On Tuesday I woke up with a bit of a cold, which has done its best to linger (but is on it's way out). We expected to have class in the morning and in the afternoon. Due to a seemingly lucky stroke we had most of the morning off. Then in the afternoon we arrived to class just before 1, only to learn that we would be sitting in class until 6. This instantly bummed me out, because the thought of sitting in a 5 hour class was not a happy one. But I also thought, "Well at least I'll get some work done." --Side Note: During these German classes we really try to pay attention, but after 30 minutes (sometimes less, rarely more) your brain just sort of shuts off, due to fatigue from constant translating. When this point hits, we normally pull out some sort of work to discretely do, usually essays, because it looks like we are just taking notes.-- It turns out my thought was completely wrong, when the teacher came in, he made us spread out (we Americans normally cluster together) and I was forced to move from the 5th row to the 1st row, directly in front of the teacher. Needless to say, this completely hindered any ability to get work done. So instead, I sat there and listened to the finer points of military supply and the proper use of anti-armor lessons.-- Side Note: Twenty minutes into class, we found out the reason for us having to spread out. A photographer came into class and began snapping photos. Ironically, being near the teacher didn't at all hinder him from getting work done. At one point I was taking notes and when I had finished I looked up, only to see the photographer tell me to take more notes because it would be a good photo. Upon finishing, my "notes taking" My Austrian buddy, Angus, an Austrian Special Forces (Jagdkommando) B.A., and I looked at each other and just shook our heads.-- By the time class was over, it had been dark for two hours and my brain was exhausted. I finished the night just sitting at my computer.
Wednesday Pretendsday
Wednesday was considerably better than Tuesday. For starters, class was only two hours long, not five. Additionally, I was able to get a considerable amount of work done.-- Side Note: The reason for "pretendsday" is because we were pretending to listen and take notes in class, while we were really listening, but doing homework instead of taking notes.-- I got a couple pages done on a 15-page essay that's due on the 26th (the day after Thanksgiving). I also finished another short essay and finished a PowerPoint with Christian later in the evening. It was a very productive day.
Thursday Blursday
Thursday was a blur for two reasons, horse-back riding and go-kart driving. As we are starting to reach the end of our sojourn (exactly 3 weeks remaining) we are also beginning to have finals our culminating events in our classes. On Thursday we had our culminating event for riding (although I think we will still have more lessons). We saddled up our horses with stirrups, which we had never used before, and rode out into the woods. It was awesome. It turns out, stirrups make riding WAY easier and I was able to use them to prevent the crushing of things that I treasure while the horse was trotting. Three of the Austrians cadets in our Jahrgang rode with us, along with the instructor, Major Pulsinger, and two cadets from the military high school. We rode in formation and a couple other cadets filmed us for a video they are going to send back to West Point. The only downside was that we had to wear Dress Gray instead of ACUs. --Side Note: If you have ever worn Dress Gray, or even seen anybody in Dress Gray, then you understand that it is an extremely uncomfortable uniform. My DG is especially uncomfortable, as both the pants and the jacket were fitted for a Dan that was 25 pounds lighter.-- The Ritter von Lehmann Jahrgang likes to have fun, this is common knowledge. Usually on Thursdays the Jahrgang, or at least a large group of them, goes out and does something fun, normally bowling. This week, 40 of us headed out to the go-kart track. Upon arriving we waited for the other group to finish and then got geared up for two hours of driving. The group paid 980 Euros for 2 hours with 10 karts so we were split up into teams of 4. We Americans were grouped together and we gave ourselves the name Prestige Worldwide. --Side Note: This clever nod to the critically acclaimed film, Step Brothers, starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, would be lost on the Austrians. Most of them had not seen Step Brothers and the ones that had did not pick up the reference.-- We began with a qualifying round that would determine the starting positions. It was 40 minutes long, so each driver got 10 minutes to see if they could get the fastest lap and earn the top starting position. I believe that Prestige Worldwide started in second to last place. After the qualifying round, the real race began. It lasted 80 minutes, so each driver got two-10 minute rounds to try and earn their team the Gold medal. Unfortunately, Matt did not understand when the race umpire said that you couldn’t pass on the first lap, and we were forced to make a driver change almost instantly, putting us a solid lap behind at the very start of the race. Luckily for Matt, it didn’t matter whatsoever, as we finished 7 laps behind first place. As Christian astutely recognized, the Austrians were great go-kart drivers, because they drive their cars in almost the same manner that they do go-karts, fast. I do think we Americans were at a disadvantage, mostly because I estimate the number of times I drove a car in the past year to be somewhere around 20. Perhaps I am just trying to make myself feel better for getting last place.
Friday Oldguyday
Friday was a day filled with class. We had gym class and history of the Austrian army in the morning and our four hour German class in the afternoon. After the German class, we headed into town to get some grub. We eventually settled on this little café/restaurant named Café Smankerl. Upon entering, I asserted that this was basically the Cheers of Wiener Neustadt, a place where everybody knows your name. After ordering and talking for a while, the waitress/barmaid asked us where we were from and we told her. When she heard America, she mentioned how a guy in the corner, Paul, was English, and he came over and we started chatting. At first, his Cockney accent was difficult to understand but soon Paul introduced us to a golf-pro from Liverpool named Simon. After Simon told us a couple racy jokes, he introduced us to Walter. Walter is without a doubt, the most interesting person I have met during my time here in Austria. Now around 90, Walter fought for the Austrians in WWII and was captured by the British in North Africa. He spent his time as a POW in Egypt, where his commanding officer, who was an English professor at Cambridge (or some prominent) English University, taught him English. Walter, in turn, became his professor’s butler. He lived in England for some time, and while serving as a butler he studied all sorts of things, including Austrian history. His English was far more proper than any of us native speakers and he was noticeably clever. The bar completely revolved around this man, everyone wanted to hear what he had to say. It is likely that we will return to Café Smankerl, just to talk to him again.
Friday Oldguyday
Friday was a day filled with class. We had gym class and history of the Austrian army in the morning and our four hour German class in the afternoon. After the German class, we headed into town to get some grub. We eventually settled on this little café/restaurant named Café Smankerl. Upon entering, I asserted that this was basically the Cheers of Wiener Neustadt, a place where everybody knows your name. After ordering and talking for a while, the waitress/barmaid asked us where we were from and we told her. When she heard America, she mentioned how a guy in the corner, Paul, was English, and he came over and we started chatting. At first, his Cockney accent was difficult to understand but soon Paul introduced us to a golf-pro from Liverpool named Simon. After Simon told us a couple racy jokes, he introduced us to Walter. Walter is without a doubt, the most interesting person I have met during my time here in Austria. Now around 90, Walter fought for the Austrians in WWII and was captured by the British in North Africa. He spent his time as a POW in Egypt, where his commanding officer, who was an English professor at Cambridge (or some prominent) English University, taught him English. Walter, in turn, became his professor’s butler. He lived in England for some time, and while serving as a butler he studied all sorts of things, including Austrian history. His English was far more proper than any of us native speakers and he was noticeably clever. The bar completely revolved around this man, everyone wanted to hear what he had to say. It is likely that we will return to Café Smankerl, just to talk to him again.
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