Quotes from Student Journals

"I talked to the old man today who washes punsch mugs. His name was Helmut. He said "Miss Amerika, wait, sit, sit, punsch." He gave me a cup of punsch, then said, "Punsch for pretty Amerika." Helmut was the nicest Viennese person I met on my trip, I will always remember him."

Note from my Dad: "Meet someone new every day and bring home 'their story.'"

"This trip has taught me that I can interact with the world, and that it's not an abstraction, but a loud, living, changing place."

"We had to get up at 4:45 a.m. to make it to our 6:30 a.m. train. We sat next to a Serbian couple. They were really nice. The man kept trying to speak English with us, and he wasn't too bad."

"The jet lag woke me up at 5 o'clock, but I was able to go back to sleep until 7 when the bells of the monastery woke me up. Bong! Bong! Bong! It got me out of bed - I can tell you that. We haven't been able to figure out yet what the bells signify yet - are they a call to Mass? They can't be the hour chimes like at Otterbein, obviously."

"Breakfast. I didn't know what was what, I didn't even know if I was putting creamer on my cereal instead of milk. However, "I" am the guest, it is their culture; adapting is a must."

"Today Nicole and I took a bus to the top of this huge mountain. It was amazing. The view was something that I might never again see in my lifetime, and the walk down really taught me to appreciate nature and solitude a whole lot more."

"Looking at art in a book is completely different from seeing it live. All the artwork in the Belvedere gallery, not just by Klimt, was absolutely beautiful. Take Klimt's "The Kiss," for instance. This painting is huge! And the detail-the strokes, the lines, the vibrant colors, masses of paint blobs and chunks, angles, and even the frame itself, uniting, coming together to create what was just a single thought/idea . . . amazing."

"I bought a calling card today and had my first run in with a store clerk who didn't speak English. So I had to put what little German I know to use. I was proud of myself."

"Something else . . . we decided tonight it's nicer and easier to do things in small groups. For example, every time we all go out together at night to a restaurant or café, we get stuck in a back room somewhere. Then I feel like I'm missing out on the experience of where I am."