish I would have taken more pictures of the chapel! But I didn’t know whether it was time to take pictures, or time to be reverent… that is a tricky thing, sometimes. But it is on campus, so I will take more pictures and post them soon.
The final leg of the tour was the “museum” part of the Kartause, containing some older artifacts, paintings, and information on the building, the Carthusians, the Austrian Empire and more.
And no, that is not a real guy… it’s just a model. :-)
What an awesome tour! I have seen SO MUCH on this trip so far!
Dinner:
I ate some beef, pork and gravy for dinner tonight, with some plain noodles and circular, swirly potato fries on the side. European ketchup, by the way, is awesome, if I haven’t mentioned that already. It seems to have less sugar and more flavor.
One rule about eating at the Mensa: usually, if you arrive first, you get items that they don’t plan on replacing for everyone else. The dessert above was no exception. If I recall correctly, it was a cream-filled roll that tastes bland on its own, but good with the chocolate sauce! There was also a white sauce provided that, surprisingly enough, was tutty-fruity flavored. But I preferred the chocolate. :-)
So that’s it- wait, what? Where’s the cucumber, you ask? Well, sometimes I forget. That’s life. :-)
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