Just Being a Tourist

Town hall at Hauptplatz, the main square.

Monument to Archduke Johann in the center of Hauptplatz.  

Cool building downtown with paintings of Greek/Roman mythology.  

At one of the churches downtown.  

This is how Glockenspielplatz gets its name...

These guys come out and dance while music plays!

The eternal snowman (made of marble) in one of the many courtyards off one of the many winding streets downtown.  

Mariatrost Basilica.  I went to mass here last Sunday.  Interestingly enough,  in one of the side rooms was an exhibit on  scientific discoveries concerning DNA, evolution, the big bang... Couldn't understand much of the actual content, but I was impressed!  

The basilica was amazingly ornate, and the entire ceiling was covered in paintings.  

Near the basilica.  This place definitely belongs on a postcard!  

Schlossberg, the mountain in the middle of Graz.  

The most famous landmark of Graz, the Schlossberg clock tower.  

We didn't realize there was so much on Schlossberg, but there are several restaurants, a bunch of ruins whose historical significance I already forget, and these canons.  

View from the top of Schlossberg.

The strange building is Kunsthaus, the "friendly alien," museum of modern art.  

Inside the Kunsthaus, overlooking a gallery.  The skylights here are all the weird protrusions you see from the outside.  

An exhibit on Liu Xiaodong, a Chinese artist, and his creative process.  

Bridge over the Mur River.  The locks mostly have couples' names on them.  

Murinsel, the man-made island on the Mur.  

Week One

We started at TU-Graz on Monday.  Shannon and I are both in the same working group, doing different reactions with polymers.  I have pretty limited previous lab experience, and of course EMU's labs are much different than those here (mostly just smaller and older, actually...), but luckily we're starting off with pretty basic stuff.  It's nice not to have homework, but we tend to come home pretty tired in the evenings.  On Friday we got out of work early, which was quite nice, and then in the evening we got a taste of the nightlife.

This morning I went to a nearby farmers' market, which was probably my favorite part of Graz so far.  It was huge and bustling and delicious and not too expensive and just all-around great!  I managed to get the things I wanted using my limited vocabulary plus some hand gestures, but it feels strange to me that no one knows I can't speak German until I open my mouth and/or stare blankly.  In Guatemala, where I could actually speak the language, I was easily distinguishable and people would approach me in English anyway, but of course here it's much different.  Graz is also much more diverse than I expected, so even skin color is not necessarily a giveaway.  After that, I walked around the main campus of the University of Graz (which is somehow affiliated with TU-Graz, but the "technical" building where we work is in a separate location).  It was absolutely lovely, but unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me today.  Checked out a large botanical garden on the way back home, and now I still have the whole afternoon ahead of me.

Hallo aus Österreich

I am in Austria!  I had never traveled on my own before, but the trip went smoothly.  I met up with Ben, Shannon, and Andrew, the students from Syracuse University, in Vienna, and the four of us took the train down to Graz together.  The day after we got here was a holiday, so almost everything was closed, but luckily we had time to get some groceries the night we got here (stores typically close around 7).  Since then, we've caught up on sleep, walked around downtown, gotten to know the bus/tram system, and seen TU-Graz, the university where we'll be working.  We're settled in now at the dorm where we'll be for June, and then when the semester here is over we'll be able to move closer to the university.

A couple of the streets downtown

My (first) dorm

TU-Graz.  There's supposed to be some kind of a
molecule pattern in the glass windows but  it's hard to see.  

From a park near the dorm

 

Despite not knowing German, I feel very comfortable with the way things work here.  It's different, but I don't think it will take long to adjust.  Starting next week, we'll also be meeting for a German crash course.  But yeah, Graz is lovely.  It's cool to see so many bikes around the city, which is also very pedestrian-friendly.  Our dorm even does composting!  So it's like I never left EMU.  :P  I love the look of old European buildings and new European fashion.  I enjoy public transport, although I can't help think of Guatemala: part of me misses the crowded chaos of those bus rides.  Typical Austrian food includes a lot of meat, and doughy things, and fried things.  Oh, and pumpkin seed oil is a regional specialty, so they put it on everything.  I like what I've had so far and have actually finished food for some of the others.  Haven't tried the beer yet, but that will come.  We start work on Monday so I'm excited to get into a routine here and to be able to be more independent.

If you feel inspired to send me something, it'll be expensive I'm sure, but you can send things through the chemistry department:
     Ruth Maust
     c/o Dr. Frank Uhlig
     Institute of Organic Chemistry
     Graz University of Technology
     Stremayrgasse 16
     A-8010 Graz, Austria

Mixtape

My life and thoughts this past semester set to "song."  I encourage you to make one of your own!

                                  

Summer

Three years down, one to go!   Had my last final exam this morning.  This was actually not a terribly stressful semester, but of course it's a relief to have finally finished everything.  I've been ready to go home for a while, but now that the school component is over I'm glad to have a few days here on campus to relax, maybe set up my hammock outside and take a nap if it stays nice, and to see some of my friends graduate.  Once I do get home, I'll have about five weeks there before heading to Graz, Austria for the rest of the summer.  I have an internship at Graz University of Technology working in a Chemistry lab.  I don't know yet what project I'll be working on, but I'm so excited both for gaining some research experience and for the fact that I'll also get to do some traveling.  I have never traveled by myself before, so it'll be an adventure.  I'm planning to spend part of my time in May working on my currently nonexistent German (don't worry, everything in the lab is in English...).  And I'm open to hearing ideas of awesome things to do in/around Austria!

MissRepresentation

Last night I went over to JMU for a screening of the movie Miss Representation.  It was all about the portrayal of women in media today, and while it was enlightening, it left me feeling depressed about the state of our society.  It's hard to summarize the film's message without just going on a rant, but it talked about everything from violence against women to the fact that very few movies have female protagonists (and when they do, the main goal is finding love, from a man of course) to the need for good female role models to how this relates to hypermasculinity and men's "emotional constipation," as someone put it afterwards.  One of the main points was the extent to which even accomplished, powerful women are judged so much on their appearance as opposed to what they've done with their lives.  Some of the clips of newscasters and such really made me wonder how people can get away with saying the things they do.  I know I hear a lot of questionable comments and let them slip without thinking much of it, but some of the examples were absolutely blatant sexism.  Made me feel like such an angry feminist.  It was a very good reminder that there is no reason the degradation of women needs to be acceptable or ordinary.

Watch the extended trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5pM1fW6hNs

Hafiz: With That Moon Language

Admit something:
Everyone you see, you say to them,
     "Love me."
Of course you do not do this out loud;
Otherwise,
Someone would call the cops.
Still though, think about this,
This great pull in us to connect.
Why not become the one
Who lives with a full moon in each eye
That is always saying
With that sweet moon
     Language
What every other eye in this world
     Is dying to
     Hear.