The Great Spending Spree
I ate, I walked, I bought:
- (1) notebook
- (2) Technical University of Graz t-shirts (mediums the both)
- (1) Cicaplast Acceleratore di Riparazione Dell'Epidermide at the Apotheke (pharmacy), a term I can never remember and just call it Derelique.
- (1) copy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare parallel Deutsch & English text
- (1) Carton of wafers, which might as well have nicotine cream interspersed instead of hazelnut
- (10) minutes waiting in line (time is money) while an Unruly Barbarian tried to by 9 Euros worth of groceries with 5 Euros, and then puzzled over just which FIVE of his indispensable items he would remit
- (1) Lunch, complete with soup, salad, and side, and further distorting the chronology of the monetary swath I cut through the area around the University.
Total cost: between 34.5 and 802.1 Euros, depending on the value of 10 minutes of my life.
Not referencing a Master card advertisement: (this space intentionally left blank)
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The latest batch of photos can be found at the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pbrune/DayInGraz
The ones that have me in them were taken by DQ, my loyal assistant out here. His website can be found here
He merits additional props, which will be issued soon in another post, for reasons listed in the previous one.
http://picasaweb.google.com/pbrune/DayInGraz
The ones that have me in them were taken by DQ, my loyal assistant out here. His website can be found here
He merits additional props, which will be issued soon in another post, for reasons listed in the previous one.
Exposé Forthcoming
I live in a student dormitory. One that in some way is related to the Catholic Church. The only noticeable impact this has had on my life is the imposition of a metal cross on the wall above my bed. In a pinch it (cross) could probably be used as a dagger. It's a convenient setup - very close to where I work (see map), a decent population of students that are usually willing to go on a walk through the city to get something to eat, or explain semi-calmly why what I tried to say in German is so funny to them. We live together on the second floor, which owing to Austria being in Europe, means you start counting after you've been up a set of stairs.
Far more interesting, however, are the goings on in the FIRST floor. To properly present it, I really need to take some pictures (hence post title). However, I'll try and at least set the stage with words. The floor is occupied entirely by an all-male German Catholic organization. All residents I've seen thus far fall between the ages of 18 and 25, and wear strange uniforms that bring to mind the old guy that is the "Pack Leader" for the Cub Scouts so still needs to wear the uniform but looks very odd in so doing. Standard accessories that i've seen include a tie, what can only be referred to as a sash, and a garish hat that could be worn into battle. All of this is mildly amusing, but what pushes it to the level of interesting is what goes on Saturday nights. I don't know what duties their standard work week requires, but every saturday night they unleash and absolute rager. 2 kegs, a cachet of empty bottles, and at least 5 bikes on the landing are regular sights on my sunday exit into the world proper. Last night i got home late and had to dodge 2 incapacitated bodies on my way up the stairs.
Next week I will make efforts to earn their trust before Saturday. And then I will get batteries for my camera.
In other news I solved the mystery of the haunted bathroom. It is a handicap bathroom, and the light is not on a timed sensor like every other light in the building. When it is left on at night, so be it.
There should be another album of pictures up later today that I took last week. I'll post the link on a second post, so it looks like I actually add to this regularly.
I live in a student dormitory. One that in some way is related to the Catholic Church. The only noticeable impact this has had on my life is the imposition of a metal cross on the wall above my bed. In a pinch it (cross) could probably be used as a dagger. It's a convenient setup - very close to where I work (see map), a decent population of students that are usually willing to go on a walk through the city to get something to eat, or explain semi-calmly why what I tried to say in German is so funny to them. We live together on the second floor, which owing to Austria being in Europe, means you start counting after you've been up a set of stairs.
Far more interesting, however, are the goings on in the FIRST floor. To properly present it, I really need to take some pictures (hence post title). However, I'll try and at least set the stage with words. The floor is occupied entirely by an all-male German Catholic organization. All residents I've seen thus far fall between the ages of 18 and 25, and wear strange uniforms that bring to mind the old guy that is the "Pack Leader" for the Cub Scouts so still needs to wear the uniform but looks very odd in so doing. Standard accessories that i've seen include a tie, what can only be referred to as a sash, and a garish hat that could be worn into battle. All of this is mildly amusing, but what pushes it to the level of interesting is what goes on Saturday nights. I don't know what duties their standard work week requires, but every saturday night they unleash and absolute rager. 2 kegs, a cachet of empty bottles, and at least 5 bikes on the landing are regular sights on my sunday exit into the world proper. Last night i got home late and had to dodge 2 incapacitated bodies on my way up the stairs.
Next week I will make efforts to earn their trust before Saturday. And then I will get batteries for my camera.
In other news I solved the mystery of the haunted bathroom. It is a handicap bathroom, and the light is not on a timed sensor like every other light in the building. When it is left on at night, so be it.
There should be another album of pictures up later today that I took last week. I'll post the link on a second post, so it looks like I actually add to this regularly.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Haunted Austrian Father's Day
It's the second Sunday in June. And you know what that means: Happy Austrian Father's Day! I don't know how to say "happy" in German yet, but if I did, I might say "___happy___" Vatertag, and then wonder about potential/probably grammatical errors, despite the attempt being only 2 (1) words long.
Not much else to report. I give a seminar tomorrow to an unspecified number of people. It could change the very direction of my nascent academic career. I'll be thrilled if there's more than 5 souls in attendance.
Oh and speaking of souls, I'm working on compiling evidence that a bathroom across the hall is haunted. As if the story needed any more intrigue, preliminary investigations indicate that the potentially poltergeisted potty is neither for men nor women. I'll try and take pictures. Watch this space.
It's the second Sunday in June. And you know what that means: Happy Austrian Father's Day! I don't know how to say "happy" in German yet, but if I did, I might say
Not much else to report. I give a seminar tomorrow to an unspecified number of people. It could change the very direction of my nascent academic career. I'll be thrilled if there's more than 5 souls in attendance.
Oh and speaking of souls, I'm working on compiling evidence that a bathroom across the hall is haunted. As if the story needed any more intrigue, preliminary investigations indicate that the potentially poltergeisted potty is neither for men nor women. I'll try and take pictures. Watch this space.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
The Air-Dryer Rides (stands still & drips) Again
Prologue: I left my "The Rolls-Royce of Towels" hanging up in the locker room at the gym where I play basketball every Friday with predominantly Greek guys. At this point I fear the worst. Yes, it was over-priced, but it does look nice, and boasts immense drying area. In fact, if I recover it, I will probably cut in two pieces and hide one under my mattress, just to take some of the pressure off.
Additional information: the Ethical evaluation devices are combined with the newspaper dispensers in Graz. Firstly, a very large percentage of the population has a subscription to the/a newspaper, but on weekends and holidays the additional distribution channels are put to use. They take the form of a large metal pole, with a cardboard sign indicating just which newspaper it is that is hanging below in an oversized plastic bag. One simply peels open the bag, removes a newspaper, and closes the bag again. The paying customer can then insert the requisite fee (usually 90Eurocents) into a small lockbox, or the depraved can simply carry on with their day. I think this form of (potential) moral turpitude has replaced "Gentlemen's" clubs. At least I haven't seen any. Not that I've been looking, or anything.
p.s. the paper is in German and thereby represents much less of an ethical quandary for me, at least.
Prologue: I left my "The Rolls-Royce of Towels" hanging up in the locker room at the gym where I play basketball every Friday with predominantly Greek guys. At this point I fear the worst. Yes, it was over-priced, but it does look nice, and boasts immense drying area. In fact, if I recover it, I will probably cut in two pieces and hide one under my mattress, just to take some of the pressure off.
Additional information: the Ethical evaluation devices are combined with the newspaper dispensers in Graz. Firstly, a very large percentage of the population has a subscription to the/a newspaper, but on weekends and holidays the additional distribution channels are put to use. They take the form of a large metal pole, with a cardboard sign indicating just which newspaper it is that is hanging below in an oversized plastic bag. One simply peels open the bag, removes a newspaper, and closes the bag again. The paying customer can then insert the requisite fee (usually 90Eurocents) into a small lockbox, or the depraved can simply carry on with their day. I think this form of (potential) moral turpitude has replaced "Gentlemen's" clubs. At least I haven't seen any. Not that I've been looking, or anything.
p.s. the paper is in German and thereby represents much less of an ethical quandary for me, at least.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Offenbach - Barcarolle... the randomized tunes are rolling during the late night shift, when I step out to the dehydration chamber. I come back to hear the listed piece echoing off the tall ceilings and into the Austrian night. Something about time and place, location and situation, closing your eyes and actually going somewhere...
Thursday, May 31, 2007
A quick moment for some initial impressions of Graz.
It's a nice city. An interesting mix of semi-historical burgh and college town. There are 4 universities crammed amongst its 150,000 or so regular (not student) inhabitants. Consequently Most of the people I've dealt with thus far have been students, and barring events of a serious nature I don't see that changing. The circles I move in here have a pretty small diameter (largely due to ethereal grasp of German). One consistent feature of the area in which I live (dorm) are drunken serenades occurring with stunning regularity at 2300. The consistency is similar to chiming of clock bells, though the tone is rather more sporadic. It's cool though, apparently a MAJOR activity here is to get jammed and then wander around singing with your friends... I shall call it alco-carrolling. We wish you a drunken wednesday we wish you a drunken....
Given that most of my time has been spent in the "office", I'll talk about it for a little bit. Actually, most of it is better seen than read. Thusly I refer you to http://picasaweb.google.com/pbrune/YeOldeOfficee
One thing about office supplies in Austria, they're quite similar, but differ in a sneaky way. Instead of 3 ring binders, they have 2 ring binders. When I ask about a hypothetical third ring, I'm looked at like I just asked the person how they would feel about drinking toilet water... Also, the paper clips have a sort of blunted-triangular end shape, instead of semi-circular. I guess that's all I have on the office... mainly I just wanted a vehicle for the photos link.
I guess there's one more thing I should mention. Arnold Schwarzenegger is from Graz. If one seeks precision, he is from Thal, Austria, which is a small village that is a suburb of Graz. When I say I'm from California, which I often do, all conversation is immediately funneled towards Der Governator. Most of it concerns an incident a couple years ago, whereby the city of Graz named its main sports stadium after Arnold, but were put under pressure to change it when Arnold supported the continued use of the Death Penalty in C to the A. To save them the trouble, Arnold demanded his name be removed. This bothers people to this day. They are like the disgruntled employee, who complained about stupid company policies over and over until finally they were just going to quit, but right before they quit they got fired. The end result is the same (excluding consideration of severance pay) but they have been deprived of their free will... relegated to the role of reactor, rather than actor. Which sounds about right, given the parties concerned.
It's a nice city. An interesting mix of semi-historical burgh and college town. There are 4 universities crammed amongst its 150,000 or so regular (not student) inhabitants. Consequently Most of the people I've dealt with thus far have been students, and barring events of a serious nature I don't see that changing. The circles I move in here have a pretty small diameter (largely due to ethereal grasp of German). One consistent feature of the area in which I live (dorm) are drunken serenades occurring with stunning regularity at 2300. The consistency is similar to chiming of clock bells, though the tone is rather more sporadic. It's cool though, apparently a MAJOR activity here is to get jammed and then wander around singing with your friends... I shall call it alco-carrolling. We wish you a drunken wednesday we wish you a drunken....
Given that most of my time has been spent in the "office", I'll talk about it for a little bit. Actually, most of it is better seen than read. Thusly I refer you to http://picasaweb.google.com/pbrune/YeOldeOfficee
One thing about office supplies in Austria, they're quite similar, but differ in a sneaky way. Instead of 3 ring binders, they have 2 ring binders. When I ask about a hypothetical third ring, I'm looked at like I just asked the person how they would feel about drinking toilet water... Also, the paper clips have a sort of blunted-triangular end shape, instead of semi-circular. I guess that's all I have on the office... mainly I just wanted a vehicle for the photos link.
I guess there's one more thing I should mention. Arnold Schwarzenegger is from Graz. If one seeks precision, he is from Thal, Austria, which is a small village that is a suburb of Graz. When I say I'm from California, which I often do, all conversation is immediately funneled towards Der Governator. Most of it concerns an incident a couple years ago, whereby the city of Graz named its main sports stadium after Arnold, but were put under pressure to change it when Arnold supported the continued use of the Death Penalty in C to the A. To save them the trouble, Arnold demanded his name be removed. This bothers people to this day. They are like the disgruntled employee, who complained about stupid company policies over and over until finally they were just going to quit, but right before they quit they got fired. The end result is the same (excluding consideration of severance pay) but they have been deprived of their free will... relegated to the role of reactor, rather than actor. Which sounds about right, given the parties concerned.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
The original email: for those who didn't receive it:
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Dear Friend,
I would like to share the following brief update on my life with you:
My goal is not to accumulate congratulatory responses, but rather to provide an overview of what I've been devoting most of my efforts to and what (where) i'll be continuing to do (so) in the future. I feel somewhat guilty, because this is a mass-Email and therefore devoid of any personal sentiments. Still more damning is the fact that the document referenced above is written by somebody else. But, among other things, I've learned that something is usually better than nothing.
I hope you are all well in the ways you want to be, and promise to respond personally to any responses.
your friend (to one degree or another),
PHiL---------------
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