European Master Championship

Last night was the semi-final game, Germany against Turkey, in the European Soccer Master Championship. We here in the Stift have different activities that we plan throughout the year, and as we were putting our schedule together at the beginning of the semester the Master Championship was taken into large consideration as to what activities would be when, being very careful not to schedule anything during the potential times that Germany might be playing per hopeful chance that they would win.

The games have turned out to be quite a cultural experience. Last Monday, before Germany had even made it into the quarter-finals, after their win the streets were filled with fans and cars honking for a good hour after the game. I thought that for sure I had misunderstood just how far along we were in the tournament and that Germany had actually won the final. This was just the beginning, however.

Throughout the past two weeks German flags have started appearing in every store window, on the cars, on the bikes, pretty much wherever a flag seems suitable to show their national support. Interestingly, this has been a great source of conversation where there are those who are still uncomfortable with such a display of the national flag following the war and there are those who are rejoicing in the fact that they as a nation are coming much more to a point where they can feel comfortable to do so.

From what I gather, Germany was not expected to make it this far, but there we were last night gathered in our meal hall to watch the semi-final game on the big screen. It turned out to be a pretty intense game as the score was almost always tied. 0-0, 1-1, 2-2, and then the power in Vienna went out, which happened to be where the game was being broadcast from. We were without broadcast coverage for about 15 minutes and when it happened you could hear the cry of anguish from the neighboring houses. I was reminded of the Heidi Game in which the Raider-Jets football game was cut off to show Heidi at its regularly scheduled time. With only a few minutes left to go in the game the losing team scored two goals- which America never got to witness to.

Gemany came back to score the winning goal in the last few minutes of the game (I was greatful we wouldn't have to go into overtime). They made it into the finals. The horn honking and celebrations went on for a good two hours last night. I can't imagine how things will be if Germany wins the Championship.

I'll let you know on Sunday.

Back on the blogging track

My brief intermission turned out to be not as brief as I intended it to be. Not much has been missed, however, since my last post. I've stuck much closer to home this semester and have focused more on classes, which doesn't provide for a lot of writing material. There have been a few excursions and I managed to borrow cameras in the absense of my own. In the meantime I have become a proud owner of a new CanonA570 IS. I've had fun playing around with it.

Here are the promised pictures from the final stop on my semester break trip: Austria

After coming back from France I spent two night back in Goettingen, had the chance to wash my clothes (this was much needed!) and joined up with a fellow exchange student (from the French-Switzerland) and we headed to Vienna together, taking the night train down.

We thought it would be interesting to check out the home of Freud. The museum was disappointing and not very informative, but what they did have were home videos of Sigmund Freud and his family. His face would light up in the presence of his grandkids and seemed to really enjoy himself with his family. It was sweet to see.

The famous Vienna Cathedral

The best thing about Vienna were the cafe's. Germany certainly lacks in this department (they have however mastered the beer garden) and it was so refreshing to enjoy leisurely time in a cafe. Anytime we were in need of a break, we would poke into a cafe. Following our visit to the Freud museum we thought it best to introduce ourselves to the Vienna cafe's for a midday pick-me-up. We quickly found a cafe up the street a bit and popped in. It was extremely simple inside, with just a few tables and very smoky air. Nonetheless, we decided to stay and soon found ourselves in conversation with the owners, who were eager to hear about how we happened upon their cafe, what brought us to Vienna, and were even more facinated by our interest in theological studies. That's the kind of experience I love, mixing with the locals.

The best cafe, however, was Cafe Hawelka. I had read about it in a book several years ago, and since then had sworn to myself that if I was ever in Vienna, I would most definately have to stop by this cafe. I won't lie, it was largely the motivation for a trip to Vienna in the first place. It is the true essence of the bohemian coffee shop, and has survived for 72 years, surving the war completely unharmed. It once served as the meeting place for artists and intellectuals such as Arthur Miller, Henry Miller, and Andy Warhol and is famous for it's buchteln, a sort of warm jelly roll. What I found most attractive about the place is that is remained largely intact as it originally was. It's the people who make the place, not it's style. My friend and I found it to be the perfect place to relax and chat at the end of the day and the buchteln were well worth the 20 minute wait to get them fresh out of the oven.

We spent just two nights in Vienna and had booked a plane back to Germany which flew out of Bratislava, giving us a chance to visit the capital of Slovenia- small town with a charming castle. Although there wasn't much going on (we were there on a Sunday and in the low season) there is something that really attracts me to the Eastern European culture. We had a great time visiting the shops and wandering the town before catching to tram back to the airport.

All in all it was a great trip, not just vienna, the whole thing!