Everything but..

To put everyone's mind at ease, although I am enjoying Graz immensely and soaking up as much of the beautiful weather as I can (it was another 25 degree day today) I AM still practicing.

AS PROOF. I made a video; it's low quality, but better than nothing, proving to the world my hands still work!

Sorry about the speed! Couldn't help myself.

For those who are curious, I am taking it easy enough that hopefully I don't get more wrist problems this year; I haven't got them yet!
Also, both my left hand pinky (the one that I mangled two years ago) and my left hand thumb (which had 8 stitches about two months ago) are both in great shape, and haven't proven to be a hindrance yet!

This Wednesday I plan to travel to Munich for a couple days to experience Oktoberfest in all of it's glory! Apparently it is one of the unrecorded Wonders of the World (according to a few Germans I have recently met) and I'm looking forward to it immensely!

Thanks all for reading! The responses and feedback are always welcome!

Kyle.

Summer's Coming to an End!

Although we've had amazing weather here in Graz, as soon as tomorrow the temperature will be dropping to a disappointing 10 degrees. But I really can't complain - it's been perfect weather since my arrival at the beginning of September!

Today I woke up late, had lunch with a friend, and then headed out to the city center, where there is a GIANT festival taking place right now. They block off the area around the two biggest plazas here and the connecting streets. Everyone comes out in their traditional Austrian attire - men with the lederhosen and tracht, and women with their drindl. Street vendors are every 30 ft on either side of the street, selling beer, wine, apfelstrudel (apple strudel), frankfurter, bratwurst, and roasted nuts, along with hundreds of other items; even accordions!

It was great to walk through the streets; they have stages set up for such things as big brass bands, and my favourite; they had traditional Austrian dancing.

Now, you need to understand; Austrians know how to dance. There was one point in one of the dances where two men link arms, and women link to them on the outside. The men then spin as fast as they can, and lift the women off their feet; all four of them are spinning in a giant helicopter motion together. It looks like it requires a LOT of co-ordination... a lot more than I possess.

As for me; My German language course is going very well; I'm learning right from scratch, but I love the language - it uses a completely different part of your voice; sounds I never knew I could make!

I've met soo many people since I've been here. Everyone is very friendly and it's been great to experience all sorts of different cultures through them! Cooking still remains the biggest cultural indicator - people here love cooking for each other, to say "My country has the best traditional food!" Also; soccer gets taken very seriously here (unsurprisingly). People will actually go days without speaking to each other based on the outcome of 'football' matches.

Had I known that thousands were coming to Graz's city streets today I would've brought a camera, but no such luck! All I can say is it felt like I was sent back a couple hundred years to a much younger Graz - except people still wear Converse with their traditional Austrian attire!


Thanks for reading- and if you ever have any questions, just post them in the comment box below! John (the Canadian pianist that I came from Carleton with) is cooking dinner tonight, so I have to go!

-Kyle

Up On The Mountain

Hey Guys!

Today was a fun day - I went with 10 or so students on a mountain hike in the famed hills of Austria!

We had to take the train a half an hour north to a city called Mixnitz; a nice little village in the hills. From there it was just over an hour to the foot of the mountain to climb; it was over 2500ft tall, and was an amazing climb!

Below are a few pictures of the excursion today - for all of them, you have to check out www.photobucket.com/kylezavitz1

The city Mixnitz -  small town feel; very beautiful!

The hikers! Hot and sweaty the whole way.

Amazing eh? They hollow out logs, and connect a pipe system to a water spring in the hills, which comes up and fills the hollowed out log. No pump - all renewable water pressure! It was cold, clean and fresh water, too!

The standard climbing trail - it took roughly 3 hours from the train station in Mixnitz to the top!

At the top! A celebratory strudel was in order for all of us!

I tried to call my father to wish him a happy birthday up there, but no cell service that high up!

After getting back and showering, I went to an organ concert at the Dom; a large, beautiful catholic church just 15 minutes from my residence. Tonight was a Franz Liszt concert - AMAZING. Austrians know how to spend a Sunday!

So that was my day! Again, check out the rest of the pictures at www.photobucket.com/kylezavitz1

Thanks for reading!

Settling In

After a crazy week of running around and getting the paperwork done, I can almost officially say I am settled!

When I came to Austria, I was not aware of the "work culture" here. Where in Canada, 40 hours a week is a minimum for a full-time position, here working 20 hours a week is common. Most businesses are open at 8-9am and stay open until 12-2pm. That's it. Banks are open until 4pm (Thank Goodness!) but most of the city closes shop at 12pm or 2pm. Very frustrating when you have a dozen things to do and only have time for one or two stops a day!

But I do understand why people do that. At around 3pm, the cafes are packed with people enjoying a coffee, a beer or an icecream, chatting with newcomers or family members. The streets are often alive with music, and people genuinely enjoy their day to day activities (as it seems less is mandatory here!)

Something I do want to update you all on is the University facilities available here. For practicing piano, they have (as I was told by a German piano tuner two days ago) 280 pianos available to the students of the Kunstuniversitat Graz. Here is a picture of the average practice piano available to myself:

Photo credit goes to John Dapaah; the other Carleton Pianist here this year! (Hope you don't mind that I stole this pic John!)

Yup, that's it. Bosendorfer grand. I've been in three different practice rooms thus far, all three of them have hosted Bosendorfers. It's amazing! The tuner told me about much better pianos than these (believe it or not)  in various practice facilities in Graz as well; I hope I get to try some of them out!

Fun story, last night I went to an event hosted by Erasmus, which is the student travel union responsible for most of the exchanges in Europe; hosted by the European Union. It was at a local pub, whose feature of the night (little beknownst to myself) was a small jazz ensemble playing American Standards.

Of course, as my new found friends here know that I am studying jazz piano, they were keen to hear me play, and insisted that I jam with the band. The band was happy to oblige, and I got to play with my first Austrian jazz band. As far as I know, they didn't know a single word in English, but that didn't stop them from playing splendidly. I had a smile on my face all last night! I woke up with it too. What a place.

Well, that's what's been going on lately. I have lots to tell you all about the intricacies of Austrian life, and look forward to keeping in touch throughout the year!

Thanks again for reading! And John, thanks for the picture - although you still don't know I borrowed it! haha

-Kyle

The City! Part 1

SO:

As of today I have taken some 400 pictures. I kept 80 or so of them, just to give you a feel for what Graz is like!

There is a 25 minute walk from my residence to my campus. Every picture taken is on the route from point A to point B.  This is a very small part of Graz, so don't think that I have shown you everything the city has to offer. On the contrary - I haven't even hit the famous landmarks yet!

The pictures (83 of them) are found at www.photobucket.com/kylezavitz, but here are four or five, just so I have SOME pictures for my blog!

The rest of them, as I said above, are found at www.photobucket.com/kylezavitz . Check it out!

As always, thanks for reading!

The Food: Part I

So, I DO want to talk about what the food is like here. And to start off, I want to play a game.
It's called Higher or Lower, and it's based on the "The Price Is Right" game where you are presented with an item, and a price, and given the option "Higher or Lower": is the price higher or lower than the value of the product.

The first item is a bottle of Austrian wine - the bottle I had for dinner.

Storch 2010 Österreich: €4,00 (approx $5.60)
...
Higher or lower?
...
Lower. This bottle of local wine cost me €2,50 (approx $3.50)
The exchange rate is approximately €1,00 = CAD$1.40, so I won't keep translating the prices.
Unbelievable.

Next up: one Spanish Onion from a local market open only one day a week (Saturday); the market is a one minute walk from my residence.

Spanish Onion: €0,50...
Higher or lower?
...
Lower. A spanish onion here costs €0,10, or $0.14! (okay, I said I wouldn't keep on translating, but that's RIDICULOUS!)
I also bought a large red bell pepper for €0,10. I felt bad giving the lady only €0,20 for both, but she was thrilled that I spoke "Nein Deutsch" and still purchased her produce.
Lastly, a tall-can of the Premium Austrian Beer, Gösser. €1,00.
...
Higher or lower?
...
Lower. The premium beer of Austria costs €0,90 for 0,5L ($1.26 for half a litre). With the standard beer size (330mL) that equates to $0.83 for a bottle of the premier beer of Austria. Some beers are €0,35 for 0,5L ($0.23 per bottle). It's unbelievable.
If you caught on - alcohol and produce are much cheaper here in Austria. It is cheaper to buy beer than bottled water here, and everyone that I live with seems to be under the impression of, "If it's cheaper, it's better!"
For dinner tonight, I made "Canadian Italian Spaghetti". Essentially, the spaghetti that my mother makes. I mentioned the onion and red bell pepper; they were ingredients.

My recipe was:

820g Tomato sauce; "Basilico", which means Basil is infused. €2,00
1/2 Spanish onion (onion cost €0,10)
1/2 red bell pepper (red bell pepper cost €0,10)
480g ground beef (€2,80)
1/3 box spaghetti noodle (€0,99)
1/3 loaf of fresh baked Austrian bread (€1,20)
1 Bottle Storch Austrian Wine (€2,50)
Total cost of the dinner (including the cost of leftovers): €9.69.

Although that may sound like an average (if not above average) cost for a dinner at a restaurant, just remember: This fed 4 of us. See below!






Four plates of food and a glass of wine for approx €2.50/ person!




Left to right: John, the other Canadian pianist who is in Graz; he's studying classical.

Guillame, my french floormate, who is currently getting his Master's in Business Administration.




Miguel, one of the many Spaniards here; I still have no idea what he's studying. His major is probably




"Living Life" with a minor in "Saying things I don't understand." Very funny.









A picture of my meal. Looks pretty good, right?

We have agreed that it is better to each cook a big meal twice a week than it is to each scavenge for food every night by ourselves. The guys had nothing but good things to say about my dinner, although Miguel and Guillame thought I could do better with the wine!




In short: Depending on what you are eating, you can find amazing European food for a very low price. Instead of trying to find Canadian equivalences, by exploring native Austrian food, you are able to save a small fortune! Austrian meats and cheeses are very reasonable here; less than half the price of commercial meat and cheese from Canada! I'll post a picture of my specialty soon - Breakfast and lunch is comprised of a baguette slice with salame slices and a native Austrian cheese; dipped in a Ricotta tomato sauce (I think I mentioned it in an earlier blog). It is VERY cheap (somewhere between €0,25-€0,30 to make) and two or three of them are filling. It's a great deal and it tastes great!




Well, like always, thanks for reading! Tomorrow I'll take upwards of 300 pictures of the city and its architecture; Rachele, you will die!




Auf Wiedersehen!




Kyle







PS sorry about the design editing - It's late, okay!

Although some of you have been dying to see pictures of the city (and trust me, the city is amazing)

I'll hold off for now; so I can selfishly enjoy it all by myself for just a little while longer!

I went out tonight at a mixer party that all the students held outside of the residence, just to get to know each other and meet the new faces. And trust me, there are a LOT of people I met tonight. Only one American, and one Californian/Italian. The rest are legitimately European or Asian. It's insane.

It's 2:28am in Graz right now, and I think my Serbian floormate JUST got back - the guy parties like a rockstar.

Some pictures of my residence are to follow, just to give an idea how I'm living:

My bed - came with a duvet, duvet cover, two sheets, a pillow, pillow cover, and a warm fuzzy blanket for the cold months.

Free TV playing only Austrian television? Absolutely. Rocking chair and rolling LAZ-BOY study chair? The very best.

You wouldn't know it, but beside my light switch is a switch for the motorized blinds. Up and Down. Like, I clearly can't deal with raising the blinds myself, so I have a motor to do it for me.

It's awesome. Trust me, I'm not complaining.

My closet. I'm using one half of the space. And I have cubbies under my bed for more stuff. They're currently empty.

Every picture from here on out is not of my room, but of the greater residence suite shared by all students.

That door leads to our walk-out - a great view of the Alps - a two hour rainbow today over the mountains as the mountain fog slowly slides down into the valley. Amazing.

The suite is equipped with a Refridgerator, Stove, Oven, Washing Machine, Microwave. It also comes with a kettle, toaster, and coffee-maker.

This door leads to the "off-suite" amenities. Bathrooms, Showers, and pantry. Three separate rooms.

Bathrooms. We get two. I know, right?

Pantries. Each space is more than big enough for everyone, and there is a certain culture of "Grocery shop every day for what you need." You never buy tomorrow's groceries today unless you're really thinking ahead. It's kindof fantastic.

Showers. Also two. One of them is off-limits, or so it says. But I felt like a rebel and used it today; no problem!

Showers come with two sinks and a crazy towel rack.

So that is my residence! So far only a Frenchman and a Serbian have moved in, and they're both great guys, I went out with them and the greater residence community - from 8pm to 1:30, checking out the city. Most Europeans don't eat dinner until 10pm or later, so it was very interesting.

Today my Canadian friend had me over for dinner - It was a mix of Ground Beef and Tuna with Tomato sauce and onions on rice. It was very good. Tomorrow I'm cooking a "Canadian Spaghetti" dinner.

Tonight I made for my roommates a light snack I bought in a cafe here in Austria - a slice of thick breadloaf with cheese and meat covered in olive oil. I have to say, mine was even better!

Guillame (My french roommate) made a sausage pasta dinner - sausage on thick spaghetti noodles covered in a Ricotta tomato sauce. It was excellent!

Alright, I'm off for tonight, tomorrow I'll tell you all the story about going out tonight (maybe) and the journey of my first meal at a restaurant as well as my amazing discovery of my current Austrian cell-phone!

Thanks for reading!

Getting There

Hey Guys! This is my first post to my "Travel" blog of Austria. This is all about the tour over here - and man, what a trek.

My first flight was from Toronto YYZ to Brussels, Belgium BRU at 6:10pm. The guy I was sitting beside hated having to look out the window, so for most of the flight all I saw was the back of some lady's chair, listening to music. They have CDs available to listen to on the in-flight menu. I thank Michael Bolton, Bryan Adams, Norah Jones and Billy Joel for keeping me sane! haha.

We arrived in Brussels at 7:30am their time. Although I so far hadn't taken a picture, I made the guy lift the window shade to grab this picture.

After 6 hours of dark, it was beautiful, just as we were flying over Ireland.

Well we landed, and my Telus phone essentially said, "Welcome to Not Canada! I'll be hibernating for 10 months now! kthxbye."

I grabbed a Starbucks Grande Noir and waited the appropriate 4 hours till the next flight. I met an American couple travelling for no good reason to Europe other than they were bored and sick of Manhattan's constant bustling streets. Good enough reason for me!

Well, the gate changed for my flight from Brussels to Vienna, Austria TWICE in half an hour. frustrating. But I boarded for my 11:10 flight.

This flight was a LOT more manageable, only an hour and a half in the air. The airline food was an Austrian spread on bread and chocolate mousse. I confusedly almost spread the mousse on the bread, and the Viennese lady beside me took pity and helped me out. Then she proceeded to talk with me for the remainder of the flight about Austrian history, culture, geography, etc. Her husband and her were flying back from a vacation in Toronto, so they took both flights the same as mine. She gave me her information and said once I got settled, they'd take me into Vienna and spend the day, make me dinner, etc, which was very gracious of them!

We landed, said our goodbyes, and then the most difficult task of the travel - getting to Graz from Vienna.

You should know, that if you're on the West end of Vienna, it's the easiest job in the world getting to Vienna. If you're on the East side you might as well curl up in a ball and cry.

It took me 2 trains, a bus, a subway tram, and then another train just to get to the train that will take me to Graz. Which was a 3 hour trek in itself. Luckily I met a Czech girl and a guy from Boston who were both travelling to Graz; good conversation. Sadly, she was going to Slovenia to visit her boyfriend, but we exchanged numbers as well for her to stop in Graz on her way back. (She's a pianist as well.)

By the time I got to Graz it was pouring rain. I got instructions to Neubaugasse 12, which is where I'm staying, and Streyregasse 3-5, which is where I had to pick up my keys. Neubaugasse is North West, Streyregasse is South East. That was a journey all in itself. 

I dropped my bags in front of my residence (which is surprisingly safe) and made it to Streyregasse in an hour, travelling through the beautiful city that is Graz. After a slight hiccup in getting my keys, I headed back to Neubaugasse and moved in. It would be about 10:30pm at this time.

Well, that's me getting here! More to come, just came back from lunch with a Frenchman, a Spaniard, and an Egyptian. Next entry is all about my residence! Pictures will start rolling in!